how evil can it get? a newlywed accused of hiring a hitman to kill her husband. they had only been married six months. the hitman turned out to be an undercover cop. got to love this woman. she is suing her colleague because she can't get a job. this is the school's fault and now she wants her tuition back. $70,000. lady, blame the economy, not your alma mater. controversy, opinions, your point of view. this is "prime news." this is a story that had a lot of you talking this week. a mom dragging her son around a cell phone store by his backpack

leash. we talked to an attorney about the felony charges she faces. i can't get over the video, watching a mom dragging her kid on a backpack leash through a store. verizon wireless in georgia captured the shocking video. happened in late april. melissa smith was charged with a first-degree felony, cruelty to children, new today police report details her explanation for the whole thing she says her son refused to walk and because she had health problems she couldn't physically pick him up. more on that in just a minute. we will take your calls. joining me to talk about it, criminal defense attorney jennifer bonnjean. let's lay out a couple of reasons here. one, she's saying health reasons. she has lupus, pneumonia, not strong enough to pick up her child. so she dragged the kid through the store. and the second thing she said about it is, i believe, he liked it. the backpack -- >> didn't seem to be bothered

all that much by it. >> the family is saying he had some laughs. you see a felony here or not? >> absolutely not. i am mott condoning the behavior but this is not child cruelty in first degree. let me tell you in georgia what child -- what -- in first degree child cruelty is. this is where the person maliciously causes cruel or excessive physical or mental pain. okay. most cases you see where you are talking about repeated beatings, rapes, burning of children. and this was an abrasion to the child and, again, not condoning it, but this is not the type of conducted this statute was meant to get at. let me tell you this. that statute has a sentence range of between 5 and 20 years. now perhaps you should get some services but does anyone out there think that this warrants a prison sentence between 5 and 20 years? >> we are going to find out. we have a lot of callers lined up. >> i'm sure there are people out there that do.

>> exactly. i'm seeing here someone that needs parenting help. i mean, you read further into it and she was saying that -- the police officer saying he's questioning her out in the parking lot and the kid is jumping out of the van and running all over the place. he was unbuckling himself on the drive over and looking at her for possible dui. she has her hands full with this kid. >> i have four kids myself. okay. and you didn't see what preceded this event. and if -- my kid was thrashing about, refusing to walk, i couldn't get him to comply, i might have said if you don't start walking i'm going to drag you. and i'm not saying that that would have been my best parenting moment but if it was caught on camera -- you know. >> right, you have trouble. you do it for two feet and stop yourself and try to get control. let's get a call real quick. erin in georgia. go ahead.

we will go back to you after the break. turn down the tv and we will get you and other calls in. chime in, do you think it is a felony or not? are you sympathetic after you hear about the pneumonia and lupus or do you think it is a crock? if. you can get prime news in your in box. you will get my thoughts, opinions, stories we air. plus a look -- each show we come with. join the growing prime news online community. all you have to do is head to cnn.com/primenews and follow the link.

continuing our conversation.

a mom charged with a felony for dragging her kid. -- bruce, could you show the graphic? verizon wireless. again, about 20 seconds of video. felony. let's show you what the backpack leash looks like. as you see it there -- it is like -- a little monkey, like a backpack and then the leash tied to that. that's what we are talking about here. taking your calls. erin is with us, georgia. go ahead. >> caller: yes. i feel like if she has lupus like she says she does, she wouldn't be able to drag this kid around. i think that's what happened to kids around here or around the world are going missing because parents are getting away with stuff in public now. >> we did talk to a doctor about that. she said yes, if there is a lupus pneumonia there is going to be a weakness. she understands she can't pick him up but also says to your point, erin, that would also have trouble dragging the kid

around. that was her thought there. let's get another call in. penny is with us from utah. go ahead. >> caller: hi. my comb is i don't think she should serve any prison time. i think she just needs major parenting classes. >> i agree. >> caller: a whole bunch of them. my main concern is if i would have been there and that -- store she was at, she wouldn't have been dragging that kid past me. >> what would you have said? >> caller: i would have dragged the leash and got it away from her and fought her over the kid and stopped her from doing that. >> you were that disturbed by that? >>. >> caller: absolutely. i have stopped people in places before from abusing and hitting and doing things like that. it is wrong. i don't think people should just stand around and watch it either. >> according to a police report, two women were disturbed. one woman didn't see anything wrong with it. it is like we are getting -- couple of different sides of the coin here. we had terry in tucson e-mail.

to your point, penny, saying that this is like someone being attacked on the street and no one stops to help instead of filming the incidents why didn't the person behind the camera do something. that's a different point there. let's get back to our attorney, jennifer, bonjean. you are not seeing felony but could use help parenting. you don't want do this in public. i mean, just don't want -- we all agree on that. >> it was a low moment for this mom, no doubt. i agee with the caller. i have seen much worse on the subways here in new york city. and have said things and have made people accountable in public, shamed them. and that's a much greater effect, i think, than silently record thing and posting it all over youtube. she's now -- now is a villain of this country and there's more of a story here than is being told through the one snippet which can be very deceiving. you don't have the preceding events. and at a maximum, i think she needs some assistance and services. maybe another mom just to say hey, hey, you know what, i know

it is stressful sometimes. but this doesn't look so good. maybe you should rethink this. >> yeah. that's what -- to step in, all it would -- you can just walk up, what are you doing? i mean -- doesn't look good. you dragging your child with a leash. why are you doing it? >> exactly. and she might have stopped and said you are right. i'm so stressed. this child is totally misbehaving. got him on his feet and walked out and none of this would have happened. but it is not child cruelty in the first degree. in fact, it is almost offensive because child cruelty in the first degree is such a serious offense. it almost minimizes the sense actually -- >> we have to run. you make a good point there. more with the kid. hoyb this? can you ever say no to the cute baby? look at that. how about a fast food manager did because the baby didn't have shoes on. the manager actually told the baby's mom he could call the cops if they didn't leave. shoes? that little baby is 6 months old. she can't even walk. power monger.

all right. you can find it on your computer as well. if you haven't checked it out do so. cnn.com/primenews. great time to check out the week's best interviews, stories. plus bonuses content. cnn.com/primenews. a link to our facebook page as well. we would like you to become a fan of our show.

two women back with their families on u.s. soil today. american journalists held in north korean prison for five months. they described the ordeal as the most difficult, heart wrenching days of their lives. we want to wrestling in michelle carrie with more on this emotional homecoming. it was emotional. >> it was. it was. and -- really was a team of people basically. former president bill clinton was the person who actually secured the release ease of eun

and laura ling. they lived in here every single day. >> 30 hours ago, euna lee and i were prisoners in north korea. we feared that at any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp. and then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. we were taken to a location and when we walked in through the doors, we saw standing before us president bill clinton. [ applause ] >> i don't think any of us can imagine what they felt. president clinton flew to north korea to talk to leader kim

jong-il. after the meeting the two women were granted a pardon. their families met them at the airport this morning. there's the picture that tell the story. lee had a tearful reunion with her husband and her cute 4-year-old daughter hannah. ling says when she saw president bill clinton she knew the nightmare of their lives was finally coming to an end. there you have it. >> raw emotion. something to watch. something to watch. >> it was. >> great fin toysh that. this next story, it is ridiculous. cute baby booted from a burger king in missouri. little baby is 6 months old. look at her. precious. mom says the restaurant manager threatened to call the cops because, get this, the baby was not wearing shoes. keep in mind the 6-month-old can't walk, can't crawl, too young to get the feet dirty. listen to how mom explains how this whole fifi as company went down. >> manager was standing next to

me and said you can order to go but you are going to have to leave if she doesn't have shoes on. he said it is against health code. you are going to go to burger king, put shoes on your baby or go somewhere else. >> are you kidding me? everybody loves cute baby feet. they are awesome. there's no stench, no funk, just squeeze them. part of loving on a little baby. call in with your thoughts. joining us again, defense attorney, former prosecutor mark. this manager just took the no shoes, no shirt, no service deal too far. >> two sides to every issue. on one side you have those like yourself who passionately believe that he went too far and he didn't interpret the policy correctly. and on the other side of the issue, mike, there is no other side of the issue, mike. he is an idiot. this guy is just a moron. you know, i say to him have it

your way, buddy, but not in customer service. it doesn't make any sense. >> you and i will argue about anything. >> you thought it going to go on the other side. no way. >> lot of folks want to get on the phone. let me read burger king's statement and then we will go to the phones. our franchise apologizes for this experience. the franchise is retraining the restaurant team on the proper use of the no shoes policy. little late for that. >> do you think? >> the branch contacted the guest to apologize. i believe they invited them back. little late on that front. let's get your phone calls. kathy is with us in louisiana. hey, kathy. your thoughts here? >> caller: yes. >> go ahead. >> caller: i think that the manager was way off base. you know, if he thinks feet funk is a problem, it is not. the insurance wants to -- doesn't want to cover injury to a foot if a customer doesn't wear shoes. obviously 6-month-old wouldn't

be walking. i wouldn't let my 6-month-old down on a floor of a restaurant. you know, i think it is a matter of he needs to be retrained. >> exactly. it is ridiculous. one other call. kelly is with us in north carolina. kelly, go ahead. >> caller: yeah. i have a comment. i think it is a little absurd. i have a 4-year-old myself. and children have a tendency to take off their shoes. maybe the child to be the shoes off and the mother kept them. i mean, what -- what in the right mind of a human being would do something like this? this is insane. does the law allow you to do this to children? i mean -- this is -- this is just insane to me. >> we have parents upset on this one, mark. does the family have any recourse? i guess technically that is their policy. right? the -- >> nothing they can do. you know, it is crazy to think that there's -- this manager somehow was let or heard of crack addict who are filthy and

disgusting, arguably considered shoes to come in before they let this beautiful baby nibble on a brent much fry in their place? it is crazy. >> here's -- e-mail from jim writing this. obviously the guy doesn't have children. have you tried to put shoes on an infant? if you are successful with that adventure, how about keeping the shoes on the infant? or socks for that matter. we both have been there. the shoes are all over the restaurant. socks, too. >> three times with me. when you start to appease the guy and put socks on the 6-month-old and that's not sufficient and he says i'm going call the police, still this guy should stay off of anything that has to do with customer of service. not very smart. >> not his strong suit. another call. aryianna is with us in pennsylvania. go ahead. >> caller: hi. actually, you guys have hit on a lot of points that i was thinking which is -- you don't want anybody to step on glass. there's a lot of things there. a 6-month-old baby can barely sit up straight.

they are our back in a backpack, infant carrier, sitting in a high chair. i think that this guy in his own little world wants to be the hero and play the guy g guy and look what i did, i followed the rules. he made an idiot out of himself and burger king. >> horrible pr for them. we are all on the same side on this one. a cheating husband gets the frightening wakeup call. police say that he was tied up by one of his lovers and that's when other angry women answered the -- glue was involved. i'll clean the pool if you clean the windows.

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the guy with at least two other lovers cheating on his wife, conning women for money. they used krazy glue. you get the picture. glued his manhood to his stomach. let's get a call in. help me out here. what's your thought? >> caller: yes i would like to say that was crazy. i mean, they should have took him to court. should have took him to court beforehand if they were married. >> yeah. >> it is not illegal, though. >> what's not illegal? >> cheating is not illegal. >> what's not illegal, lisa? >> it is not against the law, adultery. >> adultery is not -- that's the question. what could they have been done?

obviously they were going to band together to come up with a revenge plot, what could they have done that would be legal? >> well, they can't assault him and they can't falsely imprison him. although i don't think any jury is going to convict -- but you know, they can yell at him, scream at him. she can certainly get a divorce and take him to the cleaners. they can't assault him. >> gail, what -- i mean, women -- you have to be pretty angry to band together like this. is it normal for the wife to team up with the mistresses to get revenge? >> you know, that's interesting. these women were so enraged that they were willing to team up. that's how enraged they were. you know, hell hath no furry. he set up a situation they were willing to is your mount their competition with each other to exact revenge. however, in the real world, two wrongs do not make a right. they could have had an intervention. they absolutely could have

cornered him without assaulting him or terrorizing him. they could have confronted him and said look, the jig is up, buddy. we know what's going on. and this is what we have to say to you. so that ee he couldn't have continued to do it. they frankly probably could have, you know, verbally done something that would have shamed him if that was what they were looking for. and made it clear that they weren't buying his story you would having -- you know, what's sad, they did something self destructive. they are now in trouble. >> the one lady was -- basically saying she was ashamed because, obviously, one minute you think you are in love with this buy and next thing you find out he is a con artist. >> what they did -- >> then you are in jail facing a felony. >> they shamed themselves. now they have to live with the guilt having done something every bit as disgusting as he did. >> the classic case of diminished capacity a man comes home and find a wife in bed with

another man. shootsz the guy. he will not be convicted for murder. in 24 case we see women standing up for themselves. i think they showed a lot of restraint. they didn't kill him or cause long term harm. they glued his genitals to his stomach. i think a lot of women would say they showed a lot of restraint about we have a guy calling in. dennis is with us from indiana. dennis, go ahead. your thoughts? >> caller: yeah. completely agree with the one woman talking right there that two wrongs don't make a right certainly. i -- you know, premeditated. it is wrong. i don't know if i agree with the second lady that says when a man finds a woman in bed with someone they can come home and shoot them and get away with that. i disagree. >> quick on that point. it was premeditated. it wasn't like the surprise like you laid out there, analogy of the guy finding his wife in bed with somebody else. and then flips out.

this is like a premeditated plan. how much does that figure into this? >> they caused a lot less damage than some people do when they take a gun into the situation. they are trying tom bares and humiliate him and hopefully no long-term harm. >> i think they could have done that as well without the false imprisonment. >> high ground. >> and the krazy glue. thanks so much. now to this. another troubled marriage. i thought that lightly. you see this lady? she's accused of hiring a hit man to kill her husband. they had only been married six months. turns out that hit man was an undercover cop.

how evil can a person get? a newlywed in florida accused of hiring a hit man to kill her husband. they had only been married six months. but police say the woman unknowingly hired an undercover cop to do the job. good thing for the husband. police then planned an elaborate sting operation faking her

husband's death and calling her to the state murder scene. they catch her entire tearful reaction on tape and is arrested and comes face to face with no only the hit man but her husband who is alive and well. earlier we talked to an expert panel on this case. jennifer bonjean is with us. stephanie slater, spokeswoman for the police department. stephanie, before we go on, we have the video clip of the reaction. this is -- this is the murder scene or fake murder scene is staged. cops call up the wife and tell her to come on in. and they break the news to her. watch and listen to her reaction.

>> oh, my god. >> there it is. stephanie, were there any actual tears coming out as we listened to that? >> no. there was a lot of sobbing and her arm trembling. but there was no wetness in her eyes. >> how do these officers able to keep a straight face then? >> they are very good at their jobs. >> they wanted to laugh knowing what we know now. they knew. >> they did a very good job of playing the role. >> all right. let's backtrack a little bit. we will try to go through this krohn logically. how did you get wind of this? she had this up her sleeve?

>> we received an anonymous call friday night from a confidential informant who says that she wanted to hire someone to kill her husband. and on saturday afternoon, she and that confidential informant met in a car at a gas station to make those arrangements. it was at that time that she gave the confidential informant $1,200 to be given to the hit man to buy handgun. that would be used as the murder weapon. >> the confidential informant is who, a friend? >> that's part of the investigation. >> okay. so three people here. you got the wife, inform an and the informant tells you guy, right? >> correct. the informant called the police and the informant then helped us in putting our undercover officer who was playing the role of the hit man in touch with dalia. >> how long was this plot in the works from the time dalia got in touch with the hit man, turned out to be an undercover police

officer? >> monday afternoon. monday afterman? she met this undercover officer who she believed was a hit man. in a car in a parking lot outside of a cvs and it was during that encounter that she was asked numerous times by this undercover are you sure you want do this? at one point she laughed and said i will be very happy. and at that point she -- she also said i'm not going to change my mind. i'm 5,000% sure i want it done. when i set my mind to something i get it done. >> wow. so this is monday. when does this go down, video we are looking at? >> that was yesterday morning. about 6:30 in the morning. >> okay. got to ask you this. we will get back to the chronology of this. why was this posted on youtube? the cameras from the show "cops," how did that work out? >> no. the cam was with the crime scene sarge won't videotaped the video you see. the reason it is on youtube because for almost a year and half now, the police department

has had a youtube channel. i post all of our videos on there. as a way to get them to our local media because the file sometimes is too big to e-mail. anything that i give to the local media i give to the public because it is a public record. >> okay. so there's no way trial case again her will be compromised because this was out before it was resolved and goes to court? >> no, public record. >> okay. let's get -- jennifer, do you want in on that? >> i find it very questionable tactic to post videos that are going to be used presumably as evidence against this woman at some point. i question that strategy, that protocol, and i do think it can compromise the case and can actually prejudice her and prevent her from getting a fair trial. i -- this specific case, obviously, she has a lot to answer to. dalia. i think it is a terrible practice if the police department makes it a habit of posting videos they take in the

course of their investigation and even arresting suspects. >> stephanie, do you want to respond to that? >> no. she sent titled to her opinion. >> okay. the question i have, you know, jennifer ran with it there on the front of -- could this not compromise the case. let's get back to a couple of other things and we will hit on other topics as well. one thing i want to know is after the video we saw there, she gets arrested. i believe we have a clip of her as she is being arrested, deny everything. let's listen to dalia here. >> i didn't do anything. i didn't plot anything. >> dalia, why did you do it? >> stephanie, so she denies the whole way through. never 'fessed up even though it seems to me she was caught cold here. >> correct. she never said anything. >> what happens, explain -- lay the picture out for us when you take her -- i guess it was the police station. she is confronted by her husband. how did that go down? >> she was brought back to the

police department where she spoke with detectives. and at some point she was told that the undercover that she met with in the car was actually an undercover police officer. he was brought into the room and she was asked do you know this man? she said no. and then he was led out of the room. it was at that point we let her know that her husband was alive and well and in the room next door. >> did they have a face to face? >> at one point -- we did walk him by the room. so that she could see him and see his -- you know, in fact, he was fine. >> what was the look on her face at that point? do we know? >> yes. she actually said oh, my god. then she started saying his name. >> wow. we cover pretty rough stories. well, today one that will remind you there's positive out there in the world. centers around a program that

lives by the motto neighbors helping neighbors. here's richelle carey with our weekly feature "what matters." >> hand out instead of a hand out. helping people with a home cooked meal, warm smile and skills to help them move back into the work force. tony harris from our sister network paid a visit to see how many people are going from poor to productive. >> ernest butler is a hurricane katrina evacuee. he came to atlanta with no job and no possessions and no family. but because of samaritan house he was able to find a home and help at cafe 458. >> cafe 458 is a special place. where men and women unable to work because of disabilities. we offer a great meal that's cooked in a restaurant environment, kitchen. >> reporter: what's this place men for you? >> a great deal to me, man.

i walked through the door. shorts on and striped shirt. i went five days without a bath. i ate in the same dining area and they accepted me every day just that way. after that i started slowly pulling myself together. >> reporter: cafe 458 is one of the programs samaritan house uses to help the homeless transition back into work force. while the cafe satisfies their hunger, the edge program nurtures their job search with a computer lab, clothing, storage for their blonings, showers and laundry facilities. in the meantime, there is the clean street team which provides samaritan house client with temporary janitorial jobs until they can find full-time work. >> what the merit house often gives us a chance to get back into the world. >> reporter: 2 1/2 years ago richard taylor was homeless and living under a bridge. and now taylor is a clean street team leader managing five other workers. >> gave mean some responsibilities.

it helped save my life. >> people watching spent real time with homeless people, what would they say? >> they would see persons that are homeless are no different than they are. the fact is they are homeless because of a situation. it is only a temporary situation, able to make a difference. >> cafe 458 also has a sunday brunch open to the public. the proceeds support the program. for more information visit our website. for more of what matters, check out the august issue of "essence" magazine.

tonight's money and main street, one woman shows you how little creative thinking can save you. >> actress angela logan played many roles to earn a living. she worked as a teacher, model, hairdresser and studying to be a nurse. when she fell into foreclosure on her home, she turned to baking. >> it was a flash of december perfect sxags thought wow, we can sell these cakes. they are so good.

>> reporter: two years ago she hired a contractor to renovate the house. he took her money bup only did a portion of the work. to save her home angela set a goal of selling 100 mortgage apple cakes. in ten days, $40 each. she asked everyone she knew to buy a cake. >> the hardest part was to say can you buy my cake? this is my problem. >> reporter: a local hotel offered its kitchen to angela could big faster. angela says she baked about 200 cakes, double her goal. and by qualifying for the federal make home affordable program her monthly mortgage payment is dropping by nearly 20%. other americans in a financial bind, she says, can also find creative answers to their cash crunch. >> find your talent. find something you can do that will help. i can paint fences, now. who needs one? >> reporter: almost any talent

can generate extra cash. teaching a skill like playing an instrument. dog walking or pet sitting for animal lovers. >> this sin credible. >> reporter: internet retailer make me a wish got aincredible. got a whiff of the mortgage apple cake and now is greasing pans to mass produce it and share the7oo proceeds with ange. a whole line of angela logan cakes is planned. escaping foreclosure could propel angela logan to a new career as the queen of cakes. but back in her kitchen, she stillfkq studies nursing. knowing from experience, never to depend on just one role. allan chernoff, cnn, teaneck, new jersey. >> you can see more money and main street with roland martin tonight at 8:00 eastern and a new money and main street every thursday morning on "american morning," both on our sister network of cnn. i guess people will sue for just about anything. a college graduate who just got her diploma in april is suing her school.

she claims they haven't given her enough help to try and land her a job. so now she wants her tuition back. $70,000. she even wants pain and suffering money i. óóóóóóóóóóóóó