breaking news tonight live, arizona, a gorgeous 23-year-old mom takes off from her home, tempe, arizona, by car, for a 978-mile road trip with this beautiful 8-month-old baby boy, gabriel. she ends up spending christmas holed up in a local motel alone, san antonio, texas. along the way calling the 25-year-old biological father, threatening he would never see the baby again, even telling him baby gabriel is dead. turns out, mommy was trying to give the baby away the whole

time to an arizona couple. mommy alone, no baby gabriel, hops a bus headed to florida december 27th. the last day of any credible sighting of baby gabriel alive. her car, abandoned. december 30, mommy's located in a miami beach, florida, youth hostel, minus the baby. finally, car recovered. san antonio, motel 6, baby's car seat still inside. when pressed, mommy says she gives the baby away to a couple she just runs into at a local texas public park. bombshell tonight. the would-be adoptive parents, the arizona couple, jack and tammi smith, they were just with

us live last night, just named persons of interest in baby gabriel's disappearance. repeat, persons of interest in the baby's disappearance. why? also tonight, inside mommy's hotel, the baby's highchair and baby clothes still there in disarray. why didn't she give his things to the couple who took the baby? and tonight, grainy surveillance video emerges showing mommy alone in her car getting out and heading to the bus station. we also learn mommy extremely computer savvy and trying to cover her tracks. cops try their best to get a composite stretch of this mystery couple, but it's a no-go. as the bio father takes to the airways, pleading for his son's safe return, mommy's own grandfather saying he doubts her story. is there evidence baby gabriel is still alive tonight? can we save the little baby with

the angel face? baby gabriel. >> we are for the finding of this baby. we are not on a side. but i think that she's looking at things through non-normal eyes. our normal eyes say that's crazy. >> tempe, arizona, police are pleading for the safe return of a missing 8-month-old, gabriel johnson, last seen in san antonio last month with his 23-year-old mother who is now in florida. >> what did you think what you heard this that she alledgedly told her ex-boyfriend she killed the child. >> it sounded like a pretty weak story. it's almost on the border of unbelievable that a person would do that with the-month-old child. >> we have to pray for the best

and expect the worse. >> there are way too many loose ends here. this is a woman who changes the story the way the wind blows. >> good evening. i'm nancy grace. i want to thank you for being with us. bombshell tonight. the would-be adoptive parents, the scottsdale, arizona couple, scott and tammi smith just with us last night, just named, just named persons of interest in baby gabriel's disappearance. they are on their way to the studio to be with us live right now. >> i can't -- i can't think -- i can't think like her. i wish i could and we'd find the baby. >> according to the boyfriend in the text message, she had said she had killed the baby, would you believe that? >> well, no. i didn't believe that because the people that she was texting to, not texting to, but was talking to at the time, heard the baby whimpering or crying in the background.

>> arizona police are pleading for the safe return of a little baby, 8-month-old gabriel johnson. he was last seen in san antonio last month with his mother, 23-year-old elizabeth johnson. she said allegedly something to the effect that she had smothered the child, put him in a diaper bag and put him in the dumpster. >> what she did is one of the cruellest and most manipulative moves that one can imagine, telling him that the child is dead. >> all along trying to adopt the baby out, possibly for money. >> she basically didn't want me to have him and told me to put him up for adoption. >> met her in an airport. she was depressed, crying, and i just knew the second that i saw her there is something wrong there, and she said -- i sat down. she said something and i don't remember what it was. this was seven months ago, and i just immediately, what do you want to do with your baby? >> what is more frightening is that she's vengeful. this is a woman who -- an immature woman who is desperate and in her own statements was

really seeking revenge. >> do the right thing and turn him over, you know. just the sergeant said, you know, don't worry about getting into trouble or anything like that. take him to a fire station, any place, hospital. we're just asking please. i want my son back. >> that is baby gabriel's father. it's logan mcquery often abc's "good morning america" making a desperate plea, taking to the airwaves to find his 8-month-old baby boy, and i say to law enforcement tonight, please, make a public statement. tell whoever may have this baby that they will not be prosecuted if they bring the baby back. i challenge law enforcement to do that tonight. straight out to you, michael board with wai news san antonio, what's the latest? >> the bombshell dropped tonight that jack and tammi smith now

named persons of interest. now they would not say why they are persons of interest, but it's believed to be that they have information about where baby gabriel is, who may have him and where he may be, and they are allegedly withholding this from investigators? who could believe that they know where this child is, and they wouldn't tell anybody? this baby is probably crying for his mother and father, and these people, jack and tammi smith, allegedly know where he is, and they won't help investigators. it blows your mind. >> what's so sad, michael, is number one, god willing baby gabriel is still alive, number one. but number two, you're right. that little baby probably is crying for a mom that didn't want him, you know, other biological relatives apparently that hardly ever saw him, but he wants them. if that baby is alive tonight, he's crying for that mommy. she's like a cat. she gives birth and then just walks away. that's the way i see it,

michael, but so many developments. matt zorel, our producer on the story. now grainy surveillance video has emerged of mommy. number one, what day was it, and was the baby with her? >> well, we know that mom boarded a bus on december 27th. now the night before around that time mom parked at the motel 6 across the street. no baby in sight at all. she sits in the car for about five minutes. she grabs her backpack. she goes across the street for the bus station and takes a 1:00 p.m. bus to ft. lauderdale, no baby in sight. >> okay. back it up, matt. you say the video was at night? >> the video was taken from the motel 6. we don't know specifically exactly when mom abandoned the car at the motel 6. we know she boarded the bus at 1:00 p.m. to ft. lauderdale alone. >> i thought you said she's sitting in the car at night. did you not say that is this >> i misspoke. we knew that she was sitting in the car for five minutes. >> matt, don't misspeak because in a case like this, hours count

because -- all right, say she's headed across the street, the bus station or the tornado bus station is across the street. the baby was spotted alive, i believe, by people in the hotel root they are not saying who, december 27. so if the baby is alive that day and she's sitting in the car alone, that means she either killed the babe or gave the baby away within that one day. that narrows down the time in which she had to kill the baby or go to this park this, russell park, and give the baby away which sounds amazingly like the to the mom casey anthony story that her baby was swiped from her in a public park, eerie, eerie similarities. okay. matt, where did we get the video? >> got the video from the owner of the motel 6 who has shown the video by the fbi. >> okay. matt, the owner sees the video. does he know the date?

was the video stamped with a date? >> we don't know that answer, unfortunately, nancy. >> but we do know she was head across the street to the bus station, assuming that's the day that she took the bus. >> yes. >> okay. that bus leaves one time a day at 1:00 p.m., yes, no? >> yes. >> now she takes the bus from san antonio not to miami beach but to ft. lauderdale, yes or no? >> yes. >> okay. back to michael. michael, i understand that police have been trying their best -- take a look at baby gabriel, everybody. let me give you the tip line, 1-800--the-lost, a 24-hour hotline run by the national center of missing and exploited children. michael, i understand that police are trying their best to get a composite sketch out of mommy. it's a no go. either she's not cooperating or she's so vague they can't turn it into a composite. >> from what we've been told by the fbi is that she is barely cooperating with them.

they have tried to get a story from her before. she's just not giving, it and she's not giving a composite sketch either >> i don't like it, eleanor. why not cooperate with police, if she's done nothing wrong? >> well, maybe she has done something wrong and is trying to hide it. that's the obvious answer. >> when did this -- when did she come forward about this adoption stuff, and when did she give you the papers? >> she didn't give me any papers. >> oh. >> she just said -- i was at work one day and she called me on the phone and said you need to sign these papers, and i said what papers, and she said i already gave them to the people who are going to adopt him and that's the day after we had broken up. >> when was that? >> the 9th of december. >> can you tell me why you guys broke up? >> just different problems between us.

why do you believe, mr. smith, she wanted to give away the baby?

>> we are for the finding of this baby. we are not on a side. but i think that she's looking at things through non-normal eyes. our normal eyes say that's crazy. non-normal eyes say it happens every day. you give your child -- you give your child to a stranger if you're going to adopt it. >> well, you know, i have never heard of it happening every day. but all right, if that's what the mommy's scenario is, fine. i'm hearing in my ear we are just being joined by a very special guest, it is sergeant steve steven--k carbahol. he's the public information officer with the tempe police department. we're very grateful to have you with us, sergeant. thank you for being with us. we're just hearing as we go to air tonight that this arizona couple, who were hoping they could be adoptive parents, are now persons of interest.

what happened, sergeant? >> let me say this, nancy, right off the bat. you mentioned they were hopeful to be adoptive parents. logan mcqueary is the biological father. >> i know he's the biological father. >> and he's the custodial. >> i know that. we all know that. >> okay. my point was this, was that the smiths were never eligible to be adoptive parents because that was not something that logan mcquery had consented to or was going to consent to. so i want to make that right up front. >> sergeant, that is a given. we've seen the father all over tv for hours, begging for the return of his son. he never consented to an adoption. that's part of the reason many people believe this mom took off. that's all said and done. what i'm trying to find out is this recent development in the case as to why this couple who did, and i am correct, did believe that they could be adoptive parents. they wanted to be adoptive parents.

whether they were right or wrong, that's what they thought was going to happen. why have they been named persons of interest? do you believe they know where gabriel may be? >> that's what our investigators are -- we have some good indicators at this point in our investigation that tammi and jack smith do have more information than they have provided to us that could possibly lead us to gabriel. >> sergeant -- everyone, with me from the tempe police department, sergeant steven carbajal. sergeant, i know there's very little you can share with us because this is an ongoing investigation, and i understand that. we all understand that. all we want is baby gabriel back. do you have reason to believe, sergeant, that this baby is alive? >> our investigators have had indications that gabriel is alive. we are hopeful that that is the case, and we are continuing our investigation as such. >> are the smiths being cooperative with you? >> they have spoken to investigators, but again, as we stated earlier in a media

release, and i'll say it again now, we do not feel that they are providing us all the information that they have about gabriel and his location and condition. >> sergeant, can you tell us what leads you to believe that? >> i cannot get into that. like i said, there's not a whole lot that we can say. our investigators are working furiously right now as the leads are developing. minute by minute, it seems like we're getting new developments and new leads to follow up on. and a message that we want to get out as well, if anybody has gabriel, we encourage them to come forward. if you want to drop him off at a safe place, a hospital, a fire station, anything, please do so. all we want is gabriel back. >> sergeant, do you believe it's possibly true that mommy just gives the baby away to some couple she meets in a park? >> well, we are trying to determine that still at this point. we have not been able to confirm that. on one hand, we hear that that

went down and that the child was given away to a couple, unknown couple at a park. we balance that with statements made by elizabeth that she killed gabriel. which story is true? our investigators are trying to get to the bottom of that right now. >> sergeant, is it true that in one of her motel rooms, she left behind baby clothes, a highchair and other belongings of baby gabriel's? >> we cannot get into again, nancy, unfortunately, those details at this time. >> i understand. >> again, we're not prepared to get into that. we have some good information. we know, again, that elizabeth and gabriel were in san antonio from at least the 22nd to the 26th or 27th. we know kind of what hotels they were staying at. that information is out there. really, the main focus now -- we have the vehicle, like you mentioned in your rundown. it was a great recap, a great timeline. we have elizabeth. we have the car.

we now have persons of interest. the next point of interest is to find gabriel. >> okay. i know you've got to go. everybody, with us sergeant steven carbajal. and they are under the gun. they are working around the clock there at the tempe police department trying to find this baby along with other police stations cooperating with them, including the fbi. very quickly, sergeant, what can we do for you other than this tip line? >> well, if you see something out of the ordinary, a neighbor, a friend, relative buying new baby items that didn't have a baby before, anything suspicious, report that to local law enforcement. let us investigate that, because it just might be that phone call that breaks this case wide open. >> and sergeant, we believe the last time the baby was spotted was december 26. is it the 26th or the 27th? >> the last indication that we have is the 26th, not the 27th.

do you think, tammi, that she is capable of killing this baby? >> from what i know of her, i don't believe so, but i've only known her maybe three or four weeks. >> the owner of motel 6 on south 35 says after the fbi took elizabeth johnson's vehicle in connection with the disappearance of her 8-month-old son gabriel, she showed them surveillance video of johnson in her parking lot. >> she parked the car here, sit in the car for five minutes. >> then after that, johnson got the backpack out of the car, no

baby in sight. johnsen then went across the street to the tornado bus stop. >> johnson paid $180 for a ticket to ft. lauderdale, florida. we're told then that she sat here at the toronado bus stop and waited until 1:00 when her bus left on the 27th. david lopez sold johnson the ticket to florida. he says that johnson was alone when she came in to buy her ticket. >> all she had was one of those regular strap backpacks. it was pretty big. >> so far johnson has only told authorities that she gave her son to a couple she met at raymond russell park. >> yes. i believe her. i think that she did do something that ridiculous and foolish. i also got the impression that she's prepared to stick to her story and stay in jail as long as necessary. >> that would-be adoptive couple from arizona, just with us last night, now named a -- two, a

couple -- persons of interest in the disappearance of baby gabriel, but why? and they have taken it upon themselves to appear with us live tonight taking your calls. to jack and tammi smith, it's my understanding, you have volunteered to submit to a polygraph to police, is that right, mr. smith? >> it is. we did that on new year's eve night because the detectives were out there. and we said, you know, i don't know what this line of questioning is, but if a polygraph will fix this -- they said yeah, it will fix it. we said please, bring it on. set it up for monday morning. we haven't heard from them yet. >> how often did the mom, mommy, 23-year-old elizabeth johnson, contact you while she was between tempe, san antonio, and miami beach? >> well, between -- >> do you mean once she left? >> yes. >> she didn't contact us any between here and there.

we only found out when we did the myspace thing and found her account and then we -- >> and then she texted us that message. >> now i've got that message. and it says -- i've got it right here. it says, "i am ever worried this e-mail can be traced to where i am so i probably won't e-mail again. but i had to let you know we're all right because i know you must be worried sick, and i'm so sorry for that. i really am." what was she worried about? why was she worried about being traced if she had done nothing wrong, tammi? >> once we did start to talk to her, she said her plan was to keep running. >> running from what? >> just -- she didn't want logan to have the baby, and we couldn't adopt the baby because logan wouldn't sign the papers. so her idea was to just keep running forever. and we told her you can't run forever. they're going to find you. and that's all in the documents with all the fbi and all that stuff. >> out to the lines, julie in tennessee. hi, julie.

>> caller: hi, nancy. >> hi, dear. what's your question? >> caller: how long was it before the father knew that the child was going to be adopted that the mother and the adoptive parents were planning to put this -- or she was planning to put this baby up for adoption before the father knew? >> right. to jack and tammi smith, when did you guys try to get the father to agree and learn that he was not part of this? i believe she represented to you at the beginning that he was okay with it? >> she represented in the very beginning that he was back and forth with that. and so he did not have -- we asked to speak with him. he did not have a cell phone at that time. i think he's living with his father. we couldn't get ahold of him. that's when we took the -- >> we were supposed to meet up with him and the father at court. when we went to court that day, it was all settled and set up

for us to go have lunch together. and go to the park and have them spend time with the baby and discuss it all. but when elizabeth won custody, they just walked past us and left and they didn't -- they didn't come back, and we waited for about 40 minutes and they didn't come back. >> now, it's my understanding, elizabeth never had formal custody. >> she did. she had -- she had the custody -- physical custody. then when she went to court -- >> let me rephrase. it's my understanding she had shared custody with the father. they had shared custody. >> no. >> that he would get to visit. no? >> you'll have to look at the documents, but i can tell you that she had physical custody, and then when they went to court, he was trying to get custody. and the judge gave her custody and said that he could have a visit. >> okay, hold on. >> that's all i know. >> matt zarrell, i've got the

documents, you've got the documents. what do they say and give it to me in a nutshell, matt. >> mom and dad had shared custody. they had split the week. mom took her for -- mom took gabriel for a couple of days, dad took the baby for a couple of days. >> okay. now, was there a point where mommy didn't show up in court and she lost custody? >> yeah. that was december 28th. that's when the warrant was issued for her arrest. >> so, you know, it may be intertwined she went on the run instead of going to court. that may have been the impetus for this whole on-the-run thing by elizabeth johnson, and now baby gabriel is gone. we are taking your calls live. out to bethany marshall. dr. bethany, psychoanalyst, author of "dealbreakers." weigh in, bethany. >> i think your theory that she was avoiding a court appearance is very viable, but the other possibility, women who kill their children often do so because they found a new boyfriend or a new love relationship and they're obsessed with the new guy and they feel the baby is standing

in the way of love. and given that she was so preoccupied with bio dad in a very paranoid kind of way, wanting to use the baby to control him, wanting to punish him, wanting to take the baby away from him, that's a strong obsessional attachment in and of itself. could she have taken off, found a new guy, spent the christmas holiday him and then wanted to get rid of the baby? or was she so -- i know there was alleged neglect. did she simply neglect the baby and the baby couldn't thrive and the baby died? >> to pat brown, criminal profiler, author of "killing for sport." pat brown, what's your analysis? >> well, i'm very confused about what the sergeant is saying, why the smiths are persons of interest. because i have three scenarios here. one is elizabeth got tired of that baby and wanted vengeance on her boyfriend so she just killed the baby. in that case, the smiths have nothing to do with it. if she decided to dump the baby on a couple in the park, a strange couple in the park, the smiths have nothing to do with it.

the only way they could have anything to do with it is they planned with her to put the baby in the custody of a friend or a relative down in san antonio and that's where they're hiding the baby. but what point does it serve, because they're never going to be able to have the baby in their home after doing that? so none of that makes any sense to me. my opinion is that baby is not with us. >> to david giordano, former nypd. david, if the smiths, as police believe, the smiths simply know information about where the baby may be, how would that make them persons of interest? >> you know, i find it very unusual that the smiths found their way in front of a camera but they complained earlier about not being able to get in touch with the detective. they called twice to speak to a detective. >> i don't find that odd at all. because when i was a prosecutor, i was never in my office. never. i was in court, i was out on the street trying to find witnesses, deliver subpoenas. so, you know, you leave voice mails, that's not unusual.

what's unusual about that? >> if they have nothing to hide, why not just go down to the police station and speak to somebody? >> well, i find it pretty bold if they've got nothing to hide to come on national tv and to offer to take a polygraph. i find that very forthcoming. but my question to you was, if the only thing police believe they have is information, is that enough to charge them with person of interest? >> i don't know. i know that tempe, arizona, chief riff has a great detective squad. they're very progressive. and i believe that they have -- >> okay. let's go to the lawyers. eleanor odom, michael mazzariello, host of syndicated show "street court," peter odom. what about it, michael mazzariello? >> i think that you're right on the money there, nancy. this is a case where the mother absolutely had to get rid of that baby and the smiths have nothing to hide here. he actually volunteered for a polygraph test. that's what you want as law enforcement.

>> everybody, as we go to break, happy 6th birthday to tiny crime fighter mario mazzariello. he loves kindergarten, batman, and of course, mommy and daddy. veteran new york attorney, host of "street court" michael mazzariello and the beautiful elizabetha, happy birthday, little mario. pras

i met her in an airport. she was depressed, crying. her face was drooped down. instead of holding the baby here, the baby was down here. and i just knew -- >> let's unleash the lawyers. joining us, eleanor odom, prosecutor atlanta, specialty crimes on women and children. michael mazzariello, host of the syndicated show, "street court"

and peter odom, defense attorney. eleanor odom, weigh in. >> what i'm also wondering about is child trafficking. that's a really big problem. and i wonder if perhaps there was an exchange of money for this baby. i'm a little concerned about that. >> and to you, peter odom, don't you believe the police have been scouring her cell phone records? maybe they're suspicious of the smiths because they see phone calls or e-mails to them, and they think somehow they know where the baby is? i don't know, but certainly, don't you think they would immediately look through checking accounts to see if she got any money, atm withdrawals, cell phone pings. what do you think? >> nancy, this police force seems very savvy. they're playing it very close to the vest. they appear to have evidence that this baby is alive and that might be exactly the kind of thing they're keeping close to the vest because that's what they're scouring, as you suggest. >> but pat brown, what type of evidence could that be that the baby's alive? what do you believe they've got? >> that is really a good question.

i just don't get it. because the only thing that i could see that would make me think the baby is alive is if the smiths had sent back an e-mail or some kind of phone message to her that said, yes, we know where the baby is or we're going to help you put the baby someplace. i just can't come up with anything else. i just don't get it. >> i've got one thing. i've got one thing. most scenarios, by this point, the baby is not alive. one thing that suggests to me the baby is alive is basically this is the same way that she got hooked up with the smiths. they were in an airport. she's sitting there holding the baby crying. they come up. they end up being prospective adoptive parents. that's basically what she's saying happened in this park. >> and that's basically what could have happened again. who knows what happened when she got to the hotel with an empty baby seat. they have a great timeframe as to when she entered the hotel room. chances are if she did it once, she did it again. >> to dr. evelyn minaya, expert

from new york, thank you for being with us. >> thank you nancy. >> what threats, what health risks, does the baby face? >> the baby faces -- well, first of all, let's talk about what the obvious is. i mean, this baby is we don't know where or in the elements or anything. it's freezing outside. it's freezing in the midwest and it's freezing everywhere. the baby is without its mother. we don't even know if it's being fed or anything else like that. we don't even know who has the baby at that time. anyway -- and remember the baby has already been suspicious of neglect. so remember the diaper rash, remember all the things that we had already talked about. well, those are still probably continuing problems. remember, the mother is not there. dad is not around. who knows where the baby is? >> to jack and tammi smith. first to you, tammi, did the baby have diaper rash? >> yes. >> so in the short time you saw the baby, you know that -- i mean, obviously, that is a sign

of neglect right there. i mean, you can get diaper rash without being neglected, but it means you've been sitting there in soaking wet diapers. your body -- your skin literally sitting in feces and urine for hours on end. i mean, urine is like acid on your skin. >> i don't want to say -- i mean, i don't know that that has happened. i know babies get diaper rash. i don't want to say either way because i wasn't there when he got the rash. but yes, he did have a rash when we got him. >> i can tell you this much. between lucy and john david both, at age 2, they've only had diaper rash twice in their life and that's when they were on antibiotics that basically caused it to happen. it doesn't happen with every baby, i can tell you that much. >> and this was a yeast infection-type rash, like a bacterial-type rash. >> let me ask you something. you two seem very confident that the baby is alive.

because i believe in the short time that i've known you, if you believed that baby was dead, you would not have the demeanor you have tonight. you love that baby. >> sure. >> now, tell me why you believe that baby is alive. what do you know that makes you believe the baby is alive, mr. smith? >> you know, it's just a heart thing. and i'm sorry. that's probably not the answer that everybody is wanting to hear. but it's just a heart thing. and we saw in her eyes -- it's very difficult for me because i came from a great home. and it's hard for me to look in someone's eyes -- and i looked in elizabeth's eyes and i saw welling up. and i saw what i felt like was love. am i a perfect judge of character? i hope in most cases i am. but in this situation, i looked and i saw love. i saw the pull. and i just have a hard time believing someone with that love can do that. >> to peter odom. disturbing that she did not give

any of those belongings to the couple that she said took the baby and that she cannot or will not give a composite sketch of the couple. what do you think? >> well, it's certainly suspicious, nancy. no matter what she says, she's in trouble. she's either in trouble for interfering with custody with the child or with harming this child. everything she's said is completely unreliable. so you just can't really make anything out of what she says. it's very troubling that she still has all the baby clothes and the car seat was still in the car. >> to michael mazzariello, host of "street court," michael, weigh in. >> i think that doesn't indicate much nancy, because it might be that they were smart enough to realize that you want to leave everything, have nothing whatsoever that could tie this baby to her. could be. i'm only -- it's wishful thinking on my part, but it's a possibility. >> pat brown, what about it? >> i just can't believe that she went down there and miraculously found two people in a park to dump the baby on. i just do not believe it. i just can't. i don't think that's what she was going to do.

i'm sorry to say that. >> everyone, tip line. 1-800-the-lost. 1-800-the-lost. and let me ask you to please, please join us tonight, all of us, in prayer that this child is alive and that it will be found. right now, i want to reintroduce to you one of our very special guests, brad lamm. in the moments we have remaining, i want to ask brad why this, "how to change someone you love." you are the expert at intervention, at changing someone's life. >> well, you know, it was almost seven years ago now that i got clean and sober because a group of my friends stepped in and helped me. >> clean and sober from what? >> crystal meth, alcohol, i was a two-pack a day smoker. >> crystal meth, and you are a hero. >> i hear you. >> why did you ever even start

it? >> well, i was 18 when i first did it and i think i was young and dump and i tasted it and knew what it could do for me and the love affair began. >> "how to change someone you love" by dr. brad lamm. you'll see on our website tonight. n opening, and they

stepped in and helped me stop, and it -- it changed my life in that moment, and -- and as i grew and went back to school, i discovered that there was really a way i could take what had helped me get better. and when i opened my practice, i started helping families and i saw that it was not rocket science and that if we invite someone that we love into a family meeting rather than an ambush or an intervention that we're really familiar with from tv and other shows, that -- that love is a much better starting point. and a better motivator of change. >> isn't that true about everything. >> take a look at people before and after crystal meth, methamphetamine. >> i was 20 pounds lighter.

>> i just don't understand how you went from there to here. >> well, it was seven years ago. >> yeah. >> you know, a lot of time and water went under the bridge, and that's the beauty of being human is we are so adoptable and changeable. >> well, a lot of people that you love don't realize that you're addicted for some time. people cover it up so well. >> and, too, in 1989, i moved to new york, you know. i got away from my family and i really hid my addiction from most people. they saw me as a really hard working -- >> where are you from? >> i grew up in oregon. >> that's a big, big -- >> big meth place. >> that's a big leap. >> also a big meth place. >> how heartbroken was your family when they learned you were addicted to meth? >> pretty heartbroken? >> until. >> until i got better. >> look what he has done. this will be on our website tonight, "how you can change someone you love" by brad lamm. thank you. >> thanks, nancy. >> let's stop and remember army sergeant robert joey montgomery

jr., 29. scottsberg, indiana, killed iraq. awarded the purple heart, the gold star, believed in fighting for freedom. loved poetry, art, fishing, guitar, time with family, friends. favorite band, nine inch nails. remembered for his fiery red hair, big blue eyes and a smile that lit up a room. leaves behind grieving mom gail, sister mindy and brother mikeia. also served iraq. widow, missy, three children, robert, joey montgomery jr., american hero. thank you to our guests, but especially to you for being with us. and remember, keep your prayers and thoughts with baby gabriel tonight. i'll see you tomorrow night. 8:00 sharp eastern. and until then, good night, friend.