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Nancy Grace

Misty`s Father Urges her to Come Clean

Aired May 26, 2010 - 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, Satsuma, Florida. A 5- year-old girl tucked into bed, five hours later, she`s gone. Daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little Haleigh. The last person to see her alive, new stepmother Misty Croslin, who goes on to flunk four polygraphs. Haleigh`s father, Ronald Cummings, and stepmother Croslin both booked on drug trafficking. Search teams, cadaver dogs, scuba divers, helicopters all comb the St. John`s River.

As the search for Haleigh`s entire body and a murder weapon goes on, bombshell tonight. We obtain even more secretly recorded jailhouse tapes, hours of Croslin yakking and whining. And tonight, we catch Croslin`s father begging Croslin to come clean about Haleigh and talk to cops, making it clear her own father doesn`t believe her. And it`s all on video, Croslin, growing more desperate by the minute, convinced she`ll get a sweet plea deal. Think again! And tonight, another jailhouse letter from Croslin, cops combing it now. What does it reveal about what happened to 5-year-old Haleigh?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANK CROSLIN, MISTY`S FATHER: Don`t be holding nothing back from nobody.

MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER: Daddy, I`m not!

HANK CROSLIN: Just get it out there. Let it out, man. Tell the truth.

LISA CROSLIN: Misty has written a letter to her sister-in-law, Chelsea Croslin -- the details of that night.

MISTY CROSLIN: I swear on everything I`ve told the truth, Dad. There`s nothing else to -- I don`t know! And that`s the truth, you know?

LISA CROSLIN: It discusses going down to the river, trying to identify the dock that police took her to as the one that Tommy supposedly took her to show her where they threw Haleigh off.

GRACE: They brought Misty Croslin down to the docks to show police a specific spot in the St. John`s River!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All along she`s saying she didn`t know anything.

MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t know where she is.

I`m not hiding anything.

I don`t.

There`s nothing to break me on.

There`s nothing!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now she is pointing out what may have happened that night that Haleigh went missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just by virtue of the fact she`s standing there pretty much implies that she`s provided information to this law enforcement agency to where this child was disposed.

MISTY CROSLIN: If I knew, they would have knew all along.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight: She was drunk, drunk on alcohol, three times the illegal limit. But she is a 2-year-old baby girl. Did the baby girl`s own father booze the baby up on gin and iced tea? The baby girl rushed to the emergency room. It`s revealed in the last month, the 2-year-old suffers fractured limbs, bruising to the head, a broken leg. Bye-bye, Daddy! Hello, big house!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, that`s attempted murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Kentucky man has been arrested for allegedly giving his 2-year-old stepdaughter enough alcohol that doctors say she could have been killed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Neighbors are dumbfounded learning a 2-year-old was fed liquor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s no different than shooting a child or shooting somebody else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 2-year-old was transported to the hospital after being found by her mother unresponsive at home, her blood alcohol level .25 percent. Cops say the stepdad, 23-year-old Raymond Jackson (ph), admitted to encouraging the toddler to drink a mixture of gin and iced tea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) tell you that this is a serious physical injury to this child. And certainly, this could actually cause death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jackson was soon after taken into custody, charged with first-degree criminal abuse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s pretty bad when they`re feeding kids alcohol. No kid should be put in that situation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is being held on $10,000 bond. Jackson`s wife, who is also the child`s mother, was granted emergency custody. And a restraining order was issued against Jackson barring him from any contact with his wife or 2-year-old stepdaughter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. We obtain even more secretly recorded jailhouse tapes, hours of Croslin yakking, whining. Bombshell tonight. We catch Croslin`s father begging Croslin to come clean, making it clear her own father does not believe her. And tonight, a new letter emerging from behind jailhouse walls. The tapes, all on video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANK CROSLIN: The idea is that you need to -- whatever you know, you need to tell them.

MISTY CROSLIN: Daddy, I know!

HANK CROSLIN: OK.

MISTY CROSLIN: And it`s not my fault they don`t listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve told people it`s going to be just a matter of time.

GRACE: Who cracked?

MISTY CROSLIN: I`m not hiding anything.

GRACE: Who cracked?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she`s come to realize that, you know, she`s in trouble.

GRACE: Is Haleigh Cummings at the bottom of the St. John`s River?

MISTY CROSLIN: I would never hurt her.

GRACE: What scenario could possibly have happened?

HANK CROSLIN: I think they need to go get Joe and lock him up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put him in jail.

TOMMY CROSLIN, MISTY`S BROTHER: I don`t know why she`s making up (EXPLETIVE DELETED). She probably knows something.

MISTY CROSLIN: That`s all I know!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police have brought her to the river to show where she saw this child go into the river.

LISA CROSLIN, MISTY`S MOTHER: You better be honest with them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are helicopters floating above her head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The key to what happened to Haleigh lies with Misty.

MISTY CROSLIN: They need to move on, get away from me, get off of me. They need to move on. I`ve been telling them that, just move on. I don`t have any answers. I`m not the key to (INAUDIBLE) Not me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Then why did you flunk four polygraphs? Why did you fail voice stress layering? Why did you refuse to be submitted to hypnosis? Answer that, Misty Croslin!

Straight out to Art Harris, investigative journalist at Artharris.com. Art, what can you tell me, what do we learn in the jailhouse tapes, and what do you know about another letter from behind jailhouse walls?

ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: This letter, Nancy, comes from Misty Croslin to her sister-in-law, Chelsea. And in it, she says that the police have searched the wrong dock, that Tommy took her to another dock nearby, and that`s where he and Joe allegedly threw the body off of little Haleigh.

Now, her lawyer tells me, Robert Fields, that he thinks she`s confused, that they were walking down a road about a month before they were arrested when Tommy revealed where the body was dumped. He thinks that his client may be confused. But still, she says in this letter that the police, she believes, are searching on the wrong dock.

GRACE: To Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." What can you tell me about the tapes? What do we learn?

JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Well, I`ve combed through them, and we do learn some new things. First of all, she says -- this is brand-new. She says, you know, They keeping telling -- saying that he did it, he did it. So all of a sudden, you keep -- start believing it -- Joe. Before, she had said two people are going to be hurt in this. We know she was referring to Tom and Joe. Now she`s questioning whether cousin Joe -- and cousin Joe has always said, I`m being framed in this. She also talks about that she was used by Ronald, that she knows...

GRACE: Wait! Back me up, Jean. Explain that one more time. Her recent jailhouse tapes, the secretly recorded tapes, what do they indicate about Joe Overstreet, cousin Joe Overstreet`s involvement in Haleigh`s disappearance?

CASAREZ: That if she said Joe is responsible, that maybe he wasn`t responsible at all, that the name Joe kept popping out so suddenly, she believed it herself.

GRACE: Oh, good Lord! Well, about Croslin, Tom Croslin?

CASAREZ: Well, she talks about that she doesn`t understand why she can`t see him, that she wants to see her brother. And her father says, Well, maybe it`s because you implicated him in all of this. She doesn`t admit that.

GRACE: Take a listen to this conversation recorded behind jailhouse walls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANK CROSLIN: I just want all this stuff to get over with.

MISTY CROSLIN: Me, too. Me, too, Dad. And you know what? I was told by somebody that -- you know how them tests come back inconclusive?

HANK CROSLIN: Yes.

MISTY CROSLIN: It doesn`t mean I failed anything. They said that...

HANK CROSLIN: I know. They`re not...

MISTY CROSLIN: ... what it means is I was too -- I was too nervous to answer the questions.

HANK CROSLIN: You can`t be pointing fingers at somebody that you don`t know done it. If you know somebody that done it, you need to tell the truth.

MISTY CROSLIN: I know. But I don`t. I really don`t.

HANK CROSLIN: But you`ve just made it worse on yourself just playing that game. Don`t play no games, little Misty, no games at all.

MISTY CROSLIN: Dad, just the whole (INAUDIBLE)

HANK CROSLIN: There`s no excuse. All it -- it`s just getting you in trouble. I know you don`t understand, Misty, but it`s just getting you in more trouble. The cops, all they want to know is the truth.

MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t have it, though. And I keep telling them that and I keep telling them that. It seems like they just want me to say something, so that`s what they -- they want me to say something just so they`re happy, you know? I keep telling them, I don`t know, I don`t know, I don`t know. And they keep pressuring me, Yes, you do, Yes, you do, Yes, you do. (INAUDIBLE) want to make you (INAUDIBLE) I don`t know. They put kind of like -- I can`t even explain it!

HANK CROSLIN: It just tells that -- that -- they said that Ronald snuck out of there, out of that -- out of the work.

MISTY CROSLIN: OK, well, why wasn`t...

HANK CROSLIN: That night.

MISTY CROSLIN: Then when I called him that night, how come he didn`t answer the phone? I called and called and he didn`t answer the phone. And then as soon as I opened the door, he`s there. And he talks like -- he says that he was a drug dealer and all this stuff back in the day, talked about all this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Why`d that black guy tell -- say that they -- them people had her and he was going to go back and get her, but if he told -- if Ronald told, then he was coming to kill him. There`s all this (EXPLETIVE DELETED). They don`t even look at nothing. They just want to look at me. And I`m tired of it. I`ve got to start thinking about (INAUDIBLE) myself. I`m not letting people (INAUDIBLE) running me down no more. I`m not. I know I didn`t have nothing to do with anything. And God knows. So they can all kiss my butt.

HANK CROSLIN: I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: So now, clearly, she`s going to try to point the finger back at Misty`s -- back at Misty`s ex-husband, Haleigh`s father, Ronald Cummings, who we know to have been at work that night.

We are taking your calls. Out to Kimberly in Arizona. Hi, Kimberly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. We are truly, truly blessed to have you and your family with us, too. I just wanted to start that off with.

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do have a question in regards to -- after failing not one, not two but four tests, what was the baby`s father thinking when he decided to marry her in the first place?

GRACE: You know, Marlaina Schiavo, our producer on the story, I`ve never quite understood that. What`s your theory?

MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: I never quite understood it, either, but he said that you have to keep your enemies closer. And his lawyers said that that was part of his strategy, as well.

GRACE: What about it, Art Harris?

HARRIS: Right, Nancy. It`s very strange, but he wanted to keep her under his thumb because he felt if she took off, he would never find Haleigh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANK CROSLIN: Will you just find out what happened to Haleigh, man, everybody would be better off.

MISTY CROSLIN: I know. You don`t -- people don`t understand. If I knew, I would tell. I don`t know anything else. I told them everything I know. There`s nothing else I can tell them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: I know somebody took my little girl!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m comfortable to go ahead and say that I`m going to call it a homicide.

CUMMINGS: Some sorry piece of trash that will be wasted when it`s all over!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haleigh Cummings is most likely deceased.

MISTY CROSLIN: People keep saying this person, this person, so you know, in your mind, you`re like, Well, hey, it`s that person, so you actually start to believe it, like the Joe thing.

CUMMINGS: If I find whoever has my daughter before y`all do, I`m killing him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want whoever took her to let her go.

CUMMINGS: I don`t care. I`ll spend the rest of my life in prison. I`m telling you, you can put it on recording. I don`t care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want my baby home.

TOMMY CROSLIN: If I knew something, you`d know a long time ago. Leave me alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Overstreet has been a person who Misty Croslin, and it appears her brother, have been pointing the finger at for possibly the death of Haleigh Cummings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lost a lot of family.

MISTY CROSLIN: Everybody just pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure. Poor me.

I don`t know why they won`t let me see my brother in here. They should be -- I`m going to keep writing. Tell Tommy to keep writing, too.

HANK CROSLIN: Probably mad at you for bringing his name up. He said he doesn`t know nothing about it, he was never there and he doesn`t know why you`re saying that about him.

MISTY CROSLIN: They need -- because they put a lot of things in people`s mouth. The cops do a lot. They try to say more than what was even said. They do!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." So many more of those recorded jailhouse tapes have now been obtained. What more have you observed? What more have you learned from the tapes?

CASAREZ: She talks about that she believes that she was used from the beginning by Ronald Cummings, that he just wanted a baby-sitter for the kids, and that`s why she came into his life. You know, if there are ever charges here in any capacity against Misty, that can be a motive for prosecutors.

GRACE: Dr. Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist joining us out of New York. Dr. Saunders, it sounds like the dad believes she did it. Her own father believes she`s not telling the truth.

PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: It sure sounds that way, Nancy. At the very least, he knows that there`s more to it, and he doesn`t trust his own daughter, with good reason.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. David Cooke, chief special victims unit, Houston County DA`s office, Raymond Giudice, defense attorney, Atlanta, Paul Batista, defense attorney and author of "Death`s Witness" joining us in New York.

I want to go to you, Ray Giudice. The words of her father could very well come in at court. And if a jury believes her father thinks she`s lying, that would go a long way.

RAYMOND GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t disagree with you at all. The man seems to be very honest, and he seems to be trying to do what he thinks is in the best interests for his daughter. But I do agree with Pat. I don`t think he`s saying that -- he doesn`t believe she killed the child, it`s that he doesn`t believe she`s telling everything she knows. And that`s a very, very important distinction.

GRACE: Wait a minute, Pat Saunders, is that what you said?

SAUNDERS: No, I said...

GRACE: Yes, I didn`t think so.

SAUNDERS: Yes. I think that he may think she`s lying, but that there`s more to it than she`s talking.

GRACE: OK, Ray, thanks for completely obscuring what Dr. Saunders actually said, but that was a good argument. What about it, Batista?

PAUL BATISTA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, I don`t think the father believes that she`s lying. I think the father is actually a very experienced lawyer. He`s telling her, Come clean. That is actually good advice.

GRACE: OK, the father`s not a lawyer. David Cooke, chief, special victims unit, will the father`s words -- can they come in at trial?

DAVID COOKE, SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, HOUSTON CTY. DA`S OFFICE: They possibly could, but you`re probably going to have a hearsay objection. I think the main thing that would come in from the father is just that he...

GRACE: But what if you can cross-examine the father?

COOKE: Well, then you can...

GRACE: Bring the father in and cross-examine him. That gets rid of the hearsay problem.

COOKE: Yes, you could, if you bring him in. But the only thing he`s going to -- she can offer through the father is just the conversations from the jail and the different accounts that show her continued contradictions and her continued lies.

GRACE: Oh, it`s coming in, David Cooke!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN: There`s nothing to break me on.

I don`t know where she is!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bottom line, you don`t know where Haleigh is.

MISTY CROSLIN: Bottom line.

FLORA HOLLARS, MISTY`S GRANDMOTHER: ... pointing a site out on the river on the TV.

MISTY CROSLIN: They set me up.

HOLLARS: This is something you should have said a long time ago.

MISTY CROSLIN: When I woke up, she was gone!

HANK CROSLIN: You`ve got to pay for it. You can`t hurt nobody.

HOLLARS: I hope and pray that the child was already dead before she hit that water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t know what they`re going to do. I hope they offer something.

HANK CROSLIN: I doubt they`re going to offer anything right now, not until they find out the truth.

MISTY CROSLIN: They`ve got to offer something about these charges.

HANK CROSLIN: They don`t want to give -- they don`t want to give these charges until the truth comes out because they`re not going to be lenient on you. So if you know something, sister, you need to tell them.

MISTY CROSLIN: I know, Daddy.

HANK CROSLIN: But you need to tell (ph) with your lawyer.

MISTY CROSLIN: I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Joining me now, a very special guest, Marc Klaas, the president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation -- his daughter, Polly, taken many, many years ago from her home. She was murdered. Marc, I want to hear your thoughts now.

MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I think that the one moment of clarity that Misty has had, particularly in recent months, is the realization that Ron, in fact, was using her. And he has a history of going after young girls. Now, he gets them pregnant. He uses them for housekeepers. He uses them for baby-sitters. He uses them for sex. And I think that that`s something that needs to be acknowledged. I also believe...

GRACE: Can I ask you what that has to do with Haleigh`s disappearance?

KLAAS: Oh, I just think it`s...

GRACE: Please focus...

KLAAS: I just think that...

GRACE: ... on the disappearance of the child.

KLAAS: No, I think it`s a moment of clarity. As far as the disappearance...

GRACE: What`s a moment of clarity? You don`t agree with Ronald Cummings`s lifestyle. OK. What about Haleigh`s disappearance?

KLAAS: No. No, no, no, no, Nancy. What I`m saying is that she`s finally realized this.

GRACE: OK.

KLAAS: That`s all I`m saying is that she`s finally realized this, and perhaps more clarity will follow. I really don`t know. But I think it has become obvious that nobody in this game is telling the truth, that everybody`s story consistently shifts and consistently points in different directions. They imply that other people are involved, and it`s always somebody else and it`s always not me.

GRACE: Joining us, Marc Klaas, president and fonder of Klaas Kids Foundation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUMMINGS: I want to the get to the bottom of what happened. One way or another, I want my daughter to come home.

MISTY CROSLIN: I woke up, and she was gone!

CUMMINGS: I came home from work, and my child was not there.

How the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) can you let my daughter get stole (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!

MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t know why they won`t let me see my brother in here. I`m going to keep writing. Tell Tommy to keep writing, too.

HANK CROSLIN: Probably mad at you for bringing his name up. He said he didn`t know nothing about it, he was never there and he don`t know why you keep saying that about him.

MISTY CROSLIN: They need -- because they -- they put a lot of things in people`s mouth. The cops do a lot. They try to say more than what was even said. They do!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANK CROSLIN, MISTY CROSLIN`S FATHER: Well, as soon as they get this Haleigh case wrapped up, they`ll let us alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We received a tip yesterday.

MISTY CROSLIN, FORMER STEPMOM/BABYSITTER OF HALEIGH CUMMINGS: Answer any questions I have to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That there was possibly some physical evidence in the Haleigh Cummings investigation.

M. CROSLIN: I don`t know where she is. I`m not hiding anything. They just need to move on. Dad, there`s nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re just following up on that lead to verify it or to -- you know, if it is true or it isn`t.

H. CROSLIN: Regardless of what the outcome is, I want to know where Haleigh`s at.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out there to rule the (INAUDIBLE) out.

RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER OF HALEIGH CUMMINGS: Well, of course, I want to know if she knows anything.

M. CROSLIN: If I had something to do with it, if I knew where she was, we wouldn`t be sitting here today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw probably no where like say between 12 to 15 divers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When did you last see her?

M. CROSLIN: Um, we just like, you know, it was about 10:00. We were -- she was sleeping.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s probably six or eight of them that was actually in the water right in front of the dock, just searching in front of the dock area.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does the door look like it was pried open?

M. CROSLIN: Um --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was more divers being brought out by boat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does it look like you had some sort of someone try to enter into your house?

H. CROSLIN: They`re going to wrap it up in the next two weeks.

M. CROSLIN: I hope they do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you?

M. CROSLIN: Just turned 18. I`ll be going 18-year-old girl, dad, and I`ve never had -- you know, I`m not a troublemaker. I didn`t do anything wrong, and they want to keep -- put me like on -- like I`m a horrible person and I`m not and I don`t deserve none of this.

I always had it hard, I always try to help people and everything. I always get screwed over, all the time. And Ronald just used me.

H. CROSLIN: I tried to tell you that.

M. CROSLIN: He did. He did use me. He used me for a babysitter, he used me for everything, he wanted me, and his family, too. That`s the only reason they wanted me around, is to be their babysitter because they were tired of baby-sitting the kids. That`s exactly why.

And when they didn`t need me no more -- when they started -- when Haleigh come up missing and they didn`t need me no more, that`s when they wanted me to leave, because they had everybody helping them hand and foot. That`s exactly why.

And they want to say since I come into their family, it`s been drama. No. Since Ronald came into my life, it`s been drama.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: To Art Harris, investigative journalist, artharris.com. Art, he didn`t have to marry her to have her around. She was shacked up all over town. He didn`t have to marry her to have her shacked up at his place.

ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, ARTHARRIS.COM: She was there, Nancy, already taking care of his kids. I interviewed a neighbor -- it was fascinating -- who told me the very same thing, that Misty had told him, I`m tired of taking care of other people`s children.

And then she asked him, you know, please pray for me. It was a very chilling interview I had. And I share that with some investigators --

Art Harris, Art Harris. Don`t try to drag God into this, OK? All right? No.

HARRIS: I`m telling you what --

GRACE: I don`t want to hear that.

HARRIS: What he reported she told him, Nancy.

GRACE: OK.

HARRIS: To me, was this a moment of -- as Marc Klaas said -- clarity?

GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Ellie, what more can you tell me?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, it looks like, like her brother, Misty Croslin is hoping that she`s going to get some kind of deal. She says, you know, if she was offered something, she suggests maybe she`ll take it.

Same thing Tommy -- Tommy Croslin also said. But her father says, you know, they`re not going to offer you anything until they get the truth. They`re not going to be lenient with you until you tell them what you know.

GRACE: And Jean Casarez, what`s interesting about Ellie`s point is there apparently is a plea deal in the works for Ronald Cummings, which says to me they don`t suspect him in Haleigh`s disappearance.

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": That`s right. It`s not to fruition yet, but they definitely believe that they`re going to get those 25-year mandatory minimums knocked off. They have yet to give the statement to Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The DA`s office also wants a statement.

This is all in regard to the drug case, but the fact is, yes, a plea deal has been offered.

GRACE: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Out to you, Leonard Padilla, bounty hunter, joining us from Sacramento via Skype, offering to bail out Croslin.

I believe you also offered to bail out Ronald Cummings. What do you make of this letter, Leonard Padilla? A letter apparently received by Chelsea Croslin from Misty Croslin.

LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER, OFFERED TO BAIL MISTY CROSLIN OUT OF JAIL: Well, I believe that`s the same letter that she offered to sell to me for $2500.

GRACE: Yes. That would be the one.

PADILLA: Yes. And at the time, I told her that, you know, the situation was such that nobody really could verify anything that would be in that letter. It`s like --

GRACE: But, wait, wait.

PADILLA: -- if there`s any clarity --

GRACE: Leonard, you`ve been in the courthouse --

PADILLA: There will probably more clarity at the start of this case - -

GRACE: -- more than all of us.

PADILLA: -- than there is now.

GRACE: If you get a handwriting comparison, and we can prove this is from Misty Croslin, even the fact that her story may change to me is incriminating.

PADILLA: It`s strange to me, first of all, that she would write a letter knowing that law enforcement would read it. And then have Chelsea attempt to sell it. I mean they`ve got to know that law enforcement has the letter. They`ve read it, they know what`s in it. She has to know that they`re going to draw some conclusions.

GRACE: OK, hold on. David Cooke, joining us out of Atlanta, isn`t it true that when a defendant -- a suspect speaks, even if they don`t come out and say, I did it, and wave a red flag at the jury, the fact that they give one incriminating statement after the next or one changing story after the next says they`re hiding something. If you`re not hiding anything, you just tell the truth.

DAVID COOKE, CHIEF, SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, HOUSTON COUNTY DA`S OFFICE: Nancy, the only reason to lie is that it`s better than the truth. And in this case, the reason for her to keep lying time after time after time is strongly condemning and it`s very suspicious. I think you`re right.

GRACE: Art, what could convince me that Misty Croslin actually wrote this letter? And again, what do you know about the contents?

HARRIS: Well, her lawyer confirmed to me, Nancy, Robert Fields, that she did write it, that Chelsea got it. He`s aware of it. And -- and the reason is that Chelsea challenged her saying, I`m about to have a nervous breakdown, Misty, you`ve got to tell me what is true or not. And that`s why Chelsea tells me she wrote it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

H. CROSLIN: Somebody called me on the way here and told me that Art Harris is supposed to have some letter that you sent out and a family member was supposed to have gave it to him, but he`s lying, because I know for a fact that no family member gave it to him.

M. CROSLIN: What?

H. CROSLIN: Supposed to be a letter that came out.

M. CROSLIN: What letter?

H. CROSLIN: A letter that comes from you of the one of the family members.

M. CROSLIN: Somebody gave them a letter?

H. CROSLIN: That`s what they say, but --

M. CROSLIN: Who? Who`s they?

H. CROSLIN: That`s what they said on the news, Art Harris is supposed to have a letter.

M. CROSLIN: Art Harris ain`t got no letter -- well, if he`s got a letter --

H. CROSLIN: Well, they got it off --

M. CROSLIN: Huh?

H. CROSLIN: Yes. They got it from the cops.

M. CROSLIN: How`d they get it from the cops when -- well, yes. I don`t care. They can have the letter. I ain`t hiding nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s like looking for a needle in a haystack.

M. CROSLIN: Dad, there`s nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we were willing to go ahead and take the effort and the time to go look for that needle.

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST; FMR. D.C. POLICE DET., FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: Who was with her, the last person with her? She was.

CUMMINGS: I still got some pending, that`s assault with a deadly weapon, charge pending and I never even -- my guns were at home locked up in a gun cabinet, dude.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The toddler was rushed to St. Elizabeth`s Hospital then to children`s unconscious.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Twenty-three-year-old Raymond Jackson was arrested after his 2-year-old stepdaughter was brought to the hospital with a blood alcohol of 0.25 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Neighbors are dumbfounded learning a 2-year- old was fed liquor.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jackson is charged with first-degree criminal abuse and faces up to 10 years behind bars after police say he gave the child enough alcohol that doctors say she could have died from it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope she survives. I hope she makes it. It`s probably going to damage her.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say Jackson admitted to encouraging the toddler to drink a mixture of gin and iced tea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No kid should be put in that situation.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jackson`s 6-month-old was also home during the incident, but police say there`s no indication the baby was given any alcohol.

Jackson remains behind bars on $10,000 bond. His next hearing in the case is June 1st.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Noticed the child -- something was obviously wrong with the child and she immediately took that child to the hospital. And they tell you that this is a serious physical injury to this child, and certainly this could actually cause death.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Three times the legal limit. She was drunk. She is a toddler girl.

Straight out to Jack Crumley, reporter, 700 WLW News Radio, joining us out of Cincinnati.

Jack, what happened?

JACK CRUMLEY, REPORTER, 700 WLW, NEWS RADIO: Hi, Nancy, yes, quite a shocking story out of -- out of Crescent Springs, Kentucky where this little girl was apparently encouraged to make a mixture of sweet tea and gin to the point --

GRACE: Why?

CRUMLEY: -- where she was passed out. Her mom came home --

GRACE: But why would you feed a baby alcohol? I don`t understand it. The baby was encouraged to drink tea and gin? Why?

CRUMLEY: The why is still been the big question out here. Investigators say they have not been given any kind of reason by the stepfather of this little girl, Raymond Jackson.

GRACE: I guess not because that would be admitting he did it. OK. What more can you tell me, Jack Crumley?

CRUMLEY: Well, I do know that when he first went to the hospital, he told the doctors on the scene at the emergency room that the little girl had been sneaking drinks and it almost implied to me that he wasn`t aware it. Later on he did admit that he encouraged her to have drinks of the alcohol.

Mom came home later on that night, went to go kiss the little girl to sleep, went to go kiss her good night, and found that the little girl`s eyes were rolled into the back of her head and she was breathing very shallowly.

Took her to the emergency room in northern Kentucky. The doctors there were very concerned about her condition to the point where they had her transferred to children`s hospital just across the Ohio River in Cincinnati.

GRACE: To Dr. Jake Deutsch, doctor of emergency medicine, joining us out of Manhattan.

Dr. Deutsch, thank you for being with us. Doctor, what type of permanent damage could this cause the child and what about the possibility of alcohol poisoning? Three times the legal limit?

DR. JAKE DEUTSCH, M.D., DOCTOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE: I -- I`ve seen a lot of crazy things in the emergency department, but this really tops them off, Nancy. We`re talking about an ingestion that could have been fatal.

In terms of the immediate effects, you could have seen problems with the respiratory status, breathing, neurologic problems, going into a coma. Those are the immediate effects and hopefully the baby survived that and was able to be metabolized.

But when you talk about the long-term effects, you`re talking about brain injury, kidney injury. There was also reports of some broken bones. This clearly was an abusive situation and there`s going to be a lot of time to figure out the extent of this child`s underlying injuries.

GRACE: Tonight, a baby girl rushed to the hospital. Her eyes rolled back in her head, her breathing shallow. Now stepdaddy has been charged with getting the little girl drunk.

I want to go to Rupa Mikkilineni, our producer on this story. What more can you tell us, Rupa?

RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, he sits in jail tonight. He`s still in jail, he was given a $10,000 bond. We also know that the mother, Amanda Jackson, has filed for a temporary restraining order so he is not allowed to see these children or his wife if he does make bail.

GRACE: To Marc Klaas. Weigh in, Marc.

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: This guy should be charged with a lot more than getting a little girl drunk. As adults, it`s our jobs to nurture, not torture our children.

This little girl didn`t have a chance with this guy. She could have easily died. If he ever gets his hands on her or any other child again, quite frankly, they could follow a similar fate. He needs to spend a lot of time behind bars.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. David Cooke, Raymond Giudice, Paul Batista.

OK, Batista, give me your best defense.

PAUL BATISTA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "DEATH`S WITNESS": Well, you know, you`re representing an idiot when you represent a guy like this, and Nancy, it seems to me you go in and you try to get the best resolution you can for this guy, which may well be a year or two in jail.

GRACE: In other words, plead guilty?

BATISTA: Yes. It seems to me that that`s the case.

GRACE: Ray Giudice, what about the defense he`s already put out there that the 2-year-old was sneaking booze?

RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Look, his story stinks. You do what Paul says. You go to a good district attorney like Mr. Cooke. You try to surrender parental rights, you try to get the best deal you can, and you move on before the charges get elevated to a much more serious situation which could be pending.

GRACE: You know, that`s interesting. You said parental rights.

Jack Crumley, WLW 700 News Radio, did he even have any parental rights?

CRUMLEY: He -- not anymore. The mother of the child has been granted emergency custody and -- of both children. Both this little stepdaughter of Raymond Jackson`s and of the 6-month-old son that the two of them share.

GRACE: What`s this guy`s story? What do you know about 23-year-old Raymond Jackson?

CRUMLEY: Well, we do know that there was a history back in early 2009, this same little girl, when she was obviously much younger, at least 1 year old, was injured and he was cited for child abuse at that point.

GRACE: Well, he`s got a prior misdemeanor. Child abuse conviction on the same child. What was the abuse?

CRUMLEY: She did have broken bones.

GRACE: Oh! OK, back to you, Rupa. What injuries do we know this child has sustained so far?

MIKKILINENI: We know that a year and a half ago, in the misdemeanor cause of action or charge against him, the injury that the baby sustained was severe spanking and bruising on the bottom.

Currently, what we know is that the child has been released from the hospital, is back at home recuperating, and we are -- the hospital and the doctors and investigators are awaiting news about, you know, future injuries, long-term effects.

GRACE: OK. When we first introduced the story, Rupa, there is a string of injuries this child has sustained in the past. There have been numerous times that she has had to go to the hospital.

You know, Jack Crumley, are you familiar with this child`s medical history?

CRUMLEY: No, other than the fact that she is just recuperating as best she can from this series of trips to the hospital like you say.

GRACE: OK, take a listen to this, Jack Crumley and Rupa Mikkilineni. The 2-year-old little girl has suffered fractured ribs, bruising to the head, a broken leg, and she`s still allowing this guy to live in the house. He`s got a misdemeanor conviction for abusing the child.

Jack Crumley, why should mommy get to keep her?

CRUMLEY: Well, certainly that`s going to be a question for courts down the line because depending on her awareness of the situation, but regardless of that, I mean, clearly the child is still being injured.

GRACE: To Dr. Patricia Saunders, what is wrong with mommy?

PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Mommy may be abused herself but like most --

GRACE: So what?

SAUNDERS: -- domestic violence cases, denial, it never happened, he loves me, he loves the kids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A Kentucky man is behind bars, accused of giving a toddler a dangerous amount of alcohol. Police say 23-year-old Raymond Jackson allegedly encouraged his 2-year-old stepdaughter to drink a mixture of gin and iced tea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s pretty bad, feeding kids alcohol. No kid should be put in that situation.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When the girl`s mother came home from work around midnight, she said she went to kiss her daughter on the cheek and knew something was wrong.

The legal limit for adults driving a vehicle is 0.08. This little girl tested three times that. Medical staff say the 0.25 alcohol level could cause long-term damage in a developing toddler.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Neighbors are dumbfounded learning a 2-year- old was fed liquor.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say 22-year-old Raymond Jackson allegedly encouraged his 2-year-old stepdaughter to drink a mixture of gin and iced tea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me that`s attempted murder.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jackson remains behind bars on $10,000 bond. His next hearing in the case is June 1st.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Jerry Speziale, the state county sheriff, author of "Without a Badge."

First of all, police say the man gave his 2-year-old gin and tea over a period of time. How are they going to prove it?

JERRY SPEZIALE, PASSAIC COUNTY SHERIFF, AUTHOR OF "WITHOUT A BADGE: Well, I think there is probably statements that have already been made. The doctor`s report, the report that I looked at shows that there was some indication that he was allowing her to drink the iced tea and the gin. So I think that`s going to help the case itself.

GRACE: Well, also a statement to hospital personnel come in.

SPEZIALE: Correct. Absolutely, the statement to hospital personnel will come in.

GRACE: He wasn`t under custody at that time.

SPEZIALE: Yes, but that`s still going to be subpoenable (ph) and they would be able to obtain --

GRACE: But I`m saying he wasn`t under custody, so it`s not covered by Miranda. In order to get Miranda, you`ve got to be in custody to get under arrest, basically.

SPEZIALE: Not that -- if he goes in and he gives that statement voluntarily we can get that statement and utilize that in the prosecution, absolutely.

GRACE: What I`m so disturbed about, Marc Klaas, is that he`s already got a conviction for misdemeanor abuse on this same little girl. But mommy kept him in the house. I don`t understand that.

KLAAS: Well, I think that Dr. Pat hit it -- hit the nail on the head. It`s a clear case of denial. And we see in these domestic -- in these domestic abuse situations time after time that these things go on for years and years and years. And oftentimes even end up in the death of one of the players.

It`s a horrible situation. These children should probably be put some place where they will find a safe life and they`ll find the nurturing parents that they obviously deserve.

GRACE: Very quickly, Patricia Saunders, I want to talk about mommy for a moment. I don`t understand it.

SAUNDERS: It is hard to understand, Nancy, because it`s not rational. She may have been a victim of child abuse herself.

GRACE: You said that before. I don`t care. She is the adult. She is supposed to care for the child, regardless of what may have happened to her in the past.

SAUNDERS: You`re right. And she should not have custody of this child.

GRACE: I don`t know why you even said that. You said it before. I gave you a chance to redeem yourself, and you said it again.

OK, let`s stop. Let`s remember Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Nice, just 19, (INAUDIBLE), Oklahoma, killed Iraq. Awarded the Purple Heart, National Defense Service medal, Sea Service Deployment medal.

Lost his life just weeks before returning home. An honor student, loved saxophone, drums, baseball, basketball, football. Dreamed of college and becoming a lawyer. Leaves behind grieving parents Marilyn and Lloyd, Uncle Charles, six siblings.

Joseph Nice, American hero.

Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for being with us. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END