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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Zimmerman`s Girlfriend Backtracks

Aired December 09, 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: Breaking news tonight starts with my rant.

Are you kidding me? Is former Neighborhood Watchman George Zimmerman about to get another big break? His on and off, maybe on again girlfriend Samantha Scheibe saying she wants all charges against George dropped, and she is now recanting her shocking story that he pointed a gun at her, terrifying her. Are you kidding me? How do you take something like that back? Either it happened or it didn`t.

In just a moment I`m going to talk live to George Zimmerman`s attorney in an exclusive interview happening right now in just a second.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scheibe called police and accused Zimmerman of threatening her with a gun and pushing her out of her Apopka, Florida, home during an argument.

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, ACCUSED OF THREATENING GIRLFRIEND (via phone): She`s pregnant. I`m not going to put her through that kind of stress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The victim has disclosed to us that she is not pregnant.

ZIMMERMAN: I kept yelling help, help, help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are just now, just a couple of minutes ago learning about this unbelievable new twist in the George Zimmerman saga, a saga that never seems to end.

His girlfriend is that mystery blond the world first saw -- and I`ll show you the aerial video; I think you`ll remember it -- back in September. OK. There`s George. We`ve seen him a million times.

But you remember back in September George`s estranged wife, Shellie Zimmerman, called the cops on him. Shellie was shocked that George was with another woman at the time.

Then last month that other woman, Samantha Scheibe -- and we`re going to show you some photos -- also called the cops on George, once again putting the national spotlight on George Zimmerman in a frantic plea to 911 where she essentially said, "Rescue me. This man is terrifying me." Listen to what he said to 911, which she`s now taking back, by the way. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHEIBE (via phone): Are you serious?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police, fire and medical.

SCHEIBE: I need the police right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What`s your address?

SCHEIBE: You`re the one breaking stuff in my house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ma`am, what`s going on?

SCHEIBE: He`s in my house breaking all my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) because I asked him to leave. He has his freaking gun, breaking all of my stuff right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

SCHEIBE: No, this is not...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

SCHEIBE: I`m doing this again? You just broke my glass table. You broke my sunglasses and you put your gun in any freaking face and told me to get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out. This is not your house. No. Get out of here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You heard it right there: "You just pointed the gun in any freaking face." Now she`s saying, "Never mind."

OK. I`m holding in my hand a court document. I`ve been reading it literally in the elevator coming down to this studio. And it suggests she wants to take it all back. It suggests she wants to get back together with the former Neighborhood Watchman who was acquitted of murdering unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, even though he shot his dead at point-blank range. Are you kidding me?

This Samantha is now asking the Seminole County court to lift the no- contact order that she had gotten, that the court had given her, to keep Zimmerman away so that they can, quote, "talk and be together," end quote.

Zimmerman arrested November 18, charged with domestic violence after this woman told cops George pointed a gun at her. You heard it on the 911 tape. Now she`s saying, no, that didn`t happen. He never pointed a gun toward her face. She`s saying she isn`t afraid of him. She doesn`t want to press charges. Why the sudden shift?

Straight out to your exclusive guest tonight, George Zimmerman`s attorney. And again, an exclusive interview with the one and only Jayne Weintraub.

Reports indicate, Jayne -- and thank you for joining us tonight -- that Samantha Scheibe reached out to you and essentially said, "I want this to go away." Tell us what happened, how that interaction happened.

JAYNE WEINTRAUB, ATTORNEY FOR GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: She reached out to me through a lawyer and said that she wanted the no-contact order lifted, and is there any way that George`s lawyer can file a motion to effectuate that?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And did she then say, "Well, I lied?" Because here`s the thing: In this document that I`m reading, she essentially tries to blame the cops. So Exhibit A, all right, where she signs it, she says, "I want to be with George. I contacted George`s attorney" -- you -- "to ask if there`s any way that the stay-away order can be lifted so that we can talk and be together. I am not afraid of George in any manner, and I want to be with him."

She also claims that it was the police and not George Zimmerman who intimidated her.

Here`s the problem I have with it, Jayne. It was on the 911 call before the police ever got to her, and she proactively called 911 and she was the one who sounded scared. Nobody was forcing her to call 911. She was the one who said, "You`re pointing a gun at my freaking face."

WEINTRAUB: Actually, she sounded angry to me, not scared. She never said that he was scared, Jane.

But -- but regardless of all of that, the bottom line is -- and I did not write the affidavit. This was not written by me. This was given to me by counsel. And all I can tell you, from what I see, I would hope that the state attorney`s office takes pause, takes a step back, exercises its discretion and declines prosecution.

I mean, George Zimmerman, a lot of people are calling the police on George Zimmerman. A lot of people stop George Zimmerman because of who he is. He`s walking around with a target on his back.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait a second. This is his girlfriend, his former girlfriend. This is not some, you know, bozo out on the street who has it in for George Zimmerman. This is a woman who was living with George Zimmerman, who called 911. I have never in my wildest dreams ever called 911 on somebody I`ve lived with. This is not something you do, you know, because you`re having a bad day. Your hair isn`t curling the right way.

WEINTRAUB: I can`t say that, except I think they are under a lot of stress. I think that there were people that were outside of the house. I think it was a very heated moment, argument that got out of hand.

And I was not there. I don`t know. All I know is what the affidavit states. And the affidavit states that the gun was never pointed in a threatening manner at her by George Zimmerman, period.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So she was lying?

WEINTRAUB: End of story.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So he was lying when he said that on the 911 call?

WEINTRAUB: I didn`t say that she was lying.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, she says, "You`re pointing a gun at my freaking face" or words to that effect. We all heard it. Can we play it again? Can we re-cue up the soundbite? Let`s re-cue up...

WEINTRAUB: That`s not what I heard.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK.

WEINTRAUB: What I heard her say is "the guns and you are in my freaking face." It was very close proximity. And saying that somebody`s "in my face" is really an expression that is commonly used, as you know. And in your face -- she doesn`t say the gun is pointed at her, in her face at all. That is not what she says.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Let`s...

WEINTRAUB: She said, "The freaking guns are in my face."

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s just hit pause for a second. And Jayne, you know, I respect you. You`ve been a guest on our show many, many times. And I consider you a friend. So we`re debating here. I`m not, you know, trying to put you on the spot. In fact, I know you`re at your son`s big game and taking the opportunity to talk to us despite that, so...

WEINTRAUB: I am and he`s going to kill me if I don`t get back inside that gymnasium.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Can we just play a 30-second sound bite and then we`ll have your reaction?

WEINTRAUB: Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And then we`ll move on?

WEINTRAUB: Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s play it again. This is Samantha Scheibe, now wants to take it all back. This is the 911 call on that day when she called cops. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHEIBE (via phone): Are you serious?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911 police, fire and medical.

SCHEIBE: I need the police right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What`s your address?

SCHEIBE: You`re the one who`s breaking stuff in my house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ma`am, what`s going on?

SCHEIBE: He`s in my house breaking all my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) because I asked him to leave. He has his freaking gun. He`s breaking all of my stuff right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

SCHEIBE: No, this is not...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

SCHEIBE: I`m doing this again? You just broke my glass table. You broke my sunglasses and you put your gun in any freaking face and told me to get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out. This is not your house. No. Get out of here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Last word. Yes, I think I`m writing it down: "You put -- you put the gun in my freaking face." I`m just saying, Jayne.

WEINTRAUB: From what I understand, Jane, they were in very close proximity with one another. She was moving his guns. He was moving and trying to make sure that the guns were safe, and that`s all I know.

But the bottom line is, she has given an affidavit that states under oath that she was not afraid of George Zimmerman, that she was not threatened by George Zimmerman, and he did not point the gun at her or threaten her with it. That`s what I know, and I would hope that the state attorney`s office does not go forward based on that evidence.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Last question. Have you talked to George about this? Is it excited to be getting back with his girlfriend? And what about when he told...

WEINTRAUB: That`s a personal question, not a legal question, Jane, and I can`t speak to the personal -- personal questions, only legal ones. But I`m going to go back into my son`s game.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. So I guess you won`t comment on the report that he stated that she was pregnant.

WEINTRAUB: Again, I don`t -- I don`t know what the question is.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, is she pregnant?

WEINTRAUB: It was my understanding that she had been.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She had been?

WEINTRAUB: That is my understanding. Again, those are personal issues, not legal issues, and that`s not my domain.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right.

WEINTRAUB: Thanks, Jane. Appreciate it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jayne, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.

WEINTRAUB: OK.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I appreciate you taking the time, and I hope your -- I hope your son wins.

All right. Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

Listen, I got to just do a round table with all of our guests, starting with Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor. I mean, we were all there, listening to this. This was a huge national drama. She called the police. There were aerial shots. We saw him dragged into court the next day. He faces serious charges. He could go -- go away for years. The judge gave a stay-away order: "You better stay away from that house." We all remember this.

Now Samantha Scheibe, according to this court document, and there`s an affidavit that -- there`s a signature that says Samantha Scheibe. I don`t know. I mean, I assume that that`s her signature, but they say never assume. Where she says the guns -- "There were guns in the residence that belonged to George and a gun that belongs to me. During the argument George and I exchanged words in the heat of the moment. We were in very close proximity in a relatively small room. George never pointed a gun at or toward my face in a threatening manner. I want to be with George. I contacted George`s attorney to ask if there`s any way the stay-away order can be lifted so that we can talk and be together. I am not afraid of George in any manner, and I want to be with him."

Oh, my gosh, Wendy Murphy.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, you know, if I had a nickel for every one of these kinds of affidavits where a victim of domestic abuse recants -- and 99 percent of the recantations are false, and the original claim is true.

Let me be very blunt here. If I were a prosecutor, not only would I not indulge this obviously false affidavit that conflicts with highly reliable information, because it was a 911 call. And she did say the gun was in her face and her was holding it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

MURPHY: So I don`t buy Jayne`s spin. I love Jayne. She`s a good mama for being at the game. But you know what? It`s a lie under oath, and I would prosecute her for perjury.

Plus, let me be very clear. The reason a no-contact order in connection with a felony charge, which is what this is, felony aggravated assault, the reason a no-contact order is not under the victim`s control is because it`s a decision of the court to protect the integrity of the prosecution. That`s why they can`t have contact. They`re trying to preserve the integrity of the case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jon Leiberman.

MURPHY: This is the government`s case. It is not her case.

JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: There are so -- there are so many problems here. I mean, you look at the court documents, she says she may have misspoken. And I`m with Wendy. I mean, I sit on the National Domestic Violence Registry Board. And unfortunately, we see this every day. Victims get scared, and they don`t want to go forward.

But none of this adds up, Jane. Look at this. George Zimmerman told police in an affidavit that the two had separated earlier in that day. So now, all of a sudden, when nothing has changed circumstantially, now she wants to get back with him? None of this makes any sense. And frankly, it`s disturbing and upsetting.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Rolonda -- Rolonda Watts.

ROLONDA WATTS, ATTORNEY: Well, you know, as Attorney Weintraub is quick to point out, that Zimmerman is a man with a target on his back, no, Zimmerman is a man with a gun still in his possession, who has a string of accusations of violent behavior.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Not now. Not now. The court said, "No, you can`t have any guns."

WATTS: Well, listen, if he`s brandishing a gun, that`s the real question here. Did he brandish a gun in the girl`s face or did he not?

And whether they got together in the moonlight or not and said they`re sorry and made up, the fact is, he`s still a menace to society if she`s brandishing guns in people`s faces. And she called 911 claiming that, for the record.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Listen, we`re going to bring the shrink in and the behavior expert on the other side, because boy, we need a behavior expert. And your calls lining up again.

"Never mind, I take it all back." Are you kidding me?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are there any weapons involved?

ZIMMERMAN: I have weapons. She has weapons in the house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has weapons in the house? OK.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, it`s her house. She`s got a 9 mm. I mean, I have my firearm. She was throwing my stuff out, and one of the bags was one of my firearms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMERMAN: I just wanted to leave. She told me that it was better. She`s pregnant with our child. And she told me I was better co-parenting if she raises the child on her own. That`s fine. I said, "Are you sure this is what you want to do?" She said yes. As soon as I started packing up my stuff to leave, she just completely changed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you say she changed, what did she do?

ZIMMERMAN: At first she was letting me pack my stuff so I could go -- you know, we could go our own ways amicably. When she changed she just started smashing stuff, taking stuff that belonged to me, throwing it outside, throwing it out of her room, throwing it all over the house. She broke a glass table because she threw something on it. I don`t even know if it was mine or hers, whatever it was. She got mad that, I guess, I told her that I would be willing to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

ZIMMERMAN: I guess she thought I was going to argue with her, but she`s pregnant. I`m not going to put her through that kind of stress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh. Oh my gosh, the same old story. It`s never his fault. He`s always the good guy, right?

Simone Bienne, behavior expert, you heard him say on that call, "Well, my girlfriend is pregnant." OK? The girlfriend told police, according to police, that she wasn`t pregnant.

So I asked George`s attorney just a second ago, and she said, cryptically, "It`s my understanding that she was pregnant." I don`t know what that means. I don`t even want to analyze it.

But certainly, there`s many twists and turns that could explain her decision to want to totally say, "Forget about it. I don`t want to press charges. I don`t want to go through it."

SIMONE BIENNE, BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Yes. Absolutely. Because let`s also look at the manipulation that is happening on both sides of them. They are both cuckoo crackers.

First of all, the girlfriend, was she pregnant in the first place? We don`t know. Was it a way to keep George with her? What we do know about this woman is that clearly her world revolves around him. And...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why, I have no idea.

BIENNE: You, Jane, and everybody on Twitter is asking the same question.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What is it with this guy?

BIENNE: How does he get girlfriends? I know.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

BIENNE: He`s not exactly a looker.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: He`s not a looker. He`s unemployed. He`s facing criminal charges. He`s in debt. He can`t get a job. He`s, according to his soon-to-be-ex-wife, his estranged wife, a ticking time bomb. That`s how Shellie described him.

Mark Starling, thank you for your patience. You`re with 96.5. So when`s his next court date and how might this retraction affect the criminal case against him?

MARK STARLING, 96.5 RADIO (via phone): Well, you know, I don`t know that`s going to affect him at all at this point. It`s really up to the state attorney`s office at this point to whether they`re going to proceed or not. You know, they have the evidence to go forward. There`s no question about it. I mean, the table was broken inside. They`ve got the 911 tape.

You know, I think the real question is here, let`s not forget. Twenty-four -- about 24 hours after this initial incident, Zimmerman`s girlfriend was shopping television networks to sell her story. You know, there`s...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Allegedly. I can`t confirm that. Yes.

Wendy Murphy, OK, let`s say she refuses to testify. Do they have a case, this aggravated assault case...

MURPHY: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... based on just her 911 call if she doesn`t want to press charges, really?

MURPHY: Yes. And here`s why. The Supreme Court recently dealt with this issue in the past several years. The question is hearsay when it comes in the form of a 911 call admissible and sufficient to prove a case, and they said yes.

Why? Because a 911 call is made in the heat of the moment. It`s a revelation of facts that are occurring at that time. It`s made under very significant stressful conditions, and we have always in the law had -- had a big exception in terms of allowing hearsay...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Can I jump in and ask you a question?

MURPHY: Because it`s reliable.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me -- let me jump in, though. What if she turns around and testifies for Zimmerman`s defense team, and they call her up and say, "Hey, honey, you said it wasn`t true." Right?

LEIBERMAN: Right. That`s going to happen.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. Let`s go to Jon Leiberman.

MURPHY: That has happened.

LEIBERMAN: I think, yes -- I think -- I think that will definitely happen. I mean, Wendy is right. You know, hopefully, they will go forward with it, but their case is much weakened. There`s no doubt about it. It`s much, much weaker without this alleged victim taking the stand.

And you hit the nail on the head, Jane.

MURPHY: Is she lies under oath...

LEIBERMAN : She could easily testify for the defense.

MURPHY: If she lies under oath, they can put her in jail.

LEIBERMAN: They sure can.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. You know what? I find this so fascinating, and it just blows my mind. Every time you think, OK, I put that file over here, boom, you`ve got to grab it. I leave my Zimmerman file on my desk at all times, because you never know what`s going to happen with him and his kooky entourage.

Speaking of kooky entourages, up next, an allegedly brutal attack on Paris`s kid brother. And believe it or not, some are saying it`s going to be another legal nightmare for La Lohan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m harassing you, poor you. Look at him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m harassing you, poor you. Look at him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And the buzz tonight, Lindsay Lohan is making headlines again. This time, she`s accused of being the mastermind behind a brutal attack on, of all people, Paris Hilton`s little brother, Barron Hilton. Barron claims Lindsay and her friend accused him of talking smack about her and then Lindsay allegedly told her friend, beat Barron up. Look at this horrifying picture that Barron posted on Instagram. That looks serious. Barron told the cops that Lindsay was encouraging her friend and laughing while she watched his face get beaten to a pulp. Sounds like "Mean Girls," the sequel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So don`t try to look so innocent. You can take that fake apology and shove it right up your hairy...

LINDSAY LOHAN, ACTRESS: And that`s how Regina George died.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I remember that scene. Lindsay, of course, says she had nothing to do with this incident involving Barron. The guy who threw the punches told cops the fight had nothing to do with her and that Barron was simply refusing to leave his party.

Barron`s big sister -- remember her, Paris? -- oh, yes, she`s getting involved, saying, "They will both pay for what they did and no one bleeps with my family." You got that straight?

Watch this confrontation again. We cannot confirm reports if this is Barron Hilton confronting Lindsay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m harassing you, poor you. Look at him. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to Radar Online`s Alexis Tereszcuk. What a huge mess. By the way, we`ve reached out to reps for Lindsay and the Hiltons. We haven`t heard back.

The guy who reportedly, allegedly attacked Barron, is he going to be charged? Is there anything beyond a bunch of, you know, over-privileged, bratty young adults screaming at each other?

What about -- what about the cops?

ALEXIS TERESZCUK, RADAR ONLINE: Well, the cops actually do want to charge the guy, Ray, who allegedly beat up Barron. They say that they`ve got enough proof. They`ve spoken to enough people.

The one person they are not spoken to is, of course, Lindsay Lohan, because as you know, she has probably the best legal counsel in the whole entire world. And she knows how to play this game, and she know she doesn`t have to talk to the cops. So, despite them trying to talk to her twice in the hotel that she fled to when she left this mansion, which you can see in this video, they have been unable to talk with her. So all it is, is Barron`s side and from what cops are hearing from Barron`s side, they feel like they have enough to arrest the guy.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s a pretty serious beat-down. I mean, that`s not -- unless he went to some Hollywood make-up artist, you know, who made that look like that. I just don`t get that there`s any indications.

Why would somebody want to play the victim in a situation like this? It`s kind of -- for a guy, it must be kind of humiliating. He`s a good- looking guy.

Now, according to published reports -- again, I wasn`t there at the party; wasn`t invited. My invitation got lost in the sewer, I guess.

But according to published reports, there were drugs and booze at this Miami party. But the newly-rehabbed and very sober Lindsay claims she stayed away from all of it. Oh, no. She was knitting in the corner.

Lindsay, be careful, honey. You don`t want to screw things up again. Let`s go down memory lane, little girl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOHAN: I`m not taking this as a joke. It`s my life. It`s my career, something I`ve worked for my entire life. And, you know, I`ve learned from my experiences. I take responsibility for my actions. And I`ve tried to do the best I can in the past few weeks since I was here last.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Kelli Zink, host, CelebTV.com out of Chicago, this girl has been in rehab -- I don`t know, I can`t keep track -- something like 20 times. OK? She`s avoided any serious jail time. She`s got deal after deal after deal. You know, people are just asking her to lay low, and yet she always ends up in something like this, in a mess like this. What the heck?

KELLI ZINK, HOST, CELEBTV.COM: You know, she`s always getting these tattoos. I think she needs to tattoo on her face, "Don`t go out. Stay in the house. Only leave when you are working and leave with a sober companion or coach."

I just don`t feel bad for her any more. I`m sorry, I don`t. This is ridiculous.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I never felt bad for her.

ZINK: Well, you know, there have been times when we cheered for her. We wanted her to get back on her feet. But at this point, if you want to network at parties that are (inaudible) I get it. Go to the ones that take place during the day, go to the teas and the luncheons. Do not party all night in the house.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree with you. I mean it`s insane. It`s like -- I`m a recovering alcoholic, it`s like if I sat down on a street corner with a bottle of, you know, Boons` Farm or Ripple -- those were when I was a kid, that`s what we drank, and asked people, you know, please, I`m not drinking, don`t look at this because this has nothing to do with me, you know. I don`t even take a photograph with a drink in my hand even if it`s sparkling water because people will start commenting she`s drinking again. She`s off the wagon. You got to watch it.

We`re delighted to have Mike Walters, news manager, TMZ, my good buddy out of the TMZ newsroom in Los Angeles. What do you know about this? You know, it`s like a three-headed monster.

MIKE WALTERS, NEWS MANAGER, TMZ: I can tell you -- I can tell you what Barron Hilton told cops that happened. He tells law enforcement that he was there at this after-party like you`ve just been talking about. We`re talking 6:00, 7:00 in the morning. The party had gone from the night before. He claims that he was there. Lindsay at some point decided everyone should get out of the house and she went over and tried to kick Barron Hilton -- Paris Hilton`s little brother out of the house.

According to him she thought he had been talking bad stuff about her. I mean we`re talking paranoia, some crazy party at 7:00 in the morning, she believes this happen.

Well she got one of her cronies over and this guy attacked Barron Hilton. You look at the photos there. His face is mangled. He has to go see a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles now. But according to him this was all ordered by Lindsay Lohan. It was orchestrated by Lindsay Lohan and now he`s in a mess.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Lindsay, of course, says she has absolutely nothing to do with this. It`s that she just happened to be at the party. "I have nothing to do with it."

What are cops doing? I mean this is a serious beat-down. Whoever did it, I would think at this point this is not, you know, "Murder She Wrote" - - they`ve got to be able to figure out what was going on. Why haven`t they made an arrest?

WALTERS: Well, Jane, I`m told that the cops do know the actual perpetrator. His name is Ray LaMoine (ph). He`s a New Yorker who was at this house partying. They know his name. I`m told arrest is imminent. They are investigating this case. But, look, you`re talking about a party where everyone most likely was under the influence of something. So you`ve got he said/she said in a house of people that aren`t credible.

If you`re the state`s attorney office in Florida, you have to look at it and go, can I convict this guy with the testimony of a bunch of people that were high and drunk. And probably the answer is no. So the reality is, will they actually charge him and get away with it and convict him? I`m not sure -- probably not.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well Ray, come on and tell your side of the story. We haven`t been able to reach you but we`d love to hear from you. And Paris, of course, we`d love to have you on. And Barron, we`d love to you. And Lindsay we`d love to have you too. Let`s come on and we`ll have a sober party and figure out what really -- what the heck really went on.

Really -- my dad used to come in when I was having a party saying. He`d go, "Closing up shop. Come on, everybody out. We`re closing up shop." That`s what I would have said long before dawn.

Later -- what in the world is going on here? We`re talking culture of violence. It`s crazy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope it`s only two weeks.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Oh my.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May they do their best to find solutions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Congress has tried to sabotage the power of policy with the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Jump back into the time machine on the big story. Back in 1947 President Harry Truman spanked Congress branding that Congress as the infamous do-nothing Congress even though they got 388 laws made.

But get this, that`s a hell of a lot more than our current Congress has done. This Congress has enacted less than 60 laws, less than 60 laws - - and a lot of them are jokes, like naming an airport. So I am calling this Congress the "Less Than Zero Congress". Yes. Welcome to the "Less Than Zero Congress". This is beyond lazy. They`re approaching drifter status.

Our own Lisa Desjardins crunched the numbers. The current members of Congress took 117 days off from work. That doesn`t even include weekends and holidays. Compare that to the average American who gets 12 vacation days and takes just ten days off. Oh and did I mention that members of Congress make $174,000 a year which translate to $170 per actual hour of time worked in D.C.? Compare that to the minimum wage of $7.25.

These bums will tell you "I`m not off. I`m back in my home district talking to the voter and listening." Seriously? We all know that`s campaigning for reelection. We`re not dumb.

There`s good news though on the horizon -- a chance to change things, to wipe the slate clean. Next November all members of Congress are, as they are after a couple of years, up for reelection.

Here`s my New Year`s wish. Please answer it. I would like to throw all of them out, all 435 of them. Get out of here. Clean house. Let`s get rid of every single member of Congress and start totally fresh with a brand new group of Americans who are not politicians, who are not lazy, who are not power-mad, who are not in the pockets of lobbyists for big business.

Straight out to Ellis Henican, "Newsday" columnist, I would love you to rate this Congress that is currently in power. How bad is it? I call it the "Less Than Zero Congress". How would you rate it?

ELLIS HENICAN, "NEWSDAY" COLUMNIST: I think you have it about right. It makes those Harry Truman congressmen look like real busy beavers -- it does. But, you know what, I got to tell you, in a way we have ourselves to blame -- right? They have the lowest approval rating ever. I think actually Poison Ivy now has a higher approval rating than the Congress of the United States. And yet -- and yet Jane every two years we complain, we complain, and we complain and then we vote most of them back to Washington.

So, I don`t know, maybe we got to start by looking in the mirror here a little bit.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree with you 100,000 percent. You know we`re all talking let`s throw these bums out. Get them out of here -- their approval ratings are so low -- their disapproval ratings. But part of the problem is every two years these congress members face reelection as soon as they get into office. As soon as they put that tuckus (ph) in the chair, all they`re thinking about is I got to get reelected.

It`s a never-ending treadmill. They become very fear based. Oh my God, I`m a member of Congress. Oh, pinch myself. I don`t want to be kicked out of this fancy club. So this is the reason they`re always campaigning. And when they`re in D.C., quote-unquote working, they`re often meeting with lobbyists and therefore becoming morally corrupt.

I have to ask, Lisa Desjardins CNN Capitol Hill correspondent, I know you can`t really give opinions but is the system itself broken to the point where it`s got moral corruption built into it? In other words, this is a system that was set up long before by our founding fathers who didn`t know from thousands of lobbyists for big business trolling Capitol Hill, you know, influencing and threatening.

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I`ll ask you Jane how much time during each day do you spend fund-raising, right? Members of Congress when they come to Washington, many of them walk right across the street, get on the telephone and dial for dollars. Because the money game in Washington right now Jane, sad to say, is a bit ridiculous. It is an industry so there are jobs attached to that industry and it is an industry to try and pursue worthy goals in many cases but obviously the money fight in Washington is taking up so much of these people`s times.

Even looking at the statistics how much they`re in Washington, how much they`re not in Washington. What does it tell us what our members of Congress are doing? In their defense, I know that everyone is unhappy with members of Congress. And I`ll tell you it`s not fun covering congress when they`re not doing anything, so I might be in that crowd.

But the members would say they`re really working when they`re outside of D.C.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have another name for them, the "Club Med Congress". You know why? They`re either coming back from vacation or they`re headed to another vacation. They just got back from Thanksgiving vacation. They`re leaving Friday for Christmas vacation. And get this they`re not expected to wrap up that trifling business of extending unemployment benefits for more than a million jobless Americans whose unemployment is running out.

In fact -- let`s go to the Senate for a second. Kentucky senator Rand Paul suggests that extending unemployment benefits would be coddling the unemployed. Tell me if you agree that in this current that he`s about to give you, he`s implying that if you`re unemployed for quite a while there`s something wrong with you -- namely, you`re lazy. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: There was a study that came out a few months ago and it said if you have a worker that`s been unemployed for four weeks and on unemployment insurance and one that`s on 99 weeks, which would you hire? Every employer, nearly 100 percent said they would always hire the person that`s been out of work for weeks. When you allow people to be on unemployment insurance for 99 weeks, you`re causing them to be become part of this perpetual unemployed group in our economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to the "Lion`s Den". You know what, Jon Leiberman, the nerve of this guy. Here`s a news bulletin for you Rand Paul. Not everybody is lucky enough to have a dad like yours who was a congressman and a presidential candidate. You, Rand Paul, have benefited immensely from the family name, the family connections. And then Jon Leiberman, he has the nerve to judge people who are out there scraping by to survive insinuating they`re lazy.

JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, well all members of congress should be the ones trying to collect unemployment benefits because they should all be out of jobs. But Jane, the reason why they won`t be out is because they themselves help to redraw the districts so that most incumbents will win despite the fact that most Americans don`t want them back there. They`ve basically made it so that they don`t have any competitive races so they have no competition in their districts. And that`s why the most incumbent will win next time around.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ellis Henican, we`re facing another possible shutdown. Let`s not let a little thing like that stand in the way of our vacation.

HENICAN: You know, there`s an answer here. Why don`t we all take the pledge, right? We will replace these people. Don`t fall for the argument that they want to give us, right, which is, well, my congressman is perfect, it`s all those other ones that are bad. You know what, all those others and mine add up to the messed that we`re in. We each need to take responsibility for it. Let`s just pick congressmen by random, how about that? That might work out better.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree.

DESJARDINS: Let me just jump in --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

DESJARDINS: Jane, let me jump in. There`s a very small crumb of hope, I agree that Congress certainly has not dealt with the major issues, there`s really nothing to debate on that. But we do have hope this week that there may in fact be a budget deal between Republicans and Democrats. Stay tuned on that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: From your mouth to God`s ears.

LEIBERMAN: Because they won`t push off their vacations. They won`t do that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: No. They said 11:00 a.m. Friday we`re out of here. You know why? Those cruise ships wait for no one.

HENICAN: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Thank you, fantastic panel.

We`ve got an amazing spy story on the other side. You have to hear about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Your crazy video of the day is indeed crazy -- an all-out soccer brawl in Brazil. This is completely insane. They`re firing rubber bullets into the crowd. They had to call in choppers to air lift injured fans. I don`t understand this. I know this happens every so often like when the politicians in certain foreign countries start fighting. But I don`t get it. I do not understand. Can it be hormones possibly?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey, little Rico. I like your outfit. You know, the temperature`s dropping and the holidays are coming on and controversy over people wearing fur is definitely heating up. Yesterday I covered this animal rights demonstration in the heart of New York City -- shot this video with my iPad.

Animal rights activists rallying outside major stores telling people, stop wearing fur. That`s all kind of fur clothing, from coats to jackets to that fur trim. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why do you think that other consumers don`t think about what they`re wearing on their collar or their coat?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think anything is beautiful about someone else`s skin. I think that if they were to actually see the process of what fur is, how it was actually obtained that nobody would actually wear fur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Rico, there`s breaking news to report on the international fur front. The animal rights organization Last Chance for Animals who says it infiltrated part of a Chinese dog and cat fur industry. Listen to this clip where investigators from Last Chance for Animals tell us what they say has been going on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For three weeks animal equality investigators infiltrated Chinese dog and cat farms. These gangs often act in plain daylight. They take advantage of any opportunity to break into homes and take the dogs in just a few seconds. Besides dog meat, some restaurants also offer a dish called Dragon, Tiger, and Phoenix for which a cat is killed by placing it in a pot of boiling water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and according to the organization, some of those animals, many of them, thousands, millions maybe, are used for fur as well. Last Chance for Animals had an undercover investigator pose as a rich businessman. The investigator said he wanted a tour of the slaughterhouse where they were using dog, cats and rabbits and killing them, and they took him there.

I`m going to show you some of the very disturbing video he shot with his hidden camera. A I`ve got to warn you, it`s disturbing. But watch for a second. We`re going to talk to the investigator.

Check this out. There are just a few shots that we can show you because most of it is way, way, way too graphic of these dogs and cats nearly lifeless kept in these cages. Again, these are killed for fur and food, according to Last Chance for Animals.

The good news is that Last Chance for Animals tells us that this covert operation led to local Chinese authorities shutting down this facility and 33 of the markets that they said sold dog, cat and rabbit fur and pelts along with meat to eat. These are dogs. Just like the dogs that you walk. And I see a lot of people walking dogs while they`re wearing a coat with a fur collar.

Straight out to Chris Derose, president of Last Chance for Animals; Chris, this sounds like something out of a horror movie combined with a spy movie. Describe the operation and what it accomplished. What Chinese authorities ultimately did.

CHRIS DEROSE, PRESIDENT, LAST CHANCE FOR ANIMALS: It is a horror, Jane. The only thing is it`s not a movie. What we`ve been able to do here is close down 33 markets, and one slaughterhouse, which is equivalent to about 1.5 million dogs and cats a year that are being slaughtered in these atrocious places.

Not only are the animals suffering in the slaughter because their throats are cut and left there to bleed out, also in the transportation of these animals. As you see, sometimes their paw, their legs are sticking out or their noses sticking out and they drop them off these trucks sometimes as high as 2.5 stories high and they just slam these animals around.

The total fear, the fear is so much, Jane, I`ve got to tell you, they don`t even bark.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`ve got to leave it there. Extraordinary investigation. We`ll have more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The U.S. Fur Council challenges the video. They say consumers should look at the labels on their garments and their entire statement is online on hlntv.com/Jane.

END