you know that he and fred barron were close friends. there were voicemails that indicated that he and fred and certainly actually young actually spoke together about these details. they communicated with each other. there are voicemails from john edwards right there to young as well. and so you know they had these discussions. they knew there was money. that was ending up to try to help rielle hunter. he certainly knew young did not have that kind of money. and he almost certainly knew this was coming from fred barron. as for him spending it, probably not. he did not write the checks. he did not put it on his credit cards. but he certainly knew all these details. and i think we'll hear a lot more about that during this trial. >> that's what's so significant about that interview you did, bob, because this was the interview where he was basically confessing, where he was confessing the affair. and just from a public relations standpoint, to give a confessional interview to a reporter of your stature, and then to continue to lie in that int

than $900,000 in presidential campaign donations, both from his late campaign finance director fred barron and philanthropist rachel bunny mellon of northern virginia. prosecutors say edwards used the money to cover up his affair with photographer riyal hunter and the child he fathered with her. some legal experts say edwards' lawyers will argue the money he used was personal gifts from edwards' friends. >> the individuals had to know right then it would have to be a personal gift because it couldn't be anything else. >> reporter: washington d.c. defense attorney keith waters knows edwards and says he suspects the scandalous details of edwards' personal life are fielding the prosecution of charges which don't always go to trial. >> having a porno tape with your mistress, having a baby out of wedlock, having a wife at homesick with cancer, that kind of paints him as someone with a despicable personality. that could be reason for the motivation. >> reporter: edwards faces six counts including conspiracy, receiving illegal campaign cricks and making false statements. back in february edwards'

>> kimberly: $200,000 for texas lawyer fred barron.d. >> eric: i don't see the difference between what john edwards did with the federal election commission and what three names i'll read to you did with the securities and exchange commission. bernie ebbers is serving 25 years for something similar. dennis kezlowski. the worldcom ceo. if you do it in business, you go to jail. what is the issue? you are using funds for your personal use, investors and/or donors think are for something else. >> kimberly: the law should be there to protect something. >> bob: but it hasn't been successfully prosecuted in the f.e.c. this is why edwards has a chance regrettedly to walk. >> dana: you mention bunny melon. you could not have made up the story. when it came out in the "national enquirer" people did think it was made up. bunny melon is the hairess to the listerine fortune. instead of washing his mouth out, they may should just bathe him in listerine. the other thing that bob mentions there are two people coming to mind, former politicians, former

he's on trial for whether or not the campaign donations that came from bunny melon and fred barron, if those are considered illegal campaign contributions because they were used to further propel his presidential campaign. the government says those contributions are illegal and the reason they are illegal is because they help him continue run for president. john edwards said they were personal donations, they would have happened whether he was running for president or not. >> i suppose all eyes will be on that courtroom, not necessarily from the get-go but certainly when rielle hunter testifies which she is planning to do with immunity. thank you, appreciate that. >> sure. >>> we're getting an early read on local news making national headlines. this morning we have papers from new york, arizona, new jersey, all over the place. >> we start with the "new york times." a junior fbi agent played a critical role in cracking a potential new lead in the etan patz case. thomas mcdonald was handed this case over five years ago. he re-examined it from scratch. an official says, quote, he took to

now everyone thought that both bunny melon and the other funding, funder, the late dallas lawyer fred barrony. >> one of edwards best friend, the whole explanation is they are giving this money to cover up an fair and it was a personal contribution to keep it from his wife, elizabeth, and had nothing to do with politics. we will learn more as the trial goes on that bunny melon had no idea that john edwards was having an affair. she thought this money was for campaign purposes. maybe a little round robin, little off the books but for campaign purposes. >> now you wrote yesterday and i'm reading to you to you, the trial will raise the strong possibility that the then 97-year-old socialite was ignorant of the existence of rielle hunter. she thought she was donating in some round robin fashion to the edwards campaign, not covering up an affair. which is what you said here. if this is true, it may look like she was going around campaign laws herself. it destroys the premise of edwards defense. >> right. that this is all about sex. all about covering up an affair. suddenly, you have what seems to

later another donor fred barron provided lavish accommodations according to young, hunter was often unsatisfied with those accommodations and demanded upgrades, shep? >> shepard: jonathan, thanks. of course john edwards daughter kate as i mentioned earlier has been sitting directly behind her father in court listening to all these details about how her father cheated on her dying mother. kate edwards is an attorney, a harvard grad, law school there. as hard as this may be to believe, some observers say kate may begal advice. witnesses report john edwards and his attorneys consulted with her a number of times in the 45 minutes the other day in court. kate edwards temporarily gave up practicing law after her mother died of breast cancer in 2010. the secret service agents involved in that colombian hooker scandal were, quote, a couple of knuckle heads. that part of what the president said today in an interview on nbc's late night with jimmy fallon. the comedian but right now t appears this scandal is not going away. and here is why. the connecticut independent senator joe lieberman, the chairman o

they asked him whether he had informed texas banker about fred barron about funds he had already received from bunny melon. he admitted he had not. diverted much of the money he had received to build his 1.45-million-dollar home in chapel hill. one former federal prosecutor tells us this cross-examination has hurt young's credibility. listen. >> anybody can understand any juror will be able to understand that you cannot submit reimbursement for expenses that you never paid. >> and it ain't over yet. young faces more cross-examination tomorrow morning. shep? >> shepard: jonathan, there is another democrats to that aide andrew young. you will remember at one point andrew young lived with the mistress rielle hunter pretending to be the baby's father. january of 2008, just weeks before hunter gave birth to edwards' baby. i just wanted for all of you, including her, to know that i am thinking about you. i will be in south carolina tomorrow, flying in the morning. and should be by myself there tomorrow night, huh, so, i will talk to you guys then. the john edwards trial continuing coverage tomo

most damaging to young's credibility was when he conceded that he got the late fred barron to reimburse him for expenses mellon had already paid. >> he looked defeated. the truth is apparent that the case has money to do with money that went into his pocket and benefited him and not necessarily of the campaign. >> reporter: the cross will probably continue this morning. the defense in its opening statement, the defense attorney said that they would be following the money and that's what they're going to continue doing today. there are hundreds of thousands of dollars not accounted for. i think we're going to hear about that also this morning. >> despite mr. young's apparent difficulties and questioning of his own conduct, how is he as a witness and how is he withstanding this obvious attacks on his credibility? >> reporter: he was so comfortabcomfor comfortable during direct and that's usually the case. almost every answer has been i don't recall, which then has allowed the defense attorney abbe lowell to pull out a statement he made or a document and contradict him. he's not been doing

remember, fred barron is dead but hunter is not going to testify.e anybody who's -- >> clearly this isn't all the prosecution's case. what do they have to do to repair the damage and really sustain the basis of their case? >> i just don't think they're going to be able to get up from this. they always knew putting this guy on that they were going to be -- have a difficult witness, and i just don't think they're going to be able to come back from this, see. the one downside from that is does the defense put on john edwards because -- >> do they have to at this point? >> i -- i -- most defense lawyers say that's the toughest decision you ever have to make and you don't want to snap jaws of victory and have your client, you know, become the focus of the case, so i wouldn't put him on. i doubt that abbey is going to put him on. my guess is they think it's going about as well as it can for the defense. >> mark gary goes, good to have you on. thanks very much. >>> the l.a. riots. we're going to talk to the man at the center of the upheaval. that's coming

it is, in fact, ridiculous because not only were the gifts from fred barron and buddy mellon who arehe contributors at issue, but if mr. edwards had supported rielle hunter himself, if he had put out money to support her, that, too, would have to be listed as a campaign contribution. and that's ridiculous. also, because in current campaign finance law, candidates are prohibited from using campaign funds for personal use. so you're not allowed to use the money for, say, gym membership or a haircut. but this is saying that you should, in fact, call it a campaign contribution if you're supporting your mistress. this could cause all sorts of politicians problems, really. >> melanie, i have two questions. one, considering that we're hearing terms like witch hunt bandied about all over the place, considering that andrew young's credibility is not exactly stellar, are you beginning to witness a backlash to this backlash against john edwards? and also, couldn't you make the argument since damage control is an expense that all campaigns have to go through, any expenses he sent towards his mis

he is alleged to have received $900,000 from bunny melon who was 101 years old and fred barron, and ie struggling with this because there's no question to be sure he behaved badly. you know, he cheated on his wife who was dying of cancer. he fathered a child with his mistress who was a staffer. i mean, all around he behaved badly. the question really is did he behave criminally, illegally. i think that's going to be a difficult case to prove. >> real quickly here, a key witness for the prosecution is edwards' former aide, andrew young. he is the one who initially claimed to be the father of rielle hunter's child. why is he so important in this case? >> well, he certainly is person number "a." he's listed on the first day of the indictment, but because -- his importance is because he really can, i think, give a lot of insight into what was going on at the time. as you mentioned, he himself was asked by edwards to claim paternity of edwards' child with rielle hunter. so he can give some insight into what was going on inside of the campaign and what was going on inside of john edwards' m

john edwards' wonderful daughter, recent harvard grad who is going to testify and listen to this, fred barron'sidow, fred's dad going to be testifying. i think that will blow up. >> bill: you mean testifying for -- >> for john. >> bill: for john edwards, right. >> caller: all you've got essentially for the prosecution is the tell-all, highly lacking in credibility -- >> bill: andrew young. his former aide. the guy who wrote the book, made a million dollars off the book. >> he might have made a million dollars but he has to give it to all of his lawyers over stealing the sex tape. this guy is pathetic and that's what the government is hanging their hat on. >> bill: if this started under the bush administration, it started under former federal attorney down there who ended up running for congress as a republican -- >> who hates john edwards. >> bill: who hates john edwards. when the obama administration took over and eric holder comes in don't they routinely look at the cases and make a decision about which ones they're going to pursue and which with ones they're not? >> absolutely. the difficult

. >> reporter: prosecutors say the money from two wealthy donors, the late texas attorney fred barronnd 101-year-old rachel bunny melon was used to hide his mistress in fancy homes and on private jets so he could remain a viable candidate for president. >> he didn't violate campaign laws, and i never, for a second, believed i was violating campaign laws. >> reporter: john edwards says the evidence will prove he did not know about the money, and that it was given to protect his wife elizabeth from public humiliation, as she struggled with cancer. the government says it may call hunter as a witness, and will use edwards' own words to try to prove he was part of a conspiracy. >> i had a wonderful conversation, a long and wonderful conversation with bunny. she will be there no matter what. and i just wanted you to hear that, and to once again to tell you i love you. i really love you, andrew. thank you. >> reporter: andrew is the government's star witness. andrew young, a campaign aide who wrote a tell-all book, and who says edwards orchestrated the money and the cover-up. hundreds of tho