if he knew the person he thought was kekua was alive, why did he say publicly she had died? today te'o told couric he was simply overwhelmed. >> this girl who i committed myself to died on september 12th. now i get a phone call on december 6th saying that she's alive, and then i'm going to be put on national tv two days later and to ask me the same question. you know, what would you do? >> reporter: anderson cooper, cnn, new york. >> i want to introduce you now to diane o'meara. she's the woman, the real woman whose photos were used without her knowledge to portray the phony online identity of lennay kekua. she's going to join me live after the break to share her side of the story, and throughout the hour we're going to take you beyond the manti te'o case to get a broader view of the pitfalls of our digital world. adobe - to create options for you. not only that, we're using what we learn from these partners to shape our curriculum, so that when you find the job you want you'll be a perfect fit. let's get to work. [ slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you

if he knew the person he thought was kekua was alive, why did he say publicly she had died? today te'o told couric he was simply overwhelmed. >> this girl who i committed myself to died on september 12th. now i get a phone call on december 6th saying that she's alive, and then i'm going to be put on national tv two days later and to ask me the same question. you know, what would you do? >> reporter: anderson cooper, cnn, new york. >> i want to introduce you now to diane o'meara. she's the woman, the real woman whose photos were used without her knowledge to portray the phony online identity of lennay kekua. she's going to join me live after the break to share her side of the story, and throughout the hour we're going to take beyond the manti te'o case to get a broader view of the pitfalls of our digital world. like mango jalapeÑo shrimp and parmesan crunch shrimp. just $11.99. offer ends soon! i'm ryon stewart, and i sea food differently. can you start the day the way you want? can orencia help? could your "i want" become "i can"? talk to your doctor. orencia reduces many ra

there's the hoax that lennay kekua ever existed.'s the hoax that she faked her death to hide from drug dealers, both of which were bought at some point by manti te'o. >> reporter: that has caused an appreciation all across the united states. the he'll trade supports hundreds of fishing families and 30 employees in this company alone. for most of the year, eels caught wild pour into this site, to be graded, packed and sent live overseas. scientists are concerned about declining numbers of eels along the coast. and so are the people in the business of catching them. >> there's hash tat pressure. they've built dams over the years. as we harvest the he'lls, everyone wants to make sure it's sustainable. >> reporter: after all, crockman says, he's been up to his elbows in he'lls his whole life. >> when i sort a lot of he'lls and you go to sleep, you see eels in your sleep. it penetrates your brain. >> that's creepy. >> it is creepy. >> reporter: it's already the business, even in these tough times is sustaining his family and many others

there's the hoax that lennay kekua ever existed. hoax that she faked her death to hide from drug dealers, both of which were bought at some point by manti te'o. but the third hoax is really about the degree of the relationship and how serious and how much he loved her. >> that's something you think he played up or it seems like he played up in the media? >> when he essentially tells katie couric that he didn't go visit his sick, dying girlfriend in the hospital because he didn't want to miss a flight, that tells me that it's not really as serious as he allowed the media to promulgate that message in the days after she died and in the way he characterized it himself in interviews and in the press throughout the college football season. >> i want to play one of the hoax voice mails that the fictitious girlfriend left for te'o. let's listen. >> i want to e-mail you, i'm getting ready for my first session, and i wanted to call and keep you posted. i miss you, i love you. bye. >> tuiasosopo's lawyer said it was his client, his guy, prete

broke the story, the pictures purported to be kekua are actually of another woman.o says she doesn't even know te'o. this morning on "gma," i spoke with timothy burke, one of the writers of the deadspin piece. >> a lot of people are very suspicious when te'o says he had no idea and he was just the sucker in this, because, you know, why would somebody go to such great lengths to hoax him like this? >> reporter: was te'o really the victim of the internet hoax called catfishing? >> we know that this is a phenomenon that exists, catfishing, that people do it because they like playing practical jokes. this one, if that's what happened obviously went way too far, and it's really cruel. >> reporter: schulman knows all about catfishing, for he coined the term. an internet fraud who pretend to be someone they're not. >> although they knew it was false, was not only an extension of themselves, but also somebody they truly believe has a positive effect on the people with whom it interacts. >> complete psycho paths. i've probably been chatting with a guy. >> reporter: he fell f

but manti te'o's & supposed girlfrrenddlennay kekua, who'd reporteddy died of leukemia, never existedtre dame say he was the victtm of this hoax.who perpettated it?'deadsppn.com', the sports-investigative - website that brokk the sttry, points to a young man named ronaiah tuiasooopo.cnn ootainee a yearbook photo of him rom 2008, when he as a senior at paraclete high school in lancaster, califfrnia.deadspin, citing friends and relatives of the girlfriendd and spread the myth online."they told us that he has been doing the lennay kekua fake online rofile for several years, and that he's 3 ttap- but that they caught on way earlier than manti e'o - did."cnn cannot confirm went to addresses, called numbers in southern california 3 anddcould not reach him.we caught up with tuiasosopo's ffther titus, a former football player at uus-c and now a pastor at a place called the oasis christian church of -the antelope.he wouldn't speak pn-camera but told uu: "..(the truth) will all come out...god knows ourrcharacter."ronaiah tuiasosopo's uncle- who gave us thess pictures of himmas a child- teels us

the question is who made up lennay kekua in the first place and why?o is huddling with his family, discussing what to do next. in the meantime, a lot of reports are focusing on this guy, ranaaiah tewa susopa. he involvadmitted he was involv the hoax. who is he? >> manti te'o in a golf cart, remaining behind the tight security of an nfl training facility in bradenton, florida. also remaining silent about the bizarre hoax. a radio station in salt lake city did an interview with te'o, and although cnn can't confirm t he said he's manti's uncle. he said he spoke to manti's father in hawaii. >> the family is disappointed. not necessarily disappointed in manti, but they felt for him. everybody's very concerned about his mental state and how he's feeling right now. it's sad to believe that someone would go out of their way to sabotage his character and what he stood for. >> he said te'o likely believed he met his girlfriend and blamed one man for trying to sabotage his character. the man is named tuiasosopo, the same man that was alleged to have been involved

kekua tweets about her health scare.2th, 2011 te'o tweet -- december 12th 2011 te'o twittered thanking fans for their prayers. >>> now back to the 49ers, this isn't the first time the 9ers have played in the super bowl in new orleans. the last time was in 1990 when they beat the broncos. >> we are digging into the archives this week and tonight cbs5's kate kelly meets the gatorman. >> any time gator started causing a nuisance he was the guy to call and kate found out he put them to good use. >> we're going to make us a good old old cajun alligator popsicle. how do you catch an alligator? very, very carefully. you handle that while i get a little garlic. everything is done in louisiana with a paddle. we paddle our way through the bayou. putting in a little sweet basil and there's the sauce that. alligator swam his last mile now. >> boy, that looked good, didn't it, a little gator? >>> tomorrow night we meet the voodoo man. we'll take you through this, so get used to it. he had an unusual way of blessing joe montana. don't

an investigation later revealed kekua never existed. te'o said that the man has apologized to him privately. te'o gives his first tv interview this week. he's going to speak to katie couric in an interview set to air on her daytime talk show on thursday. >>> online dating service match.com slapped with a $10 million lawsuit by one of its users. a las vegas woman accusing the company of setting her up with a man who brutally attacked her. police say that attack happened back in january 2011, just a few months after the woman had broken off that relationship. police say the suspect hid in her garage and stabbed her repeatedly over their failed match. he was later arrested. a month after that in connection with a separate murder case involving a girlfriend. >>> making the bad even worse. a new study offering another big reason to limit your children's fast food intake. >> this is wild video. wrestling a shark off the beach there. very crowded. >>> it's called the super bowl of surfing. this morning it has a new champion. highlights from ma

but now deadspin has learned that lennay kekua, te'o's supposed girlfriend, never existed. that's right. there was no woman by that name. te'o claims he was the victim of a hoax. in a statement he said, quote this is an extremely embarrassing thing to talk about, but over time i developed a relationship with a woman online. to realize that i was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies is painful and humiliating. notre dame claims they were informed by manti te'o and his parents that manti was the victim of what appears to be a hoax. and then lennay kekua conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia. now, a lot of people are scratching their heads right now wondering how all of this could add up. timothy burke joins me right now. he broke the story tonight on deadspin.com. david haugh, sports columnist. te'o released a statement today in reaction to your investigation saying he was duped by someone online. from your reporting on this, and you broke this story, does that add up? >> well, you know, i think tha

that silence really eats at you. >> reporter: we now know that lennay kekua never existed. but glaring questions still remain. notre dame officials say the relationship was exclusively online. so, why then did te'o's father reportedly tell one paper his son had met kekua years ago after a game at stanford, and they they'd spent time together in hawaii? and why, even after te'o informed school officials of the hoax back in december, did no one set the record straight? while across social media and the twitterverse, the mystery spawned a new meme. te'o-ing. people posting pictures embracing imaginary friends. but from te'o, seen here, nothing but silence. a young man, about whom we once seemingly knew so much and now, about what matters most, seemingly nothing at all. josh elliott, abc news, new york. >>> the day after he won the lottery, the day he sent the check, will be exhumed today. urooj khan won nearly $500,000. he died the day after he cashed that check. further testing will be done on his body to try to find out exactly what happened. >>> the city of chicago famously

so, why then did te'o's father reportedly tell one paper his son had met kekua years ago after a game at stanford, and that they'd spent time together in hawaii? and why, even after te'o informed school officials of the hoax back in december, did no one set the record straight? while across social media and the twitterverse, the mystery spawned a new meme. te'o-ing. people posting pictures embracing imaginary friends. but from te'o, seen here today, nothing but silence. a young man, about whom we once seemingly knew so much and now, about what matters most, seemingly nothing at all. and the real question is the simplest of all. why? why perpetrate so staggering a hoax with nothing seemingly to gain? and until manti te'o shares his side, diane, of a story as bizarre as any i can remember, that, it appears, is all we're going to have. questions. >> and getting more bizarre with every hour that passes. >> reporter: indeed it is. >> thank you, josh, great to see you here tonight. >> reporter: and you. >>> and, one more note tonight. the world will hear lance armstrong's confession to opra

on the phone with te'o acting as lennay kekua called te'o. and so we carried on that conversation and i just got mad and i just went on a rampage. >> reporter: lennay kekua was imaginary but tuiasosopo's alleged script for his imaginary character suffered a coma in a car crash then died of leukemia mirrored his own reality. one eerie example, tuiasosopo 's father posted on facebook that his son and his band survived a horrific car accident last march and even more bizarre, at about the same time the fake lennay was diagnosed with leukemia, tuiasosopo 's real-life cousin was diagnosed with the disease. tuiasosopo had a knack for tugging at heartstrings. ♪ carry on my wayward son >> reporter: during an audition for the singing competition "the voice" he reportedly came up with a similar sob story about a near fatal crash that left another cousin nearly brain dead. last night we tried to catch up with tuiasosopo 's neighbors still reeling from the scandal. >> i'm so surprised like out of all the people in the world there were a lot of people i w

and his fake online girlfirend. 33& te'o was grief stricken by the death of his giilfriind lennny kekua, who'd reportedly diid out... she never existed.te'o claims he was the viitim of a sick joke... buu didnt say who was beeind it.now, the deadspin reporttr who broke man... "ronaiah two-e-ya-so-so-po". friendd -3&pand famill say he created the & girlfriend and spreaded thee pyth online. 3"they told us that he has been doing the lennay kekua ffke online profile for everaa years, and that he's caught other people in its trap- but that they cauggt on waa -3earlier than manti te'o id.""- dii." 3 relatives also say that te'o two knew each other. -3 3 3 3 a nice weekend ahead... but it wont last for long.lets check &pin with eteorologist mily weather returns. 3 weather returrs.see when the 3 you can et yyur morning news and weather... seven dayy a week right ere on fox45.fox45 morning news - weekends launches tomorroo. it will be anchored by baltimore broadcaster marianne banister aad meteorologist tony pagnotti will bring you the weather.thh show premieres saturday at 6 a-m... and sunday at

"the new york times" first connected stanford to the name lennay kekua back in october. miles smith is a senior at stanford and interested to hear what te'o has to say later today and that he has doubts about te'o's innocence in this. had he heard the stanford connection earlier, he would have checked it out. >> a little upset. if someone told me te'o's girlfriend is a stanford grad. i would say absolutely not. tragic car accident. student that dies from leukemia and she's a girlfriend of te'o who every time stanford played notre dame i would have wanted to write an article about that because it would be a great story. >> reporter: another strange twist. our sister station in los angeles is reporting there could be a connection to a friend in palmdale and may be implicated in the hoax. they are making attempts to contact the friend along with members of his family. and just when you thought the story couldn't get anymore bizarre, someone claiming to be the girlfriend who now everyone knows never existed started sending tweets last night saying that te'o would address the

a highly publicized death of te'o's girlfriend lennay kekua who was believed to help inspire te'o to the top of the college football world. notre dame called that story a hoax. >> this was a very elaborate, very sophisticated hoax, perpetrated for reasons we can't fully understand that had a certain cruelty at its core. >> reporter: the story of the hoax broke on deadspin, a popular sports website that is reporting the girlfriend doesn't even exist. as the story spread, te'o released a statement saying that he's the, quote, victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies. notre dame's athletic director jack swarbrick said te'o's reported relationship with kakua took place online and that the linebacker learned of her fake death in a late december phone call. in his statement, te'o said he and kekua maintained what he thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone. and that he grew to care deeply about her. swarbrick said an investigation by a firm hired by notre dame convinced him that te'o was duped into the relationsh

of course he never saw kekua. >> this whole thing stinks like himburger cheese and a lot of people fell for this. >> the handle media ate it up hook, line, sinker. a story too good. a football great triumphing through his pain. the south bend tribune wrote a dripping love store about the first time the two met. we know that never happened. the in first interact was reportedly in 2010 over twitter with a handle,@love you, detailed encounters in which a phone was held up to the ear of cue kekua, who was in a coma, but when she heard te'o's voice, her breathing was better. but it wasn't real, and no one bothered to check with the hospital. no one even checked to see if the up newspapers had run an ob. >> i went back today and looking at four different interviews te'o did, and you walk away with a very clear impression he had met her in person, the had a face-to-face relationship. so we'll talk more about this in the newscast today. mike tobin. thanks very much. regardless of who is responsible for this hoax, could be a problem when te'o starts what could be a successful career. >>> another

>> reporter: when manti's grandmother passed away last fall and word spread his girl friend lennay kekua died hours later from leukemia football fans across the country got behind the football star. >> the last thing she said to me was i love you. >> reporter: the sports blog dead spin now says that girl friend never existed. >> 22-year-old stanford grad gets in a near fatal car accident, contracts leukemia and dies. that's a big tragedy. that's going to be written up somewhere. there was no death notice, no obituary, no announcement of her funeral. >> reporter: dead spin says a friend of te'o's is behind the hoax and does not rule out that te'o may have been part of the deception. but te'o released a statement saying he was duped into a fake online and phone relationship with a woman and that he is humiliated, but some question why he never corrected media reports that said he spent time with kekua in hawaii. notre dame officials say te'o discussed the hoax with them in late september before the national championship game with alabama. the school said it decided not to contact police sa

did you ever bury a lennay kekua?ody took the time to do that because they accepted it was true. >> i heard one reporter who said they had asked for photographs of her from him, and he said her family doesn't want to do that. they don't want to be contacted. and the reporter backed off. didn't want to upset the possibility of not doing an interview. if manti doesn't talk, it really then becomes a story about the guy who allegedly perpetrated this and whether or not he talks. >> look, if what is in the deadspin story is true, then the person that is really going to have the answers is tuiasosopo. i have not seen that anybody has been able to contact him. we have a report that maybe an uncle was on a talk show but we don't really know. if tim is right and manti te'o's publisher says say no comment for the rest of his career, we may never know. and he used it as the picture, if that's the case, he may have to talk to the police. he may resurface, and it seems like the answers are going to come from him, not te'o. >> it s

publications wrote of an all night phone call, a comatose kekua increasing her breathing when she heard the sound of te'o's voice. none of it ever happened. on the campus of notre dame steeped in dramatic football legend, students support the linebacker. >> i feel really bad for him. it seems like it's an awful way for this year that was really magical to end. >> reporter: new information about who is possibly telling the truth here. you'll remember that te'o and the university both claim he learned of the scam december 6th when he got a phone call from his supposed dead girl's phone number. te'o mentioned her twice in interviews since then according to the associated press. he mentioned her for a website interview december 8th and again for a newspaper interview december 11th. mike tobin from chicago, fox news. >>> a news alert from prince george's county. the search is on for a man who assaulted a girl walking to her school bus stop in ft. wash this morning. a man grabbed -- ft. washington this morning. a man grabbed the teenager. both fell to the ground. she kicked her attacker and g

he said that he had lied to his father about meeting lennay kekua in person.hose were some of the discrepancies, some of the conflicts that people pointed to over the last few days. and i think he went a long way toward explaining some of those discrepancies. but probably not to the satisfaction of everyone. >> and, jeremy, he may have explained some of the discrepancies. but you have to admit, this is such a bizarre story. what happens to him next? will he be drafted by the nfl? or will teams shy away from him now? >> well, there's no doubt that manti te'o is going to be drafted. and i think there's little doubt he'll be drafted in the first half of the first round. whether he will be a top three or four pick, as he was projected by some to be -- i mean, if his story is out there, and people believe his story, it will not affect his draft position. he will be a millionaire very soon. and even if some of those nfl executives don't believe it fully, he'll still be a millionaire very soon. >> jeremy schaap, with the first exclusive interview with manti te'o, at

. >> reporter: when manti's grandmother passed away last fall and word that his girlfriend lennay kekuaied, the world got behind the football star. the sports blog "deadspin" now says that girlfriend never existed. >> 22-year-old stanford grad gets in a near fatal car accident, contracts leukemia and then dies. that's a big tragedy. that's going to be written up somewhere. it wasn't. no death notice, no obituary, no announcement of her funeral. >> reporter: "deadspin" says a friend of te'o's is behind the hoax and does not rule out that te'o may have been behind the deception but te'o says he was duped with an online and phone relationship with a woman and that he is humiliated but some question why he never corrected media reports that he spent time with kekua in hawaii. officials say they discussed the hoax with te'o in december before the national football championship game against alabama. the school said it decided not to contact the police saying it left that up to te'o. vinita nair, cbs news. >>> in the nba, a happy 31st birthday to miami heat star dwyane wade. he's outdone by te

this polynesian beauty queen says this lennay kekua contacted her online back in 2008. >> i think what seem real was just the persistence in the messages, just being consistent at the same time. >> reporter: she says when they were supposed to meet, someone else showed up. ronaiah tuiasosopo. but what might drive someone to attempt such an elaborate hoax? >> it's both a very weak ego and a definite character distorter with a tremendous need to manipulate. >> reporter: the daily news" reports tuiasosopo's attorney insists his client was just a person trying to reach out and communicate and have a relationship. matt gutman, abc news, los angeles. >>> and coming up here, are you ready for the super bowl? and are you ready for the fact there's a shortage of one of these foods? oh, no. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. [ male announ

>> reporter: the "new york times" connected stanford to the name lennay kekua. he says he is dismayed they didn't fact-check the story earlier. >> if someone had told me manti te'o's girlfriend was a stanford grad i would say absolutely not. how would i not know anything about this. tragic car accident, leukemia, i would have wanted to write an article about that because it would be a great story. >> reporter: and yet another strange twist, our sister station in los angeles is reporting that there could be a connection to te'o's friend in palm dale and the friend may be implicated in the hoax. and just when you thought the story couldn't get anymore bizarre, someone claiming to be the girlfriend started sending tweets last night, saying that te'o would address questions about their relationship today. notre dame has said te'o was the victim of the hoax. smith bennett and others aren't so sure. >> as much as i believe this happens to people all the time, because i've seen it on tv, i don't think the general public will believe that and i think for the most part t

. >> reporter: but tonight, word that that girlfriend, lennay kekua, never existed at all. the story, first reported on the sports news website deadspin, says she was a hoax, and the picture we all saw was of another woman who is very much alive and says she doesn't know te'o at all. late today, notre dame released a statement that coaches were informed by te'o and his parents that the star had been a victim of what appears to be a hoax. the college says someone using the fictitious name lennay kekua apparently ingratiated herself with manti and conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia. the question -- was this a case of catfishing? a term based on a documentary about a young man who is fooled into an online romance with a woman pretending to be somebody else. te'o himself has now issued a statement himself to our partner network, espn, saying he developed what he thought was an authentic, emotional relationship with a woman he met on the internet and they communicated online and on the phone. he calls this entire episode incredibly e