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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Baby Lisa`s Parents Share New Theory

Aired May 21, 2012 - 19:00   ET

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


JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live from Los Angeles. Secrets spill out from Baby Lisa`s parents. They tell "The Today Show" about a new theory of what might have happened to their missing daughter. But does their story check out? Or is it just a big smoke screen? We`ll analyze next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight a major new secret revealed in the investigation of missing Baby Lisa, who vanished from her Missouri home. The 10-month-old`s parents speak out. Now the dad says one month after his baby disappeared, someone used his debit card on a Web site for changing a child`s name. Is this fraudulent charge a key clue? Is it even a legitimate claim? And if so, what`s the FBI doing about it?

We`ll hear from the parents tonight, and we`ll take your calls.

And outrage and emotion spill out at the sentencing for Dharun Ravi, the college student convicted of using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi, who later committed suicide. He gets just 30 days in jail. He was facing up to ten years. Is that justice or a slap on the wrist?

Plus, Isabel Celis`s mom jumps to her husband`s defense in a vigil for their missing 6-year-old daughter. Becky Celis called this man a great father. So why is he barred from seeing his two sons, and why did child services visit the home?

Plus a new fun tip in our adventure to slim. Our one and only slimness guru, Kelly Preston, back with another easy way to lose weight without starving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their daughter was missing. He`s not sure how long she`s been gone, and the screen was burst through.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stunning new developments emerge in the search for the missing 10-month-old snatched from her own crib.

DEBORAH BRADLEY, BABY LISA`S MOTHER: My two other boys are waiting for her. Please, just drop her off anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The FBI cadaver dog made a positive hit for the scent of a dead body inside the bedroom of Baby Lisa`s mother.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The hit means the dog got the scent of a deceased human.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Surveillance camera footage from a nearby grocery store shows Deborah Bradley walking with a friend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They had a box of wine, some baby wipes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At one point, Deborah Bradley was walking at the store, smiling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New surveillance video could bring police one step closer to finding 11-month-old Baby Lisa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mystery man spotted shortly after the young child disappeared from her crib.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Had the baby in his arms. And he had the baby`s head kind of like this so we just kind of seen the baby`s arm and then the leg was down here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Dumpster fire was right here. Here`s Baby Lisa`s home. There was another sighting around 2 o`clock of a man going between two homes with a baby. And then right down the hill, this is where the Dumpster fire was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The question is was this an abduction with the parents completely uninvolved, or is an abductor somehow associated with the parents, and we`re all covering for each other?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight Baby Lisa`s parents drop a brand-new theory about what happened to their daughter. Is this a major break in the case, or are Baby Lisa`s parents trying to shift the focus away from themselves?

Deborah and Jeremy Irwin claim 10-month-old Lisa was snatched out of her crib back in October. Now, they say thieves may have taken more than just their daughter and a couple of cell phones.

Lisa`s dad, Jeremy Irwin, claims his debit card was also stolen and used on a Web site which lets you change somebody`s name online. Listen to this from "The Today Show."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY IRWIN, BABY LISA`S FATHER: Well, somebody had my information and tried to use it on November 6. And whoever had it and used it, used it for $69. And it went through and got paid. So they received some kind of -- some kind of service for the money that was charged on my card.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow, he said this happened back in November. Why are we just hearing about it now, six months later?

Baby Lisa`s parents say they told cops back in December, but why did they wait this long to tell the rest of the world?

Even stranger, they say their debit card was charged by a name- changing Web site. But now that Web site no longer exists. Now that domain name is reportedly used by a stationary company. So what proof they had? Well, maybe it apparently evaporated. Is this all a smoke screen designed to distract from themselves?

This case captured the public`s imagination when this convenience store footage came out, showing the mom buying a box of wine that evening. And Deb later admitted she drank at least five glasses of wine and then fell asleep at the time her daughter vanished.

Do you believe their story? Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to Ron Newton (ph), private investigator in Kansas City near where all of this went down.

Ron, what can you tell us about this mysterious Web site and the debit card, trying to buy something to change a baby`s name?

RON NEWTON (PH), PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Two words for this, Jane: empty calories. This isn`t news. I knew about this back in December where members close to the family shared this information with me.

If you recall, Joe Piserno (ph) -- I`m sorry, John Piserno (ph), the local attorney here in Kansas City, told the media back in December that they had a new tip. Well, this is what that tip was.

Apparently, Jeremy`s banker told Jeremy. Jeremy went to the FBI. And this is what it was all about.

Now the questions that I have are, if the payment went through, then where did the shipment go? Hasn`t anybody investigated that, if it`s true?

Another thing is: why wouldn`t you create a brand-new birth certificate with a brand-new date of birth and a brand-new name, rather than change the name of someone -- of a small baby who can`t even talk?

You mentioned the Web site that they have up. The Web site now is -- is put up as being privately owned. But initially, the Web site was shown on a Whois search to believe belong to Dave and Gail Mattern (ph). Now, they`re friends of the benefactor from Texas that had financed this thing. They`re all involved in the horsing world, and they even the Web site BarrelHorseWorld.com. And they also own the home where the media interviews were done back in -- in October when Deborah and Jeremy sat in front of the national media for a weekend and talked to interviewers there.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Ron, let me say this. I don`t know the names of the two individuals you mentioned. I don`t know them. I`ve never heard of them. I do not know what their connection, if any, is to this case.

Now that you`ve mentioned them, all I can say is that we invite them on to give their side of the story. And we have absolutely no independent confirmation of anything you`re saying. With all due respect, to just mention the names of people on national television, we`re not expecting that. And we don`t know who these people are, and I don`t want to say anything about them they effect that.

NEWTON (PH): Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So that is something I want to say right out.

But what I`m getting the impression, Ron, is that you don`t believe in general that this is a legitimate claim by the parents of the missing child. Is that a yes or no?

NEWTON (PH): I don`t see how you can -- correct. You`re correct with that. I don`t see how you can call it legitimate. It`s too flimsy; it`s old news. Why would you hold onto this for six months if this was a big tip and a big story? Why would you sit on this for a period of six months and not share it with anybody but the FBI when apparently...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me say this, Ron. I got your point. But the reason it`s big news is that it was on "The Today Show." OK?

NEWTON (PH): Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That makes it big news right in and of itself.

Now, I think for our viewers, we need to understand that this is a very complicated story. So let`s go back, recap and review the night that this precious child vanished. Listen to her father Jeremy describe how he discovered the baby missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRWIN: The front door was unlocked. Most of the lights were on in the house, and the window in the front was open. Obviously, it`s all very unusual. Then I started checking on the kids. Checked on the boys first. And then we checked on her, and that`s when we realized she was gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s the timeline. Just before 5, Deborah Bradley buys wine, a box of it, with her brother.

5:30, her brother leaves the home. And around -- well, Deb starts drinking with a neighbor.

At 6:40, she claims she put Lisa in a crib, and at the same time, her neighbor goes to buy more liquor. The neighbor returns at 7.

A mystery call is made at 8:30 in the evening to Megan Wright from one of the Irwins` cell phones.

Then at 10:30, the neighbor leaves and Deborah says she fell asleep. Baby Lisa`s father comes home at about 3:45 in the morning and discovers the child missing.

But Mike Brooks, HLN law enforcement analyst, you`ve been studying this. There have been many discrepancies, and in fact has the mother changed the timeline of her story?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, they changed the timeline on the phone. Her attorneys are saying that there was in mystery call to Megan Wright`s phone, who allegedly had never met the Irwins, at 11:57. And it was taken -- she was staying in a group house or a flop house as some people have been describing it. Someone there had Megan`s phone, because she was letting people use it.

But you know, Jane, this whole thing about this debit card, if they thought the debit -- why didn`t they report the debit card as stolen back on October 4 when they said that the cell phones were taken? Then that would have stopped -- that would have stopped anybody from using their card. If my debit card is missing, I`m going to know it, not a month later.

Plus, if they wanted to run this down, they let somebody know about it, the FBI, it`s easy to find out where this Web site was in the U.K. The FBI has a representative there at the U.S. embassy in London. They get together with Scotland Yard. They work on a regular basis. I`ve been to Scotland Yard before when I was working a case over there with the British -- with the Brits, Jane.

And again, just like Ron said, I think it`s just kind of B.S. Why bring this out now? There`s no new news.

And the other thing, why not speak separately to Kansas City police, Jane?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

BROOKS: Little Lisa went missing October 4. They have not spoken to law enforcement since October 8 of last year.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But apparently, they can talk to "The Today Show."

BROOKS: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And by the way, we reached out to Joe Tacopina. He`s a friend of our show; he`s invited on any time. And we invited him on today. He chose not to come on, but he`s always invited.

So out to the lines. April, Virginia, your question or thought, April?

CALLER: Yes, I was wondering...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Get to your question.

CALLER: ... if since the mother had been drinking that night, if she possibly may have done something to Baby Lisa and not remembered?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, listen, we know that cadaver dogs hit inside the home.

Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist, I say this as a recovering alcoholic with 17 years of sobriety. When you drink, you can go into a black out. You don`t know what the heck is going on, and you literally do not remember things that have happened. Correct, Robi?

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Yes. That certainly is possible. Although I would find it hard to imagine, if a mother harmed her child while drinking, that is so traumatic, to not remember that. I mean, anything`s possible, and I`ve learned never to say never, but that would be hard to believe for me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, but actually as we -- I`m telling you, I`ve had blackouts. I was a blackout drinker. You do not know what happened.

LUDWIG: Yes. But did you kill anyone?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s not a psychological condition; it`s a physical condition. You do not know. Your brain has stopped working.

On the other side of the break, we`re going to get more analysis of the key characters. What about the homeless handyman?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRADLEY: We woke up and -- I woke up and he came home and he said, "She`s not in her crib."

I said, "What do you mean she`s not in her crib?" And I just knew, you know, that something was really wrong.

We`re running around the house. We were screaming for her, and she was nowhere. And I said, "Call 911, call 911."

And he said, "Where are the phones?" And they weren`t on the counter where I left them. They were gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Today the lawyer for Baby Lisa`s parents claim that police have unfairly focused their investigation on the parents. Watch this from "The Today Show."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE TACOPINA, ATTORNEY FOR BABY LISA`S PARENTS: From the get-go, the KCPD had pigeonholed them, unfortunately. And it`s right to start looking for suspects, but they alleviated (ph) other potential avenues of evidence. And they`ve missed massive opportunities.

There were three witnesses who identified a man holding a baby that matched Jersey John`s (ph) description after midnight with just a diaper on. And it`s inconceivable that that wasn`t followed up on immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There are a slew of other possible suspects in it case. Pay attention. It gets tricky.

OK. There`s the missing child`s mom, her dad, but also her uncle Phillip, who bought wine with Lisa`s mom and then reportedly dropped the mom back home. Baby Lisa has two half-brothers, ages 5 and 8.

Shane, a neighbor who says he smoked and talked with Deb, the mom, the night the child disappeared. There`s also another female neighbor who spent the evening drinking with the mom.

A phone call from one of the Irwins` phones, the missing cell phones, led to this Megan Wright. She`s known as the pink-haired lady. And she`s the ex-girlfriend of Jersey, the local homeless handyman.

Three witnesses also claim they saw a man carrying a baby in the dead of night. And finally, there`s Dave, an alleged felon, who Megan Wright, the pink-haired lady-, says had access to her phone that night.

So many characters. So I want to introduce Judge Mary Ann Gunn. She is with me on set. She is the host of "Last Shot with Judge Gunn."

Thank you for joining us. Judge, essentially, these parents are saying, "Hey, look at this cast of characters. Why are you looking at us when you should be looking at them?" Do you buy it?

JUDGE MARY ANN GUNN, HOST, "LAST SHOT WITH JUDGE GUNN": No, I don`t buy it. It doesn`t pass the smell test. They have -- the police have been investigating this... I mean countless hours. The FBI is on it every single day.

Now, this is a smoke screen, as you referred to earlier, because it just -- who leaves their child from 6:40 at night until Daddy discovers her missing at 2 -- 4 a.m. in the morning? I mean, people don`t leave their dogs alone without checking on their dogs for 10 hours.

When you go back to the very beginning of this case, with all the facts that they have laid out, the mom and the dad, if they just -- it just doesn`t make sense.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, why would they do this if they know that cops could find out whether this Web site really existed?

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Oh, please, this Web site thing makes me -- I just can`t even stop laughing about it; it`s so stupid. I wondered when I heard it whether they had paid a PR company to do it as a stunt.

Look, if you want the public to buy into a narrative that the kid is taken by a stranger, it`s perfect. But it makes no sense.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. So OK. Our expert panel says makes no sense. More on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More Baby Lisa on the other side, but here`s what`s trending, your "Viral Video of the Day."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good boy! Get it! Whoa!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRADLEY: I am a mess. I`m frustrated. It has been almost eight months, and we`re not getting any answers. We understand that the FBI and the KCPD has a job to do, but we need answers. We need Lisa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s the missing child`s mom, Baby Lisa`s mom, from "The Today Show."

Baby Lisa`s father says in December his debit card was charged 69 bucks by a British Web site that offered a service where you can change somebody`s name. Now six months later, the site is completely different. It`s a stationary company.

We checked around online. And yes, there are Web sites that will help somebody legally change their name. Changing a name, though, is a huge complicated legal document. You need tons of documented proof from both parents. And there isn`t any Web site that we found that would do it for 69 bucks. So I don`t know. This whole story doesn`t really sound legit to all of our expert panelists.

Mike Brooks, HLN law enforcement analyst, if it`s not true, why go out and proactively try to sell this story to the public? Why not just lay low?

BROOKS: Well, why put it out now? You know, and she says she needs answers. Well, there`s somebody else that needs answers, too, Jane, and that`s the KCPD.

All they want to do, they want to interview Jeremy and Deborah separately. But their attorneys won`t allow that. My question is, why? What are they hiding here? I mean that could clear their name. Just talked to law enforcement, as I said. They have not spoken to the police since October 8.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, here`s the other thing. I think the best point was made by their attorney, Joe Tacopina, who said flat out that Jersey, the alleged homeless handyman, should be the focus on the investigation.

Now, we have video of this guy in court. He was arrested on unrelated charges around the time the child vanished. And we`re going to show you his rap sheet, tell you about it anyway. It includes felony tampering with a vehicle. He pleased "no guilty to that charge."

There he is, Jersey. John "Jersey" Tanko. He works as a handyman. He`s the ex-boyfriend of Megan Wright. She`s the one who owns the cell phone that was called by one of the cell phones belonging to the family of Baby Lisa. And Baby Lisa`s parents claimed that those cell phones were taken when the baby was taken.

Wendy Murphy, what I don`t buy is, I think that the police may be operating or may have a theory that maybe those cell phones weren`t taken, and maybe it was the family itself that called Megan Wright. And if so, why? Why call this particular cell phone?

MURPHY: You know, there you go using common sense again, unlike virtually everyone on the family`s side.

I think that makes the most sense, Jane. The fact that the family is the target of suspicion is the only thing that makes sense. I don`t care if that weirdo homeless guy killed kittens on the front lawn. I know you love animals, but bear with me. There is no reason to be suspicious of anyone except the parents until they cooperate fully with cops.

This is a lot like the JonBenet Ramsey case. Those two clammed up, stuck together like glue. Would not cooperate and speak separately with the cops. They took the Fifth from the beginning, when parents do that, you stay honed in on that period.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, wait a second. They apologized to the family of JonBenet Ramsey and said that they had falsely...

MURPHY: I don`t care. But look at how they behaved in the beginning. In the beginning you don`t take the Fifth when it`s your child. You submit to whatever they need.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news concerning Dharun Ravi --- this just sent to us -- a judge handing down a sentence for 30 days in jail. Again he was convicted of intimidation, invasion of privacy back in March -- faced up to 10 years in prison.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tyler Clementi killed himself after Dharun Ravi secretly used a webcam to spy on him in a gay relationship. And he used the social media to invite others to watch in on their encounters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The emotional pain that I and the family felt was profound and still is. Seeing my wife and my other children in such a state, and realizing that there was nothing I could do as a husband or a parent to ease their pain was itself -- was in itself (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tyler Clementi did nothing wrong other than mistakenly trusting his roommate to respect his privacy.

JANE CLEMENTI, TYLER CLEMENTI`S MOTHER: When I wanted justice, many people are watching and I am asking the court to do the right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was watching him helplessly, all I could do is keep on crying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard this jury say guilty 288 times. And I haven`t heard you apologize once.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL: Outrage and controversy over a sentence handed down today in that gay bullying case that had the whole country talking. Today, that man`s roommate, Dharun Ravi was sentenced to 30 days in jail for spying on his roommate Tyler Clementi during a romantic encounter that Tyler had with another man in the dorm room. Ok.

Tyler later jumped off the George Washington Bridge to his death. That is the defendant right there you`re looking at, Dharun Ravi. 30 days he got out of a possible ten-year sentence.

Ravi set up a webcam to secretly record his roommate in a private encounter with another man. When Tyler Clementi discovered this, at first he didn`t know what to do. He struggled with the idea of well, should I confront Ravi, ignore him, report him.

We know on those last days that Tyler obsessed over Ravi`s spying and use of Twitter to tell others about his relationship with a guy. He checked Ravi`s Twitter 37 times on the day he committed suicide. Yes. And then he went and threw himself off the George Washington Bridge, taking his own life.

Today an emotional scene in court when family members on both sides spoke.

Here is Tyler Clementi`s mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J. CLEMENTI: Tyler and I had been very connected. So much so that I felt like a piece of me died in September of 2010. That connection became very real to me again during the trial as most of the time I was listening and watching as if through Tyler`s ears, eyes and mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tyler talked about how excited he was to go to college. It was supposed to be a fresh start -- a place where you can figure out who you are. But Tyler -- well, he had that taken away from him. There he is. He was an accomplished violinist before he committed suicide.

After finding out he was secretly being watched and recorded by his roommate, again, he committed suicide. So his family spoke and shed tears today in court. His brother described what Tyler must have felt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CLEMENTI, TYLER CLEMENTI`S BROTHER: He could never have known the viper`s nest he was walking into, nor could anyone in my family have imagined the situation so horrible and cruel that he would need to be protected from. With Dharun Ravi as his roommate, my brother never stood a chance of having a happy and comfortable first semester at college.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Television and radio host Michael Billy, 30 days out of a possible ten-year sentence. Now if you consider that he was convicted of four things, ok, that`s about 7.5 days per conviction.

MICHAEL BILLY, TELEVISION AND RADIO HOST: This is unbelievable, Jane. I am to the point nauseous in disgust with the sentencing of this case. This is unbelievable. What I have heard today is, well, he`s had no priors.

My goodness, you know who was innocent in this case? Tyler Clementi. Dharun Ravi, it is clear -- this man, this young boy was guilty of multiple second degree crimes which constitutes a certain degree of punishment which he did not get. This is ridiculously unjust. It is a dark day in terms of civil rights. I`m disgusted.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tyler Clementi`s mother spoke out emotionally complaining the defendant Dharun Ravi had essentially committed espionage on his roommate. That`s how he found out Tyler was gay in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE CLEMENTI: He took Tyler`s e-mail address and he put it into different search engines and found out what Web sites Tyler frequented. Based on what he found out, he judged Tyler. The sad part is what he found out is only one part of who Tyler was.

He never really knew Tyler. Not the smart, kind, articulate, humble, funny, talented, caring thoughtful generous trustworthy and dependable person Tyler was. All he found out was that Tyler was gay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, this was not an insensitive one-time only stupid act. Dharun Ravi first used Tyler`s e-mail to find out that he was gay. And then he spied using his webcam on two separate occasions in September of 2010 and ultimately invited others to join in with that now infamous declaration, "It`s happening again."

So Wendy Murphy, in my opinion, that is not a one-time only thoughtless act, people can be stupid once. This was deliberate. It happened over a period of time and to me, that constitutes hate.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Exactly. I mean I don`t think you need a lot of events to have it rise to the level of hate.

Here`s the way I think of it, a lot of hypersexual hetero guys on college campuses tape sexual things because they think it`s funny. And it`s often, you know, a hetero female victim who`s targeted for these secret tapes and we don`t tend to get as upset about it.

But here`s what`s different here. He wasn`t just videotaped secretly in a sexual encounter. He was targeted because he was gay. This guy wouldn`t have done it had he not first found out Tyler was gay. That`s what makes it hateful. That`s what makes it the kind of crime where if you`re facing ten years and you`re the judge and you want to send a message -- 30 days? I mean that`s I think what you get if you steal somebody`s notebook in college. That`s not what you get when you drive someone to suicide.

Life is too precious. And the connection, the causal connection between hate and this poor young man`s death is so clear. I`m very disappointed in this judge.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, you can get a lot more time for shoplifting. I had a question whether this judge really understands what hate is. Listen to the judge for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE GLENN BERMAN, NEW JERSEY SUPERIOR COURT: I do not believe hated Tyler Clementi. He had no reason to, but I do believe he acted out of colossal insensitivity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok, now that`s where I have a problem with this judge. And let`s go to another judge, Judge Mary Ann Gunn. He says, "I don`t believe he hated Tyler Clementi, he had no reason to." Well, guess what? Most people who hate, especially when it`s hate based on something that is an accident of birth, they don`t have a reason. He is saying that essentially, well, he didn`t hate him because he had no reason to. People hate people all the time without a reason.

JUDGE MARY ANN GUNN, HOST, "LAST SHOT WITH JUDGE GUNN": Jane, I`ll tell you, if we ever needed evidence of hate, you can find it this case. The evidence is crystal clear and that is, this guy maliciously planned this, he started on a course of conduct to hurt this child -- this student, a child to me -- to hurt him, he carried it out. And now, facing the consequences, we can`t just say, we don`t like you.

We have to make a statement to everybody in our country, stop the bullying. If you don`t, then there are consequences. Quite frankly, I think that the other kid in the tape, that Tyler`s partner should sue this kid civilly and this kid should have to write a check to him every day for the rest of his life. Something has to happen.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re a judge; he could have sentenced him to ten years, why 30 days?

GUNN: Because it`s exactly what you just said, he doesn`t think he hated him and that he`s looking at the evidence in the light most favorable to the defendant. And we all look back on it and say, there are so many instances of bullying in this country, we have to take a stand as a people. That you can`t litigate someone to be a good person; there`s no question about that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right.

GUNN: But you can give them consequences when they have harmed deliberately someone else like he did to Tyler.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I know that both sides are appealing and I certainly hope that the prosecution appeals this sentence to try to get a harsher sentence. Because 30 days -- my gosh, I know people who have had a couple of speeding tickets who have spent just as much time behind bars.

John, New Jersey, quickly your question or thought, John.

JOHN, NEW JERSEY, (via telephone): Hi, Jane, love you. To me, the judge is a bigot, a homophobic. Somebody who has a little bag of weed gets a lot more time than what this kid did. It`s disgusting. It`s disgusting and it`s a hate crime.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist, do you think the judge has a problem?

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, I certainly think that Ravi was homophobic. I don`t think you actually need to hate someone in order to be hateful. It sounded like this roommate was fearful of his roommate who was homosexual. And that`s what contributed to this horrible behavior.

And I`m in agreement with everybody else -- a month seems way too short in order to punish this type of crime.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean just the taxpayers alone after enduring this case that`s so expensive; it`s unbelievable that this is the outcome -- 30 days. Nancy Grace will have much more on the sentencing of Dharun Ravi tonight, top of the hour.

NANCY GRACE, CNN HOST: Jane in the last hours, after a jury brings down the hammer on Indian-born Dharun Ravi, handing down the guilty verdict -- outrage. The sentence: 30 days in the county jail after a teen student found drowned to death? Jane, it is wrong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Tucson police chief is confirming that the six-year-old was quote, "abducted". He also said Isabel`s parents have not been ruled out as suspects in the case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tucson police who have released recordings of the 911 calls on the disappearance of six-year-old Isabel Celis.

REBECCA CELIS, MOTHER OF ISABEL CELIS: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello ma`am are you the mom?

R. CELIS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. What is your name?

R. CELIS: My name is Rebecca Celis, C-E-L-I-S.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who noticed her gone, your husband?

R. CELIS: My husband. I went to work this morning at 7:00 and -- she has brown hair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn`t hear anything at all?

R. CELIS: No, I didn`t hear anything at all.

SERGIO CELIS, FATHER OF ISABEL CELIS: We are cooperating to the fullest extent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight as cops announce a brand-new search effort for little missing Isabel Celis, the adorable six-year-old`s mother comes forward to defend her husband publicly. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

R. CELIS: My husband is a great father. The kids -- my husband loves those boys, loves my daughter, is a great husband, a great father to the boys and to Isabel. And you know, at the end of the day, when Isabel comes home, everybody`s questions will be answered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The little girl vanished from her Arizona bedroom exactly one month ago today. Look at that precious child. Well, her dad Sergio has been under fire ever since the 911 call recorded him laughing -- actually chuckling as he called in to report her missing. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is mom there also?

S. CELIS: She had just left for work. I just called her and I told her to get her butt home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re reporting your daughter missing, you don`t chuckle, but he did. That wasn`t the only suspicious behavior. Just over a week ago, Sergio voluntarily agreed to have zero contact with his two sons, plus Child Protective Services we learned visited the Celis household before Isabel went missing. So is there a reason to believe Isabel`s father could be tied to her disappearance.

Straight out to psychotherapist Robi Ludwig, when Rebecca Celis, the mom, was defending her husband, she was stuttering and stumbling over her words. From a psychological perspective, could that mean something on a subconscious level?

LUDWIG: Well, it seemed like she was trying to remember a script and she wasn`t so convincing when she was talking about how wonderful her husband was. She also wasn`t looking at the person interviewing her directly in the eye. She kept looking away so.

So it does raise a lot of questions as to how much she actually believed what she was saying.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, the Celis family rallying around Isabel`s father and even his sister, Isabel`s aunt saying people are just picking on this man, Sergio. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELENA LUKASIEWICZ, ISABEL CELIS` AUNT: Sergio has never directly communicated with CPS before last Thursday. Facts have become so distorted that he was accused of animal abuse when he went to the courthouse three weeks ago to get an extension on a citation for expired dog tags.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike Brooks, is the public focusing unfairly on Isabel`s dad?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, because law enforcement has said, Jane -- they have said that no, they have not ruled out anyone including the parents. And, you know, just what Robi was pointing out, her behavior is a little weird. And then for law enforcement -- law enforcement, they`re the ones that contacted Child Protective Services and got them involved in that and had him stop seeing the boys and they`re living apart.

So there`s something, there`s something that law enforcement knows that they`re not telling us. But again, they have not totally ruled out the parents in this, Jane. So, you know, no, it`s been a month and no charges.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Wendy, just a couple of seconds, they are still looking though for sex offenders in the area. So they haven`t made any conclusions, the police.

MURPHY: Well, they at least have to make it look like they`re looking elsewhere, but, you know, come on, how many stories about these little girls disappearing in the middle of the night are we going to tolerate before we say parents are up to some weird stuff?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But sometimes they are kidnapped by strangers. It has happened.

MURPHY: No, they are not.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This trending video has us all laughing, you deserve a laugh break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGH BREAK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a very shocking statistic -- 23 percent of teenagers are pre-diabetic or diabetic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nearly one in four U.S. teens may be at risk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When one-third of kids are overweight or obese, this is what you end up with and that`s I mean that`s the sad reality. That`s why people call it an epidemic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are all about solutions on this show. So, I`m going to give you a scary stat, and then we`re going to move past it for a solution. A new CDC study shows nearly one in four U.S. teenagers are pre- diabetic or actually diabetic. That`s shocking. It`s more than double what it was less than 10 years ago. The increase linked, of course, to the child obesity epidemic.

And this is why you and me and your kids, all of us, should be doing this adventure to slim. We are doing it every night on our show. Jump on board our or get-slim bandwagon with health eating advocate Kathy Freston as our guide.

You, of course, know Kathy from Oprah and from Ellen. There she is working with some of the biggest stars in this fun adventure. We have been shedding the fat and the pounds. No will power, no dieting.

We are taking you through Kathy`s bestseller, The Lean. You could check out her lifestyle tweets in my blog hlntv.com/jane or just go to my Jane Velez-Mitchell Facebook page and join us because I`m doing it. There`s no deprivation. There`s no dieting. It`s fun.

Last week, we talked about eight glasses of water and an apple a day. I`ve been doing it. I yell out four, every time I have a glass of water so I can keep track.

Kathy, you are talking breakfast. What breakfast do you eat every morning? Tell us about that.

KATHY FRESTON, AUTHOR, "THE LEAN": Well, I recommend having a hearty breakfast every morning for weight loss. Personally, I love a bowl of brown rice. And I think that`s a fantastic way to start. I make a bowl of brown rice with some chopped dates or blueberries, some almonds. Put a little soy milk or almond milk on it. It`s loaded with fiber and that`s going to fill you up and make you feel satiated and full for hours to come.

It`s all about the blood sugar. It`s important to have the food release slowly and steadily into your bloodstream and fiber makes it happen.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you`ve got your breakfast right there. So let`s take a look at it. We`ve got a shot. We can see it. And -- let`s go for it. There it is. And you could even -- if you can -- can you zoom in with that puppy up there? There you go, look. Can you point out what is in there?

FRESTON: So, you`ve got brown rice. About two cups of brown rise, some chopped dates and some raw almonds. The raw almonds are great for a little hint of protein that`s also helps you feel satiated.

It`s really important to have a hearty healthy breakfast because when you skip breakfast, your metabolism slows down by as much as 40 percent. That means your body is holding on to the calories, right? You think you are going to be saving yourself from calories by skipping but you`re not doing yourself any good. You`re actually slowing everything down.

So you want to start off your day with something hearty, something with fiber. That means no eggs and bacon, you know. You want whole grains. Now everybody is so worried about carbs these days. These are good carbs.

There`s a difference between good carbs and bad carbs. Good carbs have the whole fiber in it. So it`s like a whole grain, like whole steel cut oats, brown rice or quinoa. And that is going to make you feel so nice and satiated.

The problem goes when you have refined carbohydrates -- those are the bad carbs though, like puffed rice, cereal or white toast -- things like that. They act like sugar in your body. So you want to stick to whole grains.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Don`t grab a doughnut on the way to work. That`s not what Kathy is recommending. She is saying have whole grains, have something really healthy in the morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Power through some of the scary stats that we are going to show you -- the average American, look at this -- by 2030, nearly half of all Americans will be obese. We can prevent that horror, that nightmare from happening.

Kathy, what kind of a healthy breakfast can people run out of the house with when they`re late, if they don`t have time to make brown rice?

FRESTON: Yes. No, I get that. By the way, you can keep it in the refrigerator for a week. And so you can just grab a bowl of it. I like a nice piece of a whole grain toast with some peanut butter or almond butter so then you get the fiber, you get the protein as quick. You can eat it in the car.

You can also do a soy yogurt with some almonds sprinkled in there. Eat it right out the carton. Easy enough.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I have to tell you, you have been telling me the apple a day, which I`m eating. But, you know, in transitioning, I`m going to start incorporating this into my healthy breakfast.

FRESTON: Yes, you could do that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I wasn`t a breakfast eater but I`m going to -- I`m changing. Ok.

END