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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Legendary Comedian Joan Rivers Dead at Age 81; Dad Charged with Eight Counts in Hot Car Death

Aired September 04, 2014 - 19:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... today, I think it would be beyond their imagination.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Breaking news tonight. We are sad to report legendary comedian Joan Rivers has died at the age of 81.

Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live. Just a week ago, Rivers underwent what was supposed to be routine outpatient surgery at

a clinic. Next thing you know, she stopped breathing, and she went into cardiac arrest. She was raced to this hospital where she died just hours

ago. What on earth went wrong? She was performing the day before and seemed fine.

Her death has triggered investigations into the Manhattan clinic where this procedure was done. The clinic has refused to comment.

Now, just a short time ago the New York medical examiner`s office announced they will investigate her death.

Joan Rivers spent the last week of her life with her daughter, Melissa. You see her there going into an apartment and her grandson, Cooper, by her

bedside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Famous comedienne has passed away at the age of 81.

JOAN RIVERS, COMEDIENNE: No big deal to have a woman in the White House. John F. Kennedy had a thousand of them.

I`m telling you right now. I hate old people. Oh, if you are (EXPLETIVE DELETED) old get up and get out of here -- right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was last Thursday that we learned that she`d gone into cardiac and respiratory arrest.

RIVERS: Actors think they know about politics. Actors should shut up and act.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In recent days the 81-year-old has been in tiptop form. No indication she was ailing.

RIVERS: Everybody having security.

If you laugh at it, you can deal with it. That`s how I`ve lived my whole life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: During her decades-long career in comedy Joan Rivers became world famous for her cutting, biting and often filthy humor. She

made a living making fun of stars, celebrities on the red carpet and on E!`s "Fashion Police."

But another big part of her shtick was she joked about herself too. Watch this from the BBC`s "Live at the Apollo."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: I have no sex appeal. And it has screwed me up for life. Peeping toms look in my window, pull down the shade. My gynecologist examines me

by telephone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to hear your favorite Joan River [SIC] moment. Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297. Join the conversation by going to

by Jane Velez-Mitchell Facebook page or talk to me on Twitter, @JVM.

I want to start with Jim Moret, chief correspondent, "Inside Edition." How is Hollywood reacting to the death of the legend, Joan Rivers?

JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": Jane, you know, I think a lot of people were bracing for this, especially after the last week when

Joan Rivers has been in the hospital, and we`ve heard she`s in critical condition and then moved to another room. But no update on her condition.

So I think people were bracing for it. But, you know, anyone who saw Joan Rivers, and I saw her recently. And, you know, this woman was a force of

nature. There was -- she was exhausting, because she was so active and so present and always on the move. And she was so sharp.

I tell you, she would joke about herself. She would attack everyone in the room and herself. She was what she called an equal opportunity offender,

and she was wonderful. I really respect her and think the world of her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, I saw her not too long ago at an LGBT gala in New Orleans. She was a headliner. She performed for free, doing a service

to help the LGBT community. She was so funny and so filthy. And you`ve got to wonder what is the secret of her magic?

Now, some of Joan`s biggest fans were her fellow comedians. She loved to mix it up with them, too. Louis C.K. wrote an episode of the show just for

her. Watch this from FX`s "Louis."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: You do it because -- because we love it more than anything else. That`s why you`re doing it. If you want a real job, honey, there are a

million things you can do. But what we do is not a job. Sounds so stupid. What we do is a calling, my dear. We make people happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A rare sentimental moment from Joan Rivers. But Pete Dominick, Sirius XM host. You worked with Joan Rivers. I personal think

that the secret, her magic is this, and she said it herself. "I say what everybody else is thinking." She had the you know what, the -- call it

whatever you want. The guts, all right? To say things, to attack people directly; brutal honesty that very few people had.

PETE DOMINICK, SIRIUS XM HOST: You`re absolutely right, and that`s what made her what we call a comedian`s comedian. A comic`s comic, Jane.

By the way, Jane, I`ve got to warn you: you just asked your viewers to call in and share their favorite moment. I hope you`ve got a delay on this

show, because many of the moments were so what we call edgy, because there isn`t a better word.

I`ve opened for Stephen Colbert for six years on his show and Jon Stewart, and I got to open for Joan Rivers a couple times. And it was one of the

greatest moments of my career, bombing while opening for her. Twelve hundred people in Atlantic City, Jane. And I`m out there. I`m doing my

thing. It`s going OK.

And then I make a joke about George Bush. Harmless. It bombs in the room. But all I hear backstage is that legendary Joan Rivers cackle, laughing at

me bombing. Only comedians do that for other comedians. It`s probably the greatest laugh I ever heard in my career. Twelve hundred people silent and

moaning at me. But the legend backstage laughing. It was one of the greatest moments of my career.

She was so awesome. She joked about 9/11, cancer, the Holocaust, child labor. Nothing was out of bounds.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, yes, she was controversial. A lot of people that she joked at when she basically said, "I hate what you`re wearing." I

mean, I think she said of Nancy Reagan`s hair, "If she ever combs it, they`ll find Jimmy Hoffa in there."

I mean, she just -- she made fun of people. She was controversial.

DOMINICK: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have to say, I love the fact that she performed at the LGBT fundraiser that I watched. And she was hilarious. I was in tears

crying.

Was I thrilled about the fact that she wears fur? No. It disappointed me, and I know it was very upsetting to a lot of people.

DOMINICK: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So she was controversial.

You know, I want to go to Simone Bienne, behavior expert. What do you think her magic was? I think it was almost Freudian. Like, we all think

things, but we`re too scared, too cowardly, too polite to say them. Not her. She`ll tell you. She`ll tell you if you`ve got a runny nose, and

she`ll tell if you look like bleep.

SIMONE BIENNE, BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Yes. Absolutely. She was such an incredible woman, and I think she had no filter. All of us try and fit in

to society. We try and please people.

But Joan Rivers didn`t care what anybody thought of her. And she made us laugh. She had this wonderful quote from Winston Churchill, and she said -

- you know, her job is, like Winston Churchill said, to take people, give them a mini vacation by making them laugh.

And what she did was gave us a huge, long vacation. We are blessed to have had her for -- in this world as long as we did.

RIVERS: Calls are coming in for people who want to talk about Joan Rivers. Keep it clean, people, all right, in her honor. We don`t want to get in

trouble. Because we would have to bleep Joan.

So Colleen, Colorado. Colleen, Colorado, what do you got to say about Joan Rivers?

CALLER: Yes. Well, first off, I just -- I have a question. I do -- I just want to know. I`ve had four endoscopies, and it`s been reported that

she went out to eat the night before. And I know when I`ve had my endoscopies, I couldn`t eat for 24/48 hours. And I`m just curious if that

has something to do with it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well you`re raising a very good question. Dr. Nina Radcliff, practicing physician, board-certified anesthesiologist. There is

so much confusion over what happened with this routine procedure. We`re hearing conflicting reports about what the routine procedure was. We know

she was fine the night before. What is -- what is the procedure, in your - - in your knowledge? And what went wrong?

DR. NINA RADCLIFF, ANESTHESIOLOGIST: Well, Jane, you are exactly right. The problem is we don`t have confirmed reports. We are led to guess at

what happened.

What we believe is this was done at an endoscopy clinic, which specializes in gastrointestinal problems, typically where we do colonoscopies or we do

endoscopies. And when it appears and again...

RIVERS: Let me just stop you for a second. An endoscopy is a little camera that they put in your body and you can see what`s inside, wherever -

- whatever is going wrong. Is that -- is that...

RADCLIFF: Exactly. It`s a scope that goes in your mouth, into your esophagus and it goes into your stomach. And indications can be difficulty

swallowing, having heartburn or having any type of abdominal pain. It is a routine procedure, and that`s why everyone`s so up in arms, because this is

supposed to be routine. But I`d like to point out that no procedure and no anesthetic is considered routine.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, Joan Rivers, of course, joked because she`d had a lot of plastic surgery. That was part of her routine. And for

real, she`s 81, and she clearly had quite a few procedures. It was part of her act. But in reality she revealed that surgery actually scared the wits

out of her. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOY BEHAR, FORMER CO-HOST, ABC`S "THE VIEW": Aren`t you scared to go under the -- under anesthesia and everything? It`s very risky.

RIVERS: Terrified. Very serious.

BEHAR: Yes.

RIVERS: My dad was a doctor. The anesthesiologist is as much a part of that group as the plastic surgeon. Very serious. But you also want to

look good. We`re a society that wants people to look good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So Joan underwent the knife -- the knife so many times. What could have happened? This was not plastic surgery. There`s

confusion, Jim Moret, over what she actually went in for.

I`ve heard routine procedure on her vocal chords. She`s famously raspy. OK. So I thought, well, maybe she was there to have some kind of procedure

on her vocal cords.

But this doctor is saying no, that it likely involved some sort of endoscopy, which might be different.

But all we do know for sure is that she stopped breathing, and she went into respiratory and cardiac arrest, which I heard Dr. Sanjay Gupta say is

when you don`t have air going into your body, and the body reacts with respiratory and cardiac arrest.

MORET: Well, I mean, look, what we do know is sketchy at this point. We do know that the clinic she was at specializes in endoscopy. So the doctor

is correct. And the doctor would know so much more about this than I would.

But the fact is that there`s always something that can go wrong. If there`s anesthesia involved, which there seems to have been in this case,

it could have been a reaction to that. There`s -- there are quite a few things that could have occurred. And I suspect, Jane, that we`re going to

find out more as the weeks and months go by, because the family has already -- has already stated that they`re going to look into a possible lawsuit

for what went wrong. And they`re looking to blame someone. And frankly, I understand that.

And, you know, I just want to go back to something else you asked earlier. What was so special about her? You know, she appealed to cross-

generations, 20s, 50s, 80s. Everyone loved Joan Rivers.

DOMINICK: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side of the break, you`re going to see all the famous people who are commenting on this really sudden passing death of

Joan Rivers.

You know, the day before she went in for the surgery, she was performing. And she also gave a speech. Nothing was wrong with her. What went wrong?

And what are your favorite Joan Rivers -- I won`t say jokes, because I don`t know if we can repeat them here -- memories? Stay right there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: My hot flashes are so bad. I was kicked by a heat-seeking missile. You don`t know.

If I want to see there people who make tons of money and have no talent, I will not watch you guys. I will watch the Kardashians. And...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened to your eye? What happened?

RIVERS: I scratched it on Al Roker`s zipper, and it was just...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHY GRIFFIN, COMEDIENNE: And now it`s time the bring up the man of the hour. Comedy legend Joan Rivers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh my gosh. You know, she was so funny. I was reading some of her lines. Of course, she`s famous for saying, "Oh, grow up." And

she said, "I wish I had a twin so I could know what I`d look like without plastic surgery."

She loved to make fun of herself. But she also made fun of other people. She also said, "I don`t exercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he

would have put diamonds on the floor."

Out to the phone lines. Charlie, Louisiana, what you got to say about Joan Rivers?

CALLER: Hey, Jane. Listen, I always remembered her when she would turn her -- stick her tongue out at people. And she would look up and she

would, like, put her -- she would do this. She would put a finger by her nose and look like -- give this really goofy look like, if she heard

somebody talking goofy and stuff. And it sticks to us to this day. My family does that. We have a Joan Rivers moment when we hear something

really off the wall and it`s like, "Oh, no, you did not just do that. And you did not go there."

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I know. That`s a funny thing, and we`ve got so many other videos of Joan Rivers doing so many different things on the red carpet.

You know, she was famous for things like "Can we talk?" That was something that she invented. Also "What are you wearing?" And of course the "Oh,

grow up."

Pete Dominick, you worked with Joan Rivers. Where do you think she got the gumption, as somebody said on Facebook, she had the ovaries to say what she

thought?

DOMINICK: It`s "Who are you wearing?" Jane. "Who are you wearing?" That she made famous.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, "Who are you wearing?" OK. There you go.

DOMINICK: But yes, she probably got it from the same place most comedians get it. My theory is you either had too many hugs or not enough hugs as a

child. I`m not sure which one was her issue. But I mean, that`s what comedians do.

But the idea that she pushed the envelope for so long. Fifty years, Jane. She had a 50-year career. And as somebody said earlier, you know, she

reached every generation. Every generation, she reintroduced herself. I mean, she won, I think, the "Celebrity Apprentice" and, obviously, she did

so many things on the red carpet and QVC.

But standup was obviously her bread and butter. And the thing that she`ll always be remembered, I think, respected for the most.

And all the best comedians are chiming in tonight remembering Joan Rivers. And it was one of the highlights of my career to open for her. She was so

gracious and so generous, as well, Jane. I should say, she paid me a thousand dollars for about eight minutes.

RIVERS: All right. Well, we`re going to go to Mike Walters from TMZ. But first, I want to talk about "Fashion Police," which sadly was put on hiatus

when she was hospitalized. That show, a huge hit for E! Here`s a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIULIANA RANCIC, CO-HOST, E!`S "FASHION POLICE": This is the egg arrival. The womb arrival. She was incubating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are we going to say about this?

RIVERS: I`m not going to say anything nasty. She came in an egg, and some people will do anything not to have to speak to Ryan Seacrest.

I have to do a full disclosure here, because I was supposed to be one of the people. Seriously, they asked me to walk around in the entourage and

hold the thing. But I got fired when I raised my hand after the first meeting, and I said, "Is it just me or am I the only one who thinks this is

bull -- (EXPLETIVE DELETED)?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She was so funny. Mike Walters, news manager, TMZ, you have your finger on the pulse of our society, of the pop culture. What`s

life going to be like now that Joan Rivers is gone? Less cursing?

MIKE WALTERS, NEWS MANAGER, TMZ: Well, Jane, I mean, here`s the reality, is that everybody I talk to today and everyone that`s talking about Joan

Rivers on television, everyone has their own story.

And it`s so interesting, because I`m only 34 years old and have only been doing this a few years. But I`ve got to tell you that every time I had a

story about Joan Rivers, she called me. Like, she wanted to talk. Most people in Hollywood have agents and publicists, and she would just go, "I

want to talk to Mike Walters. Get him on the phone right now." And she would yell at me and tell me about how what I was doing was dumb. And

this, that.

And that`s what everyone is doing, is telling great stories about Joan Rivers. And I have to say, what we`re doing right now, and I think this is

the right thing in my business, is how did this ever happen. And we`re challenging the clinic. We`re calling on the doctors. We`re figuring out

how in the world. She was one to the most healthy 81-year-olds I`ve ever run into and how in the world did she stop breathing during a very simple

procedure on her vocal cords? So we are trying to get some answers, and I am told the family also wants answers, Jane.

RIVERS: Well, there`s confusion, because yes, I`ve been reading reports that she went in for a routine surgery in a clinic, which would probably

mean outpatient for vocal chords. You know, she had a very raspy voice, she did. So that`s what I`m hearing.

But we`re also hearing from our doctor, Nina Radcliff, who`s a practicing physician, board-certified anesthesiologist, that that clinic that she went

to is not known for fixing vocal chords. It`s known for endoscopies, where you put a little camera down somebody through their mouth. So those are

two different stories.

Now if you could stand by, Mike, for a second. I want to bring in the doctor again. Why would you need -- I`ve had an endoscopy when I had

something that was like a little growth somewhere. I mean, is it possible that there was something more serious? Or is this a chance of being a

botched surgical procedure?

RADCLIFF: Anything is possible. And that`s why they`re going to look into it.

We have to reassure everyone that we have the best medical system in the world, and while we acknowledge and appreciate the triumphs of it, we also

have accountability. This is not going to go without being investigated, and this is a clinic that has been approved by the health department. It

is not some back-door clinic performing illegal procedures.

And so they will go in. They will do their due diligence to make sure that everything was done.

Whenever we sedate a patient we have to have certain monitors. We have to watch their heart; we have to watch their lungs. We want to make sure that

those protocols were followed. And when they did notice something they need to make sure that the personnel that was there -- we don`t know who

performed this -- that they acted immediately. Anyone who performs any type of sedation needs to be accredited in doing ACLS, which is advanced

cardiac life support. Ability to...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me stop you there. She stopped breathing. OK.

RADCLIFF: Correct.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So the endoscopy. It`s going down your throat. It`s looking at whatever it`s got to look at. She stops breathing. That causes

respiratory failure.

RADCLIFF: Correct.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And it causes cardiac arrest.

RADCLIFF: Correct.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So what would make you stop breathing during an endoscopy?

RADCLIFF: Well, generally speaking -- we do not know what happened here. But generally speaking, we`re concerned that the vocal chords may have shut

down. You have to remember: our vocal chords function as a gate. It prevents anything from the outside world to enter into our lungs, which is

a sterile environment. So for example, spit, food, water, a scope. Those vocal chords may have closed in what we call a laryngospasm. That`s the

fancy term for that. And when this happens, that means also oxygen cannot enter.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, we`ve got to go. Thank you, Doctor. We`re going to continue, but my heart goes out to Melissa. I sat next to her at

the Humane Society United States gala. She was, like myself, an animal lover. A wonderful person. I`m sorry that you lost your mom, Melissa.

Stay right there. We`ve got more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: And you`re old, you smell bad. You always will, and you stay on the couch again, mother. And you made the dog run away. And you scare the

baby. And you stretch out my clothes and you drank all our good wine. And the nanny says you`re stealing and you never flush. And you snore and your

teeth come out. And we hate you so much. We only tolerate you because you take us all for great big dinner jokes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: I have to thank, because I have a very bad cold. I flew over. And I want to thank Dr. Bernard Schwartz from Harley Street, because he got

me well this morning. I came in. I said, "I can`t do the show."

And he said, "Coffee enemas." And I can never go back to Starbucks. But the point is -- I came over to do this show, and I`m also here for charity.

Because at this age, you like to give back because you`re closer to God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was BBC`s "Live at the Apollo." She`s so funny.

Joan Rivers` big break was when he made it onto "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson way back in 1965. They became buddies, but Joan says Carson

suddenly dropped her, became her enemy, when she launched her own talk show opposite him a few years later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: I think, because I was a woman, he never thought I would leave. Or maybe -- maybe he liked me better. But the minute I became competition,

it became out to kill me. Out to kill me. And that`s what came down. Forever. Never spoke to me again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jim Moret, Inside Edition chief correspondent. That was very painful that Johnny Carson basically wanted to kill her she said.

MORET: Well she didn`t ask his blessing. And you remember she was a permanent guest host on the "Tonight Show." She was the first permanent

guest host. And, you know, you mentioned 1965 she got her break on Johnny Carson`s show. She was a woman in a guy`s field, you know. And you can`t

overstate that enough. Pete Dominic was talking about whether it was an honor it was to hope open for her. She she`s a comedian`s comedian and

working in a guy`s business certainly 1965 and she not only succeeded. She triumph, was the queen of comedy. She was a survivor.

She would reinvent herself. She went with Johnny Carson. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. She lost her husband after her show was

cancelled. He killed himself. She reinvented herself and persevered and survived. And I think that`s why so many people can relate to her. She

was the butt of her own jokes but she also was a survivor and she never took no for an answer.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I got to say I think she had a lot of wisdom. For example about the Carson fiasco. She said, no matter what kind of a

friendship you think you have with people you`re working with, when the chips are down it is all about business. You know, she spoke these truths

that other people preferred to sugar coat. One of a kind. She did so much for all women who are in-front of the camera. I probably benefitted myself

from the fact that she was a trail blazer. All women who are in any way shape of form performers benefitted from this woman breaking the glass

ceiling with her -- ovaries. She had the ovaries to tell the truth.

On the other side, murder charges against the father accused of purposely leaving his innocent two-year-old son to fake to death in a boiling hot

car. We have breaking news next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Thirty three-year-old Justin Ross Harris says after taking his son to breakfast the morning of June 18th he forgot to drop of

22-month old Cooper at day care. Leaving him strapped in his car seat in Atlanta area office parking lot in 90 plus degree heat for close to seven

hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Eight counts including malice murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: There is absolutely a major development.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It all began with the anguished cry of a father in a parking lot.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: She screamed what have I done, loudly.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: He has got this whole second life that he`s leaving with alternate personalities.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Ninety plus degree heat for close to seven hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: If they establish intent his life is in jeopardy. Because now, they could see the death penalty.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: He`s having up to six different conversations with different women.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It`s horrible. A tragedy and an accident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Breaking news tonight in the hot car death. The Georgia dad accused of leaving his precious two-year-old boy Cooper inside a hot

car to die a slow torturous death as just been indicted on eight counts, including malice murder, felony murder, child cruelty. Justin Ross Harris

slammed with charges of sexual exploitation of the child and disseminating harmful material to minors for allegedly sexting with a teenage girl while

his son little Cooper baked to the death in his Honda SUV in 92 degree weather.

Prosecutors have painted Harris as a heartless unfaithful husband who wanted to live a child free life and was researching child free lifestyles.

They say, he strapped his little angel into a rear facing car seat that was too small for his size and left the toddler in the sweltering car for hours

to die while he sexted with up to six different women. Harris claimed it was a tragic accident that he simply forgot to drop his son off at day

care. He`s pleaded not guilty.

Straight out to the Lion`s Den. Can prosecutor prove this man plotted to murder his toddler son in a torturous death? Former prosecutor Wendy

Murphy, if indeed, that is the case, this has to be one of the most evil, evil crimes. To know that you are going to leave your son in a rear-facing

car seat, to bake to death.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: It`s such a gruesome way to die, whatever your age. But a defenseless toddler and it is your father and there is

just so much about the case that makes me crazy. The man is not going to fair well in front of a jury, even if the evidence isn`t that strong. And

we don`t know a lot of the evidence yet. And sadly because --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We know plenty of it.

MURPHY: No we don`t.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We had a probable cause hearing where we heard and police say Harris was sexting up to six different women. OK, sending photos of

his erect penis to some of them. Getting breasts back. Photographically in return. And that he was leading a double life. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DETECTIVE PHIL STODDARD, COBB COUNTY POLICE: Evidence is showing us right now that he`s got this whole second life that he`s living with alternate

personalities and alternate personas.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Did she send him a picture that day?

STODDARD: She did.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Of what?

STODDARD: She send picture of her exposed breasts.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: And did he send any pictures to her.

STODDARD: He did. He sent a picture of his exposed erect penis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sexting Brian Claypool while your son bakes to death. Six women. OK? Now, I`m wondering if those six women, I know that talked to

at least two of them. And I`m sure they have probably tracked all of them down by now. If they are going to become the star witnesses in what could

be a triple X-rated trial.

BRIAN CLAYPOOL, LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Jane be careful what you wish for if you are the Cobb County DA. Because in this case unless you have some

smoking gun with these text messages for example wherein Ross Harris is saying, well, I can`t wait the get rid of my kid, I hate my kid, I`m going

kill my kid. If you don`t have that, then what you have is the opposite, which is a man who`s addicted to sex, he`s addicted to sexting, he`s

addicted to pornography. And if I was his lawyer I would be arguing a diminished capacity defense. That because of this addiction, it negates

the intent this required to prove malice murder.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What? Wendy, help me out here. You`re a former prosecutor.

MURPHY: I don`t agree with that. But here is the thing. The guy -- because he is not only ignoring the reality of his child`s life or death,

he`s enjoying pleasure in a way that violates child pornography laws. And so the jury is going to be predisposed to assume he hates his child. You

don`t have to have a text message that says I hate my child. And this is why I think the guy is in trouble. Malice murder is hard to prove. But if

you have a monster father like this in the case it gets a little easier.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me say this. Cops say five days before this little child died, OK, before his father left him in the car and went to

work at Home Depot and the child baked to death. This dad, Justin Ross Harris watched a YouTube video where a vet demonstrates how torturous it is

to be left in a hot car. And he watched it twice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Hundred and 13 degrees. It is awful. The only thought that is going through my head right now is I want out of the car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lisa Lockwood, investigator. Is that enough? You watch a video that shows how torturous it is to be left in a hot car, five days

before you accidentally leave your son in a hot car to die?

LISA LOCKWOOD, INVESTIGATOR: That in itself is not a enough. But everything else with that. Searching for a child free life? Are you

kidding me? Are you kidding me? And let`s go back to the women that he was sexting. We`re talking about actually having evidence in those text

messages. But these woman are subpoenaed, we`re going to find out if he actually had conversations alluding to my choice is to get rid of this

child. If we have that, that is the smoking gun we are looking for. And I`m really excited to see this thing unfold.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right. Let`s go to Clark Goldband, "NANCY GRACE" senior producer. The District Attorney held a news conference a little while ago,

what were the headlines?

CLARK GOLDBAND, "NANCY GRACE" SENIOR PRODUCER: Hey, Jane. It`s good to be with you. Jane, apologies. So, here is what we learn, the press

conference was short and sweet, Jane. The DA did not take any questions, however the headline for me was that, in like two to three weeks, we will

learn if Justin Ross Harris will be eligible for the death penalty, if the prosecution decides to seek it. Now, what is this key? Is because there`s

three counts of murder here, Jane.

Two felony murder. But the first count, malice murder. And in Georgia that is the most serious charge you can have of murder. And if the state

elects to seek the D.P., they can. Now Jane, two to three weeks according to the DA. Because he says he wants to get this decision out of the way by

arraignment -- Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. OK. Brian Claypool, criminal defense attorney. You see all the counts piling up there. But what are the counts? The top

count, malice murder means premeditation. That he plotted intricately to kill his own child. But there were lesser charges that basically give a

jury the option of saying well, no he was just wildly negligent.

CLAYPOOL: Right. Malice murder requires premeditated. It is intentional and an abandoned and malignant heart. With the felony murder charge, Jane,

it is a little bit easier to prove. Because you don`t need to prove intent to kill in a felony murder case here. You just need to prove the first

degree child endangerment that Ross Harris committed and then you can get the felony murder charge. Let me tell you this, Jane. I couldn`t find any

rope in my house before I came to the studio. But here is a tie that I have. I developed a news.

Here`s the news right here. And this is what everybody is doing right now. Forget about a trial. Why don`t we just hang Ross Harris? The fact of the

matter is there is no direct evidence in this case yet that I`ve seen that shows that this man is capable of plotting and premeditating a murder. It

is all circumstantial evidence.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, yes. Well she was sexting with a 13-year-old girl. Excuse me, a 16-year-old girl for long enough for her to turn 17 by the

time of the probable cause hearing. So his behavior went back to the previous year and the investigator testified that he was sexting before his

child died, while his wife is asleep. And he implied his son was in the room. Now we`ve had to take a short break.

MURPHY: Jane?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead. Couple of seconds.

MURPHY I`m just going to say, and let`s not forget what he did after the fact. He clearly knew there was something wrong and the child was probably

dead and the car smelled so much. If he was pretending that he didn`t know that he`s child was dead and all the faking stuff he did when he finally

pulled over. That also proves his state of mind beforehand. A malicious state of mind.

LOCKWOOD: And witnesses testified to that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: His attorney is invited in our show any time. We would love to get his side of the story. Stay right there. We have more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Authorities shattered Harris` images of the faithful husband and loving father, portraying him instead as a man yearning to be

single, involved in online relationships.

STODDARD: Evidence is showing us right now that he has this whole second life that he`s living with alternate personalities and alternate personas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: He just screamed "what I have done" loudly. Obviously it was a bit dramatic, you know, hands in the air looking up towards the

sky. "What have I done" type of thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That witness didn`t sound like she really bought his hysteria. There`s the SUV. Now, he has breakfast with his son at Chick-

Fil-A in the morning, and then immediately forgets him. And instead of dropping him off at the Day Care Center you see here, he goes directly to

his office at Home Depot and leaves the child strapped into the car in the parking lot for hours, something like seven hours.

Finally he leaves at around 4:16, and he goes to supposedly meet his friends. But then right near a shopping center he suddenly remembers, oh,

my gosh, my child`s in the backseat. Pulls over. And that`s where all the screaming happens. But Lisa Lockwood investigator, he also does suspicious

things. While he`s screaming "What I Have Done" he doesn`t call 911. He makes three phone calls, one lasts five to six minutes, then he tells cops,

no, I couldn`t get through to anyone. What do you make of it?

LOCKWOOD: And on top of that doesn`t even administer CPR according to witnesses on the scene. So what do I make of it? This is a man who

premeditated, who went through with his actions and didn`t even try to save him in those last moments. So, who does that? Common sense, anybody in

America when there is an injury, especially a family member, 911 is the first to be called. That`s ludicrous.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And that`s what prosecutors are saying that this Justin Ross Harris behaved very suspiciously before, during and after his son died

and said incriminating things after he was in police custody. Listen and then we`ll debate it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STODDARD: She asked him -- she had him sit down. And he starts going through this. And she looks at him, she`s like, well, did you say too

much?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Did the defendant say anything to you that brought concern?

STODDARD: And once again, as we`re watching their reunion, after he`s talking about how Cooper looked peaceful and his eyes were closed, and it

just, you know, looked like sleeping, he goes, I dreaded how he would look.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Dreaded past tense.

STODDARD: Yes. As in past tense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Brian Claypool, criminal defense attorney, what explanation is there for him saying "I dreaded how he would look" if it was

an accident?

CLAYPOOL: Well, Jane, let`s talk first about Stoddard. This is the same investigator who embellished about the video camera when Harris came back

to the car at lunch time to put some light bulbs in his car. This is the same investigator who embellished about remember when Harris was going back

in the building and they said oh, he was looking suspiciously back at somebody. That wasn`t true, either. So I think what you have to do here -

-

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What are you saying? This is a political prosecution that they`re making stuff up?

CLAYPOOL: Jane, look. You`re very intelligent. You`ve seen a lot of these cases. Did you hear the judge? The judge`s last comment at the

probable cause hearing? This is political. His last comment was, oh, yes, there`s reasonable cause to hold him over for murder. And then he said,

maybe malice murder. That was completely inappropriate for that judge to make that comment. That`s why you got such a quick indictment for malice

murder.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy Murphy, what I saw and what I remember the judge saying was, I`m going to hold him over for murder because the stench in the

car was so overwhelming and yet he got in the car and drove for almost two miles until oh, I remember my child`s in the car when he should have been

bowled over by that smell when he opened the door.

MURPHY: Yes. Yes. I mean, look. Here`s the thing. If this were truly a sincere father who didn`t know his child was dead and it truly was an

accident, nothing this man did would have happened. And behavioral evidence is important to state of mind. And what does one need to prove

when one wants to show malice and premeditation and deliberation and evil heart? You have to show state of mind. Well, you can draw really strong

inferences about this guy`s state of mind from how he responded knowing his dead child was in the backseat. Driving, having to fake oh, look what I

did. All of that stuff proves this was part of a cover-up. Which also proves that he knew. He knew. And if he knew that`s malice. That`s why

the judge said that.

CLAYPOOL: No. This man has no motive to kill his child. There`s no prior record.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, he does. Wait a second. Hold on. His wife told authorities that they had intimacy problems, also that she was complaining

about his overspending. He was also sexting for a long time with other women, one of whom he allegedly met at a park.

CLAYPOOL: Jane, get a divorce. You don`t need to kill your kid.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Debbie, Florida, let`s go to the phone line. Debbie, Florida, what do you have to say?

DEBBIE: I just think, Jane, first of all, hi, how are you tonight?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Good, thanks.

DEBBIE: I just think that this gentleman had so much sexting going on in his head that he couldn`t wait to go to work and go into his stall and show

his private parts and whatever, that he honestly that`s the only thing that was on his mind. His son was not in his mind. And because of his sexting,

because of his issue or problem --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`ve got to leave it right there. He deserves his day in court. We shall see what happens next. Nancy`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END