i'm cynthia mcfadden.begin tonight with religion and free speech and the explosive intersection of the two. the westboro baptist church is known for picketing the funerals of u.s. soldiers and marines in protest over what the church sees as the ills of american society. gays, in particular. today, their free speech case ended up before the supreme court, but we wanted to know more about who they are and what they believe. to get answers, my co-anchor terry moran boarded the westboro van for our series, "faith matters." >> reporter: they're shocking. ♪ god showed his wrath to thee >> reporter: they're cruel and outrageous, and for most americans, simply beyond the pale. >> thank god for dead soldiers. >> reporter: but should they be against the law? what the members of this church in topeka, kansas, do at the funerals of fallen soldiers and marines seems to have violated an almost universal sense of basic human decency and they know it, and they're proud of it. you seem to have crossed a line for just about

in new york city this is "nightline," october 27th, 2010. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with a question of justice. 35 years ago, bill macumber went to prison for the double murder of two young adults in arizona. all the evidence in the crime even fingerprints pointed to him. but then shocking new evidence emerged indicating that macumber may have been framed by his own wife while they were locked in an ugly divorce. now, the couple's son wants his ailing father freed. dan harris followed the case all the way to the governor's office. "nightline" investigates. >> i want her to know who i am. i want her to know i'm bill macumber's son. >> reporter: ron kempfert is a son engaged in a desperate battle with two forceful women. the governor of arizona and his own mother. this is a fight over the fate of ron's father bill macumber imprisoned for 35 years. >> this is the house i grew up in. first seven years of my life here. >> reporter: ron spent most of his life believing his father was a monster. what types of things did your mother say about him? >> he's a

in new york city, this is "nightline," october 5th, 2010. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with a terrible crime and a step toward justice. three years ago, dr. william petit was asleep when intruders broke into his connecticut home, beat him and bound him then the intruders turned viciously on dr. petit's wife and two daughters. today, the doctor passed a milestone in his ordeal. one of the intruders was convicted on murder. tonight, dr. petit talks about how the nightmare unfolded. ashleigh banfield reports. >> reporter: on the steps of a connecticut courthouse, dr. william petit emerges stoic, but relieveded. >> we did our best to keep our faith in god that justice would be served. >> reporter: a guilty verdict for stephen hayes. he's the first of two men to be tried of an unimaginable crime against dr. petit's family three years ago. >> there is some relief, but my family is still gone. it doesn't bring them back. it doesn't bring back the home that we had. >> reporter: dr. petit has come here, day after excruciating day, relieving a nightmare. >> if yo

." >>> from the global resources of abc news with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city this is "nightline," september 30th, 2010. >> good evening. we begin tonight with a look at the safety and quality of consumer products. spurred by yet another product recall. giant toy manufacturer fisher price today took millions of kids toys deemed unsafe by the government off the shelves. so, are there ways for consumers to tell the difference between a bargain and a lemon, before they buy? one nonprofit group works overtime using and abusing products to sort it all out. tonight, brian rooney visits the incredible laboratories of consumer reports. >> reporter: this machine is known around the laboratory as johnny walker. all johnny does is pound a treadmill, hour after hour, day after day. down the hall a technician slathers hundreds of dishes with food. lets them dry to a crust, then runs them through a battery of dishwashers. >> some machines come out totally spotless and others will come out even worse than this. >> reporter: these are the laboratories of consumers un

." >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 28th, 2010. >> good evening. we begin tonight with sex and social more rays, thanks in large part to the internet, pornography is more persuasive than ever before. but the vulgar version of sex that porn sells is being challenged by one new magazine headed by a husband and wife team. they say keeping it real is what's really sexy. my co-anchor bill weir has the story for our series "modern sex in america." >> here we go. >> reporter: this is a $60 hotel room just off the new jersey turnpike. there is no crew here, no stylist. just a husband and wife with an old camera, snapping photos of a naked teenager. but they say, this is not some sleazy corner of the porn industry, but rather, a rallying cry against it. >> that's beautiful right there. >> reporter: the way they see it, their upstart magazine called "jacques" is a slingshot of taste aimed at the spray tango lie yath that is the adult industrial complex. they believe america's hungry

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 14th, 2010. >> good evening. we begin again tonight with the extraordinary story of the chilean miners. news this evening that three of the rescued men left the hospital by the back door as the media swarmed in front. they are the first of the 33 to be given a clean bill of health. what life will be like for the men once they return to their homes remains to be seen. for one of them, surviving in the mine may have been the easy part, as his mistress, not his wife, greeted him above ground. neal karlinsky has the details. >> reporter: when they descended into the mine a little more than two months ago, they were simple men with simple lives. they were victor mario and yonni. but they've come back transformed. today, in chile, they are the entertainer, the writer and the lover. three miners who came out of the tunnel and straight into the limelight. the lover was yonni bare yoesrios, the 21st miner to come up the only one with medical exper

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, cynthia mcfadden and terry moran in new york city, and bill weir live from the san jose mine in chile, this is "nightline," october 13th, 2010. >> i'm bill weir, and welcome back to a frosty, yet jubilant northern chilean, where they are celebrating the final man out of the san jose mine. imagine if you are the man, if you're the last man to leave this place, say you're manual gonzalez, who happened to be the first rescuer to go down and start this process, 24 hours ago, how do you do it? how do you leave? well, you take a well deserved bow. because you and your team have accomplished something that few people ever imagined. as for the 33, how they will deal with the sudden fame and fortune, how they will manage the post-traumatic stress, all of that remains to be seen. but for tonight, they are free, and they are surrounded by pure human affection, both near and far, and we begin tonight with a look back at the last 24 miraculous hours. and it is the best kind of suspense tale, scary as hell, but everyone gets out alive. luis urzua

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 19th, 2010. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. and we're going to begin tonight with the hunt for a missing child in north carolina. 10-year-old zahra parker, who at such a young age had already lost of left leg to cancer. was last seen by someone outside her family in september. her step-mother, lisa baker. she faces felony obstruction of justice charges in relation to this case. but that is only one of many complications facing north carolina authorities. tonight, yunji de nies has our report. >> reporter: it began the way these stories sadly so often do. a missing little girl, her smiling face sent in amber alerts and a father's desperate plea for help. >> i just hope i can get my dau daughter back. i miss her so much. >> reporter: but from the beginning, something different add up. and this husband seemed to implicate his wife. do you think your wife was any way involved in your daughter's disappearance? >> i'm not sure. i'd like to th

." >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 15th, 2010. >> good evening, everyone, i'm bill weir back inside after a thrilling week down at the chilean mine rescue. so many rich storylines down there. but the one that captured the most headlines in this country involved yonni barrios, his wife and his mistress. there is a lot more nuance to this love triangle than originally told. until about five years ago, divorce was illegal in chile. so, there are a lot more marriages in name only in that part of the world than in this one. and against that backdrop, jeffrey kofman feels in more details from chile. >> reporter: today, the miners came home to a hero's welcome. florencio avalos walked into his fous, followed by his brother renan who was trapped with him. and the foreman, miner number 33, doused with confetti by his family and friends. "i never want something like this to happen again," he said. "but i can tell you the flip we had will goover forever." only two miners remain at th

. >>> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 18th, 2010. >>> good evening. i'm terry moran. we're going to begin tonight with the subject of sex on american campuses and how, in this age of instant information oversharing, stories meant for a few can become stories read by the world. the latest example is a detailed presentation a graduate of duke university wrote about her sex life that proceeded to go viral on the internet, embarrassing the author and those she named. so what's going on here? is it that social norms are changing? or does the change have more to do with social media? vicki mabrey reports for our series "modern sex in america." >> reporter: that one wild college night can live on forever in viral videos, raunchy blogs, even in a power point presentation. a few weeks ago, karen owen, a recent duke university graduate, came to embody the perils of the "too much information" age. >> a recent duke university graduate has a lot of explaining to do. >> reporter: when she catalog

." >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 7th, 2010. >> good evening, everyone. we begin tonight with the strange disappearance on the mexican border. tiffany hartley told police that pirates attacked her and her husband david while they were jet skiing on the mexican side of fall con lake and that they shot her husband to death as they tried to flee. but mexican officials and others up. tonight, ryan owens goes to answers. >> reporter: search crews spent a second day on the waters of fall con lake, looking for the body of david hartley. or for his jet ski. there is growing skepticism on border, and she knows it. >> i'm in a tough spot. i really am. but i can't do anything until we can get over there and find him. >> reporter: tiffany says she waters on their jet skis to partially submerged in the lake that straddles the border. why did you want to go? >> actually, my husband wanted to do the church. he loves history. >> reporter: people will say, come on, he was willing to risk

." >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 8th, 2010. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. and we're going to begin tonight with online commerce. on a day when the latest jobs numbers paint a depressing picture of a struggling economy. but for some people, there's one avenue at least that still seems to intersect with easy street. and that's the auction website ebay. the site has moved far beyond its early incarnation as something of a sprawling online rummage sale and it's become a slick 8$8.7 billion market. outlook for sellers who built their own businesses, one mouse click at a time. john donvan has our report. >> all of this is listed as on the ebay site right now, all for sale. we moved from 5,000 square foot space to now 12,000. >> reporter: and so it was that a one-time lawyer turned stay at home mother named linda lightman came to be running in pennsylvania a full-time consignment clothing operation. >> this is the photo room. i used to go outside, because when i started i d

>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with cynthia mcfadden. >> remembering old halloweens is like opening little time capsules on years past. one year, the big costume might be orphan annie. this year, apart from the usual ghosts and goblins, many will take a different tact. and dress up as a current event. and for jeremy hubbard, that's a "sign of the times." >> reporter: of all the frightening, horrifying costumes on store shelves this halloween, we've found the scariest. >> everybody needs to go out and grab the dj pauly d costume. >> reporter: sadly, that guy's youtube sales pitch is dead on. this year will go down as the "jersey shore" halloween. seeing a gold mine, mtv launched its first reality costume line this year and they're the hot sellers, overtaking lady gaga. makes sense, afternoon all, what invokes terror twit like -- >> guidos! >> reporter: snooki. if spray tans and sprayed hair aren't your thing, perhaps a costume ripped from the headlines. chilean miner. and, no, and awaiting wife and mistress are not included. if hard hats won't do, there is always the

." >> announcer: from the global resourtss of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weiryork city, this is "nightline," october 22nd, 2010. >> good evening. we're going to begin tonight with one of those colorful corners of american culture that can be mysterious to outsiders, but all consuming to those who participate. child beauty pageants. little girls as young as 3 compete for beauty crowns, all with the encouragement of their parents. but now, it's not just the moms, it's the dads, who are playing the role of head coach and cheerleader for their daughters. and tonight, andrea canning introduces us to pageant dads. >> reporter: they're a sideline staple on the pageant circuit. extreme stage moms accused of living through their daughters. >> our next contestant is going to be ava perez. >> reporter: but now, there's a new and unexpected face emerging in the world of glitz and glamour. the pageant dad. >> shaky shaky. >> i don't know. i didn't see -- >> she did a back flip. >> reporter: on the hit show "toddlers and ttiaras," david per perez wants to take his daughter t

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 1st, 2010. >> good evening. we begin tonight with every parent's nightmare. the heart-rending story of tyler cle clementi, who ended his life after his roommate allegedly broadcast a sexual encounter over the internet. tyler's parents says quote, we hope this will serve as a call for compassion, empathy and human dignity. and new details of cle men tip's online activity have emerged. linsey davis has the inside story. >> reporter: the last 48 hours of tyler clementi's life played out online. revealing the perils of living in a digital age. some might call it the death of privacy. yesterday, police identified the body of the 18-year-old rutgers university freshman and talented violinist who jumped off the george washington bridge to his death last week. jumping off the gw bridge. sorry. he posted these words to his facebook account reportedly 20 minutes before committing suicide. his wallet, laptop and cell phone found near the bridge. thi

i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with a rare condition doctors have diagnosed in some of the pickiest of eaters. children so choosy that no amount of coaxing will get them to venture behind a tiny selection of foods. this goes way beyond eat your carrots. in fact, the condition has a name, food neophobia. and its health risks have driven some parents to the drastic measure of enrolling kids in eating disorder clinics where the pie in the sky goal may be as simple as a slice of pizza. vicki mabrey has our report. >> i'll put a little bit of everything on your plate. >> no. >> how about some plain spaghetti? >> no. >> just pasta. >> no. >> reporter: this is what dinner looks like at the graham house in kansas city. >> here is your plate. >> yummy, yummy. >> looks good, huh? >> reporter: the family dives in. but 7-year-old erin's plate is almost empty. >> you gonna do it? >> reporter: what eric, her father, wants her to do is eat one half of a cherry tomato but erin won't. she's not just a picky eater.

." >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline" october 20th, 2010. >>> than-thanks for joining us tonight. we begin we state legislators. they may not enjoy as much limelight as those in washington, they do control more than $1 trillion in spending and have as much impact on your life as anyone in congress which is why you may find a surgery in bad behavior that ranges from koreany to criminal. here's brian ross with how far the decay has spread. >> reporter: in statehouses across the country, while few have been watching, a california lawmaker was caught on tape talking about his sexual conquests. texas legislators were seen casting votes for their absent colleagues. a new york state senator was seen assaulting his girlfriend. a massachusetts lawmaker was caught on fbi cameras stuffing a bribe into her bra. >> one, two, three, four, five -- >> reporter: and in one state after another, powerful state lawmakers, who control hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, have been sent to pri

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 26th, 2010. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. and we're going to begin tonight with fame and consequences. in new york, charlie sheen, the actor and bad boy for many years, was arrested, taken into custody at the plaza hotel here in new york after his -- police responded to a disturbance in his room. sheen has had many problems over the years, and yet again, he is in trouble, but this time, the question is, what will be the consequences? andrea canning has our report. >> reporter: it's happened again. charlie sheen, living up to his bad boy image. police sources say they discovered the actor drunk and half naked in his new york city hotel room early this morning. >> police responded. mr. sheen was taken to the hospital, no arrests were made. no one willing to sign a complaint. >> reporter: according to police officials, sheen had been drinking heavily and was reportedly screaming that he couldn't find his wallet or phone. >> he had a whol

. >> announcer: fr >> announcer: from the global esources of abc news with cynthia cynthia mcfadden and terry moran and bill nd bill weir live from the san jose mine in jose mine in chile. this is "nightline," october 12, 2010. >>> good even >>> good evening, i'm bill weir, welcome to a welcome to a most amazing scene out here. out here. it has the feel almost of a soccer party or a festival, but there is still a lot of anxiety in the air because the drama has just begun. fso farun. but fso far it seems triumphant or the first 17 of the 68 days the men the men were trapped in the bowels of the earth, bowels of the earth, they were tosumed dead. their will to survive launch aid feat of engineering including sigh y scientists, collective good will of a nation and continent, really. desert is just but this anxious party in the desert is just beginning. not including the rescuers going down in the escape pod there are still 32, sick, stressed men spirits are th. but at the moment, spirits are lifted with the proof that what seemed impossible can be done. [ applause ] [ applause ] or locals

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news with cynthia mcfadden and terry moran in new york city, and bill weir live from the san jose mine in chile. this is "nightline," october 12, 2010. >> good evening to all of you on the west. i'll bim weir. thank you for joining us for what is really an undescribable spectacle, the sort of live television event not seen in recent memory. for the last few hours, we have been watching men, one after the other, load into a small rescue pod and lifted from nearly a half mile below the earth's crust. these are men, thanks to cameras way down there, these are men we've been watching who were feared dead for more than two weeks, rising back into the world of the living. their will to survive launched an unprecedented feat of engineering that included engineers from nasa and drilling experts from pennsylvania and the collective goodwill of an entire nation, even an entire continent. families now are gathered, celebrating, more families are waiting for their loved ones to emerge. others are being taken to the hospital. really a state of the art

for cynthia mcfadden, terry moran and all of us at abc news, good night, america, and have a fantastic weekend. >> jimmy: hi, i'm jimmy kimmel, talking about head and shoulders hair endurance for men shampoo. it's good enough for the hairiest super star in football, troy polamalu. go to troyshair.com to play for ridiculously awesome prizes. let's check out the action on the field. >> what's this flag all about? >> personal foul. taunting. >> taunting what are you talking about? >> your hair is so full and thick. it's making all the players feel bad. >> oh, that's head and shoulders. it claims to give you thicker looking hair in one week guaranteed. >> i'm going to try this. >> i think you're supposed to do that in the shower. >> i know, it's okay. it's head and shoulders. >> dicky: head and shoulders hair endurance for men. visit troyshair.com each week for a chance to win fantastic prizes and a ridiculously awesome trip to super bowl xlv. "jimmy kimmel live," back in two minutes with ben affleck. maura tierney. and music from usher. a lot of teeth may loo .. until you look at the guml

i'm cynthia mcfadden. for terry moran, bill weir and all of us at abc news, good night, america. >>> hi, i'm jimmy kimmel with a word from subway. oh, my -- my little angel is up early again and it sounds like he wants a bottle. did you want a bottle? oh. did you want a bottle, my little angel? huh? oh! come on now. do you have a messy diaper? huh. maybe a tooth is coming in? huh. >> i want something from subway. new brek fast menu. >> jimmy: oh, my god. this is incredible. you can talk? and subway has a new breakfast menu? >> yeah, they have a foot long steak and eggs. double bacon eggs and cheese, plus healthy choice like eggs white and all the fresh veggies you want on a light wheat english muffin. [ applause ] >> jimmy: well done, by the way. let's go, let's go. what do you want from subway? >> i want a double bacon eggs and cheese on flat bread, dada. >> jimmy: isn't that -- isn't that adorable? he finally said it. he finally said double bacon egg and cheese. >> dicky: subway now has breakfast. like t

cynthia mcfadden stopped by "the view" for a look into whoopi's world. >> ooh. >> black people move quicklyen raw, always real, and sometimes slightly off-color riff. >> who are you? you can kiss my behind. >> i'm so glad you're doing my whoopi. >> reporter: the earthy yang to the refined barbara walters' yin. >> i think for both of us it was a new venture, or a new adventure. but it's been so successful. i mean, the audience just loves you. >> reporter: she's never been shy about being anything but totally honest. ironically, her first breakthrough role was a serious one. in 1985, when she played an abused wife in steven spielberg's "the color purple." she went on to win an oscar for the 1990 film "ghost." >> hey you. my name's sam wheat. can you hear me? sam wheat. say my name. say it. >> leave me alone! >> reporter: she'd come a long way from the housing project where she grew up as karen elaine johnson. >> ladies and gentlemen, whoopi goldberg. >> reporter: by 1994 hosting the oscars. >> there haven't been this many showbiz executives so nervous, sweating over one woman since heidi flei