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Nancy Grace

Nancy Grace Shows Off Her Twins; Britney Spears Update

Aired January 07, 2008 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight: Music superstar Britney Spears`s alleged string of wild and erratic behavior. Did it cost her custody, and now losing visitation with her two toddler boys? Spears strapped to a gurney, rushed to the ER after a custody stand-off at her own LA home. The stunning late night drama and emergency court hearing ended in Spears losing visitation rights.
Tonight: Did Dr. Phil McGraw try an intervention at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, trucking right into Spears`s hospital room? Whatever he tried, it didn`t work, spears reportedly back on the town just 48 hours later. In the balance, two little boys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... a house call from TV`s Dr. Phil. He met with her Saturday morning, going to visit her at one point in the hospital. Dr. Phil says Britney is in, quote, "dire need" of both medical and psychological intervention. Spears was taken to an LA hospital last week after a fight with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, over their two sons. In an emergency hearing in Friday, Federline was then granted sole custody of the boys with no visitation for Britney.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight: A 24-year-old woman hikes the north Georgia mountains, only to vanish into thin air, not seen or heard from since New Year`s day. Multiple sightings on Emerson with a mystery man the day she vanishes. Blood evidence and now surveillance video lead police to 61- year-old Gary Hilton, Hilton in shackles today in court. But what happened to 24-year-old Meredith Emerson? And tonight: Is Hilton linked to yet another couple who also vanishes from a hiking trip?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A superior court judge in Union County has signed a warrant charging Gary Hilton with kidnapping with bodily harm in connection with the disappearance of Ms. Emerson.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was arrested after police found blood-stained clothes that are believed to have belonged to Emerson. He found those in a dumpster. In that same dumpster, police say they also found a seatbelt that had been cut from Hilton`s van. Emerson was last seen hiking near the Appalachian Trail in the north Georgia mountains on New Year`s day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, meet two very special guests, two of the tiniest crime fighters, Lucy and John David, my twins.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: First of all, this is my real baby. She was born one minute after her brother. This is little Lucy, and I want you to see her face. She`s just the most beautiful thing. She wakes up in the morning with a smile on her face, and she stays that way almost all day long. She was born at 1:55 on November the 4th.

And now, her brother. This is her big brother, John David. He was born at 1:54 on November the 4th. And he`s beautiful. Now, John David is named after John the Revelator, who wrote Revelations and ended up being exiled for his beliefs, and after his father, David. And Lucy Elizabeth is named after my grandmother, who helped raise me and my mother, Elizabeth.

Now, they`re not identical twins, they`re fraternal twins. But they look almost identical, except he is much bigger than her. He is a brick. This little baby was 5 pounds when he was born and he`s right at 8 pounds now. She was at about 2 pounds when she was born. And I`m proud to say she`s almost 6 pounds now.

Now, you know that they stayed in the hospital a lot longer than I did. And they`re just miracles. I went into the hospital that day thinking I was just having breathing problems. I didn`t know anything was wrong. I had no idea I had blood clots in my lungs and pulmonary edema. I hadn`t been there an hour-and-a-half before these two children were delivered by emergency Caesarean. And when it happened, I could feel them coming out, but it didn`t hurt. And I saw them for about 45 seconds. They were all swaddled up. And I got to kiss my finger and put it on their forehead, and that`s one of the last things I remember. Can you believe it?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. Thank you for being with us. And before we go to our lead story today, that being Britney back in trouble again, now losing even visitation rights with her two toddlers, I want you to meet live two very, very special guests, the tiniest crime fighters in my life. We are live in my New York apartment via the Internet. And there you see my mom and David. David has had to call in reinforcements, my mom, my dad, a nurse is there, all to take care of these two little things.

Look at them! Now, John David is on the left in the green bassy (ph), and Lucy Elizabeth is on the right in the pink bassy. David, I take it, they`ve had their dinner.

DAVID LINCH, NANCY GRACE`S HUSBAND: They`ve had their dinner, but they`re starting to stir again, Nancy.

GRACE: So they`ll be ready by the time I get home. Did they take the whole bottle?

LINCH: Not this time. John David took about half and Lucy took all of hers. But I think he`s starting to wake up a little bit now, and you may hear him here shortly.

GRACE: Now, my mom`s a trouper, everybody. Mother, raise your arms up. My mother broke both of her arms in a fall on an icy surface...

LINCH: (INAUDIBLE) raise your arms up, Mrs. Grace.

GRACE: Yes. But she`s here to help take care of the twins in their triumphant entry into TV-land. There they are, Lucy and John David. What a day. I never thought this would come.

I want to go to Dr. Richard Robbins, the obstetrician that delivered the twins. And all of you, I want to thank you so much for your prayers and your phone calls and your e-mails. I think, without them, I don`t what would have happened that day. I know that God heard your prayers.

Dr. Robbins is with us. Dr. Robbins, Dr. Scheinberg and Dr. Echemendia, buckle your seat belts. Let`s take some calls. To Kelsey in Arizona. Hi, Kelsey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) I got to tell you, Nancy, I`m so excited that you`re back on air! I love you so much! You`re such a hero to me, and I just love you! I also wanted to ask how is it being a mother? I think you`re such an inspiration, and I know you`re going to be a great mom! I just want to know how it is for you.

GRACE: Oh, Kelsey, listen -- Kelsey in Arizona -- it`s like nothing I`ve ever done before. You know, every time I would close a file or win a case in court, I thought that that was all there was, prosecuting violent crimes my whole life. I never thought anything like this miracle could happen to me.

Kelsey, it`s -- when people say, How is motherhood, I don`t even know the words to describe it. I really don`t. It`s like nothing I`ve never experienced before. But it almost didn`t happen. Let me tell you, the day that I went into the hospital, Kelsey, I just thought I was going in for breathing problems, and Dr. Richard Robbins, who worked with my OB, Mr. Michael Echemendia, happened to be on call that day. Remember, Dr. Robbins?

DR. RICHARD ROBBINS, OBSTETRICIAN, DELIVERED NANCY`S TWINS: I certainly do.

GRACE: Dr. Robbins, you and I had never met before that day. As a matter of fact, I don`t have any men doctors. No offense, sir. But Echemendia was the first man doctor I`ve had since I had an allergist when I was 12. So I didn`t know you at all. But in my mind, I distinctly recall you telling me that if we had waited 72 more hours, we may have lost little Lucy. She was so tiny. We thought she weighed so much more. She was just barely at 2 pounds. Why was that, Dr. Robbins?

ROBBINS: Well, I`m not exactly sure. I think that her placenta was certainly not working as well as her big brother`s. And of course, that would have been aggravated by your breathing problems, certainly that pulmonary edema, when you arrived.

GRACE: Dr. Scheinberg, what is pulmonary edema?

DR. PAUL SCHEINBERG, TREATED NANCY`S BLOOD CLOTS: Oh, my definition of pulmonary edema is simply soggy lungs, lungs that are saturated like a sponge is wet. And so lungs that are wet don`t exchange gas very well.

GRACE: And Dr. Scheinberg, how does the fluid that gets in the lung get into the heart cavity?

SCHEINBERG: Well, it doesn`t really get into heart cavity. What`s happening is the lung is basically a very vascular organ, a lot of blood flow going through it. I mean, your entire cardiac output every minute is passing through the lungs. And so the capillaries are supposed to keep the blood in as the gas exchange takes place, but if the capillaries get a little leaky, it`s -- imagine that it`s basically a filtrate. It`s like pipes -- a cold pipe having water on the outside. The water leaks through the walls and settles in the lung itself, and the lung becomes like a wet sponge. So it doesn`t exchange gas well and it`s very difficult to breathe.

GRACE: To Dr. Michael Echemendia. I remember the very first time I met you, Dr. Ech (ph). I had these Atlanta doctors lined up just in case I might need a doctor in Atlanta. Next thing you know, emergency C-section. Dr. Ech, why is it that the fluid builds up that way? And why couldn`t we tell that baby Lucy only weighed 2 pounds? Remember, we thought that she was coming up on 5 pounds.

DR. MICHAEL ECHEMENDIA, NANCY`S OBSTETRICIAN: Yes, looking over the ultrasound reports that I read, it did show that probably the last visit, there was a little bit lack of growth, a decreased lack of growth. And there were some factors (ph) with that. Placental fine-tuning (ph) was one. Lucy did have two -- one umbilical artery, and also at delivery, there was a little bit of abnormal plasmentation (ph) of the core (ph) of the placenta. On top of that, you were developing a little bit of this preeclampsia that was going on...

GRACE: Right.

ECHEMENDIA: ... and so and so forth. I think all that played a role in that.

GRACE: You know, and we would go in and check and Lucy was getting longer. The circumference of her head was normal. And everything is just an estimate. Everything seemed fine until that day.

Joining me right now by phone is special caller Glenn Beck. Hi, friend!

GLENN BECK, HOST, "GLENN BECK": Oh, hello, Nancy.

GRACE: There they are, Glenn! Can you see them?

BECK: They are so cute!

GRACE: You know, I wanted to bring them to the set, but it`s cold and flu season. Forget about it.

BECK: No, I wouldn`t bring them around...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: ... had World War III about bringing these two to the set. I finally won, believe it or not.

BECK: Oh, no!

GRACE: They`re at home right now. They there are, wiggling in their bassies.

BECK: So cute.

GRACE: And I got to tell you, it was hard leaving them, Glenn.

BECK: I know.

GRACE: It was hard coming to work today.

BECK: I know. I tell you, Nancy, you know what`s amazing? And we talked about it a little bit on my radio show today, is on how quickly you love your children. And I was -- because we -- we adopted my third child. And you know, that weird thing that you`re, like, I don`t know. I mean, am I`m going to love him as much as my other children, and everything. It doesn`t matter. Your children are your children, and you love them!

GRACE: You know, you just brought up something really interesting. At first, I thought I was just having one child. Then I found out there were twins, and I was floored...

BECK: Yes.

GRACE: ... because I didn`t -- how am I going to take all that love...

BECK: I know.

GRACE: ... that I was going to pour into one child and split it 50/50?

BECK: It`s amazing, isn`t it?

GRACE: But now, to think of the world without one of them...

BECK: Yes.

GRACE: I can`t imagine the world without John David and Lucy.

BECK: Yes.

GRACE: And Glenn, I want to thank you so much for having me on your radio show today, but also for your thoughts and prayers during the pregnancy.

BECK: Oh, you know, Nancy, we just love you. And our family has been praying for you and your family from the get-go. And we`re just so pleased for you. And also, I don`t mean to be rude, but I mean, you`re looking smoking hot, too!

(LAUGHTER)

BECK: I`m just saying.

GRACE: Well, listen, thank you, but I would not recommend the blood clot diet to anybody, but...

BECK: I`m not recommending the diet, but you`re...

GRACE: Thank you.

BECK: ... looking smoking hot!

GRACE: Hey...

BECK: I love you, Nancy. Welcome back.

GRACE: Glenn, likewise. Thank you, friend.

Dr. Scheinberg, blood clots -- when they told me in the ER that I had blood clots in the lungs, I nearly did a back flip. How does that happen after a C-section?

SCHEINBERG: Well, I think there were several predisposing factors that led you to having a pulmonary embolus. Basically, you probably were forming some clots in the large engorged pelvic veins. And at some point, the vein -- the clot sort of let loose and floated in the circulation. And all the blood in the veins is returning back to the heart. So as in rivers, it`s getting into bigger and bigger vessels. It finally reaches the heart. But the heart can handle a large flow, but the heart then sends the blood into the lung. The lung is the first capillary that catches the clot. So it gets caught there and it interferes with blood flow through the lung. And that gave you a little more trouble with breathing and low oxygen and...

GRACE: Man, you`re not kidding. I couldn`t even walk from the bedroom to the kitchen there in the end.

Out to the lines. Beverly in Ohio. Hi, Beverly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, hello, friend! How are you, Nancy?

GRACE: I am so happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh, I wish you could see your face! You are so gorgeous! You look so proud! And your little girl looks just like you.

GRACE: Bless you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are so pretty! And he`s handsome.

GRACE: Oh, you know what? I think that they both look just like their dad. Hey, hey, Beverly, check out -- these are some of the people that helped made these twins possible. There`s Northside Hospital Women`s Center, Dr. Jose Lopez-Zeno, also a specialist in high-risk pregnancies. The whole staff there at Northside. And to believe I hadn`t planned to deliver there. As it turns out, it`s, like, the baby capital of the country. And here are two products of that.

Beverly, thank you for your compliments. And I`m going to save this show on DVD for the twins one day.

To Ilene in Florida. Hi, Ilene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy, it`s great to see you, and your kids are beautiful and you look great and we`re glad you`re all healthy.

GRACE: Thank you, my love. Do you have a question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I wanted to know if -- what do you think is the most important thing that you`ve learned so far as being a mother? What`s the greatest thing that you love about your kids? And I hope both of your kids grow up to be great, feisty prosecutors like their mom because we need them (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: I can only pray. Of course, they`ll probably both run out on me, be either juvenile delinquents or defense attorneys. I don`t know which one they`re going to lean toward.

The greatest thing I`ve learned is that I had no idea that I had the capacity love this much. I had no idea. And let`s see. What was your other question, Ilene? What have I learned, and what about -- oh, motherhood. I think spending time with them, being with them all the time, as much as you can. My mom was a working mom, my grandmother a working mom. She worked in a factory and was a mom. It`s hard for women all over to shut that door and go to work every day. But the time with them, every minute to me is precious.

Out to Carrie in Georgia. Hi, Carrie. Carrie, are you with me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Beverly out in California.

GRACE: Oh, I`ve got Beverly. Hi, Beverly. What`s your question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, I just want to give kintos (ph) and prayers. And God bless your family. And you`ve done such a great job, and I was one of ones who helped put the -- the rapist that -- that -- the guy from El Cojone (ph) and...

GRACE: Oh, darn. I`ve lost Beverly. We`re going to all be right back. Beverly, call back on the same number. Everyone, we are going out with a live shot of the twins. There`s John David and Lucy Elizabeth. They`re with their dad, David, and my mom, Elizabeth. Somewhere, my father`s lurking on the scene. Everybody. It takes a village, people, to raise these two twins. And most of all, I want to thank you for your prayers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: They`re not identical twins, but they look like identical twins. And I remember when they first came into the world, I still didn`t realize how sick I was. At that time, I didn`t know that I had blood clots that were in my lungs. But long story short, when I looked at them -- it was like a madhouse in the emergency room. They were trying to keep me breathing. And all I could do is take a kiss to my index finger and put it on their forehead, and then I didn`t see them again for a while.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Welcome back, everybody. Before we go out to LA and the latest on Britney Spears losing even visitation rights with her two toddlers, as well as the missing 24-year-old hiker in the north Georgia mountains, here are two of the littlest crime fighters, my two twins. Now, my father is lurking around there somewhere but -- oh, is John David getting a bottle? Good. John David on the left in the green bassy, baby Lucy on the right in the pink bassy. David, Elizabeth, and joining us are three of the doctors that I attribute to saving their lives, especially the life of little Lucy.

It was a rough day that day, Dr. Robbins, when I thought I couldn`t breathe that morning and ended up coming straight into the hospital. Dr. Robbins, the pulmonary edema -- why did that lead to the emergency C- section?

ROBBINS: Well, I was pretty sure that the increased demand from your twins, the demand on your heart, that your heart would work better if we delivered the twins. And once we gave you the diuretic to get some of the fluid off, then I thought we should move right back and get those twins out of there and help you get better.

GRACE: I remember I said, Where`s Dr. Ech? And you said, Well, I`m pinch-hitting today. And the next thing I knew, at 1:54 John David came. At 1:55, little Lucy came. And that was all she wrote, thanks to you Dr. Robbins. Thanks to you. Take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: When I hold them in my arms and I look at them, I cannot imagine someone hurting a child. And as far as I`m concerned, child molesters, child abusers, people that kill their children, they can all rot in hell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Tonight, we are live in my apartment here in New York with the twins, the littlest crime fighters, John David and Lucy Elizabeth. Before we head to LA and the latest on Britney Spears, we`re taking your calls live.

Out to Morgan in Virginia. Hi, Morgan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy, I just wanted to tell you, you look beautiful, as always, and your children are more than amazing. I just wanted to tell you I`m five months pregnant, and I was just wondering what it`s like when you see your children for the first time.

GRACE: It didn`t even seem real. I didn`t even get a chance to hold them, Morgan. They whisked them away and me the other way. I only got to kiss them on their foreheads, and away they went. Then they were hooked up to so many wires for so many weeks. I couldn`t even hold baby Lucy for a long time. They had a wire running up her foot, through her body, all the way out her nose. So I just have to tell you, there`s nothing that can compare to it. You hang in there. The last three or four months are the hardest.

To Jane in California. Hi, Jane.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m from Canada, Nancy. From Canada.

GRACE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I just wanted to say you look great. Your twins are absolutely beautiful. We`re so happy for you.

GRACE: Thanks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re so glad you`re back on the air. You`re really blessed.

GRACE: Jane, I am so blessed. I want to thank you for your prayers. And tonight, in addition to the doctors, I would like to thank Susan for teaching me how to change a diaper, and to Jewel (ph) for all your encouragement during the hard times.

When we come back: Music superstar Britney Spears`s alleged string of wild behavior. Did an intervention go down after she`s rushed to the ER, then loses visitation rights with her two toddlers? And where does Dr. Phil fit in?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NANCY GRACE, CNN ANCHOR: Britney Spears was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. This happened last Friday after police were forced to intervene in the custody dispute between her and ex-husband Kevin Federline. While Spears was in the hospital on Friday, a judge awarded Federline sole custody of the couple`s two children. Saturday morning Spears was released from the hospital.

Now as she was getting ready to leave, she had a surprise visitor, none other than Dr. Phil. That`s right. Dr. Phil McGraw released a statement over the weekend saying that at the request of her parents he visited Britney for more than an hour and that he`s convinced that, quote, "she`s in dire, dire need of both medical and psychological intervention."

Since that statement came out, there`s been a lot of backlash against the TV therapist for appearing to take advantage of the situation. So Dr. Phil`s show released a statement saying, "Because the Spears situation is too intense at this time and out of consideration for the family, I`ve made the decision not to move forward with the taping."

GRACE: Now Britney Spears losing even the barest minimum of visitation rights with her two toddlers. And don`t you know somewhere Federline is just licking his chops over all that money, but what about the two children? That`s my big concern tonight. And where does Dr. Phil McGraw fit into this whole thing?

Kareen Wynter, CNN correspondent, joining us there in L.A.

First of all, how did Dr. Phil get in the middle of all of this?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hmm, that`s the big question. He kind of appeared out of the blue, right? Wrong. Dr. Phil says -- Nancy, first of all, great to have you back. The babies are beautiful - that he was actually invited there. He didn`t just show up at Cedars, that he`s had this running relationship with the family for more than a year now.

GRACE: Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

WYNTER: That`s right. Yes.

GRACE: Relationship with the family? I`m not hearing relationship with Britney Spears.

WYNTER: With Lynne Spears.

GRACE: That`s whose authority rules in this case. That`s who has to invite him in, not a member of the family.

Did Britney Spears invite McGraw in?

WYNTER: No, N-O. In fact, she was very unhappy, so upset that she stormed out when he actually showed up in her hospital room and stormed out. She came back a short time later. But again, Lynne Spears and Britney`s father and her brother apparently orchestrated this whole thing.

GRACE: Kareen, Kareen, Kareen.

WYNTER: .that they needed some sort of help.

GRACE: Kareen, I can only identify this much.

WYNTER: Yes.

GRACE: You don`t -- when you`re laying in a hospital bed in one of those horrible gowns, you don`t want someone barging in the door. It happened to me.

WYNTER: You absolutely don`t.

GRACE: I was minding my own business in the hospital, the only time I`ve ever been in the hospital in my life. And somebody gets past security and actually gets into the hospital room and starts praying.

WYNTER: But Nancy, can you blame the family? They`re desperate, they`re desperate for some sort of intervention here, and if Dr. Phil is the person to do it, you know what? I`d call him in if I were her parents. Definitely.

GRACE: Yes. Well, there`s certain rules that are supposed to apply as to who gets into the hospital room.

Ken Seeley, interventionist from A&E`s Intervention, when you`re talking about an intervention, Ken, that can be very, very rough, very rough on the interventionee, may I say, that will be Britney Spears, because people are flying accusations and discussions and suggestions to you. That`s why it`s called an intervention, it ain`t pretty. Now why would Dr. Phil have the authority to get into her hospital room without her agreeing to it?

KEN SEELEY, INTERVENTIONIST, A&E`S INTERVENTION, INTERVENTION911.COM: You know, really, Nancy, it`s about ratings is what I`m seeing. And I think he`s showing his true colors. It`s just devastating to see. You know, I do the show, as you said, "Intervention" on TV, but those family members know that it`s going to be aired on TV.

It`s not like, you know, "I`m going to go in and find out your deepest darkest secrets," and then come on your show and talk about it. That`s just devastating and is so unacceptable. And I understand a lot of psychiatrists are also very devastated because of what happened there. This is breaking confidentiality, and I would love to see what your attorneys have to say about that.

GRACE: You know, Dr. Robi Ludwig is with us, psychotherapist and author.

Dr. Robi, question on -- for a hospital to just allow someone in and especially even Dr. Phil, who a lot of people look up to, to come out and state publicly Britney Spears is in "dire need of psychiatric or intervention help," isn`t that breaking some type of confidentiality with your patient?

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST, AUTHOR, "TILL DEATH DO US PART": Well, if Dr. Phil were Britney`s doctor, then it certainly would be breaking confidentiality, but if he`s just making an assessment about a public figure, then you`re crossing a fine line. But if you`re talking about ethics, then there`s another issue here.

GRACE: Well, if he wasn`t her doctor, then what was he doing in that hospital room?

LUDWIG: Well, it sounds like he was going to check things out. It was somewhat PR motivated. He was certainly doing it for ratings. Maybe he can tell himself that he cares about her. But it`s all very highly suspicious. It seems very motivated by ratings.

GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Susan Moss, Jason Oshins, Joe Lawless.

First to you, Susan Moss. What do you think?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY AND CHILD ADVOCATE: Well, when you`re too crazy for Dr. Phil, your chances of custody are nil. But the question was: why was he there? If he was there for treatment or for diagnosis, well, you got a big problem because he doesn`t seem to have privileges in that hospital. If he was just there to be a friend, well, apparently Britney doesn`t know him and didn`t invite him in. He shouldn`t have been there. And he really is opening him up -- himself up to quite a lawsuit, especially on the -- the new HIPAA standards.

GRACE: You`re seeing video from Hollywood.TV. Joining us right now Kelli Zink from CelebTV.com.

Kelli, long story short regarding Britney being holed up in a dressing room or a bathroom in her L.A. mansion. You know, everybody knew that at some point Britney Spears was not going to want to send the kids home to Federline. Of course, she`s going to be some type of eruption. What really happened? Now all the reports are conflicting.

KELLI ZINK, CELEBTV.COM HOST: Well, what -- Nancy, by the way, it`s great to have you back. You look absolutely gorgeous. Congratulations.

GRACE: Thank you.

ZINK: And what really happened was the kids wanted -- they had to go away from Britney for clearly obvious reason. So the court appointed monitors there. They -- she said no, locked herself in the bathroom. Police are called by the monitor. They come to take her away and Britney is resisting. After three hours they finally wheel her out on a gurney and Britney Spears gets committed.

The interesting thing is that everyone says she was not under any substances at all.

GRACE: Then why was she tied down to a gurney?

ZINK: That`s the question that everyone wants to know. Was she resisting them? Has she just gone crazy? We don`t know what`s going on with Britney Spears, but there`s no substances involved.

GRACE: You know, I don`t get it. I don`t get it.

Jason Oshins, you got Michael Jackson on trial for child molestation with a parade of little boys saying. "He molested me." He`s got his kids, Oshins.

JASON OSHINS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes.

GRACE: She shows up in a photograph without her underwear and throws a fit when they tried to take the kids back home where they belong, and she`s losing even visitation rights.

OSHINS: Well, listen, Nancy, I mean, you know, the best interests of the children is what the court has to be concerned about, and obviously she lacks the ability to parent herself never mind to be a parent to these children. So the court has to err on the side of caution and, obviously for now, they`ve temporarily revoked her parental rights.

GRACE: Not just parental rights, even visitation rights. The very minimum, Joe Lawless, even visitation rights. How did that happen? And Federline certainly wasted no time.

JOE LAWLESS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR, "PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT": Well, I don`t think it was Federline, Nancy. I think there was an assessment made by the people who were there that night that they should apply for a 5150 hold is what it`s called under the California law.

GRACE: No, I`m talking about the court hearing where she loses even visitation rights.

LAWLESS: Well, the court is going to have -- the court made a threshold determination. She was a danger to herself or those kids.

GRACE: Everybody, we`re going to be right back with the latest out in L.A. on Britney Spears losing the barest minimum right to see her children on visitation.

I`m going to find out the latest on a missing hiker in the North Georgia Mountains and now a man named as a person of interest -- a suspect. What was he doing with one of these? It`s a baton. Out to Norman Cooper with the North Georgia News. Why did he need a baton? And tell me what happened in court.

NORMAN COOPER, EDITOR, NORTH GEORGIA NEWS: OK. First of all, what happened in court is known as a first appearance hearing, and normally what happens in that type of situation is a defendant comes in, the judge tells him what the charges are, asks him if he understands the charges and tells him about all of his rights, a right to an attorney, right to a judge, a jury, whatever. And that`s what happened today except for they did give him a public defender and -- to help him out a little bit.

The -- Hilton did not talk. Only the public defender talked. And they`re hoping that by doing that gesture that maybe he will help them out and maybe help them to find where the victim is.

GRACE: Meredith Emerson. Twenty-four-year-old Meredith Emerson.

COOPER: Yes.

GRACE: .last seen with this man. Apparently their two dogs befriended each other and were running up and down trails there in the North Georgia Mountains. She has never been seen again.

Norman Cooper, is it true that he was found cleaning out his van with bleach and a portion of his seatbelt had been cut away?

COOPER: Yes, I have a copy of the warrant here that I`ve got and where the FBI agent outlined his case. They found some of her clothing that was -- had blood on it. They found her University of Georgia I.D. They found her driver`s license. They found part of the seatbelt out of his van in a dumpster, and they found him later on that night and he was trying to clean out his van with a solution. He was also seen in Canton, Georgia attempting to use her card at a machine, and they identified him as Gary Michael Hilton trying to use that card in Canton, Georgia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RICHELLE CAREY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I`m Richelle Carey. This is your "Headline Prime Newsbreak."

Baseball great Roger Clemens has filed a defamation lawsuit against the former trainer who claimed to have injected the pitcher the performance enhancing drugs. During a news conference, Clemens played a recorded phone call between himself and Brian McNamee last week. In it, McNamee offered to go to jail for Clemens but neither admitted nor denied lying to investigators. Clemens says he plans to testify about the steroid allegations before Congress next week.

Investigators will not file charges against two brothers who survived a tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas. Police said they didn`t find any evidence that Kulbir and Paul Dhaliwal taunted the 300- pound tiger prompting that attack. The animal killed their 17-year-old friend.

And two families lost in the Colorado back country for three days and several feet of snow have been found alive. They took shelter in an isolated cabin and they ate popcorn and gravy mix they found inside.

Keep it here. I`m Richelle Carey.

GRACE: We have just received breaking news from the AP and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Authorities have found the body of a missing hiker, this hiker being the 24-year-old girl that we have been discussing, Miss Emerson. A source close to the investigation is stating that the remains of Meredith Emerson have been found. We`re expecting an announcement at any moment from Dawson County Police. Investigators are now examining whether her death and the disappearance of two other hikers in North Carolina are related.

Repeat: breaking news just in. Authorities have found the body of a missing hiker hours after a judge denied bond to the man accused of kidnapping her in the mountains of North Georgia.

First of all, out to Mike Brooks. Mike, this is not the outcome that the family and friends wanted at all. They were still holding out hope even after her clothes have been found.

MIKE BROOKS, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE, SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: They were, Nancy. It`s good to have you back, too, by the way. But no, they were holding out hope that something miraculous would happen and that they would find her alive. But law enforcement now -- I was talking to law enforcement today. They were in a recovery mode, and it`s very, very sad. But their investigation, they were targeting a number of different areas and they were only having professional law enforcement out there searching for her body now. And it looks like they have found it.

So I hope this will enable law enforcement now to build an even better case against this guy. And he now also, Nancy, could face possible federal charges because it may have taken place -- the murder may have taken place in a national forest. So the FBI was at a meeting today. They were looking at all the notes, comparing notes on this North Carolina case. There`s also another case of a woman missing from Cumming, Georgia from last year that they`re also looking at, Nancy. So right now the investigation is just still in the early stages.

GRACE: To Joe lawless, defense attorney and author out of the Philadelphia jurisdiction. Joe, when I learned that the defendant, the suspect in kidnapping only, had a public defender with him, I was wondering if they were somehow negotiating not to seek the death penalty if he would lead them to the body. We`ve seen those types of negotiations before, but I imagine after tonight all bets are off.

LAWLESS: All bets are definitely off at this point now that they have the body and they`ve recovered it. They`re going to recover a wealth of forensic evidence that I`m sure they`re going to be able to link to what was recovered at the scene in conjunction with the seatbelt and her clothing, et cetera. They will then be able to tie that in if it`s related to the case in North Carolina and possibly the third case Mike was just talking about. And the forensic evidence they`ll get as a result of the body`s recovery could tie this guy into three murders and he right now is in a world of trouble.

GRACE: Jason Oshins, weigh in.

OSHINS: Nancy, there`s nothing to bargain with right now. As you said correctly, they found the body and perhaps the missing hiker in North Carolina, Mr. Bryant, who`s still missing, his remains weren`t found. Perhaps defense counsel could negotiate for that or maybe an admission to the other crime in Georgia. But it`s quite limited. Right now I keep my mouth shut and wait to see what happens.

GRACE: Susan Moss, unless, unless he told them where the body was, that would suggest to me some type of negotiations have already gone down.

MOSS: Absolutely. And I do belief that there has been some negotiations, but this case now comes down to just science. There`s a wealth of forensic evidence that`s been found whether it be on the seat belt, whether it be on the clothes and now on the body.

GRACE: To Dr. William Morrone, joining us out of Madison Heights, a medical examiner and a forensic pathologist.

DR. WILLIAM R. MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Good evening.

GRACE: Dr. Morrone.

MORRONE: Yes.

GRACE: .it`s wonderful to see you again.

MORRONE: Thank you. You too.

GRACE: Dr. Morrone, when we say -- Brooks just said a wealth of forensic evidence, what do you expect?

MORRONE: What I expect is they`re going to be able to stage the decomposition of the body and establish a timeline, and they`re going to give us an approximate time and date of death. And that will go back to when she was missing, and it all is part of the whole plan.

GRACE: You know, to you, Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI, what is this guy doing with one of these? Have you ever seen one of these batons? Not really.

BROOKS: Oh, I have one of those. No, no, I have one of those batons. It`s called an asp, but it`s a collapsible baton.

GRACE: Whatever.

BROOKS: Exactly. You know, exactly. What is he doing with that?

GRACE: What are you doing with one?

BROOKS: I was law enforcement, Nancy. It was issued to me.

GRACE: Yes, was. Operative word is "was." OK, you know what? That`s your thing.

BROOKS: But anyway.

GRACE: What is he doing with one?

BROOKS: That`s a good question. You can buy them. They`re available at police supply stores. But he, you know, he probably would say, "Well, I use it.

GRACE: Aren`t you supposed to turn that in when you leave the department, Brooks?

BROOKS: No. No, not necessarily so, Nancy.

GRACE: OK.

BROOKS: Not necessarily so. And, anyway, with him having one, there`s no reason why he should have it unless he`s going to say, "Well, I use it for personal protection when I`m hiking in the woods because of wild animals." But that`s a stretch.

GRACE: Well, I`ve got a little surprise for the suspect, Dr. Morrone. If the bodies are preserved well enough.

MORRONE: Yes.

GRACE: .something like this can be compared to the injuries sustained on the body and matched.

MORRONE: Absolutely.

GRACE: Just like a baseball bat or some other device, blunt object used to murder.

MORRONE: Absolutely. Absolutely.

GRACE: How does that work?

MORRONE: Well, the asp handles sometimes have patterns and then there`s dimensions.

GRACE: My god, you`ve got one, too?

MORRONE: Well.

GRACE: I have to look for one of these. And now you, Brooks, pop up with him.

MORRONE: But we work for the Sheriff`s Departments.

GRACE: OK.

MORRONE: And we work in law enforcements, and we -- I have to be able to study the effects of blunt force trauma on bodies. So that`s another reason why I have them.

GRACE: So you can match it up with particular markings on the.

MORRONE: Absolutely.

GRACE: .this killer baton, very similar to matching a bullet marking up to a particular gun.

Dr. Robi, this particular victim, she was an expert hiker, and was up there seemingly coming upon a defenseless man, had nothing with him but a backpack and his dog. Analyze.

ROBI: Very manipulative, and what we know, the research tells us that the women under 30`s are more vulnerable, because they`re out and about alone so they can be targets to these predators. But it`s just really awful. It sounds like he was a real predator and staged the whole thing. She was vulnerable to him.

GRACE: Breaking news, a body has been found in the North Georgia Mountains believed to be a missing 24-year-old hiker, Meredith Emerson. We are just getting the breaking news in. We will report immediately when we come back to break.

Do you know a special parent, a parent who deserved to be recognized? We are on the lookout for special moms and dads who inspire others. Get your camcorder, go to CNN.com/Nancygrace, click on i-Report and enter moms and dads in the "Nancy Grace Extraordinary Parent" contest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Breaking news. We are just getting into the studios. Authorities, according to the AP, Associated Press, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution, have found the body of a missing hiker hours after a judge denies bond to the man accused of kidnapping a 24-year-old woman there in the mountains of North Georgia. The remains of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson have been found, according to the AJC and the AP.

Now investigators are examining whether Emerson`s death and the disappearance of two other hikers in North Carolina are related.

I want to go back out to Mike Brooks. Mike, if they are related, how awful for this guy to have slipped through the cracks in the justice system only to claim the life of another young girl.

BROOKS: Isn`t that the truth, Nancy? But people like this they usually just don`t -- aren`t involved in just one act like this. You usually see them involved in a number of acts. In fact, law enforcement from Florida are even looking at some of their cases now and trying to compare notes with the North Carolina and Georgia authorities.

GRACE: You know, it`s true, Dr. Robi, in the cases that I have prosecuted and covered, you don`t just suddenly commit a murder. You work up to -- you graduate to a violent felony.

ROBI: That`s right. It`s almost like a volcano. And sometimes these crimes get more and more violent as the criminal goes on. They need to exacerbate the crime in order to feel excited. But usually they have a lot of anger towards women, these types of men.

GRACE: And in both cases, the Georgia case and North Carolina case, a woman was a victim. In the Carolina case, two-people victim.

Let`s stop and remember Army Staff Sergeant Jarred Fontenot, just 35, Port Barre, Louisiana, killed in Iraq. A police officer on a second tour awarded the army commendation medal, overseas service ribbon, Purple Heart and bronze star. Dedicated to family, especially two of his children with autism. He dreamed of a military career and leaves behind a grieving widow, Dana, four children, Cameron, Logan, Mason and Macy. Jarred Fontenot, American hero.

Thank you to our guests, but especially you for inviting us into your homes and tonight a special thank you from me and my family for all of your cards, your e-mails, your well wishes and your prayers. Dreams do come true.

See you tomorrow 8:00 sharp Eastern and until then, good night, friend.

END