tonight on "nightline," he cheated on a dying wife while running for president. fathered a child with his mistress and lied about it all. but tonight, john edwards is not guilty, thanks to a hung jury. >> i did an awful, awful lot that was wrong. >> inside the painful trial that exposed the very private heart ache of a very public family. wild, wild horses. the can't be tamed symbol of the american west, running wild and free as they fight to the death for the biggest harem. a look inside the world of wild mustangs. and mansome. men across the nation are primping, plucking and preening

like never before. tonight, how metro is the new ma macho. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," may 31st, 2012. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. john edwards may be a liar, adulterer and per rye ya, but thanks to a hung north carolina jury, he is not a criminal. those jurors never saw the once golden politician on the stand, never heard from the mistress who had his baby or the benefactors who gave him all that money allegedly used to cover the whole sordid miss. the trial ground to a halt, and tonight, john edwards walked, and talked, and abc's bob woodruff was there. >> reporter: today, john edwards walked out of a court a free man. it took nine days of deliberations and a wrenching false start, but a jury found

him not guilty on one count, but they could not agree on the five others. so, the judge declared a mistrial. >> while i do not believe i did anything illegal, i did an awful, awful lot that was wrong. >> reporter: the verdict, as full of drama as the trial itself, leaves open the possibility of edwards being retried. but that seems unlikely. but even a decision in his favor is a bittersweet victory for john edwards, a man who has seen his life ruined by his attempts to hide his affair with rielle hunter. edwards met his mistress while he was running for president in 2007. >> so glad you like it. >> i like it. >> reporter: soon after, he hired her to work as a videographer on his campaign and travel with him. >> john edwards for president. >> reporter: the once promising democratic star who ran for president twice and was once the

vice presidential nominee now faces an uncertain future. friends say he is eager to keep his law license so he can practice again. perhaps on behalf of the underprivileged. >> i don't think god's through with me. i really believe he thinks there's still some good things i can do. >> reporter: and waiting for him at home will be his two younger children, emma claire and jack, who have lived with him since the death of their mother, elizabeth, in 2010. his eldest daughter cate, 20 years old and recently married, was prepared to care for her younger siblings had her father been sentenced to jail time. cate has been at his side and today, before the verdict was read, she leaned to him, said, "dad, i love you." >> she has been here no matter what, no matter how awful and painful a lot of the evidence was for her. evidence about her dad. evidence about her mom who she loves so, so dearly.

but she never once flinched. >> reporter: it is perhaps cate, an attorney who now runs a foundation named for her mother, who inspires the most sympathy in this story of a family once held up as the ideal of strength and devotion, now riddled with infidelity and tragedy. cate was just 14 when her older brother wade died in a car accident. in a 2007 interview with "nightline" anchor cynthia mcfadden conducted just after elizabeth announced her diagnosis of bone cancer, she explained how wade's death drew her closer to her parents. >> i slept in their room for a year and a half which probably drove them crazy but being close to them made me feel like, one, i hadn't lost the family that was around me. >> reporter: your mother writes, cate busied herself with making our lives easier, caring for john and me. how many times then and now i have thought of the line from isaiah "and the little child

shall lead them." we were led by cate, reminded of joy by cate and blessed with cate. >> well, i mean, i think -- that's entirely too generous, but -- >> see what i mean? >> reporter: it was reportedly her mother's dying wish that she stand by her father's side, no matter what came in the future. >> if something happens to john and to me, you know, under our will, she has two kids. she gives me great confidence as i go through this knowing that standing behind me and john is this splendid woman. >> reporter: and if the trial revealed cate's strength, it slowly exposed the true toll the affair had taken on the tightly knit clan. a parade of former staffers testified, revealing excruciating details of how it all played out. jo

josh, edwards aide, said he finally went to senior aides, but when edwards found out, he shouted in a profanity-laced tirade, why didn't you come to me like a man and tell me to stop? in another heart wrenching moment, staffer kristina reynolds gave a vivid description of how elizabeth con fronted her husband. elizabeth was very upset, reynolds testified, she stormed off and collapsed into a ball in the parking lot. eventually shouting at her husband, "you don't see me anymore," as she ripped off her shirt and be ra. john edwards leaned over to his daughter, said, "i don't know what's coming. you want to leave?" she did, in tears. there were tears again when jennifer palmieri broke down as she remembered her friend's dying days. she different want to be alone, she said, crying. she also spoke about a key piece of evidence, john edwards 2008

interview with me here on "nightline," in which he denied being the father of rielle hunter's baby. a report has been published that the baby of miss hunter is your baby. true? >> not true. not true. pub irished in a supermarket tabloid. but no, that's -- that not true. >> reporter: palmieri told edwards to not do the interview if he planned to lie. of course, he did. he's since acknowledged that frances quinn, now 4, is his daughter. and today, for the first time, he spoke about his relationship with her. >> my precious quinn. who i love more than any of you could ever imagine and i am so close to and so, so grateful for. >> reporter: she's now part of a family that has endured so much, so publicly. for "nightline," i'm bob woodruff in greensboro, north carolina. >> bob woodruff on that story from the very beginning. our thanks to him.

coming up next, a stallion soap opera, as american mustangs fight and mate in a most spectacular setting. my bad. tell me you have good insurance. yup, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ normal voice ] nope, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. [ normal voice ] same agent and everything. it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not. ♪ ask an allstate agent about the value plan. are you in good hands? ask an allstate agent about the value plan. i've been crisscrossing the gulf i can tell you, down here,. people measure commitment by what's getting done. i'm mike utsler, and it's my job to make sure we keep making progress in the gulf. the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with bill weir.

>> america is largely a nation of city dwell earls. more than three-quarters of our people live on just about 3% of our land. but at the same time, an iconic symbol of america is the wild horse, running free under big skies. well, thanks to a stunning new national geographic series, all of us huddled in our urban hooichs can get a glimpse of the secret lives of mustangs. and when it comes to sex and violence -- they do not disappoint. the scars tip off his age and hard mileage. 11 is old for a wild horse. but the muscle beneath those battle wounds are a hint at the power that made him a once proud stallion king. still, younger males have taken his mares and driven him from the band. and if he can't fight his way back in, he could die alone in this big desert. it starts with neck bites.

a show of domdominance. a kick to the skull elevates the stakes. but a shatters leg -- that would be the kill shot. the old man reveelts and considers his next move. we'll check back with him in a moment, but it is stunk to re realize this drama is still playing out across the american west every day. and after this rare glimpse from our friends at national agree graphic, we just had to see actual mustangs up close. so, up on the wyoming/montana border, past the gorgeous red rock canyons and the hills of the pryor mountains, we find matt dillon. >> ye we learn this environmental scientist has never owned, never ridden a horse. to him, mustangs are just a particularly magnificent wild animal. each carrying such distinct personal tills he knows over 140 of them by name and face. >> yeah, that's gringo, all right.

that's pretty cool. >> reporter: never knowing the feel of a saddle or spur, with plenty of grass to eat, few predators to fear, it seems like these play may be the most carefree horses around. stallions are in a relentless competition with the ladies. this is galaxy. and just a week before he took this harem of mares from another stallion, including an adorable 2 week old step-foal -- >> right now, galaxy is a little high strung because he's new at this. he's got this new harem. he's just -- he's trying to figure this out and keep it all together. >> reporter: we're only watching for a few minutes before the spoils of his conquest become obvious. i'm turning red. i'm a little embarrassed for them. this is -- this is mating season. >> we are getting into breeding season, yeah. >> reporter: but it's not all grazing and good times for galaxy. before long, a so-called

satellite bachelor wandered into their orbit and begins eyeing the mares. galaxy and gringo used to run together. but that friendship is forgotten now. >> that's posturing they are doing now. >> reporter: is that friendly or -- >> that's a show of strength. like they are flexing for each other. they're just trying to scare each other, basically. to be a successful harem stallion, you have to be smart or strong or both. so, the strong ones do it just from scaring the young ones. >> reporter: thanks to the efforts of horse lovers like matt, the biggest threat to most american mustangs is overpopulation, in protected but fragile environments. in fact, he'll be up here with a dart gun full of birth control vaccine. what is the biggest manageable harem? >> about the biggest i've seen here is a dozen and it didn't last very long. >> reporter: yeah. greedy boy. >> this is about an average harem. a stallion, two or three marps

and some offspring. >> reporter: mo marpmares, mo problems. back down in the great basin desert, their distant cousins still have some issues to work out. the old man won't give up. and this time he must face a dramatically painted 4-year-old heavyweight. they fight and snort and kick until hours later, the younger stallion stands down, exhausted and defeated. the old man finds a mare and a place in the band. at least for now. "untamed americas" begins sunday, june 10th. next week, i will join them to go looking for grizzly bears. speaking of grizzly, who are the guys lined up at spas for facials and petikurps? inside the booming business of getting mansome. f three.

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you know, when the guys on "jersey shore" perform the gym, tan, laundry, they may have been onto something. a movement that's closing the gender gap when it comes to scrubbing and butching and smoothing. so, when did tough and hairy give way to sleek and smooth? well, we sent john berman to the spa to check out tonight's "sign of the times." >> reporter: my goodness. don't tell grizzly bear tom sell eck, but the new manliness of today means shaved bodies, smooth skin, sensational clothes

and, heaven help us -- >> we launched a product called fresh balls. >> reporter: it's all part of a revolution in handsome. call it mansome. a force so powerful that it led to my first ever peticure. >> we're going to turn you into a mansome man. >> reporter: at bliss spa in new york city, i met morgan spurlock. we had our toes down side-by-side. >> this is when it starts getting dils gusting. bits fly off the bottom of your foot. >> reporter: i feel kind of badly that you have to deal with my feet, though. is -- >> i feel badly she has to deal with your foot, too. >> reporter: why? his new documentary "mansome" just hit the theaters. >> i think there's a great question that the film asks, which is, what does it mean to be a man? >> reporter: if it used to mean fierce, savage and hairy, then, what's manly now? >> i think women still look at the brad pitts of the world, the george clooneys of the world, of spice guy, those guys, visually, are probably the most perfect

guys. if you are a handsome man, you are the breadwinner. and you are sensitive, manicorn, you are the perfect man. >> reporter: a few years ago, we might have called this metrosexual. a style. now, we don't call it anything. it's pretty much normal. >> what percentage of men to women do you get? >> 40%. >> reporter: hear that? 40% of their customers are men. getting facials, treatments, even something called a man-kini wax. we won't go into details. "mansome" features jason bateman and will arnett getting a spa day. >> what works best with my face? this isn't doing well for me. >> reporter: in truth, it's not comic relief. it's reality. >> great for your face. >> reporter: even unlikely women's products are now for men. take manty-hose. yes. madonna is glorifying the style in her "girls gone wild" video.

♪ girls gone wild >> reporter: we headed down to s saks fifth avenue to find out what is hot. >> wristbands are really hot right now. leather, beads, you know, stuff like this. >> reporter: not just that, but spanx. >> it's actually -- most guys are not wearing this for vanity. it will compress you around the middle. >> just makes you thinner. >> a little bit thinner. >> how about you? >> the nose has been getting -- >> reporter: if it is born out of vanity, it is a new kind of vanity. who is more vain at this point? >> i think men are seen as being more vain because now, when they suddenly are having to care about it, they are seen as having much more vanity. >> reporter: and there are new status symbols where you might never expect, like this $100 underwear. 100 bucks sound like a lot?

>> keeps your bits and apartments in place all day. you wouldn't be surprised if a pair of underwear and a bra cost $200 in a store. time for the men to get that opportunity. >> reporter: you think men have been deprived of the right choices in underwear? >> i know i have, yeah? >> reporter: there you go. look around. some guy next to you has super comfortable underwear. some guys have feet as soft and supple as mine. and some guy out there -- >> they put their fresh balls on, just part of gifting ready for the day. >> reporter: face it. it's mansome. i'm john berman for "nightline" in new york. >> thanks to john. $100 underpants. one more bit of non-vanity news for you tonight. 14-year-old of san diego, she won the 85th scripps national spelling bee with the word guetapens. >>