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Nancy Grace

Manhunt for Laurean Centers on Durham, North Carolina

Aired January 14, 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: Breaking news tonight. A gorgeous young Marine vanishes into thin air, Camp Lejeune. Kicker? She`s eight months pregnant when she goes missing. Headline tonight: a manhunt in high gear for 21- year-old Marine corporal Cesar Laurean, wanted in the death of Marine corporal 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child. Lauterbach`s ATM card found discarded at a Durham, North Carolina, bus station, and now reported sightings of the suspect`s black pickup also in Durham.
What happened to the sightings of the suspect in Shreveport, Louisiana? Did Lauterbach have a military protective order against Laurean after accusing him of rape? Lauterbach set to testify when she disappeared. In the last 72 hours, police find what appears to be the burned remains of 20-year-old Lauterbach and her unborn child. Where? Laurean`s back yard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears the pregnant Marine was killed December 15, four days before she was reported missing. Charred remains believed to be those of the lance corporal and a fetus were found Saturday in a shallow grave. It was in the backyard of a fellow Marine, Cesar Armando Laurean, who is charged with first-degree murder in her death. He fled the area Friday. He may have been seen at a bus station in Shreveport, Louisiana, over the weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep your eyes open for Cesar Laurean. If you see him, call your local law enforcement agencies. Don`t try to detain him. Even with this new amount of $25,000, it`s not worth getting hurt over, and it is evident that he will hurt you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, news (ph) of superstar Britney Spears`s string of wild, erratic behavior. Did it cost her custody, even losing visitation with her toddler boys? After paramedics strap her to a gurney and race her to the ER in a late-night custody standoff, another bizarre scenes unfolds. Just hours ago, Spears arrived over three hours late to a key custody hearing, and then she takes off without ever setting a foot inside the courtroom. Breaking news. Just moments ago, even minimum visitation rights now totally suspended.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Britney Spears and her entourage -- we believe the paparazzi that she`s dating holed up here in a black Escalade. She tries to come out, and of course, there`s a crush of media here, reporters, paparazzi, fans. She comes out in what looks like a wedding dress. It`s some, you know, lace little number. And she starts screaming, I`m scared. I`m scared. Stop.

She basically didn`t want to come in, runs around the vehicle and tries to hop -- she actually hops in the driver`s side as if to take off. And then you hear her entourage saying, Get her, get her. It was just incredible!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First, new sightings in the manhunt for rape and murder suspect Cesar Laurean in the death of a young Marine and her unborn child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: April 2007, Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach tells her superiors at Camp Lejeune she was raped by Corporal Cesar Laurean. She`s pregnant. In December, Lauterbach was due to testify. On the 14th is the last time her mother speaks to her by phone.

On December 19th, Lauterbach`s mother calls police and says her daughter is missing. January 11, a break in the case. Laurean`s wife, Christina (ph), notifies the sheriff`s department that her husband gave her a note. In the note, Corporal Laurean claims the pregnant Marine committed suicide and he buried her. The search was on to find Lauterbach`s remains. They find blood spattered on the walls and ceiling at the Marine corporal`s home and a grim find in the backyard firepit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appeared that the body of the adult was laying over on the side, with the face down in the bottom of the pit. The fetus was in the abdominal area of that adult. That little hand, the way those fingers were turned, it had been burned off the arm. That is bizarre, tragic. It`s disgusting.

We`re looking in every place (INAUDIBLE) touches. We have not stopped looking just because we got that sighting. We won`t stop looking until Laurean is in custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Where is Cesar Laurean? Last week, we thought that he was headed towards Shreveport, Louisiana, slowly heading toward the Mexican border through Texas. Now is he still in Durham?

Let`s go straight out to Rusty Dornin, CNN correspondent there in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Rusty, welcome to the show. What are the latest developments?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nancy, as you said, there were some sightings of Laurean last week, though, in Durham, North Carolina. Apparently, some people also saw his truck there. An ATM card was also discovered, Lauterbach`s ATM card, at a bus station there. Apparently, Laurean had used her ATM card the day before Christmas.

Authorities now believe that Maria Lauterbach was murdered on or about December 15. They say it is not based on physical evidence but on interviews. Christina Laurean, the wife of Cesar Laurean, is a key witness in this case. Authorities say that she is cooperating. There is no word on who those other witnesses or if there are other witnesses that may be telling them about this December 15 date -- Nancy.

GRACE: So Rusty, what does that mean about the Shreveport sightings of Cesar Laurean and the possible -- the possibility he was headed toward Mexico through Texas?

DORNIN: The witnesses in Shreveport, Louisiana, were not confirmed by the U.S. Marshals office down there. U.S. Marshals did tell CNN that they had boarded a bus, the people had claimed that the person had come from Dallas to Shreveport and was seen in that bus station. But there has been no one in law enforcement who has been able to confirm that they actually saw Cesar Laurean, and the sheriff did tell us tonight that they`re just not sure that that sighting was valid. More valid in their eyes are the sightings in Durham, North Carolina, where they know that the ATM card belonging to Maria Lauterbach was dropped at a bus station there.

GRACE: Joining us, along with CNN`s Rusty Dornin there at the sheriff`s office in Jacksonville, North Carolina, are two very special guests. And tonight, we are taking your calls live. With us, Sheriff Ed Brown. He`s with the Onslow County sheriff`s department. Also with us, District Attorney Dewey Hudson. Gentlemen, thank you for being with us.

First to you, Sheriff Brown. I understand that you learned the suspect`s name January 7, the name Cesar Laurean. What took so long?

SHERIFF ED BROWN, ONSLOW COUNTY, N.C.: Nancy, I have just reviewed the report. I want to clear up something.

GRACE: OK.

BROWN: I was under the impression to start with that the mother was the one that called the sheriff`s office. It is in reverse. The sheriff`s office called the mother to get the necessary information in this investigation. We received the information in this investigation from a pen (ph) message from the hometown of Mary Lauterbach. That`s the mother.

Hold on. We initiated the call back to the mother to try to obtain the telephone number for Maria and other information that the mother would possibly know that could give us. So we initiated the call into the Mary Lauterbach after receiving a pen message from her hometown, where she reported her daughter, Maria, missing.

GRACE: OK, sir. Bottom line...

BROWN: And at that time -- OK.

GRACE: Let me make sure I understand what you`re saying. You`re saying that you returned a message to the mother. She called you. She contacted you through a pen message. Yes?

BROWN: No. The police department there contacted us.

GRACE: OK.

BROWN: We, in reverse, contacted Mary to try to get as much information about her daughter as possible.

GRACE: OK. Good to know.

BROWN: And we actually initiated...

GRACE: Now back to the original question.

BROWN: OK.

GRACE: You learned the suspect, Laurean`s, name January 7. The alleged rape happened back in April, many, many months before. Why the delay? Why did you just learn his name January 7?

BROWN: It`s not likely to have all the facts when you begin an investigation. That`s the purpose for an investigation. And let me say this, because I know you`re going to have some folks on after me. And I`m going to offer you this invitation to come to the Onslow County sheriff`s office or send those professionals that you`re going to refer to after our comments to come here, and I`ll share the investigation with them. And by getting a report from them back to you, you`ll probably have a more professional opinion on the way we handled this case.

GRACE: I`d like to go back to the original question. When did you first open the case regarding Lauterbach?

BROWN: The 19th of December, four days after she was apparently murdered.

GRACE: OK. All right. You opened a missing persons case, correct?

BROWN: As a result of a pen message...

GRACE: Right. That`s kind of...

BROWN: ... from the hometown of Mary Lauterbach.

GRACE: ... a yes/no thing. So you open it on the 19th. I`m still not clear on why you did not know that there was a rape accusation and the name of the alleged rapist until two weeks later. Maybe it`s the military`s fault for not telling it to you. But I`m asking you, did you go to the military base and investigate this?

BROWN: Let me tell you, OK? We were not provided all the information. And when you get a report, if you have all the facts, you don`t need to investigate. I`m trying to make it clear to you there`s a lot of footwork and research done in order to get us to where we get the name of Laurean in this case.

GRACE: It had been a matter of...

BROWN: Hold it, hold it.

GRACE: Well, sir, when you beat around the bush so much, I assume you`re through with your answer. My question is, when you found out about the missing person on the 19th, did you go to the military base, Camp Lejeune, that day to find out information?

BROWN: Let me clear something up.

GRACE: OK.

BROWN: You asked me a question, then you won`t let me finish it. I don`t have to stand here and defend the professional way that the sheriff`s office handled this investigation.

GRACE: If you can just answer...

BROWN: I`m so sure of that, I`ve invited you and your staff to come here.

GRACE: Yes, we heard it.

BROWN: I`m not going to answer you unless you take my answer. OK.

GRACE: Right. I`ll repeat it again. I`ll repeat it again.

BROWN: OK.

GRACE: Did you go to Camp Lejeune on the 19th?

BROWN: Eventually, we went to camp Lejeune, when we...

GRACE: Did you go on the 19th?

BROWN: No, I didn`t go on the 19th, and I`m not going to stand up here and be a rhetoric for you and your show. Now, I had reservations...

GRACE: You`re not going to...

BROWN: ... about coming here to start with...

GRACE: ... be a rhetoric?

BROWN: I`m not going to stand up here and play like I`m...

GRACE: Sir, I`m not playing a game!

BROWN: ... you know, that something is wrong with this.

GRACE: I`m asking you some questions...

BROWN: Hold on just a minute.

GRACE: ... and I`m not hearing an answer.

BROWN: I told you, and I`ve told you three times, we did not learn about Mr. Laurean on the 19th. We did not go on the 19th. There`s a lot of investigations that go into this missing persons before you get to the 19th. Now, I`m sure that me and you have probably a different opinion about the way things are handled. I`m as much an advocate for the victim in every case as you are in every case. So we`re on the same side when it comes to the victim. You just handle it the way you do things, different than the way that I handle -- that I do things.

GRACE: That is certainly true, sir. Now...

BROWN: We`re professionals.

GRACE: My next question is...

BROWN: OK.

GRACE: When you learned the suspect`s name on January 7, what did you do?

BROWN: I knew about the suspect`s name on January the 7th, and we tried to get the suspect to give us a call. However, there was other -- another person that we needed -- that we needed that was in California. We -- I went personally to the highest command on the base, got total cooperation. I got the Marine back from California, who was a witness that needed to answer some questions. And I got Mr. Laurean at least giving us a promise to come talk to us.

However, that promise -- hold on, hold on, hold on. That promise fell through on Thursday at 4:00 o`clock, when we got a call from three of the most respectful, good attorneys in this county telling us that Laurean was not going to talk to us.

GRACE: Sheriff, why do you believe that Cesar Laurean was not arrested when the original rape allegation was made?

BROWN: Nancy, I can`t defend what has taken place on the base.

GRACE: Right.

BROWN: I`m not here to defend them. And I`m really not here to defend the -- this investigation because it was very professional. And I`m not here to get into a conflict with anyone because we go at full speed bore in this case to try to learn where the victim was at. And honestly, I shared as much stress as I`ve ever shared in my 41 years in this job until Friday, when we learned of this information and until about 3:00 o`clock Friday afternoon, when the body was discovered. That time, my stress -- even though my horror was beginning to develop, my stress began to get down because we had located the victim. The major cause of an investigation is to try to locate the victim.

And if you`ll go back and review the programs that have been on about this, the victim was downplayed of her honesty, and I think the general listening public until about Friday morning felt like most -- I did, even - - that she was going to be alive when we found her and it was going to be something where she had been with a friend.

GRACE: Sheriff, one thing that I believe has been very confusing, very confusing to the public, is why nothing was done for so long. And what I`m referring to is the alleged rape happened in April. The guy was never arrested. He was never apprehended. He was never questioned. Nothing, until suddenly, she`s dead. Now, my question to you is, the rape itself was being handled by the military, not your office. Yes/no.

BROWN: That`s correct. That`s correct. Yes.

GRACE: So for all of those months, you and your office knew nothing about this alleged sex attack.

BROWN: And that is not unusual, Miss Nancy, because the military base is a different government from the civilian base -- civilian side of the gate. We do not...

GRACE: When did it become...

BROWN: Hold on. Hold on.

GRACE: ... your case?

BROWN: It never became our case. And that`s what I think needs to be clear to the public. It never became our case until -- and really still not our case because our case is a missing person. Our case is not a rape investigation.

GRACE: OK. Sheriff, why was the rape investigation handled by the military and the missing person case and the murder handled by you?

BROWN: OK. The -- Nancy, the victim in this case and the instance of the rape in this case occurred on the base. The missing person, who is the same -- is Miss Maria Lauterbach, lived off the base in the civilian community, and therefore, anything happens to her in the investigation in the civilian community, we would handle.

GRACE: Got it.

BROWN: So we were handling the missing person thing unaware that in April, about eight months earlier, had there been anything -- unaware at all, and that`s not unusual because it`s two different case -- or same person with an incident happening on base and an incident happening off base.

GRACE: I want to go now -- thank you, Sheriff -- to Dewey Hudson, the Onslow County district attorney. Mr. Hudson, thank you for being with us. Mr. Hudson, I`ve been taking a look at this timeline, specifically the day that Laurean allegedly took off. Now, his wife is being treated as a friendly witness. I find it highly coincidental that she wakes up and finds a note at 4:00 AM and he allegedly leaves town around 4:00 AM. Is there a possibility that he told her what happened and she let him get a head start?

DEWEY HUDSON, ONSLOW COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, I can`t comment on the involvement of his wife. I think the sheriff would be in a better position. All I know is that what I understand, that she has cooperated fully with law enforcement officers and they feel like and after reviewing their findings that so far, she`s been very cooperative. We have no evidence that she`s involved in these crimes.

GRACE: Right. Mr. Hudson, would this under any circumstance qualify as a death penalty case in your jurisdiction?

HUDSON: Yes, this case certainly could qualify for the death penalty. And I`m not in a position -- I`m not in a position to make that decision without further facts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The murder victim, an active-duty member of the United States Marine Corps. The murder suspect, an active duty member of the United States Marine Corps. So far, the only public face of the investigation belongs to a civilian sheriff. So where`s the Marine Corps? What are they doing to bring in their fugitive corporal? And who gets him when or if he`s eventually arrested?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: A lot of you have had a lot of questions, a lot of tough questions for Sheriff Ed Brown with the Onslow County sheriff`s office. At least he and the district attorney are here to answer your questions. The military has yet to answer questions. And clearly tonight, we learn with no question whatsoever that they had their hands on the rape case from the day it was reported in April all the time until she went missing, her charred remains now found in the suspect`s own backyard.

Back to Sheriff Ed Brown. Sheriff, has there been a determinative DNA test completed to finally name that that is her?

BROWN: Miss Nancy, there hasn`t been a DNA, but I think Dr. Garrick (ph) -- the results of the autopsy have been reported to us, but it would be improper for me to address it. But I do want to address something that I`ve learned tonight. And it`s probably going to shock some of the other folks because I learned it tonight. And it`s in the report. And I`m not one for not being straight up with you all, and that`s what I want you to understand. I don`t have anything to hide in the investigation. And it`s documented, so it`s public record.

We attempted to try to get some information in the very beginning concerning the incident on base, and we didn`t get it. Now, I don`t have to defend what we`ve done. And -- but -- and I don`t have to defend the upper echelon of the military base. And I do not like to say that the -- are you...

GRACE: Yes, yes, I can hear you.

BROWN: OK. And I don`t think it is fair to place the responsibility or the accusation on what would be entitled the Marines. This was an individual in an individual unit. But from the very beginning -- and I -- you -- the report is public record -- are you with me?

GRACE: Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Welcome back. We are asking some very tough questions of the local sheriff and the elected district attorney in the jurisdiction in which 20-year-old Marine Maria Lauterbach was murdered, along with her unborn child.

Back to Sheriff Ed Brown. Sheriff, I was going through the timeline, and I noticed myself, following up on what you just said, on January 9, you or someone in your office went to the base to try to get information, and that the higher-ups, the brass, didn`t even know about the incident. They had no idea -- I assume you`re referring to the rape or the missing person allegation. It seems as if this case had fallen through the cracks there at Camp Lejeune.

BROWN: Well, Miss Nancy, looking at the report tonight -- tonight is the first time I`ve sat down and really digested the report. And I`m glad you have made it clear. It is not likely that the top brass, with all the other things going on, would be handling something at the lower unit level. I don`t know the operations of the military, but I don`t think top brass needs to get -- be the ones being looked at in this case. Are you still with me?

GRACE: Yes, I am. I understand what you`re saying, that the top brass typically would not know about this incident. But what about her direct supervisors? We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Laurean`s neighbors say they`re shocked about the violence associated with this alleged crime.

UNIDENTIFIED NEIGHBOR: He was like a typical American family, always quiet, out there spending time with his daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But they say Laurean did ask for a shovel several days ago, what at the time seemed like a harmless tool.

UNIDENTIFIED NEIGHBOR: He said can he borrow it for, like, 40 minutes, and so (INAUDIBLE) to my husband so he came back and gave it to him and he said thanks, and that`s it.

BROWN: The body was much charred. It appeared that the body of the adult was laying over on the side with the face down in the bottom of the pit. As I said, the fetus was in the abdominal area of that adult. One of the things that will probably stick with me for a long time and forever is that little hand, the way those fingers were turned, that it had been burned off the arm. That is bizarre. That is tragic. And it`s disgusting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: That is Onslow County Sheriff, Ed Brown, talking, and he is with us tonight. We are taking your calls live. I`ll get right to the calls. But I want to ask Ed Brown. Sheriff Brown, one more question on this timeline.

The mother of Maria Lauterbach tells us that she contacted the sheriff`s department on December 19 and told the Onslow Sheriff`s Department that Maria had made a rape allegation. So that was on December 19th.

Are you telling us that the military did not give you follow-up information until around January 7th on that, even though you requested it?

BROWN: Nancy, let me put this report in perspective.

GRACE: OK.

BROWN: This is the way the report -- and when I read it tonight is the first time I`ve read it in detail. Now, Laurean`s name never -- has never been come up in the report now, even in the report I read today. The investigators came to me on the 7th because of a need to talk with Laurean and had not been provided that opportunity. I contacted the brass of the base. They did not know about it. After contacting the brass of the base and making them aware of it, I had the Marine brought back from California and had activity from Laurean.

But let me go back to the initial report. According to the report, and this is what I want to make clear, when I learn of something I don`t try to conceal it, and you know that with the MPO that came out the other day. When I learn about it, I`m not going to stand up here and try to cover anything. I don`t have to. But on the 19th, according to the report, the police department pinned us a message, and the missing person investigator or the person who handles that contacted Mary for information about Maria and other, other information he would need to try to find out her behavior.

Now, soon thereafter, when the report of the rape without a name was found out, which was in the report, after the officer called Mary, Miss Mary Lauterbach, the officer handling the missing persons made the attempts to contact the base. Now, this is not the brass but the unit level. Those attempts were futile and did not result in any callbacks.

GRACE: Got it.

BROWN: When that investigator who -- the criminal investigator was handed the investigation, because it appeared to be suspicious in nature, the same results -- no callbacks.

GRACE: Let`s go out to -- hold on just a second.

BROWN: Just a minute. Just a minute.

GRACE: OK.

BROWN: Just a minute. No results. The investigators came to me with a degree of frustration and -- because they weren`t being called back in their attempt to try to find out something about the rape from the unit level. That is when I called the command brass level and learned that they did not know about it. And that is when I met the top echelon and discussed it with them and immediately things began to happen that we needed to happen. And that is -- was on the 7th.

And if you`ll notice, on the 7th, once things -- we got started getting some movement, it was only about five days later before we had discovered where the body of Maria Lauterbach is.

GRACE: With us tonight Sheriff Ed Brown from the Onslow Sheriff`s Department, along with district attorney, Dewey Hudson.

Let`s go out to the lines and out to the lawyers. Joining us tonight Susan Moss, Hugo Rodriguez, Julia Morrow and Eugene Fidell.

First to you, Susan Moss, weigh in.

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: It`s a travesty that the military police and the civilian police don`t have better communication. Unfortunately, if they had shared information -- I mean, they are on the same team -- maybe we wouldn`t be spending our time chasing a guy to Mexico.

GRACE: What about it, Howard Oliver? Oliver, former deputy medical examiner and forensic pathologist.

Howard, in this case, why can`t a simple comparison be made to the dental records in order to ID the body? Why do we have to wait on DNA?

HOWARD OLIVER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST, FORMER DEPUTY MEDICAL EXAMINER: Good evening, Nancy. You`re perfectly right. You should be able to identify this body by dental records alone.

GRACE: To Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney and former fed.

Hugo, what do you make of the military police not giving the rape information to the local authorities?

HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Unconscionable. It`s something that they should have provided. As the sheriff is telling us, for some reason or not, someone was either obstructing them or interfering with that. It wasn`t the brass. It was at the unit level. But that`s information that should have been provided. It would have been essential in this investigation.

GRACE: To Julia Morrow, joining us out of the Philadelphia jurisdiction.

Julia, is this guy, Cesar Laurean, makes it to Mexico, we`re in a heck of a mess because Mexico will not extradite someone that is going to be facing the death penalty. The jurisdiction there in Carolina would have to drop the death penalty in order to get him back in the jurisdiction for trial.

JULIA MORROW, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well -- and Nancy, that`s actually what happened with Ira Einhorn when he fled Philadelphia and went to France. And they had to actually bring him back and try him again because he was tried if absentia. And unfortunately, Nancy, if that`s what happens and if he goes to Mexico and they`ll only send him back if they take the death penalty off the table, it`s better to at least have him back, have him face justice and let him spend the rest of his life in jail if in fact he`s guilty.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Judy in Ohio.

Hi, Judy.

JUDY, FROM OHIO: Hi, Nancy: Congratulations to both you and your husband on your beautiful twins.

GRACE: Judy, thank you very much.

JUDY: Now, what I want to know is did the Marines issue these guys service revolvers? And if so, has it been accounted for or is he a gun collector? Do we need to be worried about this guy running around armed?

GRACE: Sheriff, what do we know about the possibility that he is armed?

BROWN: Miss Grace, there is no evidence this -- the results are in on the autopsy, and whoever the general was that talked to you before, that is one of the methods that the medical examiners used to determine. All these questions that folks who call in and the professionals out there, we`ve got professionals here in Onslow County also and in North Carolina. About the gun, there is no indication.

GRACE: OK.

BROWN: .that there ever was a gun involved. This activity of the victim was not involving a weapon -- a firearm.

GRACE: Right. Most likely a knife.

Out to Carla in Mississippi.

Hi, Carla.

CARLA, FROM MISSISSIPPI: Hi, Nancy. My question is do they know for sure that the suspect fathered her unborn child?

GRACE: You know, to Rusty Dornin, CNN correspondent, do we know who fathered the child and will that be a simple DNA test?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think definitely could be a simple DNA test, and I think she had indicated to her mother that he was the father of the child, but there is no absolute proof at this point that he was until the DNA test comes back.

GRACE: To Eugene Fidell, military law expert, joining us out of Washington.

Eugene, thank you for being with us. What do you make of tonight`s revelations about the military`s actions in this case?

EUGENE FIDELL, MILITARY LAW EXPERT: Well, I think we -- I wish the Marine Corps would be a little less economical with information. I certainly understand that they`re anxious to get a grip on all the facts before they make any public statements. But Nancy, I do want to make a couple observations. First is that I`m concerned -- and this is with complete respect for the sheriff who is obviously a career official. I`m concerned with some of the things that he has said. I understand the media are all over him for information. But I think.

GRACE: Please, sir, make your point before we have to go to commercial.

FIDELL: Yes. I think saying things like evidence is now showing that what he claimed happened didn`t happen, I mean, you have to be concerned about the administration of justice here. And at a certain point, too much information could prevent the conduct of a fair trial.

GRACE: I guess what I was trying to ask you to get an answer was why the military sat on this rape allegation from April until December. Now the woman is dead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wasn`t going to get to see those kids anyway. The incident a couple of weeks ago, her behavior`s so erratic, no judge was going to let her have any kind of supervision unless it was extremely limited, supervised visitation at another place. Eventually, they`ll figure out what`s wrong with her, I hope, before she self-destructs completely. You know, her behavior is just so bizarre, it`s no different than if she was a star on drugs or any other problem. Someone needs to take a hold of her life and say enough is enough and this is what we`re going to do.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There she is right now getting out of that vehicle, Britney Spears mobbed by paparazzi and police trying to guard the way to let her in inside the courtroom. Now it seems she`s getting back into her vehicle. At stake is the custody of her two young sons here. Right now, her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, having full custody.

Britney Spears lost all visitation rights several days ago after being holed up inside of her home after she wouldn`t give up her youngest son to her ex-husband`s bodyguard when she was supposed to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Britney Spears scheduled to be in court today. At stake, the custody and visitation rights of her two toddler boys. From what we hear, she showed up at the courthouse, got back in her vehicle and took off, never setting a single foot, not even an toe, not eve an pinkie, in that courtroom.

Out to Kareen Wynter, CNN correspondent, joining us from LA.

Kareen, what happened?

WYNTER: Nancy, all I had to say is had you been out here, you probably would have had a heart attack, taking in everything that we saw. The media frenzy, the media circus doesn`t begin to describe it. You know, don`t even know where to start. But one of the highlights today was when Britney Spears and her entourage, her handlers, pulled up not far from where I`m standing outside of LA County Superior Court in a black SUV.

And she got out in what looked like some sort of wedding dress, decked out from head to toe, came out crying, not literally crying but basically shouting, "I`m scared, I`m scared. I want to go back in the vehicle." She runs around to the side of the vehicle. We didn`t know if she was going to run into oncoming traffic or not, jumps into the drive`s seat, that`s right, jumps in as if to take off. Her handlers say, "No, no, get out." So, what does she do? She climbs over the seat, Nancy, exposing her backside. It was an absolutely despicable display.

Oh, and let`s not forget there was a hearing actually going on inside court where Kevin Federline was -- where two members of the LAPD testified, as well as a court-appointed monitor, the parenting coach. And the result of that, well, Kevin still retains temporary sole, physical, and legal custody. Not a surprise there at all.

GRACE: To David Caplan with "People" magazine.

David, if she wasn`t going to go into the courthouse, why did she even show up at the court? Why did she even pull up in the SUV? I mean, what was the purpose of this? And tell me, what was the hearing about?

DAVID CAPLAN, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: Well, first of all, it`s definitely very bizarre that she did end up going. She missed the morning session where Kevin Federline was. And oddly enough, Kevin actually left the hearing around lunchtime and then Britney came afterwards. So perhaps she wanted -- she didn`t want Kevin to be there, which is why she timed it like that.

In terms of what happened at the hearing today, sources tell "People" that there were five people at the hearing, four of whom were actually at that infamous standoff on January 3rd. There were two LAPD officers who were on the scene, Kevin Federline`s bodyguard who was also at Britney`s house to pick up the kids, also was at the hearing today, as was the court- appointed monitor who was trying to get the kids away from Britney that very infamous day, and then the fifth person was the parenting coach who was not at the scene but clearly has firsthand knowledge of Britney and how she`s parenting.

GRACE: Kareen, was she set to testify? Was she scheduled to testify today, and if so, who subpoenaed her?

WYNTER: No, she didn`t have to be here. In fact, we asked Kevin Federline`s attorney that. Was she subpoenaed? He said no, she didn`t have to be here. But any person in their right mind -- she`s lost everything. It`s not as if she has some sort of thread dangling here with connection to her children. She has been stripped of everything, Nancy, no visitation. Let`s not even talk about custody.

So many people thought that there`s a lot at stake, there`s a lot on the table, that she would be here begging the commissioner to have a change of heart, "Give me something." She hasn`t seen her babies in about 10 days. So it didn`t happen. But who knows what`s going on in her head.

GRACE: Out to Dr. Lillian Glass, psychologist and author.

Lillian, what do you think?

LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST, AUTHOR OF "I KNOW WHAT YOU`RE THINKING": Britney is so out of control. There`s so much psychopathology here, it`s frightening. It really is frightening. There`s also some underlying manipulation here. If you look at her dress that she wore, it`s kind of like a wedding dress. Apparently, that was the same dress she wore when she had married Kevin Federline. So that was kind of a statement to him. The "I`m afraid, I`m afraid," the anxiety, that also seemed a little peculiar, because she`s so used to the paparazzi. There`s so much pathology going on. If Britney does not get help, we`re not going to see a lot of Britney in the future.

GRACE: Speaking of help, out to Brad Lamm, a certified interventionist at www.bradlamm.com.

Brad, an intervention can be very jarring, it can be very disturbing. You have a group of family and friends basically accusing you of bad behavior and telling you you`ve got to get help. How would an intervention help her at this point?

BRAD LAMM, CERTIFIED INTERVENTIONIST, WWW.BRADLAMM.COM: Well, you know, one of the things about intervention is, and if you ask any American, a startling 92 percent of folks will tell you that they have someone close to them struggling with addiction. So, we can all relate to this. And in fact, we step in, there`s no shame or blame or guilt associated with intervention. We step in with a plan. We invite the person into the plan. And then whether or not they show up, we start the recovery process as a family. So that`s kind of how intervention rolls out. And it always helps in some manner or form. It starts the recovery process.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Debbie in Georgia.

Hi, Debbie.

DEBBIE, FROM GEORGIA: Hi, friend. I missed you so much.

GRACE: I miss you guys, too. I really do.

DEBBIE: Oh I did. And you and your babies are so beautiful.

GRACE: You know, I was just thinking about Spears not having custody, not even getting to visit, and I count the minutes until I can get back home to them.

DEBBIE: I`m sure.

GRACE: Just wondering what she is going through and why she wouldn`t go into that courtroom.

What`s your question, dear?

DEBBIE: What would Britney have to do to completely lose custody of her little boys and never be able to see them?

GRACE: What about it, Susan Moss?

MOSS: Keep on watching your TV and you`re going to find out. She`s gotten more chances than "Deal or No Deal," and she`s blown each and every one. But I don`t think that Kevin Federline is going to try to take away parental rights because then he`ll lose child support, and I`m guessing he doesn`t want that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: To "HEADLINE PRIME`S" Glenn Beck.

Hi, friend.

GLENN BECK, CNN ANCHOR: Well, gang, our economy is in trouble. It`s time we do a gut check on just how serious the problem is. In just a bit, I`m going to break it down for you. And don`t worry, you`re not going to need a calculator. No pocket protectors here.

And then Hillary Clinton defended her comments yesterday about Martin Luther King Junior. And I can`t believe I`m saying this, but I actually agree with her. I mean the whole world is upside down.

That`s coming up. I`ll tell you why.

And the state of California wants to control your air conditioner. It`s a storyline right out of "The Outer Limits" or, quite honestly, "A Brave New World." You`ll have to see it to believe it. Details on that and so much more, next.

GRACE: Today, a key hearing set down in LA for Britney Spears regarding child custody and visitation rights, even the barest visitation.

Out to Kareen Wynter, CNN correspondent.

No visitation, no physical custody. Nothing. Why doesn`t Federline move to sever parental rights? Is Susan Moss right? If he did that, he wouldn`t get any more money.

WYNTER: You know, I -- that`s definitely a valid point, but I also think that there is probably some sort of connection there between him and Britney -- between Kevin Federline and Britney Spears.

GRACE: Yes. A money connection.

WYNTER: Yes, I said it.

GRACE: A money connection.

WYNTER: I really think -- no. Think about it for a bit here, Nancy. You know, this is the mother of his two children. They were married. I don`t think he`s sitting back and just relishing all of this negative press that she`s getting. Maybe he cares about her deep down.

GRACE: What about it, Lillian Glass?

WYNTER: Deep, deep down.

GLASS: I think you`re right, Nancy. It is a money connection. And we`ve seen this repeatedly. So you`re absolutely right. It is such a sad, sad situation, because the people that are suffering are those two little boys.

GRACE: Well, the saga unfolds. There`s another court hearing set down for a couple of weeks. But as of right now, all visitation and custody rights severed for Britney Spears.

Let`s stop and remember Air Force Staff Sergeant David Wieger, 28, North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, killed Iraq, awarded the Purple Heart and bronze star, trained in using his degree to become a cop. With a smile that lit up a room, he handed out candy and toys to Iraqi kids and led youth activities at his local church. He leaves behind parents, Michael and Lorraine, older brother Michael.

David Wieger, American hero.

Thank you to our guests and most of all to you for inviting us into your home. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern.

And until then, good night, friend.

END