welcome back to "prime news" on hln. we continue our conversation. authorities still -- we are still baffled, where is morgan harrington. virginia tech student, went to a metallica concert. ended up outside the arena. she has not been seen since. joining us to talk about it, someone who's covered this extensively, senior editor for the hook, courtney stewart. thanks again for being with us. >> thanks. >> right before we mentioned that there was someone coming forward who saw her before the concert started, i believe his name is dave gardner. what is he saying about morgan's

move and what was going on before the concert with her? >> i have not personally spoken with mr. gardner. i left him messages and haven't been able to get him. from the accounts that i have read and from what i understand, he parked next to morgan and her friends. and had some chance to interact with morgan, but not the other people in her car prior to going in. and his description of her was that she was enthusiastic. she was really excited for the show. she was saying, we're here to see metallica. he said it didn't appear they were tailgating or doing anything at the car. she just looked like a girl that was ready to go see a show and have a good time. >> you get the sense from what he's saying that there was no real partying going on, alcohol, anything like that, she was just excited to see metallica, right? >> he didn't see anything that suggested it. and her behavior to him did not suggest it. but i don't have any firsthand knowledge of what they were doing prior to arriving or anything like that. but his description does not suggest that they were out in the parking lot tailgating.

>> so he's a witness that sees her beforehand. are any witnesses coming forward who saw her after she ends up outside the arena for the 50-minute window? >> there are several people who have come forward. and i have talked to several people who saw her not only when she was outside, but after she was separated from her friends, and both inside and outside the arena, people did see her in that period of time that the police are calling critical. because it's after she left her friends and then she ended up outside, and then, of course, she vanished. and those people -- >> what are they saying? >> they had some things they noticed. >> anything specific you want to tell us? >> yeah. today, something that i've been hearing over the last few days was that she had had an injury to her fafs. and that there was some blood. i had been told it was on her chin. the people that i was hearing it from were not interested in going on the record or being the

source of that. and so it wasn't until i got confirmation from the police that i felt that was something i was comfortable reporting. but they did confirm that, yes, she did sustain some kind of injury. they said it was minor. they did not believe that it would have been something that would have been sustained like in an attack or assault. that it looked consistent with a fall perhaps. but that is a new detail that's just come out today. and it provides another tiny piece of the puzzle to what was going on when she was no longer with her friends. >> exactly. i'm sure we'll be picking up on that detail. courtney stuart, thanks again. we appreciate your insight on this story, as we hope and pray for morgan's safe return. courtney, thanks. >> thank you. coming up, the king of pop's final bow. will this bring -- "this is it." will this bring michael's fans closure to his tragic death?

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this is it. michael jackson's final bow, debuted this week all around the world. this is a movie, really a documentary that highlights the final rehearsals leading up to jackson's last concerts in london. that was supposed to happen. but we all know he died before the tour ever opened. so, will this much anticipated movie finally bring closure for fans. joining me now, entertainment reporter for the associated press. alicia has seen the movie. my first question is, what did you think of it? >> i loved the movie. and i'm not a huge michael jackson fan. the movie was fantastic. the concert would have been amazing had he lived. he was still musically inclined of the he danced like he was 25 years old. very impressive. >> all right. we've heard from jermaine, and some family members, who seem to be really excited about it, glad there's this movie.

we've heard not quite the same thing from la toya and from joe. is the family united behind this bhof i or not? >> joe jackson has spoken out about the movie a ton. after he saw the movie in las vegas, he went to the premiere there, that it did provide some closure. he was happy to see his son up there showing his gift to the world. they're divided somewhat. >> what is it that la toya was saying before she even saw the entire movie? some things that sound a little off? >> they're making all kinds of crazy allegations, saying there were body doubles used, saying that wasn't really michael jackson. the allegations went on and on and on. sony put out a release saying, no, this is absolutely michael jackson. he was filming this for his personal library. now this is a gift to his fans. >> speaking of the fans, how do you think the fans are processing it? we know one of his more famous fans, liz taylor, went twitter crazy. she sent out i think 30 tweets

saying you've got to see this movie. you owe it to yourself. what do you think this will mean for fans? >> the fans are absolutely going to love this movie. i saw it in new york, the whole movie theater was shut down. they were only showing "this is it." there were only press people there. but the other half were fans. they were going crazy. as you said, liz taylor tweeted about it. the fans were out there and they were tweeting, facebooking about it. everybody loves it. >> this is supposed to be a limited release. that's how they bill this, a couple of weeks. already made a ton of money. you know the business. do you think it's going to end up running longer than that, or at the very least, at least come out on dvd, something? >> i think it's going to do both, a, i think it's going to run longer, because it's making a lot of money. it's already made $22 million in three days. absolutely there's going to be a huge dvd release with bonus scenes. >> we're just about out of time. remind people where this money is supposed to go. >> it's supposed to go to the children. it's going to michael jackson's

estate. so the children are supposed to benefit from this. >> alicia, thank you so much. >> my pleasure. i want to remind you, we have a very exciting special coming up for you next. it's called black men in the age of president obama. i sit down with some prominent men in the african-american community, including actor and author hill harper and harvard professor alvin pousant. for more of "what matters," check out the november issue of "essence" magazine. or go to cnn.com/what matters. coming up, we're updating you on a story we've been following. a mom who died trying to win a wii system. a radio contest called hold your wee for a nintendo wii. an irresponsible contest, that's basically a jury's ruling when they award a family over $16 million. we're going to talk to jennifer strange's grieving mom coming up.

la donna redmond is on a mission. we met her two years ago right here in one of the toughest neighborhoods in chicago. the last place you would expect to find a garden.

what are we growing in here? >> any number of things. those are collard greens on the far aisle there. >> reporter: redmond led an effort to start what she calls urban farm sites. why? because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find any fresh produce in the neighborhood. >> if you wanted to, you could buy illegal drugs. you can get access to a variety of illegal drugs. if you wanted to buy a gun, you could buy a gun in this community. but if you wanted to find an organic tomato in this community, if you didn't want to come to our urban farm site, you wouldn't be able to buy one. >> reporter: with few grocery stores nearby, most people shop at convenience stores at this one. but they're full of chips, sugary krings and candy. and from the journal "pediatrics," shopping at these convenience stores is part of what's making our kids fact. they talked to more than 800 kids outside convenience stores and found on average they were eating 356 empty calories at every stop. what are you guys buying in

there? >> chips. >> candy. >> reporter: but in lower income minority communities like this one, where high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity run rampant, redmond says we can't afford to ignore the issue. >> there has to be an insistence that healthy living and a healthy lifestyle is a must. >> reporter: so now two years after we first met her, ladonna's adding store owner to her name. >> to bring healthy lifestyles to the hip-hop generation. >> reporter: all in the hopes to change the tide in the ever-growing storm of obesity. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. an update on this story. huge judgment, more than $16 million to a widower and his children, young mother dies from water intoxication, after drinking just lots and lots of water over a three-hour period. part of a radio station stunt. part of a contest titled hold your wee for the nintendo wii.

they weren't allowed to go to the restroom or vomit, that would disqualify them. the victim's husband, family, attorney, overcome with emotion after this verdict. >> i'm very thankful and appreciative that the jurors took their time. and that they held the appropriate people accountable. >> from our perspective, we're very gratified with what the jury did. the number that they determined is by definition a fair and reasonable number. >> now, the deejays, they were fired. so we want to be clear here. the deejays, they were not held responsible. the parent company to the radio station held responsible. joining me to talk about this, the victim's mom. nina. and also her attorney, roger dreyer. nina, let's start with you. obviously nothing can replace jennifer. but what was your reaction when the verdict was read?

>> i was very happy with the time that the jurors took in this case. they didn't rush through it. people kept asking me what's taking so long, what's taking so long. and i said, you know, they have a lot to think about. they didn't know my daughter like i knew her, like her family knew her, her friends. and each of us that testified there had to paint a picture of jen, what kind of wonderful, outstanding, caring daughter, wife, mother that she was. and hope and pray that the testimony we gave, gave them some kind of feel for the type of person that jennifer was, and that she would have never done anything to put her life in jeopardy, to not be there to spend every day with her

children that she cherished more than anything else. >> nina, do you think it was just that, that your daughter didn't realize what she was getting into, that it could be dangerous, could be fatal? >> absolutely. absolutely. she would have never done anything to put her life in jeopardy. >> did you know that she was going to be a part of this, and did she talk to you about the contest beforehand? >> just briefly she had mentioned it. didn't have any details, because i understood she didn't have any details at the time. so, you know, you would any that somebody that's holding a contest, or promoting something such as this would check into everything thoroughly and make sure that there were safeguards in place, that this was something that wouldn't be harmful to people. you know, just check everything out. and they just didn't do it. >> i couldn't agree more, nina, as we've covered this story.

i want to bring in roger on this. roger, is that what it came down to, that this station didn't monitor what their employees were doing and they were bringing forth this contest that was so dangerous? >> well, it's a combination of not monitoring, but also not even enforcing rules that they had in place, not training the on-air talent as to what the rules were to be, and how they were to comply. i mean, they had specific rules not to put people in contests that are dangerous or put them at risk and not to put contests that were in bad taste. and this contest clearly violated all those rules. and we believe from the beginning that this case nina's talking about is responsibility and accountability. and we said that at the beginning. and that's the beauty of the civil process, is that we went six weeks where 12 people got all the evidence, not what people read in the newspaper or see in sound bites on tv, and they were able to assess that evidence and determine who was accountable. >> yeah.

nina, are you satisfied that the right people paid the right price, the deejays ended up getting fired and the station's held accountable? >> i am very satisfied that the jury found the way that they did. that they listened to all of the evidence. they fought and fought hard to, you know, keep their personal opinions out of it, and just listened to what the evidence was. and 12 individual people that didn't know intercom, didn't know my daughter, found in favor of my daughter not being at all responsible for what happened to her. and that the right people were found accountable. >> nina, thank you for joining us. roger, you as well. nina, we just wish the best for jennifer's children as they try and get past this. thank you again. we'll continue this conversation after the break. stay with us.

tonight, cracking down on the war on women, cops rounding up more suspects in the horrific homecoming gang rape. six males have now been arrested, accused of raping a 15-year-old girl for two and a half hours. four more rapists could still be out there. and what about the video and pictures? has this girl's nightmare gone viral? plus, a bitter divorce. the openers of the l.a. dodgers are splitting up. and you would not believe how much money the wife wants. she's demanding almost half a million dollars per month. that's more than $15,000 a day. so how is this going to shake out? we'll crunch the numbers. also, too fat to kill?

a man accused of murdering his former son-in-law said he couldn't do it because he's too fat. what a fascinating defense. this guy weighs 285 pounds. i didn't realize there was a weight limit on guns. will the jury buy this new twinkie defense? another lawmaker caught with his proverbial pants down. he was parked at a cemetery with a stripper, sex toys, and viagra. and all this allegedly happened during his lunch break. we'll give you all the sordid details. "issues" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com tonight, more suspects nabbed in that horrific gang rape outside a california high school. some of the suspects are boys, ages 15 and 16. now they're charged as adults and could go to prison for life. they are accused of raping a 15-year-old girl for two and a half hours just steps from a homecoming dance. >> it's something out of a hollywood movie.

it's so extremely vicious and absolutely unnecessary. >> will the crowd of gawkers who did absolutely nothing to help this girl ever be punished. police say as many as 20 people, males, laughed, took photos, possibly even took cell phone video while this victim was being brutalized. what is being done to make sure those images are locked down forever. if they go viral, this girl will be victimized all over again. now, is the school going to take any responsibility for the lack of safety here? the victim's friend was at the dance and says school officials and police were completely negligent. >> i looked outside of the gym and i saw 12 to 15 guys sitting there with no i.d.s. the officers, not only did they not check the i.d.s of those students, those men outside the campus, but the security officers who are employed here did no job checking either. the assistant principal looked

outside and actually saw those men and did nothing about it. >> what? that's an outrage. i want to welcome my fantastic panel. judge karen mills-francis. clinical psychologist. curtis sliwa, founder of the guardian angels and radio talk show host of the and criminal defense attorney. got to start with the guardian angel tonight. curtis, we have both covered so many crimes, but this one seems to have crossed some invisible line. it has generated outrage around the world because of the sheer number of males involved in this brutality. as many as ten participating, as many as 20 watching. is this not the most hideous example of a hunter/prey dynamic that is somehow developing between males and females. >> no question. it's like the gal was a pass-around pack for these guys to get their jollies off, while others were passing by back and forth, and you know with the wireless technology, with their cell phones, their wireless,

taking video, taking photographs, wanting to post it out there on the internet. and nobody did jack diddly squat, to warn, to yell, scream, evade, stop that, while the authorities inside were watching the people who were obviously celebrating and partying at the dance. you scratch your head and say obviously women under siege, this is something that was more akin to a gang initiation. and that's exactly what you saw outside, in the public, for all to see, a gang initiation with a victim. and you know these guys misused it. they should lose it. castration should be their cure. they should have kept their rocket in their pocket. >> nothing, absolutely nothing can justify what happened to this young girl. but i do want to know, as a recovering alcoholic myself, and we talk a lot about addiction here on "issues," what role alcohol may have played in this crime. the mercury news cites police as saying there was drinking among the group in this poorly-lit courtyard, "the victim consumed

a large amount of brandy while socializing and then collapsed." the paper says that's when the attack began. an investigator told us, "we're looking at toxicology reports to determine if she was drugged." my question to psychologist michelle golland, if the victim was passed out, how might that influenced her attackers psychologically? could it have made them more likely to objectify her? >> it doesn't matter to me. whether she was passed out, or resisting, these men attacked her, brutalized her, and they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. this is horrific. and it doesn't matter to me. >> but we're trying to understand, i know it may not matter to you, but if we don't understand -- okay, because otherwise, guess what, we're all part of the pornography of violence. if we just sit here and talk about this, as who, when, where,

why, without getting to the deeper why, without trying to come up with societal solutions, then we're just part of the pornography of violence. so that is why, michelle, we're trying to understand the dynamics at work here. now, curtis sliwa said maybe this was a gang initiation. i'm saying maybe they were in some way justifying their behavior psychologically, judge karen mills francis. nothing excuses this. >> you know what, the basic tenants of decency, i think we need to be concerned about what's going on with our children. it bothers me that 24 people -- 24 different people from different homes and different environments could all stand there and watch while this brutalization was going on. >> right. >> i believe it's the symbols that they see of women in videos and on tv, half naked girls that

are giving up their bodies for a couple of dollars. it is the image that women aren't worth anything. >> well, guess what, you have brought me to my big issue. and we need to make this case a national wake-up call. our society is saturated in sexually charged violence. we associate masculinity with violence. teenagers are picking up on it. it's everywhere in these more error movies that are going to make millions on halloween weekend, which is coming up. it's become way more explicit. i want to cite a new study that just came out this week by the parents television council that says, incidence of violence on television against women and teenage girls is skyrocketing. okay? at rates that far exceed the overall increase in violence on television. violence, irrespective of gender on tv increased 2% from 2004 to

2009. incidence of violence against women increased 120% during that same time. the most frequent type of violence against women on tv was beating, 29%, followed by threats of violence, 18%. shooting 11%, rape 8%, stabbing 6%, torture 2%, and violence against women resulted in death, 19% of the time. now, this is a study that just came out. it's essentially saying we are literally, tom, indoctrinating these young men who associate masculinity with sexual sadism. >> it's a two-fold problem. it's not just television. it's television in a vacuum in parenting. we have a parenting crisis in this country. look, up to close to 50% of the children now are born out of wedlock. there's a huge problem with the absence of any -- >> i don't know about the wedlock schmedlock.

i don't care -- >> hold on. >> angelina jolie is not married to brad pitt. nobody says a thing about that. >> they have millions of dollars. change the environment, put them in the inner city with the absence of any sort of fatherly figure -- >> this has nothing to do with the inner cities. >> i don't know anything about these kids. >> okay. >> we're talking about the problem in general. it's not just television. kids can manage what they see on television if they're guided correctly at home. >> "the new york times" just said last week the average american family isn't the cleavers anymore. the average american family is usually headed by a single parent. and that's usually a woman. black, white, asian, latino, across the board. >> right. and there's a lot of problems in our culture because of that. i'm not talking -- >> i don't think that that's the reason. i think it's because we don't teach kids what they need to learn these days, what we teach them is precisely what they need to avoid. >> and that is parenting.

>> we need to -- >> i never watched this kind of violence. i remember when i went to see clockwork orange as a teenager and i walked out of it -- there was a sadistic scene. that would have been child's play today. the kids today would laugh at that. i was horrified. i walked out. okay? >> jane, it's one thing -- >> this is monumentally greater when we were kids. >> we're not talking about what public schools are doing for mental health professionals and teaching exactly what you're talking about, jane. conflict resolution, what to do. >> absolutely. we're going to talk about that in a second. as we try to dissect this nightmare. one man claims he couldn't have killed his son-in-law because he's too fat to kill. but first, a girl raped for two and a half hours, nobody does a thing. where was security? how can anyone feel safe going to that school from now on?

>> disrupted the school's morale briefly. including my own. i p am friends with the girl. when i started here, i felt extremely unsafe due to the lack of police officers and security officers.

what you're seeing is people won't call the police because of fear of retaliation. particularly young people won't come forward and call the police because they're afraid of what's going to happen to them. so they develop a culture that they're not going to report any crimes, even something as horrendous as this. >> that was a krimologist describing the no snitching mentality out there today. part of the reason the gang rape was able to go on for two and a half hours. they used their cell phones to snap photos and possibly record videos of this nightmare.

that is how numb these teens are to violence, especially violence against women. curtis sliwa, you are out there on the streets dealing with the teenagers today. what is it about this whole no-snitching phenomenon that we're seeing? we've got another case we're going to talk about in a second. >> jane, it is part of the gang culture. more importantly, it's part of the hip-hop monsters that they project in their rap lyrics, in reggae tone and reggae music. constantly saying snitches get stitches and end up in ditches. you should have window shades on your eyes and zipper on your mouth. no matter rat anyone out. if you're the victim, instead of letting the police know, just get a gun and try to settle the score. roman polanski, got a lot of attention throughout california. an adult male, feeds qua lewds and booze to a 13-year-old girl, raped her, flees. look at all the trendoids,

starlets coming to his defense. what kind of message are we sending to kids out there that you can do this and get away with it. >> we know there's a double standard of justice in this country. we know the rich and famous and powerful get away with crimes that the poor and powerless don't. and that is a fact. i mean, anybody who ever sat in court waiting for a celebrity case as i have, and seeing how the public defenders will shoot through 20, 30, 40 cases, convicting and sending away people who don't even know what's going on because they don't know the lingo used by these people, and you see the celebrity case come in and -- >> i don't buy that it was about the snitching. >> i don't either. >> i do not buy that. because any of those boys or men could have walked away and called 911 anonymously. they could have found a security guard. they could have done any one of -- numerous things. >> let me say this, okay? there's a couple of ideas here. we're trying to figure out what

was going through the minds of these teens who participated in the violation of this girl. now, it could be, is it possible that it could be a case of bystander effect? sociologists say the more people who watch an event, the less likely somebody is to take action. we can remember the most famous case was -- let me just finish this -- the bystander effect was illustrated in the murder of kitty genovese. there were several people who heard her screaming for police. nobody called plilgs. and that's the bystander effect, was coined because of that case. anything to do with this, judge karen? >> i think that we're trying to be politically correct here. you started out, jane, talking about the -- >> i'm not trying to be politically correct. >> but you started out talking about the rise in violence against women. we talk about these girls that are being picked up off the streets every day by men. these women that are being picked up every day off the streets by men.

the fact that a woman is more likely to be killed by a man than she is to be killed by a woman. it's a fact that 24 boys, young men, can sit around and watch a girl being brutalized. what has happened. we fought 100 years for women's rights. the right to be equal. now we need to fight for our right to be safe. >> that's why i talk about a war on women in this country. it seems like every week there is a case of juvenile violence that's more hideous than the last one. i mean, i want to go to this case that we had recently. the cell phone video of darion albert's fatal beating in chicago that prompted national outrage. the 16-year-old boy was pummeled and stomped to death by a mob. this was last month. dozens of people watched. three teens are charged in the attack. if not for the video, who knows if anybody would have been caught, because the snitching

factor was at work here, as this kid was pummeled and brutalized. there was another case in florida where a young boy was set on fire because he snitched, and he told basically the adults about the fact that one of the kids was trying to steal his dad's bike. and he was set on fire. so i don't understand what this snitching thing is. tom, weigh in. you're the former prosecutor. >> absolutely. the problem isn't simply violence against women. it's not simply television. it's a culture of youth violence. and that violence derives from the lack of proper parenting. i'm not talking about simply single parenthood. i'm a single parent myself. i know what it's about. but you have a whole generation of young, mostly inner city, but it's rural and suburban, too, of young males and young women who are being raised without any sort of effective role models in their life, without any sort of effective parenting. and there could be plenty of single parenting that goes on out there.

>> it is ruled as well. there was a case the other day, i think it was in some rural state, very, very rural area, i think it was new hampshire where these kids came in and they beat this mother to death with an ax and then they set on the daughter with an ax. and that was in the rural wilds of -- >> it goes on everywhere. kids turn to street violence, street gangs to find a family. they're looking for a street family. >> of course. they travel in packs. got to leave it right there, panel. sorry. we're out of time. we're going to stay on top of this. we've got to. you know, societal pressure comes in all forms, whether it's to drug, alcohol, violence, even food. i struggled with so many addictions myself. i'm sharing my battle with alcohol and other substances in my new book "i want." you can order a copy at cnn.com. or go to your local bookstore. i want to thank my fantastic panel for that healthy debate. a hefty defense, a man

accused of murdering his former son-in-law. he said he couldn't do it because he's too fat. a baflt between dodgers' owner and wife jamie. this is so ugly, and you won't believe some of the details. we're going to tell you after the break.

in the "spotlight" tonight, a very rich wife has an apparent affair with the limo driver. even in l.a., land of the vicious divorce battles, this one is a humdinger. jamie mccord has filed for divorce from her husband of 30 years, dodgers owner frank mccourt, citing irreconcilable differences. he says he's the sole owner of the team. she clims they both are. he tricked her into signing away her legal standing. mrs. mccourt wants to be

reinstated. he claims she was vacationing with the chauffeur on the dodgers' dime. here's the biggest shocker. mrs. mccourt wants $321,000 a month in spousal support. plus, her old job back. if she's not rehired? she wants nearly half a million dollars a month. oh, and she also wants use of the owner's suite at dodgers stadium, private jet travel, five-star hotel access, cayman country club and blackberry fees. let's not foreget flowers in the office. now, that is what i call a real sense of entitlement. joining me now, mike walters, assignment manager at tmz. mike, i look at this list of requests. i can't help how really obscene they are. most americans make something like 30 grand a year or less. she spends that much in clothing every single month, doesn't she? >> yeah. well, here's the weird thing. this divorce is only a couple days old and the file's already

over 600 pages. of both of them saying, here's what i want, here's what i want of the the most interesting thing what you're talking about, the dodgers itself, the entity is now a party in the divorce, because what they're saying in divorce court is that they both own the dodgers. she wants her job back, he wants sole ownership of the dodgers. the dodgers said if a judge gets involved in this in court, it's weird. >> yeah. i think it is very bizarre. mrs. mccourt's lawyer has plans to buy out her husband's ownership of the dodgers. this team is worth about $800 million. now, mr. mccourt says, huh-uh, i have no plans to sell the dodgers to her or anybody else. however, there's a possibility, as you just mentioned, mike, the court could declare the team community property, which is when she would attempt to make this bid. let me ask you this. she's asking for all this money. is she actually planning to buy the team with the money she gets from her husband in the divorce

settlement? >> well, i think in a divorce like this, one of the only things left, i mean, there's so much money, is power. and so power is taking the dodgers away. that's his baby. and if she could take the dodgers away from frank mccourt, that would be the ultimate slap in the face. in all of these divorces with celebrities, there's so much money there. when you're a wife or husband and you get divorced, you should be able to, at least by law, to live the lifestyle you were living before you got divorced. so what she's saying all that money per month, she's saying, guess what, i lived that way with frank. why shouldn't i live that way with the security guard i now hang out with that is my driver. that's my favorite part. she wants a job back for the guy they fired, jeff fuller, who is her boyfriend/driver/security guard. she wants him reinstated so they can hang out on company money and go and travel around and go to national baseball games. >> just proof that money doesn't buy you happiness.

thank you, mike. just when i thought i heard it all, this guy said he couldn't have killed because he's too fat to kill.

too fat to kill. a man accused of murdering his former son-in-law says he couldn't do it, because he's too fat. oh, really? this guy weighs 285 pounds. i didn't realize there was a weight limit on guns. will the jury buy this new twinkie defense? another lawmaker caught with his proverbial pants down. caught in a cemetery, with a stripper, sex toys and viagra. we'll give you all the sordid details. just when you think you've heard it all. a new jersey jury is being asked to swallow a super-sized defense, 62-year-old edward is

accused of murdering his former son-in-law. he said he couldn't have done it, no way, no how. why? because he's too fat to kill. i'm not making this up. in just a moment i'll be cross-examining his lawyer about this new variation on the twinkie defense. prosecutors say the 300 approximately pound man wanted his former son-in-law dead because of tensions between the accused killer and his victim were strained after a bitter divorce settlement between his daughter and the victim. on the stand, he nixed that theory. >> did you care about him one way or the other? >> no, sir. >> did you murder paul? >> no, i cannot. >> according to the cops, the victim was talking on his cell phone when he was shot six times. his fiance was on the other end of the line. this clip from abc news. >> suddenly he started to scream.

he said, oh, oh no. and then he stopped speaking. >> the weighty question for the jury, could this obese man manage to do a flight of stairs, clean up the crime scene and then hustle off in a quick getaway driving 21 hours to his mom's house? if the jury says yes he could do that, even though he's overweight, he could get up to 20 years in the slammer, where i hear the food ain't so great. so a lot is at stake here. we do have serious matters. tipping the scales of justice. joining me now, wasmter, the very creative defense attorney representing edward ates, as in i ates too much. your client is accused of shooting the victim with a gun. how is his weight a factor in his ability to pick up a gun and fire a weapon is this. >> it's not just his weight. it's everything that goes along with being morebidly obese. diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, physical movement

restrictions. he was 62 at the time, 5'8" and almost 300 pounds. the killer shot upstairs and fired two shots, straight into the victim. the coroner testified to this. he then put four more shots straight in. never missed. a man of ates' body mass, going up four stairs, is going to have some heavy breathing. he's going to be going -- and that gun's going to move. to hold it perfectly straight and not miss seven shots is impossible. >> can i say something. you're a good attorney. if i ever get in trouble, i'm calling you. >> but the doctors say -- >> i'm calling you, my friend. >> we have medical testimony, unrefuted, unrefuted internist. and this isn't subjective. ates spent three nights in the hospital tested overnight for sleep disorder, sleep apnea. >> you say he was too sleep --

judge karen? >> this is michelle. >> oh, michelle, okay. somebody. >> thank you. we also know that people who are small and weak can lift up cars when they get an adrenaline rush. our bodies take over in moments of stress, fight or flight, and will do what we need to do to get done. and literally this could -- i find it very interesting. >> like sumo wrestlers -- >> the doctor addressed exactly that issue. the doctor said, you can lift up a car, an old lady can lift up a car to free her child. but she cannot hold the car up for 21 hours. >> isn't there somehow evidence against the defendant in this case, isn't there some computer evidence that he was searching on how to commit the perfect murder, how to pick a lock on a sliding glass door? don't they also have some

wiretaps where he's talking to his sister and his mother and saying, let's make sure we all have our stories straight? isn't there some evidence that his sister lied to the police about where he was the day before? and his 83-year-old mother -- >> okay. walter, answer those -- answer briefly. >> circumstantial evidence. there's no eyewitness, no fingerprints, no dna. there's very good circumstantial evidence. there's also medical testimony, unrefuted, that he physically couldn't have done it. and there's an unrefuted eyewitness who saw ed's car in louisiana a half hour after the murder in new jersey. could not have happened. >> i want to say one thing, please. he's got good enough facilities to drive 21 hours to visit his mother, okay? and drive a car but he doesn't have the facilities to hold a gun and shoot it? give me a break. >> hold on, hold on. we have heard of the abuse

excuse, but now we're hearing the obese excuse. it's used in defending edward ates, as in i ates too much in charges he killed his exxon in-law. here's a clip from abc. listen to this. >> in bright daylight in august, the fat old man's running and nobody sees him. >> i find that very difficult in someone with obstructive sleep apnea, who's morbidally obese. >> curtis sli yeah, guardian angels, this man is a marksman with military experience. >> no, no, no. >> yeah. whoa, whoa, that's not true? >> not true. just not true. >> that's what's being reported. go ahead, curtis. >> jane, fat man's not nimble, fat man's not quick, we know fat man can't jump over the candlestick. but fat man can take that gun and go -- that much i know. i got shot by a guy who was 325 pounds.

and he airated me with hollow point bullets. >> i think you make a good argument right there. it's not just a matter of being too obese to carry out this crime. ates said he wasn't there because he was visiting his mama in another state. the prosecutor was not buying that either. listen to this. >> how often did you visit your mother who you cared for? >> i visited for about 30 minutes since 1999. >> so from '99 to '06 you spent 30 minutes with your mother? >> approximately, yes. >> all right. that sounds kind of like the old kitchen sink strategy, walter. i mean, if the jury doesn't believe the obese excuse, no motive, and if we don't believe that, he had an alibi. what about the evidence as we've been talking about here that he allegedly asked his sister to lie for him? >> that evidence is very, very contradicted by the next-door

neighbor, who says no, i saw the car there on wednesday. let me make a point. this is totally different than a twinkie defense of the twinkie defense in all that is, i did its but here's why. this is i didn't do it. i physically could not have done it. >> wasn't there some evidence also that -- >> hold it. one at a time. >> wasn't there evidence that when he was in louisiana visiting his mother that same year, that there was a snake in the grass and he shot him and killed him with one shot? >> hold on. hold on. we've been talking -- let's examine these kind of kookie defenses. we heard about the old twinkie defense. and that's now become sort of a code phrase for any kind of wacky legal defense strategy. it was a real tactic used in the defense of dan white, who was accused of assassinating harvey milk and san francisco mayor george moscone in the late '70s. white was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. ronnie zamora's lawyer said he

had tv intoxication from watching violent shows like kojak. and that's why he shot his elderly neighbor. the jury didn't buy that and convicted him. this is the strangest defense of all. a woman wanted in a string of defendants who claimed the movie "matrix" turned them into murderers. but the twinkie-esk matrix defense jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity. i think walter, if your client gets off, this is really going to be a watershed moment and going to set one for the record books here. >> again, this is very different. those people said they did the act. they had an excuse. this is a case where we say the act was not committed. very different. >> i actually think it's also -- i mean, people who are overweight should be offended by this. i mean, to say he couldn't go up four steps? i personally -- my father is

overweight and has day beets and all those things. and i think if he was vengeful and angry, that could happen. i mean, i just think it's offensive to people who are overweight, who are -- who still could be healthy and still agile, that you use this as an excuse. >> well, i think it's -- >> it's not an excuse, it's a fact. >> we should eat healthy and stay in shape. perhaps that is the lesson to take away from it. walter, you are one fantastic lawyer. big thanks to our entire fantastic panel. black students reached an agreement with the owners of a nightclub. but the students were not after money. see what they achieved instead. it's pretty amazing. cops say a lawmaker ended up in a cemetery with a stripper. maybe he should just pack his lunch next time. we'll have all the really, really bizarre and salacious details coming up in a moment.

let us meet today's winner, tyrone from houston, texas. before getting sober, he was known as killa. and eventually landed in jail. he drove a stolen car to rehab and he now celebrates 16 years clean. way to go, tyrone.bonita house of hope, a drug and alcohol rehab center. what a fantastic story of recovery. thank you, everyone, for all of

your e-mails and ireports of the we've gotten such uplifting stories, something like 100 a day coming in. the stories of recovery that we're going to continue featuring them here on "issues." go to cnn.com/jane. you could win a copy of my new book and have the chance to win a trip to new york city and come and hang out here on the set with me. i will show you a very good time. but a sober time. all right. cops say a south carolina lawmaker took his lunch break and ended up in the car with a stripper and sex toys and viagra. we're going to take a look at that story in a second. but first, "top of the block" tonight. taking the high road in the fight against racism. here on "issues," we cover the story of the six black college students who were recently denied entry into a chicago nightclub. now we can tell you that those six young men scored a big victory. instead of suing the company,

the students will join together with the bar to fight discrimination. the club has agreed to apologize to the students. the club owners are also joining the students in a rally against discrimination, and the club will take part in four, count them, four fund-raisers. it's refreshing to see these six young students come up with a creative solution that will help prevent something like this from happening again. instead of suing the company to get a quick payday, they're actually turning this fiasco into a teachable moment. i think this is a 21st century way of treating the problem. this is tonight's "top of the block." whoa, this one is a shocking scandal. sex ka paids in the cemetery of all places? a politician caught with his proverbial pants down in a graveyard. with him, an 18-year-old stripper. deputy assistant attorney general roland corning was on his lunch break when he met up with a stripper from the

platinum plus gentleman's club. a cop spotted the pair on a deserted road at the edge of an empty cemetery. the cops searched corning's car. straight out of the police report, inside the car, the cop found viagra, and several vibrating sex toys. corning's explanation? i always keep them with me just in case. what a practical guy. the scandal has already sparking the late-night jokes. listen to this clip from nbc's "the jay leno show." >> well, i love this story. a 66-year-old deputy u.s. attorney general in south carolina, home of governor mark sanford, you know him, the guy's name is roland corning. he got fired after police discovered him at a cemetery with an 18-year-old stripper, a bag of sex toys and a bottle of viagra. to be fair, people do grieve differently, okay? okay. everybody grieves differently. some bring flowers, some -- you

know, we all -- yes. we all grieve in our own way. >> that's pretty funny. as if this story couldn't get any tackier, there's another twist. the officer realized his wife worked with corning in the attorney general's office. so, hey, honey, he calls her from the scene. she spoke to her boss and allegedly told her husband, let him go. corning and the stripper then went on their merry way. was this an attempt to cover it up? corning was soon fired. police say they did nothing wrong. even though in some published reports this teenage stripper is being described as a prostitute. roland corning was a republican south carolina legislator in the '80s and '90s. what is it with the politicians and sex scandals. straight back out to my expert panel. also joining in, meg kinnard in

south carolina. dare we ask what else is happening with this case? >> well, jane, i tell you, it's definitely been -- it's definitely been an interesting year here in south carolina. one thing we're waiting on now is the dash camera video, and those phone calls that you mentioned that go along with this police report. that we got from the columbia police department. like you said, corning's out of a job. and we still have a few questions that we'd like him to answer. but he hasn't called us back. >> so judge mills, judge karen, one of the questions is, should the cops have treated this differently. i don't know if it's appropriate, i certainly don't think it is to make a phone call to your wife when you find out the person you stop in a car works with her. and take direction from her about what to do about the case. >> you know what, it's totally improper. the attorney general is the chief prosecutor for the state. the chief legal officer for the state. and there are codes of conduct.

and they're supposed to avoid the appearance of impropriety. i read in one report that the very first thing he did when the cop came up to the window was flash his badge and said, hey, i'm with the attorney general's office, trying badge and say i'm with the attorney general's office, trying to use his influence. what's going on with south carolina? they have problems with the governor. he was supposed to be on the appalachian trail and he was in argentina with a mistress. now, the chief of the state is with an 18-year-old hooker in the cemetery? >> this is embarrassing because this south carolina attorney general, his boss, has tried to make a name for himself cracking down on online prostitution. it's a case of the pot calling the kettle black. >> i don't understand, in south carolina, you go to the black and decker power tool box, you

have the wrench and flair for emergencies. oh, yeah, the viagra, too. when ever you need it, it's available to you in south carolina. >> unbelievable. >> stay there, we'll have more in a moment.

we don't see any impropriety by the officers. we don't extend other courtesy's to folks with badges. >> that was the columbia south carolina police chief saying he didn't get special treatment. roland corning was pulled over in a cemetery with a stripper. i have to ask you, you are the reporter covering this, was there a controversy about the police report, i seem to remember? >> well, it did take us a little longer than usual to get ahold of this police report. there were some questions as to

why we weren't able to get it within a couple hours of sending an e-mail. that's what usually happens. it took a little longer, this time. >> the suspicion is there was no report written until media started asking, then and only then, they wrote a police report. we all know about governor mark sanford, let's recap and review that one. >> it began very innocently, as many of these things do. a casual e-mail back and forth in advice on ones life there and advice here. but, here, recently, over the last year, it developed into something much more than that. >> he disappeared this summer saying he was hiking the appalachians but he was hiking up his mistresses skirt.

>> i really want to weigh in on this. this is about judgment. i mean, he is at a cemetery with the sex toys in his car. at a known place for prostitution. this is why i question all these men that keep coming out doing inappropriate sexual things, at risk of their jobs of their family of all these things that we have to question what sort of judgment is going on here. >> that brings me to my big issue. sex and politicians. why do sex scandals and politicians go hand-in-hand. listen to this. >> i engaged in adult sexual -- >> i engaged in conduct that was wrong. these encounters did not consist of sexual intercourse. they did not institute sexual relations as i understood. >> for those who believe in what

i tried to stand far, i sincerely apologize. >> the bottom line is this, i have been unfaithful to my wife. >> to my wife and my family, i apologize for what i have caused. i am deeply sorry. >> we're just getting started, people. let's not forget about john edwards affair or the family lawmaker talking about spanking his mistress. i notice there's no female politicians here. >> that's what i was just about to say. i was waiting to see the one woman who was in power, who used her power for sexual favors. >> can't find one. >> it's got to do with men and power. to give credit to the attorney general of south carolina, he fired this guy two hours later. all the news reports said he fired him two hours later. at least he did the right thing. the reason why the police didn't arrest him is because it wasn't

arrestable. >> now, he'll have more time to use that viagra. you're watching "issues" on hln.

breaking news tonight. it was the balloon seen around the world. the whole country glued to their tvs, thinking a 6-year-old little boy was trapped in the flying saucer-like balloon zipping around colorado. the faa, local fire department scrambling to catch the boy. when the balloon lands, the little boy is nowhere to be found. he's actually hiding, at home, in the attic. mommy admits everything was a hoax, all to make the family look famous.

after it blows up in their faces, the heenes pointing the finger at the local sheriff. give me a break! they want him investigated. it's all as shocking as the home video of the heene boys emerges. tonight, we have the video tapes. >> did you hear us calling your name at any time? you did? why didn't you come out? >> you said we did it for a show.

>> bradford. >> that's good and your hand is in the way. oh, god, richard. >> stop it. stop it. >> oh, bradford. bradford. hey, bradford. hey, bradford. bradford. bradford. bradford. bradford. >> sing a song to him. ♪ mary had a little lam ♪ little lam. >> bark like a dog. >> woof. >> breaking news in the case of a 7-year-old florida girl who vanishes while walking home from her elementary school. 48 hours later, the body of somer thompson found thrown away like trash, 55 miles to the north at a georgia landfill.

major developments tonight. could a georgia sex offender accused of trying to lure young children into his van be linked to the murder of little somer? who killed somer? >> breaking news in the case of 7-year-old somer thompson who was abducted and murdered before she was found in a landfill. >> investigators say that 90 sex offenders have been interviewed. but, they didn't say any of them have been cleared. >> a georgia man was arrested for trying to lure two young boys into his van as they walked home from school. >> i believe he had a vehicle, coming through town to take her. then threw her body in a ditch. he had to throw her in a dump

ser right there. >> the district attorney says it's geographically feasible he may be connected to somer thompson's murderer. >> you don't take from smnd. you didn't take her from just me. you took her from my family and all these people. to put my baby in the trash like she's nothing. that's not okay. it's not okay. >> good evening, i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. it was a balloon seen around the world. now, mommy admits to investigators, everything was a hoax, all to make the family famous. after their hunger for fame blows up in their faces, the heenes now pointing their finger at the local sheriff. they want him investigated. it's all a shocking home video of the heene boys emerges. tonight, we have the video tapes.

>> he says he was hiding in the attic and because i yelled at him. he scared the heck out of us. >> the act was convincing. >> i'm really sorry i yelled at him. >> first, there was the tear filled news conference. then to top it off, the 911 call where quiet may ew ewemy hee ne made an appearance. i don't know what happened to the time. >> my other one will get pissed.

pay attention when i'm talking to you. we have to pull the bottle away. now, look. bradford. bradford. hey, pay attention when i'm talking to you. >> hey, hey, hey. i'm talking over here. hey, buddy. >> i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. see that little baby there? that little baby is bradford who is now 10. so, how long has richard heene been messing with his kids? you must be kidding me. now, he's pointing the finger at the sheriff who locked him up. you must be kidding. i want to go straight out to nia bender, news director of 710 news radio, joining us by phone from denver. nia, what is this now, richard heene wants it sheriff

investigated. >> caller: not only does he want it, but the sheriff is being investigated at this point. at this point, sheriff jim alderman is being accused of disclosing that social services is investigating the balloon boy family and it's a violation. >> a violation. but, he suggested that. straight out to nancy grace producer. ellie. now, okay. social services should have investigated this family a long time ago. so, you know, what is his attorney saying now? >> his attorney is saying that the sta chut he's violated is a colorado law that prohibits anybody from releasing information about child abuse and child neglect. it's supposed to be kept quiet. by saying he's asked cps to investigate, he's violated the

law. >> you know what, richard heene has shown them being abused for years. he has his kids in the eye of guise to have. how is this, how is that not a violation and what the sheriff is allegedly doing? let's bring on the attorneys. joining us from atlanta, penny fir. okay. paul, help me understand how they are now saying, hey, sheriff -- you need investigation. >> what they are saying, mike, is that the sheriff violated a specific colorado statute that keeps these secret. it's a lot about nothing in connection with this story. >> no kidding. what else is he going to say?

he's facing charges of felony, contributing to the delinquency of a minor. felony. conspiracy, which is a misdemeanor in false reporting. penny, how is he going to defend himself now that we know and his wife has flipped on him? >> well, his wife signed an affidavit. i don't know much about the wife. i've heard the ex-wife. the new wife is more of a pleaser individual. we don't know if she signed the affidavit just to get out of there. i would like to cross examine her. as to the sheriff, he's not allowed to break the law just because mr. heene did. i have the statute here. the information is confidential and shall not be released to the public. >> he didn't release information

about the family. >> you're not supposed to give the name of the family being investigated. >> 19 -- whatever, penny, richard heene put his family out there in front of the media. he's put his family in danger, before. >> i agree. he's not allowed to violate the law. >> the sheriff is not violating the law. richard heene, they ought to come after richard heene, the sheriff ought to come after him, both guns blazing and make him pay back every cent that was spent. >> i don't disagree with you. the sheriff violated the statute. >> nothing is going to lap to the sheriff. >> we'll see what the special investigator says about this. how long is it going to take of the special investigation of the sheriff? >> they think about two weeks. this is the neighboring county,

boulder d.a. that is investigating this. >> when do we expect charges to be brought against the heene's? >> that's the big question. on monday, earlier this week, the sheriff's department presented their case to the d.a. the d.a. said they needed more information from the sheriff's office. we don't know what information or how long it's going to take. we are waiting to see if there are going to be charges. >> he has information that richard heene put the lives of police, fire and ems and the national guard all in danger because he wanted to be famous. the helicopters that were trying to find his balloon, they could have crashed. the officers chasing the balloon in the field, they could have flipped over. people could have been killed. the guy needs to be brought to justice.

>> bradford.

>> no. >> hi, bradford. bradford. hey, bradford. >> where's daddy. >> hey, bradford. >> turn the tv on and take the bear. take this. >> bradford. hey, bradford. >> ooh. >> yummy. >> get him to look at the tv. now, get him to look at you. >> bradford. bradford. >> that's good. your hand's in the way. oh, god, richard. he's fondling the bottle. >> oh, bradford. bradford. hey, bradford. hey, bradford.

bradford. bradford. bradford. >> try soft talk. >> hey, brad. bradford. >> sing a song to him. ♪ mary had a little lam ♪ little lam. >> bark like a dog. >> woof, woof. >> meow like a cat. >> no, my other one will get pissed. bradford, pay attention when i'm talking to you son. >> i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. father of the year. bark like a dog. yeah, that's real nice. father of the year. mr. richard -- mr. richard heene. i know, i seem like i'm a little upset about this, it's because i am. after spending 26 years in law enforcement and i was a volunteer fire chief in fair

fax, virginia. my dad was a firefighter. i know what first responders go through. i know all the resources and assets that were wasted on this idiot and his actions of he and his wife, who he met in acting school. but, they still -- it's just disgusting. keep in mind, folks, what brought us all to this. who blew the whistle on his parents. little 6-year-old falcon heene. out of the mouths of babies come gems. >> did you hear us calling your name? you did? >> you did? >> why didn't you come out? >> you guys said that we did this for a show. >> well, there you have it. then the father goes, mmm-hmm.

the other which i think say, oh, oh, what do we do now? what do we say? this is from "larry king live" wolf blitzer was doing the questioning. richard heene wants to say, why did you ask these questions after he was just trying to ask follow up questions. i want to bring in our psychologist susan. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> you know, you look at these two parents. you know, you look up the word narcissist and you will see richard heene's picture in the dictionary. what effect is it going to have on the kids down the road? >> it seems the parenting is disturbing. in one event, the balloon event is something we will all remember as a hoax. all the pictures starting from

when he was an infant and the youtube songs they were singing, it indicates there's very, very poor judgment. i'm glad cps is going in to investigate. the whole thing smells. it's scary. i hope it send as message to everyone else not to treat their children like this. >> look how long it's been going on. we saw the video of little bradford, bark like a dog. people take home video. i don't want to say, oh, i'm not a purist. but, you know, he's been doing this for a long time. >> right. >> then, now, as the kids are growing up, putting them in the middle of a hurricane. he's endangered these children. >> he's endangered the children and everybody else involved. he deserves to be brought to justice.

>> look at the tv, now, get him to look at you. >> bradford. bradford. >> oh that's good. your hand is in the way, oh, god, richard.

>> i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. these are the heene boys. they are only doing what their parents are telling them to do. they are making a little video. mom and dad trying to make themselves and the boys famous. they have been on wife swap twice. he calls himself a science detectivive. i take offense. i was a real detective. please. please. this balloon. this flying saucer. you know, you see the video of him kicking around in the backyard and one of the kids has to be shooting the video. i remember the day it happened, i get a call from cnn, mike, are you near a tv. get near a tv. how are they going to rescue this guy. how are they going to bring the little boy down? he's facing felony charges, but the faa could be investigating.

i want to bring in the attorneys. paul, the faa is looking in to see if they can charge him with anything. i know, the faa, their violations are calls far, federal aviation violations. i was a manager with delta airlines. they can be charged civilly and it could go in front of a judge. administrative law judge, but they could still be fined, correct? >> hold on to your seat. yes. hold on to your seat. it may be stupid and dangerous. it's a matter that will be handled civilly. let him pay the fines and the costs. we cannot criminalize every piece of stupid behavior in this country. >> paul. paul.

paul. they had to redirect air traffic at denver international airport. >> very expensive. very stupid to do. it's a civil matter. let him pay for it. >> no, no, no. i tell you what, the fbi is looking to see if they can charge him criminally with a federal violation. i hope they can. 

>> hi, bradford. bradford.

hey, bradford. >> where's daddy. >> hey, bradford. >> turn the tv on and take the bear. take this. >> bradford. >> he was a master of mental warfare. he put us down, hollered at us a lot. he pushed me over a couch then threw things at me. sometimes the things would not hit me, but hit them. he flipped us over the couch and flipped the couch and he left marks on me from throwing things. >> i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. well, richard heene pointing the finger at the sheriff, wanting the sheriff, who is now under special investigation for violating the law dealing with social services. personally, i don't think so. i want to go to marty mccarry. good to see you, again. >> good to see you, mike.

>> we saw in the interviews, little falcon, before we found out it was a hoax, the father, he didn't want anymore interviews, but again he took him in front of some of the morning shows. this little boy was so stressed out that he threw up twice, that we saw. i mean, this little boy must be stressed out for him to become that sick. >> yeah, i mean that's not a normal reaction for anybody. you put someone in front of a lot of lights, in a stressful situation, they are in way over their head. there's a response where your body gets nauseous. you don't know what to do. they are going to be looking for other signs the kids are affected in a mental capacity. the standard checks. they are going to look for dislocations, burns and bruises in places where they can't reach. >> that video was from the nbc

"today" show. you have to feel sorry for the poor little kids, especially falcon. they are probably after he blew the whistle on mom and dads escapade, he probably got chastised severely after the video we have seen from "wife swap" and the other antics we have seen. i want to go to pat brown, author of "killing for sport." pat, when you interview little children like this, wouldn't they take them both and separate, take the parents one place and talk to them, and the kids another place? >> it depends on the laws. it's a tricky situation. the kid is between a rock and a hard place. they want to tell the truth, but they are ratting out their parents. they don't want to go to a foster home. that's what they are worried abtd about.

false reporting needs to be criminalized. have to do something about that. >> absolutely. the sheriff said, just in that county alone, 85 first responders. that balloon was rippling across colorado at a high rate of speed, not knowing where it was going to come down, you had national guard helicopters trying to track it because they thought a 6-year-old little boy was inside this flying saucer-like looking balloon. it just makes me ill. but, we also had mom, who is involved in this. we talked a lot about richard heene, but his wife, mayumi called 911. take a listen to this.

>> well, that's her call to 911. hmmm -- let me see. she said it happened 20 minutes ago. oh, okay. richard heene, what was his first call? he says to the faa, second call, local tv station. no, he didn't want fame. he didn't want fame at all. ellie, hasn't she now said, yeah, it was all a hoax? >> right. this search warrant affidavit was released.

there's a confession ey talked couple days after it happened. she said the release was intentional. they knew, all along falcon was hiding in the house. they did it to make themselves more marketable. they planned it for about two weeks. they built the flying saucer for the purpose of carrying out this hoax. >> sounds like game, set and match to me. but, i want to bring back our attorneys. penny, what about in colorado, if she is to testify possibly against her husband, what about marital privilege here? >> she would be an accessory. there's a little change in that in colorado. if they work to plan a crime together, she could be forced to testify. anything else regard iing the crime, she is not forced to testify unless she chooses to testify. that's the issue, whether she chooses to testify in this case.

>> paul, i would say that putting all this together and the charges they are facing, possibly they were -- this could be called planning a crime? >> it could be. it's going to be fascinating to see where the husband and wife ultimately come down. this would not be the first time, in my experience that husband and wife charged with a crime, having different interested stake decide to turn on one another. this is going to be fascinating. >> you know what, paul, you are absolutely right. it is going to be fascinating. i hope the district attorney's office out there does the rilgt thing, brings criminal charges in a quick manner. i want to go back to nia joining us by phone in denver. nia, what is the sentiment, if you will, of the people in denver now, knowing there's a special investigation against the sheriff now. >> caller: well, they aren't totally thrilled with that.

a lot of people are a little confused as to whether he did something wrong. the sheriff has come out and said, absolutely, i did nothing wrong. so, you know, some people are upset because they feel as though david lane, richard heene's attorney went ahead and did this. at the same time, an awful lot of people here are very upset with the heene family. if you think about it, they tugged on colorado's emotions and the world's emotions. think of all the people sitting around tv sets, hoping this little boy landed safely this this balloon. the sentiment toward that part of the hoax is charge him with something and they should be paying for this. >> abc lutdly. i know you had a lot of snow in denver. i'd hate to be in the heene house right now. everybody cooped up. should be very interesting.

there's a monster roaming free and police are turning to the public to find somer thompson's murderer. >> they warned the public the killer could be in their midst. >> someone in the community will unknowingly be associated with the offender and may be in a position to observe the behave yourl changes of that person. >> investigators believe somer's killer is exhibiting changing in behavior or giving clues the people around them may not recognize. >> a profile of a suspect. things to watch for. >> some of the things they were saying people should look out for, unexplained injuries, bruises or cuts. >> particularly on the head and

hands. >> that information suggests when her body was found, there may have been evidence she struggled with her killer. >> there are people they believe who have information pertaining to the investigation and they may not know it. >> other things to look out for include anyone who suddenly left the area. missed work or routine commitments, ses specially on october 19th, the day somer was abducted. >> i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. little somer thompson, thrown out like the garbage, found in a landfill in georgia. who is responsible for the murder of this little, little, gorgeous little girl. it just makes me sick. i want to go out to natisha lance. you have been down there. you know the latest investigation, what is going on now in orange park? >> the latest in the

investigation is that there may be a break in the case according to a district attorney who is 200 miles away from where somer thompson went missing. there's a 36-year-old man who was recently arrested on about eight charges of trying to abduct two fourth grade boys. among those charges is attempted child molestation. he was recently arrested. the distriricket attorney belie could be connected to the somer thompson case. >> that's amazing. i want to go out to greg edwards, joining us by phone from albany, georgia. mr.edwards, thank you for being with us. >> caller: glad to be here. >> give us some background on this predator, kenneth kell um.

>> caller: some of the information we have is he was released in 2008. he's a convicted sex offender. one of the thing that is struck us in our investigation, relative to what's going on with him here, is he was loitering near an elementary school. he has a van that appears to be set up for the molestation of a child or adult for that matter. >> why do you say it's set up for a quick abduction? >> there's things that are revealed from the search warrant that is lead us to this conclusion. i can't get to many more details. >> understandable. >> caller: the case is still pending. we think the mobility afforded him by the van. it's why we notified the

authorities in orange park about our findings. if you take a quick glance at the map, you can see that's really about a two or three hour drive from here from orange park. >> no, not far. i used to live, i lived near bruns wick. i used to come down. it's not far at all. you come down from albany and you are almost right there in jacksonville. >> caller: that's correct. the thing is, there had not been a direct connection between what we have and what's going on in orange park, but we felt obligated to pass the information on at that moment, once we gleaned what we could from our investigation. >> absolutely. >> caller: and, of course, we just want to make sure the authorities in orange park -- we

did not have privy to their investigation, but we felt it impairtive they get this information. i have been adviced they have well over 1500 tips they were following up on. we wanted to let them know what we have. >> i'm really glad you did that. we need to find the killer of somer. we know this guy is a registered sex offender in florida. a history in tampa. you draw a line between tampa, orange park and albany and you have a little triangle that cuts across the state of florida, up into georgia. you know, i hope and pray this guy has something to do with it, because this guy has been a predator for too many years. joining us by phone, a very special guest, joining us by phone from orange park, florida is samuel thompson, the father of somer. thank you for being with us, again. >> caller: thank you for having me, very much. >> well, you have heard what mr.

edwards said. what are your thoughts right off the top of your head? >> well, my first thoughts are if he's the guy who killed my little girl, i want the first ten seconds with him. my second thought is, god says i have to forgive this man for what he's done. i have, in jesus name. but, i want him punished to the full extent of the law. if florida has the death penalty, he deserves it. but, if this is not the man who hurt my little girl, then he doesn't deserve the punishment for what happened to my girl. i want the right person. i want justice to be served the way it's supposed to be. and, i can't tell you the pain

with this person who took my daughter from me put me through. i don't want to take my next breath. god tells me to go on. >> mr. thompson, i don't know how you are doing it. i really don't. all my years of law enforcement, crimes against children, it's just, the families that are affected by this is incredible to me. he has not been charged in anything involving somer thompson, but law enforcement officials are looking to see if there's any kind of link. dna, evidence found at the scene. evidence found on the body of little somer is possibly connected with kenneth kellum. whoever is responsible for this needs to be brought to justice. now, cnns heroes.

hello, i'm richard branson, last year, i had the honor of serving on the panel that selected the top ten cnn heroes of 2008. these every day citizens changing the world are recognized during cnn heroes, an all-star tribute. they tackle social and environmental problems around the world. i'm thrilled to introduce one of the top ten honor rees. now, more than ever, the world needs heroes. my name is betty makoni. i founded an organization that rescued girls from abuse. when a girl gets to the villages, she is provided with the emergency medication reinstatement in school as well as counseling. it gives them the confidence to

transform from victims to leaders. >> to child abuse. >> say no. >> to child abuse. >> say no. >> it gives me fulfillment. i see myself every day.

now, a look back at the stories making the rest of the headlines this week. >> you guys said. >> this is a hoax. >> that -- >> absolutely no hoax. >> we did this for a show. >> the mom confesses to police, it was a hoax from the get go. ex-wife patty is with us. >> that's a normal outburst, several times a week. my kids were terrified. breaking tonight, a new time

line tracking 20-year-old morgan harrington up until 9:30 p.m., across two parking lots, then a bridge. then, it all goes cold. >> it's brainy video posted on youtube. some think it fits it description of morgan harrington. >> it's not morgan. >> i wanted it to be badly. >> breaking news of 9-year-old. >> a 15-year-old girl is the murder suspect. not just murder, premeditated malice murder. >> just reach inside you and pull your heart out. that's what it's like. >> just briefly, she ran ahead and was out of sight. two or three second window of somebody to grab my child and take her away from us and

brutally murder her and throw her in the trash like she was nothing. >> yesterday was about somer thompson. today is about her killer. >> i will not sleep until this person is found. i hope they get you. i hope they make you pay. >> if this doesn't wake everybody up in america, to know that when you feel secure that your children are okay, you need to think again. tonight, let's stop to remember, army private first class, john borbonus, 19 years old. he trained to be an army ranger. he was awarded the bronze star for giving up his life to save his fellow soldiers from an explosion. he loved traveling, hunting, fishing and making people laugh. he leaves behind parents hans and maggie. john borbonus, a true american

hero. see you tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. sharp, eastern. until then, stay safe. coming up ton joy behar show. the dark side of fame and marriage. he's a tough guy. why is he so scared of me? then, 50 staff writers working in late night tv and not one woman in the bunch. former david letterman writer talks about her time on the

show. and my good friend sherri shepherd. coming up next.

tonight on "the joy behar show" sherri shepherd will be here to talk about her book, "permission slip." then, as a writer at letterman, she wasn't fondled, groped or pinched. in an interview with nell scovell, we'll find out why she left letterman. hulk hogan will be here. a life movie with choke holds. that and more, tonight.

are you looking for some helpful marriage tips? start putting out. that's the advice of my next guest, my friend, sherri sher herd. author of "permission slips." welcome to the show, sherri. >> i just saw you two hours ago. >> i know. >> i'm so excited to be here. i watch your show every night. i really do. >> and you tweet. >> you had hulk hogan on the show and he said joy, are you trying to flirt with me. you don't pretend you are flirting, then you go no. you say i'm so menopausal. i retweeted that to all of my followers. >> he believes that. he's a man.

he believes every woman is flirting with him. >> you are, you would just call people on stuff. you are honest. i would have flirted with him to make him feel good. he's a man and i want him to walk away, still with his everything his cajones large. you dade women that look like your daughter. >> you know what has large cajon cajones, literally? >> no. >> tom jones. he was at "the view" in the green room. they said you have a big package. he said it's not that, it's my testicles. do we need to hear that. >> i went to see tom jones, we went to see him later that night. i did not know that women throw their underware at tom jones. there was a lot of older women

in the audience. we go what is that large thing sitting on the stage. i think somebody through a girdle or something. there was underware all over the stage. >> size 38 petite. >> i know. it's like keep your panties. >> oh, man. you know, you say in your book, that every bout of insanity in your life can be traced to a man. i can see that. you lost your virginity at 14. >> i did. >> to who? >> gilbert hernandez. >> was it good for you, gilbert? >> how old was gilbert? >> he was 16. peer pressure. this is why kids can't give in. all the girl in school say when you have sex, you'll have great or gaz ms and be screaming and

hollering. i didn't want to be hollering. i went to my girlfriend's to spend the night. i was like you want my virginity, he was like yeah. we made a time to get together. he climbed up the tree and climbed in the window -- >> and then climbed on you. >> we did it. i was not hollering and screaming from ecstasy, it was from pain. i had the runs the next day. >> thank you for sharing that. >> it was awful, it wasn't good. it was horrible and i didn't get to go to disney land. >> do you think you have made bad decisions over the years with men or is it bad luck? >> i think it was bad decisions. i have one boyfriend who went to prison. >> is he watching? >> probably. >> what's his name. >> i can't say. he's a really nice guy. >> would he kill somebody? >> he went to prison for arson. he went to prison for arson.

>> what are y'all laughing for. he served his time. he's doing good now. he's out. you know what happened, i was at the comedy store in l.a. he got out of prison. somebody tapped my shoulder. it was him. he came and he asked if i could go to dinner with him. i told everybody. i said yeah. i said if i'm not back in 15 minutes call the police. he told me he was going to hack my body up. he was going to put me in a tub and put acid on my body. what didn't di- solve, he was going to put in his salad and eat. i had crazy guys. >> why did you go out with him? >> i didn't know what he was going to say. i didn't want to cause a scene. he wanted to ask for forgiveness about what a jerk he was. i said that's fine, you never

have to contact me again. every once in awhile, he sends me letters. >> he's romantic. >> you know who you are. you're watching. >> let's talk about your ex-husband. you pay money to him, right? >> yeah. i have to pay alimony. >> do you think that's right in that state, people have to split their money with their spouse? i don't think it's fair. >> i don't know. if i was on the other side and a stay at home mom, i think i would want half the money. i'm not going to say it's wrong. it is what it is. i'm the one working. i'm on "the view" so i'm making more money. >> why isn't he working? >> he is. i'm making more money. it's the law. >> you are paying for your son. he's your baby. jeffr jeffrey, the most adorable child. he comes to visit us all the

time. he got another woman pregnant while you were married. >> it was a little infidelity. >> he got into trouble with another woman. a black girl, right? >> she was white. >> is that like a double insult? >> we do still have those issues. i know, on my show, there's a line in my sitcom. they said what did you do when you found out he cheated. it was reverse racism. it was only white women that didn't like it. >> i wonder why. >> why did i say that? it's still an issue of black men dating white women. when you see this, it hits you of why would you go to a white woman. was i not good enough? i guess it would be the same thing if he messed around with a man. am i not good enough?

>> it is a complaint that the best black guys are taken over by white women. >> yeah. now i heard another say white women are getting mad because the asian women. >> it never ends. i mean, it's still a very big issue. >> it's a big issue. now, your little baby, we talked about him. tell me about your foundation before we go on. >> my son jeffrey, he was born at five and a half months. he goes to a wonderful school in manhattan. it's called yai organization. >> what does it stand for? >> i don't know. all i know is they do a wonderful job for children with autism and developmental delays. they are trying to build a kindergarten through sixth. >> i see. >> preschools have the they are pi that jeffrey needs.

they are trying to build a kindergarten with the therapies. i am the spokesperson and helping them. i should find out what yai stands for. >> maybe somebody could find out for us. >> it's yai.org. >> let's go back to your life. >> yes. >> in this book -- i need a book. someone will get it for me. you talk about abortions you had. >> yes. >> you have had a lot of them. >> yes. >> how many? >> a lot. >> ten? >> a lot. >> really? >> it was a decade and a half ago. i was young. for me, it was like birth control. you know, sometimes when you are young, you don't think about the ramifications or consequences of choices you make. i was one of those girls. i didn't think abtd these are babies. i knew i was pregnant and didn't

want to be pregnant anymore. >> wasn't it just easier to say i might as well use a condom. >> no. i didn't think about it. i just didn't think about it. >> you didn't have to write this in your book. you could have kept it to yourself. >> what hit me later on was the guilt. when i grew up and got wisdom, i said wait a minute, i killed a lot of babies. i'm not for abortion. i killed a lot of babies. i made bad choices. it took years before i could let the guilt go. someone told me, when you get to heaven, your babies are going to be there. for me, it freed me up of the guilt. i wanted to let other women know that you can forgive yourself. you don't have to take the shame. i don't believe in abortion, but i would never take away a woman's right to choose what's

good for her body. when you do have an abortion, still inside, you go through a lot of stuff. i tears away your spirit and soul. i don't think people think about that. >> i know a lot of people think that. i know people that had abortions, they don't think twice about it. they don't look back and don't think they killed a baby. now, it's not there, anymore. >> sooner or later it would. it's them. i feel like the more people i talk to, they do fell a sense of shame or guilt. >> okay, we're going to talk some more.

i'm back with the lovely and talented sherri shepherd. you are the only person i know raised as jehovah's witness. >> when we would knock on your door, i would see you pull back the curtains, then let them go. i knew you was home. my father would put me out first. when you came to the door, you would be like i'm not interested. if you saw me, an 8-year-old, it was harder to slam the door. >> did they slam it on you? >> i didn't because i was a cute little girl. my father put me in front. >> what would you do? standing there as an 8-year-old kid.

>> i was say i'm sherri shepherd, one of jehovah's witnesses can i share a verse with you. they would say okay. >> not that, again. >> then i would read the bible stripture and i have my watchtower and my wake. then the people would buy it. i would say can we come back and they would be like okay. >> did you like it at all? >> it was hard for me. >> i wouldn't have liked it. maybe you do. >> i was shy. it was hard to go door-to-door. they call it field service. i wasn't pushing myself on people. if they said no, i was like i have to go. i had to learn to go beyond the no. >> how did you go past the no? would your father show up? >> my father was there.

or he was downstairs. he would have stood down the stairs. they could have snatched, me, that was okay. i was well versed in bible scriptures. i went to five meetings a week, three at the kingdom hall and two studies in home, a smaller study group. if you don't know your bible, an 8-year-old could wrap you around in circles. >> were you allowed to watch tv? >> we did not celebrate holidays. no christmas or easter. >> don't they believe in jesus? >> they do, but december 25 is not jesus' birthday. the two birthdays that were celebrated ended in death. why celebrate the birth, you should secelebrate their death. we didn't celebrate birthdays. we didn't vote. when i came on the view, i

didn't know about politics. >> it was tough for you. >> you have gotten so good at it. you come in with your notes. you are on top of it now. >> i still get confused when you go off on bush and she goes off on obama. i sit back. >> you say plenty. in the beginning, it was rough for you. the worst day was when barbara said do you believe the world is round? you said i don't know. i'm just trying to take care of my baby. that's what i said. i was so nervous. >> of course, you know the world is rounld. you had a globe. >> yes. as a matter of fact, i took a globe on jay leno and said i'm not the black jessica simpson. >> she got you all crazy and you didn't know what to say. >> i didn't know what to say. >> you were a sweet girl with a great sense of humor.

you didn't let it get to you. >> i had a lot of support. >> it's the beauty of being a comedian. >> one thing i remember, you said as soon as you open your mouth, you lose half your audience. >> oh, the right wing bloggers hate me. i enjoy that. there's a clip, let's look at a clip of sherri's show. what's it called, again? >> "sherri." >> what are you doing here? is he all right? >> he's fine. >> you don't need a pediatrician. >> dr. greg and i had lunch. we're dating. >> really? since wen? >> about a month and a half -- >> it's none of your damn business. >> that was a clip of sherri shepherd in her lifetime sitcom, "sherri." >> i can't care what they did.

as long as sherri was in the title. >> you are good in "precious." >> you played somebody called corn rolls. i was up for that, also. >> why didn't you get it? those actresses in that film were fantastic. gabby, fantastic job, i think. >> i'm honor thad lee daniels the director that he picked me to be in the movie. it was really fun doing it. i keep saying monique and gabby will get nominated for an oscar. >> are you looking for more work? how much more can you do? >> i would love to do more. >> you do "the view" five days a week. >> then i do "sherri." >> when do you have time? >> they work around your

schedule. "30 rock," i go at 9:00 at night. back with more sherri shepherd in a moment. we stretch here. we stretch.

hey, sherri, the wait is over. get that hot body out here. >> well, that was the very fetching sherri shepherd when she showed her slimmed down version. that took a lot of guts to come out. >> finally, when that day came, i said what did i get myself

into. >> you lost weight and worked out. >> i was hoping i didn't fall on my heels, my wig didn't come off. men the mike pack fell in my butt, remember? >> that's right. >> we pulled it off. >> was it a payback to all those guy that is screwed you. >> i wanted to be healthy. >> why does every woman said she wants to be healthy. we don't want to be healthy. we want to be thin. >> no, you're not going to put words in my mouth. we want to be healthy. we're supposed to do pillates, you and me. >> i'm not in the mood. >> you never follow through. >> i'm just up to breathing, now. you had diabetes, didn't you? >> i still do.

my mom passed away at 41 with diabetes. my son called some other woman mommy. i want to be around for him. >> we have questions from facebook and twitter. >> yes. >> bernie sent us a question on twitter. he wants to know if you ever had tweet sex? >> well -- >> sounds like sleeping with a bird. >> thank you. that would be a man. you can only do it in 140 characters or less. i need more than 140 characters to do that. >> how would you have tweet sex? >> i guess the guy wants you to tweet nasty stuff. >> he fweet twooets back. >> it's only 140 characters. what can you do with that? >> there's a few things. why drag it out, you know? jamie asks, you help your

ex-husband's baby's mom. are you friendly with her in real life? not friendly, we both have sons. we have to get along for the boys. >> they are brothers. >> half brothers. they love each other. we're not going to skip rope and hold hands. we say hi. >> that's very mature. nadia sent the last one. what is your opinion on marriage. i have come to the conclusion marriage is not for everyone and for some, it's not in our dna. >> i think it's in my dna. i would love to be married. if it happens, it happens. >> you are still sell bat? >> i am. i'm hanging on to it? >> why? you want to be married when you have sex? >> yeah. i don't want to be out there with every tom, dick and harry. >> her new book is "permission

slip." every woman's guide to giving you a break.

there's been a lot of talk about what went on at the david letterman show. we're going to find out from an eyewitness. i had the chance to sit down with nell scovell. a former writer. >> i was a second woman hired. the first was marco. she helped create the show. she was my hero before she

became my frepd. i wanted to be on that show. i was a journalist and wrote on "spy" magazine and "vanity fair" in new york. i applied for the show in 1988. i didn't hear anything from the show for two years. i got offers in l.a. i worked on the last season of "n "newhart." i wrote a "simpson's" episode. i got the call that dave wanted to hire me. i loved that show. it was a breakthrough. i moved back to new york to take the job. five months later, i ended up walking a wway from my dream jo because it was a hostile work environment. >> describe it a little bit for me. >> well -- >> just -- >> 19-year-old office gossip is so fascinating, isn't it?

i -- >> i don't want to hear the gossip. what was going on that made you leave. you loved the job and the show. something was going on. >> i was not going to flurish. it was just a situation where i was -- you know, you talked about it on "the view" yourself. if you are doing your job and working hard and you are in the middle of a soap opera, then, you know, that's not -- i wasn't going to thrive professionally. i didn't get the memo as a young girl that said you should have low self-esteem and put up with crap. so, i quit. >> good for you. some people say you should have stayed. some say you should have stayed. when you quit a job like that, a guy will get the job. >> let me also, historically, this was 1990. it was a year before anita hill.

there wasn't that much awareness of sexual harassment or sexual favoritism. i knew it was dysfunctional. i didn't think there was legal recourse. i did -- i didn't have options. i didn't have a job to go to at the time. it wasn't my first job in television and a few months later, i was working on a top ten sitcom coach, which i loved. i was on there for over two seasons. >> so what was your reaction when, by the way, anita hill story was the tipping point for all sexual harassment suits and everything else. women everywhere realize that these guys cannot get away with that type of behavior, anymore. what was your reaction when it came to light? >> the what? >> the blackmail? >> well, you know, it was a

terrible thing and no one should be blackmailed. i should say that. you know, i really didn't move on. in fact, i wrote a piece supporting dave and the sarah palin joke, just a few months ago. i dug up a great quote from johnny carson making fun of lynn don johnson's daughter. i thought if johnny could do it, so could dave. the extortion was part of it. dave exposing himself, so to speak, and the affairs, that wasn't news to anyone who worked on the show. but, then as more people voiced opinions about what it was like in that environment. you know, i talked about "the view" in my article and the misconceptions. i felt that burden to bear

witness. it's crazy. it's the tiniest injustice. >> let's talk about the time you spent as the writer in the writer's room. how many women were at the big three shows when you were there and how about now? >> well, okay. forget feelings and opinions, let's talk numbers. between letterman, leno and "the tonight show" there are 50 comedy writers. zero are women. >> 50. 5-0, is that what you said? >> yes. there are 14 male writers on letterman now. in 27 years, there have only been seven women writers on the show. today, there are twice as many men as in all 27 years. >> do you think comedy suffers, these shows suffer because they don't have women writers? >> absolutely. >> to me, they never put a woman

in late night and all the men are running late night and the comedy writers. i'm happy wanda sykes is getting a late night show. i wish her all the best. >> she's hilarious. >> it's hard to breakthrough that. >> yeah. i do think, you know, the funniest writers room i've ever been in was when i was at "murphy brown." it was split half and half. it wupt only the funniest, but the crudest, probably. you know, one of the reasons i wanted to become a comedy writer, i saw a movie albert brooks made, "real life" -- >> oh, yeah. >> he always wrote with a woman, monica johnson. i think the more viewpoints, the more comedy. if everyone is shooting for the same joke target and no one is looking into the weeds for the

unexpected, then the whole product suffers. >> thank you for coming on the show. you blew off a few other shows to be on mine, i appreciate that. >> i appreciate all you had to say on "the view." when we come back, hulk hogan joins me to discuss the dark side of fame. stick around.

hulk hogan has dealt with tough opponents in his day. in his new book, "my life outside the ring" he talks about abuse, anger and extramarital affairs. he talks about suicide thoughts. that's where i came in. >> i bottomed out. i had a lot of things happen. i lost my family.

i had a show on nbc, a prime time show, the first day on the set, i get hit with divorce papers. nbc on one side, my son was there. >> on the reality show? >> no, it was "american glade yea tors." that hit me. a bunch of things happened. my son had an accident, you know, and i went through some crazy things trying to get to the shoot. we had a bunch of episodes ordered. i couldn't get out of it. when i went back to tampa, the big house my family grew up in everything was gone. my kids were gone. we were animal freaks, all the animals were gone. all the clothes were gone. there were still pictures all over the house. >> why didn't you take the pictures? >> i don't know. >> that's weird. >> i was in so much pain from my back and hips.

i had a chair i sat in in the bathroom. i couldn't stand-up to shave my face. i had to lay on the floor. i had a chair i sat in to shave. i found myself sitting in this chair. it was just like it all came on at once. after 23 years of marriage, everything was over. i found myself going back to kind of like the old wrestler attitude, i grabbed that bottle of liquor and found a bottle of xanax. i ate a couple. i started drinking this bottle. my gun was there. i don't remember getting the gun. i remember hiding the gun in the safe. >> she left the gun and the pictures. >> i remember hiding the gun in the safe. i didn't want to turn into a phil hartman. it was that crazy of a marriage. i thought anybody that committed suicide is a coward.

i had no idea you could slip into this situation and not realize. i found myself playing with this gun and hitting my teeth. it went on for several days. my neighbor called me, a friend of mine, bubba called me. i thought i was doing good saying i'm doing okay, don't worry about me. finally, leyla alli called me. she said we are worried about you. hearing her voice snapped me out of it. it really did. >> it's interesting, that story. it went on for a couple days where you were toying with the idea and decided not to do it. >> i kind of hypnotized myself. i sat there. the more i sat there, i looked at myself for so long, it didn't seem real. >> did it change your attitude toward suicidal people?

one woman i know, who tried to kill herself because she was so ill, she said it's hard to do. she said it takes a certain kind of guts to do. >> i couldn't do it. >> you could not do it? >> i couldn't. i didn't realize -- i didn't understand why everything changed so fast. >> your wife. 23 years with her. you said it was horrific to live with her. >> she was unhappy. >> was she unhappy for 23 years? >> no. when we started out. i'm still madly in love with her. >> you are? >> she's a great person. i know that person. she's the one i married. as the time went on, she had a desire to move to los angeles. my work was on the east coast. we made several attempts to go back and forth. i kept several homes in l.a. as her desire to go back, my career was getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

the drinking started as a social thing. it never stopped. it would never -- i asked her, the kids asked her. shet went to the betty ford clinic for awhile. it got to an aggressive relationship. instead of saying hello, every word was the "f" word. >> the booze? >> in my opinion. >> she said over the holidays in 2007, she sank into a depression. she said i didn't have a gun, but i didn't want to live. >> it's the time you were contemplating suicide. both of you were very crazy, it sounds at that time? >> i don't know what her situation was at that time. >> that's what she told "people" magazine. >> i'm not sure. i remember they said there was going to be a war. i didn't understand that, either. >> for 23 years, it wasn't a

war. it was a war for some of that time? >> yeah. behind the scenes, there was serious hard times. her attorney, a.j. out of miami made a statement to "people" magazine saying it was going to be a war. that was the one thing that i begged linda, don't file for divorce. please don't file. when she publicly filed, that's what changed me. all of a sudden, she told everybody she didn't love me or want to be with me. it was different. >> do you think the lawyer geeked her up a little? >> i don't know. >> okay. before the divorce settlement, you said to "rolling stone," i could have turned everything into a crime scene, like o.j., cutting everybody's throat. it's a little violent. a 19-year-old boy is sleeping in your bed. i totally get it. what happened? she was sleeping with a

1-year-old boy? >> she's in love with one of the children that went to school with one of my kids. that's who she is with now. >> she's still with him? >> yes. >> how long now? >> almost two years. >> really? >> yeah. it was a situation where you live in a town and you are proud to be from that town and the world's champion, everybody looks up to you. your friends are telling you, there's a young kid driving your cars, motorcycles and boats, and a kid is sleeping in your bed with your wife. it takes you to a place mentally, good, bad, yes, no, take the high road or low road. i was saying, am i going to go down the tubes and be a statistic. i understand how someone like o.j. can go down that road and how people can make mistakes and do the wrong thing. i chos to take the high road. >> o.j. simpson, from what i

understand, he was in a lot of wife abuse, the two of them, for a long time. i don't think your marriage was like that, exactly. >> no, there was no hitting. >> this was a jealous rage, she was sleeping with a kid. he's a kid. how old is your wife? >> 51. >> 15. she must have something that this 19-year-old is attracted to her. what do you think? unless he's an idiot. >> what i'm saying is you have to make a decision in life. sometimes you have to say, okay. do i want to become a statistic and do something stupid. >> you didn't. you don't. >> no. but i understand how people flip out. i understand how a situation can happen and spln can flip out, i understand now. >> you said you are still in love with your wife, she's a wonderful person. in your book, you call her abusive alcoholic. >> i understand. i know the person she was when i

married her. i know who that person is. as things went along, i went through a situation that i thought it was normal to yell and scream and have chaos and hear cuss words all the time. i didn't understand that mentally and verbally, when you hear it all the time, whether it's abuse or manipulation, i thought it's how life was. when i was sick and tired and breathing clean air, i realize how wrong that was. it's not normal or how things are. i survived it. >> isn't it refreshing to see such a tough guy so in touch with his feelings. back in a minute.

in 1960, women weren't allowed to serve in combat. eisenhower was first lady. today, a former first lady ran for president. and women are generals in the united states army. i sat down with gail collins author of "when everything changed." i started out by asking who she thought was the most important woman now. >> you know, i'd have to go for

judge ginsburg. she was the head of an entire wing of the democratic party, the social progressive wing there, she created an entire wing. she did way more than the normal first lady. >> it's incredible. nancy pelosi, is speaker of the house, hillary clinton, the two judges, we have come a long way, in many ways. >> it's very hard, even if you were around in 1960, you don't really remember what 1960 was like. this book starts out with a woman, poor lady, a secretary, who went down to traffic court in manhattan and was evicted for attempting to fight a ticket while wearing slacks. >> really? >> it was legal to say we don't

hire women for that job. we don't hire women to be writers at "newsweek." >> now, you were the first ever female editorial of "the new york times." sarah palin, do you have anything else in common with her? do you feel like shooting moose from a helicopter? >> no. shi's not a person who feels incup berred by her genter. the first time i said that, gloria stineberg said i'm shooting myself in the foot. >> she's not inckincumberred by gender.

women don't do that, mothers don't do that. >> do you think she'll run in 2012? >> she might run. she won't win. i promise. i swear to you. >> we lived through george bush, not the brightest bulb in the circuit. ronald reagan -- >> when women have the right to be that stupid and become president. t. >> do you think in the past 30 years, we have achieved enough? >> you never achieve enough. the big huge thing that exists is the fact we have half the work force, the labor force is female and we have not dealt with the question of who takes care of the kids when everybody is working. >> and who cleans the house. we have come a long waylay di-s, but we have a long way to go. thanks for watching, good night, everybody. #ñ#ñ#ñ#ññññññññ

breaking news tonight. it was the balloon seen around the world. the whole country glued to their tvs, thinking a 6-year-old little boy was trapped in the flying saucer-like balloon zipping around colorado. the faa, national guard, local police and fire department scrambling to catch the little boy. when the balloon lands, the little boy is nowhere to be found. he's actually hiding, at home, in the attic. mommy admits everything was a hoax, all to make the family look famous. after it blows up in their

faces, the heenes pointing the finger at the local sheriff. give me a break! they want him investigated. it's all as shocking as the home video of the heene boys emerges. tonight, we have the video tapes. >> did you hear us calling your name at any time? you did? why didn't you come out? >> you said we did it for a show

>> bradford. >> that's good and your hand is in the way. oh, god, richard. >> stop it. stop it. stop it. >> he's fondling the bottle. >> oh, bradford. bradford. hey, bradford. hey, bradford. bradford. bradford. bradford. bradford. >> sing a song to him. ♪ mary had a little lamb ♪ little lamb >> bark like a dog. >> woof. >> breaking news in the case of a 7-year-old florida girl who vanishes while walking home from her elementary school. 48 hours later, the body of somer thompson found thrown away like trash, 55 miles to the north at a georgia landfill. major developments tonight.

could a georgia sex offender accused of trying to lure young children into his van be linked to the murder of little somer? who killed somer? >> breaking news in the case of 7-year-old somer thompson who was abducted and murdered before her body was found dumped in a georgia landfill. >> investigators say that 90 sex offenders have been interviewed. but, they didn't say any of them have been cleared. >> a georgia man was arrested this week, for allegedly trying to lure two young boys into his van as they walked home from school. >> i believe he had a vehicle, coming through town to take her. then zipped out of town. then threw her body in a ditch.

he had to throw her body in a dumpster right there. >> the district attorney says it's geographically feasible he may be connected to somer thompson's murderer. noting the m.o. is similar. >> you didn't take her from just me. you took her from my family and all these people. to put my baby in the trash like she's nothing. that's not okay. it's not okay. >> good evening, i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. it was a balloon seen around the world. now, mommy admits to investigators, everything was a hoax, all to make the family famous. after their hunger for fame blows up in their faces, the heenes now pointing their finger at the local sheriff. they want him investigated. it's all a shocking home video of the heene boys emerges. tonight, we have the video tapes.

>> he says he was hiding in the attic and because i yelled at him. he scared the heck out of us. >> the act was convincing. >> i'm really sorry i yelled at him. >> first, there was the tear filled news conference. then to top it off, the 911 call where quiet mayumi heene made quite a performance. i don't know what happened to the time. >> my other one will get pissed.

hey, bradford. pay attention when i'm talking to you, son. we have to pull the bottle away. now, look. bradford. bradford. now, what you got today, hey, pay attention when i'm talking to you. hey, hey, hey. i'm talking over here. hey, buddy. >> i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. see that little baby there? that little baby is bradford who is now 10. so, how long has richard heene been messing with his kids? you must be kidding me. now, he's pointing the finger at the sheriff who locked him up. you must be kidding. i want to go straight out to nia bender, news director of 710 knus radio, joining us by phone from denver. nia, what is this now, richard heene wants it sheriff investigated.

>> caller: not only does he want it, but the sheriff is being investigated at this point. at this point, sheriff jim alderman is being accused of disclosing that social services is investigating the balloon boy family and it's a violation. >> a violation. but, he suggested that. straight out to nancy grace producer out of new york. ellie. now, okay. social services should have investigated this family a long time ago. so, you know, what is his attorney saying now? >> his attorney is saying that the statute he's violated is a colorado law that prohibits anybody from releasing information about child abuse and child neglect. it's supposed to be kept quiet. by saying he's asked cps to investigate, he's violated the law. >> you know what, richard heene

has shown them being abused for years. he's even sending in to cnn storm reports of his kids in the eye of a hurricane. how is this, how is that not a violation and what the sheriff is allegedly doing? let's bring on the attorneys. joining us from atlanta, penny douglas-fir, defense attorney from new york. paul batista. okay. paul, help me understand how they are now saying, hey, sheriff -- you need investigation. >> what they are saying, mike, is that the sheriff violated a specific colorado statute that keeps these secret. michael, it's a lot about nothing in connection with this particular aspect of this story. >> no kidding. what else is he going to say?

he's facing charges of felony, contributing to the delinquency of a minor. felony. attempted to influence the actions of a public servant. conspiracy, which is a misdemeanor in false reporting. penny, how is he going to defend himself now that we know and his wife has flipped on him? >> well, his wife signed an affidavit. she's never been cross examined. i don't know much about the wife. i've heard the ex-wife on this show. the new wife is more of a pleaser individual. we don't know if she signed the affidavit just to get out of there. i would like to cross examine her to find out if what she said on the show is true. as to the sheriff, he's not allowed to break the law just because mr. heene did. i have the statute here. it clearly says the identifying information is confidential and shall not be released to the public. >> he didn't release information about the family.

>> you're not supposed to give the name of the family being investigated. kogt according to the statute 19 -- >> 19 -- whatever, penny, richard heene put his family out there in front of the media. he's put his family in danger, before. >> i agree. he's not allowed to violate the law. neither is the sheriff. >> the sheriff is not violating the law. richard heene, they ought to come after richard heene, the sheriff ought to come after him, both guns blazing and make him pay back every cent that was spent. >> i don't disagree with you. the sheriff violated the statute. he's not allowed to do that, either. >> nothing is going to happen to the sheriff. >> we'll see what the special investigator says about this. how long is it going to take of the special investigation of the sheriff? >> they think about two weeks. this is the neighboring county, boulder d.a. that is

appointed to look into this. >> when do we expect charges to be brought against the heene's? >> that's the big question. it's been almost two weeks now since the felony charges were recommended against the heene's. on monday, earlier this week, the sheriff's department presented their case to the d.a. the d.a. said they needed more information from the sheriff's office. we don't know what information or how long it's going to take. we are waiting to see if there are going to be charges. >> i tell you what information he had. he has information that richard heene put the lives of police, fir and the ems and the national guard all in danger because he wanted to be famous. the helicopters that were trying to find his balloon, they could have crashed. the officers chasing the balloon in the field, they could have flipped over. people could have been killed. the guy needs to be brought to justice.

>> bradford. >> no. >> hi, bradford. bradford. hey, bradford. >> where's daddy. >> hey, bradford. >> turn the tv on and take the bear. take this. >> bradford. hey, bradford. >> ooh. >> yummy. >> get him to look at the tv. now, get him to look at you. >> bradford. bradford. >> that's good. your hand's in the way. oh, god, richard. he's fondling the bottle. >> oh, bradford. bradford. hey, bradford. hey, bradford. bradford.

bradford. bradford. >> try soft talk. >> hey, brad. bradford. >> sing a song to him. ♪ mary had a little lamb ♪ little lamb. >> bark like a dog. >> woof, woof. >> meow like a cat. >> no, my other one will get pissed. bradford, pay attention when i'm talking to you son. >> i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. well, isn't that nice. father of the year. some of the first words he's teaching his kids. bark like a dog. yeah, that's real nice. father of the year. mr. richard -- mr. richard heene. i know, i seem like i'm a little upset about this, it's because i am. after spending 26 years in law enforcement and i was a volunteer fire chief in fair fax, virginia. my dad was a firefighter.

i know what first responders go through. i know all the resources and assets that were wasted on this idiot and his actions of he and his wife, who he met in acting school. but, they still -- it's just disgusting. keep in mind, folks, what brought us all to this. who blew the whistle on his parents. little 6-year-old falcon heene. what do they say? out of the mouths of babies come gems. take a listen. >> did you hear us calling your name at anytime? you did? >> you did? >> why didn't you come out? >> you guys said that we did this for a show. >> well, there you have it. then the father goes, mmm-hmm.

the other children look and say what do we do now? what do we say? this is from "larry king live" wolf blitzer was doing the questioning. richard heene wants to say, why did you ask these questions after he was just trying to ask follow up questions. i want to bring in our psychologist susan. joining us from new york. she's a psychologist. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> you know, you look at these two parents. you know, you look up the word narcissist and you will see richard heene's picture in the dictionary. what effect is it going to have on the kids down the road? >> it seems the parenting is disturbing. this one event, the balloon event is something we will all remember as a hoax. all the pictures starting from

when he was an infant and the youtube songs they were singing, it indicates there's very, very poor judgment. i'm glad cps is going in to investigate. the whole thing smells. it's scary. i hope it sends a mezage to everyone else not to treat their children like this. >> look how long it's been going on. we saw the video of little bradford, bark like a dog. with a beer bottle and cigar. people take home video. i don't want to say, oh, i'm not a purist. but, you know, he's been doing this for a long time. >> right. >> then, now, as the kids are growing up, putting them in the middle of a hurricane. he's endangered these children. >> he's endangered the children and everybody else involved. he deserves to be brought to justice.

>> look at the tv, now, get him to look at you. >> bradford. bradford. >> oh that's good. your hand is in the way, oh, god, richard.

>> i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. these are the heene boys. they are only doing what their parents are telling them to do. they are making a little video. mom and dad trying to make themselves and the boys famous. they have been on wife swap twice. he calls himself a science detective. i take offense to that because i was a real detective. this guy was a meteorologist? please. please. this balloon. this flying saucer. you know, you see the video of him kicking around in the backyard and one of the kids has to be shooting the video. i remember the day it happened, i get a call from cnn, mike, are you near a tv. get near a tv. how are they going to rescue this guy. how are they going to bring the little boy down? he's facing felony charges, but the faa could be investigating. i want to bring in the attorneys.

penny douglas-fir and paul batista. paul, the faa is looking in to see if they can charge him with anything. i know, the faa, their violations are called f.a.r., federal aviation violations. i was a manager with delta airlines. they can be charged civilly and it could go in front of a judge. administrative law judge, but they could still be fined, correct? >> hold on to your seat. yes. hold on to your seat. everything that we have seen is stupid, it may be dangerous. it's a matter that will be handled civilly. let him pay the fines and the costs. we cannot criminalize every piece of stupid behavior in this country. >> paul. paul. paul. they had to redirect air traffic at denver international airport.

>> very expensive. very stupid to do. it's a civil matter. let him pay for it. >> no, no, no. i tell you what, the fbi is looking to see if they can charge him criminally with a federal violation. i hope they can.

>> hi, bradford. bradford. hey, bradford. >> where's daddy.

>> hey, bradford. >> turn the tv on and take the bear. take this. >> bradford. >> he was a master of mental warfare. he put us down, hollered at us a lot. he pushed me over a couch then flipped the couch with me and the children on it. threw things at me. sometimes the things would not hit me, but hit them. he flipped us over the couch and flipped the couch and he left marks on me from throwing things. >> i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. well, richard heene pointing the finger at the sheriff, wanting the sheriff, who is now under special investigation for violating the law dealing with social services. personally, i don't think so. i want to go to marty mccarry. joining us from washington, d.c., professor at johns hopkins. marty, good to see you, again. >> good to see you, mike.

>> we saw in the interviews, little falcon, before we found out it was a hoax, the father, he didn't want anymore interviews, but again he took him in front of some of the morning shows. this little boy was so stressed out that he threw up twice, that we saw. i mean, this little boy must be stressed out for him to become that sick. >> yeah, i mean that's not a normal reaction for anybody. you put someone in front of a lot of lights, in a stressful situation, they are in way over their head. there's a response where your body gets nauseous. you don't know what to do. you just throw up. they are going to be looking for other signs the kids are affected in a mental capacity. the standard child protective services checks. they are going to look for dislocations, burns and bruises in places where they can't reach. >> that video was from the nbc "today" show.

it showed falcon heene throwing up. you have to feel sorry for the poor little kids, especially falcon. they are probably after he blew the whistle on mom and dads escapade, he probably got chastised severely after the video we have seen from "wife swap" and the other antics we have seen. i want to go to pat brown, author of "killing for sport." pat, when you interview little children like this, wouldn't they take them both and separate, take the parents one place and talk to them, and the kids another place? >> it depends on the laws. it's a tricky situation. the kid is between a rock and a hard place. they want to tell the truth, but they are ratting out their parents. they don't want to go to a foster home. that's what they are worried about. i want to say something about the false reporting thing.

false reporting needs to be criminalized. have to do something about that. >> absolutely. the sheriff said, just in that county alone, 85 first responders. that balloon was rippling across colorado at a high rate of speed, not knowing where it was going to come down, you had national guard helicopters trying to track it because they thought a 6-year-old little boy was inside this flying saucer-like looking balloon. it just makes me ill. but, we also had mom, who is involved in this. we talked a lot about richard heene, but his wife, mayumi she also had called 911. take a listen to this.

>> well, that's her call to 911. hmmm -- let me see. she said it happened 20 minutes ago. oh, okay. richard heene, what was his first call? he says to the faa, second call, local tv station. no, he didn't want fame. he didn't want fame at all. ellie, hasn't she now said, yeah, it was all a hoax? >> right. this search warrant affidavit was released. there's a confession by mayumi.

they got her separated from richard so they could talk to her alone a couple days after it happened. she said the release was intentional. they knew, all along falcon was hiding in the house. they did it to make themselves more marketable for future media interests. they planned it for about two weeks. they built the flying saucer for the purpose of carrying out this hoax. >> sounds like game, set and match to me. but, i want to bring back our attorneys. penny, what about in colorado, if she is to testify possibly against her husband, what about marital privilege here? >> she would be an accessory. there's a little change in that in colorado. if they work to plan a crime together, she could be forced to testify. anything else regarding the crime, she is not forced to testify unless she chooses to testify. that's the issue, whether she chooses to testify in this case. >> paul, i would say that putting all this together and

the charges they are facing, possibly they were -- this could be called planning a crime? >> it could be. it's going to be fascinating to see where the husband and wife ultimately come down. this would not be the first time, in my experience that husband and wife charged with a crime, having different interested stake decide to turn on one another. this is going to be fascinating. >> you know what, paul, you are absolutely right. it is going to be fascinating. i hope the district attorney's office out there does the right thing, brings criminal charges in a quick manner. i want to go back to nia joining us by phone in denver. nia, what is the sentiment, if you will, of the people in denver now, knowing there's a special investigation against the sheriff now. >> caller: well, they aren't totally thrilled with that. a lot of people are a little confused as to whether he did

something wrong. the sheriff has come out and said, absolutely, i did nothing wrong. so, you know, some people are upset because they feel as though david lane, richard heene's attorney went ahead and did this. at the same time, an awful lot of people here are very upset with the heene family. if you think about it, they tugged on colorado's emotions and the world's emotions. think of all the people sitting around tv sets, hoping this little boy landed safely this this balloon. the sentiment toward that part of the hoax is charge him with something and they should be paying for this. >> absolutely. i know you had a lot of snow in denver. i'd hate to be in the heene house right now. everybody cooped up. not being able to go any place. should be very interesting.

there's a monster roaming free and police are turning to the public to find somer thompson's murderer. >> the sheriff leading the investigation in our hurricane dolly warned the public the killer could be in their midst. >> someone in the community will unknowingly be associated with the offender and may be in a position to observe the behavioral changes of that person. >> investigators believe somer's killer is exhibiting changing in behavior or giving clues the people around them may not recognize. >> cops released a profile of a possible suspect and things to watch for. >> some of the things they were saying people should look out for, unexplained injuries, bruises or cuts. >> particularly on the head and hands. >> the sheriff didn't expound, that information suggests when

somer's body was found, there may have been evidence she struggled with her killer. >> there are people they believe who have information pertaining to the investigation and they may not know it. >> other things to look out for include anyone who suddenly left the area. missed work or routine commitments, especially on october 19th, the day somer was abducted. >> i'm mike brooks in for nancy grace. little somer thompson, thrown out like the garbage, found in a landfill in georgia. who is responsible for the murder of this little, little, gorgeous little girl. it just makes me sick. i want to go out to natisha lance. producer of the nancy grace show joining us from atlanta. you have been down there. you know the latest on the investigation, what is going on now in orange park?

>> the latest in the investigation is that there may be a break in the case according to a district attorney who is 200 miles away from where somer thompson went missing. there's a man, 36 years old, he was recently arrested on about eight charges of trying to abduct two fourth grade boys. among those charges is attempted child molestation. he was recently arrested. the district attorney believes due to the geographic closeness to where somer was abducted from, he could be connected to the somer thompson case. >> that's amazing. i want to go out to greg edwards, joining us by phone from albany, georgia. mr.edwards, thank you for being with us. >> caller: glad to be here. >> give us some background on this predator, kenneth kellum. >> caller: some of the

information we have is he was released in 2008. he's a convicted sex offender. one of the thing that is struck us in our investigation, relative to what's going on with him here, is he was loitering near an elementary school. he has a van that appears to be set up for the quick abduction or molestation of a child or adult for that matter. >> why do you say it's set up for a quick abduction? >> there's things that are revealed from the search warrant that lead us to this conclusion. i can't get to many more details at this point. >> understandable. >> caller: the case is still pending. we think the mobility afforded him by the van. the possibility of him being a

suspect is why we notified the authorities in orange park about our findings. if you take a quick glance at the map, you can see that's really about a two or three hour drive from here from orange park. >> no, not far. i used to live, i lived near brunswick. i used to come down. it's not far at all. you come down from albany and you are almost right there in jacksonville. >> caller: that's correct. the thing is, there had not been a direct connection between what we have and what's going on in orange park, but we felt obligated to pass the information on at that moment, once we gleaned what we could from our investigation. >> absolutely. >> caller: and, of course, we just want to make sure the authorities in orange park -- we did not have privy to their investigation, but we felt it impairtive they get this information.

i have been advised they have well over 1500 tips they were following up on. we wanted to let them know what we have. >> i'm really glad you did that. we need to find the killer of somer. we know this guy is a registered sex offender in florida. a history in tampa. you draw a line between tampa, orange park and albany and you have a little triangle that cuts across the state of florida, up into georgia. you know, i hope and pray this guy has something to do with it, because this guy has been a predator for too many years. joining us by phone, a very special guest, joining us by phone from orange park, florida is samuel thompson, the father of somer. mr. thompson, thank you for being with us, again. >> caller: thank you for having me, very much.

>> well, you have heard what mr. edwards said. what are your thoughts right off the top of your head? >> well, my first thoughts are if he's the guy who killed my little girl, i want the first ten seconds with him. >> i don't blame you. >> my second thought is, god says i have to forgive this man for what he's done. i have, in jesus name. but, i want him punished to the full extent of the law. if florida has the death penalty, he deserves it. but, if this is not the man who hurt my little girl, then he doesn't deserve the punishment for what happened to my girl. i want the right person. i want justice to be served the way it's supposed to be. and, i can't tell you the pain with this person who took my

daughter from me put me through. i don't want to take my next breath. god tells me to go on. >> mr. thompson, i don't know how you are doing it. i really don't. all my years of law enforcement, crimes against children, it's just, the families that are affected by this is incredible to me. i want to remind our viewers, ken kellum has not been charged in anything involving somer thompson, but law enforcement officials are looking to see if there's any kind of link. dna, evidence found at the scene. evidence found on the body of little somer is possibly connected with kenneth kellum. whoever is responsible for this needs to be brought to justice. now, cnns heroes. hello, i'm richard branson,

last year, i had the honor of serving on the panel that selected the top ten cnn heroes of 2008. these every day citizens changing the world are recognized during cnn heroes, an all-star tribute. are recognizen heroes." it tackles social and environmental problems around the globe, i'm thrilled to introduce one of this year's top 10 honories. now more than ever the world needs heroes. >> in zimbabwe, they od voicate to help them break silence. i founded this organization that rescues girls from abuse. when a girl is here they are provided with medication and school. it gives them the confidence to

transform the victims to leaders. this is the job i always wanted. it gives me fulfillment and in girls i see myself.

now a look at the stories making the rest of the headlines this week. >> this is a hoax? >> yes. >> absolutely no hoax. >> we did this for a show. >> the mom confesses to police it was a hoax from the get go. ex-wife patty is with us. >> that's a normal outburst. several times a week. my kids are terrified. >> breaking tonight. a new timeline tracking

20-year-old morgan harrington up until 9:30 p.m. across two parking lots and then a bridge. then it all goes cold. >> it's grainy video on you tube, but some people think the girl fits the description of morgan harrington. >> we learned the video was not morgan. >> i wanted it to be so badly. >> breaking news in the case of 9-year-old elizabeth alton. >> a 15-year-old girl is the murder suspect. not just murder, but premeditated. >> she ran ahead and was out of sight and there was a two to three second window for somebody to grab our child and take her away from us and brutally murder

her and throw her in the trash like she was nothing. >> yesterday was about somer thompson. today is about her killer. >> i will not sleep until this person is found. i hope they get you and i hope they make you pay. >> if this doesn't wake everybody up in america to know that. >> tonightlet's stop to remember army first class john bor bonus. he was awarded the bronze star and saved his fellow soldiers from an explosion. the skiing and snowboard team, he loves traveling, hunting, fishing and making people laugh. he leaves behind parents hans and maggie. a true american hero. thank you to our guests.

see you tomorrow night 8:00 p.m. sharp eastern and until then, stay safe. i'm brooke anderson. here's what's coming up at the top of the hour. tonight, is jon gosselin joining forces with the octomom for a reality show? jon's new spiritual side. big breaking oprah news and why she is a domestic abuse hypocrite. patrick swayze's widow speaks

about her heart break. that's your news break. tv's news show starts here at the top of the hour on hln.

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