Return to Transcripts main page

Jane Velez-Mitchell

Edwards Confesses to Paternity; Puerto Rico Monkey Debate

Aired January 22, 2010 - 19:00   ET

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


JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, CNN HOST: Tonight, slimy and disturbing new allegations as John Edwards finally admits the love child is his. He lied on camera to the American people for two long years. Now the shocking secrets are being revealed, and they stink to high heaven. A former aide claims Edwards actually asked him to steal the child`s dirty diaper so he could conduct a secret DNA test. This is disgusting on so many levels.

And hell on earth, stomach-churning child abuse and horrifying animal torture. A Long Island mom accused of beating and intentionally starving her six daughters and that`s just the beginning. This woman allegedly forced her poor kids to watch as she tortured their pets to death. Forty- two dead dogs found buried in her backyard. Why would any mother do this and what should happen to her now?

Plus, secrets of sexual rehab. Tiger Woods allegedly holed up in a treatment center for sex addicts. So what exactly is going on inside those walls? We`ll go inside the life of a patient step by step as they fight their sexual addiction. ISSUES starts now.

Tonight, a shocking tale of dirty diapers and deceit by a man who wanted to be president of the United States. John Edwards denied it for years, saying the little baby born to his mistress Rielle Hunter could not possibly be his. Edwards insisted he stopped having sex with her in 2006 so he couldn`t be the daddy because little Quinn was born in February of 2008. Tonight? Never mind. Now he`s admitting that, yes, the child is his. That means he lied, and lied, and lied for two years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS, FORMER SENATOR: It`s not possible this child could be mine because of the timing of events. So I know it`s not possible. I don`t talk about these tabloids and -- the tabloid trash is full of lies. I don`t respond to these lies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Finally yesterday John Edwards came clean and fessed up to being the daddy. Scandal over? Not by a long shot. About to be released, a blockbuster book by a former aide who says Edwards convinced him to falsely claim paternity as part of an elaborate cover up. That aide questions the timing of Edwards` sudden about face. Was this damage control? Listen to the aide on ABC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW YOUNG, FORMER EDWARDS AIDE: It`s been two and a half years. And you know, for it come out a week before my book is coming out, I`ve expected it for a long time. I expected they were going to do a public relations campaign to promote him, which I`m very skeptical of. All of a sudden he`s a doting, loving father of Quinn. I`m skeptical of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It gets even more shocking. That former aide, Andrew Young, makes allegations that Edwards asked him to steal -- now, I hope you`re sitting down. This is really gross -- a dirty diaper from the baby. Why? So Edwards could conduct a secret DNA test to learn the truth, even as that same aide was asked to get a doctor to dummy up a fake DNA test to clear Edwards. That`s just twisted, people, on every level.

Straight out to my fantastic expert panel, Jenn Berman, author and psychologist. Debbie Nigro, founding partner and chief executive of First Wives World, say that three times. Judge Karen Mills-Francis, host of "Judge Karen," and former Miami-Dade County Court Judge.

And we begin with John Avlon, contributor to the "Daily Beast" and author of a great book, "Wingnuts: How the lunatic fringe is hijacking America." John, the details of this are just plain sickening. Can you imagine when this little girl grows up and learns about how her famous baby daddy tried to deny that he was her daddy?

JOHN AVLON, DAILY BEAST: Yeah. There`s nothing good about this story. And clearly what we`re seeing is the end of a political career and the deserved end of a political career. What shocks me is, almost nothing is shocking when it comes to politicians` private lives anymore. At some point I think the American people need to start lowering the bar a bit maybe and stop expecting their politicians to be perfect because we`re just begging to be lied to. But I don`t understand -- there doesn`t seem to be any politicians out there, especially ones that are trying to run for president, who aren`t trying to hold themselves to a higher standard. Why isn`t anybody trying to be Abe Lincoln anymore? It mystifies me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I hate to say it because I don`t do politics very often, but every time I do run into a politician, I am amazed at how sleazy they are up close and personal. But I have to say this. What really astounds me about this, John, is the idea that he thought he could get away with this. If this is true, this is a vast conspiracy. Can`t they figure out from reading the history books that, A, the cover up`s always worse than the crime, and, B, when you get this many people involved in a cover up, somebody`s going to talk.

(CROSSTALK)

DEBBIE NIGRO, FOUNDING PARTNER, FIRST WIVES WORLD: I want to disagree with what he just said. Good people don`t run for office, many, many good people, because of this process. So maybe we should lower the standards. But if you`re in it and you`re going to play it, play it fair, play it right, because people want to trust -- they`re putting their trust in you. And when you blow their trust, you`ve blown it. And trust is really the key problem here. Who you trust, who you think you can trust, who you thought you could trust or who you can trust.

JUDGE KAREN MILLS-FRANCIS, HOST, JUDGE KAREN: Jane, the way I look at it is that this story broke in the "National Enquirer." We should have known from that point on that it was going to be sleaze all the way down and now it`s going up in flames. But we do want to --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s not blame the messenger here. It turns out that they were right about this story.

MILLS-FRANCIS: That`s my whole point about it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The mainstream media is afraid to cover.

MILLS-FRANCIS: Well, you know, I`m a politician too. I ran for office, and I believe that there can be good politicians. But we want our politicians -- we need to look to our leaders as people that we want to emulate. And when we have somebody standing in front of us and say, this is not true, the affair didn`t happen, we want to believe them. And what`s really sad is that his plane is arriving in Haiti bringing medical supplies and relief, and instead of talking about his world -- you know what he`s doing to help Haiti, he`s got to answer these scandalous charges.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You bring me to my next subject. John Edwards went to Haiti yesterday, and this is the reason he gave to CBSNews.com. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARDS: A group of us are here, 25 to 30. We`ve got supplies, medicine, brought doctors with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Elizabeth Edwards told the "Charlotte Observer" that her husband does care deeply about poverty issues and that his errors in judgment don`t have any bearing on his work outside the country. OK, but the timing of this seems manipulative. Who is going to attack him about a sex scandal while he`s there in Haiti with people dying all around him? John Avlon, is it possible --

MILLS-FRANCIS: I don`t think it`s fair --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me get my theory out and then you can respond. I think it`s possible that he`s compounding his sins by hiding behind a very important cause and manipulating that situation as well. Who wants to --

MILLS-FRANCIS: He was in New Orleans with Katrina, he was there working on the poverty project-- Haiti just suffered an earthquake. I would have expected to see him there. But what`s unfortunate is what he`s doing behind closed doors is overshadowing any good he`s doing right now.

NIGRO: He`ll be the last story you`re talking about after this. He`ll be the last story. Once he goes, we shouldn`t even be wasting our time talking about this now. But quite frankly it`s a loud story and nobody`s talking about Rielle Hunter and I have to just say what I feel about this. He trusted her, I think, to have the affair because she was in his camp, and he thought that he was cool there. And I want to know why nobody thought safe sex was important during this critical time of both their lives when he`s a married guy and she`s infringing on this potential disaster here and nobody thought to take a precaution in advance?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, not to mention that safe sex is important if you`re married so that you protect your wife as well, I mean -- I don`t want to get too detailed but you all know what I`m talking about.

AVLON: I don`t know how we itemize the mistakes here.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: One at a time please. John, go ahead.

AVLON: The itemizing of mistakes here, you know, this is in the doubles of dozens right now. I don`t think any one part of it overshadows any other. This thing is a disaster. It shows contempt for the American people, the fact that he was running for president, and contempt for the process. Of course there`s a lot of CYA going on about the timing with regard to the book and Haiti, and you don`t take anything away from the man`s anti-poverty efforts. But there is definitely an attempt to obscure the story and this whole thing is just a disgrace from day one.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And it brings me to tonight`s big issue, one second, then you can comment. Did John Edwards, once a presidential hopeful, actually wage a campaign of deceit? Listen to what his former aide told ABC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Made the full pitch, not just for me, he didn`t just have to convince me that I was going to take paternity, he also had to convince Rielle that she would publicly claim that I had been the father.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: John Edwards apparently thought he had everyone fooled with his squeaky clean family man image. Jenn Berman, describe the pathology of somebody who would go to such lengths to deceive his family and the entire country.

JENN BERMAN, AUTHOR AND PSYCHOLOGIST: You have to have a lack of a conscience. The thing that`s come up over and over again that`s most disturbing about this is his lack of responsibility. Yes, politicians have affairs. That happens. It`s unfortunate, the public doesn`t like it. That`s bad enough.

But over and over again to deny responsibility, to act like this child wasn`t his, to then go -- want to go behind her back and take a paternity test with a diaper instead of being open and honest about it, it`s just been lie after lie. And the person that nobody`s thinking about is this poor child, Quinn. And one day she is going to read about all of this and see this on the Internet, and that`s the saddest part.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And his wife is battling cancer. Everybody, we`re going to get to that in a second. Stay right where you are. We`re all over this truly bizarre story. Did John Edwards really think he was going to get away with all this?

Plus children starved and beaten, their pets tortured to death and cops say it was all done by their mother. But first, dumpster diving for DNA, did John Edwards really sniff out a dirty diaper to get information on his love child?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF JOHN EDWARDS: John`s just relieved that this is behind him, I`m pressure. And I think that our whole family feels relieved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want you to listen to me. I`m going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time, never.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was a classic denial. And here`s another one, former senator Larry Craig after being exposed by an undercover cop who claims Craig toe tapped for sex in an airport bathroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY CRAIG, FORMER SENATOR: Let me be clear. I am not gay. I never have been gay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Plenty of sex scandals on both sides of the aisle. We`re back talking about the scandal that took John Edwards down. I want to go to Debbie Nigro, you`re the founding partner of First Wives World. I understand you went through a difficult divorce. And you admit infidelity on your part.

NIGRO: Oh --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, so you cheated?

NIGRO: Well --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re a cheater.

NIGRO: I`m not a cheater. I said by the nature of my experience with divorce, and I had a lovely husband, we`re still good friends, I do understand why women cheat and why men cheat. I want to bring this up for a second.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Listen, I don`t want to toss stones.

NIGRO: All right, to heck with it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m not married and there`s a good reason for that, numerous good reasons for that.

NIGRO: You`re making me sound like a cheater.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But I guess what I`m saying is I hate to toss stones and say, you know, judge you, because we`re all human beings. Mistakes happen. But my way of thinking is, OK, you can fall in love with somebody else, then you get divorced. You can have a moment of indiscretion, and say, what did I do, then you come clean.

NIGRO: There`s a very serious point I`m going to make. Men and women cheat for different reasons. Usually women are done with the relationship when they decide to move on. Men compartmentalize their lives, hidden life and home life. And men think somehow the two can operate without crossing over. When the two compartments open at the same time, you wreak havoc. This is what happened here.

Men actually love their home life, they love their families and they don`t want to give that up just because sex might not be great. So they go have their sex and they come home to their lives. And they like it both ways. The problem with men who cheat on their families is that when it blows up, there`s no fun anymore because they need a family and a wife to cheat on in order for it to make any sense at all. So I bet all these guys whose lives have blown up really don`t feel very good about themselves because they never, ever thought they`d get caught.

MITCHELL: All right, during the John Edwards campaign...

MILLS-FRANCIS: Why is it we never hear about female politicians in sexual scandals? Why is that?

NIGRO: I don`t think they`re smarter --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Frankly, I really don`t think they cheat at the same level, because the dynamics are the same with them out on the campaign trail. John Edwards is a good-looking guy, I think we all have to agree on that.

During John Edwards`s campaign his wife Elizabeth was battling incurable breast cancer. Listen as he professes his support for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J. EDWARDS: The thing that is true is that her cancer will not be cured now. Elizabeth will have this as long as she`s alive. Any time, any place that I need to be with Elizabeth, I will be there, period. It doesn`t matter what`s happening in the campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Edwards denied having sex with mistress Rielle Hunter during this period of time, but guess what? Baby Quinn was conceived three months after Elizabeth learned her cancer had returned and that it was terminal. Incurable.

NIGRO: That`s not surprising.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: To me, Judge Karen, the specificity of this lie makes it particularly sinister.

MILLS-FRANCIS: You know, you know what I have a question about? This intern, this Andrew Young, if we`re to believe his story, who was it supposed to fool? If he`s going to pretend that he`s the baby`s father, was it supposed to fool the baby`s mother? I mean, didn`t she know who she slept with?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: No, no, John, weigh in on here because my understanding is that it was a conspiracy, all of them were going to agree that Andrew Young was the dad, including Rielle. Go ahead, John.

AVLON: Yes, yes, the person they were trying to fool was the American people. And this wasn`t an intern, this was a relatively high level campaign assistant. The book hasn`t come out yet, so presumably we`ll learn more about this whole sordid tale then and aren`t we lucky to be able to do so. But I think any attempts to try to explain away or defend this pretty disappointing and disgraceful circumstance is kind of ridiculous, it seems to me.

MILLS-FRANCIS: If they were all going to be involved, then why would he have to steal the diaper if they were all involved, if Ms. Hunter is involved, why does he have to steal a diaper?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We don`t know the timeline, Judge Karen.

AVLON: You have a guy --

NIGRO: Men and women, the reason why female candidates don`t act like this is because female candidates think it through. Men don`t think with their head when it comes to these subjects.

BERMAN: I also think --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: John, you were going to say?

AVLON: Yeah, yeah, a couple things. First of all, there is a double standard here. And when in American history a woman politician is caught cheating for the first time, you`re going to see that double standard become -- explode on to the American consciousness. Our standards have been dumbed down over a series, a long history of politicians` sexual indiscretions. But it seems to me that when somebody is running for president, when their indiscretion starts before, continues during, and it`s not a result of "gotcha" politics that it comes out, but it extends a lot to the American people, that is a special kind of disgrace that really doesn`t deserve a whole lot of explaining away or defending.

MILLS-FRANCIS: He could have won the presidency and then we would have a president in office with an illegitimate child.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I don`t care about that, I care about a president in office who lies. Elizabeth Edwards didn`t say much after yesterday, after John fessed up, and the "Associated Press" did manage to get her on the phone. You can`t blame this reporter for trying, but listen to this conversation. It`s fascinating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people are just you know, say stories, interested in where things are going from here with both you and for John and this whole situation. I don`t know if you can just give us a sense of where things are going to go or

E. EDWARDS: If somebody has a crystal ball, they can let me know. And that`s all I...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure well, well is there anything else that you think people should know or you`d like to say?

E. EDWARDS: No, I`m not going to feed the monster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We have such compassion for this woman, battling incurable cancer, and all of this at the same time. Now I will say that the "National Enquirer" which broke the story said they`re living apart but again, she is not confirming that.

Jenn Berman, do we set an impossible standard for politicians? If you, let`s say, were on the campaign trail and fell in love with somebody else, would the American people tolerate you saying, I`m going to divorce my wife and I`m going to move in with somebody else?

BERMAN: I think the American public loves to lift people up and put them on a pedestal and then knock them down. But one thing about the American public is that we are a very forgiving public when people are honest with us. But when we have denial, denial, and refusal to take responsibility, we don`t like it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you, fantastic panel. Got to leave it right there. Now we`re going to go inside the walls of a sex rehab center. Reports say Tiger Woods is in sex therapy. How does he spend his time? Will it actually help?

Shock of a victory for the animals. A judge has barred a controversial monkey factory in Puerto Rico. It`s great news, but could the ruling be overturned? We`ll talk to the president of PETA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY BADANO, PUERTO RICO BAR ASSOCIATION: Many on the island, including ourselves, found out that this is being built in the southern part of the area in a coastal town because we saw it on your show.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Many people in Puerto Rico didn`t know about a foreign company`s plans to build a massive facility on their island to breed thousands of lab monkeys until we broke the story here on ISSUES.

In December, a judge ordered an injunction to stop the construction of that bioculture facility after a group of local residents and PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, filed a lawsuit. Just to give you an idea, here`s a look at other primates in the United States held in other unassociated facilities as they are used for testing. The company which reportedly ships monkeys around the world for laboratory testing wants to open a new facility in Puerto Rico to breed and sell thousands of monkeys for experimentation.

Joining me now, Ingrid Newkirk, president and co-founder of PETA. We also have on the phone, Daniel Galan, Puerto Rico`s secretary of natural resources. We begin with Ingrid. Ingrid, our sources say bioculture could appeal the injunction possibly as soon as today. Why do you think such a facility is bad for Puerto Rico which is known as the island of enchantment?

INGRID NEWKIRK, PRESIDENT, PETA: Well Jane, thank you. You have put this story on the map, and the people of Puerto Rico thank you and everybody who is kind to animals. I think that the big government in Puerto Rico just saw dollar signs instead of kindness and they have decided to try to build this.

And I think it`s illegal. And that judge who made the injunction stick, who said stop construction, understood that. This lab had the goal to pretend that the primates were agricultural animals. That`s how low they went and how conniving they`ve been. The people of Puerto Rico are learning about it. They`ve been denied a public hearing. They`re upset. And I do think this greedy lab, like the greedy banks, will come in and will try to just bulldoze their way literally and figuratively to build this lab. But everybody`s alert now and we`re out to stop them.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We have tried to reach out to bioculture without success. They have a standing invitation to come on the show and give their side.

Here`s another angle to the story. More than 600 monkeys were just slaughtered in Puerto Rico in the past few weeks. Officials complained they were destroying crops. These monkeys are reportedly descendents of primates who escaped from research facilities in Puerto Rico in the `60s and the `70s.

Now we have Daniel Galan, Puerto Rico`s secretary of natural resources on the phone with us. Thank you for joining us, sir. How many monkeys did you kill and how did you kill them?

DANIEL GALAN, SECRETARY OF NATURAL RESOURCES, PUERTO RICO (on phone): We have euthanized 580 and we have sent to another zoos around the state, 230, 240.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: When you say euthanized, how did you kill them? Because I talked to you on the phone, you said you shot most of them, like 500 and something of them. That`s not euthanasia.

GALAN: We went through a whole process of analysis to work with this population of monkeys in Puerto Rico. We even had the cells from the U.S. Department of Agriculture working with us.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You shot them. How can you possibly say you euthanized them when you shot them? That`s not euthanasia, according to the definition, sir.

GALAN: That`s the term the wildlife service use for this kind of management.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yeah, and we`re also saying that we`re going to breed monkeys for lab testing and that`s agriculture. I see words being used in a way that they weren`t intended. Lab monkeys aren`t agricultural monkeys and euthanasia isn`t shooting. Thank you very much, Mr. Galan and Ingrid.

Now we`re moving on. It`s being called a concentration camp for animals. A woman is accused of torturing animals to death. That`s just the beginning. Cops say she did it in front of her own children. The story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stomach-churning child abuse and horrifying animal torture. A mom is accused of beating and intentionally starving her six daughters. That`s just the beginning of this hellish nightmare.

Plus secrets of sexual rehab: Tiger Woods allegedly holed up in a treatment center for sex addicts. What is going on behind those walls? We`ll go inside the life of a patient in sexual rehab.

Tonight: a case of cruelty and torture that will absolutely haunt you.

A Long Island mom is accused of abusing her children and forcing them to watch as she tortured and killed their pets. Forty-three-year-old Sharon McDonough has pleaded not guilty. She allegedly beat and starved her six daughters. They were barred from using the toilet or shower.

And they were allegedly forced to witness animal torture. Dead cats were found stuffed in the trash. More than 40 dead dogs were buried in the backyard. Sharon`s adult son called the home a concentration camp for animals.

Among her alleged crime, she`s accused of duct taping a cat`s nose and mouth and hanging it from the ladder of her child`s bunk bed. Sharon`s 11-year-old daughter was allegedly were forced to watch this defenseless animal die. Neighbors cannot believe what they say was going on inside this home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it`s terrible. I think it`s tragic. I think you have children that are going to need a lot of help after this to realize what`s right and wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That is an understatement. This is beyond depraved. The children and animals have suffered so much, I want to welcome back Judge Karen Mills Francis; and Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA; and we also have Jenn Berman author and psychologist.

Jenn, it`s so monstrous, what could possibly drive a mother to do this?

JENN BERMANN, AUTHOR AND PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, torturing animals as we know is a sign of an anti-social personality disorder. This is someone who is clearly very mentally ill. There`s nothing that can be said to excuse this. She has likely been abused herself, but this is really a whole other level of mental illness.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It really is. And in fact the public defender is saying that there`s a possibility she will plead mental illness.

The indictment describes a sickening incident with Sharon`s youngest daughter, who is just 1 year old. After the baby crying woke her up, Sharon repeatedly slapped the baby`s back while screaming she would kill the child. This is what investigators say. They add Sharon`s children witnessed each other`s abuse and witnessed unthinkable cruelty towards helpless animals.

So my question to Ingrid, president of PETA, we see this all too often; it`s happening all over the country. In fact there`s another case we`re going to tell you about in a moment. Will these children grow up and be horribly traumatized and possibly repeat the pattern? Or could they turn around and become ultra-compassionate and possibly become advocates for children`s rights and animal rights?

INGRID NEWKIRK, PRESIDENT, PETA: Well, one can only hope. And, of course, when children are abused themselves they often turn to the animals, they relate to them more and they tell them their secrets and get love from them and they love them in return. So it was terribly traumatic, at any level, for these children to see this happen to the animals they cared for.

But I`m afraid I have to echo the other person in saying that this is a cycle of abuse. And the probability is that this -- these poor children will go on to be abusive themselves. We can only hope that someone will step in. They rarely stop there if they`re not stopped from cruelty to animals themselves or from abuse as children.

People need to report any incidents of child abuse, animal abuse, as soon as they suspect them. Rather have someone go for no reason, or not find that it`s true, than wait until some horror story like this breaks and the children and the animals have been tortured for so long.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We don`t have all the answers. We don`t know what this woman did. We know she could afford eye shadow and eye liner, but apparently she couldn`t afford to feed her own children.

Sharon`s 21-year-old son, Douglas McDonough, moved out of the house in August. He became increasingly worried about his sisters, six of them. At one point he brought the girls frozen dinners. He says he later found out his mom had confiscated the food.

He finally decided to report his mom last fall. Sharon`s six daughters, ages -- get this -- 18 months to 13 years are now in the custody of relatives.

Judge Karen, I have to ask, where are the relatives? Especially the dad or dads -- plural -- while this was going on?

JUDGE KAREN MILLS FRANCIS, "JUDGE KAREN SHOW": That was my question. Jane, these children were growing up in hell. She has a child under the age of 1. She didn`t have it by Immaculate Conception. Where`s the father of this child? Where`s the father of these other children? Where are the relatives?

For her to have lived this type of lifestyle -- she`s got a 21- year-old son. So for at least 21 years she has been torturing these children. No teacher recognized anything? No other relative recognized anything? No neighbors recognized anything?

I think it`s absolutely horrendous because the first place in life we learn safety is at home. And studies show that children that don`t have safety at home, never feel safe in the world and they tend to inflict harm as adults themselves. Horrible.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I was just wondering what this woman could possibly look like when I read the wire copy, I was so just nauseated. And I see her, you could se her at a shopping mall, she looks just like an average mom. That`s what`s so scary about this is that this woman just looks like any other mom you might see, and there`s no distinguishing features or characteristics, or -- she`s just -- gosh. She looks like a soccer mom, believe it or not.

NEWKIR: You have to be on your toes. You have to be alert for signs and not be afraid to phone them in.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What do you mean by that, Ingrid?

NEWKIRK: If you think that an animal is getting cuffed or a child is being yelled at or something, you need to keep looking, because these may just be tip of the iceberg tell-tale signs that the abuse goes deeper. And I think we all have to be on our toes.

There have been so many cases now of child abuse, animal abuse, where nobody thought to blow the whistle or they were afraid to blow the whistle and that`s why...

MILLS-FRANCIS: But teachers are given training nowadays on noticing and identifying abuse in children. And I`m just surprised that no teacher realized what was going on with these children. So many children...

NEWKIRK: Or didn`t feel comfortable.

MILL-FRANCIS: Not one teacher? Listen, the abuse hotline is an anonymous call. You don`t have to say who you are. You just make the anonymous call and say I believe that there`s abuse going on in this household, and Children and Family Services, they go out and investigate. You don`t have to give your name or anything.

NEWKIRK: That`s right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Believe it or not -- here`s what`s so scary. There is a similar case going on right now in Georgia. A mom is in jail for allegedly forcing her son to kill his pet hamster with a hammer.

Lynn Geter is charged with animal cruelty, child cruelty and battery. Police say she did it to punish her 12-year-old for getting bad grades. Forced her 12-year-old to come home and kill his pet hamster with a hammer.

Psychologist Jenn Berman, I`m just trying to get my mind around that level of sadism.

BERMAN: You just can`t because it is on a whole other scale of pathology that is hard to imagine. I mean it`s just -- it`s not the person who was abused who passes on the abuse because they don`t know any better and they can`t control their temper which of course there`s absolutely no excuse for.

But this is a whole other level of pathology that is hard to really wrap your mind around.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, what kind of really upsets me about this story -- there`s so many things. But one of them is that this woman could face two years in prison if convicted of aggravated animal cruelty.

I think, Ingrid, that we`re going to have to make these sentences stronger so that people realize animal cruelty is serious. It`s serious because it`s horribly cruel to the animals and also an indicator of what this human being is capable of doing to other human beings.

NEWKIRK: Absolutely, Jane...

BERMAN: I couldn`t agree more.

NEWKIRK: And at PETA we have a pack that we send to prosecutors, to juvenile authorities and so on. And one of the things that we say is recognize this as one of the big signs that there are things going very wrong. The whole community needs to pay attention.

But one thing is to make sure that in sentencing you not only have counseling but they`re not allowed any animals in the house again.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you, fabulous panel. Such a terrible story.

Coming up, adding insult to injury, is an accused murderer cashing in on his heinous crimes?

And treating Tiger Woods: we bring you the inside story. Inside the guarded gates of sex rehab: is he really in rehab? And if so, what exactly is he going through?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is it likely that she`ll sit there and listen to him recite a list of all of the things that he did with all of these women?

KEN SEELEY, INTERVENTIONIST: I don`t think that`s really helpful. I don`t think that`s going to really help them in the recovery process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Inside the secretive walls of sex of rehab, all reports say Tiger is getting treatment in Mississippi. So what exactly is he going through every day? That is next.

But first, "Top of the Block" tonight.

Cold-blooded killer profiting from murder? Anthony Sowell, accused of killing 11 women, now the alleged Cleveland strangler is selling memorabilia. You`ve got to be kidding me. Sowell is actually sending cards and letters to an Internet company from behind bars. You can buy this trash for $200 a pop. This guy is accused of mass murder.

Cops say he lived with rotting bodies inside his home. Who in their right mind would buy this crap? The Web site and the state attorney general insist the inmates don`t make money from this but it`s still wrong. Think about the victims` families. Would you want somebody profiting from the murder of your loved ones? I know I wouldn`t. Something`s wrong with the prison system if they allow that.

That`s tonight`s "Top of the Block."

And also tonight: inside Tiger Wood`s alleged sex rehab program. What will the golf superstar have to go through as he reportedly tackles a sex addiction?

The "National Enquirer" says they snapped the very first photo of Tiger. He has been missing in action ever since rumors about multiple mistresses broke.

HLN has not independently confirmed that this is Tiger or that he`s in sex rehab, but tonight, multiple sources say right there, that hooded, bearded figure is Woods. The picture was snapped outside a sex rehab clinic in Mississippi called Pine Grove. Shortly after the photo was taken, the clinic was spotted -- shortly after the photo was taken, the clinic was spotted quickly putting up these brand-new high fences for privacy.

What exactly is going on behind those fences? We`re going to talk to someone who just went through sex rehab herself and find out.

Plus, shocking new reports, will Tiger have to take part in what`s called disclosure day? And confess all the dirty details of his alleged affairs to his wife, Elin?

Dr. Drew, host of "Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew" says it`s possible. Listen to this from Radar Online.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DREW PINSKI, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: It takes about three to five years to treat a sex addict. So it`s going to be an ongoing process that she is going to have to actively participate in. It`s hard to get another -- the significant other to participate when they`re not the identified patient. "He did me wrong, why should I be doing all this work?"

And she will have a lot of work to do. It`s often -- oftentimes the significant other has more delicate work to do than the patient themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to my fabulous expert panel: and also joining me Kendra Jade Rossi, a former adult film star who appeared on VH1`s "Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew"; and joining us by phone, Mavis Humes Baird, she`s an addiction specialist who has trained at Pine Grove; and we begin with senior editor of "In Touch Weekly", Amy Palmer. Amy, what is the very latest?

AMY PALMER, SENIOR EDITOR, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": The very latest is that Tiger Woods is in rehab. He`s finally been found and we know he`s been there since December 30th. It`s a six-week stay. He gets up at 5:30 in the morning and he`s in treatment from 8:00 to 4:00 p.m.

It`s a very rigorous course. We know that he is not with the other patients. He has a private cottage. His every move is monitored because look, photographers are after him for this picture. But he`s there. He`s been found.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Kendra Jade Rossi is a former adult film star. She sought help for her addiction on VH1`s "Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew." Let`s take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENDRA JADE ROSSI, STAR, VH1`S "SEX REHAB WITH DR. DREW": My marriage is the most important thing to me. I`ve cheated on everybody I`ve ever been with. I have to change. Because if not, I will (EXPLETIVE DELETED) because I`ve been infected, this up is going to be the worst thing I`ve ever done in my life.

I`ve just never talked about this stuff before. I`ve spent a very long time trying to erase it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Kendra, congrats for making it through that. What is a typical...

ROSSI: Thank you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ...day like at sex rehab? Give us a rundown of your schedule.

ROSSI: Well, it`s a lot like Amy was saying. You get up first thing in the morning and you start learning to be accountable for your actions, which means everything you do throughout the day you`re being accountable for. And you`re going to therapy and you`re going to group. And you`re - you`re doing exactly what you mentioned before stuff like disclosure, full disclosure to your partner. And...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So wait, let me stop you there. You`re saying that this disclosure day we`ve been hearing about is a real thing? That -- that if you apply it`d to the Tiger Woods case, that would make it likely or reasonable that wife, Elin, would be asked to come in and then Tiger does what?

ROSSI: Absolutely. Part of the 12-step program, when you`re working that program, if he is indeed, is that you have to be accountable for your actions. You have to disclose to the person you`re with, "I did this, I did this, I did this." Because...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, say that 14 times, at least.

ROSSI: Yes. Exactly.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s going to be a long disclosure day. It might even be like three disclosure days, you know what I mean?

ROSSI: Yes. It very well could be. Because you`re going back from, you know, your entire life. It`s not just throughout his marriage. He`s going to disclose his entire life, hopefully.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, let me ask you this question. There was also some talk and we have absolutely no independent confirmation of any of this, that some of these women, some of the alleged mistresses could be called in, and that he might have to talk to them because he`s accused of sort of cheating on some of them. Some of them thought they were in kind of relationships even though they obviously knew he was married.

ROSSI: Well...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Would they be -- would they be asked to come in possibly?

ROSSI: If he -- I guess if he wants them to. I mean, the general rule is that you know, you make amends to people as long as it doesn`t harm them. You know?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right.

ROSSI: ...or harm yourself any further.

So I would think if he felt genuinely, sincerely sorry he might make amends to them eventually.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mavis Humes Baird, you`re an addiction specialist, you reportedly trained at this clinic. Are we -- are we going in the right direction here with what we`re talking about? Is this what`s going to be happening?

MAVIS HUMES BAIRD, ADDICTION SPECIALIST (via telephone): I can`t speak for the general past program at Pine Groves, what their particular programming is, especially for an individualized...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, but what can you speak of? I mean, are we going to have like, a celibacy contract? That`s what has been discussed. That he`ll have to sign, or he has already signed a celibacy contract saying no sex whatsoever, including masturbation.

BAIRD: Well you know how Kendra was talking about learning to be accountable every moment of everyday...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

BAIRD: ...some sex addicts need a celibacy contract for a period of time so that they can learn to have a choice. A choice about what their actions are, where their minds are at, what they`re thinking about, how they`re dealing with their feelings and who they are. And it`s a learning tool. So...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes and...

BAIRD: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t mean to be -- take this lightly and I`m not.

BAIRD: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But the fact is that we just heard from Amy Palmer that Tiger has a private room. So if you`re supposed to be celibate, even when it comes to something like masturbation, isn`t there sort of an advantage to being in a bunk situation with a whole bunch of other people, because you kind of monitor each other? And for him to be off in a private cottage, doesn`t that kind of undermine the whole idea that he`s not special, that he`s got to be like everybody else?

Mavis...

BAIRD: Well, when I toured the living quarters at Pine Grove, all of them are private rooms and they`re all connected in the central courtyard.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jenn, what do you make of this?

BERMAN: Well, in terms of him being alone in a room, I think that you have to hope that there`s someone who is there monitoring him because yes, you are absolutely right, part of a 12-step program is humility. And he clearly needs to learn humility.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s absolutely fascinating to me that we are discussing this and I think it`s very, very healthy because America is suffering from addiction. We`re an addict nation and we need to understand what happens inside these rehab programs. And it`s all good.

The thing is we shouldn`t be ashamed about the fact that we have addictions. We all got them; every single one of us. I defy anybody here to say they don`t have an addiction.

Stay right where you are. We`re going to have more inside the walls of sex rehab in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elin, how are you? Do you still love Tiger, Elin? Will you ever forgive him? Are you going to divorce him, Elin? What did you think of his 14 mistresses? What would you say to them?

ELIN WOODS, WIFE OF TIGER WOODS: How about something nice like "How are you holding up?"

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you holding up Elin?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was TMZ video. Reporters managed to track down Elin Woods. But she has remained tight-lipped about all of this.

Amy Palmer, any new details on where Elin is or if she`s going to be involved in the rehab process if Tiger is in fact in rehab?

PALMER: Yes Elin has moved out of the home that they shared in Florida, but she`s staying at a nearby house in that community. She`s really trying to spend a lot of time with her kids. We just saw pictures of them at Sea World. She`s a very good mother.

In terms of being involved with Tiger we`re reporting that she really is angry at him. She doesn`t -- she isn`t returning his phone calls. What I find as interesting is that she hasn`t filed for divorce yet and that she`s still kind of -- I don`t want to say hanging around -- but I feel like she`s kind of waiting to see what happens with Tiger`s rehab. So...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Which brings me to my big issue tonight, quid pro quo, emphasis on pro. Is this kind of alleged behavior accepted by athlete wives? They get, let`s say, the mansion, the jewelry, the perks that come along with being a billion-dollar-athlete`s wife. Do they consciously or unconsciously look the other way?

Listen to this clip from "THE JOY BEHAR SHOW."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHELLE CARSON BEGLEY, ACTRESS: It takes two to tango with the co- dependency. She didn`t end up there by accident with a sex addict. I mean, she`s a co-dependent.

HAL SPARKS, COMEDIAN: Well, the other thing to is -- again, where is the sex addict part? I believe that there`s probably a psychological, you know, disease known as nymphomania or real sex addiction where you emotionally, you know, are not connected to sex at all. You do it mechanically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Reef Karim, psychiatrist and addiction specialist joins us. He`s the director of the Control Center in Beverly Hills. We`re hearing people saying basically they find it hard to believe that if there were 14 mistresses and counting, Elin didn`t know anything about it.

DEBBIE NIGRO, FOUNDING PARTNER, FIRSTWIVESWORLD.COM: You know, I want to jump in there, Jane. I think that a woman knows what kind of life she`s getting into by the nature of the life. The life she chooses is more exciting than the little details.

What Elin just said that nobody picked up on was, "How about asking me how I`m doing?" She`s trying to figure out -- she`s hurting. Everybody`s hurting here. We all love Tiger Woods. She still loves Tiger Woods.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We don`t all love Tiger Woods. Dr. Reef, you want to weigh in?

REEF KARIM, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: Yes. I mean, it takes two to tango, that`s definitely true. But part of being an addict -- and Jane we`ve discussed this is a million times -- is you have the addict behavior which is, "Am I using, am I not using? Am I acting out sexually, am I not acting out sexually?" That`s the cheese of the pizza.

But the crust of the pizza is the behaviors associated with being an addict. Lying, manipulation, deception, you know, making all these calls to people telling them not to put their names on their voicemail.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That sounds like John Edwards. Go ahead.

KARIM: Yes. Name the sports figure or the political figure and, you know, we`re hitting them. All of that is part of being an addict. It is very possible he could have 14 mistresses and she wouldn`t know.

But I also do think you only know when you`re looking for it and maybe she was happy with her lifestyle and wasn`t looking for it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got to leave it right there.

Thank you, fantastic panel, for giving us insight tonight. You are watching ISSUES on HLN.

END