Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Clippers Owner`s Wife Sues Mistress; Teacher Gives Boy Pupil Lap Dance
Aired April 28, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Breaking news tonight. It wasn`t just sports fans in shock after the owner of the LA Clippers caught on tape in a sick race rant, reaming out his mistress for bringing African-Americans to events and taking photos with them. The rant goes viral as he blesses (ph) her out. But tonight, after his team protests their own owner, the country sides with them.
But tonight, he`s got another problem. Bombshell tonight, his wife suing his now not so secret mistress for the millions her husband apparently has spent on their sex affair. I guess that`ll teach him!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As voices get louder to take action against Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People call you and tell you that I have black people on my Instagram, and it bothers you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it bothers me a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lawsuit reveals Sterling was allegedly giving millions to a mistress nearly 50 years younger than him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live, upscale Texas suburbs. A middle school teacher gives a boy student a full contact lap dance set to music, in class, for his birthday before telling him, I love you, baby. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! A teacher gives a lap dance in middle school? What alternate universe is she living in?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Teacher is accused of giving a male student a full contact lap dance. Investigators say Smith sat the teen in a chair in front of a classroom full of cheering students, sat on his lap, then moved her head between his legs and allowed him to grope her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And to Ohio. New parents Adam and Heather wake up in the dead of night to the chilling words, Wake up, baby, only then learning a creepy cyber perv actually hacks into the home baby monitor. No telling how many countless hours the cyber perv`s been watching their baby girl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A baby was asleep in her home while a hacker was watching her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they heard a man yelling at their toddler --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wake up, baby, wake up, baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their device was hacked.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone else was watching, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the question remains who hacked into the wireless baby monitor, and how?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And to Charleston. Hip new workout club Planet Fitness under fire after a pregnant mom was called on the carpet for working out with a baby bump. Her midriff shirt was fine before she got pregnant and gained weight. But once she started to show, the shirt rolled up a little above her midriff, they told her, Mommy, cover up or get out!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Planet Fitness, a judgment-free zone, but not according to this South Carolina mother, who says she was asked to leave because her belly was hanging out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course my belly`s hanging out. Obviously, I`m pregnant!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. It`s not just sports fans in shock after the owner of the LA Clippers is caught on tape in a sick race rant. He`s reaming out his mistress for bringing African-Americans to sporting events and taking pictures with them. But tonight, after his team protests their own owner and the country sides with them, he`s got another problem, his wife now suing his not so secret mistress for the millions her husband has spent on their affair. I guess that`ll teach him.
For those of you who haven`t heard it, buckle your seatbelts and take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People call you and tell you that I have black people on my Instagram, and it bothers you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it bothers me a lot if you want to broadcast that you`re associating with black people. You have to --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You associate with black people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not you and you`re not me. You`re supposed to be a delicate white or a delicate Latina girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m a mixed girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Well --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you`re in love with me. And I`m black and Mexican, whether you like it or not.
I saw someone I admire. I admire Magic Johnson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s made a lot of changes for his community, for the world, for the people, for the minorities. He`s helped a lot of people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you forcing this down my throat? I`m finished talking to you. I have nothing more to say.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I took a picture with someone I admired.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he happens to be black. And I`m sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it`s nice that you admire him. I know him well, and he should be admired. And I`m just saying that it`s too bad you can`t admire him privately.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: OK, that sad piece of sound is from TMZ Sports that catches the owner of the LA Clippers in a race rant. And it goes on and on and on. I`m going to play some more of it for you in a moment.
But tonight, he`s another problem, and that is the lawsuit his wife has filed against his now not so secret mistress -- there she is -- that you hear on the other end of that.
Straight out to Stephanie Elam, CNN correspondent. Stephanie, what happened?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems that this lawsuit, which was filed last month, takes issue with the fact that this money that -- that they say, that Shelly is saying that V. Stiviano has received was all done without the wife knowing about it. You`re talking about several high-end cars. You`re talking about a condo and all kinds of other money. She`s saying that the affair began after the Super Bowl in 2010, and she wants the damages and she wants reparations for what she says she has gone through.
But this entire situation is costing the Clippers a whole lot of money. Today sponsorships are falling out. People are wondering during this playoff season if players are going to show up again -- I mean, or not the players, but if fans are going to come here to Staples Center and support the team come tomorrow evening. So all in all, there`s a lot of money here, and it`s not just with this one lawsuit.
GRACE: Howard Beck, NBA national columnist with the Bleacher Report -- Howard, this is stunning. Of course, the players gave a silent protest, coming on in their warm-up jackets turned inside-out. What`s the repercussion? People are calling for him to step down, but I mean, how can you make an owner sell his team?
HOWARD BECK, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes, the NBA is in tricky territory here because, clearly, the league and everyone associated with it would love for Donald Sterling to just disappear and withdraw from the NBA. It`s not that simple. You can`t simply force an owner to sell his team. However, the NBA has investigated this. They are close to a conclusion. They are having a press conference tomorrow.
GRACE: Wa-wait! Well, let`s just get real. Let`s get real, Howard. They can`t make him sell his team, OK? That`s not going to happen. Could they suspend him indefinitely?
BECK: They can suspend him. The extent of that suspension is unclear. They`ve suspended owners in the past for a year. But if they want to suspend him, if they want to fine him, that is within their purview. But how far they can take it, how far the suspension could go, how large the fine could be is not clear.
But I think that those solutions are not going to satisfy the players, certainly not the Clippers players, any players. It`s not going to satisfy the fans. It`s not going to satisfy the many people across the country who are upset about this. The NBA, I think, is probably going to have to come up with a stronger solution than that.
And you`re right. Legally, you can`t force him to sell. But they can bring to bear a lot of pressure if the 29 owners and the league office are in agreement on that. We`ll have to see tomorrow at the press conference what they have concluded.
GRACE: You know, another thing I don`t understand, Matt Zarrell, is how this recording came to light anyway. This is a recording between him, the owner of the LA Clippers, Don Sterling, and his mistress, V. Stiviano.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, Nancy, you`re right. Now, what TMZ claims is they obtained the tape. They won`t say how they got it. But the Sterling family is adamant that this tape is a response to the lawsuit filed by Rochelle Sterling against V. Stiviano.
GRACE: OK, for those of you that haven`t heard it, here`s more of that tape.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Instagrams, I won`t -- I`ll just --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here you go, honey. A little bit of juice, baby. A little bit of juice for you, honey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, honey.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honey, if it makes you happy, I will remove all of the black people from my Instagram.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said that before. You said, I understand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did remove the people that were independently on my Instagram that are black.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then why did you start saying you didn`t? You just said you didn`t remove them. You didn`t remove --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn`t -- Matt Kemp and Magic Johnson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I thought Matt Kemp is mixed and he was OK, just like me. He`s lighter, whiter than me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I don`t -- I don`t see your views. I wasn`t raised the way you were raised.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if you don`t feel it, don`t come to my games. Don`t bring black people, and don`t come!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know that you have a whole team that`s black that plays for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just -- do I know? I support them and give them food and clothes and cars and houses! Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I have -- who makes the game? Do I make the game, or do they make the game? There`s 30 owners that created the league --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m not going to bring -- I`m not going to bring any black people to the stadium.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Everybody, that`s from Deadspin. For those of you just joining us, the owner of the LA Clippers caught in a nasty race rant on his mistress, and it`s gotten publicized, his own team protesting him, calls for him step down. But in the middle of all this, his wife now is filing a multi- million-dollar lawsuit against his mistress, on the other end of that phone call, for all the money he has sunk into their sex relationship.
Joining me right now, former LA Lakers player, ESPN talk show host and friend, Metta World Peace. You may know him as Ron Artest. Hey, thanks for being with us, Metta. What do you make of all this?
METTA WORLD PEACE, FORMER LA LAKERS PLAYER: Well, first, it`s great to see you, Nancy. I haven`t seen you in so long.
GRACE: I know. You know what? I kind of liked looking at you better when you were doing all those dance moves on the floor on "Dancing With the Stars." But so Metta, what can they really do with this guy? I mean, they can`t force an owner to step down.
WORLD PEACE: Well, I think the key thing is, like, the history of America is always to come down harsh. Even going back in, you know, slavery times, my ancestors was treated harshly (INAUDIBLE) And I think right now, we don`t want to match hate with hate.
I think the most important thing for people to overcome is for us to move on as a nation, as people in general, is to you got to help improve people. And I say that -- I`m from the hood in Queensbridge, and I`ve been publicly a hood my whole life, and I totally, you know, been pro-proud (ph). You know, I`m proud of who I am. But at the same time, I`m older now, and I believe if you match hate with hate, nothing comes out of it.
This man clearly needs help, and when you`re looking to the videotape and you listen to it, he sounds like a little child, if it`s him.
GRACE: Well, you know what, Metta? I really think he`s going to get his because his wife is after him now because, you know, I think she could tolerate when it was just a whisper about his mistress. But now that it`s blown up like this in the headlines, no, she`s going to -- she`s going to somehow soak him for millions because all this money she`s talking about is money he gave his mistress.
Unleash the lawyers, Jeff Gold, Eric Schwartzreich. All right, first to you, Schwartzreich. Does the wife have a leg to stand on? Because the reality is, everything he gave his lover -- they`re all gifts.
ERIC SCHWARTZREICH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Listen, he`s got problems on the court, he`s got problems in the court, he`s got problems in the court of public opinion. And Nancy, you`re right, a gift -- that`s what the lawyer`s going to claim, it`s a gift. It`s not revokable.
But the issue is it`s spoilation (ph) of marital assets. If he`s married, even though this lawsuit is out in the open, and he`s taking these marital assets and he`s spending them on lavish (INAUDIBLE) of cars, jewelry, gifts, or whatever it may be, the wife might have a valid claim to get these assets back because they are part of marital way (ph). So she might actually have a leg to stand on, Nancy.
GRACE: Jeff?
JEFF GOLD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, no leg to stand on unless you can prove fraud, or you know, after the divorce. But the money spent before that without showing fraud --
GRACE: This is a lot of money, though. Let`s see the graphic. How much money has he thrown at his girlfriend? I guess she`s in hot water tonight because this thing has been leaked. It seemed to me like she was egging him on a little bit, too. How much longer is he going to keep her and the million-dollar-plus apartment and buy her Ferraris, Range Rovers, Bentleys. Please.
GOLD: Once you get the divorce filed, this all has to stop. There`s no doubt about it. So the question is how much before that was this happening. And if it was before, they have to prove fraud, that she`s a gold digger and you have some independent evidence she says, Hey, I`m going to go, you know, to do this and that to get money.
GRACE: Well, it looks to me she may be a gold digger, but he doesn`t seem to be fighting it very much.
OK, everybody, when we get back, a middle school teacher gives a boy student a full contact lap dance set to music in the classroom with the other students for his birthday before telling him, I love you, baby. A teacher gives a lap dance in middle school? What alternative universe is she living in?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I know you said it lasted about four minutes, and the class kind of convinced you to do it. Was it a lap dance?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No comment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Live to the upscale Texas suburbs. A middle school teacher gives a boy student a full contact lap dance, set to music, in the classroom for his birthday with all the other students crowding around, before telling him, I love you, baby. A teacher gives a lap dance in middle school? What alternative universe is she living in?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say she put on an erotic performance in front of her third period class. The details are sickening. Investigators say she rubbed her body on a student while his classmates watched.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Students are playing music. And then she let students film her while she was lap dancing the kid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, it sounds like she`s busted and caught on tape. Nik Rajkovic, news reporter, KTRH, I don`t get it. Where does a teacher get the idea it`s OK to do a lap dance on a boy student in the class -- anywhere, but much less in the classroom with the other students gathered around playing music?
NIK RAJKOVIC, KTRH (via telephone): Well, Nancy, when I was in middle school, a birthday party might have been cupcakes and some party hats. But this woman -- she`s claiming that the other students urged her to give the dance. Obviously, they got cell phones. They videotaped it --
GRACE: OK, please stop.
RAJKOVIC: -- went all over the place.
GRACE: Did you just say that? Mike Duffy, did he just say is the defense, The students urged me to do it? Was that right, Mike Duffy?
MIKE DUFFY, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Nancy. The teacher is saying that these students were encouraging her to perform this dance for the student. And she seems like she didn`t know what to do. She reports that she just put this chair down, started dancing in circles, and accidentally from time to time fell into the kid`s lap --
GRACE: Put him up. Put him up!
DUFFY: -- and everyone couldn`t help but laugh.
GRACE: Did you just say her defense is she was going around and around his chair and she lost her balance and fell into his lap? Did you say that?
DUFFY: That`s what she is saying. However, the boy --
GRACE: No, you said it as if you were defending her!
DUFFY: Well, it seems that she feels a little bit differently from the way hat the boy was saying that she was the aggressor in this case. However --
GRACE: The aggressor? Wasn`t he sitting in a chair, Duffy?
DUFFY: He was sitting in a chair.
GRACE: Put him up, please! Duffy, she`s sitting in a chair. I don`t know what you`re even saying aggressor. Who`s an aggressor in a lap dance? This is not like an aggravated assault. So you`re saying that, what, he made his teacher give him a lap dance?
DUFFY: Not according to her. But all she`s saying is this was a simple, friendly dance to celebrate his 15th birthday, and she was --
GRACE: A simple, friendly dance. OK. Nik Rajkovic, KTRH, a simple, friendly dance. Is she really saying that she lost her balance and fell in the student`s lap? That`s her defense?
RAJKOVIC: That is her defense, at least to police. If you want me to go into the details, we can go into this. I mean, she rubbed her rear end against the boy, is what he was claiming to police, her hands all over his body.
GRACE: The boy actually said that he got aroused in class!
RAJKOVIC: That`s right.
GRACE: That`s not a friendly dance! I mean, who even has a friendly lap dance?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say she hugged her student and said, quote, "I love you, baby." Prosecutors say Smith performed a full contact lap dance while the student sat in the chair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not only was the incident caught on camera, police say Smith admitted to performing the lap dance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A lot of people laughing into their fists tonight, but imagine if this was your boy, your, say, 11, 12-year-old little boy that the teacher sits in his lap and snuggles and rides and twists until he gets an erection in class. The music`s playing, the class is screaming and laughing and clapping, and the boy`s sitting there as his own teacher gives him a lap dance. You know, what do you do with that?
Nik Rajkovic, KTRH, is the teacher at least suspended?
RAJKOVIC: Nancy, she has been removed from teaching while the case is pending. She even bonded out on a $30,000 bond.
GRACE: Wait a minute. You mean she`s not been fired?
RAJKOVIC: She has not been fired. They`re doing a full investigation, I guess, waiting until the suit (ph) carries (ph) out here.
GRACE: A full investigation? Whoa! Wait a minute! Unleash the lawyers, Jeff Gold and Eric Schwartzreich. All right, Gold, I`ve noticed that you`ve been smiling a lot during this. If this were your, say, 11 or 12- year-old little boy, I bet you wouldn`t think it was so funny.
GOLD: You know, I would --
GRACE: Or what if it happened to your 11-year-old girl? What about that?
GOLD: Yes, I wouldn`t like that.
GRACE: And a male coach sat her down and did a lap dance in her lap? Would that make you smile a little -- would it be a little less funny then?
GOLD: I wouldn`t like it, but I want to tell you something. This is more of a joke, a skit.
GRACE: Really?
GOLD: This is done in front of the whole class. This is not taking the kid in, as we`ve seen recently --
GRACE: To me, that makes it even worse.
GOLD: -- into her office and doing this alone. So obviously, she doesn`t have the intent. It`s not a good idea. She should be suspended. But hey, there`s a lot of kids that get an erection in school, and it`s not necessarily because of a dance.
GRACE: You know what? That may be true, but to have your own teacher do this -- I think she should be fired. And also, Eric, isn`t it true that there are charges against her?
SCHWARTZREICH: Nancy, there are charges against her, but you know, what did she do? She took the lower school to see the movie "Bambi," and I certainly hope that was the late show when she did that. And what`s the next lesson plan going to be --
GRACE: I don`t even know what you`re talking about.
SCHWARTZREICH: What`s the next lesson plan going to be, teaching your students --
GRACE: Wa-wait! Wa-wait!
SCHWARTZREICH: -- how to get half (ph) up (ph) on bottles (ph)?
GRACE: I don`t know what you`re talking about. She takes somebody to see "Bambi" --
SCHWARTZREICH: Here`s what --
GRACE: What are you talking about?
SCHWARTZREICH: "Bambi." "Bambi." It`s also a stripper`s name, Nancy, "Bambi," a kid`s movie. Here`s my point. There`s a double standard which you brought up.
GRACE: That`s crazy talk.
SCHWARTZREICH: What she did is a crime, but -- well, it`s crazy talk, but as a defense attorney, we know -- we are cognizant of the fact that there is a double standard. I put out there in our social media that we were going to talk about this tonight, and all the comments are about what you`re saying -- Oh, it`s a woman, it`s OK.
But it is a child and it is a double-edged standard, and we know that as defense attorneys. And if you put men on a jury like this, they`re going to see it a different way because, unfortunately, a predator is a predator, but there`s double standard on this Nancy. And you see these teachers --
GRACE: OK, Eric --
SCHWARTZREICH: -- all the time (INAUDIBLE) female teachers, they`re not doing time for this.
GRACE: I think -- I think what you`re trying to argue -- you`ve gone from something about the Disney movie "Bambi" to a stripper named Bambi --
SCHWARTZREICH: That`s correct, Bambi a (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: -- to a double standard --
SCHWARTZREICH: (INAUDIBLE) stripper`s name Baby.
GRACE: -- you seem to be suggesting is OK.
To Seth Meyers, clinical psychologist. I want to get out of the crazy talk of Eric Schwartzreich for just a moment. What would happen with this boy - - I mean, during this. I mean, he`s going to be the subject of ridicule. People are going to be laughing at him, making fun of him. I mean, this is illegal touching.
SETH MEYERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I think it really depends, first of all, on his personality. So if this was a shy kind of timid kid who was in this position involuntarily, where he felt he had to sit in that chair and undergo the lap dance, otherwise he would get punished for it, then this could be a very traumatic experience for him.
But the truth is, for some kids, this could be kind of like a trophy of sorts. Yes, he`s the one that got the teacher to give him the lap dance.
GRACE: OK. We`ll see what happens.
Everybody, when we come back, new parents wake up in the dead of night to the chilling words, Wake up baby. It`s only then they learn a creepy cyber-perv has actually hacked into their home baby monitor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A baby was asleep in her home while a hacker was watching her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And an outsider watching her through the baby monitor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wake up, baby. Wake up, baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And now to Ohio. New parents Adam and Heather wake up in the dead of night, hearing the chilling words, "Wake up, baby." It is only then they learn a creepy cyber perv has actually hacked into their home baby monitor. There`s no telling how many countless hours this cyber perv has been watching their baby girl.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An Ohio couple says a cyber creep hacked into their baby monitor and was spying on their little 10 month old daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone else was watching too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baby monitor camera was moving erratically, and a man`s voice was screaming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they heard a man yelling at their toddler --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Wake up baby, wake up, baby."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their device was hacked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the search is on for who was able to hack the system and violate this little girl`s home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: This on the heels of another similar case where the family catches this guy on the baby monitor. That`s from Harris county. Take a look at this, actually spying on the baby, and it is all caught on video. And just so you know, this guy, take a look, has never been found. This guy caught on the baby monitor spying on the little baby. The baby wakes up and looks him full in the face, and he actually shines a flashlight on the baby.
Now another similar story: mom and dad wake up in the middle of the night as they hear the chilling words "wake up, baby." This cyber perv staring at this baby girl, their new infant child asleep in her crib. How many hours has he spent watching the baby sleeping, seeing mommy give the baby baths, changing its diapers, rocking it, nursing it? All of this going down, learned from the baby monitor. I didn`t even realize it is possible to break in and hack a baby monitor.
To Melissa Nealy, anchor with news radio WLW. What happened?
MELISSA NEALY, ANCHOR/REPORTER, WLW (on the phone): Adam and heather were jolted out of their sleep by this insane man screaming "wake up baby" from their 10 month old daughter`s bedroom. She checked her baby video monitor, and it was moving erratically. Her husband Adam rushed in to their baby girl`s room to see the monitor turned toward him. And the man started yelling profanities at Adam. And then he unplugged the camera to bring the terror to the end.
GRACE: That`s crazy, Melissa! I didn`t realize they could actually take control of the camera and move the camera around in the room. So how many nights had the mom come into the room to take care of the baby, to nurse the baby, to change the baby? And the whole time this guy is turning the camera to watch the technology.
With me is Larry Fishelson, technology expert and co-founder and COO of Dynalink Communications. Larry, how does this work, how did he do it?
LARRY FISHELSON, CO-FOUNDER & COO, DYNALINK COMMUNICATIONS: Nancy, it is crazy. What happened is he hacked into the system through the wi-fi. So what they did, by using a wi-fi password, it was set up remotely through their mobile devices. So once he was in, he was able to maneuver the camera every which way.
This is a real scary thing out there, and people need to be aware of it. That`s why when this happens, you get these devices, you need to register. Because they did everything right here. They changed their passwords every which way, they had a firewall, but there was a firm wear update inside the camera which had this glitch, they weren`t aware of it. And with that --
GRACE: Larry, Larry, you`re way, way ahead of me. How did the guy -- dumb it down for me, OK? I am just a lawyer. How did the guy hack into the home baby monitor? How do you do that?
FISHELSON: What happens is inside the camera there`s called firmware software. There was a glitch in the software that does data dumps onto the Internet. So you have to be a real sophisticated hacker. They hacked into that software, got the passwords for this camera. and once again, it is not an everyday thing, but with sophistication can be done, and it is scary.
GRACE: This is very weird, odd to me that, Stacy Newman, someone can hack into the baby monitor, but they have to know the person`s passcode, right, Stacy?
STACY NEWMAN: They do. But here is the scary thing. When they called the manufacturer, these parents, they weren`t surprised at all they had been hacked. They said guess what, it is not the first time. So as Larry said, you need to make sure you set the security and don`t use the default password. That`s what happened in this case.
GRACE: A default password. OK, with me, Kelly Scott, the baby`s aunt. Kelly, thanks for being with us. Any idea who is the hacker, Kelly Scott?
KELLY SCOTT, BABY`S AUNT: Hi, Nancy, thank you for drawing attention to this story because this has been so traumatic for our family. No, they have absolutely no idea who this person is. They did not recognize the voice, and they have been told by the manufacturer that it could have been anybody from around the world that could have done it.
GRACE: OK, this is the scary part, Kelly. Not only are they looking at the infant baby -- how old is the baby, Kelly?
SCOTT: She just turned one. She was ten months when it happened.
GRACE: Ten months old. There`s no telling how long they had been watching her get bathed, gets her diaper changed, nursing.
SCOTT: Right.
GRACE: Nobody knows how long this had been going on, right, Kelly:
SCOTT: Yes. We have absolutely no idea. They didn`t know if it just started that night or if it started weeks or months before.
GRACE: And the other thing, Larry Fishelson, a technology expert joining me from Dynalink. Larry, how did he actually get control of that baby cam camera so he could swing that camera around? And when the father came running in, he actually swings the camera at the father and starts cursing him out!
FISHELSON: Sure, it is crazy. What happens here, Nancy, when you set up this device, you set it up with a smart device, whether that be a smart phone or an iPad or a laptop. So what happens is you have the controls through the app on that mobile device to turn the camera remotely.
GRACE: So if you can do this with a monitor, certainly you can break in on somebody`s nanny cam, right, Larry?
FISHELSON: Absolutely. And it is all a remote control through your mobile device.
GRACE: So you mean like through your phone, is that what you`re saying?
FISHELSON: Through your phone, whether you hook it up through your phone or whether you hook it up through a PC or an iPad-type device.
GRACE: Okay, the thought of somebody watching my twins --
FISHELSON: It`s scary. It`s scary.
GRACE: Completely, completely skeeving me out in a major way. And you have to wonder about their motivation. We are on top of it and trying to find out solutions.
When we come back, a hip new workout club, Planet Fitness, under fire after an 18-weeks pregnant mom says she was called out on the carpet for working out with a baby bump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said your belly`s hanging out. Like, of course my belly is hanging out! Obviously I`m pregnant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And now to Charleston, South Carolina. A hip new workout club, Planet Fitness, under fire. An 18 weeks pregnant mom says she was called on the carpet for working out with a baby bump. Her midriff shirt was fine before she got pregnant and gained a little weight. But once the pregnancy started to show and her shirt rolled up a little bit above the midriff they told her to cover up or get out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How am I in violation of the dress code? I said I am wearing what I always wear to the gym.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said she was asked to leave the gym over her baby bump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said your belly is hanging out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because of this outfit. The bottom of her tank top showing her baby bump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Whoa. So the shirt was okay until she gained a little bit of pregnancy weight and her tummy hung over a tiny bit, and they told her to cover up or leave?
With me, in addition to Ricky Couri, managing editor at KRMG Tulsa, is the mom. Eighteen weeks pregnant, has a three-year-old daughter and a workout enthusiast as you can see by her great shape. Melissa Mantor is with us. Melissa, I totally worked out pregnant, and I am pretty sure my tummy showed. I mean, I couldn`t really look down from the elliptical, but I am pretty sure it did. And wisely -- must have been Equinox at the time -- never said a word, although I am sure they wanted to. Melissa, what happened?
MELISSA MANTOR (on the phone): You know, I still wonder. I am still wondering what happened.
GRACE: I am shocked!
MANTOR: I went to the gym like I always do, wearing the outfit that I always wear. And after I was on the treadmill about 10 minutes, one of the employees just came up to me and told me that she was going to have to ask me to leave. I thought -- I was so confused, I asked her again, what was that? She told me I was in violation of the dress code, which I never knew we had a dress code because I`ve never been told.
And I told her what am I in violation of? I am wearing the same outfit I have been wearing the last three years I have been a member of the gym. And she told me my belly was hanging out. And I just could not believe it because I think that in fact my belly maybe showed less with my pregnant belly, at least less skin because my stomach is holding my shirt a little tighter against my body. So I was very surprised, and she told me if I don`t change my outfit, I am going to have to go home.
GRACE: I think I`m seeing your picture. Hey, Melissa, hold on. Was it kind of a pinkish-purple top with blue straps, is that the shirt?
MANTOR: Yes, it is kind of a --
GRACE: I think I am seeing it. Your pregnancy belly is hardly there. Looks like you swallowed an English pea.
MANTOR: You`re so kind. Thank you.
GRACE: And that made them angry? Oh, oh, oh, wow. You said earlier people were standing around and couldn`t believe that they basically asked you to cover up or leave, and then handed you what, an XXL black T-shirt to put on?
MANTOR: Here is what it felt like. She actually handed me a big, big -- what looked like men`s black T-shirt, told me to cover up with that, which I felt more offended by that than anything because I thought, is it really that bad? Is this really that repulsive that I should be covered up in a men`s extra large T-shirt? That was even a little more offensive to me.
GRACE: I find the whole thing extremely offensive. So I guess then if someone gained weight and their tummy poked out, which is what happens at workout clubs -- that`s why you go to workout clubs, because typically except for you everybody else is overweight.
So they never say anything to them. But it is because you`re pregnant. And that triggers a whole host of federal laws against discrimination against people when they`re pregnant or for getting pregnant.
Ricky Couri with me, KRMG Tulsa. Rick, what happened?
RICK COURI, MANAGING EDITOR, KRMG TULSA (on the phone0: Exactly what she said. I thought what was really interesting, later on Planet Fitness said it wasn`t so much the belly as it was the spaghetti straps on the shirt. But of course as you`ve heard right there, Melissa said she has worn the same kind of shirt in a couple different colors in the past when working out there.
I thought it was really interesting, I`d like Melissa to tell the story, when she went to cancel her membership, they continued to kind of harangue her about what she was wearing that day.
GRACE: Are you serious? Melissa, did they? When you went to cancel your membership, what did they say?
MANTOR: Yes. That was concerning for me also because I went in to cancel the membership, and the lady asked me for my number and I gave it to her, and she told me to write the reason why I was cancelling. At that point she told me she had been informed by her boss to remind me that I indeed was in -- I was breaking the dress code violation, in violation of the dress code, and that this is why I got sent home.
And they looked at my membership file because the computer was pulled up. And in my membership photo, I was wearing the exact same tank top in gray, same spaghetti strap tank top, but in gray color. So if they had a problem, they should have told me in my membership stage. I had no idea there was a dress code.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Planet Fitness, a judgment-free zone. But not according to this South Carolina mother who says she was asked to leave because her belly was hanging out. And she happens to be 18 weeks pregnant. Melissa Mantor says she wasn`t even 10 minutes into her workout when she`s approached on treadmill by a gym employee. Mantor offered a T- shirt to cover up her pregnant midriff. Claiming she`s violating.
GRACE: With me is Melissa Mantor, the pregnant mom who was basically booted out of this workout club. What`s the name of it again, Melissa Mantor?
MANTOR: Yes, I`m sorry, What was that?
GRACE: Was it - oh, it`s Planet Fitness in Charleston, South Carolina. Uh- uh. Did you know the girl that came up and told you to cover up or leave?
MANTOR: No, I didn`t know her. In fact, I don`t remember ever seeing her at the gym before, but no, I did not know her.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Jeff Gold out of Atlanta, Eric Schwartzreich out of Fort Lauderdale. OK, to you, Jeff Gold. What`s your defense of Planet Fitness?
JEFF GOLD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, look, they`re allowed to have reasonable restrictions. Whether this is reasonable or not is another matter, but if they said --
GRACE: What kind of reasonable restrictions?
GOLD: If they said in their written policy you can`t wear a bikini, for example --
GRACE: Well, I would go with that. No bikinis. This is not a bikini. Let`s see your shirt, Liz. It`s a full-on shirt. It`s a shirt.
GOLD: Right. At some point, you know, it becomes a two piece. So they get to --
GRACE: Wait, wait. Did you actually just say at some point it becomes a two piece?
GOLD: Yes.
GRACE: What point is that?
GOLD: When the bottom is separated from the top.
GRACE: I gotta figure this out. When did this become a two piece?
GOLD: When the bottom is separated from top.
GRACE: Okay. So now you think they should outlaw two pieces?
GOLD: Not a question of outlaw, but they can make reasonable restrictions in a gym.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: As we were going to break, I think I heard you, Jeff Gold, say something about they don`t want the place to become a meat market?
GOLD: Well, look, this is an extreme example. But the policy itself, could be based on not wearing bikinis, not wearing inappropriate clothing because --
GRACE: A meat market.
GOLD: -- what they want to do is they want people to exercise and not date. So, I mean, this is not a good example of it.
GRACE: Listen --
(CROSSTALK)
GOLD: That`s why you have dress codes.
GRACE: Melissa Mantor. Are you hearing this, Melissa? Someone is actually saying they don`t want it to become a meat market?
MANTOR: You know, I am hearing that, and I think I`m the last person that you would look at and think she belongs in a meat market.
GRACE: A pregnant mom with a 3-year-old at home coming to work out. Seth Meyers, clinical psychologist, you know, it`s bad enough what women go through in the country as far as body image. How we all think we need to look. But here you`ve got a pregnant mom who looks like a model -- which is irrelevant, but she does -- and they said this to her. They`re looking down the wrong end of a barrel called a lawsuit.
SETH MEYERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes. And this is a perfect reminder of just how hard our culture is on women and women`s bodies. For someone to be as fit as she is, even while she`s pregnant, is really very impressive.
GRACE: Very quickly, Eric Schwartzreich, is there a ground for a lawsuit?
ERIC SCHWARTZREICH, ATTORNEY: There`s absolutely a ground for a lawsuit. She`s got a right to a gym. She goes into that gym, it`s discrimination. They look at her and say, you`re coming in here, you`re pregnant, you`re not showing your skin. I mean, how is that any different than with men in there? She`s got a lawsuit; she`s been discriminated against. She`s a mommy. She`s been discriminated agasint.
GRACE: So when she sues, I guess you can bring that lawsuit, Eric Schwartzreich. And Jeff Gold, you can totally defend Planet Fitness because they`re going to need it.
Melissa Mantor, God bless you and your new baby. And thank you for joining us tonight. And, you know what, you`re giving hope to all the moms out there. I was there with twins trying to work out, trying to stay fit, and it`s hard enough without somebody coming up and shaming you at the workout club. Power to you, Melissa.
Everybody, let`s stop and pay tribute to our American heroes. On a happy note, take a look at this video from Facebook of a soldier`s homecoming at the airport. The hero, home from deployment greeting wife and son. The man who shot the video, Eric Merrill, posting it on Facebook, hoping it will go viral and the military family will see their happy moment caught on video tonight.
Everybody, you`ve been asking for it, and here it is. Handcuff necklaces. I`m giving five away for Mother`s Day. Go to nancygrace.com for all the contest details. You can be the lucky winner. All the proceeds, of course, going to a home for abused children.
Now, I would give away my handcuff necklace, the one that Anderson Cooper stole and denied it, but he`s apparently already given it to Kathy Griffin in their New Year`s Eve special.
Everybody, Drew coming up next. But I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern, and until then, good night, friend.
END
