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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Missing Girl`s Father Has Rap Sheet

Aired July 18, 2012 - 19:00   ET

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


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you know what? I want to bring in Jane Velez- Mitchell, because she`s been talking to family members every day, the family of Lyric, the older girl here.

And Jane, you know, we`re talking about the tips being important here, but also the family members are always important. Do you think there`s some kind of disconnect going on between the police and the family right now?

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Well, I don`t think any of us can judge what these family members are going through. And people have been judging, saying, oh, well, one is smiling too much. Psychologists will tell you that we have absolutely no idea how people react. That the way they react in the movies has nothing to do with the way people react in real life.

Because first of all, they go into shock. And they`re in shock, and they`re acting as if to try to keep it together so they can be functional and be helpful in finding their children. If they were to become hysterical and fall apart, they wouldn`t be of any use.

So please, for those -- and we`ve got so many calls from people saying, "Well, why is the mother of little Lyric smiling? Why did she go for a swim?" That`s how she is staying sane so that she can function and try to find her children.

I was going to tell you that we`ve been doing some digging all day today, and we`ve uncovered some startling new information. And so we`re going to be devoting the next few minutes talking to the family to kind of set the record straight and sift through this absolutely stunning information in the hopes of finding these girls tonight.

Tonight, again, we have new information in a story that is gripping the nation. Two young cousins go missing together in Iowa. Their bikes found by a lake.

Now we are learning about the criminal past of the father of one of the girls. We`ve confirmed the information with authorities. And the family is now here to answer our questions, clear the air, set the record straight, all in the hopes of finding these precious girls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, stunning new revelations in the disappearance of two young Iowa girls, cousins who went bike riding and vanished into thin air. We`re now learning that just two days after the girls disappeared cops in a nearby town arrested a man for allegedly impersonating a police officer, claiming he tried to order a young woman into his car. Is there a connection?

And we`ll also reveal other stunners in this case that we`ve just learned. And discuss them live with the missing girls` relatives. Plus, we`re taking your calls.

Then, outrageous video you have to see to believe. Two masked men storm an Internet cafe. One with a gun, the other with a baseball bat. But then you`ll never guess who whipped out another gun and started shooting back. Is this man a crime-fighting hero? Or could he have shot innocent people by accident? What do you think?

And why did hundreds of teens storm a Wal-Mart? Is this a new phenomenon called a smash mob? And is this a destructive take on the fun flash mobs? We`ll show you the good and the bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously something bad has happened.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The mystery deepens into what happened to these two young cousins.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My stomach`s just in knots over it. And I can imagine, you know, everybody else feels that way, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thinking more and more that this was an abduction.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just pray that the children are OK. If they`re hurt, I don`t care if they`re hurt, just let us have them. We`ll deal with that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you`ve taken our kids, just bring them back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you don`t find out anything, what happens next?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have no idea.

MISTY MORRISSEY, MOTHER OF LYRIC COOK: I feel like maybe they were taken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s very difficult to picture how any kind of abduction might happen here.

M. MORRISSEY: We just want our children brought back. I don`t want to know who you are. I don`t care who you are.

We just desperately want them home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Good evening. Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live. Tonight, we have learned stunning new information as the desperate race against the clock continues to find precious little Elizabeth and Lyric, cousins who suddenly vanished without a trace as if they went into thin air. We`re going to share what we`ve learned with you in just a moment.

The girls` families have been taking a lot of heat. Now five days after the 8 and 10-year-old girls disappeared, their bikes and a bag found abandoned at a nearby lake. Lyric`s dad says he`s being targeted by cops and feels like he`s being treated like a suspect. Listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL MORRISSEY, FATHER OF LYRIC: You`re telling the truth and they say you`re holding something back, and you`re not, what more do you have to talk about? Go over and over and over it. So I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did it make you feel like a suspect?

D. MORRISSEY: It made me feel like, yes, they were looking at me like a suspect. But as far as what I know, I`m not -- I know the truth. I know I`m telling the truth. Sure it was offensive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I have to tell you we`ve been getting scores of your calls about Lyric`s father, Dan Morrissey. So we did some digging. And just laying out the facts.

What we`ve learned is that the father of missing Lyric has a criminal history. His rap sheet includes methamphetamine and marijuana charges, a domestic assault charge just last December as well as forgery, theft and burglary. This is new information just coming out.

We want to hear from you. What do you think happened to little Elizabeth and Lyric? Give me a call: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Of course none of the information we just told you means that the father had anything to do with these little girls` disappearance. We are not suggesting that.

Cops say the families have been very cooperative. But we want to give the family a chance to clear the air. This information is just coming out now on this broadcast, but it`s going to come out. Other organizations, other shows are going to be talking about it.

So we want to go straight out to Tammy Brousseau, the aunt of the missing girls. Your sister is married to Dan Morrissey. What do you know? And first of all, thank you for joining us and being so helpful in this effort to get to the truth and leave no stone unturned to find these girls.

But what do you know about Dan`s criminal past and his alleged involvement with drugs, specifically methamphetamine?

TAMMY BROUSSEAU, AUNT OF MISSING GIRLS: OK. First of all, could I ask -- who am I speaking with?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jane Velez-Mitchell, and I`m the host of the show.

BROUSSEAU: Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

BROUSSEAU: Hi, Jane. Yes, I was just hearing a lot of different voices and stuff. Hi, Jane.

What do I know about Dan? Yes, Dan has a history, a long-term history of meth use. He`s battled with it off and on since a teen. Yes, you know, the facts are out there. They`re public record.

Would Dan ever do something like this? Harm his children? Absolutely not. He`s cooperated 100 percent with the police. He`s given them all the information.

As a matter of fact, you know, as we were coming down here and came to the lake to look for the girls, he didn`t even know about it. He was at home with his 16-year-old son, Dillon. And the mother, Misty, his wife, she was at work here in Evansdale, Elk Run, which is -- they`re connected. And when Misty got down here to the lake with me and my mother -- Grandma, you know, Misty called Dan immediately. Dan doesn`t have a vehicle. Dan`s mother -- he called his mother. She got off work real quick, went and grabbed Dan and Dillon and brought them down here.

And they started right in on with the rest of us as soon as we were allowed to get to the area where the bicycles were found and the crime tape was released, we were allowed to go in there and just start our own hunt. And that`s what we did. Dan got his four-wheeler and his son, and they went in and just started doing what a dad would do.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So what I`m hearing you saying is that he has, in your opinion, a tight alibi. In other words, the children go missing Friday. They leave at around 12. Their -- they don`t come back at 3. Their bikes are found at 4. And he`s called, and he`s in Waterloo, which is not the same city, and comes in.

So you`re satisfied. And that is why we`re talking to you. We do not want to point fingers. We`ve been inundated with phone calls. And so we want to give you the opportunity to set the record straight about this.

Now, Lyric`s parents, Misty and Daniel -- Daniel`s the one we`re talking about who police confirm have -- has a drug history and has been charged recently involving meth -- they`ve been showing a united front. They`ve appeared on our show the last two days. And today is really the first time that we`re hearing something else that`s new. This is new, just out, that the couple is separated. That Lyric`s mother, Misty, is listed as single on her Facebook.

And now some reports are suggesting that Daniel may be Lyric`s stepfather. Can you tell us what you know, Tammy? Is Daniel Lyric`s biological father or her stepfather? And what do you know about the separation?

BROUSSEAU: He`s her biological father.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK.

BROUSSEAU: And they have been separated for some time because -- they`ve been separated some time because of the meth use. You know, Dan had a real issue with it. Misty wanted no part of it in her life anymore.

So, yes, you know, that`s why the separation came forth, and whether they`ll continue on with the divorce or not is yet to be seen. You know, we`re presented with this situation. So all of that, you know, is -- means nothing compared to our girls missing now, you know? We want to focus on the girls. And, you know -- but, yes, they`re separated.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s why we`re asking. Not in a way to embarrass the family, but -- and I want to bring in if I can, would you mind, Tammy, that we`re going to bring in some experts and then get back to you? So stay right there.

Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, the reason why the drug issue is relevant is not that we`re pointing fingers, but it`s that if you`re involved with methamphetamine, the chance of having dangerous people in your life increases dramatically.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes. I mean, that is not a news flash, Jane.

More importantly, it raises really important questions about whether this guy owed anybody money. And I would really like to ask this woman if she knows if he had debts.

Look, meth is expensive. Addiction is extremely expensive. Lots of meth addicts steal. It`s not news. And they don`t have the means to continue to pay. And that`s why they deal to get their fix. It`s not uncommon if you owe drug dealers money or you owe somebody a lot of money for your meth that you`re trying to use to feed your addiction, maybe your kid gets taken as punishment because you didn`t pay. That`s an important question.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me just go back to Tammy and ask her. I`ve been wondering what does Daniel do for a living? What is his job?

BROUSSEAU: OK. He doesn`t have a job. He`s not working. And, you know, his issue is not -- it`s not that he`s purchasing the meth. It`s that he was caught with three meth labs. And it`s on public record. There`s a trial to take place in maybe a couple weeks here. He`s been offered a plea agreement. You know, it`s still all pending. It`s all pending.

So he`s -- the alleged charge is he made the meth, OK? So it`s not like he owed anybody any money or anything like that. He is addicted to meth. Bottom line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. MORRISSEY: Obviously, something bad has happened. I -- I believe that it`s not an accident. It`s something -- it`s something and that`s what we`re trying to find out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Everything that we`re talking about tonight is in the effort of finding two precious girls. And we`re talking about 8-year-old Elizabeth and 10-year-old Lyric, who vanished while biking.

Now, we, as journalists, are obligated to dig. We are not with any agenda. Our only agenda is finding these children. And unfortunately, that requires looking into everything.

Now, Waterloo police told us that Lyric`s dad was arrested twice just this past December for alleged possession of meth with intent to deliver, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, and conspiracy to manufacture meth. His past charges include forgery, theft, burglary and other narcotics violations.

So as we take a look at this record, we want to just get everything out of the way, Tammy. And then we`re going to move on. Because then we can clear the air and, again, this in no way implies that he had anything to do with his daughter`s disappearance.

But unfortunately, the sad part -- and I say this as a recovering alcoholic with 17 years of sobriety -- is that when you`re involved with alcohol or drugs, often bad things follow. Whether it`s other people -- you can be completely innocent, and sometimes other people get involved.

There`s one more thing I want to cover with you and then we`re going to move on, is that OK?

BROUSSEAU: OK. That`s fine.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And that is we were also told by police that there was a domestic assault charge against Dan from last October. Can you just explain that?

BROUSSEAU: It`s true. Yes. It`s an assault on Misty, his wife.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did it ever...

BROUSSEAU: That`s true.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What was his -- what`s his relationship with Lyric? I mean, that`s the key. Because he seems like a very loving father as we hear him. And to his credit, he`s been talking on camera. And police say he`s cooperating.

BROUSSEAU: Absolutely. Dan`s cooperating 100 percent. His relationship with Lyric was a good relationship.

You know, as far as a meth addict goes, I mean, Lyric was aware that her dad was a drug user. So was she allowed to go and hang out with him? And no. Grandma has temporary custody of Dillon and Lyric. And so Lyric was living with Grandma, you know. We wouldn`t allow Lyric to be around that situation.

But Lyric was fully aware of what was going on. Not happy with her dad, no. No child would be. But Dan is cooperating 100 percent.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, again, I want to give you props and hats off to answering some tough questions. And I have to tell you we had a lot of discussions today because the last thing we want to do is embarrass you or the family. We are on your side.

BROUSSEAU: Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But the fact is, the truth is, that as soon as we found this out we knew it was going to come out. And we might as well give you a chance to set the record straight and put it in context as opposed to it exploding and maybe coming out in a way that is more hurtful. We don`t want to be hurtful.

BROUSSEAU: Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The only thing we want to do is find these little girls.

BROUSSEAU: Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So from the bottom of my heart, Tammy...

BROUSSEAU: Cover all grounds. Cover all grounds. Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cover all grounds. That`s the point.

Now, let`s talk about something else. The FBI brought in scent dogs yesterday to scout the area around Meyers Lake. And first they started with the girls` families. Listen to how that worked. It`s fascinating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

M. MORRISSEY: We all stood in a single-file line while the dogs came by and sniffed us. And that was to eliminate our scent. And then they let the dogs smell something of the girls`, and the dogs took off, picked up a trail -- both of them picked up a scent of the girls and went to the water`s edge, some rocks by the water`s edge. We know that it`s...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So, Tammy, what do we know about the dogs hitting on the trail, the scent about 300 yards into the woods?

BROUSSEAU: Correctly -- correct. You know, Misty was told one thing. I was told directly by the investigator. And I also watched the dogs myself. We were brought approximately halfway down on the south side of the lake. The bikes were probably, you know, 500 yards up ahead. You know, they were no longer there. I`m just saying that`s where they were dropped on the path. So the dogs were here. Back up. And just as Misty said, lined up and walked past the dog and the dog was able to sniff each one of us because we were all in those woods hunting around.

Then the dog one at a time, one for Elizabeth and one for Lyric, was allowed to smell articles of the girls. The dogs took off as fast as they could go. The men had to keep up with them. The dog clearly identified that Elizabeth was, in fact right where the bikes were found as she was there. And then the dog ran on into this area of dense forest and brush that`s probably about 300 to 400 yards long. And it`s easily accessed if you go out and around.

There`s a driveway and a big area where you can pull up onto it, pull up into it. And someone could have easily pulled up into that area and had been watching Lyric from where we`re standing here, Lyric and Elizabeth, when they`d went around. And then they went and accessed it at the other end.

And back to the investigation, the investigator told me so the dogs went farther on into the woods. And he said that gives us new leads and new information and we are going to stop at that point and we`re going to go back and analyze what these dogs have picked up because then of course the same thing was done for Lyric with another dog. And that dog did the same thing. Positively identified Lyric to be in that very same spot and also into the 300 to 400 stretch of woods.

They wouldn`t tell us anything beyond that point. They wanted to go back and analyze it and said they`d be in contact with us when they found out any more information.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. MORRISSEY: Those girls are just beautiful, you know. They`re loving and full of just life. No enemies, no nothing like that. It`s just baffling to try to figure out the pieces to the puzzle.

(END VIDEO CIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That mother and father of the oldest child, Lyric, you see the two girls who are missing. And we`re doing everything we can to find them.

Now, I want to go to T.J. Hart. You`re the co-host of Des Moines`s morning news 98.3. You`ve been hearing everything that we`re talking about. The fact that the dad who`s spoken out not a suspect, want to emphasize that, cooperating fully with police, but does have a lot of narcotics charges. And his relative, the aunt of the missing girls just said, hey, he`s a meth addict.

He`s invited on our show any time. He`s been on twice already to explain and to weigh in on all of this. But were you shocked by the extent of his criminal history, T.J. Hart?

T.J. HART, RADIO HOST: Yes, I was, to be quite honest with you because he had been coming forward. However, he started complaining yesterday that the police and other investigators were treating him like a suspect. And that got everybody`s attention when he started making the complaints.

And oftentimes, well, every time anymore when an investigation begins, they always start with the family because they have the closest knowledge of a missing child. And they also have the closest knowledge of who might have come in contact with them, who their friends are, who the potential harmful people in their lives might be.

But he spoke right up and said, you know, initially that he felt like he was being treated like a suspect at first.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

HART: Red flags.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So just his saying that in your mind created some red flags?

HART: Yes. Because I`ve been through this before with other missing children and other incidences where the families, you know, didn`t understand the protocol or they just felt angered that in some cases that the police should not be looking there, they should be looking someplace else for the children. Sometimes it`s just a misunderstanding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. MORRISSEY: Obviously something bad has happened.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The mystery deepens into what happened to these two young cousins.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My stomach`s just in knots over it. I can imagine everybody else feels that way too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thinking more and more that this was an abduction.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just pray that the children are OK. If they`re hurt, I don`t care if they`re hurt, just let us have them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Eight-year-old Elizabeth, 10-year-old Lyric, where are these precious children? They disappeared Friday after going on a bike ride in rural Iowa. And they are draining the lake where their bikes were found along with their bag.

And nobody really knows anything except that we just heard that dogs hit on an area near the lake, but the dogs established that these two girls -- if these dogs are accurate, were at the lake and then went into the woods about 300 yards.

We`re also learning some disturbing information about little Lyric, the oldest child`s father. This in no way indicates that he is a suspect; he is not. He`s cooperated fully with police. He`s taken a polygraph. But this man does have a rap sheet, a long one.

And in fact police confirmed for us that this past December he was arrested for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver as well as conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. He and his wife, we are now learning, are divorced -- excuse me, separated. And he lives somewhere else.

So with that I want to go to T.J. Ward, private investigator, former police officer in Atlanta. Your thoughts about all this really stunning new information that we`ve uncovered on this show tonight.

T.J. WARD, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Well, you have to take into consideration that the police have to start with the family. And then take the physical evidence into account what they`ve done already. Draining a lake may take them to another level.

But I don`t think the police are fully convinced, yet, that the family members -- they haven`t cleared them. In their mind they have to go back.

And it`s sad that the family gets somewhat offended that they have to go back and keep questioning them or polygraph or voice analysis or whatever. But when missing persons cases, that`s the place that you have to start, the people that had last contact with these children in order to work your way out and weave your way out.

Thank goodness for shows like yours that we can put this information out and maybe somebody will be watching and saw something when the kids went missing if that`s the case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, it was not easy to hit this aunt with all these disturbing bits of information that we uncovered, but our first responsibility is to the children. And she seemed to understand that. I`m so grateful because it pains me; it`s an awkward position to be in. We`re on the family`s side because we`re on the children`s side.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes. VELEZ-MITCHELL: But this history of drugs on the father`s part -- and you heard his sister-in-law, the aunt of the missing children, say he`s a meth addict. Does that affect how police pursue the case? In other words, do they have to give that weight?

MURPHY: Yes. And I agree with you. Tammy deserves a lot of credit. She clearly was saying things that made her uncomfortable, which proves that she really does have this child`s interests at heart. I`m not so sure about the father who, if he`s a suspect and feeling targeted should be saying and come at me. I don`t care what you do. Do anything to me. I want to find my child. That wasn`t the vibe I got from him.

But to answer your question, the cops are going to ask a guy who deals drugs who were you working with. Remember, one of the charges is conspiracy, meaning he was working with some others, a team of people to make these three meth labs create business for the guy.

In the drug world, if you give bad drugs to somebody, if you, you know, don`t give them as much as they think they`re entitled to, you make somebody angry in that world, they can`t go you don`t do business right. They can`t exactly call the cops, right? They do their own form of justice. And sometimes if you make people mad in that world, they`re going to come after you and your family. And so of course they`re focused on him. Of course, they are.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Jeff Gardere, forensic psychologist, you`ve been listening patiently. What do you make of all of it?

JEFF GARDERE, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Look, I understand how this father feels. This is a guy who we`re finding out from the aunt already has been ostracized by the family. They know he has a very serious drug problem. And therefore he`s always treated like a suspect. As Rodney Dangerfield said, he`s just not getting any respect. And therefore he feels really put upon.

But the needs of the many in this case, Lyric and Elizabeth, outweigh the needs of the few, the needs of Dan. And I think Dan is going to have to toughen that skin up. And, look, if you`re a cop and you`re dealing with Dan and you know that he`s involved in conspiracy to distribute drugs, he`s a suspect. You know that you are going to have to stay on his case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Thank you, expert panel. We`re all over it. We are going to do this again tomorrow. We`ve got other new information.

Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An elderly guy fought back when two men tried to rob an Internet cafe, it was on tape. The surveillance camera shows the men bursting into that cafe in Ocala, Florida. He was not having it. The 71-year-old pulled out his gun and he shot them both.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s a caught-on-tape shootout. Stunning video captures 71-year-old man shooting back literally against masked robbers who are armed with a baseball bat and a handgun. And it`s all gone viral.

The two masked and armed suspects burst into a central Florida Internet cafe terrorizing the customers inside. Cops say when the teens threatened those customers with a baseball bat and the gun, grandpa flew into action. He appears from the back of the cafe with a 380-caliber handgun and chases and shoots at the fleeing suspect hitting both of them - - one in the buttocks, one in the arm.

The suspects literally fell over themselves racing out the front door. Now the two young men have been apprehended. They`re charged with robbery. But it`s unlikely that 71-year-old Samuel Williams will face any charges whatsoever.

Straight out to former prosecutor Wendy Murphy. Wendy, what do you think about this gun-wielding grandpa? Did he act within the law in your opinion? Or is he a vigilante? Is he a crime fighting superhero? What do you make of him?

MURPHY: I love the guy. To tell you the truth, Jane, he`s my dad`s age. I hate to say this -- I kind of enjoyed the video because he looked like my dad.

But that doesn`t mean I think vigilante justice is appropriate. It certainly isn`t. But the difference between self-defense, which is what was going on here, and vigilantism is that the vigilante doesn`t act right then and there when the crime is going on. The vigilante waits a day or a week and then goes and hunts down the bad guy. That did not happen here.

This is not vigilantism. And if it were, I would probably be saying as cute as the guy is, you still have to do something. You may even have to prosecute him. You probably should prosecute him if it was a week later.

But you are absolutely entitled in this country and in Florida in particular under "Stand Your Ground" laws to defend yourself and others from the threat of lethal force. One of the guys had a bat, the other had a gun. You can shoot people who are going in threatening to rob and kill and hit people with bats, you can shoot them to protect yourself and others.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, perhaps the operative word is Florida. Prosecutors say the shooting appears to fall within Florida`s "Stand Your Ground" law, which of course sounds familiar because we`ve all been talking about George Zimmerman`s defense for shooting to death young Trayvon Martin, who was unarmed and going to get ice tea and Skittles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGED WITH TRAYVON MARTIN`S MURDER: I look down in my pant pocket and I said you got a problem now. And he was here. He punched me in the face. I stumbled. And I fell down. He pushed me down. Somehow he got on top of me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. That`s George Zimmerman`s version of what happened. Now, I want to say T.J. Ward, both George Zimmerman and this gentleman in this Internet cafe shooting had concealed weapons permits, but I certainly think that this gentleman`s case is far, far stronger, obviously, for a legitimate defense.

WARD: Well, that`s correct. Under your "Stand Your Ground" law the downfall about this luckily nobody got hurt in the course of him shooting. But he obviously took the law in his hands and did what he had to protect life and property and himself. And I think the element of surprise from the perpetrators, they weren`t expecting anybody like this to stand their ground and in fact it came out that he`s a hero. He did what he was supposed to do.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But look at these other people. What if he wasn`t such a good shot? That`s my question.

WARD: That would have been a problem. That would have been a real problem if he would have hurt somebody else. And I think the scenario would have been a little different in the end result. But you have to be very careful.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We can`t assume that everybody who has a concealed weapons permit -- are they required to take like sharp shooter courses?

WARD: I don`t know what the law in Florida. Here in Georgia that`s not the case. But I would hope -- it appears he had some kind of gun training from the way that you can see him on the video.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think he`s a hero, but I`m glad he`s a good shot. If he were a bad shot, we might be calling him something else tonight.

Thank you, fabulous panel.

Now take a look at this shocking video.

This is a burglary suspect he actually jumps into a police car to get away. It`s all on tape. I`m going to show you it right now.

Here`s the cop firing her gun at him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He broke away from me when I grabbed a hold of him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. And he later crashed the car and was arrested; this in Columbus, Ohio. Here`s what led up to it. Police say they were searching for the guy and another suspect in connection with a burglary. The officer who shot at him had been questioning him when he takes off running. And he actually runs into a police car. Watch this.

He runs into a police car and takes off with the police car. So you`re going to see that police car take off. Inside that car is not a law enforcement officer. That is a suspect. And it gets even crazier as he goes off-road. And this is just another wild, wild chase.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s about getting back to basics. And even the salt is different. Look at this. Pink Himalayan sea salt, coarse granulated crystal. Look how beautiful this is. We sometimes forget that what we`re eating is really an art form. And when you`re here at the co-op, you get to experience food as sort of an artistic experience, an adventure in health. It`s not just a chore to go shopping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And here`s your viral video of the day. Take a look at this. A woman who is in a motorized wheelchair of some sort tries to go up an escalator and she flips over backwards. We`re happy to say she wasn`t hurt. But this video was reportedly released to warn people, do not do it this way. Take an elevator.

Unbelievable video. There she is. Oh, I`m going to go up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`ll see a lot of flash mobs on TV or on YouTube. And they`re synchronized dances with large groups of people in public places out of nowhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight we`re talking about that and something else; breaking news -- total mayhem inside a Florida Wal-Mart.

Check this video out from YouTube. Cops say about 300 young people rushed into the store. And when it was all over, some of the people -- not all of them, but some of them had caused more than $1,500 in damage and it`s being called a flash mob. Actually, I`m going to call this a smash mob.

Listen to one of the teenagers who shot the footage talk about what was going on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This thing just a mob of people ran in Wal-Mart. And I`m a teen. I just decided to record it. I didn`t think it was going to turn out the way it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, I`d call it a smash mob because flash mobs -- and this is a flash mob -- are not destructive. They`re not rampages. They`re creative. It`s a bunch of happy people coming together using the element of surprise to make an artistic point, to have fun in a public place, or maybe cause some jaws to drop.

Check out this group dancing to LMFAO`s "Party Rock Anthem" from YouTube.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(FLASH MOB)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. That`s the good one. Now we`re going to go back to a YouTube video from Wal-Mart showing the not so good flash mob that I`m calling a smash mob.

Clinical psychologist, Jeff Gardere, explain the psychology that causes groups of people to do some things that are happy and artistic and positive. And then you have other young people doing something that is destructive, some of them.

GARDERE: Well, the ones who do something where they`re coordinated, where they work through some sort of a social network to decide to get together in many ways that lowers their inhibition because they know what they`re doing is in numbers and it`s fun. It`s a great way to communicate and be with others who are like-minded.

But when we`re dealing with what you`re calling a smash mob, these are individuals who get together, again, like-minded, but to do something very destructive or it`s much more spontaneous. And when you have those bystanders who do nothing -- that gives them approval to do more, but when you have someone now filming it, that even heats up some of the inappropriate actions, violent actions, because in some ways now they`re acting out for the cameras.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And, again, not everybody did anything destructive in this video. But this is the video that has gone viral. So we`re showing it to you. If you took all these same people and give them a little rehearsal and some music, they could take the same energy and put it into something positive. I guess that`s our point.

Now, some flash mobs are organized by small grassroots groups. They`ve become such a phenomenon they`re popping up in movies and ads. Check this out for the movie "Friends with Benefits" from ScreenJam (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(EXCERPT FROM "FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a flash mob.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do these people get paid for this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No. They kind of just do it for fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. So we know flash mobs are the rage. And I`m not so happy necessarily with the fact they`ve gone corporate now. Sometimes you`ve got businesses organizing flash mobs. No, the whole point of it is the grassroots spontaneous thing.

But there are laws. Sometimes you have to get licensing agreements for the music for you to play in a public place. Just like you would to go karaokeing, those karaoke bars are supposed to pay for the right to play that music.

But again, the whole point here that we`re talking about is take that energy and put it into something positive as opposed to a negative; we`re calling a positive flash mob, we`re calling the negative smash mob.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We love getting your pet pictures.

Oh, look at that. Keep them coming. HlnTV.com/Jane.

Let`s see, what`s the name of that little critter -- Oh, look at that. It`s so hot out that I got to stick my tongue out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(FLASH MOB)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok, that`s a good flash mob. Now, we`re going to show you the bad smash mob, again, Wal-Mart, this is where it happened released a statement about the vandalism saying, quote, "the actions of these teenagers were deplorable and puts the safety of innocent bystanders at risk. We`re committed to assisting law enforcement in any way we can to help identify the people responsible."

But again, it doesn`t have to be this way. We have got, well, while you answer, let`s show a clip from a flash mob at an Indian train station on YouTube.

Jeff Gardere, final thoughts, how do we get this positive?

GARDERE: Well, I think it is about channeling a lot of that energy, the negative energy, getting the grass roots people involved, not making it so spontaneous, but get like-minded people who are about doing good things together to have fun. And when it`s about having fun, it`s not about the violence, there`s no place for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Explosive natural gas. Just as there is no safe cigarette, there`s no safe joint and I know it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Uproar over fracking. Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, deciding whether to approve fracking in five New York counties. Critics say chemicals are pumped into the ground during the natural gas drilling to break up rock and end up polluting our ground water allegedly even causing sometimes fire to burst from faucets.

Now a new documentary, "The Sky is Pink" claims the gas industry has known they are contaminating ground water for decades.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gas industry has memos in their drawers. WE have some of them. Some of them, in fact, have been published, others fell off the back of truck. But here they are and they`ll show that they`ve been trying to solve it for decades. They have no way of completely fixing or preventing the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: One of the companies mentioned told us their document has been public for two years and the assertion that well integrity issues are not solvable is false. America`s Natural Gas Alliance says the director claims are misleading. That he has little understand of how natural gas is produced and the film is meant to drive fear.

And we have the director, Josh Fox, with us tonight; Josh, what is your response?

JOSH FOX, DIRECTOR, "THE SKY IS PINK": Thanks. Well, it doesn`t surprise me that the American Natural Gas Association would counter the film. They hired the exact same PR firm that defended big tobacco for decades.

We know that there`s no safe fracking because as you can see in the film, "The Sky is Pink" and you can watch it at pinkskyny.com -- you can watch the whole at the short film -- addressing this emergency situation.

We uncovered their internal science document. Like very similar to the memos that the tobacco industry had in their drawers revealing that they knew that tobacco is harmful. We found these memos and we found these documents and PowerPoint and they`re in the film and they show the gas industry knows full well that they have leaking wells, they`re leaking at astronomical rates across the globe. 19 percent of these wells are leaking -- one out of five. And that causes gas and chemicals to migrate into aquifers.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We reached out to Governor Cuomo and he did not respond. What would you say to him while he considers allowing fracking in five counties?

FOX: Well, I`ve been all over the United States sitting with people at their kitchen tables, all of these fracking areas. And they`re saying, "We`re being poisoned. We`re being poisoned through the water and poisoned through the air and the gas companies go on television every night and say nothing`s wrong. No problem, the sky is pink."

Governor Andrew Cuomo is a smart man. He should not be siding with companies that are deliberately spreading misinformation and turning over New York for an industrialization process. We have a way to develop New York`s economy and energy sustainably without doing fracking, without doing natural gas.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, listen, we reached out to Governor Cuomo. The fracking industry invited on any time. Governor Cuomo, of course, invited on every time. I do hope he`s listening.

Nancy next.

END