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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Head of IMF Accused of Attempted Rape; Why Did New Jersey Teen Die?

Aired May 16, 2011 - 19:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, a powerful French presidential hopeful faces wild allegations of sexual assault.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defendant committed criminal sexual acts (UNIDENTIFIED MALE: .

VELEZ-MITCHELL: International money boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn is hauled into court on charges he committed a sex act and tried to rape a New York City hotel maid. Could he now face new sex allegations from a female French journalist?

Plus, cops say they now know how missing New Jersey teen Sarah Townsend died. Her devastated boyfriend collapses to the ground as he hears the news. So many questions remain. Why were family members all saying they weren`t mad at her?

Then, a bombshell from Casey`s parents as jury selection goes into overtime. Is a lawsuit brewing? George and Cindy`s lawyers say they plan to sue their former attorney for talking to the media. Specifically, to me, right here on ISSUES.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My theory is that he will blame the Anthony family.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did he violate attorney-client privilege? Or are the Anthonys just upset because they fear his controversial analysis is spot on?

And uproar over a mom who injects her 8-year-old daughter with Botox. Now ABC is reporting the little girl has been taken away from her mom while child services investigates. Should she lose custody? We`ll take your calls.

ISSUES starts now.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCCONNELL, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: And restrained a hotel employee inside of his room. He sexually assaulted her and attempted to forcibly rape her. When he was unsuccessful, he forced her to perform oral sex on him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Breaking news tonight as an international sex scandal sends shock waves from the U.S. to Paris and back again. Take a look at this "New York Post" headline, "French Whine." And they`re not talking about chardonnay.

The International Monetary Fund [SIC] is accused of trying to rape a maid -- the head of it -- the head of the IMF accused of trying to rape a maid at a swanky Manhattan motel and then forcing her to perform oral sex on him.

Police say prominent French national, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was naked when he allegedly chased a maid down a hallway of his $3,000-a-night hotel suite on Saturday. He allegedly pulled her into a bedroom and started to sexually assault the 32-year-old woman before she fought him off.

Now, she claims Strauss-Kahn then dragged her into a bathroom and forced himself on her, orally. She says she eventually got away and raced to the front desk. A co-worker then called police.

Now, cops arrested Strauss-Kahn on board a plane at JFK just minutes before it was set to take off for Paris. Investigators took DNA samples from the maid, the hotel suite and from Strauss-Kahn himself. He is being held without bail.

Here is his attorney at today`s astounding arraignment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is presumed innocent and, indeed, this is a very defensible case. There are significant issues that we have already found, simply with the preliminary investigation, and in our judgment, makes it quite likely that he will ultimately be exonerated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Strauss-Kahn is no stranger to controversy. He even earned the nickname the hot rabbit for past alleged personal scandals. And he could soon be facing more sexual abuse allegations, this time from a female French journalist.

Now, before his arrest, Strauss-Kahn was considered the leading challenger to French President Sarkozy in next year`s election. Here in the United States, he is being treated just like any other defendant, so far anyway. We`ll see what happens.

Now, we`ve called his attorney, and we are trying to get a response to these allegations. They are invited on our show any time to tell their side of the story.

What do you think? Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS. That`s 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to investigative journalist Jon Lieberman.

Jon, you`ve been talking to your police sources. How did they catch this guy?

JON LIEBERMAN, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well, first, let me tell you, Jane, that Mr. Strauss-Kahn will not be sleeping in a luxury hotel tonight. He`s actually being transferred to Rikers Island, the famed jail where so many alleged violent criminals are held. So he will be sleeping at Rikers Island tonight . And we should point out that this guy is actually facing 74 years in jail if convicted, as well.

Let me tell you this, Jane. This is the criminal complaint right here. The detectives who worked on this, the special victim guys of Manhattan, I worked with on dozens of cases when I was at "America`s Most Wanted." These are the most meticulous special victims detectives that you`re going to find in this country.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How did they catch him?

LIEBERMAN: They got him just moments before he was going to take off on an airplane back to France. A, they acted quickly. B, they quickly corroborated the alleged victim`s story. And C...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Allegedly corroborated.

LIEBERMAN: Allegedly corroborated. And, C, they nabbed him.

And let me just tell you, Jane. They are calling her what, in this line of work, is called a good victim. Meaning she picked him out of a line-up. Her story seems to add up. And law enforcement believes that they did the right thing by pressing all of these charges.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Let`s see if I get all of the pronouncers here correct because we`ve got some -- some French experts that we`re going to weigh in with now.

2007, a French TV journalist claimed Strauss-Kahn tried to sexually assault her, too. Tristan Banon said that Strauss-Kahn undid her bra and tried to open her pants during a 2002 interview in an apartment. Now, she never reported this to police. Strauss-Kahn`s name was bleeped out of a TV interview where she did make these allegations publicly. Her mom says she`s the one who talked her daughter out of reporting the incident way back in 2002.

Listen to this.

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ANNE MANSOURET, MOTHER OF TRISTANE BANON (through translator): She was sobbing. She said, "Mom, something terrible happened to me. He jumped on me."

I told her, "Listen, you know, well, if you had been raped, I wouldn`t have hesitated. There wasn`t a rape, strictly speaking. There was an attack. For the rest of your life you would have on your resume, you know, Tristane Banon, that`s the girl who -- well..."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hmm. Banon`s lawyer and her mom says she may finally now make a formal complaint.

Straight out to Emmanuel Saint-Martin. I don`t think I got that right. France`s 24 correspondent.

EMMANUEL SAINT-MARTIN, JOURNALIST: You did.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I did? Yay. Thank you. Let me ask you this question. I hear this guy has quite a reputation in France. Tell us about that.

SAINT-MARTIN: Yes. You know, there is the story that you just told about. There`s the story at the IMF in 2008 where he had a sexual relationship with -- with basically one of his employees, and that was, of course, a problem at the IMF. He was recommended from the IMF for that and even though he kept his function at the time.

But also, you know, all of the press, everybody knows anything in France about politics know that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has a very active sexual life, if you will. Obviously, that`s different, very, very different thing from what happened, supposedly, on Saturday in this hotel room.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: People know him in France -- his wife is standing up for him, but he does, suffice it to say, a reputation as some sort of -- does he or does he not -- a ladies` man in France?

SAINT-MARTIN: No. I mean, all our presidents have had those kinds of lies and those kind of reputation, so that is not a problem itself. But that`s not to say that everybody -- anyone is going to, you know, pardon what he did on Saturday, what he supposedly did on Saturday. That`s a totally different story. You have someone who`s -- who likes women, who`s a womanizer and someone who is attempting rape. Two different things.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree with you. Lisa Bloom, I`m very proud of the NYPD, because they treated this suspect, and he is just accused. And again, we want to be fair. He`s invited on our show every -- any time. He is -- or his attorneys. He`s being held without bail at Rikers, and he can`t come in right now, but his attorneys could.

But he was treated like any other suspect. He was given a perp walk. They took DNA samples from him. He was in a lineup. And there he is paraded in front of the media. I am so sick of treatment, special treatment for VIPs, I was very, very pleased to see this refreshing down- to-earth treatment of somebody who is a VIP.

LISA BLOOM, LEGAL ANALYST: Oh, and Jane, I agree. And I would add it is so important that they went on the plane. They got him out of first- class, and they brought him back to New York City before that plane took off from New York, because this could have been another Roman Polanski situation, Jane, if that plane had taken off with him on it. They may have never gotten him back on American soil.

So I say three cheers for the NYPD. And of course, he is presumed innocent, but he`s got to answer the charges here.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Derek, Louisiana, your question or thought?

CALLER: Hey there, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey.

CALLER: I`ve got a question, yes. You said that the maid had ran down the hallway and he chased her and then brought her into his room. Do we have any type of footage of cameras?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s an excellent question. Steve Kardian, his defense, according to some published reports, is going to be that he actually checked out of his hotel about an hour before this alleged assault and had lunch with his daughter at a New York restaurant. Presumably, wouldn`t there be video cameras all over to either corroborate or dispute his version of events or hers?

STEVE KARDIAN, FORMER POLICE DETECTIVE: Yes, Jane. As a matter of fact, the district attorney is prosecuting this case right now. They actually saw footage of him leaving the hotel. So they have him on video. It`s unknown at this time if they have him coming out of the room chasing her. But that`s the only thing that`s in conflict right now. But they do have him leaving the hotel. They do have him on video. They do have a time line for him, and it all fits.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. On the other side of the break, we`re going to talk about how his cell phone was so crucial in apprehending him. And we`re taking your phone calls: 1-877-JVM-SAYS; 1-877-586-7297.

Now, this mother shocked the nation when she admitted she gave her 8- year-old -- well, we`re going to see this mom in a second -- Botox injections. Does the mom we`re about to tell you about deserve to lose her daughter because she gave her 8-year-old Botox? You won`t believe this story.

Plus, more on this money chief`s sickening sex assault charges. It`s a shocker. It`s creating shock waves from New York City all the way to Paris, and we`re just getting started.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will vigorously defend these charges and he denies them.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ADAM REISS, CNN NEW YORK SENIOR PRODUCER: The drama was really intense, standing room only. There came a point when he met with his attorneys in a glass-enclosed room, speaking to each other through a round hole.

The huge international interest, standing room only. Police everywhere in the courtroom. We haven`t seen a court case like this here in New York in a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A huge sex scandal. One of the world`s most powerful finance bosses is charged with sexual assault and attempted rape. Did Dominique Strauss-Kahn chase down a hotel maid and force her to perform oral sex and then take off and try to catch a flight to France? Well, cops took him off the plane just moments before he was supposed to take off.

Janine, California, your question or thought.

CALLER: Yes, well, it`s more of a thought. I just want to say I lived in Europe for almost half of my life, and I can`t stress how important this man is in France. He`s really famous. It would be like one of our presidential candidates raping someone in a hotel room.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Allegedly.

CALLER: And he could be the next president of France, if he...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, not any more.

CALLER: Well, but here`s something else. I just want to say I don`t think that this guy will do any prison time or anything, because they`ll do diplomatic type of negotiations. It`s too big. I mean...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well -- well, you are raising so many great questions. Lisa Bloom, he doesn`t get diplomatic immunity. First of all, he was not on IMF, International Monetary Fund, business. He was in New York for some mystery reason, and I wonder about that, since he has a house outside Washington, D.C. Why is he staying in a hotel in Times Square in a $3,000-a-night suite? Just curious. Just a little curious. But he doesn`t get immunity.

BLOOM: Jane -- Jane, you`re absolutely right. He was here on personal business, paying the money out of his own pocket, so no diplomatic immunity. They police were right to arrest him.

But I can make a very strong prediction about what`s going to happen, because it happens in every high-profile celebrity rape case. He`s going to start to have private investigators behind the scene, investigating this woman, her background, education, employment, her family, her friends. And we`re going to start to see her trash in the media. And that will be his defense, because it`s going to be his word against hers. When you have someone who`s working as a maid and someone who pays for a $3,000-a-night hotel room, it`s very difficult to get equality in the American courtroom.

So mark my words, that`s how it`s going to unfold.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jon Lieberman -- excellent point. Jon Lieberman, what do we know about this maid?

LIEBERMAN: Well, we don`t know much at this point. All we know from police sources right now is that they say her story was very credible. She picked him out of a lineup. And that they have corroborating evidence for everything along the line of what she said -- the narrative that she told. But I agree with Lisa...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She`s in her 30s. She`s in her 30s. She`s married, and I think she has a daughter. And she`s worked there for about three years, and her performance rate was satisfactory.

Now, Strauss-Kahn, he is the father of four daughter. He`s married to heiress Anne Sinclair, his third wife. She`s very influential and very respected in her own right, an American-born French journalist who hosted a popular political show for 13 years. Some call her the Diane Sawyer of Paris.

His wife released this statement: quote, "I do not believe for one second the accusations brought against my husband. I have no doubt his innocence will be established."

So let me ask you, Emmanuel Saint-Martin, how has she reacted to the previous scandals, the fact that he admitted, apparently, to having an affair with a subordinate on the IMF staff, which was called a serious error in judgment? Did she stand by her man then?

SAINT-MARTIN: She did. She stand by her man. And everybody in France thought that she wanted to be the first lady of France so much that she was ready to bear with that. And of course, it`s a very different story now. It`s a different case. There was no violence involved with the previous one.

But she was standing by her man. That was absolutely obvious. And she has been on his side for a long time. She is a very influential woman. She`s a very well known journalist in France.

We`ll see what she says. She has arrived in New York now. She is going to be here. She`s going to meet him, and we`ll see what she has to say.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow, and he, again, being held at the infamous Rikers Island on no bail. Some argue he is a flight risk, because we don`t have an extradition treaty with France, so if he had made it onto that plane, and the plane had taken off and he`d gotten in international waters or above international waters, we wouldn`t have been able to get him back.

Police had to race to JFK to get him off the plane to Paris. And I`m not too surprised that the judge agreed with prosecutors that this guy is a flight risk. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCONNELL: Given the strength of the case as it now stands and the potential for additional evidence to be generated, the defendant has additional motivation to flee.

We also know that the defendant has the personal, political, and financial resources to, in fact, flee and evade law enforcement (ph). He is a person of means, of sophistication. By all appearances, he has the resources to evade capture and prosecution were he to be released.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Steve Kardian, ten seconds. DNA is going to play a huge role, yes?

KARDIAN: Yes. DNA is going to be a big roll in this case. It`s going to corroborate what she`s going to allege happened. To my understanding, they did find DNA in that room, and DNA is going to make this case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Or not. But thank you very much, fantastic panel.

Now, cops say they know how missing New Jersey teen Sarah Townsend died. I`m going to bring you the very latest on this horrific tragedy.

Plus, jury selection in the Casey Anthony trial. Bombshells, shockers. We`re going to tell you all about them coming up in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONICA MAKOVICZ, COUSIN OF SARAH TOWNSEND: We just want her to come home.

ANDRE A MAKOVICZ, COUSIN OF SARAH TOWNSEND: We`re not mad at her. If she can`t get home, then we`ll come get her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, tragedy turns to mystery. Very painful questions remain as the search for Sarah Townsend ends in the worst possible way with her body found submerged in a pond.

A wave of grief spread over her entire New Jersey hometown. But it was her boyfriend who seemingly took it the hardest. Watch here as he collapses to the ground in apparent agony. Police actually had to restrain him from rushing to the scene as Sarah`s body was taken from her watery grave.

Local police say that the official cause of death was drowning, and they`ve also indicated that Sarah may have been suicidal, but how would she have drowned herself? Are we to believe that Sarah weighed herself down somehow? It makes no sense, really. Perhaps that`s why police say their investigation is ongoing.

Jon Lieberman, what do you know?

LIEBERMAN: Well, Jane, it`s interesting. It`s a horribly sad case all the way across the board. As you mentioned, the medical examiner has ruled this a death by drowning, but police have stopped short of ruling the cause of death as suicide. The key here, Jane, is this: toxicology tests on this young woman could take about six weeks to see what, if any, drugs or alcohol she had in her system.

But as you said, it is very rare for a suicide to take place by drowning, and even though police are leaning towards suicide as the cause of death here, they haven`t officially ruled that yet.

And, of course, a lot of very upset friends and family in that town. And as I said, until these toxicology tests come back, there still may be more questions than answers.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And what`s interesting is, her car was found running. Her engine was running. Her cell phone and purse were inside, and the door was opened. Sometimes people do commit suicide by driving their car into a pond. She did not do that. So that`s another interesting aspect.

Sarah`s final hours are shrouded in mystery. Sarah`s family says she was not suicidal, but they also insist they weren`t mad at her. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just want to tell Sarah that we want her home and that we love her. She`s not in trouble.

M. MAKOVICZ: Sarah, we love you so much. And please come home. We`re not mad at you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, last Monday morning when all this went down, instead of driving to school, which is where she was supposedly headed, she drove him the other way about a half hour to this area near the pond.

What do you know about that, Jon? Because that wasn`t really where she was -- and she also called somebody she used to baby sit for and said, "I`m not going to be able to baby sit for you today." So she was planning something.

LIEBERMAN: Absolutely, she was. She, in fact, called her boyfriend to even meet her at this pond, presumably to discuss something. And so, yes, there are a lot of signals here that, clearly, that morning she planned to go directly to the pond and not go where she normally would have gone.

Of course, by the time the boyfriend got there, he saw the car was on and she was nowhere to be found. And you know, a lot of people came out and said, "Well, she didn`t seem depressed in the days prior," but what we don`t know is the 24 hours prior, what triggered her to not go about her daily routine that day and instead to call her boyfriend and say, "Meet me at this pond"? So, again, it`s a horribly tragic case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Terrible. Our hearts go out to her family. We`re so sorry.

Jury selection continuing and another Anthony family bombshell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A bombshell from Casey`s parents as jury selection goes into overtime. Is a lawsuit brewing? George and Cindy`s lawyer say they plan to sue their former attorney for talking to the media, specifically to me right here on ISSUES.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD CONWAY, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR GEORGE AND CINDY ANTHONY: My theory is that she will blame the Anthony family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did he violate attorney-client privilege or are the Anthonys just upset because they fear his controversial analysis is spot on?

And uproar over a mom who injects her 8-year-old daughter with botox; now ABC`s reporting the little girl has been taken away from her mom while Child Services investigates. Should she lose custody? We`ll take your calls.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CINDY ANTHONY, MOTHER OF CASEY ANTHONY: There is something wrong. I found my daughter`s car today and it smells like there`s been a dead body in the damn car.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: New Anthony family legal bombshell; with Casey`s jury selection in its final days, a new Anthony family legal drama. George and Cindy Anthony say they might be suing their former attorney, Brad Conway, claiming he violated attorney-client privilege. And apparently it all started because of comments that Brad made to me right here on ISSUES about Casey`s case. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONWAY: My theory is that he will blame the Anthony family. She`s alleged sexual abuse. She`s alleged emotional abuse, and he will say that she could not explain or tell anybody what happened to Caylee during those 31 days because of, let`s just call, it family dysfunction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So did Brad violate attorney-client privilege? Couldn`t somebody else come to those very same conclusions just by watching this case on TV? And didn`t the defense bring this type of speculation on themselves by promising mystery shockers in the first couple of minutes of opening statements?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE BAEZ, ATTORNEY FOR CASEY ANTHONY: That question will be answered within the first minute of me standing up for opening statements and it will be put to rest for good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m taking your calls, 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586- 7297.

Straight out to Florida prosecutor, Stacey Honowitz; Stacey, honestly I like everybody involved in this, I think that the Anthonys have been through hell. I have tremendous compassion. But I also like Brad Conway and I don`t think the Anthonys have a case. Brad gave his opinion. Anybody could have given the same opinion. I don`t think it`s a violation of attorney-client privilege, do you?

STACEY HONOWITZ, FLORIDA PROSECUTOR: No. Well, listen, I think some people could look at it and say, he`s a little too close to the case to be making comments on television. Quite frankly, if you`re involved in the case, you really shouldn`t be making any kind of extrajudicial comments about the case.

But I don`t think he violated attorney-client privilege because I don`t think that the Anthonys ever said to him in confidence, by the way, George sexually abused her and this might be an issue.

The bottom line is, yes, everybody could reach the conclusion based on all of the media that`s been going on. Everyone has talked about potential sexual abuse. Everyone`s talked about potentially blaming it on George. So, yes, he did come to an opinion that everybody else might but people might be looking at this closely because he was very involved and acting as their attorney at one time.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, listen. Brad Conway isn`t the first attorney to talk about the Anthonys after their employment ended. Linda Kenney Baden is Casey`s former lawyer. She was on the dream team and she caused major controversy recently during an interview with CBS.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So she lied?

LINDA KENNEY-BADEN, CASEY ANTHONY`S FORMER LAWYER: Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she said that the nanny could not --

KENNEY-BADEN: Sure. I think everyone knows that that was a lie. Her actions have been her own worst enemy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hello. Jean Casarez, you are there. Wouldn`t that be -- everybody knows that Zanny the nanny is a lie? I would think that would be more of a turning -- and I love Linda Kenney Baden too. I love them all -- seriously.

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": No, I agree with you. I adore them all, too. And Linda Kenney-Baden is one of my favorite people but that is much more, in a sense, on point with what Littman is saying about a violation of attorney-client privilege but that may be Linda`s opinion, too. And opinions -- we have First Amendment rights.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And before we get to how they are doing on jury selection, let`s just wrap this controversy up. Even before the trial Cindy and George Anthony -- well, they were obviously prone to outbursts and some might say they have control issues. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY ANTHONY, MOTHER OF CASEY ANTHONY: Well, answer the question. Did she -- you`re asking me, did she sign that ok? All right. You`re asking me a question and I want to verify --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- a lot of compassion for Cindy and George. They have been through hell. But Brad Conway isn`t the first person that Cindy`s had a falling out with. EquuSearch, the guy with the hat -- it seems like she might have some control issues and a general problem of accepting life on life`s terms. And you wonder if that`s somehow connected to what happened with Casey Anthony and her daughter little Caylee.

Carol, New Jersey, your question or thought?

CAROL, NEW JERSEY: My thought is it`s just unfathomable to believe that the defense would stoop so low as to turn this around and blame Cindy and George Anthony for the murder of this little baby. And for Casey Anthony to say that she was sexually molested and abused and mistreated as a child, that`s no excuse for that child being dead. And I really think that the defense has a lot of explaining to do for the 31 days that she didn`t report that child missing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And that opinion is why they are having a hard time with jury selection.

I want to bring in a very, very prominent jury consultant, Susan Constantine. Now, let me ask you this. Since jury selection started, a lot of people say Casey has been putting on perhaps a show? We`ve seen water works a couple of times and even an incident where she left court and she suddenly looked like she was having some kind of physical breakdown and left court with a damaged hand. Maybe she mysteriously damaged her hand and had to be escorted out as you see there.

But cynics would say she could be performing for the jury. Susan Constantine, as a jury consultant what is your take on it?

SUSAN CONSTANTINE, JURY CONSULTANT: Well, you know, when we saw her kind of breaking down, you know, Jane, that really did look authentic to me. She is a good actor. We know that already. She`s been able to tell stories as if they`re very plausible. They seemed really real to her.

But now here is, you know, maybe something`s wrong with her hand. She takes her shirt, she rolls it up over her hand and -- but you know, to rubbing it, it doesn`t seem authentic to me and, yes, part of that is kind of playing up to the sympathy with the jury.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jean Casarez, update us on how far they have gotten. I have heard that one guy prospective juror actually put some information on his Facebook page and it could have been like a subtle way to try to get off the panel. What the heck is going on down there?

CASAREZ: Well, that was this weekend, yes. He wrote on his Facebook page, hey, I`m coming out with out with a book. Well, he didn`t make it too far and he walked out with a big smile on his face.

But we have 17 going into final jury selection. Now the judge is going to question three or four more along with the attorneys tomorrow. But you know what, there are periphery strikes and if they strike, what are they going to do then. The judge says we might have less than eight alternates. That`s sort of scary possibly, Jane, in a trial this magnitude.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, explain, Susan Constantine, how it goes down. Because I keep hearing this person has moved on to the next, made the cut. But they are not a juror yet until they sworn in. So when do these challenges that either side can use to strike anybody they want except for reasons of bias, when do those come into play?

CONSTANTINE: Well, basically now, what`s going to happen is, you know, you have the voir dire process and then each of them have an opportunity to do their individual voir dire. And based on that, then both of them -- both sides, defense and the prosecution will decide who they want. But they don`t always get who they want. That`s the really interesting thing here is that they don`t always get who you want. And as many times as I`ve done jury selection, I`ve had my dream team --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead. Continue --

CONSTANTINE: Pardon me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I said that`s a Rolling Stones song, you can`t always get what you want. Go ahead. Continue on.

CONSTANTINE: That`s correct. So we have our game plan going on. We know what we`re looking for as far as a profile. They have already gone through phase one and phase two; now it`s crunch time.

And the thing is that we may not be able to get all the jurors that we want. We only have eight alternates. People can get sick and we could have a death in the family with one of the jurors. There is all kinds of conditions that can happen during that two-month period.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stacey Honowitz, when do you predict they will start the trial? Because I feel maybe by Friday and then they`ll give them the weekend to get their act together and relocate -- essentially prepare to move their lives. What do you think?

(CROSSTALK)

HONOWITZ: I don`t think so. That`s because -- I mean my feeling is that the challenge haven`t been made yet. There`s peremptory challenges and there`s challenge for cause and they haven`t done that yet. I think it`s going to go a lot longer.

Quite frankly, I`m even surprised they got this many past the first because of the magnitude of the case. Sometimes in a first-degree murder case locally, it can take three weeks to get a jury. You`re talking about a first degree murder, death penalty, high profile where they have to be sequestered. So, they have made some progress but I don`t think it`s going to be that quick. I think it`s going to go at least another week.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So you`re thinking it is going to be another week?

HONOWITZ: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jean Casarez, very quickly, when do you think?

CASAREZ: I was going to say Saturday or Monday, but with the judge saying if we have less than eight alternates, we`re going forward, it could be sooner than that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. And what do you think, Susan? Very briefly. When?

CONSTANTINE: We`re going ahead by the end of the week.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Ok. Well, you heard the experts. I basically think it`s going to happen on Monday. That`s just my feeling. But what do I know?

Nancy Grace will have all of the latest developments in the Casey Anthony trial on HLN tonight at the top of the hour.

Also, shock and outrage after a mom goes on TV and admits proudly she gives botox injections to her 8-year-old daughter. Now ABC is reporting the little girl has been taken away from her mommy pending an investigation. Should this mother lose custody? Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The girl is now going to grow up feeling like there is this standard that she has to live up to that she doesn`t meet. She`s already, you know, basically been told by her mom that you`re not ok the way you are.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s no reason for this. Girls of this age have horrible self-image any way. Why are we going to make it harder for them to go through school and feel like they`re imperfect so they need to be perfect? I have two little girls and I would never do that to them.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, a shocking development in the case of a so- called pageant mom who has been giving her 8-year-old daughter -- 8 years old -- botox injections to get rid of face wrinkles. What face wrinkles? Well, what she sees as face wrinkles.

ABC`s "Good Morning America" is reporting that Kerry Campbell has now lost custody of her child, at least temporarily. Child Protective Services says they opened an investigation when their San Francisco abuse hotline was loaded with hundreds of calls after seeing mom and daughter on the news. But there is no official word from the authorities that she`s actually been removed.

Now the little girl told "Inside Edition`s" Jim Moret what she`s shots feel like to get.

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JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": Are you afraid when you got the shots?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MORET: It hurts a little bit?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Social workers say that there are just too many unanswered questions, like the mother`s training, where she got the botox and whether her daughter`s pediatrician was consulted. I do not agree with what this mother did -- bad idea, bad idea, bad idea. But is removing the child from the mother`s home really the answer?

What do you think? Give me a holler, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

Straight out to Jim Moret, chief correspondent with "Inside Edition". Great to see you, Jim. You spoke to Kerry and her daughter, what is the very latest on this case?

MORET: The latest is we cannot confirm that the child has actually been removed from the home and there are a couple of reasons why. There seems to be a discrepancy on whether or not we actually got her real name. Whether it`s actually Kerry Campbell and whether she really lives in San Francisco. That`s what she told us; that`s what she told ABC. And that`s why that office of Children`s Services was inundated as you say with calls.

And everybody I spoke with after I interviewed this mother, it`s been about eight or nine days now, and that`s all people are talking about. How is it possible for a woman to do this to a child and on so many levels it is wrong. It`s wrong, one, because of the message you are sending a child that they are not good enough the way they are. But also medically and from a safety issue it`s really wrong because you have to be a doctor to get botox. You have to be a doctor to administer it. This woman is not a doctor.

So, even though I asked her where she got this botox, I can`t even tell you that it was actually botox because if she got it online it wouldn`t be the brand name botox. She doesn`t have training in how to administer it. There was no prescription for the young girl. I asked if the child`s pediatrician knew about the treatments. The mother was evasive. I asked if her doctor knows --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Jim Moret, it`s not approved for people under 18 and that`s about it.

MORET: Of course. Jane, this is what drove me crazy. I said this is not approved as a cosmetic treatment for a child. She said, well, smoking isn`t approved and people do that. And people in pageants do this. And I said wait a minute. What do you say to people who would call you a monster, who would say this is child abuse? And she said this isn`t child abuse, I`m a great mother.

You know what your viewers are saying. You know what your gut reaction is. It`s crazy.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But let me say this. If they did remove her from the home, social workers were then acting with lightning speed in this particular case. What I`m upset about is that doesn`t happen when it`s really a life or death matter.

Remember Florida, when CPS got a call that this Barahona family that were beating two of their adopted children. They kept them locked in a bathtub and freed them only to eat? Social workers came to the home. They never asked to see the children in question. One of those adopted children was later found dead.

I think you know what I`m saying, Lisa Bloom. I think what this mom is doing with the botox injections is horrible. But there are kids having their you-know-what beaten out of them every day and a lot of times they are not safe. Lisa?

LISA BLOOM, ATTORNEY: Well, yes. They should all be taken out of their home Jane. And listen, I practiced law in California where this happened. I`ve also had a foster child myself who was removed from his home. The standard is the same from everyone. If there is a suspected abuse or neglect, the child is immediately taken out of the home.

But Jane that`s not the end of it. Within about two or three days, there is a hearing, a week later, two weeks later, six months later; there are more hearings. Ultimately the kid goes back home when the judge determines there is parenting plan in place and if parents` behavior improves.

So if this child was taken from her home, I can assure you the mother is sent immediately to parenting classes, counseling, there`s a social worker --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How about therapy? How about psychological therapy?

BLOOM: Yes, yes. That`s what social workers do. So the kid has somebody to talk to, the mom has somebody to talk to; but the judge oversees it to make sure that the kid is safe. I have to tell you, Jane, I absolutely think this daughter should have been removed from the home. This is physical and psychological abuse.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. My first step might have been, don`t ever give her botox again. We`re warning you. But I see your point.

Everybody stay right here.

(CROSSTALK)

BLOOM: I`m sure it doesn`t end with that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Back in a moment.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The girl is now going to grow up feeling like there`s this standard to live up to that she doesn`t meet. She`s already, you know, basically been told by her mom that you`re not ok the way you are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Conflicting reports as to whether an 8-year-old girl has been removed from her mother`s home after the mom admitted giving her daughter, 8 years old, botox injections.

Let`s listen to this from Jim`s interview on "Inside Edition".

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KERRY CAMPBELL, INJECTED 8-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WITH BOTOX: I don`t get it illegally. I`ll just say that.

MORET: Does her own pediatrician know that she`s had botox?

CAMPBELL: I don`t want to put anything out there like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Linda, Florida, your question or thought.

LINDA, FLORIDA: Hi, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.

LINDA: I`d like to say that I`m very appalled by this. You know, the child is 8 years old, and there`s a time in a child`s life when they need to be a little girl. I`m a relative caregiver, grandmother and I`m raising grandchildren. I would never let them get any piercings, tattoos, anything. When they turn 18 years old, that`s when their life begins, but until then they are mine to raise.

I believe the mother is trying to make money off of her daughter, and it`s not right.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Linda, you`ve made some good points, but I don`t know that we can necessarily look into a crystal ball and say why the mom is doing this. Jim Moret, did you get the sense the mother was if misguided well-intentioned or not?

MORET: You know, it`s almost irrelevant what her intentions are. I think she wants to live through her daughter and she wants her daughter to be a certain ideal that the mother perceives as being.

I`ll tell you something. This little girl was a sweet, normal, little girl. I asked her about beauty pageants. She said I don`t care if I win a beauty pageant. She just likes dressing up. The mother wants the child to win beauty pageants.

I look at this as really being two words, child abuse. That`s how I see it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok.

BLOOM: And Jane, isn`t the beauty pageant culture for little kids really the problem here. I mean why can`t we come out and say that having little kids in beauty pageants where they get tanning salons and false eyelashes and dye their hair and fake teeth, the whole system is sick and this is just an example of it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree with you. Now, Kerry Campbell has said other pageant moms actually give their daughters botox too. Well, we spoke to a leader in the pageant movement on ISSUES on Friday and she is disputing that. She says no way. Listen to her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICKEY WOOD, PAGEANT MOM: Girl, I have been in the pageant industry for five years. We`ve been north, south, east, west fixing to head to Australia this summer, and there is no such practice. I am so outraged at this -- and I loosely, loosely use the word -- mother doing this to her child.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Well, this brings me to my big issue. I got to say, is this abuse? Now you just heard Jim Moret saying, yes, he thought this is child abuse. And I kind of agree with you.

But think about it. All the horrible things that parents do to their kids that aren`t illegal. Are we opening a Pandora`s Box? What about kids who are allowed to eat tons of junk food and become obese? Should we then say that they should be taken away from their homes, Lisa Bloom?

BLOOM: No, it`s not analogous, Jane. We`re talking about painful, medically dangerous shots in the child`s face and giving her the message that she`s not good enough. She`s not ok the way that she is. Just to be a little bit prettier, she has to endure this. That being pretty is all that matters; pretty according to a standard that her mother and the sick child beauty pageant industry is imposing on her. That`s the difference.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thanks. Dr. Drew will have a lot more tonight. Thank you both.

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JESSE EISENBERG, ACTOR: I`ve been kind of associated with the Farm Sanctuary for maybe ten years. I come from a family of animal rights activists, so Farm Sanctuary is such a wonderful organization that we`re -- we`ve been so honored to be a part of.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was Jesse Eisenberg, star of the hit movie "Social Network". And this weekend I had the amazing opportunity of attending the Farm Sanctuary gala with him and a host of other stars to celebrate 25 years of a wonderful organization dedicated to rescuing farm animals from the horrors of factory farming.

Many are often at death`s door when they`re found and rehabilitated. I`ve been involved with this organization for years since almost the very beginning. I urge everybody to check it out, farmsanctuary.org. It`s been a wonderful 25 years of compassion and giving voice to the voiceless and saving farm animals across the country. And I`m so honored and proud to be involved.

Nancy Grace is up next.

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