john edwards didn't testify. the only major figure in this trial who actually took the stand was andrew young, who essentially served the bag man role. that's a very unusual situation where you have so many of the key flavors offstage. now, as for what the jury thinks about that, you know, there really is no way to know at this point, except that it's been eight days and there's no verdict. and every day that passes without a conviction is good for the defense. now, that could change if there is a conviction, but days passing, jury deadlocks are good for the defense. you can be sure that abbe lowell and company, the defense lawyer, are feeling better about today's developments than the prosecutors are, but this thing is not over. >> and real quick, jeff, does this fit into, this has gone shockingly long in terms of jury deliberation? or is it not surprising? >> no. i mean, this is certainly a long jury deliberation, but this is not unprecedented, even in north carolina. i was hearing about a less celebrated fraud

what does it mean for john edwards? i'm fascinated by this case because i thought it should never be brought. editorial director for the "washington post" and attorney and former general counsel for the election commission. let me start with this. why are we trying a case that would require making new law part of the process of a verdict? >> you got me. i just don't understand why this case was brought in the first place. it needs to meet a clear standard. there was no clear standard here. we have unlimited campaign contributions in the super pac door. they changed the drinking age in jersey from 20 to 18 and they got you for drinking at 20. the whole thing is out of date. >> it's impossible to know, at least, until we talk to the jurors, but i think the fact that there is such a huge flood of money, secret and open, now going into politics partly as a result of citizens united and super pacs, as pete said, they made the money here look like pikers change, and it made the whole thing more puzzling, perhaps, to the jury.

so john edwards is not guilty. that's where we stand right now, looking for a little bit more color in the courtroom. the long and short of it, after a long trial, huge expense by the federal government, and now the ninth day of deliberation here in greensboro, north carolina, john edwards found not guilty on one count, the jury deadlocked on the other five charges. >> and joe, that count, count three, was illegal campaign contributions from bunny mellon in the year of 2008, because she'd also given him some contributions in 2007. >> reporter: that's right. >> so the does that tell us anything about the way this jury is thinking? because, of course, bunny mellon has not testified herself. >> reporter: well, as my understanding is that the jury has, the jury's been dismissed. so on these other counts, it seems very much as if they're deadlocked on it and the judge has decided they're not going to be able to reach a decision. of course, the question would be, whether the united states government would want to retry o

john edwards was too cute by an inch. he got around it with the bunny money which is obviously okay. >> staying with money and politics is obviously just super pac transparency. obviously we have our opinions about public financing, about ach amending the constitution, about all these complex laws on the books, and i believe all merit significant debate, but while we await the expanded debate on money and politics, i'm still surprised at the audacity of both republican and democratic leadership to simply not concede. we're going to at least show you whose money it is. >> but i don't think any of that is going to happen unless we, the people, continue to put pressure on the politicians to make it happen, because it's not -- i mean, you know, it is sort of in their interest on a political level with a small p, but again, that's the way you impact change. one point i would make in the bigger scheme of things, pete's observation was really right on which was think about where we were when this case was initially brought forwa

john edwards. they will reup. possibly question italy speak to a juror or two or ask what did we do wrong? what hole did we close? what dot did we connect and as sure as i am bald they will go back to the courtroom if a month or a couple of months and they will try again because this is such a defeat to them. they put everything, millions of dollars, the best prosecutors they have if that district, and they could not get one count of guilty. they will be re-tryied. >> one count. and i love you arthur but i disagree. why think they will double down. i think they will leave it alone. >>neil: we can all hang in there. there is the political fallout from all of this, too, john edwards' future what there is, many say there is nothing left to it, and is that really the case? g ] [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. ♪ then we turned the page, creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the all-new rx f sport. ♪ . for lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. when i got my medicare card, i rea

the stakes for john edwards? >>arthur: life-or-death. really. because my understanding of what happened was the jury sent out a note that said we reached a verdict. so, i was giving the judge a hard time before, but, she may have been given this information by the jury itself. that all they said was we reached a verdict they come in and the first question a judge or clerk, depending on how the judge runs the courtroom, has the jury reached a unanimous verdict and then for the first time the judge hears, oh, no, we have a verdict on one thing but we don't know what we are doing on everything else, which, i will tell you, again, this just happened to me a couple of months ago, and the defendant would i was representing who was facing similar amounts of time in jail, prison, was the only time he lost his composure in two years and he said i don't care, take the verdict. i need to get this out of my life. take the verdict. take the verdict. of course, he her not guilty and was very happy about that. >>megyn: because he had you. >>arthur: the other w

he is a developer, former john edwards supporter, friend, and former john edwards aide andrew young. he told the court that he warned then senator president obama's campaign back in date -- 2008 about the affair and told an obama staffer "you have seen the fab lloyd reports and usually they get these wrong but in this case i don't think they did." >> of court, the prosecution says john edwards knew he was using campaign money to hide his affair from voters and his dying wife and john edwards' lawyers say he did not know of the cash and his aide, andrew young, spent the money on his dream home. if convicted john edwards faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines. and now, down to north carolina. what is the prosecution doing to try to prove john edwards did, indeed, know about the cash? >>jonathan: they have the former speech writer who helped john edwards come up with this draft of how he was going to admit his affair to the american public, she, just before a break, was describing how he apologized to staff. at that point, john edwards was visibly upset and during the

with john edwards in the room. and acknowledged that he was putting up the money to move rielle around, to as he put it, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. he didn't want it made public that she was out there with his child and was his mistress while they were still trying to mount a presidential campaign. >> what did they need to prove here regarding the money and the use of it? i think by all accounts, as i pointed out to rihanna and we heard from the defense, there is no question there was an affair. there is a child and there was an attempt to cover this up so that elizabeth edwards would not have her heart broken by this being all dragged out here. at issue, whether this campaign money was used in a legal manner. >> that's it. the question was either, edwards illegally took the money to conceal his illicit affair, to maintain his presidential aspirations. that would be the prosecution theory. or it was private donations from friends that were trying to help him keep up his relationship from his w

we did not get john edwards. or john edwards' daughter. randy you have said he walks. >>randy: didn't need to. didn't need to. didn't need to. you don't fix what ain't broke. the burden rests with the government. john edwards is presumed innocent. he could have sat there reading the "shep" page and does not have to do anything and the government cannot and will not and will never be able to prove that "the" purpose of the money was campaign contributions designed to save the campaign so he could still be president. if a dollar of that money according to this statute went for personal purpose for a gift, under the statute, john edwards must be acquitted. >>arthur: i don't thing they did it for this reason but it was a classy move they did not call the daughter. don't do that. >>shepard: classy they didn't call the daughter. >>arthur: rielle hunter is the wild card or a nut job. they knew they could not control her on the stand and putting him on the stand, the risk wasn't worth the reward. she a trained professional. he is used it control the tempo and the conversation.

or just john edwards' family? the prosecution's first witness today was able to speak to that and the interior decorator helped his racial friend funnel hundreds of thousands to andrew young claiming young never told them of the affair or the coverup until just hours before news appeared in the press, and the prosecution asked huffman how she reacted when she found out about the affair. and huffman reasonablied "she thought he should pay for your girlfriend yourself." trace? >>trace: thank you, jonathan, outside the courthouse and now our legal panel, former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. jeffrey, the question in this, is it fair game as he was talking for the prosecution to bring up the affair again and again to prosecute john edwards? >>guest: absolutely. in a murder case the defendant doesn't want the prosecutor to show you the gory pictures of the scene but that is part of the prosecution case and no matter how much the defense wants to stipulate and say, we agree, we don't need to have the testimon

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.

john edwards not guilty of illegal campaign contribution. plus, president obama and president bush spent some quality time together today at the white house. and we have our very own dana perino, she had a front row seat for all of us here for the festivities and will give us a play-by-play of what she saw today when we come back. please stay with us. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] for two years in a row, j.d. power and associates has ranked quicken loans "highest in customer satisfaction in the united states." call or go to quickenloans.com to discover why our mortgage experience is engineered to amaze. why our mortgage experience living with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis... could mean living th joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you with humira. for many adults with moderate to severe ra, humira's proven to helrelieve pain and stop joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types

and a couple notes bunny mellon wrote to john edwards. "from now on all hair cuts that are necessary and important for the campaign please send the bills to me," in care of the estate lawyer, a way to help our friend without government restrictions. those notes reflect what bunny mellon was thinking at time that she sent the money. and the judge's instructions were that the donor's intent, when she gave the money is something they must consider in determining whether these are, in fact, campaign contributions that must be reported. >>jonathan: the jury's request included a transcript of a voice mail john edwards left andrew young describing plans for a 2008 visit with bunny mellon, and gentleman said we will break out into a private session for a couple of hours and do our work including the work about you and making sure you are protected and included. >>shepard: what are the legal experts telling you of the request that the jury made today? >>jonathan: well, at face value the prosecution would argue that the evidence the jury has asked

some confusing legal developments in the john edwards trial. our correspondent lisa myers has been in north carolina for the duration of these proceedings. she joins us now. lisa, can you make sense of what has happened this afternoon? >> reporter: well, martin, i can tell you the latest. the judge has just announced that she is going to ask the jury to continue deliberations on the five counts on which they have been unable to reach unanimous verdict. they have not yet told us what their verdict is on the one count on which they have reached a conclusion. now, she said she is going to ask the jury to at least go in and keep talking for the afternoon. she didn't indicate whether she has asked them, will ask them to deliberate beyond that. she did say i want them to know, they are not prisoners and they have been conscientious. so i think there will be a limit to how much longer she asks them to go but for now she'll send them back to keep. one of the differentiations that the defense made between the two charges, the two counts involving money

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 on

john edwards does not have a political career. the fact that he's desperate to get into public life still and from what i understand what he is saying, that's what he wants. he ought to go. >> he reminds me of a trial you read about around the world these kinds of trials they hold when you lose, the guys who win president you up for trial, it's just really tawdry, the whole thing. i never like the smell of this case. thank you chuck todd and john heilmann. more on the trial as we continue to program. and why do voters, here the jurors, push back when there is a sex scandal involved. they don't want to hear about it or think about it. we saw all during the clinton era, the voters don't want to deal with these matters and they vote on the facts. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. i'm an expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more

>>> 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

john edwards faces six criminal charges. if he's convicted on all six, he could get up to 30 years in prison and a heavy fine. it's the prison sentence. this was a man who was potentially going to be president now facing a very lengthy, possibly life-ending prison sentence. this couldn't be higher stakes for john edwards, could it? >> couldn't be higher stakes unless of course the death penalty were involved which of course it's not involved in this case. the question is did he violate the law. and that is a significant question. it's interesting the judge didn't think it was a complicated issue of law although the defense argues with that and argued that it would be reversible for the expert not to be able to get all of the testimony about the law and that the fec did not find it was a campaign contribution. and in fact there are other cases in which they also found that a payment to a mistress was not a campaign contribution. so it's going to be interesting. he does have a lot at stake. >> bottom line, this is a really unu

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 edwards said he did not know about the money. jonathan is at the courthouse in north carolina. senior aides were seen concerned about rielle hunter from the get go. >> from the get go they concerned she was very public, and on campaign stops she did not fade into the wood work like other aides, and the

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 recent and it is in doubt whether she will do it for the defense. testimony suggested even john edwards' closest associate didn't trust her and believed she was a loose cannon and were always afraid of what she might say publicly. one legal scholar and former u.s. attorney believes it may have been the same for the prosecution. listen. >> the prosecution wanted to end with a bang. they probably thought she was too dangerous and they made a decision not to put her on the stand: >>jonathan: instead the prosecution tried to leave the jury with the idea he still had ambitions if high office even as the presidential hopes and marriage were crumbling and today the senior economic policy advisor, former one, he testified that "we talk about a long term goal of mr. ed wards which was to be a supreme

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. sometimes, yeah. yes. well, if you know anybody else who also rides, send them here -- we got great coverage. it's not like bike

a very humbling ending to the political career of john edwards. >> sorry, john. i'm just hearing we are being told right now in my ear that the jury is entering the room which we would assume means that we will be getting this verdict very soon, but you said this fall, it is really, really amazing as well as how public it was. the "national enquirer" and how salacious the details were. i want to move to jeff toobin, our senior legal analyst. he's with me in new york. jeff, i want you to help me break this down. a lot of our viewers have not been following this from the very day-to-day -- from the beginning of this on the day-to-day. this is actually a pretty complex trial in terms of campaign finance law. where do you land on where you think the verdict is going to be and kind of what this argument and this verdict really is hinging on? >> well, the facts of this case, what's unusual about this case is that the facts, the core facts of this case, are not really in dispute. everybody knows that bunny mellon, the virginia heiress, and ted barron, the texas lawyer,

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, the kind of case that many would argue never should have been brought in the first place. >> chris cuomo, 2020 anchor, on this one count it was related to a $200,000 check he received from bunny mellon in 2008, just a week before he suspended his presidential campaign. that was enough for the jury to say, no, it was not related to the campaign primarily. >> arguably the weakest count from the beginning, small amount of money. bunny mel on was more difficult to reconcile because the money went through a middle person. fred baron was the better side of the prosecution case. the problem with the trial from the beginning for the prosecution was these were moral crimes on john edwa

is the jury going to convict john edwards? >> i think they very well may, yes. >> we'll see what happens. thanks so much for being with us this evening. up next, can a man already in custody hold the keys to finding lauren spearer? >>> it has been almost a a year since 20-year-old indiana university student lauren spierer vanished. cops are investigating a possible connection to a murderer already in prison. bo deadle is working for the spierer family. >> why do police in bloomington think there might be a connection between this guy who is a serial killer on the lauren spierer disappearance? >> this man is involved with three murders as it stands now and still ongoing. the location where he lives is two hours from bloomington and we have a very good rapport with the bloomington police department and we have contact, we made some contact with them and the thing is that they are looking at everything. >> judge jeanine: why do they think this guy is connected? >> well, anybody can be connected with this case. right now any one a

there is now breaking news in the john edwards trial. we hear that court officials just sent all of the reporters out of the room. you are looking, live, outside the courthouse in north carolina. we will get an update on the breaking news with the john edwards trial, day six of jury deliberation. next. we don't have a word for retirement. in the latino community the word that we use is jubilation. as you're getting older, you should be able to do the things that you love. but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. listen to what mvp justin verlander thinks about it. i would say the source of most of my

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 just eat whatev

>> cate edwards seemed like in the realm of possibility, rielle hunter and john edwards were both much bigger gambles. edwards in particularly would have really transformed the case into a one-witness case. it would have risen and fallen on his credibility. and the defense made the calculation they would rather focus on the weakness in the prosecution's case, specifically andrew young, their star witness. they want to argue he's the one with the credibility problems, who can't be believed, who admitting lying and taking most of this cover up money. but i have to believe that the defense lawyers tonight are sweating it a little bit. here they are about to send this case to a jury, case they could have gotten a plea agreement on, but they turned down, took the gamble, hoping it would get dismissed before indictment, dismissed before the judge before trial, that didn't happen. now it's going to a jury, anything can happen. >> a veteran trial lawyer at the center of this, of course, decided to go to trial in the end. thanks as always. >>> there are new medical reports out tonight that seem

>>> 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 w