has been reached in the corruption trial of former presidential candidate john edwards. there's file video. we've been watching him enter the courtroom every day. it's not that simple, folks, having to deal with the verdict. we know that there has been a unanimous decision on one count, count three, but we do not know where the jury has landed, has decided on that. this is one of six counts. the judge has now asked for a five-minute recess to -- obviously, they have a lot more to deal with. i will get the latest on that but we have our team in place. joe johns is in the courtroom. he's outside the courtroom in greensboro, north carolina. we have our jeffrey toobin, senior legal analyst, helping us along, along with ray lynn johnson and as well as our own sun yib hostin who has been good enough to join us. joe, first to you. it's hard to do it quickly, i know, and briefly. bring our viewers up to speed what we know right now and what we're waiting for. >> reporter: what we know is this is a six-count indictment against john edwards and the jury has indicated to the judge in the courtr

news out of the john edwards trial. the jury did announce a unanimous verdict on just one of the six charges that have been leveled against the former presidential candidate. he's facing 30 years. the judge then sent the jury back into the jury room to encourage them to further deliberate on the other five, thinking it was like a locker room speech in the fourth quarter. go back in there and get it done, don done. to help explain this, we go to gabe in greensboro, north carolina. >> reporter: it started before lunch when the jury was brought into court, and for the first time the jury asked to work through the lunch break, so many people here thought something must be going on. shortly after the lunch hour when the court came back from recess, as you've been discussing, we heard that the jury had reached a verdict. the courtroom had been opened. even the judge expected a verdict on all six counts, but then when the jury was brought in, as we've been discussing, the foreman said they only reached a unanimous verdict on one count. that is count 3, the count relating to the charge o

greensboro, north carolina, and the john edwards trial and many developments there. thanks for sticking with me this afternoon. my colleague, gloria borger, will be picking it up from here in "the situation room." gloria? >>> happening now, breaking news. a legal mess in the john edwards corruption trial. the jury reaches a verdict, but on only one count. and the judge orders them to keep trying. >>> and the obama campaign targets mitt romney's term as governor of massachusetts and launches an attack on his own turf. but the democrats run into some very rowdy republicans who shout down obama's team. >>> plus, laughs, tears, and not a lot of politics at the white house unveiling of george w. bush's official portrait. you'll see how the former president stole the show. wolf blitzer's off today. i'm gloria borger and you're in "the situation room." >>> and we've got a lot of breaking news today. the jury in the john edwards' federal corruption trial reaches a verdict on just one of the six counts against the one-time presidential hopeful. the defense asks for a mistrial, but the j

>>> and we've got a lot of breaking news today. the jury in the john edwards' federal corruption trial reaches a verdict on just one of the six counts against the one-time presidential hopeful. the defense asks for a mistrial, but the judge tells the jury they've got to keep at it. let's go straight to cnn's senior correspondent, joe johns. he's in greensboro, north carolina. joe, what is going on down there? >> reporter: well, you know, it gets stranger and stranger every minute. quite frankly, just a few minutes ago, gloria, we got the word to stay tuned. it may not be over yet, even for today. the jury just sent yet another note to judge katherine eagles here in greensboro. we're waiting to hear the contents of that note. they've been a very communicatetive juror. it could be they just want to talk about scheduling. usually around 4:30 eastern time is usually when the jury breaks for the day. but recapping, it's been a very unusual and probably most extraordinary day in the entire trial here in greensboro. that is because earlier this afternoon, we got word that the jury had,

gentleman -- john edwards corruption case. they are a hung jury on five of the six counts announcing to the judge they do have a unanimous verdict on one count. jonathan serrie will fill us in on that count. it is breaking now that the defense wants a mistrial in this case. the prosecution wants the jury to forge ahead. set the scene. >>jonathan: exactly. that is what i am hearing from the courtroom. the jury has reached a verdict on count three which is the john edwards allegedly accepted illegal and excessive campaign funds from rachel "bunny" mellon during the year of 2008 but they have not announced whether they found him guilty or not guilty while the lawyers, both the defense and prosecution, are arguing where they want the jury to go from here. the prosecution wants the judge to send the jury back to the jury room presumably reading them the allen charge reminding them of all the time and expense that has gone into this trial and urging them to try to come up with a verdict before they come out again but the defense is wanting the judge to declare a mistrial so the judge as we

report to you. there is a verdict in the john edwards trial in north carolina. i think we have john q. kelly who is standing by with the very latest. thanks to you for getting in here. we've waited. this is the ninth day. we've heard back and forth of the jury wanting more information. there was a mysterious note. we knew today they were at least an extra half-hour through the lunch. now we've got a verdict. but the ninth day. people are wondering whether this is good news or wad news for the person who wanted to be president of this country. >> going out on a limb, i think it is relatively good news. i think they may convict him of one or two counts but there are indications going back to yesterday when the judge let four alternates go that they were close to a verdict at that time. most telling was when they went to work through lunch and they want to get this wrapped up. i think if they reach a not guilty on the first four counts, it is clearly not guilty on the other counts of false statements and conspiracy. if those really, if they're considered less like the judge instructed,

waiting for. >> reporter: what we know is this is a six-count indictment against john edwards and the jury has indicated to the judge in the courtroom that they have reached a verdict on count three of that six-count indictment. that count three relates to a charge of accepting illegal campaign donations in the year 2008 from rachel "bunny" mellon, a 101-year-old woman who lives in upperville, virginia, very rich, it's right outside of middleburg, virginia, and she had taken upon herself to give jon edwards several hundred thousand dollars which according to one of her friends was griffin for a personal reason, though the prosecution has always contended that john edwards and others knew this money was intended to maintain the viability of his presidential campaign in 2008. so that verdict apparently reached by this jury here in greensboro, north carolina. however, the judge did not take the verdict. that means we don't know whether it's guilty or not guilty, and they also said they had not reached a unanimous verdict on any of the other five counts in this indictment for which john e

they had to decide whether john edwards knew that this was illegal, and he acted illegally knowing that he accepted the contributions, that that was illegal, and finally that he failed to disclose them. so they had to go through all of those steps before they could answer the question about whether he was guilty or not guilty. as you've been talking about here, several experts in the law, two former chairmen of the federal elections commission, have said these were clearly not covered by campaign finance law, that they were not campaign contributions. this wasn't money to do what campaigns normally do, buying advertising and paying for trips and campaign rallies and get out the vote things, but the federal government's theory was that this was money spent to influence an election. so at the end of the day, that's what the jury had to decide here, is the donors intend this money to influence the election? and the judge in the instructions said, you don't have to decide that that's the only thing that the donors had in mind if you conclude that that was one of the things that the don

candidate and senator john edwards. testimony today about when president obama was told about the john edwards' love affair and his love child. and, a first grader accused of sexual harassment after he recited the words of a popular song "i'm sexy and i know it." the parents say this ordeal is not over, all ahead unless breaking news changes everything. but, first from fox at 3:00 in new york city, a c.i.a. mole who infiltrated al qaeda and foiled the plot to blow up a united states bound airliner. the mole got inside access to a key bomb cell in yemen and we are told he gained the terrorists trust and turned on them. the new and sophisticateed underwear bomb not hands of the united states agent. this appears to an big victory for united states intelligence because this are few known instances of u.s. supplies infiltrating a terrorist group. and the spy is reportedly safely out of yemen now, but sources tell fox there could be more bombs out there. the suspected mastermind is a yemen-based bombmaker who set his own brother on a suicide mission to kill a saudi prince. with a device impl

the john edwards trial says the former presidential candidate asked an elderly dough increase for tens of millionsbÑn of dollars aftere campaign fell apart. that is all ahead unless breaking news changes everything. this is "studio b." but, first, one of colombian prostitutes at center of the secret service scandal is out of hiding and telling the world about her night with a member of president obama's security team. she says the agent was very drunk when she went back to his hotel in the colombian capital. she said his leg age and papers remain out in the open and it would have been easy to steal them. but the 23 your old single mom says she had no idea he was in the secret service. today, a reporter asked what she would have done if she had known he was working for the president. >> if you had learned that, and someone offered you a huge amount of money to blackmail him into cooperating with that person, would you, do you think you would do that? >> she says that if she had known at any point he was a member of the secret service she would actually have never called the local

dollars have been spent by the united states of america to put john edwards if -- in jail and it would be a tremendous defeat if he is acquit asked there is a hung jury. a waste of time, money, energy and resources of our government. >>megyn: randy, do the lawyers have a strategy, a hand for be played here? does it matter at this point what they push the judge for? or the jury has a verdict and they don't have one on others, you know, are we going to be stuck with a partial verdict? >>randy: i don't think it is fair to call it a strategy as much as it is reading tea leaves, trying to have a crystal ball, no different than trying to read a juror's facial, expression. you start with the judge has the discretion what to do. whether to dechair a mistrial now, discretion on what kind of allen charge. come on, guys, get back in there do the best you can, listen to each other. or, really twist their arms and say you have an obligation, you have a duty, you swore, and, really, put the pressure on them. from the defense, one argument could be may, i want to get them out as quickly as i can beca

"hardball." >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews out of washington. let me start with this john edwards trial, this waste of time, money and public attention. john edwards found not guilty on one charge, the jury deadlocked on all the rest. a question in this case from day one. it's what we see in developing countries where one party wins an election and uses this new power to vent on those out of power. i don't like the fact that a republican prosecutor, a holdover from the bush administration, brought this case on edwards and then went on to run for congress and has just won his primary. are we real happy to see cases here as campaign gifts when the supreme court is saying that corporations and individuals now have a limited right to give money to campaigns. justice correspondent pete williams, savannah guthrie and hampton delinger, an attorney who has been covering this case for us in greensboro, north carolina. gentlemen and lady, you don't have to agree with my point of view. i want to know the facts, however. you start. i've heard your analysis today. what does it tell you that the jury

john edwards was to influence the campaign. that was the government's theory here, that he was using this money to influence the campaign. the government said that's why it came under federal campaign finance laws, and remember, the reason that the government said these were illegal contributions is because they exceeded the federal limit. it was almost a million dollars all told, which was well over the amount of money that someone could give to a federal candidate. so who knows along the way whether a jury decided the chain simply broke down and they couldn't find him guilty. as a factual matter, the jury found him guilty on one count, buddy melon, her checks to be clear in 2008. they couldn't reach agreement on the other five counts. so the judge declared a mistrial on them. and then the question is will the federal government bring these charges again? i'm quite certain that the justice department hasn't decided what to do there. there are arguments for or against it of the you'. you've made some of the ones against it. those are some of the things the government has to consider.

one of the counts against john edwards. that was the count that hemmingedly accepted illegal campaign contributions in 2008 from rachel bunny melon. they announced they could not reach a verdict on the other five counts. realizing they had not cop up with a unanimous verdict, the judge sent them back in the jury room w while she met with the lawyers. the prosecution wanted the jury to continue deliberating. the defense wanted the judge to declare a mistrial. the judge instructed jurors to go back and continue their deliberations and try to come up with the unanimous verdict on the other count. 45 minutes later, juror sent a judge a note saying after nine days of deliberations they were confident in their conclusions saying "we do not believe a different verdict will be reached." the judge declared a mistrial on the other five counts. the judge spoke to the jury briefly before dismissing jurors saying, "i know you're probably frustrated but you worked hard. you have done your job and you can hold your head up." back to you. >> kimberly: jonathan, this is interesting. after onl

democratic presidential candidate john edwards. edwards has been found not guilty on one count, but the judge declared a mistrial on the other five. fox news correspondent jonathan serrie is standing live outside the courthouse in greensboro, north carolina, with the latest details. jonathan, what happened? >> right now, the judge is meeting with lawyers on both sides of the case to go over the post verdict motion. earlier today, jury, a knock on the door of the jury room. the jury was invited in, at which point they announce that they reached a verdict on only one of the counts against john edwards. that was the count that hemmingedly accepted illegal campaign contributions in 2008 from rachel bunny melon. they announced they could not reach a verdict on the other five counts. realizing they had not cop up with a unanimous verdict, the judge sent them back in the jury room w while she met with the lawyers. the prosecution wanted the jury to continue deliberating. the defense wanted the judge to declare a mistrial. the judge instructed jurors to go back and continue their deliberations

." >>> we'll get to the john edwards story in a moment. but i want to start with dramatic developments in the trayvon martin case. information that could, i repeat could, support george zimmerman's claims of injuries he received on the night. dan abrams is here. quite dramatic new evidence abc's unearthed. >> matt gutman has seen the medical records now of george zimmerman's own doctor. and the doctor's records indicate that george zimmerman appeared to have a broken nose, had lacerations on his head. just as many of his supporters have been alleging now for many months. the problem, of course, for george zimmerman is this doesn't necessarily clear him. it doesn't necessarily mean he's going to win. because the question still remains who started the altercation? >> isn't that the key question? >> it's absolutely the key. you can't start a fight, start losing the fight, and then use deadly force. that's not the way it works. >> this is george zimmerman's own doctor. >> that's right. >> so he knew him. >> yep. >> when do you think we treated him? >> this is the morning after. it was shor

affair long before most voters the word from one of john edwards' biggest donors in court. today. let's see what you got. rv -- covered. why would you pay for a hotel? i never do. motorcycles -- check. atv. i ride those. do you? no. boat. house. hello, dear. hello. hello. oh! check it -- [ loud r&b on car radio ] i'm going on break! the more you bundle, the more you save. now, that's progressive. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. fohalf the calories plus vgie nutrition. could've had a v8. that bringing you better technology with our revolutionary new e-trade 360 dashboard you see exactly where your money is and what it's doing live. our e-trade pro platform offers powerful functionality that's still so usable you'll actually use it. and our mobile apps are the ultimate in wherever whenever investing. no matter what kind of investor you are, you'll fthe technology to help you become a better one at e-trade. (spoken in mandarin) i've still got hours of battery life. it's an ultrabook. you bring eat shame upon this coffee hut. with a long-lasting ultrabook, everything else se

including haircuts. and as we know, john edwards did like to spend large amount of money on haircuts. that would suggest that there was knowledge this was a personal gift as opposed to it being a campaign contribution. >> certainly at that point. and the judge's instruction here to the jury was that the jurors have to find at least one of the purposes, it needn't have been the exclusive purpose, but that at least one of the purposes that the donors had in mind when they wrote these checks was to influee an election. that was the judge's instruction to the jury. that is a controversial area of the law. it has never really been tested. two former election commission took the view that these, this money did not come under the law. clearly the federal government saw it otherwise. other campaign experts have seen it otherwise as well. this is really, we're really kind of out in a territory here on this particular application of campaign finance law. >> indeed. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. thank you so much for helping us through the confusion. john q. kelly has been following t

trying to help a friend. or did it mat whater what john edwards thought he was doing. at the end of the day you calm away with a feeling that it was very ambiguous and hard to understand. i'm not surprised at all they took nine days to chew this over. >> it's a complicated civil case. you want to say don't give this to a jury. >> this matters because if they decide to retry the case on the counts that the jury deadlocked on, what's in the interest of government. they said we have to be careful to send a message to candidates that the election system is not to be trifled with and that campaign money and corruption are important things to police. as we talk about here with the rise of super pacs, does justice demand resending this message here? >> one thing i liked is the jury was unable to separate, the scandal, about hum and his infidelity and his relationship with rielle hunter. everybody thought it would ruin the chance of a jury giving an honest call on the law. here is edwards after the call today speaking about his person moral responsibility, let's watch what he says. just a s

bring to you right now. we are hearing that the jury in the john edwards trial, the corruption trial, has reached a verdict. i want to see if we can go to greensboro, north carolina, right away where our joe johns has been there throughout this whole trial and has been waiting there for the eight days of deliberation. joe, quick, tell me what you know. >> reporter: hi, kate. that's what we know. we are told there has been a verdict reached in this trial. we don't know what that verdict is. we're told we're going to have to wait probably ten, perhaps even 15 minutes before we know what the verdict is. of course, not guilty, guilty a possibility also. there's clearly a question as to whether it's a full verdict, partial verdict, or what have you. there's six different charges in this indictment, and if you want me to, i'll just go very quickly through them. >> yes. >> reporter: so you know what they are. the actual verdict sheet that the jury has gotten starts with charge number two that came out. this is accepting illegal campaign donations in 2007 in a woman named rachel "bunny" mell

>>> john edwards' trial. the jury rush -- returns a verdict on one of only six charges. >> what happens next. >> hi, everybody. i'm mary bubala. >> i'm kai jackson. here's what people are talking about. >> we have breaking news in the john edwards trial. a short time ago, the jury tells the judge they have consensus on only one charge, and they're dead-locked on the remaining five. manuel gallegus reports for wjz. the judge sternly tells the jury to keep trying. >> reporter: john edwards must wait a little longer to find out his fate. jurors in his campaign finance trial said they were deadlocked on five of the six counts against him. it was just after 2:00 p.m. when the jury sent word they had reached a verdict. but when the court convened, the jury said they had reached a unanimous decision only on count 3. that involves edwards receiving campaign funds illegally from heiress bunny millen. she had given him more than $700,000 during his 2008 presidential campaign. prosecutor says he used that money to hide his pregnant mistress, rielle hunter. >> in all, they deliberated more

edwards trial. you have heard about this third count where john edwards has been found guilty. the other five issues which we had a hung jury is yet to be resolved, and we had jonathan serrie in greensboro, north carolina. what can you tell us? >>reporter: the jury has found him not guilty on count three. that is that he allegedly accepted we illegal campaign funds from wealthy heiress rachel "bunny" mellon in the year 2008. again, that on that one count, they have fund found him not guilty but they have announced they are hung on all five other counts. originally they came out announcing they reaped a verdict on only one count, the judge did not allow them to proceed to announce whether it was guilty or not guilty and she sent them back to the jury room and met with the other lawyers in the case as they debated what action she should take. the defense wanted her to send them back into the jury room and the lead prosecutor said it appears they are not finished but the defense lawyer argued "they have spent many hours. it seems to me they don't need to be told to be anymore," so the

>>> on the broadcast tonight, the verdict for john edwards. not guilty on one count, a mistrial on all the others. and dramatic words from a contrite but resilient edwards himself on the courthouse steps. >> war on sugar. a an attack on supersized beverages that have some people say get your han off my drink. >> road hazard. teenagers with attention deficit disorder getting behind the wheel. opportunity, a solution to make the ride a bit safer. >> and unveiling. a portrait of civility during the mean season of politics. a tradition that leads to some big laughs at the white house. "nightly news" begins now. >>> and good evening, everyone. i'm matt lauer. in for brian tonight. after a day of krurm confusion and drama, there's a verdict and a mistrial in the john edwards case. a trial about campaign finance corruption that included weeks of sensational testimony about his private life and his very public fall from grace. late this afternoon, following the vict, we heard from edwards himself for the first time right outside the courthouse. >> i want to make sure that everyone hears fr

washington, dc. another former aide to john edwards on the witness stand today. he said he overher the foam presidential candidate asking his mistress whether her baby bump was showing. the foam aide here in the blue tie and glasses said in 26 fix he saw the mistress get off the elevator on the same floor as john edwards and the foam aide says the mistress told him she and john edwards were madly if love. and the next day the aide says john edwards called him to deny he was having an affair and told him rielle hunter was crazy. not long after that run in the aide said campaign staffers had to stay in a different hotel floor from the presidential candidate, but one day in 2007 he went to john edwards room to get a cell phone and heard what sounded like to him a speaker phone conversation through the door, a conversation in which john edwards asked his mistress if she was showing yet. of course, rielle hunter gave birth to john edwards baby and the former presidential candidate used campaign cash to hide the affair from his dying wife and most importantly from the voters. lawyers from john ed

all three of you. >>> new developments to talk about in the john edwards trial, the defense on the verge of resting without calling john edwards daughter, kate, his mistress rielle hunter or even john edwards himself to the stand. >>> plus to protect and serve or kill. mississippi police officer now searching for a murder suspect they believe is dressed as one of their own. we're going to talk to the california democratic congresswoman jackie spear coming up next. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain, think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain. two pills can last all day. ♪ two pills can last all day. do you guys ride? well... no. som

begins anew. on "studio b" and the ex-john edwards aide says the former presidential candidate lied to him about his affair, but found out his former boss' love child from what he sered from a hotel room door. some of the files from osama bin laden's computer released today and it appears theback cac leader was in a funk over the terror network. and, spirit airlines. that's the spirit. they refuse to refund a dying vietnam veteran less than $200 for a flight he could not physically met and now c.e.o. is defending the airlines in an interview with fox news and that is all ahead unless breaking news changes everything. >> but first from fox at 3:00 in new york city new signs life for our economy after a drop in the number of members seeming jobless benefits. the labor department reports new unemployment claims fell by 27,000 last week, the biggest decrease in a year. experts say the numbers suggest that hiring is strong enough to lower the national jobless rate. this great news comes after several weeks of increases raising doubts of the labor market but there are still mixed messages

campaign cash trial, against the former presidential candidate, and senator, john edwards. and the jury is now making, are offering some very specific requests. plus, despite what you may have seen on tv there is but one official medal in the united states mint commemorting the attacks of 9/11. proceeds go to the memorial and museum. and, today, we will show you how the mint makes the real deal. and airline passengers have found out how to avoid spending money on the skyrocketing baggage fees. we will clue you in, unless breaking news changes everything. on "studio b." first from fox at 3:00 in new york city, and in north carolina, where the jury is now deciding whether to convict the former presidential candidate and senator, john edwards, on half as do criminal counts that could put him in prison three decades. they heard three weeks of testimony covering the affair that john edwards had with try emhunter as his wife elizabeth suffered from cancer that killed her. but the jury will not be judging john edwards on character. this is about campaign finance laws. the prosecution trie

, lawyers for the presidential candidate and senator, john edwards rested their days and did not call john edwards $not call his daughter, did not call his mistress. in the three week trial, the prosecution argued that he knew that $1 million used to hide the pregnant mistress from voters and his dying wife during the run for the white house was indeed a campaign contribution that violated campaign finance laws. that's from the prosecution. the jury heard testimony from the prosecution's star witness, andrew young, a former campaign aide, who falsely claimed he was the father of john edwards' long child but john edwards' lawyers argues the money was a private gift and they painted andrew young as serve serving liar who took the money to build his dream home. other testimony portrayed john edwards as a man who lied about cheating on his wife as she battled cancer that killed her no witness said that john edwards knew he was violating campaign finance laws, not one. a key element of proving criminal intent which is needed for the conviction that could put john edwards in prison for 30 y

senator, john edwards, on half as do criminal counts that could put him in prison three decades. they heard three weeks of testimony covering the affair that john edwards had with try emhunter as his wife elizabeth suffered from cancer that killed her. but the jury will not be judging john edwards on character. this is about campaign finance laws. the prosecution tried to prove that john edwards used nearly $1 million in illegal contributions to cover up the affair. john edwards' lawyers argue that the money was a personal gift not a political donation. they also claim that the foam aide, andrew young, used most of that money to build his own dream home. and now, we have covered this from the beginning, and jonathan is live in north carolina. the jury asked to see some exhibits from the trial, right? >>jonathan: that is right. it looks like third following the money. they asked to see several checks that a donor, bunny mellon, wrote to the interior decorator, which were later cosigned by the wife of edwards' form campaign aide andrew young. and a couple notes bunny mellon wrote

, the mistress at the center of the john edwards trial on the witness list for the prosecution and the defense but time is rung out for her temperature. -- for her testimony. >> the feds now pushing the biggest internet companies in all of america to give them a better way to spy on users. how much freedom should we give up? that's all ahead unless breaking news changes everything. this is "studio b." all just in to fox first from fox at 3:00, president obama under mounting political pressure to take a stand jumped head first into the same-sex marriage debate agreeing to a last minute interview with abc news. that interview has just been played and this is the president commenting. for context in throw days there has been a lost movement. on sunday, vice president biden surprised many when he said he was absolutely comfortable with gay marriage. listen to the vice president. >> you comfortable with same-sex marriage? >> look, i am vice president of the united states of america. the president sets the policy. i am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women mar

fallen. john edwards corruption trial. can his daughter save him from a prison seasons? i'll talk with gloria allred. >>> plus a primetime exclusive. jane lynch gets personal. >> i have a really strong life. we have a child. if we're going to enter into this with a child, i want a piece of paper. >> star of glee opens up on lives and loves. >> sometimes i'm not in the script and i'm bereft. >>> and the homeless man with the golden voice. >> people would remember me from those great days in radio and be like what happened, man? and i would always say smoke damage. >> the story of how he got clean and sober all over again. >>> only in america. trading a mop and pail for a cap and gown. this is "piers morgan tonight." >>> we'll get to the john edwards story in a moment. but i want to start with dramatic developments in the trayvon martin case. information that could, i repeat could, support george zimmerman's claims of injuries he received on the night. dan abrams is here. quite dramatic new evidence abc's unearthed. >> matt gutman has seen the medical records now of george zimmerman

wife could not stop the former presidential candidate and senator john edwards from seeking political power as his own campaign crumbled. that's the testimony today from a former john edwards advisor. that advisor and businessman told the court that john edwards asked him to reach out to the obama campaign to let them know that john edwards was available for the ticket. and when senator obama did not embrace john edwards, he started talking to then senator hillary clinton's campaign, the former advisor said there was talk of john edwards wanting to become a supreme court justice. of court, the prosecution says john edwards knew that he used campaign cash to hide his mistress and love child from voters. john edwards lawyers said he didn't know about the cash and the aide, andrew young, spent most of the money on his own dream him. if convicted john edwards could spend 30 years in prison. and now from the courthouse in north carolina this afternoon. jonathan there is this talk of whether the mistress, rielle hunter will take the stand. >>jonathan: she is not going for do it for the rece

their technology is not ahead of our defense. >>shepard: thank you. john edwards' mistress, will she testify? she is try it -- rielle hunter, and putting her on the stand against john edwards could be an enormous risk. the trial of the would be presidential candidate. and the senator. [ barking ] i'm your dog, holding down the fort while you're out catching a movie. [ growls ] lucky for me, your friends showed up with this awesome bone. hey! you guys are great. and if you got your home insurance where you got your cut rate car insurance, it might not replace all this. [ electricity crackling ] [ gasping ] so get allstate. you could save money and be better protected from mayhem like me. [ dennis ] dollar for dollar, nobody protects you from mayhem like allstate. the health of our cells plays a key role throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin, designed for many of women's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day women's 50+ healthy advantage. is this where we're at now? we ju

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john edwards said about taking responsibility for his bhaf is what he said just before the trial started. he tried to send that message then saying don't judge me by my personal life. make your decision based on the evidence of the law. >> i thought the prosecution, it wasn't great in the o.j. simpson case, their mistake was letting it go on for months and months months. if they had confidence and evidence they could have done it in rock solid fashion. they didn't do it and it took too long. here is john edwards tonight right after coming out of court and beating the rach by getting one acquittal and five counts of his trial. this is open to a lot of interpretation. here is john edwards talking about his future. >> i don't think god is through with me. i think there are good things ki still do, and whatever happens with this legal stuff, what i'm hopeble about is all of those kids i have sewn in the poorest parts of this country and some of the poorest places in the world, that i can help them. and whatever way i'm still capable of helping them. and i want to dedicate my life to

. will congress hold the attorney general in contempt? and -- >> the john edwards trial. section, lies and campaign contributions. is it prosecution or persecution? plus, the college student missing for nearly a year. but is there final lay break in the lauren spearer case? and -- grandparents under arrest for allegedly taking their grandkid on quite a ride. coming up tonight on "justice." hello and welcome to "justice." we start tonight with this week's most talked about legal cases. defense attorney and former prosecutor joey jackson and former assistant united states attorney fred. thanks for joining us this evening. first up, 23-year-old daniel chong arrested by dea in a drug sweep at a friend's house. after questioning, put in a holding cell, handcuffed and foregotten for four days. no food. no water. no toilet. here he and h his attorney describe the ordeal. >> it was pitch plaque. black trying to write sorry, mom. >> he screamed hundreds of times for help. he began to dig into the walls thinking co-get water that way. >> i had to do what i had to do to survive. >> people in this

braebing news after nine days of deliberations the jury in the john edwards trial reached a verdict. >> or maybe a partial verdict. as everyone was waiting for the verdict to be read there was a change of plans. the jury told the judge it only reached a unanimous verdict on one of the six kouchblts the judge said, quote, i was obviously under the impression you had reached a verdict on all six counts. the only count was reached was count three, that specific charge that john edwards accepted and received illegal campaign contributions in 2008 from rachel mellon. edwards is accused of masterminding a plan to use money from mellon and another wealthy donor to hide his pregnant mistress as he ran for president. >> that mistress of course, rielle hunter. about 2:45 this afternoon the judge sent the jury back into the deliberation room. analysts say the jury could be dead locked on the other five charges. witnesses inside the courtroom today say edwards happy, appeared to be smiling at his family. the defense team has asked the judge to declare a mistrial so, once again, back to square o

now, a verdict in the john edwards trial, former presidential candidate facing six counts of campaign fraud up to 30 years in prison and he has been found not guilt oi one charge, a hung jury and deadlocked jury and mistrial on the other five charges. he will not be going to jail, so this was all in connection with whether he took money from friends and associates to cover up his affair with mistress rielle hunter. the jury decided not guilty on one of those counts and did not reach a decision on the others. let me bring in dan abrams. he is not going to prison. they decided oz this one count this was a gift, not an illegal campaign contribution. >> or that the prosecution hadn't proved the case. this is great news for john edwards. john edwards has got to be thrilled. people may hear hung jury, could this mean a retrial, yes, it might. it could. the bottom line is one not guilty count and five hung is a huge win for john edwards. now the question is going to be are the prosecutors really going to be able to justify spending this kind of money to bring this kind of case again

estranged wife of rfk jr. has been found dead tonight. >>> the defense rests in the john edwards trial without calling him, his daughter, or mistress to the stand. what will it mean for the former presidential candidate? >> the investigation, medical reports shedding new light on the trayvon martin murder case. does it help or hurt george zimmerman's claim he acted in self defense? >>> it is a breakthrough. good news about treating kids with cancer. >>> and empty nest. the spectacular homecoming in california, but what has happened to the legendary swallows of capistrano? "nightly news" begins now. >>> good evening. shortly before going on the air tonight, we learned of another tragedy to strike the kennedy family. mary kennedy, the mother of four children of robert f. kennedy jr. has been found dead at the family's home in bedford new york, north of new york city. the estranged wife of the son of the late senator from new york suffered some public struggles in recent year, including several brushes with the law. but again, another tragedy for this prominent american family. nbc's andr

the john edwards trial. his former speechwrir, wendy button, is back on the stand after testifying that edwards told her that he knew a wealthy donor had donated money to hide his mistress. i'm joined by hampton dellinger and savannah guthrie. edwards cried during his speechwriter's testimony. you were in the room, hampton. what happened? >> reporter: she said that john edwards told her that he knew that fred baron was taking care of covering up the affair the whole time. she also said that he had no idea that bunny mellon's money was involved. he looked tearful when she talked about the pain he conveyed to her for lying about being the father of quinn, the child with his mistress, rielle hunter. breaking news within the last hour, the presiding judge saying the witness list today does not include rielle hunter. >> for today or period? >> reporter: for today. no. >> could rielle hunter take the stand? >> reporter: absolutely. i have not thought that they would be called by the government. i think if we see rielle hunter -- and i think we will -- it will be on the defensive side of