Return to Transcripts main page
Jane Velez-Mitchell
New Developments in Case of Missing Iowa girls
Aired July 19, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jane Velez-Mitchell has got new developments in the Iowa case. She starts now.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: We`ve got new information as the nation asks where are 10-year-old Lyric Cook and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins? The FBI sending divers and sonar to the very lake where the two missing girls` bikes were found. This frantic search unfolding against a backdrop of family drama. Are the criminal pasts of missing Lyric`s parents distracting cops from looking elsewhere?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, shocking new allegations in the case of 8- and 10-year-old cousins who vanished on a bike ride in Iowa. You heard it here first: claims that 10-year-old Lyric`s dad has been heavily involved with methamphetamine and that he`s charged with conspiracy to manufacture the powerful drug. And tonight we`re now learning that Lyric`s mother, Misty, has a serious criminal drug history as well. We`ll bring you the details.
And we`ll also tell you why family members say Lyric`s parents feel harassed and targeted by police and think all the focus on them is taking time away from finding the missing girls. We`re taking your calls.
Plus, new outrage in the wake of George Zimmerman`s first TV interview. You won`t believe what the accused gunman says when asked if he regrets the night he killed Trayvon Martin. The dead teen`s family is furious.
Was this a brilliant PR move for Zimmerman`s defense? Or could it be a gift to prosecutors in his upcoming murder trial?
And a major feud erupts inside the Jackson clan over the late superstar`s fortune. Michael Jackson`s daughter, Paris, faces off against his brother Randy in a Twitter war. What`s this all about? Follow the money. We`ll bring you brand-new information tonight.
A story that is gripping the nation.
MISTY MORRISSEY, MOTHER OF LYRIC COOK: We just desperately want them home.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Two young cousins go missing together in Iowa. Their bikes found by a lake.
M. MORRISSEY: If you`ve taken our kids, just bring them back.
DANIEL MORRISSEY, FATHER OF LYRIC COOK: Everything just kind of caving in on me.
TAMMY BROUSSEAU, AUNT OF MISSING GIRLS: He is addicted to meth.
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. I know the truth. I mean, I know I`m telling the truth.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live. The parents of a missing 10-year-old in Iowa say they have now hired a lawyer, and they are not going to do any more media interviews.
That is after family members complained that a police investigator pounded on their hotel door last night, accusing the dad of harming his daughter Lyric and her 8-year-old cousin, Elizabeth Collins, who have been missing for six days now after going on a bike ride.
Misty, the mother of the missing 10-year-old, said they got a hotel room last night -- we`re talking about these two I guess -- to get a break from the media. A family member says the investigator who questioned Lyric`s dad, the gentleman in the orange, banged on their hotel room door and started spewing accusations at him.
Lyric`s parents have come under intense scrutiny as their criminal records have surfaced. Here`s what Lyric`s aunt told me last night about the child`s dad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROUSSEAU: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The family has talked openly about their problems. Now Lyric`s parents worry that all this focus on their criminal history is distracting police investigators from going after the real culprits.
Lyric`s dad insists he had nothing to do with the girls vanishing. But he still feels like he is being treated like a suspect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
D. MORRISSEY: I`m telling the truth, and they say you`re holding something back and you`re not, what more do you have to talk about? You know? You can go over and over and over it. You know, 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Their new attorney says if police had any evidence linking him to the girls` disappearance, he would already be under arrest.
We are now learning that Lyric`s mom, Misty, also has a criminal record. Misty went to prison for manufacturing and distributing meth. She just got out of prison in January and got out of a halfway house only two months ago. That`s what the feds tell us.
Do police believe the parents` criminal history has anything to do with these little girls vanishing? Or is this focus on their past taking time and effort away from the desperate search for Lyric and Elizabeth?
Call me. I want to hear from you: 1-877-JVM-SAYS. That`s 1-877-586- 7297.
We`ve got a lot of new information for you tonight. Straight out to CNN correspondent Jim Spellman, who is on the ground in Iowa near where the girls vanished.
Jim, what about these reports we`re hearing that Lyric`s dad stormed out of a police interview? And also, what happened at the hotel last night where they were staying?
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Before we get into that Jane, I want to tell you some new information we just discovered.
Investigators here have asked all of the core family members to assemble right now as we speak at the school that they`ve set up as their command center. We don`t know what kind of information they want to share, if they want to ask questions. We don`t know the content; the family doesn`t know the content. But as we speak right now, according to Wilma Cook, the girls` grandmother, the family is on their way right now to meet with investigators.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, that`s excellent information. And I have to stop you right there and then go to Bryan Claypool, criminal defense attorney and child advocate.
To me that would say that, hey, they`re cooperating with the family. They`re bringing the whole family in. I certainly hope it`s not bad news. All of our hearts and our hopes and prayers are with these girls and finding these girls. But that certainly sounds like the police and these family members are cooperating.
BRYAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Jane, it sounds like the family`s cooperating, but I think this new information that you`ve developed, which is great for the public to know about, about the prior criminal background of these two parents, this broadens the investigation dramatically. Because you now have to start looking at all the people that these parents were associating with. Who were they interfacing with? Were they involved in any drug deals? Were there people that are unsavory in that community that might be out to exact revenge against this family?
You now have to start looking at a whole broader depth of people here. And I think that this father, Daniel, he`s complaining about being interrogated and investigated. I`m a single parent of a 6-year-old girl. I`ll tell you right now, if my daughter went missing, I would expect the police to be knocking on my door. And I would expect to be a suspect.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, here`s what federal authorities are telling us. In 2003 Lyric Cook`s mom, Misty, who we`ve been talking to on the show for a couple of days now, was sentenced for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine.
Now, last September they say that she violated the terms of her supervision and then served another five months in prison. She was then sent to a halfway house and got out just two months ago. Now, has she cleaned up her life? The girls` aunt told me that Misty actually separated from Dan because Misty couldn`t tolerate his involvement with drugs. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROUSSEAU: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So Howard Samuels, addiction specialist, founder and CEO of the Hills Treatment Center, it`s possible that Misty has gotten sober and was making a better life for her children and that whatever is in her past is in her past.
HOWARD SAMUELS, HILLS TREATMENT CENTER: Well, I agree and I disagree. I mean, her drug use -- their drug use was, you know, just a few months ago.
And you have to understand, the world of crystal meth is a very sick, dangerous world to be involved in. And if their parents -- if these girls` parents were distributing and dealing this drug at one particular time, along with being addicted to crystal meth -- I mean, crystal meth is a sick, dangerous drug, Jane. I mean, the paranoid delusions, the hallucinations. It`s prone to violence. I mean, these girls could have been in major, major environment of violence and trouble along with the people that were associating with these parents. I mean, I -- if I was the police, that would be the first thing I`d be looking at.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to go back to Jim Spellman, CNN correspondent on the ground in Iowa. Again, I want to go back to this report we`ve been hearing that Daniel, the father of missing Lyric, the 10-year-old, stormed out of a police interview, and then the scene later at the hotel where they were staying to get away from it.
SPELLMAN: That`s right. Two nights ago Daniel was polygraphed and was being interviewed at this makeshift command center that authorities have set up here. He tells me on the phone, he told me personally, that they were accusing him of hurting Lyric somehow. Of knowing what was going on. He said he got sick of it, he got up and he left.
Last night the families decided they needed a break from all of the media. They checked into a hotel for a night. They say the same investigator banged on their door and again was accusing Daniel, saying, "You know something. Tell us what you know."
And then we -- so that`s really frustrated them, because they feel like, look, we`ve agreed to everything. We`ve been polygraphed. You haven`t need search warrants for anything. Leave us alone. Move on. Look elsewhere. You`re not going to find your answers here. That`s what the family says.
I want to add a little bit more detail, too, about the investigation into possible drug connections. The authorities here took Daniel`s cell phone. And the grandmother, Wilma Cook, just told me that they returned the cell phone to him, and they wanted information on a series of numbers inside that phone. So clearly they want to know who was calling Daniel and who he was calling.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. That`s new information. They confiscated Daniel`s cell phone, and they`re looking at the numbers in his phone. Excellent reporting. Thank you so much, Jim Spellman.
Now, somebody who knows very much about what Elizabeth and Lyric`s parents are going through, is one of my heroes, Diena Thompson, her daughter was killed by a neighbor while walking home from school. Tragically little Somer`s body found in a Georgia landfill.
And here`s the monster who took her, Jarrod Harrell, who is serving life in prison. Diena Thompson, activist and mother of Somer Thompson, I want to ask you what the parents of these two missing children are going through right now. I know obviously you have no kind of past that is any way similar to the past that we`ve been talking about of Misty and Daniel. But what are they enduring? What are the parents of Elizabeth, who`s the 8-year-old, enduring and what should they do?
DIENA THOMPSON, MOTHER OF MURDERED GIRL: I`m sure they`re enduring, you know, magnitudes of grief and all different kinds of emotions.
As far as Misty and Daniel, you know, it`s unfortunate that they feel like they`re the suspects. But like the other guest had said, I would invite them fully into my home and let them do whatever they need to do. If you`re truly innocent, then all of this is not going to matter at the end.
As far as the other girl`s parents, I`m sure they`re just mortified, since I`m assuming one of them was visiting. They just need to hold tight and cooperate as much as they possibly can and put aside the fact that the police think that they`re the suspects. Because unfortunately, a majority of the time it is someone that the child knows.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROUSSEAU: Dan`s cooperating 100 percent. His relationship with Lyric was a good relationship. Would Dan ever do something like this? Harm his children? Absolutely not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, one of our senior producers, Selin Darkalstanian, has been speaking at length with the various family members involved in this tragic disappearance, this double disappearance. So I want to bring you in, Selin.
Explain the back story here, the family dynamic. You`ve got little Elizabeth who`s 8, that`s her right there. That`s 10-year-old Lyric. And you`ve got Elizabeth`s parents and then you`ve got Lyric`s parents. Lyric`s parents are the ones with the criminal histories who have become the focus. What is the family dynamic?
SELIN DARKALSTANIAN, PRODUCER: Lyric and Elizabeth`s parents are sisters. And Lyric`s parents have been in and out of jail for years on drug charges. So Elizabeth`s mom has raised these kids, basically. Lyric has been staying with Elizabeth`s family.
And Heather is like a mom to Elizabeth because, you know, she`s been - - her mom has been gone in and out of jail. So we know that they`re more than cousins; they`re more like sisters. They`ve grown up together. And, you know, this is that family dynamic due to the drugs.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The families of these missing girls say please don`t be distracted by this one aspect of our past. Focus on possible suspects. Police were asked if they tracked down all the sex offenders in the area. Listen to their response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What can you tell us about the registered sex offenders in the area?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that they`ve been talked to. And everyone has been cleared. So we have no concerns with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Steve Kardian, former police detective, how -- there`s 241 registered sex offenders in this small town of Evansdale, Iowa, and the surrounding area. How in the world can police say so quickly -- and this was a couple of days ago they said that, that they`ve tracked down each and every one of these sex offenders and made sure they had absolutely no connection? How is that possible?
STEVE KARDIAN, FORMER POLICE DETECTIVE: It doesn`t sound possible, Jane. You have 200-something registered sex offenders in a population of just 4,000 plus. So it`s virtually impossible. It`s something that they can`t put away, they can`t put it away yet.
They are focusing on the father. The first thing we do in a police investigation after we take the initial report and speak to the parents is we run a criminal history. And that criminal history that he has is raising many red flags. That`s why they`re focusing on him. And they will continue to focus on him. And hopefully branch out into other areas, should he not deem to be the one.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But I understand their point. There are so many other possible leads.
Take this example. Two days after these girls vanished on Friday there was a very troubling arrest in Cedar Rapids, which is just 40 miles away from where they vanished.
Now, a 59-year-old, Robin Gelson (ph), is accused of impersonating a police officer. He was, according to cops, driving an SUV and tried to get a mother -- ordered her in saying he was a cop. Now, he`s been arrested and released.
But oh my gosh, T.J. Hart, co-host of "Des Moines Morning News," you`re in the area. Are they getting too narrowly focused with all this focus on the parents and talking to the parents and knocking on their hotel room door?
T.J. HART, CO-HOST, "DES MOINES MORNING NEWS" (via phone): Well, one could justifiably say, perhaps, if you were someone just looking into this, this has so many similarities to other stories that we`ve covered here on this show as a matter of fact over the past couple of years. But, no, the parents -- you`ve got to really go through this with a fine tooth comb with them because you just don`t know what you might be missing.
And when a child goes missing, chances are the parents or the family have some kind of connection to whether they might know something or know someone who could possibly be involved in that. That`s your best scoop right there as far as getting information, your best pile of information right off the bat. And then you go out into the other branches.
We have 241 sex offenders in a short time, I remember in Satsuma, Florida, covering another situation a very similar to this where the child is yet to be found. They had a great number of child -- or sex offenders, period. And it took a little bit longer to get through with them, but within a matter of days they had those all cleared up. But they actually had one man that was not where he was supposed to have been and they kept him in jail for a good long time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m sorry, T.J.. Let me go to Kenny in Indiana. I want to go to the phone lines. Kenny in Indiana. Your question or thought, Kenny. Hey, Kenny?
CALLER: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey, your question or thought, Kenny in Indiana?
CALLER: OK. I guess you`re thinking about what your question or thought is. Get back to us when you figure that out.
Listen, I want to go back to Howard Samuels. You`re an addiction specialist. Here`s what occurs to me. First of all, why would the judge send Misty to a halfway House. And what sort of people might she come in contact with at the halfway House?
SAMUELS: Well, first of all, I think the judge sending her to a halfway house was a very good move. I mean, all addicts if they get arrested and go through the criminal justice system need to go to treatment in halfway houses. That should be a requirement.
Secondly, the people she`s going to meet at the halfway house are going to be other newly sober addicts and alcoholics. Some that will be serious about the recovery, but others that are just there biding their time until they can go out and use again. So there`s going to be a mixed kind of population at the halfway House, some good, some bad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Take a look at this. We`re talking about a possible abduction with these two missing girls. This is an actual attempted abduction that was caught on surveillance camera. This happening in Philadelphia right on the streets of Philadelphia.
Watch it again as a man attempts to abduct a 10-year-old girl. She reportedly kicked and screamed and bit him. And her little brother screamed, as well. And he just got scared and raced away.
There was an arrest later. Thank God for surveillance video. A man was arrested and is being charged.
But Diena Thompson, activist and one of my heroes. A woman who has shown such incredible grace in the face of the unimaginable, the abduction and murder of her own precious daughter, Somer Thompson, these parents that are going through this, OK, the one family they`re not perfect. They`re separated. They`ve had these drug issues. But that doesn`t mean -- I want to emphasize, that doesn`t mean it had anything to do with their child`s disappearance.
And I can only imagine the hell that they`re going through losing their child and then to have their entire life the most embarrassing aspect, secrets of their life spilled before the world -- Diena.
THOMPSON: You know, everything you said is true. It takes me back to October 19, 2009, all over again. It`s really hard to be the focus. It`s such a private thing to go through, but it`s so very public.
But unfortunately, when you`re put into these boats, if you will, into these situations, you`re going to just have to roll with the punches and just do and cooperate with the police however you can.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Steve Kardian, former police detective. Yes, obviously, they -- it takes a couple of computer searches. They found out that the parents, the mother and the father of the oldest girl, have this criminal history involving methamphetamine. And that`s a very serious drug. In fact, we can show you this, what`s called "The Faces of Meth." It shows you how people change when they become addicted to meth often. And take a look at, because it`s horrifying.
But , these are people not connected with this case. They`re just meth addicts and you see before and after, hopefully in recovery. They`ve got to follow other leads, as well, Steve.
KARDIAN: Yes, Jane, they should be following other leads. They likely know something that we don`t know that is leading them to press the family, the husband and the wife, so severely.
We know that people that are on meth in my 30 years of law enforcement this is the worst drug. It is the worst people on this drug that I have ever dealt with. They would prostitute their children. They would kill their family. They would sell their children for money for the drugs.
So, yes, law enforcement likely has information that they`re not sharing with us at this moment in time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But I want to say this. Misty, I`ve talked to her for several days. I would -- everything I know about human nature tells me that she is not a bad person. That she is a woman who is in a very bad spot. There but for the grace of God or he who is without sin cast the first stone. I say that as a recovering alcoholic with 17 years of sobriety. We must show compassion to this family. And never assume.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Zimmerman`s first TV interview.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George Zimmerman actually went on Fox News last night to tell his side of the story.
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGED WITH TRAYVON MARTIN`S MURDER: I`m not a racist. And I`m not a murderer.
He apologized to the family of Trayvon Martin, but also said he has no regrets.
DARYL PARKS ATTORNEY FOR TRAYVON MARTIN`S FAMILY: The state attorney is going to see this interview as a gift.
ZIMMERMAN: I feel like it was all God`s plan.
SYBRINA FULTON, MOTHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: God did not have a plan for Trayvon to die.
ZIMMERMAN: I do wish that there was something, anything I could have done that wouldn`t have put me in the position where I had to take his life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did he even get out to call? Why was my son so suspicious?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We have breaking news just into the newsroom on this case. Just minutes ago an all-new George Zimmerman video came out. We`ve put it through our process and we can show you a tiny tidbit. That`s how recently it came in.
Jane Velez-Mitchell back with you live. Now, here it is. His first message to the public straight from his Web site. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZIMMERMAN: Hello. This is George Zimmerman. First and foremost I want to thank you all for visiting the realGeorgeZimmerman.com. We`ve re- launched this Web site to once again thank you, my supporters.
My intention was and still is to personally and individually thank you all. However, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you, the masses.
This is our Web site. It`s not my Web site. It is our Web site where you can personally communicate with me. And I hope to be your Web site to provide facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. I`m watching that as you`re watching that. This case has gone off the rails. What the heck was that? A defendant who is in a safehouse.
You know what; it reminds me of the Casey Anthony videos, the video diary she sent out.
I got to go to Daryl Parks, the attorney for Trayvon Martin`s family. That`s the family -- that`s the family of the young man gunned down, the unarmed teen who`s going to get Skittles and ice tea.
Did you see and hear that new video? Oh my gosh. We just got it in.
PARKS: I just listened to it. But I`m not really surprised by that because some of the information that I have read this week indicated that, one, they were trying to solicit funds. Number two, I saw a very interesting piece of data that said George Zimmerman was maintaining editorial control of that Web site as he re-launched it. So, I`m not surprised by him coming out. I figured there was some reason for him maintaining editorial control of that Web site.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But do you think it`s appropriate?
PARKS: Well, I don`t think it`s really up to me to judge the appropriateness of him, you know, doing a Web site. Everyone has a right to freedom of speech. He has a right to speech. He has a right to his own strategy. And so that`s a decision he and his advisors must make. And that`s a decision I guess they`ve made.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, that`s a very gracious response. To me it`s like, what? What is happening to criminal cases that defendants are now basically plugging themselves on the web and saying, hey, basically come to me and come to this Web site? I mean, this is like a commercial. This involves a dead young man. That was by the way from the realGeorgeZimmerman.com.
We`re going to play it again in a second. Zimmerman of course, awaiting trial for shooting and killing unarmed teen Trayvon Martin; he`s been out of jail for just a few days.
But now he`s breaking his silence to Fox News. And essentially last night in their exclusive interview he blamed God for what happened. Of course, Trayvon Martin`s parents were outraged by that statement. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZIMMERMAN: I feel that it was all God`s plan. And for me to second- guess it or judge it --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FULTON: I think it`s absolutely ridiculous. God did not have a plan for Trayvon to die and for George Zimmerman to shoot Trayvon for no reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That wasn`t Zimmerman`s only attempt at getting on TV. He also met with Barbara Walters for a sit-down interview, but the interview never happened. Today on "The View" Barbara explained the whole thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": I was wearing a T-shirt. That should have been my first clue. And then said he would not do an interview. No matter what we said, but he would if there were one condition. It was a condition that being a member of ABC News I was unable to grant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And what was that condition? According to Zimmerman`s lawyer, Mark O`Mara, George wanted shelter and security for his wife, Shellie, seen there, for a month. What does that mean? Zimmerman wanted ABC to spring for 30 days in a hotel room? Does all of this hurt or help George Zimmerman`s case?
Give me a holler. 1-877-JVM SAYS.
All right. I want to bring in Michelle Suskauer, criminal defense attorney. You`re down there in Florida where all this is going on. First of all, your reaction to this new video on the Internet; correct me if I`m wrong, but is this some kind of new phenomenon that we are seeing here tonight together for the first time. Defendants in high profile cases actually appealing directly to the public with a web interview or a web statement?
SUSKAUER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, normally we don`t especially as a criminal defense lawyer, when you have a pending case, you really don`t want your client to speak. But this is a very, very unusual situation where it was really one-sided information slamming him for a very long time with really without any response. It was really one-sided.
And so this is his opportunity, I think he listened to it, listened to it. And even his counsel is saying, "Listen, don`t speak." He wants his opportunity to have his say because he may not testify at trial. And certainly everything that he says could be used against him. So this is his opportunity to speak and to have his peace, good or bad.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I want to play this video again. Again, we just got it in. I heard it the way you did, but it`s fascinating to me.
Look at the palm trees in the background. We`re cueing it up because now this is at least the fourth time he`s spoken. Once after he was taken in by police, not officially arrested but taken in. Once when he gave his re-enactment, once to Hannity and now this -- let`s listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZIMMERMAN: Hello. This is George Zimmerman. First and foremost I want to thank you all for visiting therealGeorgeZimmerman.com. We re- launched this Web site to once again thank you my supporters. My intention was and still is to personally and individually thank you all.
However, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you, the masses. This is our Web site. It`s not my Web site. It is our Web site where you can personally communicate with me. And I hope to be your Web site to provide facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, to me it`s got to all be about money, about raising funds for his defense. Because I heard that there was a spike, there`s been a spike in donations at key times in this case when he`s spoken out, et cetera.
Bryan Claypool, criminal defense attorney and child advocate, is it just me or is this bizarre? I mean, we have now entered a new dimension in terms of high-profile criminal cases. I personally have never seen something like this.
BRYAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jane, I haven`t seen anything like it either, but this is a by-product of Mr. Zimmerman having lied at his bond hearing. If you recall, Judge Lester came down and chastised him greatly and said that he was making a mockery of the court. He was manipulative.
His attorney, Mark O`Meara, came back and said, look, I want to try to recuse this judge because you shouldn`t be attacking my client like that. So what`s happening now is Mr. O`Meara makes a decision, "Hey, I`ve got to get my guy out there. I have to do some PR work. I have to do some damage control here."
And I got to tell you, I think it`s a big mistake because when you have a criminal client defendant, Jane, picture it like a noose, like you have a noose that big. And when you allow your client to start talking the way that Zimmerman`s talking, that noose starts tightening and tightening and tightening. Because when you let a client talk in interviews like this, it`s almost like what`s that movie Tom Hanks was in a few years ago? "Forrest Gump", remember that comment he made about life`s like a box of chocolates? Well, y our clients no matter how much you prepare them to testify, witnesses and clients are like a box of chocolate. You never know what you`re going to get. And what you got here was Mr. Zimmerman saying things --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. I think that`s an interesting analogy. Daryl Parks, I want to give you the last word. Just ten seconds. Do you think this is going to backfire all of this George Zimmerman in court?
PARKS: Without question. This case is about credibility. And all the inconsistencies that came out just in that interview alone was certainly going a good ways towards helping in the conviction of George Zimmerman.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you, sir. Thank you fantastic panel for staying on top of that story. You know you`ll always get the latest on George Zimmerman right here.
Now for our "Shocking Video of the Day"; you might want to fasten your seat belts because this one`s a bumpy ride. After seeing this driver going the wrong way on a Mississippi highway, this person caught this head-on crash on his cell phone. Watch as you see the whole moment unfold like it`s straight out of a movie.
After quite a few misses, the driver just slams head-on into another car. Thankfully everyone was able to walk out of this ok but what a terrifying ride. Do we have a tight shot of this where we can zoom in and see exactly what`s happening? Oh, ok.
Well -- let`s see, right there. Let`s concentrate. And we`re going to see it. Boom -- wait, no, it`s going to happen in a second. Take a look. It`s worth waiting for because you can see how dangerous it is to go the wrong way on a freeway.
It`s coming up. It`s coming up. It`s coming up. It`s coming up. It`s coming up. Whoa. Where is it? Hold on. Whoa. There it is. Wow. That is a rare, rare event to catch a head-on collision from somebody going the wrong way on tape.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Your "Viral Video of the Day". A fisherman jumps into the ocean and almost lands on a giant shark. But let me tell you, sharks should be more afraid of humans because we are decimating sharks with our horrible practices, killing literally up to some say 70 to 100 million a year. So let`s not demonize these beautiful creatures. They are God`s creatures.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of Michael Jackson`s brothers and sisters believe that his will is fake, and they say the men who control his estate are only after fame and fortune.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will do anything for Michael. Bar none. I will do anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five of Jackson`s siblings sent a scathing letter to the executors of his will claiming that it`s, quote, "Fake, flawed and fraudulent".
MICHAEL JACKSON, SINCER: This will be it. This is it. When I say this is it, it really means this is it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight the famous Jackson clan goes to battle with each other. It`s an ugly Twitter war between the late superstar Michael Jackson`s 14-year-old daughter, Paris versus in the other corner, Michael`s brother, Randy. Wow.
On one side what I`m calling the new Jackson five, five of Michael Jackson`s brothers and sisters: Janet, Jermaine, Tito, Randy and Rebbie wrote a letter to the executors of the Jackson estate saying the will is, quote, "fake, flawed, fraudulent". Could the king of pop`s will really be a forgery or are Jackson`s siblings bitter because they were all left out of the will while Michael Jackson`s young children are in the will and could rake in hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Jacksons claimed the will`s powerful executors had tarnished the family name with dubious projects. One project -- the rehearsal film "This Is It" from AEG.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXCERPT FROM "THIS IS IT")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to Alan Duke, entertainment editor for CNN Wire. Alan, you`ve got on one side Katherine and the kids. They are the beneficiaries of this will, which could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. On the other side, all of Michael Jackson`s brothers and sisters who don`t stand to get a cent. Is this really a family divided?
ALAN DUKE, CNN WIRE: Well, there are, what Katherine Jackson`s lawyer described to me this afternoon as a complex family dynamic. And he said that these children, we`re talking about Prince, Paris and Blanket, are having to sort through this family dynamic. And he said just as their father did, they`ll make appropriate decisions about how to deal with the situation. Well, how did Michael deal with the situation? Apparently he wrote them out -- well, he did -- he wrote them out of his will.
So what`s happening here, this split, this earthquake in the Jackson family could affect these children and their relationships with their uncles and aunts for some time. It`s very -- I can tell you Paris is very upset this week because of what`s happening with her grandmother.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you had some new information. What is it?
DUKE: Well, I can tell you that on Sunday Rebbie, Janet and I believe Randy was also involved in this, picked up Katherine from her home in Calabasas and took her on a vacation. And she`s at a spa resort near Tucson, one I think that some celebrities go to. And the reason that Paris is so upset is she called there wanting to speak to her grandmother on vacation. Of course everybody needs a vacation. But they didn`t allow her to talk to her grandmother.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait a second, aren`t these the same people who said that Katherine had a mini-stroke?
DUKE: Katherine didn`t have a mini-stroke according to everybody I`ve talked to. That was actually --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But didn`t they claim that? Didn`t they claim that?
DUKE: Yes. And they put her on a plane and took her to Tucson, Arizona. That`s where she is this week and apparently won`t return for a few days. And so Paris especially is upset that she`s not able to talk to her grandmother now. This is a child who three years ago lost her father. And Katherine Jackson since then has been the person most close to her. And she can`t talk to her is what I`m told.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Time for our "Pets of the Day". Want to see your pet on TV? Send your pet pics to JanehlnTV.com/Jane.
Look at that. It`s hot out there, isn`t it? Look at that beautiful, beautiful, beautiful photo. Domino, you`re rocking, what are you, surfing the web?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(JANET JACKSON MTV)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That is Janet Jackson from YouTube, "Love Will Never Do". She is a superstar in her own right.
Jen Heger, RadarOnline, why on earth would she lead the charge when she`s so successful and so wealthy in her own right?
JEN HEGER, RADARONLINE: You know, Jane, there`s a lot of questions about this letter that this media outlet published. There`s numerous errors in the letter. First and foremost, Tito Jackson`s name is spelled incorrectly in that letter. Secondly, as Alan Duke referred to, Katherine Jackson never had a mini stroke.
So there are questions about why this letter was written, who actually wrote this letter, and when and if Janet Jackson really did sign that letter. And you also have to ask yourself, why is this letter being written now? Well, we know from the law, statute of limitations, no one can contest Michael Jackson`s will now. It is the time limit; the statute of limitations has expired.
I`m told sources tell Radar that Katherine Jackson`s wrongful death lawsuit that she has against AEG, which her son Randy Jackson put her up to finally, she`s been deposed in that matter, and the depositions for her are grueling and it is going very, very poorly. So I think that the Jackson siblings --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You need a PhD in Jacksonism in order to understand all this. Jen Heger, thank you so much for joining us. Alan Duke, wow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s something to smile about -- a remarkable rescue. A desperate search in Colombia for a 3-year-old boy who was missing for 24 hours; this boy was playing with his brothers at a construction zone, vanished. Search teams scoured the area and they couldn`t find the child. Then they came around again and lifted a manhole and saw this little boy clinging to life.
Look at that. Unbelievable. That is wonderful. The mother running, or a relative, running hysterically to paramedics to try to make sure the child`s ok. But the good news is the child, absolutely fine, absolutely fine. So we love to end with some good news. Look at that little innocent.
And this happens all the time. Remember Baby Jessica? There are so many ways for kids to get into trouble, and we`re just happy to end with a happy story of one young boy rescued.
Nancy next.
END
