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

that money was spent for the benefit of the john edwards for president campaign, not just for john it man. and $900,000 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 dona

helped john edwards hide the affairs and had john edwards mistress history with him. and he admitted he spent "substantial amount of money," from the two john edwards supporters on building his own $1.5 million house and today that former aide said he thought someone was going to kill him during the back road meeting where he asked john edwards to go public. the jury must decide whether the money from the donors was campaign money and if so, whether the former presidential candidate knew about them. now defense lawyers are grilling that former aide who admitted to lie about much of the details of john edwards' affair and personally profit from hit. it is the top story and jonathan is on it this afternoon in north carolina. why did andrew young say he was so frightened on the back road meeting? >>jonathan: well the meeting took place inside john edwards' s.u.v., and young says john edwards was driving the s.u.v. himself which was a rarity, he seems flustered, and young said john edwards was driving erratically and this is the meeting where he confronted john edwards an

today is the first day of the trial of john edwards. you remember john edwards. ce 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 s

now, john edwards. his wife was dying of cancer when prosecutes said he used campaign money to cover up a love affair and love child and now the prosecution is trying to prove that in court. there is key witness today describing how he says john edwards funneled the money. step-by-step funneling of the step-by-step funneling of the money. for 22 years. we processed on a given day about a million pieces of mail. checks, newspapers, bills. a lot of people get their medications only through the mail. small businesses depend on this processing plant. they want to shut down 3000 post offices, cut 100,000 jobs. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. the american people depend on the postal service. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. havputs you at 5 timesartbeat calgreater risk of stroke. don't wait. go to afibstroke.com for a free discussion guide to help you talk to your doctor about reducing your risk. that's afibstroke.com. for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, m

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

. >> 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

need to decide, did john edwards' know about the money? >> the difficulty here is going to compiling the type of evidence necessary to prove that this type of payment was for campaign purposes. >> reporter: the edwards' defense team insists the money given to hunter was a gift. if convicted, the charges could put edwards behind bars for 30 years. >> all right. tahman bradley, thanks for that live report. >>> voters in five east coast states go to the polls today. it's primary day for republicans in states of delaware, connecticut, new york and rhode island. romney will not clinch with the number of delegates. that's expected next month. >>> the vice president talk is heating up. especially after this photo op with republican rising star, marco rubio. romney stopped short of endorsing rubio's imbrags plan. that would allow young immigrants to remain in the u.s. to work or to study. >>> romney is backing a student loan proposal. mr. obama traveled to north carolina and colorado today, to urge congress to extend low-interest rates for student

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

the john edwards trial is unprecedent.n charges like this before, let alone in the wild, wild word campaign of no rules with the citizens united and the finance laws they have killed in the last few years. sheldon adelson has spent more than 16 times much money implicated in the john edwards scandal on newt gingrich in the 2012 primary. at least, this case is not about whether or not john ed wartds is bad guy. ultimately this sex scandal boils down to whether he took campaign donations that were too big. joining us now is hampton dellinger. he's been covering by blog. thanks for your time. it's nice to have you here. >> you're welcome. great to be with you. >> i know you've been covering this closely. did i get the basics about the scandal and the case? i wouldn't be surprised if i messed something up. >> i'm surprised you didn't. you got it spot on. thp this is a one of a kind. it will likely be the only case of its kind. we have corporates and individuals giving tens of millions of dollars in direct aids of candidates an

to separate john edwards, the individual, and john edwards, the defendant if this criminal case.nd if you are successful in doing that, this prosecution can safely go away. >>shepard: if you prosecute this you have a lot to work with. >>guest: as he listed one by one by one why he will not be liked. but you step back and look at it the prosecution and the 20 both have a hard time finding a fair jury. both sides have deficits. someone who, they are trying to apply a federal finance campaign laws. they are complicated. brad. it is hard to apply. and hard to say here are the facts. here is the law the convict this guy. and keep your emotions of what you think of the department, that is difficult. so, for the prosecution to stand up and the defense attorney to stand up and say, tell me, are you telling me the truth and i am trying to find a fair jury it will be really difficult. >>shepard: at key is what the money was. was this money a campaign donation? or was this money a personal gift? the defense wants the court to believe it was a personal gift. >>guest: you look at statute and

i have never been a fan of john edwards, former senator john edwards, but it's time for the government to focus on more important things. are you becoming chairman of the john edwards defense committee? >> not at all. i am not a fan at all. i never liked him, never trusted him. i always thought he was a sleaze-bag, frankly. but with all that is going on in this country, this is a very, very tough trial to start off with. a lot of people are saying that it's not a trial that the government's going to win. but with everything going on, with the money that is being just billions and trillions of dollars being thrown out the window, i really think we had better things to do. frankly, a lot of people say and a lot of very good lawyers have told me that the government doesn't have a good case. they are spending months and years on this case. and i am, again, not a fan, don't believe him at all. but i hate to see resources wasted to this extent. his life is destroyed anyway, regardless. i hate to see this kind ever money and effort. we could put money and effort

and john edwards once a darling of the liberal media. now what?> one of the problems is because he's been indicted for second degree murder, and nothing suggests that, the elements. second degree murder is here, reduced. some saying there'll be riots on the the streets if there's acquittal. if there are riots it will be the prosecutor's fault. because she overcharged and raised expectations, no reasonable jury is going to convict based on the evidence i know of second degree murder. so, this prosecutor not only may have subborn perjury, she may be responsible for riots by raising them to unexpectable levels. >> wow, alan dershowitz, talking about the trayvon martin case. and the photos, showing zimmerman's bloody head. if they had that photo and didn't mention it, that would be-- affidavit are supposed to contain all relevant information. the supposition is that his head was bloodied in some kind of a confrontation with trayvon martin. so, here comes alan dershowitz acting as an impartial obje observ observer, i would add to it, the reason the pro

but, first, from fox at 3:00 in new york city, the wife of the man who help haded john edwards' hide an fair and a love child from his dying wife and voters, by claiming the love child was actually his baby, today, dropped a bombshell in court. that wife claims that john edwards told her it was legal to take money from a rich donor and spend it on his mistress. she is sherry young the wife of andrew young, the former aide and star witness who admitted he helped john edwards hide the affair. andrew young claims paternity of the love child. today, his wife, sherry young, testified she spoke with the former presidential candidate on the phone and john edwards told her it was perfectly legal to use money from rich donors to keep john edwards' mistress in hiding. her testimony could have a major impact on the outcome of the trial. because the jury must decide whether the money from the donors was a campaign expense and, if so, whether the former presidential candidate knew about it. it is the top story and we are live outside it in north carolina. this is the wife of a guy who originally

and john edwards once a darling of the liberal media. now what?ine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. >> one of the problems is because he's been indicted for second degree murder, and nothing suggests that, the elements. second degree murder is here, reduced. some saying there'll be riots on the the streets if there's acquittal. if there are riots it will be the prosecutor's fault. because she overcharged and raised expectations, no reasonable jury is going to convict based on the evidence i know of second degree murder. so, this prosecutor not only may have subborn perjury, she may be responsible for riots by raising them to unexpectable levels. >> wow, alan dershowitz, talking about the trayv

i think this is simply a personal matter of john edwards trying to hide what was going on from a muchsmarter wife, elizabeth edwards. >> richard, does that mean prosecutor star witness is fizzling out really fast and there goes their case. >> i don't think so. as we say in new york, with all due respect, avery, when the government stands up in their summation and says, listen, andrew young, you may not love him. we don't go to central casting for our witnesses. 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

, it's clear from the opening statements this case is about john edwards versus andrew young. >> reporter: young outlined a complex system was created by edwards to collect money from rich friends including multi-million near bunny melon to hide his pregnant mistress, rielle hunter. edwards told him to give her a monthly allowance in may of 2007 after she threatened to exposed their affair. >> andrew young described john edwards role as the director of the entire operation. that it was john edwards' idea to go to bunny melon to ask for funds that could wind up supporting rielle hunter that edwards knew and gave guy ans how the money flow should take place to cover the tracks. >> reporter: when discussing plan that funneled through the bank account young said "it was crazy we were all scared to death and felt extremely uneasy about it." he talked about confronts edwards. he called young crazy, harsh words analysts 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. >>> the secret servic

and john edwards once a darling of the liberal media. now what? answer is next on news watch.reetings from the windy city of chicago. people here sure are friendly but some have had a hard time understanding my accent. so to make sure people get every word of the geico savings message i've been practicing how to talk like a true chicagoan. switching to geico could save you hundreds of dollars on car insurance... da bears. haha... you people sure do talk funny. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. ♪ [ malannouncer ] remember when you were a kid? you liked getting dirty an building things. there were no limits -- you could move mountains. the john deere 1 series subcompact tractor -- the way grownups move mountains. and with auto-connect implements, it's the easiest tractor to use yet. what will you create? learn more about the affordable 1 series at johndeere.com/1series. >> one of the problems is because he's been indicted for second degree murder, and nothing suggests that, the elements. second degree murder is here, reduced. some s

former democratic presidential hopeful john edwards on trial, fighting charges of using campaign cash to hide his affair. he was once a favorite of the liberal media. now what kind of trooment is he getting from the mess. >> the new york times on the liberal bias and love affair with president obama and the hit comes from one of its own. and who is she trying to be? >> which one of you guys farted. >> and on the panel this week, syndicated columnist cal thomas and jim pinkerton, editor magazine and daily beast columnist kirsten powers, i'm jon scott. fox news watch is on right now. now. >> and tonight i can also say thank you, america, because after 43 primaries and caucuses, many long days and more than a few long nights, i can say with confidence and gratitude that you have given me a great honor and solemn responsibility and together, we are going to win on november 6th. hold on a little longer. a better america begins tonight. (cheers) >> mitt romney there, following his primary wins this week. getting set to take on barack obama for the white house. that was tuesday night. and so

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 contact throughout his testimony while edwards stairs directly at him. >> it is clear andrew young versus john edwards is the turning point of the trial. >> reporter: in cross- examination, the defense asked young if he was the source for the national enquirer which broke the story. young said he was not. young testified that edwards asked him to pretend to be the father of hunter's baby and kee

it's clear from the opening statements, that this case is about john edwards versus andrew young. >> reporter: young outlined a complex system he says was created by edwards to collect money from rich friends, including multi-millionaire bunny mellon to help hide his pregnant mistress rielle hunter. edwards told him to give her a monthly allowance in may of 2007 after she threatened to expose their affair. >> andrew young described john edwards' role as the director of this entire operation. that it was john edwards' idea ultimately, to go to bunny mellon to ask her for funds that would r could wind up supporting rielle hunter that edwards knew about and had, gave guidance on how the money flow should take place in order to cover the tracks. >> reporter: when discussing the plan that funneled money through he and his wife's personal bank accounts, young said, "it was crazy. we were all scared to death and felt extremely uneasy about it." he talked about confronting edwards with news hunter was pregnant. young says that edward responded by calling young crazy and using harsh words, ana

>> public relations could be john edwards best shot. was amazed every public opinion poll this guy is one of the most despised americans with trumps and sharpton and kardashians with 3 percent favorability rating. >>shepard: 3 percent? >>guest: 3 percent to someone, regardless of the litigation, someone has to try to humanize this guy. he has acknowledged what he did was awful. he has expressedry morse. particularly for his late wife who was beloved in the country. and he said i'm not guilty, these contributions were not designed for the campaign, they were designed for a coverup like they contributed to bill clinton to defend him. they have to try to humanize him. >>shepard: the issue, randy, for the legal purposes is not the mistress or the baby or andrew young pretending to be the baby's father or the details but it is what this money was for when it came in. >>randy: and what john edwards' knew the money was for. you are 1,000 percent right. it is very important to have jurors who will say they are only interested in the evidence. i

. >>> remember, john edwards, clean-cut john edwards? to america john edwards?hen 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 yoyo

tomorrow former presidential candidate john edwards heads to federal court. prosecutors say edwards used nearly $1 million in campaign contributions to deceive the public. they say he was hiding an affair and a child. the mistress, rielle hunter, is expected to be the star witness at the trial. she has immunity. 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 we

. >>> 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..

but john edwards versus andrew young. >> we're looking at pictures of him going into the trial. en andrew young was promoting his tell-all book, i interviewed young, and it's a preview that edwards' team may take to discredit young himself. let's listen to what i did, because apparently it's a preview of what the edwards team will do today. >> you're pretending to be a loyal aide to john edwards for a year when you really weren't, and you were working either against him or you didn't like the guy anymore. >> i don't know that i was working against him, but i was on fred baron's payroll, i was not on john edwards' payroll. >> but he said you were a hell of a guy. it seems you should get out. >> now what are they going to do in court as the day is proceeding? >> even the prosecution which is putting forward andrew young as their star witness spent a good bit of time today talking about his arrest record. he's had two arrests. that came out on direct examination. edwards made it clear by the local lawyer that this case of andrew young lining his pocket. not john edwards trying to pr

we both covered john edwards, what a steep fall this has been. you point out in your reporting, the prosecution might actually try to prove that elizabeth edwards herself knew about this affair. that would change things. >> reporter: that's right. if the prosecutors can show she did already know about this, then that means that this money, perhaps, was not to cover up his personal affair. this was taactually money that could have been used to influence the election back then. >> not trying to hide it from her, but the voters. >> reporter: that's correct. but they are going to look at some of the voicemails from her, to see what she knew and when she found out. >> if there is a conviction here in the case, what kind of prison time does he face? >> reporter: this could be up to 30 years in prison. and about $1.5 million in fines. going to be expensive. >> bob woodruff here in new york tonight, bob, thank you. >>> now to another scandal and a widening one involving the secret service. we now know it was a high ranking woman at the agency who got wind

. >> reporter: andrew young is the prosecution's key witness in its efforts to convince jurors john edwardsw about the money to keep his mistress in hiding and he considered it essential to maintaining his presidential bid. young testified that edwards became just straighted when young expressed discomfort with the arrangement and insisted it was fine but he says edwards insisted on talking in code discussing donor checks because the candidate said he could never talk about in this case he was sworn in as attorney general. this is damaging testimony. young changed stories in the past and is accused of contacting other witnesses in recent days to ask how they plan to testify in the trial. this makes him a potential liability for the prosecution. >> they're taking a bit of a risk by putting their key witness on the stand first and, by that i mean, if, in cross-examination, they're able to destroy his credibility, it would be very difficult for the government to recover. >> reporter: young also told the court how john edwards' wife elizabeth discovered the affair. she apparently answered his p

john edwards is a var good lawyer. he sat at the table participating deeply in his defense. >> reporter: john edwards entered the courtroom this morning alongside his daughter cate for a trial that could run -- to hide rielle hunter his pregnant mistress. if his affair went public it would destroy his candidacy. his mistress of a loose cannon and he knew it. he made a choice to accept hundreds of thousands of dollars. he made a choice to break the law. that is why we're here. prosecutors plan to use his own words from a "nightline" interview in 2008 against him, to say he lied about his affair and lied about the cover-up. >> i've never asked anybody to pay a dime of money. never been told that any money has been paid. so if the allegation is somehow i participated in the payment of money, that is a lie. >> reporter: their star witness, andrew young, a loyal edwards aide who told the world he was the father of the child. young said he controlled the money to hide the mistress, shuttling her from one hotel to another and