a former aide to pten-presidential candidate john edwards testified tuesday he helped cover up edwardsfair with a campaign videoggapher.edwards faces up convicted of all six felony and misdemeanor countt against him.as joe johns reportss.. yog is testifying for the prosecution under a cooperation agreement withthe hope that he wonnt b prosecuted. 3 &p--reporter pkg-as follows -- with andrew young on tte stand -- he's the former right handd ma erranddboy and fixer tt ffrmer sen john edwards -the prosecution laid out a siiply amazing story of sex, liees politicc and money.young spoke of the ay wwhn edwards' mistress rielle hunter made so many repeated frantic calls to r on the phone heesaidd somebody better either be pregnant or dying.rielle hunter, young says, responddd; nobody's dyinggwhen edwards found out she was pregnant he responded gruffly: young quoting edwards: "he said she's a crazy sluu and there's a one in three chance it was his child." alsoostunning was the respon of bunny mellon -- the big money onor from northern virginia who agreed to help because she thought edwards cou

. >>> remember, john edwards, clean-cut john edwards? to america john edwards?en came the affair and the child and now the trial. and testimony that will surprise you. some of the things that john edwards allegedly said about his mistress, the woman who bore a child for him, and what he said about the chances that the child was actually his which in fact she was. t (female announcer) most life insurance companies look at you and just see a policy. at aviva, we do things differently. we're bringing humanity back to life insurance. that's why only aviva rewards you with savings for getting a check-up. it's our wellness for life program, with online access to mayo clinic. see the difference at avivausa.com. yoyou u wawalklk i intna coconvnvenentitiononalal ms ststorore,e, i it't's s rert ababouout t yoyou.u. ththeyey s sayay, , "w"weleu wawantnteded a a f firirm m bebn lilie e onon o onene o of " wewe p prorovividede t thet inindidivividudualalizizatat yoyourur b bodody y neneede. ohoh, , wowow!w! ththatat f feeeelsls r reae. itit's's a aboboutut s supuppope yoyou

edwards and his attorneys say he did nothing wrong. we'll have much more on the case later this hour. >>> and to syria now. the united nations security council has decided to increase their involvement from 30 observers to 300. now, you may think that sending in 300 unarmed monitors doesn't seem like much, but listen to the reaction in homs syria when the first monitors arrived there yesterday. >> today is the first day since two months without shooting, without killing, without fire. it's very important for us, at least understand, because of that we want you to stay. please stay. this is what we want. this is our interest. when you can, killing stop. >> a cease-fire that went into effect earlier this month has nod henot held. at least seven people were killed across syria today. >>> one senator is now calling the white house into question over the secret service scandal. iowa republican chuck grassley asked the secret service director if any white house employees shared hotel rooms with the offender agents in colombia. the white hous

edwards. the son of mill workers who became a famed trial attorney and got elected to the u.s. senate in 1998. six years later after seeking the democratic presidential nomination, he became john kerry's vice presidential running mate. the ticket lost and within days edwards's wife elizabeth edwards disclosed she had breast cancer. but it seemed to go into remission and her husband announced his second presidential bid in december 2006. >> this campaign will be a grass roots, ground up campaign where we ask people to take action. >> this time the former senator faired poorly in the early contest and quit the race in january 2008. but by then "the national enquirer" was reporting he had had an affair with real hunter, a videographer hired to document his campaign. hunter gave birth to a baby girl in february 2008. and after repeated denials edwards admitted in january 2010 to being the child's father. he and his wife ultimately separated and elizabeth edwards died of cancer in december 2010. bu

. >>> remember, john edwards, clean cut john edwards? then came the affair and the child and now the trial. and testimony that will surprise you. what he allegedly said about his mistress, a woman who bore a child for him and what he said about the chances that the child was actually his which in fact she was. [ monica ] i'm away on a movie shoot and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. [ director ] cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our co

this was the man john edwards went to bed with.this was the man he wanted as his right-hand person in his campaign. this the man who will tell you the truth about john edwards. the issue of whether or not this 750 or million dollars was used to influence the election or used to cover up the affair and pregnancy, doesn't covering up the affair and pregnancy, wouldn't that have an impact on the election had it been disclosed. i think john edwards is in big trouble. i think this witness made his points. i think the prosecution is still standing very strong in a case against a man who cheated on his wife with a mistress while his wife was dying of cancer and tried to withhold it from her and the public. >> it's personal. richard, that is personal. nothing to do with campaign finances. >> everything to do with a vote by jury. >> let me jump in avery and ask you this. do you think edwards will take the stand? i think everybody wants to hear from him. if he feels confident, do you think he'll take the stand? >> not, alison in a million ye

. >>> remember, john edwards, clean-cut john edwards? to america john edwards? then came the affair and the child and now the trial. and testimony that will surprise you. some of the things that john edwards allegedly said about his mistress, the woman who bore a kyle for him, and what he said about the chances that the child was actually his which in fact she was. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems..

. >> it is day two of damaging testimony against john edwards. testimony from the star witness' one-time best friend, could put edwards in prison for years. >>> also on the stand, superstar jennifer hudson. tearful testimony against the man accused of killing three members of her family. >>> donor fired. the worker canned after donating a kidney for her boss is demanding she give the organ back. >>> and just in time for the 11:00 news, bears taking over the weatherman's outdoor perch. >> that will get your attention. >>> good tuesday morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm john muller, in for paula faris. she's on assignment. more of john edwards' sordid personal life will be made public today in his trial. >> his attorney even committed major sins. but she's out to prove he is not a criminal. abc's tahman bradley has more on the unfolding courtroom drama this morning. tahman? >> reporter: good morning. john edwards' attorney said while the former senator's actions may have been deplorable, they were not illegal. this is day two of the tri

edwards to die with this in the papers. elizabeth edwards was battling breast cancer. during young's testimony, edwards occasionally clenched his jaw, rolled his eyes or jotted down notes. his daughter kate and his elderly parents were in the courtroom. they listened intently, but didn't seem to react, brian. >> lisa myers, greensboro, north carolina tonight. lisa, thanks. >>> it's been two years since the whole world watched as millions of gallons of crude oil spilled into the gulf of mexico. tonight the justice department has filed the first criminal charges now against a former bp engineer, who they say destroyed hundreds of text messages about the amount of oil we watched on live television gushing from that ocean floor, including one text message saying, too much flow rate, over 15,000 barrels a day. at the time, by the way, bp was publically saying the amount was much lower, three times lower than that. bp says it's cooperating with this federal investigation. >>> the news came out late today and it sounded alarming. the first confirmed case of mad cow disease in

edwards the man.0 being spent on that is way over the limit. for how much you can legally donate to a campaign. remember when we thought there were limits on how much money you could give to a campaign? the john edwards trial is unprecedented, nobody has been indicted on charges like this before, let alone in the wild, wild west world of campaign finance no rules that the supreme court has created with citizens united and all the other campaign finance laws they have killed in the last few years. just for some perspective, sheldon allison, the casino billionaire and his family, they have spent more than 16 times as much money as implicated in the john edwards scandal on newt gingrich in the 2012 republican presidential primary. at least there eticly this case is not about whether or not john edwards is a bad guy. it is not about whether john edwards was a bad candidate. for all the salacious detail here, ultimately this whole sex scandal now boils down to whether he took campaign donations that were t

. >>> up next, remember clean cut john edwards? today the trial and the testimony that's pretty shocking stuff. some pretty surprising things being said on the stand today. what john edwards allegedly said about his mistress and the chances her child was in fact his. ♪ [ piano chords ] [ man announcing ] what we created here. what we achieved here. what we learned here. and what we pioneered here. all goes here. the one. the accord. smarter thinking from honda. [♪...] >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock, the only identity theft protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. lifelock: relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. we're america's natural gas and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearl

what did john edwards know?ee, it belies common sense to think we will spend this money to hide the girlfriend but it is only to do that to benefit the wife and their marriage not to benefit his campaign. that just ... it defies common sense. >>shepard: it doesn't matter if he hid it from the wife but only if he hid it from the people. >>randy: here is the problem. arthur has done a fine job in, really, skirting the ultimate issue. >>shepard: the government is the real, real, terrible entity. >>randy: no, no. the government cannot prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. if it were a crime to hold this pen in my left but not to hold knit my right and i hold it like this, do i commit the crime? the answer is, no. >>shepard: one with owe the other does not hold. >>randy: the fundamental problem, it is not a crime to give your money, give money to a mistress to be quiet. it is a crime to give the money to save an election were how can this jury figure out? >>arthur: common sense. ladies and gentleman of the jury

edwards: "yes".fter being ccased by reporters, eventually he confessed"there is no question i've ddne wrong. i take full responsibility for having done wrong."onne a promiient politiiian preaccing two americas, edwards himself was living two livvs. he had fathered a child with his missress, while his wwie, elizabeth eddards was dying of cancer.it got worse--n 2011 the government indicted edwards on six counts,, including conspiracy, issuing false statements and violating campaignnfinance laws. he faces up to 30 yeaas ii prison. nats "we're conditiined to say conditioned to be politiccl nd it's hard to shed all that."edwards has spent the last year preparrng for his trial, shufflinn his legal team andduudeegoing surgery for a heart condition. former top aides are expected to testiff at is trial.reille hunter has immunity. "i will regret for the rest of my lifee the pain and the harm hat i've caused others. but iidid not breaa the law and i ever, the law."experts ay the government has a difficult, unpr

. >>> john edwards' former aide is back on the witness stand today at his one-time boss' trial. the former presidential candidate is accused of using campaign donations to cover up an extramarital affair. dick brennan has more now from greensboro, north carolina. >> reporter: andrew young arrived at the courthouse to face more blistering cross- examination on his fourth day of testimony. john edwards' defense attorney is trying to poke holes in his credibility by accusing the prosecution's star witness of making up stories. edwards is charged with violating campaign finance laws in order to cover up his affair with rielle hunter. this morning testimony revealed that edwards once gave hunter his atm card but when his wife elizabeth saw a large withdrawal, it, quote, set off an alarm. edwards made an excuse to cover it up but asked young to handle rielle's finances after that. >> john edwards needs to convince the jury that either andrew young is lying and therefore can't be trusted on the stand or that he has some reason to dislike john edwards. >> reporter: young has avoided eye

what's in dispute is what was in john edwards head. what did he think this money was for. >> raelyn, in terms of -- i mean, you were covering this. at the time -- just looking back on it, it is extraordinary to think this was a guy who was running for president and was doing all this stuff on the side. i mean, it still to this day boggles my mind. >> i know. it's very hard to understand. and i think that -- i asked him twice about the affair. first time when the national enquirer story broke. then i asked him about six months later in the summer. i only asked him because at that point he was legitimately being considered, at least he was in the press circles, for being a vice presidential candidate. he even wanted to be attorney general. so i asked him knowing what i knew, but also to say look, you're obviously not running for president anymore. but if you're going to be the vice presidential candidate or the attorney general, there are qualities you have to have like honesty. do you possess those qualities given what might have happen

now, rielle hunter, the mother of edwards' 4-year-old daughter, and cate edwards, the oldest daughter of john and elizabeth, are among the key witnesses expected to testify. >> i didn't violate campaign laws and i never for a second believed i was violating campaign laws. >> reporter: edwards' lawyers have called the case crazy. the payments were gifts from friends, they say, nothing to do with the election. they'll argue edwards was trying to hide the affair from his wife, not from the voters. >> prosecutors have to show this was about the campaign. they have to show that the reason that this money was solicited and used, wasn't to protect him from his wife but was to try to win him that nomination. >> reporter: elizabeth edwards died in 2010. but prosecutors intend to introduce e-mails she sent as the scandal was unfolding, which could shed light on what she knew and when she knew it. the prosecution's star witness, andrew young. >> this was completely john edwards' idea, completely john edwards' plan. >> reporter: a loyal edwards aide who once claimed to be the father of hunter's c

he talked about confronting edwards with news hunter was pregnant. young says that edward responded by calling young crazy and using harsh words, analysts say could come back to haunt the defense if jurors believe edwards spoke that way about the mother of his child. jay gray, nbc news, greensboro, north carolina. >>> well, the secret service is done with its probe in the colombian prostitution scandal, but there are signs of more trouble ahead. three more secret service employees lost their jobs with two resigning and a third losing his national security clearance. this morning's "washington post" reports several secret service employees who resigned last week are now considering fighting to keep their job, and may detail how senior managers tolerated similar behavior on previous official trips. >>> meanwhile, defense secretary leon panetta announced tuesday three marines and an embassy staffer in brazil have been punished for allegedly pushing a prostitute out of a car late last year after a dispute over payment. >>> well, now, here is a look at ot

we begin with the trial of john edward, however. melinda henenberger is down there covering the trial. i want to start with melinda. this is a sad story. a sad story of a marriage coming apart, of deception, of infidelity, of cheating, also of money laundering. of all kinds of things allegedly. what happened today in the testimony? what did you hear in the testimony of andrew young, the star witness for the prosecution? >> well, when you say it's in many ways a sad story, that's so true. just to see john edwards' elderly parents sitting behind him, supporting him even now as they always have throughout his life, you can't not feel it for the family. andrew young as a witness today just seemed to me like a nightmare witness. i mean, so many inconsistencies, internal inconsistencies even in what he was saying. for example, saying john edwards did not want to know a thing about the scheme to keep the money flowing to his pregnant mistress. and yet because he wanted to preserve his viability, because he allegedly thought he was sure to

but this is how edwards answered my question. a report had been published that the baby of miss hunter is your baby. true? >> not true, not true. >> reporter: that made young angry. he threatened to go public with detailed of the affair. edwards, he said, replied, you can't hurt me, andrew. edwards has gotten a lot more isolated here than he was before. he does have two beautiful young kids, emma claire who is 13. and jack, who is very beautiful. they are going to a private school in durham. and they have to do the commute from chapel hill, his large house that he lived with with his wife, elizabeth, before she died. >> i understand his dad, the former textile mill worker, is sitting there behind his son? >> that is right. the first two days, he was with his mother always. sat there. and also, his daughter, kate, has been his big supporter, walking into the trial court every day and sitting behind him as well. those are his big family supporters. >> okay, bob woodruff, who will in the courtroom tomorrow. thank you, bob. >>> and n

edwards, he said, replied, you can't hurt me, andrew. john edwards has gotten a lot more isolated here than he was before. he does have two beautiful young kids, they are going to to a private school in durham, and they have having to do a commute from his large house in chapel hill that he lived with his wife, elizabeth, before he died. >> i understand his dad, the former textile mill worker, is sitting there behind his son? >> that is right. the first two days, he was with his mother. and also, his daughter, kate, has been his big supporter, walking into the trial court every day and hitting behind him as well. those are his big family 1350r9ers. >> already, bob woodruff, thank you, bob. >>> and now, mad cow disease. last night, we told you about the first an 3458 with mad cow disease in the united states in six years. and tonight, we have the latest on the investigation on the farm where the cow got sick. abc's senior national correspondent jim avila with the latest. >> reporter: the usda, the meat industry, and even their critics say

today is the first day of the trial of john edwards. you remember john edwards.nce one of the brightest rising stars of the democratic party. ran for president. john kerry's running mate. ran for president again. and then he started getting in trouble. he was cheating on his wife, elizabeth who has since passed away of breast cancer. and so what john edwards -- this trial, if you ask me is a total colossal waste of money. and you talk about the federal government out of control. this is a prime example, i believe. so, here's what the facts in this case are. edwards is charged with six counts of abuse of campaign funds. okay? and he's being pursued by the obama justice department and by the federal attorney down in north carolina. the facts of the case are back in 2007-2008 when he was running for president, he was having this affair with this woman rielle hunter, had a kid by her if you recall. and he knew this could blow up and destroy his chances. so, he asked a couple of friends to -- who were supporters of his campaign to help him out. and to give this woman

edwards, don't you? young replied, i have mixed feelings. >> the overall effect of the aggressive, and at many times, effective cross-examination really a grilling, was likely to undermine andrew young's credibility in the eyes of the jury. >> young's wife sherry showed up at the courthouse for the first time today, expected to testify soon, to buttress her husband's account. young also testified about the deteriorating relationship between him and edwards after hunter gave birth and edwards failed to publicly admit the child was his. young said their final conversation was in august 2008. he said edwards told him his wife elizabeth had taken away his car keys and cell phone, and that his life was living hell. young said, i got very angry. i told him if he wasn't going to live up to his promise to come clean, i would do something about it. he said edwards replied, you can't hurt me, andrew. you can't hurt me. legally, the jury must decide whether it believes young's claim that edwards knew about almost a

edwards asked me to do." edwards' defense questioned young about holding onto a sex tape, proving the edwards affair. the lawyer asking, "you also told mr. edwards you had a private video tape of miss hunter's." the prosecution jumped in and objected. the judge said she would rule on whether the tape can even be discussed in the court. young wrote in his memoir that "anyone looking in from the outside would conclude that i must have been a cold blooded schemer, motivated by ego, greed or the desire for power." today edwards' lawyer point blank asked him, "isn't that exactly what you are?" young answered "no." >> now the defense has been able to poke so many holes in andrew young's testimony, the prosecutors have to go back and try and fill those holes with other witnesses who can back him up. >> reporter: now, rielle hunter will be a witness in this case. we don't know exactly when that's going to happen, diane. but we do know, talking to an expert prosecutor today, that it is possible that the government law

edwards was going to physically harm you?" lowell asked. "not mr. edwards personally." "you thought he was going to have somebody there to shoot you?" "that did cross my mind, yes, sir." young also testified he was extremely angry because edwards had broken his promise to tell the truth, that he was the father of the daughter of his mistress, rielle hunter. >> andrew young in his testimony today showed some passion and fire about how badly he was hurt and betrayed by senator john edwards. >>> in what experts say was a blow to the prosecution, young admitted he pocketed about 80% of the money the government claims were illegal campaign contributions to edwards to cover up his affair, a charge edwards denied. much of the money went towards this $1.5 million house for young. "about $1 million, that's the money you kept?" lowell asked. "that's the money that was left over after paying rielle hunter's expenses," young shot back. >> i think the government's theory of the case is in serious jeopardy. >> lowell closed by asking young if he was a cold blooded schemer motivated b

but john edwards has been expecting this day for a long time.came in, sat at his desk and had a bit of water. instantly i noticed that he was a little red in the face a bit. then he was flushed and he was fine. most importantly which i thought was very telling of him is he still had the same clothes he wore on the campaign. the same suit, the same shoes, the tie. the only thing missing was his pin he used to wear to commemorate his son wade. and for me to see that i thought this is not john edwards the politician. this is the man who's a defendant today. >> jeff, what is this case going to boil down to? >> it's going to boil down to what the jury believes this money was. >> the campaign contributors. bunny melon. >> the heiress in virginia. the people who gave the money will not be witnesses. and what they -- the jury believes this was. >> so it was money for campaign contributions -- >> then he's guilty. >> but if it was money to cover this up -- >> then he's innocent. >> or to get through a tough bind. >> correct. and the facts of the case are

but andrew young helped john edwards in three key ways. one, he made clear that bunny mellon wanted nothing in return. two, he made sure mellon was told that these expenses were for personal matters, not political. and, three, andrew young said john edwards told him time and time again this was perfectly lawful. so andrew young may have made out the government's case, but he also helped john edwards. >> that's what i'm wondering about. it sounds like he made the case against the prosecution by saying this isn't a political expenditure. and this wasn't intended to be such by the one who gave the money, bunny mellon, the wealthy heiress. more was it described as such. it was simply a way to pay a family expenditure to keep a family problem secret. >> yes, i think it's all going to turn on how much you believe the part of andrew young's all over the map statements that says, you know, this was in john's mind a way to keep his campaign viable. that this was very crucial to his campaign because he had even after he suspended his campaign some k