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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Mayor of Monticello in Cuffs, Defiant; Are Movie-Making Animals Safe?

Aired November 26, 2013 - 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: Tonight, the latest mayor gone wild. Yet another politician behaving badly. And once again, it`s all caught on tape.

Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charged with drunk driving, busted by his own cops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not a good example. He (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

GORDON JENKINS, MAYOR OF MONTICELLO, NEW YORK: And trying to do the (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has a potty mouth that he probably needs to be in a different line of work.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He stopped at the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He ripped the clock off the wall.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you`re a mayor you should be held to an even higher standard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people are worried about Rob Ford these days.

ROB FORD, MAYOR OF TORONTO: I`m not an alcoholic. I`m not -- I`m not a drug addict.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Totally unplugged.

FORD: And I`m not proud of what I`ve done. It`s very humiliating.

Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mayor of mayhem like you`ve never seen him before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And here`s my rant tonight. What are politicians drinking these days that so many are acting cuckoo in the head? Oh, yes. That`s right; they`re drinking alcohol. Ah, that`s what they`re drinking.

Tonight the latest political scandal starring mayor of Monticello, New York, Gordon Jenkins, busted for DUI in the very town where he is elected to serve. Now, in the wake of crack-using Toronto Mayor Rob Ford`s out-of- control antics, you`d think it would be hard for any other mayor anywhere in the world to top that level of crazy. But tonight this other mayor`s behavior is more shocking.

As a surveillance camera rolls inside a police interrogation room, Monticello Mayor Jenkins, who happens to be African-American, proceeds to spew shockingly racist insults at both a white police officer and an African-American police officer. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENKINS: Don`t let -- don`t let this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) here, right? Don`t let Johnston play you into that. Because he wants a black man, he wants a black detective -- get a white detective to do this job. Because all he`s doing is using you for (EXPLETIVE DELETED) token, because (EXPLETIVE DELETED) a racist. He don`t like me and don`t let him play you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A little while later, the mayor is left alone, and he decides to take out his frustrations on a wall clock. Check it out. There it is. Lovely.

The clock assault earned him a criminal mischief charge. That`s in addition to the charges for his refusal to take a Breathalyzer and obstruction.

So does this mayor have anything to say in his own defense? His attorney is on the line. He`s going to join us in a minute. He insists his client was not drunk.

Radio host Stephanie Miller, would you call this mayor`s angry monologs hate speech? What would you call it?

STEPHANIE MILLER, RADIO HOST: You know, I just ripped a clock off the wall here at CNN because there were too many people with Piers Morgan in hair and makeup. So you know what? I probably am not one to say, Jane.

But I don`t really think he`s qualified to be mayor, probably. I`m not trying to be mayor here in Los Angeles.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I mean, listen, there`s a responsibility that comes with being mayor.

Mayor Jenkins pleaded guilty three years ago to selling counterfeit Nike shoes at his local store. He was arrested last year for allegedly hitting a police officer. So he`s got a history. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENKINS: Put me in jail for years. I get out in five years and I`m going to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) tell you what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you did to me. And you`re going to -- and I`m going to come back to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That sounds like a threat to me. I was surprised that he wasn`t charged with making any threats.

Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor and author of "And Justice for Some," there he is on tape, saying, "I`m going to come back for you." Why isn`t he charged with threatening someone?

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: You know, I don`t think it was a serious threat. It sounds more like a guy trying to use his bravado and his position of authority. Oh, boy. "I`ll -- I`m going to use my power against you." And he`s drunk. I don`t think it`s a serious threat.

What I don`t understand is how -- how a guy like this, knowing now that we`re all watching, can`t find it in his, you know, conscience to step up and say, "Because I care about my -- the people I represent and the nature of democracy and the decency of humankind and because I think I can`t be a good leader henceforth, I`m going to step down."

I mean, this guy is black. What about the next time somebody is racist whether -- against a cop or, you know, in a school, this guy is responsible for his community. How is he going to turn to someone who is racist and say, "Don`t say that `N` word. Boy, you`re in trouble." No one will ever care about racism so long as this guy is in charge. That`s a problem.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Rolonda Watts, host, "Sundays with Rolonda" on Blog Talk Radio, do you think the fact that he uses what would seem to me to be racist terminology, then essentially makes him, it invalidates him as a leader?

ROLONDA WATTS, HOST, BLOG TALK RADIO`S "SUNDAYS WITH ROLONDA": Well, it`s extremely disrespectful. All of us know that you cannot use these kind of words in a work situation. And also he`s representing people of all types of different backgrounds. And to be able to use those types of words, it makes me lose respect for him, and I`m sure the people who are following him don`t want leader who speaks that way or threatens people.

I think you are held to a higher regard when you are the mayor and the leader of a city. And to use the derogatory language, to be hitting cops - - it`s -- I`m not -- I don`t think that`s good leadership. And I think it`s going to be distractful [SIC] to the people. And throwing the clock.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Throwing that clock.

Listen, he refuses to step down, even though there are calls for his resignation. We did some digging. We found out, just FYI, the population of this town, Monticello, is about 50 percent white, 30 percent African- American. Listen to the mayor accuse police of targeting African- Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENKINS: I`m going to make you (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand what you`re saying.

JENKINS: I`m going to make produce, to do something, to stop being a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) racist mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED) as far as -- and prosecuting all the black people here. You`re (EXPLETIVE DELETED) going to produce, and I`m going to make sure of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The officers repeatedly asked him, "What do you mean by `produce`?"

He would only say, "You`ll find out."

Straight out to the attorney representing this guy, caught on tape, Mayor Jenkins. Now, you`re reported as saying that the mayor`s base has suffered indignities at the hands of the local cops, and they understand what he was saying. Well, please translate, because I don`t really understand what he`s saying.

MICHAEL SUSSMAN, ATTORNEY FOR MAYOR GORDON JENKINS: I don`t think any of your guests understand. Listening to you, it`s a very ignorant group, honestly. Let`s start...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, why don`t you educate us as to what this gentleman that you represent is talking about?

SUSSMAN: Let`s start with this, please. The mayor was at a social engagement Saturday night. The mayor understood there was a serious accident in his community, and he drove over to give assistance at the accident.

If any police person at the scene thought the mayor was in any way intoxicated, what a reasonable police officer would do is go up to the mayor and say to the mayor, "Do you need a hand? Do you need a ride anywhere?"

Instead, an individual who had been passed over for police chief has testified in his sworn statement that he waited for the mayor to get into a vehicle, thereby endangering the public if he was really drunk, waited for the mayor to drive away, and then picked up the mayor. He then brought the mayor back to the police station and chained the mayor to a wall for approaching nine hours. When the mayor asked to have his lawyer called they essentially laughed at him and never called me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Hold on one second, sir. You`ve said something...

SUSSMAN: All of you have such strong opinions, but none of you know what occurred.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you`re telling us. Now I want to get to Simone Bienne, behavior expert, your response to the fact that essentially his attorney is saying that he was singled out and he was harassed in a way that was part of perhaps a vendetta against him.

SIMONE BIENNE, BEHAVIOR EXPERT: OK. So, Jane, we don`t know the facts. And I`ll be ignorant person on your panel No. 4.

The fact is, I hope he was drunk, because otherwise, he just is a sociopath. He`s acting totally irresponsibly and inebriatedly. If you behave like that, you should not be in office. End of story.

SUSSMAN: Citizens in Monticello will have every opportunity to decide that. And to say he shouldn`t be in office is not to understand what he`s done in office. He`s significantly improved -- excuse me...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy, ten seconds.

SUSSMAN: He significantly improved...

MURPHY: Look, it doesn`t matter what other good things he`s done. O.J. actually threw a good football. But you can`t be a drunk mayor and rule over the people. Maybe if he didn`t get caught, we wouldn`t all be so upset. That`s his fault. That`s his fault.

MILLER: Jane, I have to say. Rolonda Watts has hung out with me, and she knows that I get drunk and call myself a stupid cracker, but I`m not trying to run a city. You know, that`s different.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I personally -- I love you, Stephanie, but I don`t think anybody should use derogatory terms, prejudicial terms when they`re describing themselves, because it opens the door for other people to use them. So that`s one area where I have a humor vacuum.

SUSSMAN: I agree.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You agree about that? We agree about something.

SUSSMAN: I agree with that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charged with drunk driving, busted by his own cops...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not a good example.

JENKINS: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

Trying to do (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has a potty mouth that he probably needs to be in a different line of work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENKINS: I don`t (EXPLETIVE DELETED) I`ve got five properties, six properties. You don`t (EXPLETIVE DELETED) with me, make sure you do so. You and you, you going to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) -- going to pay for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is this mayor a racist himself, or is he a victim of profiling? Officer John Riegler, you`re the president of this town, the Monticello Police Benevolent Association. You hear the attorney for this mayor say they should have accorded him a right home. And instead, they were basically out to get him for their own political reasons. What do you say?

OFFICER JOHN RIEGLER, PRESIDENT, MONTICELLO POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION (via phone): Well, that`s nonsense. There`s two separate issues here. The first issue is him as an adult getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, intoxicated, and getting arrested for it.

The second is his behavior while in police custody. I guess also I`m another one of the ignorant people on your panel tonight, and it`s just strange how everybody is -- that can see this video and see what happened, Mr. Sussman spins it all around.

That`s not what happened. He was pointed out by some fire police at a serious accident scene. The officers didn`t even notice him until he was finally pointed out. When he did get behind the wheel of his vehicle, that`s when he was arrested. When he got back to the police department, he was handcuffed to a chair in a room.

SUSSMAN: Handcuffed to a wall.

RIEGLER: In the cell area...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, hold on.

RIEGLER: In the cell area, there`s no heat. It would be inhumane to put a prisoner in the back of our cell area. We haven`t had any heat in our police station for over a year, thanks to the mayor`s mismanagement.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, OK. All right. Well, it sounds like there is a little bit of, well, controversy that predates the arrest. But I will say this. Wendy Murphy, even if -- even if what the attorney for Mayor Jenkins says is true, it`s no excuse to go mouthing off and using words that I can`t repeat on television that are essentially a bigoted, prejudicial words, if you are the mayor of a town.

MURPHY: Yes, exactly that. Who cares? Even if the back story is they don`t like him for whatever the reason, union contracts or some other nonsense. It doesn`t matter. There`s an objective reality. He was wasted. He was disgusting. He was racist. It doesn`t matter that he`s black. How does he stand to enforce anti-discrimination laws in his community now? He can`t. He has no grounds to expect respect from anybody from now on.

And the fact that he may have been targeted or people were looking after him and there was some kind of vendetta, you know what to do when that`s happening in a small town with ugly political problems? You actually keep your act clean. You don`t get drunk...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK.

MURPHY: ... and start spewing nonsense like this. That`s how you don`t get -- that`s how you don`t get in trouble, and that`s how you don`t become...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michael...

MURPHY: ... a suspect.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michael Sussman, attorney for Mayor Jenkins.

MILLER: Jane, that Chiron that`s beneath us, that`s a reality show, "Mayors behaving badly." Is this a Mayor Rob Ford copycat crime? Who can tell? Are they competing at this point or are these just the least qualified people to lead cities in the world? Who knows?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I actually wonder what is it with the sleaze factor lately in politics? It`s not just Mayor Rob Ford. It`s the cocaine-using congressman from Florida. Yes, there`s Rob Ford. We`ve also got that Florida congressman who admitted to using cocaine. He was caught by an undercover cop. He`s in rehab. But he refuses to resign. This guy, there he is. That`s Radel, Congressman Radel. He doesn`t want to resign.

And this is what I don`t like. Rolonda, when you`re caught with your pants down, OK, the best thing you can do is to say, "OK, I`m removing myself from the situation." These guys don`t want to do that. They`re hanging onto power, even if they`re being humiliated in the process.

WATTS: Well, there`s definitely an ego thing going on. Maybe they want to defend their jobs; that`s one thing. But the bottom line is you -- you cannot run a city doing things like that. You cannot call people in the city racist names. You cannot threaten your cops.

And I do -- I mean, I do agree with Sussman, if the cops saw that he was -- he was inebriated at the scene, it would have been better if they had helped them, if they knew that. That part makes sense.

But all of this other stuff, I mean, that is the leader of a town that represents all types of ethnic groups, and it`s very distracting. I just find this -- how are you going to get on with the politics...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michael...

WATTS: ... of the business, running the...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: His words are his words. He`s calling people names that I cannot repeat here.

SUSSMAN: Let me try to respond to what you`re all saying for a moment. OK?

It`s one thing if you have no life experience like Gordon Jenkins, 29 years a correction officer in New York state, an honorably discharged Army veteran, in the city government in Monticello as mayor for five years, on the board for nine years. If you have no track record and you have no experience and you don`t understand who you are dealing with, it`s one thing. What Gordon Jenkins did is...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, that`s -- all of that is even more of a reason why he shouldn`t do that. He should have known better.

SUSSMAN: Let me speak for a moment. You have five guests who have one opinion. Let me explain the situation, please.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. Go for it. Because we`re running out of time.

SUSSMAN: You have -- you have people on this force who have been engaged in -- against Gordon for a number of years. Rather than do what any reasonable police officer would do, if they thought he was drunk, which is to go to -- if it was a white mayor you mean to tell me that they wouldn`t have gone up to the man and said, "We think you`re drunk, Mayor. Can we give you a ride home?"

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I disagree entirely. I don`t think you can turn everybody -- OK. Officer, can you respond, Officer Riegler, president of the police -- police benevolent association?

RIEGLER: The bottom line is here is how he behaved. His racial remarks. Like you say, he should have known better. This is an individual that should step down, get the help he needs and move on with his life. That`s what he needs to do.

SUSSMAN: That`s the issue...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I would say this. At the very least apologize for throwing the clock, for using those phrases. Own up to your side of the street, and then we can address other issues if there`s other problems there.

But I want to thank you, Michael Sussman, for stepping into the Lion`s Den, as it were.

Next, it`s a Hollywood mystery in every sense of the word. Is there a massive cover up going on that`s risking lives on movie sets?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB FERBER, L.A. CITY PROSECUTOR: This is to me one of the dirty, dark secrets of Hollywood. By not reporting these incidents, by deciding on their own that they can deal with it internally and not bring it to law enforcement, they`re complicit in this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey Foxy, now that you`re a big TV star, I`m looking out for you, but this animal investigation is about your fellow animal actors, who might not be so lucky. Is it Hollywood`s dirty secret?

"The Hollywood Reporter" claims animals on the big screen are being put in big danger, and despite one little disclaimer at the end of the credits in movies, assuring us everything is A-OK during filming, it`s a sham. We sent our Nischelle Turner out to investigate for the animals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You`ve seen this disclaimer hundreds of times before. Now a shocking report by "The Hollywood Reporter" alleges that the American Humane Association`s trademark accreditation isn`t always credible.

Take "Life of Pi`s" tiger King, for example. Despite his prowess and digital twin, the publication says King nearly drowned while shooting ocean scenes after becoming disoriented. In an internal e-mail obtained by "The Hollywood Reporter," an AHA monitor on the set said, quote, "Last week we almost bleeping killed King in the water tank."

FERBER: This is, to me, one of the dirty, dark secrets of Hollywood. By not reporting these incidents, by deciding on their own that they can deal with it internally, not bringing it to law enforcement, they`re complicit in this.

TURNER: The AHA responded, telling CNN, quote, "The e-mail of the employee in question led to an internal investigation, and there was no evidence of any harm to the tiger as determined after multiple inquiries. She is no longer employed by the association."

The movie studio disputed the claim that the tiger nearly drowned, saying quote, "We take on-set safety very seriously."

Animal rights groups, however, say this is a problem that has plagued the movie industry for years.

In 2010 while the stars of "The Hobbit" walked the red carpet, spectators lined the streets, not to cheer but to protest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "The Hobbit" was monitored by the AHA, and that goes to show that, even when these films that use animals are being monitored, tragic deaths and injuries do still occur.

TURNER: But "Hobbit" director Peter Jackson said their disclaimer holds true.

PETER JACKSON, DIRECTOR, "THE HOBBIT": About half the animals in this room are computer-generated, and there was no abuse and no maltreatment of animals on this film.

TURNER: And on HBO`s TV series "Luck," charges of animal cruelty, even though the AHA was present on set. The production was eventually cancelled in 2012 after three horses died.

HBO, owned by CNN`s parent company Time Warner, released this statement, saying, quote, "While we maintained the highest safety standards possible, accidents unfortunately happen, and it is impossible to guarantee they won`t in the future."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now Foxy, the American Humane Association insists "The Hollywood Reporter" article distorts what they claim is a remarkably high safety record. But animal activists have been saying for years now there`s a cover-up about what`s happening to animals behind the scenes.

Bob Ferber, you`re our guest tonight. You`re an L.A. city prosecutor. You specialize in animal abuse. And you`re quoted in this shocking story as saying you`re not surprised by these charges. Why not?

FERBER: Not at all, Jane. For years I`ve worked with AHA. I was a city prosecutor, as you said. And was one of the first, actually the first animal cruelty prosecutor in the country.

And I began to work with AHA years ago. And the very first thing I noticed when I worked with them was that their offices were owned, operated and paid for by the industry. And I -- of course, my first reaction was, "Wait a minute. If the police department can`t be objective if they`re being paid by the people they`re supposed to be monitoring."

But I had a good relationship with them. But over the years I realized, through working with them and through other stories and investigations, that they`re not there on the set when they say they are. That their -- the story that was revealed yesterday is not just the story. It`s an expose of detailed incidents, one after the other, of animals that were killed, that suffered, that almost died. And in all throughout the story, what`s really disturbing to me is the American Humane Association`s response is that, "Well, these things happen."

And when people see the end of a movie, and it says no animals were harmed, according to AHA and the quotes in that article, harmed apparently means -- that means nobody intentionally killed an animal. All the other incidents that have been described to them where animals were neglected, they were mistreated, they were handled poorly and they either died or suffered. The response seems to be, "Well, that`s OK because nobody really meant to do anything."

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

FERBER: You know, Jane, you and I worked together years ago when I started being an animal cruelty prosecutor, and in all the years, most of the animal cruelty cases that we identified throughout the country tend to be versions of neglect or mistreatment, not purposeful intentional cruelty. And I don`t know where they got the idea that by saying no animals were harmed, that is supposed to be limited to what we really mean is that nobody purposely tried to kill an animal on the set. And that`s not what the public thinks.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Well, listen, as you know, Bob -- and we have worked together, on behalf of voiceless animals -- all animals have one thing in common, just like little Foxy here. She can bark, but she can`t speak for herself.

So whether it`s Billy the elephant being held captive in the L.A. Zoo or, for example, animals on factory farms facing institutional cruelty like these pigs, stuck in tiny gestation crates, never able to turn around, or wild horses being held indefinitely in U.S. government holding pens, none of them can say, "Help me. I`m in trouble. I`m being abused. Get me out of here."

That`s why organizations like the American Humane Association and their assurance at the end of the movie that these animals were not harmed is so important. Bob, what would you change to restore faith in the organization that has that stamp at the end of the films?

FERBER: Well, you know, first of all, in this country, you know, 50, 60 years ago, Jane, there was no accountability for animal cruelty. Virtually none. And I have to say that I give them credit, AHA, for beginning to set minimum standards by cooperating with the movie industry many, many years ago.

But as you know and your viewers know, things have changed. In the last 15, 20 years, our society has raised its consciousness about animal cruelty, and we expect accountability. We expect prosecutions when appropriate. We expect people to -- the public to be able to scrutinize and know what`s happening.

What AHA has done is created or participated in what I actually have to call a cover-up of what goes on in the movie industry.

So the only way that it can be improved is if law enforcement comes in and is -- there`s a situation where arrangements have to be changed with the movie industry so that law enforcement can come in and monitor objectively.

A good example of this, Jane, is that, you know, when you think about a movie set here in Los Angeles, for example, every movie production has police officers, fire officials, building and safety inspectors, union people that are protecting the workers for the union rights. Even children have special protection. The only entity on a movie set that has absolutely no objective review and protection from an outsider are animals. And so AHA, with all due respect to all the good stuff that they`ve done in the past or many, many years ago, their role is over now. And I think that we need to have --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: AHA, listen. Listen. Here`s my take. And, Bob, it`s so great seeing you and talking to you again. A bureaucracy should never ever get cozy with the industry it`s supposed to monitor. There should be absolutely no relationship between people involved in the American Humane Association and people who make movies. It`s hard to police and punish your friends. There`s a tendency to look the other way.

Foxy, it`s just human nature.

All right. We`ve got a story on the other side that`s going to make you want to dance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tim, I`ve got to make an emergency phone call. I`ll be right back. I promise you.

Come on load, load.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey, everybody. I am here with the amazing Tim Ferriss who is rocking HLN with Upwave Sunday night 8:00 p.m. Eastern. It`s called "THE TIM FERRISS EXPERIMENT" and this guy is going to teach us how to supercharge learning by teaching me to tango. I`m terrified.

TIM FERRISS, HLN UPWAVE HOST: You ready?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m scared. I am nervous. Honestly, I don`t get nervous very often but I`m anticipating making a total fool of myself. So -- whatever.

FERRISS: It`s left right, left right, left right. Just like walking. So for instance if I were to step out this way, which foot am I going to step with next?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Left.

FERRISS: Ok. That`s the first thing to realize is that there`s no mystery in which foot goes next. And of course --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There`s never an exception -- left, right, left right.

FERRISS: -- all rules are made to be broken. But in the beginning and it can get very close, you`ll notice that we`re making a triangle with our chest. So we`re just bisecting, we`re splitting that line with our hands and the pressure is going to be slightly in this way. So if you can give me a resistance.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok.

FERRISS: It`s a very common mistake if you`ll make -- if you do something like this.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

FERRISS: And it gets floppy.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right.

FERRISS: But if you have a little bit of resistance here.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, yes. Ok.

(CROSSTALK)

FERRISS: This actually doesn`t have to be difficult, number one. Number two it`s not all choreographed. You see two really good dancers together for the first time it looks like they have been prepping for months and it`s all improvised. It`s all improvised.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow.

FERRISS: That`s the beauty of it.

So what we`ll do first is you`re just going to put your hand on my chest like this. And I want a little bit of flex in the elbow. So a little more -- right about here and I want us to maintain this distance. Ok. So don`t worry about the feet for now. All that means is if I step -- if I do this your weight should be entirely on this foot.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s about trust.

FERRISS: It`s about trust. The principle is what I like to call stakes free practice. So that means, there`s no risk of failure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We bring so much emotional baggage to everything. For example my mother was a professional dancer --

FERRISS: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- so I always I grew up thinking well I had two left feet by comparison.

FERRISS: Right, right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So that`s emotional baggage that I bring to the picture. We need to let people know about all this so that they can sort of break through when learning.

FERRISS: So there`s a framework. So you have -- like my general blueprint is I try to deconstruct the skill. So it takes a little bit to learn the tango and break it down into like weight transfer, footwork, upper body position, disassociation. Selection is choosing, you know, the 20 percent to give us 80 percent of the results we want.

So that`s what I`ve been doing with you. Like, ok, we`re going to start with weight transfer. And then I`ll start with the distance. And then there`s sequence. So I`ve chosen the most important pieces for you. How do you order them and then stakes is if you have a competition and really want to get good you need consequences.

So once you have just that basic cheat sheet you can apply it for anything.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s Cliff Notes for learning.

FERRISS: Good.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ole.

FERRISS: All you`re going to do is follow my lead.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok.

FERRISS: Ok. So --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Which foot do I start with?

FERRISS: You`ll know.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We did pretty well.

FERRISS: That was great.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We did pretty well.

FERRISS: That was brilliant.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you. Thank you.

I hope that everybody checks out Upwave Sunday night 8:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN. Learn how to learn. Conquer something that you`re scared of. You can do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Your Crazy Video of the Day. Oh, wow. It seems like a terrified deer apparently ended up in a yogurt shop and it`s scary. Also for the people who work there, backing up. No, it`s not an armed robbery, it`s just a terrified little deer who doesn`t know where the heck he is and is not looking for yogurt. He smashes his way in and then ultimately out. And we certainly hope that little guy is ok tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mysterious murder in this mansion left 34- year-old Rachael Maidens dead and a country club community on lock down. Prosecutors say 42-year-old Randolph Maidens shot his wife ten times.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw him about three weeks ago running through the woods behind our house and he had on a black ski mask.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two kinds of people do that, evil and sick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight in our lion`s den, unimaginable horror outside Nashville where a perfect family is shattered by a mysterious murder. Cops say the handsome husband killed his beautiful wife and did the absolutely unthinkable, left his two-year-old daughter alone in the house with her dead mommy. The little girls left to absorb this horror all alone. And now her daddy is about to stand trial for her mommy`s murder.

Rachael Maidens, a beautiful successful orthodontist shot ten times, found wrapped in a blanket in the home she shared with her husband Randolph. A note expressing regret for what happened was reportedly found in the home. and there was another shocking discovery -- a whopping $87,000 in cash in the trunk of the suspect, the husband`s car.

Now the Maidens lived in a mansion in a ritzy gated community called the Governors` Club. He had worked as a pharmaceutical rep but at the time of the murder he was unemployed. You`re seeing the suspect in court from ABC`s "Good Morning America". There he is looking like wow -- right out of a magazine.

This guy vanished after the murder but then after an all might manhunt he came out of the woods near the couple`s home and surrendered to authorities but he pleaded not guilty. Just three weeks before his wife`s death a neighbor saw him running around the woods wearing a black ski mask ninja style.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CYNTHIA ROSENBLUM, NEIGHBOR: I said "What are you doing?" He said "My wife is a doctor and I promised her I would take the dogs for a walk and I got lost." I just thought like he was avoiding the questions. So I finally said to him, "Well, I recognize your dogs but it`s pretty creepy to look out your back window and see a man running through the forest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROSENBLUM: He just laughed and walked off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to the "Lion`s Den" why is it always the ninja factor? Lisa Lockwood, investigator, author of "Undercover Angel", he`s charged with homicide, child abuse, neglect, tampering with evidence.

LISA LOCKWOOD, AUTHOR, "UNDERCOVER ANGEL": Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: He said he didn`t have anything to do with it.

LOCKWOOD: And the thing that`s new and recent, what I`d like to know is what the contents are of the note, the remorse. Remorse regarding what? Do we have a confession? I don`t know.

But the peculiar behavior leading up to that, three weeks earlier he`s wearing a ninja costume, a backpack, black clothing, wandering through the woods. When he`s approached he has a willy-nilly answer about what he`s doing, why is he claiming his wife is a doctor. What`s that about? Also - - he also had a DUI prior to that so it looks like being unemployed his entire life was sinking.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, there he is, you know, having a good time lounging. We saw him lounging and the shades. But what`s wrong with this picture.

This man is accused of brutally executing his wife leaving his two- year-old daughter in the house with the body. If anything screams, no bail, that will be a guess what? He`s been free for months now. His bail was initially set at $2.5 million. It was cut to just $750,000.

Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, you know, that`s 10 percent down, $75,000. He`s a wealthy guy at least on paper. He waltzed out. I mean is that right there -- injustice.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes. Of course it`s not fair and it is injustice or the flip side of that coin is he got a bit of a discount in bail because he`s a seemingly wealthy white guy. Mind you, I think I think he`s a loser whose wife was probably about to dump him and he probably had among other addictions, a gambling debt which is why all the money was in the car.

And you know, she clearly lost interest in this loser and he saw his sugar mama floating away with his little baby -- you know, he was going to be out of the picture. So what do you do when you`re a crazy guy about to have your life implode? You kill the woman who is ruining your life by cutting you out of the wealth. That`s what I`m thinking.

Why a court indulges a guy like this by giving him a discount in bail makes me sick because, you know, bad things happen to rich people too and all the poor black guys who do the same thing end up in jail with no bail. How`s that?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Of course, it`s a two tiered system of justice. I`ve said it a million times. All you have to do is look at any cop show and you see that 99.9 percent you`re not going to see middle class white guys like this behind bars.

Another huge miscarriage in this case is that this little two-year-old girl was left alone in the house with her mother`s corpse. Wow, Simone Bienne, she`s now with her maternal grandmother. Get this -- the grandmother is suing the alleged killer for wrongful death trying to stop the husband from accessing her daughter`s estate and the couple`s joint account to use that money to defend himself.

I mean, isn`t that insidious? That he would use their joint account to defend himself when he`s accused of murdering her -- Simone.

SIMONE BIENNE, RELATIONSHIP EXPERT: Absolutely. And, Jane, what you`re talk about is somebody who shows no remorse whatsoever. I cannot -- and I know you`ll be with me here -- I cannot imagine and fathom the kind of person that would leave a two-year-old daughter there with his mother`s body. It`s sick beyond belief.

If we`re talking about white middle class people, then we should look at what they are doing. It doesn`t matter about race. Here is a sick psychopath. Considering Jane now I`m going on a rant that at least 50 percent of our emotional programming is done between naught and five. Thank you very much daddy of the year.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, God this child -- I can`t even imagine the nightmares that she`s having and will have for the rest of her life. She`s going to need intensive therapy for years.

Let`s go out to the phone lines. Lisa, Indiana what have you got to say about this hideous story where this beautiful successful wife was shot ten times?

LISA, INDIANA (via telephone): Well, this guy evidently is a sicko and where did the $87,000 come from if he was unemployed. And did the little girl see the dad kill the mom?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, honestly, when I look at these perfect families, I always wonder. Behind all that perfection, where are the secrets? Because sometimes when a family looks too darn perfect, it`s a cover. It`s a smoke screen. People all have flaws. They don`t always look perfect. And when they try to it`s usually because they are trying to hide something -- a dark secret.

It`s a smoke screen. It`s smoke and mirrors. And on the other side there`s often something very rancid indeed. We`re going to stay on top of this case.

On the other side, who does it better, Kanye and Kim or Rogan and Franco. This is going viral and I`m hitting the streets to get reaction to this incredible spoof.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ridiculous.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why does everybody say this video is ridiculous?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s about taking taboos --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Time for Pet of the Day. Send your pet pics to hlntv.com/jane. Trista -- you are a vista, Trista. And let`s see who we got next. Baby and Bandit -- hanging together. Bonnie and Clyde, no. They`re very nice, they don`t do anything wrong. Let`s see. Charlie -- look at those ears. What a portrait. Absolutely fabulous Breeanna. Breeanna you are just miraculous.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are conducting a psychological analysis today of the new Kanye West video "Bound 2".

(MUSIC)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Have you seen the new video?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven`t seen it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You haven`t seen the new video?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven`t seen it yet.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Have you seen the new Kanye video.

Come on a second. Ma`am, have you seen the new -- have you seen it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No desire to, thank you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: No desire to see it.

Well, you`re in for a shock. Are you sitting down?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it was ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not my favorite Kanye video at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not a good example for my daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a bit too much, but, hey -- if she has it, she wants to flaunt it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How ridiculous.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why does everybody say that this video was ridiculous?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s about taking taboos of things that people are not comfortable with.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, right. Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it just breaks that whole wall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not good green screen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Kanye is trying to prove an artistic point. We don`t know yet because he`s on another planet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to just accept that`s him as an artist and a genius.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A work of genius.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There`s a lot of genius going around these days.

KANYE WEST, SINTER: You know, I`m a creative genius.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is sort of genius.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s him just having sex on a motorcycle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you imagine if everyone walked around -- naked.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s scary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he`s trying to go very left.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And Seth Rogen and James Franco have done a parody.

See? They`re making fun of the Kim Kardashian and Kanye.

I do not know if I would make it on a motorcycle and reenact that video. I`m sorry. That`s the real -- that`s the real one. That`s the parody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m laughing at the parody. I probably would laugh at the original also.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh, what is this world coming to.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Are you going to have to go to after care now? Maybe a little therapy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know how much of this I can watch of Seth Rogen being naked on a motorcycle. I think the hairy back is the highlight here.

END