so today is wayne a win for john edwards. john edwards' legal trouble stem not from his 2004 campaign when he was the vice-presidential nominee as amazing as that now seems. no, the donation that's we're talking about here, the ones that prosecutors amounted to fraud, they were made during john edwards' very serious bid for the presidential nomination 2008 when he finished third behind obama and hillary clinton. it was mr. edwards' personal flaws that were his own undoing. unbeknownst to everyone at the time, john edwards with this story book marriage was secretly carrying on a salacious affair during the campaign. while he was still running for president, some of i had wealthy donors stepped in with cash to keep mr. edwards' mistress out of the public eye. they paid to fly her all over the country and put her up in hotels. they paid for her medical care which became important when it emerged she was pregnant with mr. edwards' child. in total, they shelled out $900,000 for the purpose of hiding john edwards' mistress during a

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. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: meet mary. she loves to shop online with her debit card, and so does bill, an identity thief who stole mary's identity, took over her bank accounts and stole her hard-earned money. now meet jack. enough to enjoy retirement.saved angie, the waitress at jack's favorite diner, is also enjoying his retirement. with just a little information, she's opened up a credit line, draining the equity in jack's home. unfortunately, millions of americans just like you learn all it may take is a little misplaced information to wreak havoc on your life. this is identity theft, and no one helps stop it better than lifelock. rvices tell you after your identity has been stolen. they may take

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. >>> right hire at the climax of the john edwards trial, he was found not guilty on one count, and a mistrial on five other charges. we'll be back with me about what this means for the democratic )93g >> all i can say is thank goodness we live in a country that has the kind of system th

john edward's mistress, rielle hunter tells all. my name is marjorie reyes, and i'm a chief warrant officer. i love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. quicken loans understood the details and guided me through every step of the process. i know wherever the military sends me, i can depend on quicken loans. [ sirens ] ...tv dramas... or whatever else, then you'll love netflix. watch unlimited movies and tv episodes on your pc or tv instantly over the internet for only 8 bucks a month. start your free trial today. do a lot of sending... and receiving. sending...and receiving. sending...and receiving. sending...and receiving. sending...and receiving. [ bob ] i got the tickets. [ male announcer ] and with citibibank popmoney, it's even easier to keep sending...and receiving. let me get you back. , it's on me. i insist. no way. yes way. well let me chip in. [ male announcer ] send money from one bank account to another, with citibank popmoney. easier banking. every step of the way. >>> unlike jerry sandusky, john edwards is a

the john edwards story is a different story. i'm talking systematic corruption where a president will spend more time on fund-raising in the it 1st century than any president in the history of the country and i'm not blaming him. he thinks he has to do it to get re-elected because we have a system where there are no limits broad or narrow and there's not full disclosure. >> the reason i think the john edwards benchmark is so interesting in such an unexpected way because it makes 12 2008 seem quaint. there's always been money in politics. the john edwards money is disgusting for its own reasons. what we were worried about was how less than a million dollars might have been a corrupting or fraudulent influence in that race. we're talking about i mean two brothers from an oil and chemical conglomerate that they inherited from their dad say they are together as two people will spend $400 million in this election this year. >> i just read a book about outsourcing in the military. good book. at one point the author writes that in iraq

there. >> reporter: today, john edwards walked out of a court a free man. it took nine days of deliberations and a wrenching false start, but a jury found him not guilty on one count, but they could not agree on the five others. so, the judge declared a mistrial. >> while i do not believe i did anything illegal, i did an awful, awful lot that was wrong. >> reporter: the verdict, as full of drama as the trial itself, leaves open the possibility of edwards being retried. but that seems unlikely. but even a decision in his favor is a bittersweet victory for john edwards, a man who has seen his life ruined by his attempts to hide his affair with rielle hunter. edwards met his mistress while he was running for president in 2007. >> so glad you like it. >> i like it. >> reporter: soon after, he hired her to work as a videographer on his campaign and travel with him. >> john edwards for president. >> reporter: the once promising democratic star who ran for president twice and was once the vice presidential nominee now faces an uncertain future. friends say he is e

that from john edwards. so the question, does god have a plan for john edwards? jason? >> god does have a plan for john edwards. he wants him to go forth and speak the gospel of campaign finance reform. i actually talked to a democratic strategist about this. if you look at this case, the reason edwards got in trouble is because his bundlers used this money to hide his mistress in 2008. under the current laws, they could have put together a restore our mistresses super pac and he could have been covered from any investigation from the s.e.c. so that is god's plan for him. campaign finance reform, the john edwards way. >> eric. >> oh, i think that god has a plan for everybody, but i'm pretty sure the voters don't have a plan for john edwards. >> we're having trouble with the shot. this is coming out of macon, georgia. we've lost eric ericson. should we take a break and come back? we're going to take a quick break so we can get eric back. sorry, jason. we'll be back. being hands on is key! i make sure every plate looks just right. [ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster

>> we started with edwards. i'll end with john edwards. i think this example of the trial we've seen is really another example of the lack of trust between the american people and our institutions of power. whether it's congress with insider trading information or politicians rising above the law. i think at the end of the day just like the ban on sugary drinks, it comes down to our moral character and who we are as people. >> we're out of time for you, jeff. it means you're off the hook. >> my thought is have a good weekend. >> back at you. on monday, we'll talk to ledisi. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello starts right now. good morning. >> hi, soledad. happening right now in the "newsroom," all eyes on wisconsin. what happens there could happen nationwide. the big guns getting called in this morning. bill clinton on his way there right now. the recall election hitting unions and politicians and getting red hot. >>> sex, lies and campaign cash. the one shining star democratic politics now dirty from a fraud trial. he walks free and is no

john edward's mistress, rielle hunter tells all. my name is marjorie reyes, and i'm a chief warrant officer. i love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. quicken loans understood the details and guided me through every step of the process. i know wherever the military sends me, i can depend on quicken loans. [ sirens ] ...tv dramas... or whatever else, then you'll love netflix. watch unlimited movies and tv episodes on your pc or tv instantly over the internet for only 8 bucks a month. start your free trial today. >>> unlike jerry sandusky, john edwards is a free man tonight after a hung jury ended a trial that laid bear a scathing scandal, involving an affair on the presidential campaign trail, a mistress with his secret baby and dying wife on the verge of a breakdown. tonight the woman at the center of it all, sits down with chris cuomo to tell her side of the story. >> i don't regret falling in love. i don't regret loving him nor do i regret our daughter. >> she's the other woman in one of the biggest political sex scand

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 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. >>

it starts on the day i met john edwards in this book. i lived 43 years before i met john edwards. >> let's talk about this night. let's just tee it up. you want me to respect your privacy. i let go of my resistance and he wanted him to lead. and lead he did. it was the most extraordinary night of my life. >> this is a great speech. >> can you read it? >> yes, i can read it. >> you can? >> yes. that is a great speech. >> i'm so gle he was so flirty. then. he's changed a lot. he's not like that now. >> you're talking in graphic. you don't want to talk about john. >> i want to talk about what's in the book. you're talking to me about john today. >> i'm going to talk about the first time you went to bed with him. the detail of the bed hopping. >> why does the media make everyt and, you know, you use phrases about her, venomous, crazy, witch on wheels. >> i did not s the book on what john edwards told you. >> when you're in a relationship with a married man, that's how you're going to receive information about their marriage. >> do you believ

john edward's mistress, rielle hunter tells all. my name is marjorie reyes, and i'm a chief warrant officer. i love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. quicken loans understood the details and guided me through every step of the process. i know wherever the military sends me, i can depend on quicken loans. [ sirens ] ...tv dramas... or whatever else, then you'll love netflix. watch unlimited movies and tv episodes on your pc or tv instantly over the internet for only 8 bucks a month. start your free trial today. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. >>> unlike jerry sandusky, john edwards is a free man tonight

>>> 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 drastic new measure to fight obesity. an attack on supersized beverages that has some people saying get your hands off my drink. >>> road hazard. teenagers with attention deficit disorder getting behind the wheel. a risk for others on the road, but tonight, 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 courtroom 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 verdict, we

john edwards was famous before he became infamous. you get some degree a presumption of innocence when you are somebody -- remember, this was at one time a golden boy out of that state. so i think there was, you know, joe had said, it was a polarized jury, it's a polarized state. i expect this case was lost in jury selection for the prosecution as most cases that high-profile cases are. i don't see how they can ever get over that in a case like this where at the end of the day, the prosecution's chief witness is somebody who took most of the money and built a house. and that's -- that's the case and you've got to say why are we here for 6 to 8 weeks on this kind of nonsense. >> just what he showed with his lies is even when he was confessing, when he was giving that confessional interview to b bob woodruff at abc, he was still lying. he was still lying about a child he had had. >> and that interview is why he couldn't testify in this trial. >> if you had to pick one moment from the trial to basically sum up the whole thing, what was t

john edwards did not testify. the only person who was really intimately involved in this was andrew young who's kind of the bag man. and i just think it's weird to expect the jury to convict when they're not hearing the full story. >> mark, how tough is it when you have a client who's done some, you know, shady behavior and trying to get the jury to separate, okay, what you may think of him personally from the charges. >> well, i think it makes a difference if you've got -- and i have argued this for years i depends on if your client is infamous or famous. john edwards was famous before he became infamous. you get to some degree a presumption of innocence. remember this was at one time a golden boy out of that state. i think, as joe said, it was a polarized jury, it's a polarized state. i expect this case was lost in jury selection for the prosecution. as most cases, high profile cases are. i don't see how they can ever get over that where in a case like this, where at the end of the day the prosecution's chief wi

. >>> coming up, john edwards hints at a comeback. could he actually rise again after such a dramatic fall? this is "hardball." with prilosec otc. and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] we believe you're at your best when you can relax and be yourself. and at thousands of newly refreshed holiday inn hotels, you always can. holiday inn. stay you. and now stay rewarded with vacation pay. stay two weekend nights and get a $75 prepaid card. do you really think brushing is enough to keep it clean? while brushing misses germs in 75% of your mouth, listerine® cleans virtually your entire mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level. listerine®... power to your mouth™. >>> well, john edwards may have gone free yesterday, but can he rebuild his political career? three jurors who spoke with matt lauer this morning said they believed he was guilty of the crimes he was accused of, but didn't have the evidence to convict. >> i think he had some

and now, what is with john edwards? is he all delusion? a guy with so much optimism he does not really connect with reality and like yesterday talking about how god has a plan for me and all that? what is all that about after basically beating the judge by a few feet? >> well, the people don't have a plan for him. look, he can maybe redeem himself as a person if he does not talk about himself. and that is what is wrong with yesterday, whatever he does, it cannot be about him, and he has to be about quiet and give himself to a cause that genuinely cares about and stay in the valley and no oprah-like interviews and do something good, and not because it is good for the image, but because it is right. and maybe he can never undo the nonjudicial verdict that is rendered on him, but he might ch change some people's lives, but if he looks like he is manipulating this, he will tarnish himself out. there. >> i wondered if he was making a call to the rich contributors there, and you have to wonder about a guy who describes god's plan, and that is st

tavis: your opening line of our john edwards was something like, john edwards, sort of not guilty. for those who did not see your post-mortem on the john edwards trial, assuming he will come back again -- let me start with that. do you think he will be retried again? >> of all the things that americans do not want to do this year, number two is to have another deficit debate. number one, you'll have another john edwards trial. tavis: what is your sense of what did transpire in that north carolina courtroom? >> it was a very complicated case. all of the campaign finance is hard for average people to understand under the best of circumstances. and you had a very narrow question. and you had a main witness who is as possibly as slimy as the guy who was being tried. it did not work out on any level. i was surprised all along this thing ever went to trial. tavis: your sense of the serra -- sincerity and the path forward for john edwards, you mentioned that he wanted to spend his life working on issues of poverty. what is your sense of the connection between john edwards and the issue of

that's john edwards in front of the camera. rielle hunter is back with me to talk about their affair. it was all so innocent and happy there. if you look back innocently, think god if only it stayed like that? >> no, i don't have those thoughts but i do look at it and it makes me smile. >> why were you smiling? >> because it was fun. funny. i like -- he was very happy. i got a lot of heat for that, you know, because he was so flirty and as a film maker i kept that in because he was flirty with everyone. he's changed a lot. he's not like that now. >> you talk in graphic detail, i know you don't want to talk about john -- >> i want to talk about the book. >> the detail of the bed hopping. you do. >> it is not -- you are making it -- why don't the media make everything so sa labor shous? >> because you put salacious stuff in your book. >> your spin on it is salacious. >> you write about the most incredible night in your life. the best sex in your life. >> i did not say that. >> oh, my god. walked right into that, didn't i? >> you

it starts on the day i met john edwards in this book. i lived 43 years before i met john edwards. >> let's talk about this night. let's just tee it up. you want me to respect your privacy. i let go of my resistance and he wanted him to lead. and lead he did. it was the most extraordinary night of my life. ♪ send a note stay informed catch a show. make your point make a memory make a masterpiece. read something watch something and learn something. do it all more beautifully, with the retina display on ipad. assure my patients get evthe very best care.ake but look at our health care system. everyone agreed we needed reforms -- but this new health care law -- it just isn't fixing things. president obama promised my patients that they could keep me -- but what if because of this new health care law -- i can't keep them? i've looked at this law. i know the consequences: delayed care and worse yet -- denied care. studies show the president's health care law is projected to add hundreds of billions of dollars to our deficit -- and increase sp

destroyer of john edwards. >> first and foremost, i'm a mom. and i'm also a woman who fell in love with a married man. >> reporter: hunter first met edwards in 2006, a chance encounter in a new york hotel. that same night he would offer a dangerous invitation. >> reporter: he invites you a hotel room. usually a situation you avoid with a married man, fair point? >> yes. >> reporter: why did you go. >> i believed i could help him. what a joke. the outside world looking in, boy, did you sure help him. >> reporter: this situation would become very serious, very fast. when hunter became pregnant while edwards was seeking the presidency. >> you tell john. his reaction? >> gracious. >> reporter: gracious, you mean like goodness gracious. what do you mean gracious. >> he was kinder and more gentle than i thought he would be. >> reporter: hunter would become a participant in a cover up that another man would claim paternity. a real father face criminal charges over it. >> i know it's not possible. >> reporter: then she watched with horror as the man he

how many of you thought that john edwards was guilty? one, two, three, four. we? >> i think the credibility was an issue and we saw that with andrew young and we felt like there was a credibility gap there 86 felt the same way with john edwards so i personally looked at the evidence that was delivered, the -- all of the witnesses that were delivered and when you pull all of that together with the instructions from the judge it just looked like there were some things added up. the issue, however, was connecting all of the dots by the prosecution. none of us or many of us did not feel that that was the case. >> sean: and you thought he he was not guilty. >> i did think he was not guilty. >> what did you think? >> not guilty. >> sean: not gelty. >> guilty. not guilty. >> not guilty. >> guilty. >> sean: why did you think he was guilty? >> he news about it but there wasn't the evidence there to prove it. >> sean: what was the final vote on guilt or innocence which hung you up? in other words, what was the final when you had the final tally and you had to tell the judge

affair with john edwards. but we begin with "the big story." we begin with a woman who could tell a story like nobody else. "sleepless in seattle," "when harry met sally," nora ephron's classic movies, audiences still laugh and also cry along with them. she was also a playwright and bestselling author and blogger. her best legacy may be her family and long-time friends who are all paying tribute to her today. welcome to you both. i've been struck, i have to say, about the incredible outpouring of the emotions, tributes, of grief from so many people, from such a broad spectrum. not just of entertainment, but of all almost every part of american culture and around the world. arianna, let me start with you. are you surprised? she was a remarkable woman but it's been an incredible reaction to her passing. >> i'm not at all surprised. she received an enormous amount of devotion from her friends. she loved her friends. as you know, she was nominated for three oscars. but if there was an oscar for friendship, she would have had a shelf full of them. i

john edwards' hands. it was in brian huffman, sherry young and then it was in young's hands. >> sean: when we heard that you guys -- the initial report was that you came to a verdict and then we found out in fact you only came to a verdict on one count and when i heard it was the count of 2008 and bunny mellon money, we call that, you know, bunny money, i thought at that time that you found him because that was the most recent. why was that the one charge that you you decided to acquit on? >> i will say there was a timing issue there so the count was specific related to 2008 and the activities did not all fit into that 2008 time frame. >> sean: do you agree with that? >> yes, the time frame was very short. >> sean: one thing and we will get into this when we get back, did all of you see john edwards after the verdict? did you you all see when came out on the press conference. i want to show a segment of that where edwards talks about for the first time acknowledging his daughter quinn and secondly edwards

here's what john edwards had to

. >>> the jurors in the john edwards trial, what it was like inside the jury room, and whether they really think edwards is guilty. >>> fighting cancer, new hope tonight after a mother in late stage breast cancer patient has a remarkable turnaround with a new type of treatment. >>> and diamond jubilee, the queen of england marks 60 years, and tonight, never before seen home movies of the royal family and a touching tribute from the queen's grandson, prince william. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >> good evening, brian is off tonight. i'm lester holt. those promising job gains of earlier this year tonight are looking a lot like a false start for the economy in the wake of what can only be described as a hugely disappointing jobs report for the month of may. the economy adding only 69,000 jobs last month, sending the unemployment rate back up a tick to 8.2%. the news hit the stock market like a punch to the gut with 2012's gains essentially erased in one day. the dow shed almost 275 points, the nasdaq and s&p each dropped more than 2% as the pace and

tonight twitter is buzzing with reaction to the john edwards mistrial. and some famous names are tweeting scorching tweets. laura tweets. ten to one he's already set up a pack, it might be called pathetic action committee. oh, buy. and albert tweets congrats to john edwards for ruining his life and getting away with it. and yahoo political reporter tweets that was the launch speech for the edwards 2016 campaign, right? >> and the nation's top speller was just crowned. here's the winning moment. guetapens, g-u-e-t-a-p-e-n-s, guetapens [applause] >> the winner of the national spelling bee is a 14-year-old eighth grader from san diego. 278 stooges took part in this year's contest. congratulations to the winner and to all the winners. and if you hate paying the atm fees, here's the solution, put your own atm in your house. that's what nba star deshon stevenson did. he installed an atm in his own kitchen. he said he got tired of always searching for a machine and now he doesn't even have to leave home. the question is will he charge his friends the transactio

edwards. >> rielle hunter as in man hunter, destroyer of marriage, destroyer of john edwards. ohn edwards. [ dog ] we found it together. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you. ooh gas, take an antacid. oh, thanks. good luck. good luck to you. doesn't he know antacids won't help gas? oh, he knows. [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts. anti-aging cream undeniably. it creamed unbelievably a $500 cream and now women have made regenerist microsculpting cream also unscented. women love it. in original and also fragrance-free. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. see how much you could save with allstate. are you in good hands? see how much you could save w

we did see a tweet just a little while ago from cate edwards, the daughter of john edwards who is a lawyer and spent a lot of time in the courtroom with him, behind him, throughout this trial, throughout the jury deliberations, that tweet going out essentially saying she'd really like to see things getting back to normal and i think that probably speaks for everyone in the edwards family. the lawyers meanwhile are still being diligent as you could imagine, ashleigh. we haven't heard a lot from them on the defense side. they still don't know whether the government might actually try to come back with another retrial of this case. >> notwithstanding cate's tweet the prosecutors have a big decision to make. if they had a chance to debrief the jury and get an idea what the split was. that plays heavily often into a need to retry a case. >> that's a very good question and we don't know. we know judge katherine eagles can't tell them not to talk to the media or not to talk publicly. she did tell them she'd never they didn't do that and said she wasn't going to release their names publicly until