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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Teen Acted Strangely Before Vanishing

Aired March 20, 2014 - 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, stunning new developments in the mysterious disappearance of a beautiful high school freshman.

Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell. Thanks for joining me.

There she is. Fifteen-year-old Danielle Locklear went missing just over a week ago. The FBI is now leading the intense search to find her. Her aunt now says she was dropped off by a strange vehicle the day before she disappeared. She claims, oh, it was a school friend.

Here, you see video from Facebook of her dancing. She was so popular at school. In a moment, I`m going to speak with Danielle`s step- grandmother, who has a very close relationship with her. She noticed Danielle behaving strangely in the days before she vanished. What could that mean? Was the pretty popular teen keeping a secret when she suddenly disappeared?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROWNA FOWLER, DANIELLE`S MOTHER: If you please know where my daughter is, any information, please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For 15-year-old Danielle Locklear has been missing a week now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m really scared. Like, I want her to be found, and I`ve also prepared myself if she`s not.

R. FOWLER: I want my baby to come home. That`s my baby girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Danielle last seen Tuesday of last week after walking out of her home near Fayetteville, North Carolina. Her grandfather -- and she lives with her grandparents -- say Danielle told him, "Hey, I`m walking to a friend`s house up the street." Well, that was about 9:45 at night on a Tuesday. She never made it there.

Two days later, an alarming discovery: some of Danielle`s clothing found at a nearby creek where teens like to hang out.

And in another strange twist, Danielle all of a sudden went silent on social media in the weeks before her disappearance. That`s not something your average 15-year-old Facebooker is going to do.

Danielle`s mom says her daughter was happy and healthy. Popular at school, no reasons to run away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

R. FOWLER: Tell her to come home. Danielle, if you see this, come home, baby. I love you. I won`t be mad at you. Just come home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`ll talk to Danielle`s step-grandma in a second. But first, KRLD reporter Joe Gomez, you`ve been digging on this case. What`s the latest?

JOE GOMEZ, REPORTER, KRLD: Jane, as the intense manhunt continues for this beautiful 15-year-old who has her whole life ahead of her, we understand that police have taken away the cell phones of both her mother and her aunt. What this could mean is that they`re trying to communicate with Danielle, if she has her phone on, via cell phone, via text message, something.

We also understand that there have been reports that subpoenas have been taken for the cell phones of her classmates and friends. We understand her boyfriend is cooperating with police, so hopefully, we can get something to tighten the circle in the search for young Danielle. Because it`s been over a week now since she`s been missing, Jane. And you and I both know that the longer time goes on, well, the worse it gets.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly. And the FBI is involved. That says something right there. We`re going to analyze with our experts. What does it say? Danielle, a popular happy high school freshman.

Let`s take another look at the Facebook video she posted of herself dancing and goofing off with friends. And boy, she looks joyous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What a beautiful young lady, so happy on that video.

Phyllis Fowler, thank you for joining us. You`re the step-grandmother of this missing teenager. I know this is very difficult for you. And you are talking to us from North Carolina, the very state from which she vanished.

Why did you conclude that she was acting in an odd or different manner in the weeks before she vanished? Try to describe and explain it to us, Phyllis.

PHYLLIS FOWLER, STEP-GRANDMOTHER OF DANIELLE (via phone): Danielle has always been so personable, so just energetic and lively. And I had sent her an e-mail or a text, excuse me, telling her I was going to send her a package of some clothes that I had here and a few St. Patrick`s Day gifts that I had boughten [SIC] for her -- that I had bought for her.

And the way she responded was just so blase, almost like this was not my Danielle.

And I was talking to my son about it, and he said, "Mother" -- he said, "Do you remember, I told you that Danielle had" -- he had started to notice that Danielle had declined her posts on Facebook. I don`t have a clue what could be happening. Something -- something monumental has happened to cause Danielle to do this. This is not the Danielle we know and love.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I could tell that you`re very distraught. And I certainly understand that. And what we`re doing, Phyllis, is to do everything we can to get the word out there. Somebody out there knows something, OK?

P. FOWLER: Yes, yes, they do.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we`ve got experts standing by. I`d like you to stand by. Do not hang up, Phyllis. We`re going to dive deeper into this, and we want to come back to you for more information.

But you just heard it. She stopped posting on Facebook. What would cause Danielle, a typical 15-year-old, to stop posting on Facebook in the weeks before her disappearance?

Now, police say Danielle`s boyfriend is cooperating with the investigation. Remember, there`s no suspects here, all right? But you`ve got to wonder. Did something happen between them? He`s 18, according to some reports. She`s 15. Or could it be somebody else? Did she meet somebody online?

Now, her mother says Danielle is very popular at high school and that she would never run away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

R. FOWLER: No one knows what a mother -- what a mother goes through, what I feel in my heart. If you please know where my daughter is, any information, please tell her to come home. Danielle, if you see this, come home, baby, I love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: While we`ve been working on this story, it`s been very challenging. We have not been able to reach Danielle`s mother or her aunt. And it turns out we know why. Investigators have confiscated the mom and the aunt`s cell phones. And then, as you`ve heard, ABC-11 has reported cops have subpoenaed the cell phones from Locklear`s classmates and friends, along with Locklear`s former boyfriend. I thought she was -- she had a boyfriend. Who`s involved here?

But first, I want to go to Wendy Patrick, sex crimes prosecutor. We`re putting together the pieces of this puzzle. What do you make of it?

WENDY PATRICK, SEX CRIMES PROSECUTOR: I`ll tell you what. The cell- phone evidence is huge, as you point out. I mean, teenagers live on social media.

It`s also huge for another reason, however. You know, the parents think they probably know a lot of Danielle`s friends. But unfortunately, what the cell phone has done is expanded a teen`s world to be friends with anybody, literally anywhere in the world.

It is also a social media playground for pedophiles, for predators, for someone looking for selfies, for someone looking for provocative screen names. Because let`s face it: it`s gotten to be a place where teenagers bare all, both figuratively and literally. Now this doesn`t appear to be the case with Danielle, but that doesn`t mean that she possibly met somebody online.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, first of all, Wendy Patrick, obviously, I would think that they have confiscated her -- not -- she took her cell phone with her, so apparently the cell phone is missing. But -- and I`ll throw this to Anna Young. The authorities had to have gone in, taken her computer and found out was she -- if not on Facebook, was she online in any other Web site? Was she communicating with anybody online?

ANNA YOUNG: That`s absolutely right, Jane. Only time will tell what the investigation surfaces and whether she was communicating with someone else or whether there was another relationship that we don`t know about.

I mean, I`m glad to know her boyfriend or her ex-boyfriend is cooperating, because we all know that he`s probably the first person that the law-enforcement officers targeted.

But to say what Wendy Patrick was saying, it`s absolutely right. Social media now with teens trying to become popular and trying to get as many followers and likes, there`s so many different types of people out there, and so many creepers out there that you don`t know. Even if she didn`t know who was creeping on her...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And Anna, let me jump in here and look at this missing picture. You know, in one, she looks like kind of a little girl with glasses. In the other she`s looking like a sexy young adult.

YOUNG: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And even older than her 15 years.

Phyllis Fowler, again, the step-grandmother of the missing teen. You live in the same state. You`re close to her.

Is it a boyfriend or an ex-boyfriend? Because my understanding is she went with her 18-year-old boyfriend to your house, which is about 70 miles away where she lives with her grandparents over the holidays. He seemed like a nice kid, wants to join the marines. Do you have any word they broke up or is there another ex-boyfriend?

P. FOWLER: You`re exactly correct. I picked her up in Hope Mills and brought them to my house here. I took her to see some of their middle school friends. I grilled him thoroughly, like any good grandmother is supposed to. I asked him about his decisions for his futures and what were his contributing factor, contributing skills? What did he have that would make him a good Marine? I just really grilled him. And I picked up no bad vibes from him at all.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And let me jump in. They didn`t sleep in the same room or did they?

P. FOWLER: Oh, no. No, no, no, not at my house! No. Danielle always, the place she`s always slept since she`s been in my life would be on my sofa. She loves it. And he slept in our guest bedroom. No. My daughter is very...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, so...

P. FOWLER: ... she got up the next morning and could assure us nothing went on.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s another piece of the puzzle. Danielle`s friends describe her as bubbly and outgoing, and they are totally shocked by her sudden disappearance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m really scared. I want her to be found but I`ve also prepared myself if she`s not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now Eric Guster, attorney out of New York City, we`ve heard reports saying Danielle might have been spotted on the night she disappeared or around the night she disappeared about five miles away from her grandmother`s house at Lazy Acres RV park in Fayetteville, North Carolina. And RV park can be very frightening. And then you match that with a strange car dropped her off the day before.

ERIC GUSTER, ATTORNEY: That`s very strange. And that`s why it`s so important for the police to get all the cell-phone records from her and the social media records from her friends, as well. Because that gives her core nucleus of friends and contacts for them to have a place to start.

Because it`s so important for them to narrow down what she -- who she was speaking with, what she was saying to them, if she was planning to get away, or if she was talking or trying to develop a relationship with someone, especially someone older who could influence her to go away with them. So it`s very important for them to do that, and it seems like they started in the right place.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side, what about her mother? She doesn`t live in the same state. Why is this girl living with her grandparents, and the dad is in yet another state? So many clues. Stay right there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

R. FOWLER: I want my baby to come home. That`s my baby girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are some feelings and heartbreak that words can`t explain.

R. FOWLER: No one knows what a mother -- a mother goes through. I feel like my heart is going to burst (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP )

CAPT. DAVID SERVIE, HOPE MILLS, NORTH CAROLINA, POLICE DEPARTMENT: We are not discounting anything. As I said before, we do not know where Danielle is at or anything like that. And that`s -- our focus is to find Danielle. And we`re exploring all possibilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Police are working hard, but they`re stumped. They held a news conference admitting they have no idea what happened to this popular teenager. Look at her. She`s playing with cards. She loves to dance. She`s good at school.

Danielle`s mom says two days after she vanished, some of their clothing were found on the bank of a creek less than a mile from her home. That is an ominous discovery. But the question is, was the clothing put there intentionally to throw investigators off? Listen to what missing children expert Marc Klaas said on this show just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC KLAAS, FOUNDER, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Her finding of the clothing at the creek, I think, probably is kind of a red flag. That`s a real anomaly.

Oftentimes in these kinds of cases, where family members are the ones or somebody inserts themselves in the search and they are the ones that come up with evidence, that evidence is put there for the purpose of misdirection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we have no evidence that the mother found the clothes. That was one report, but it has not been confirmed. All we know is the clothing belonged to this girl; was found at a creek where kids like to hang out, apparently, when they`re ditching school.

Brian Silber, to me, that is the most ominous fact that has been reported thus far.

BRIAN SILBER, ATTORNEY: Well, Jane, I think it depends on the type of clothing we`re talking about. You know, was this an undergarment or was it a sweater? You know, if I had a nickel for every time my girlfriend left her sweater somewhere, you know, I`d be a multi-multi-millionaire.

So I think it really depends. She could have just simply left her sweater there.

I think the best evidence in this case is going to come from the electronic evidence we were discussing before, you know, her computers, the cell phone. And most importantly, I would say, beyond the text messages and the e-mails, it`s the GPS data in her cell phone.

If you think of that Malaysian airplane flight that`s missing, a cell phone pings at different towers. And that could tell us where the cell phone last was. And I would think that would be the most important clue in this case

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And cops hopefully know that by now, although they`re not talking.

Let`s go out to the phone lines. Mary, Michigan, what do you have to say? Mary, Michigan.

CALLER: Hi, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.

CALLER: I`m calling because I would like to make a statement on the young girl. First of all, do we know what kind of relationship at all she had at all with her mother?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, interesting you should mention that. I want to go to Selin Darkalstanian, our senior producer, who has been doing deep research on the family relationship. And we also have a map that show that her mom lives in one state. Her dad lives in another state. And the daughter herself lives in the third state, North Carolina. Selin, what have you learned?

SELIN DARKALSTANIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Jane, I`ve been talking to her dad. Her dad lives in Florida. And, you know, he hasn`t -- he`s not very -- hasn`t been involved in her life. So he lives there. Her mom lives in Myrtle Beach. She lives in North Carolina.

Now I asked why does she live with her grandparents, not with her mother? And I was told, like every other, you know, teenager, her and her mom have their ups and downs in their relationship, and she would rather live with her grandparents. So she does live with her grandmother.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And by the way, this is a photo of her with her father, who again is in Florida.

DARKALSTANIAN: That is her dad.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Not connected to this case.

DARKALSTANIAN: And her grandma...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead.

DARKALSTANIAN: Her grandma sells watermelons, and she helps out her aunt babysitting. And she makes a little bit of money here and there, living with that part of the family in North Carolina.

So that`s what we know about the family dynamics of Danielle.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`ve actually talked to the father?

DARKALSTANIAN: Yes. I spoke to the dad this morning. He is very concerned about his daughter, obviously. He was trying to get in touch with the cops. He did get in touch with them this morning, just letting -- helping them out, telling them anything he knew.

But he hadn`t spoken to her recently in the -- you know, in the week before she went missing. And he`s just trying to do everything he can to help on his end. But he was not in the state when she went missing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So I find that interesting. Phyllis Fowler, step- grandmother of the missing teen, you are very close to her. I would think it would be difficult for a teenager. No matter how nice your grandparents are, you`re living with Grandpa. Mom`s in one state. Dad is in Florida. When a child is -- first, had she expressed any upset about that?

P. FOWLER: None. Danielle is a very adaptable person. She can acclimate to her surroundings. And she was always so upbeat, always so happy. And I have never, since Danielle has been living with her grandmother, I`ve never heard her say, "I`m unhappy, Nana. You know, I want to move or anything." I never heard her say anything like that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to go back to Wendy Patrick, sex crimes prosecutor. You hear -- we`re putting the pieces together.

OK. So she gets off Facebook, a month before, a weird, unusual, never-before-seen car drops her off. She claims it`s a friend. Her clothes turn up at a nearby creek after she goes off, supposedly to visit a friend at 9:45 at night right away. Sorry. I don`t know why a child is going off at 9:45 at night herself.

And the RV park she`s been spotted. What are some scenarios?

PATRICK: I`ll tell you what. One of the scenarios that all of these clues keep pointing to is that there was somebody involved in her life other than "the usual suspects," quote unquote. In other words, it just seems like, with the unusual car, with the decline in social media presence.

And by the way, one other thing social media really is nowadays. It`s confessional. It`s not just a place you go to connect with friends. It`s a place you tell what`s going on and what you`ve done.

You know, the big joke is if you`re lucky enough to have a child accept your Facebook friend request, that`s where parents are looking to see what their kids did over the weekend.

This decrease in activity, Jane, that is just huge. I mean, you wonder whether or not she met somebody that was jealous and wanted her to have less of a social media presence or whether it was some sort of an attempt to leave less clues. I mean, it`s heartbreaking for so many reasons. But that is one of the directions, having done -- you know, tried a lot of stalking cases. That is one of the directions that it could potentially be leading that maybe somebody else wanted her to have less of a social media presence for just this reason.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable. And again, her clothing found at the nearby creek. So, that, to me, is ominous. And we`re just getting started. We have so many calls lined up. We will go back to Phyllis Fowler, the step grandmother who said she noticed odd behavior in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. What does it all mean? Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Newly obtained video of the missing 15-year-old, Danielle Locklear. And you can see just from that video one, she`s laughing at friends. She`s popular; she`s not a loner. Her mother, all her relatives say she`s extremely popular in high school. She has a lot of friends. She is a good student; she had no reason or shown any signs of running away.

But we`re learning of this fact, as well, that she had gone off social media in the weeks leading up to her disappearance and her own step- grandmother says she was acting strangely curt when she was normally very warm and fuzzy.

Joe Gomez, reporter, KRLD Dallas, you`ve been digging, what are you learning?

GOMEZ: Yes, morning, Jane. She was a bubbly person. She was a great student. Everybody loved Danielle Locklear. By all appearances, she looked like she was going to go off into the sunset and have a marvelous life.

So it`s bizarre that she would just suddenly disappear off of Facebook, that she would end all sorts of communication. Did she fall in love with some stranger? Did somebody come into her life? Was she so distracted enamored with this individual that she would just give everything up and vanish into the night? It`s a very strange scenario, Jane.

LAWSON: And I`ll tell you another thing, and I`ll throw this to Brian Silber or, actually, Anna Young and then we`ll get to Brian.

We have learned from relatives she was due to babysit a couple of days after she vanished -- she vanished on a Tuesday. She was due to babysit and was supposed to earn $200. For a teenager, for anybody, that`s real money. That`s another reason why I think it`s odd that she vanished.

That`s a lot of money for a teenager. This is really weird. She completely became withdrawn, this warm and fuzzy person is now responding with such lax and not really being involved in the family`s life.

I think maybe somebody got ahold of her and tried to control her, tried to control her presence on social media; does to recall what she was doing and maybe manipulated her. Because we don`t think there`s a reason for her to run away. But then again, we don`t know if she met someone and she just kept it from others and didn`t tell anyone about that.

I mean, clearly, she was withdrawn and what that leads me is that she maybe met someone she didn`t talk to people about, because this is odd behavior, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Brian Silber, criminal defense attorney out of Fort Lauderdale. They go on her computer, and even if she`s not on Facebook, they can quickly find out if she`s been communicating with anybody. even though they don`t presumably have her cell phone right now. The actual physical cell phone.

BRIAN SILBER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s correct. It`s actually very easy to do, and it`s something I`ve actually done investigating my own cases. Basically, they`ve got to issue a subpoena to the cell-phone company provider. And they get the actual data of that cell phone pinging back and forth through various towers throughout the area. You take that information and you put it on a map and you can track someone`s progress as they move about a very particular area.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now Phyllis Fowler, the step-grandmother, I want to ask you again very quickly, any indication that she had broken up with her boyfriend, because that would also tend to indicate maybe she`d met someone else?

P. FOWLER: Danielle never shared that they had to me. She might have told my daughter, but she never shared with me that she and her boyfriend had broken up.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And when was the last time you talked to her?

P. FOWLER: I talked to her about a week before she went missing. And we were just -- I had texted her about doing well in school. And, you know, how to get good grades and things. And she e-mailed me back, cool.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cool.

P. FOWLER: And then, the next time we talked, it was like a vague, different Danielle.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable. Phyllis, my heart goes out to you and Danielle`s family. We`re going to stay on top of this. So many clues. And we`ll keep our viewers posted, as well.

On the other side of the break, an uproar. Outrage, controversy and debate after this video goes viral, because you will not believe where it was shot and why this is considered contraband and was shot with contraband. It is an astounding story. And we`ll tell you why it has sparked incredible debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A group of prisoners shot a rap video from behind bars. The question is how.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A smuggled phone appears to have been used to shoot this video.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Inmates at the Kershaw Correctional Institution performing a rap song that was later posted on a hip-hop website.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it sends a signal that we need to be more vigilant in our looking for contraband.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators have identified eight inmates involved with the video. They`re facing new disciplinary measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, an uproar over this rap video that`s been viewed almost half a million times. Here`s what all the outrage is about.

The stars of the video are all inmates in a South Carolina prison and they apparently used a cell phone to film it which is contraband especially when you`re serving time -- yes it is.

What`s going on with security at that prison? How did they shoot this video, a music video and get it out and get it posted so it could go viral. Here it is from WorldStarHip-hop.com.

(RAP MUSIC)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The South Carolina Department of Corrections says it knows the identity of these eight inmates involved in this video and quote, "Once the investigation is complete the inmates involved will be properly charged," end quote.

But it opens up a debate and people are debating it. Should prisoners be punished for singing? Should prisoners be punished for making a rap video from behind bars or could it actually help their rehabilitation to encourage them to do creative artistic things without breaking prison rules? What`s the alternative? Just locking them and throwing away the key?

Straight out the "Lion`s Den" for what I know is going to be a ferocious debate starting with criminal defense attorney Brian Silber?

BRIAN SILBER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Listen, Jane, introducing contraband into prisons is the oldest thing in the world, you know. I know to the general public it sounds like a very shocking thing to hear, you know. But quite frankly as a criminal lawyer I hear these stories all the time. Clients get drugs in jail. They get cell phones in jail. And you know who`s responsible? It`s the guards.

JOE GOMEZ, KRLD DALLAS: Right.

SILBER: Let me reveal the biggest secret in town. It`s the guards. They`re the ones who are bringing the stuff in. It`s not the family members who have to go through a metal detector and get searched before visiting with their person behind a glass partition. It`s the guards. And those are the people who are responsible.

GOMEZ: Exactly.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Listen, Eric Guster, attorney, why are -- everybody is like let`s charge these guys behind bars. Not all of them were engaged in contraband. At least seven of them -- maybe all eight of them were just singing. Somebody else is holding up the cell phone. That person should get in trouble.

ERIC GUSTER, ATTORNEY: Well, really, only one person had the contraband. And that was the one person who had the cell phone. The others, they`re participating in this rap video.

But just like Brian said, it`s the guards.

ANNA YUM, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s right.

GUSTER: Guards get thousands of dollars to get phones in there.

YUM: It`s an inside job, absolutely.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

GUSTER: It`s an absolute inside job. The guards know exactly what they`re doing. They`re getting paid thousands and thousands of dollars to get cell phones, drugs and all types of things in the prison walls. We need to look at them more so than the inmates.

YUM: That`s absolutely right, Jane. I mean I can`t tell you how many times my clients have told me that it`s easier to get contraband, it`s easier to get drugs in the system as opposed to on the streets.

SILBER: It`s true.

YUM: I mean that`s how prevalent it is. It`s absolutely true.

GUSTER: They get access to everything.

YUM: The only person who should get in trouble is the one with the contraband. I don`t think that the people rapping and who are expressing themselves should get in trouble for this. Just the person who`s filming with the cell phone.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy Patrick, what do you think?

WENDY PATRICK, PROSECUTOR: Well I have to tell you -- you know, wait a minute. Everybody is involved in this, all right. One of the guys is standing at the door as a lookout, all right. So he`s looking to make sure nobody is coming. The rest of them are all involved. You know whether or not, how it got there --

YUM: For rapping? For rapping?

PATRICK: -- what we`re looking at is not the fact that they`re rapping but the fact they have all taken advantage of the fact that they have contraband that somehow got smuggled into the jail. This isn`t something that -- this is obviously rehearsed and practiced, all right. What we`re looking at is a coordinated effort. We don`t know who actually brought the cell phone in. But to suggest that only one person is responsible I don`t think that`s what we`re going to see when we get to the end of this investigation.

A cell phone is also dangerous --

GUSTER: But the question is who got it in there, though? Who got the cell phone in the prison?

YUM: Absolutely.

GUSTER: It`s not -- I`m not even worried about the inmates. We know where they are. But who gave them the cell phone --

(CROSSTALK)

SILBER: Yes. Blaming -- blaming the inmates -- blaming the inmates even though they`re responsible is really a red herring. You know, the inmates certainly can be disciplined internally. You know, jails and prisons discipline people constantly for getting in fights, for not following the rules -- whatever the case may be. But the real culprit here are the jail keepers, it`s the guards, it`s the warden who`s responsible. And those who --

(CROSSTALK)

YUM: And don`t you think it will be a waste of resources to --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to watch this video again. I want to watch this video again -- all right. We`ve got it right here. Let`s cue it up. Let`s play it, let`s listen to these people rapping.

(RAP MUSIC)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What are they doing that`s so terrible? They`re singing a cappella, they`re rapping. And so many people want to see them punished. The criminal justice system says they need to be punished. You know what -- we`ve got the biggest criminal justice system in the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We on. We on.

(RAP MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. You could also call it singing a cappella -- eight guys singing behind bars. And we`re in an uproar over this. They`ve got to be punished.

First of all, let`s find out if the prison guards were involved. Secondly, why are we so angry that these men are doing something that is creative singing a cappella, also known as rap?

One prison in the Philippines has achieved world-wide fame for their unique rehabilitation program. Check this out from YouTube.

(MUSIC)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at this. This is extraordinary. These prisoners spend up to four hours a day mastering dance routines. Several of the dances have gone viral including this one to Michael Jackson`s classic, "Thriller".

Eric Guster, attorney, the prison director post the videos on YouTube. He wants to see these guys develop skills. They have innate talent. Everybody has innate talent. But if you don`t give somebody a chance to nurture it, you know, stick them behind the bars and lock them away when they go out, they`re just going to commit crimes again. This is an opportunity for change.

GUSTER: Exactly. There are so many opportunities -- there`s music, there`s vocational skills, there`s so many things that prisons could do to enhance the life of these young men. And they don`t have anything. They are sitting in a cell for hours at a time and in a big room, a big holding cell where 20, 30 or 40 men at one time doing nothing.

So this is creative. It`s different. The prisons have to do something in order to rehabilitate them, get them with vocational skills and give them something else to do except sit there and stare at each other. Give them creative outlets. And that will reduce recidivism. It will reduce violence and make them a better person. That`s what we should do.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well said.

PATRICK: I could not agree more. I could not agree more. I think we`ve actually identified a point of agreement that everybody on the panel believes. There`s got to be -- I mean prison ministry is another thriving industry. There are so many ways to successfully rehabilitate somebody by getting them involved in some kind of productive and positive activity. I think we all agree on this one.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Another thing that could really help reform inmates is taking care of animals. Watch this from Animal Planet`s "Pit Bulls and Parolees".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Recently, we got our first actual inmates matched.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Villalobos` definitely given me a sense of purpose and it helped changed my life. I`ve been helping T out everyday, you know, handing out the meds and just tending to any dogs that need a little extra care.

Come here big man. Come here. Good boy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This shows pairs rescued animals, usually pit bulls with ex-cons and it shows that rescuing animals and taking care of these animals can totally change a person. These former inmates get unconditional love from these animals and they become responsible in caring.

I want to go to animal trainer to the stars, Tamar Geller, author of "30 Days to a Well-Mannered Dog". You have worked with other prisoners in a different setting and animals. Tell us how it really causes a psychic shift -- Tamar.

TAMAR GELLER, AUTHOR, "30 DAYS TO A WELL-MANNERED DOG" (via telephone): I am telling you, Jane, and please forgive me for my rusty voice right now -- it changes the life. What it is, dogs allow them to engage on a heart level. They found that they meet the needs, the need for significance, the need for love and connection, the need for mental stimulation by training a dog by really improving the dog`s life.

They find a quality about themselves that they can actually make a difference in someone else`s life. And when that makes them feel so good they want to take that new skill and share it starting with their children and with other people in their world.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is the matriarch of the family, Kris Jenner, now, in the middle of a sex tape scandal herself? You will not believe what`s going on, on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRIS JENNER, REALITY TV STAR: It`s sort of a journey we`ve all been on together and they`ve seen the evolution of our family. And that includes weddings and births of babies and, you know, my kids meeting new people and friendships and just everything that life is all about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Time for Pet of the Day. Send your pet pics to hlntv.com/jane. Bolten -- you have a bolt from the heart. Roxy -- you are so darned foxy, look at those ears. And Snickers -- you`re yummy. And I know you`ve got -- Princess Daisy -- whoa, Princess.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE JENNER, REALITY TV STAR: This family, photos leaking this and that, look at the problems it`s caused.

K. JENNER: Bruce and I did a video.

KHLOE KARDASHIAN, REALITY TV STAR: What kind of video?

B. JENNER: Exercise video, honey.

K. JENNER: No. Bruce and I made a sex tape.

B. JENNER: Well, it wasn`t quite a sex tape. But it was --

K. JENNER: It was a sex tape.

KARDASHIAN: What did you guys do in it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we talking multiple positions?

B. JENNER: But we erased it immediately.

K. JENNER: Yes.

KARDASHIAN: How do you guys know you erased it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A good question in light of what`s happening tonight. Is Kris Jenner caught in a sex tape extortion scandal? RadarOnline said someone is blackmailing the famous momager, threatening to leak a sex tape for the world to see if Kris doesn`t pay up. Radar says this mysterious guy has called Kris over 100 times this week alone and seems to be stalking her.

Kris was reportedly out to dinner one night when she got a creepy text from an unknown number asking, "Are you enjoying the restaurant?" Apparently Kris was so freaked, according to Radar, she`s gone to the cops and hired a private investigator.

Remember, she admits on her show, you just heard it, that she and Bruce filmed a sex tape years ago so the Kardashian kids decided to recreate it. Are you kidding me?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow, it`s Kris Jenner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know what is weirder, the fact that Kourtney looks just like her mother or the fact that I`m going to have to sleep with her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I`m (inaudible) like that I would actually think you look pretty hot.

You have to leave a little bit of the flip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re getting there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m ready to (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN, REALITY TV STAR: I feel like now I`m ready to recreate this amazing sex tape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my god. Family therapy, please. I`ll pitch in. I`ll chip in. We`ve reached out to Kris Jenner`s camp. We have not heard back. She is invited on our show any time. I would love to have her on. Straight out to RadarOnline`s Alexis Tereszcuk, you`ve broken this story. What is the latest in this purported sex tape mystery?

ALEXIS TERESZCUK, RADARONLINE: Well Kris Jenner has become the victim of an extortion plot -- you`re exactly right. Someone has told her that they have a sex tape of her. And unless she pays up big bucks they`re going to release it to the public.

You know the Jenners. They have a lot of money -- millions and millions and millions of dollars. They made $40 million signing up for a couple more seasons of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians". So this is something that they could really cash in on.

However Kris is not taking this -- dare I say lying down -- she is fighting back. She has gone to a private investigator.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She is not just staring at the ceiling and wondering what to do?

TERESZCUK: No, she is not at all. She is famous for sex tapes? Because she launched her daughter Kim`s career with a sex tape. She was behind that. She helped her promote it and so this is something that`s not too foreign to this family and it is kind of what everybody expects from them. And I don`t know, I think the recreation was really funny don`t you?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It was weird funny but weird, you know, in a kooky weird way. Not only has Kris Jenner posted sexy bikini photos of herself lounging poolside. This 58-year-old mom has also gone topless in photo shoots.

Watch this from "Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

K. JENNER: I feel like I`m at a gynecologist`s office.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this right?

K. JENNER: Can we just do one with the boobs exposed?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Push them up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is nice. That is good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Holy running shoes, Batman. While we admire the fact that she`s managed to stay in shape -- she`s got a body to show off. By the same token if you are going to get naked, Elizabeth Espinosa, on television and post bikini pictures of yourself, are you opening yourself up to this kind of second act?

ELIZABETH ESPINOSA, CNN ESPANOL: You know what; I`m so with you, Jane about pitching in for the therapy. Wait a second -- your kids recreate your sex tape? What is wrong with them? Oh my God, listen, in my house it is two snaps and a broken wrist on the story. I`m not playing it for a second, let`s be real.

It makes sense, right because they`re recreating the sex tape, so now there is actually this real life drama and they got Gavin Debecker, I mean that is top of the line in terms of investigation on sextortion. But listen, you probably have had people try to extort you for stuff. You`re a public figure as well -- a different scenario.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have not made a sex tape. I can tell you right now.

ESPINOSA: Me too.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It has not happened. I guess, I`m not as adventurous as the Kardashians. You now what; I`m not trying to keep up with them. That`s the issue. Don`t forget Kim Kardashian herself --

ESPINOSA: Exactly.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- shot to fame in 2007 after a sex tape of her leaks, a sex tape with her then boyfriend Ray J.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM KARDASHAIN, REALITY TV STAR: You know, I think that is how I was definitely introduced to the world so I would like to think that I`m, you know, aware. I`m not naive to that fact, that that is pretty much how I was introduced to the world. It was a negative way and that is something that I`m going to have to live with for the rest of my life and have to explain to my children one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy Murphy, let`s be real. Without sex tapes, who would know who the Kardashians are? Is it possible that this is some kind of publicity stunt on their part?

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, I`m just saying, it makes a lot of sense because that sex tape, which she said was so embarrassing and terrible as she`s saying -- I mean, come on.

What I think is so funny is you can`t extort somebody, trying to get money out of them to keep something private unless they actually want to keep the thing private or there`s something private to be kept.

I mean there is so much sex on that show, even though I don`t really see it that often, every time I have seen it, it`s like there is a naked part someplace. It is so sexual that I don`t know see how you can extort basically soft porn or people involved in soft port on television. Now unless Kris was having sex with a goat while doing heroin --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, please, don`t say that.

MURPHY: But plain old vanilla with a 58-year-old, come on.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Alexis Tereszcuk, I`m going to give you the last word on this gem since you broke the story.

TERESZCUK: I do not believe that Kris is having sex with a goat or doing heroin on the tape. We are hoping it is with her husband Bruce or maybe with a new boyfriend. But she is really actually afraid of this guy, so got to give her a little bit of help there.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, apparently this guy is stalking her too. Listen, if that is true, Kris, we would love to talk to you about it. And we also want cops. Stalking is nothing to laugh at. We hope cops find this guy. They can follow the pings. If he`s called you 100 times, it shouldn`t be difficult.

Nancy`s next.

END