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NANCY GRACE

Police Hunt Suspect in Miami Shooting of Four Police Officers

Aired September 13, 2007 - 20:00:00   ET

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


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. Police patrolling a Miami neighborhood notice a car driving erratically. Before it`s all over, four officers gunned down in a hail of bullets reportedly from a high-powered automatic assault weapon, the cop killer on the run, locals in lockdown as over 200 men and women in blue comb the area.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say a team conducting a burglary surveillance detail in this area stopped a car driving erratically. That`s when police say Labeet came out shooting with an AK-47, hitting four officers, the suspect taking off in a white Honda, the later car found near Southwest 107th Avenue and Southwest 106th Terrace with a weapon inside. With no sign of the suspect, the massive manhunt covers a huge perimeter. Officers comb the streets, rifles in hand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re making entry to this house. They`re definitely going inside this house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nearby residents are searched as the minutes turn to hours. Then Miami-Dade County mayor Carlos Alvarez (ph) breaks the news no one wants to hear. One officer has died.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, a beautiful 3-year-old little girl, baby Maddy, reportedly snatched during a luxury resort vacation. Her parents party down at dinner 100 yards away, leaving baby Maddy and twin siblings home alone. Police name Maddy`s own mom and dad prime suspects. Headlines tonight: A top judge gives police the OK to seize the diary of baby Maddy`s mom, her dad`s laptop, and baby toys.

In the last hours, police reportedly get a warrant to search the McCanns` home, and police want baby Maddy`s home back for round three of questioning. That top judge set to make a final charging decision within days. And tonight: Does baby Maddy`s DNA, DNA found in the McCann rental car trunk, suggest a massive dose of sleeping pills in the baby Maddy mystery?

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After prosecutors file an emergency motion, a top judge grants police authority to seize the diary of baby Maddy`s mom, a laptop and baby toys, Kate McCann keeping that diary during the family`s time in Portugal. Police believe the diary and laptop could reveal what happened the night little Maddy goes missing. After days of intense questioning, police reportedly want to re-interview Maddy`s mom. Police also want further forensic testing on Maddy`s toys, including her favorite, Cuddle Cat (ph), the toy reportedly washed just days after Maddy`s disappearance. A judge set to make a final decision on charges in this mystery within days.

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GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First, breaking news, a deadly hail of bullets in a Florida neighborhood rain down on local cops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four officers shot, one of them is dead, and the search is on at this hour in the Miami-Dade area for a suspected killer considered armed and dangerous. This is a dangerous situation here. Police have identified him as this man, Shawn Sherwin Labeet.

This all started late this morning, when Miami-Dade police officers were out on a burglary surveillance -- a car driving, police say, erratically. They pulled that car over. This man began shooting at police officers, wounding four of them, one of them fatally.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bottom line is this, is that we`re looking for somebody who has killed a police officer. Our objective as we get through this process is to take somebody to trial and prosecute them for murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Four officers gunned down in a hail of bullets, tonight that cop killer on the loose. Straight out to Susan Candiotti, CNN correspondent on the scene there in Miami. Susan, what happened?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, any time now, we expect a news conference, Nancy, from police to update us on the investigation. And behind me is an entire neighborhood that is still cordoned off. If you live outside this area, you still cannot get in at this hour. A law enforcement source tells me that police are interviewing the suspect`s mother and brother at this time.

But what happened -- you heard it. Evidently, this man, the suspect identified as Shawn Labeet, driving erratically. Police pulled him over as part of a burglary surveillance. Guns start flying -- or rather, bullets start flying, and these four officers are cut down, one of them fatally.

Ever since, there have been some bumps and starts along the way. At one point early on, police say now that they were lied to by a woman who misidentified the suspect, and they put out the name and photograph of someone who saw himself on television in Jacksonville, Florida, and said, It`s not me. Turns out his identity had been stolen some time ago. So police said, OK, we don`t know exactly who we`re looking for. And then a few hours later, we found out the name of the suspect, Shawn Labeet, and they put out information that they were looking for another vehicle. That turned out to be a rent-a-car driven by the suspect`s brother. Back to you.

GRACE: Susan, I want to go back to the time of the shooting. It`s my understanding police were cruising a neighborhood, trying to crack down on burglaries, in the line of duty. They see this vehicle, a Honda, driving erratically. And then the guy gets out of the Honda. That`s pretty bold, Susan Candiotti, to get out of the Honda, stand up in plain view and take a high-powered assault weapon and open fire. He had to be wearing a vest, a bulletproof vest.

CANDIOTTI: It`s a scary situation. Imagine. And so the bullets started flying, and then the suspect dropped the weapon and took off running. That`s when this huge manhunt began, even brought up a Customs Black Hawk helicopter as they started to look through the neighborhood, look in canals, look in the bushes, look through homes, interview witnesses, trying to find this suspect who so boldly fired at these police officers and then took off running.

GRACE: Out to Wendi Grossman, reporter with Newsradio 610 WIOD. Wendi Grossman, do we believe the cop killer was wearing a bulletproof vest? If so, why?

WENDI GROSSMAN, NEWSRADIO 610 WIOD: We have heard rumors circulating that he was wearing, in fact, a bulletproof vest, and also that he was armed with an AK-47. Police are not confirming this, but that`s what I -- I`ve been on the scene all day, and that`s what I`ve been hearing from folks out here today, that perhaps he was, in fact, wearing a bulletproof vest and that he was armed with an AK-47. So don`t know how, you know, he got his hands on the weapon or if, in fact, he was wearing a vest. But to be so bold as to fire upon four officers, one would guess he probably was, you know, wearing some type of protection.

GRACE: To Susan Candiotti. What do we know about his record, if he has one?

CANDIOTTI: Well, we know that he`s 25 years old and he did have a couple of minor arrests, one on a misdemeanor traffic charge, as well as a disorderly, intoxication charge. The other one was a trespass charge. We also know that there is an outstanding warrant out for him in the Broward County, Florida, area for aggravated assault. That`s about all we know so far, other than to say that, of course, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms naturally is looking into his background to see what other weapon or weapons he may have purchased in the past. Obviously, they`re trying to trace down this assault weapon.

GRACE: I want to go out to Bethany Marshall, psychotherapist and author. Bethany, did he think the cops were coming after him on that ag assault? I mean, why would you step out of a car and open fire on a host of police officers with an AK-47, killing one of them?

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: This guy actually brings to mind Cho, the Virginia Tech massacres, maybe somebody who was contemplating homicide at some level, maybe feels wronged by society, wronged by police, on a mission, has a vendetta and is preoccupied with the police and getting back at them, picked a fight, hoping for gunfire because perhaps he`s on a homicide missing and/or even a homicide/suicide mission. So perhaps this is a guy who was really looking for a gunfight.

GRACE: I want to go to Pat Brown, criminal profiler and author. You know, Pat, it took me about seven years of trying nothing but felonies before I finally, finally quit wasting my time saying, Why? I would sit in the courtroom and look at the defendant, you know, Why? Why would they do this? You know what? I don`t care what mission he was on or how he felt wronged by society. He has gunned down four cops in the line of duty.

What`s behind the bulletproof vest? That suggests to me he was out to kill that day.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, I think he was out to do something, and that`s what we don`t know, what that something was going to be. And I think we`re going to find that out in the future. I don`t think he planned to be stopped.

And this is what happens to cops. It`s the most dangerous thing in the world, a traffic stop. You don`t expect anything except go up, talk to the guy. So there you are, walking toward the car, boom, he comes out with an AK-47, you`re all dead. That`s when cops get killed. I think he was up to something and he just got stopped, he knew he was going to go down and he said, I`m not doing it, jumped out, took his chances.

GRACE: Man, I would take my chances in city court on a bond for an ag assault before I blew away four cops.

To Susan Candiotti. Were one of the four a lady cop?

CANDIOTTI: Yes, and her name Jody Wright (ph), I believe. Her father spoke to the news media a little while ago, said that his daughter was shot in one of her legs, that there will a long, long recovery prospect for her. But they did a long-term -- surgery on her for several hours, rather, today. He does think that his daughter will be all right, but says he`s she`s got a long, long road of recovery. They were able to save her leg, and for that, of course, everyone is most grateful.

GRACE: You`re seeing to the left of your screen one of many, many cops killed in our country in the line of duty. Today, just another example. Citizens -- no respect for the law, getting out of his Honda and opening fire on innocent police officers in the line of duty. They`re patrolling an area to make it safe from burglaries. One of them lost their lives. Another police officer, a lady cop, leg shattered, the others shot, as well.

Out to the lines. Andrea in Ohio. Hi, Andrea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Love you, love the show.

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, the woman that misidentified the suspect this morning, which delayed, you know, the officers knowing who they were looking for -- is she going to be charged with this?

GRACE: Andrea, excellent question. Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, two veteran trial lawyers. You know the fighting Irishman, Mickey Sherman, out of the New York jurisdiction. Also with us out of New York, Alex Sanchez.

Alex, certainly, she`s going to be charged for misinformation to the cops. We have no idea -- this guy is on the loose right now. He`s free. If he already had an AK-47, believe you me, Sanchez, he`s got an arsenal somewhere. And he is out there. If he`s willing to open fire on four cops, what`s he going to do to some lady at home who doesn`t have her home alarm on when he`s trying to find a place to hide? Can you imagine his foot coming in your kitchen window, Alex Sanchez? And this lady delayed the investigation by giving false information.

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, it`s a very tragic case. This woman is going to have to answer to the authorities because if the authorities come to you and they`re asking you for some information concerning, you know, a fleeing felon and you`re giving false information, you`re bringing some possible criminal charges upon yourself.

One of the questions I have -- and perhaps Susan can answer this -- is whether or not the police officers were in unmarked cars and were dressed in plain clothes at the time they approached the individual. I think that would be important because, ultimately, this may affect the final sentence this gentleman will get, if he`s convicted after trial.

GRACE: Oh, you think if a cop is undercover -- I`m laughing along with Mickey Sherman right now, Sanchez. I appreciate you trying, Alex. Hold on. Susan, were they undercover or were they in a marked car?

CANDIOTTI: I wish I knew the answer to that. I do not. And of course, we don`t even know whether this guy was part of their surveillance. I think we would all agree, right, that normally, when you`re on a burglary surveillance, how often are burglary suspects armed? Of course, sometimes they are, but I can`t imagine these cops went out thinking that this was going to confront them as part of their burglary surveillance in the neighborhood.

GRACE: Yes, I agree with you, Susan. Wendi, do we know whether they were undercover or were they in a marked car?

GROSSMAN: As far as I understand, they were in a marked car and that they were doing their burglary surveillance and that the suspect was driving erratically, and that`s when they pulled him over.

GRACE: But you know, Susan Candiotti, whether they were marked or unmarked, when it comes right down to it -- and you know, Florida is not afraid of "Old Sparky," the electric chair, although there is a moratorium on it in Florida right now. They have the needle.

CANDIOTTI: Right.

GRACE: That it doesn`t matter in the law whether you`re in a marked car or whether you`re an undercover narcotics agent. Doesn`t matter. If you kill a cop, you have a very good chance of looking at the death penalty in that jurisdiction, Susan.

CANDIOTTI: Well, that`s entirely possible. And I can tell you now that I do recall seeing that the female officer that we saw airlifted to the hospital did appear to be wearing a police uniform, Nancy.

GRACE: Well, that says it all. OK, Mickey Sherman, weigh in.

MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the only thing that`s going to affect the outcome of this case is if -- between the time he`s convicted and the time he`s executed, if he cures AIDS and cancer, they might waive the fees of the execution. Other than that, if this guy is convicted -- he killed one cop at this point, shot three others -- he`s getting the death penalty and no one`s going to be able to save him. And I`m not trying to be damning of him, but it`s just a fact of life. You just can`t get away with that in this country.

GRACE: You know -- to Pat Brown, criminal profiler. My concern is, before this whole thing is over, given his, you know, brazen behavior, somebody else is going to go down. Some innocent person driving home from work is going to get carjacked so he can get away in their car. We already believe there`s a chance he`s stolen somebody`s identity, hence the cops first not knowing who was responsible. Then they get the false information from the woman. I`m concerned that one of these citizens -- he`s hiding somewhere in that grid area that they`ve got locked down.

BROWN: Right. I`m really kind of sad that they gave out that information that the cop died because if they hadn`t done that, they might have had something to go with -- you know, say to the guy, Look, you haven`t killed anybody. Come on in. We`ll give you a break. But now that there`s a dead cop, he knows he`s going down, so he`s going to take -- you know, he`s just going to take everybody with him. He`s extraordinarily dangerous.

GRACE: But wait a minute. Wait a minute, Pat. He was willing to take people with him at the get-go. When he got out of the car and pulled out an AK-47, he was willing to kill right then. And he did.

BROWN: Well, he also may have been panicked into doing something extraordinarily stupid. But now he`s being chased, and he didn`t think he had killed anybody necessarily -- if they said, You haven`t killed anybody, there might be a possibility, if he was cornered, he`d think he could get away with some kind of legal defense. But now that he knows he has killed a police officer, he`s knows he`s going down. Now I`m thinking a murder/suicide is going to happen. He`s going to try to do cop by suicide and maybe kill some hostages in the process. He`s very, very dangerous.

GRACE: To Mark in Virginia. Hi, Mark. Mark, are you with me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I am. Hello?

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the four armed police officers, I was wondering how many rounds they were able to return, if they were able to fire back.

GRACE: I was wondering that earlier, whether he took a hit, whether we`re going to see him turn up at a local hospital. Susan Candiotti, were the cops shooting at the vest? Did he take any gunfire at all? Do we know if any blood was found in any of these vehicles?

CANDIOTTI: We were asking, since this started, whether the officers returned fire, and police say they were still looking into that. We hope, of course, that`s one of the questions they`ll be able to tell us when they hold this news conference in -- we hope, a short time from now.

GRACE: Everybody, we are going to take you live to that news conference that`s going to be at the Miami-Dade police headquarters as soon as it happens. We know right now four cops down in the line of duty. And you`ve seen cops driving through your neighborhood just to warn burglars to stay away. It`s my understanding that`s what these cops were doing in the line of duty, trying to keep a neighborhood safe. Now one of them goes to work in the morning and they don`t come home. We`re taking your calls live, and we`ll take you to that press conference at any moment.

Very quickly to tonight`s "Case Alert." Stunning video of Rep. Rob Briley, the U.S. House (SIC) judiciary chairman, caught on tape berating police and then breaking down in tears. Briley arrested after fleeing -- oh, good Lord! Oh, please! Stop crying! -- fleeing the scene of a car crash, the Tennessee rep facing multiple charges, DUI, resisting arrest, vandalism, leaving the scene of an accident.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: why don`t you just make it easier on everybody? Why don`t you just take me out in the (DELETED) woods and shoot me in the (DELETED) head? Make it easier on everybody, this never happened

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bottom line is this, is that we`re looking for somebody who has killed a police officer. Our objective as we get through this process is to take somebody to trial and prosecute them for murder.

Pull over, stop, call the police. Give us a call. Labeet, give us a call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. Today, a hail of bullets in a Miami neighborhood, four cops down, one dead, also a lady cop shot, her leg shattered.

Out to the lines. Kimberly in Tennessee. Hi, Kimberly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I`m so excited for you. I have a question...

GRACE: Oh, Kimberly, let me just tell you, they sleep all day, and the minute they hear the music for this show, they go crazy. OK? They`re dancing. They`re taeboing (ph). It`s really something.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that is great! Well, I wish we had more people that was in the justice system as yourself. But my question is, the person that was driving the car, if they were the ones that did the shooting. And if so, did they have prior arrests.

GRACE: He does have a little bit of a record. Back to Susan Candiotti. I was asking earlier. Would you mind recapping that for Kimberly?

CANDIOTTI: It was for disorderly intoxication and a misdemeanor arrest for trespassing, along with this outstanding warrant for aggravated assault in Broward County, Florida.

GRACE: An ag assault is causing immediate fear of serious bodily harm with a weapon, Kimberly. There`s a warrant out on him for that. I`m wondering if he thought cops were arresting him for that when he opened fire. But really, whatever he thought doesn`t matter. We got a dead cop now.

Out to Pamela in Arkansas. Hi, Pamela.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to know when law enforcement are going to get the weaponry that they need to be able to take care of these criminals.

GRACE: What about it, Donald Schweitzer? You`re up against an AK-47 out on the street.

DONALD SCHWEITZER, FORMER DETECTIVE, SANTA ANA POLICE DEPARTMENT: Police departments, Nancy, have to balance the appearance of looking too rough. We don`t want to live in a society where we`ve got military people patrolling the streets with AK-47s and M-16s. So it`s not likely to happen that you`re going to see the average patrol officer with those type of weapons. But the SWAT teams do have those weapons, and they have even greater weapons than the bad guys. Once a SWAT team gets there, they take care of business.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the officers, one of the crime prevention officers involved in the shooting, assigned to Cutler Ridge (ph) -- one of those officers has passed away.

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GRACE: A hail of bullets in the Miami area, the cop killer still on the loose as we speak, neighborhoods in lockdown.

Out to Pam in California. Hi, Pam.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Yes. Congratulations, Nancy.

GRACE: Thank you, love. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, I`ve seen them use in helicopter surveillances, the -- I think they`re called the heat imaging, if they can see through the homes for any unusual activity?

GRACE: To Wendi Grossman. I know they`re using a Black Hawk helicopter. Do they have the infrared on it?

GROSSMAN: I`m not sure that they did. I know that they had three or four different choppers. They were flying very low to the scene. I actually ended up in the neighborhood where they were doing a pyramid grid. And I was sitting in the news car, writing up my story, and cops came with their guns drawn, told me to get out of the car and run out of that area, so I did and then hid behind some bushes.

GRACE: Pam, I have not heard about the infrared. To Curtis in New Jersey. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy. We love you here in the Garden State.

GRACE: Bless you! I love the Garden State.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. My question is this. Have they brought in federal agents and tracking dogs?

GRACE: Good question. Wendi Grossman, federal agents, tracking dogs?

GROSSMAN: Yes, they do have agents on the scene, as well as tracking dogs. They were in the air. They were on foot. They had the search dogs in the field. They`ve -- trying to, you know, search every nook and cranny. They`ve got everything out there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an on-the-record comment from the spokesman for the public prosecutor`s office. What we asked her was, what are Kate and Gerry McCann accused of? And she gave this response: "It`s not possible to give you that information because they have not been charged yet. And furthermore," she said, "there are going to be new investigations which will let us know which crime has been committed."

Now, I think we can interpret that in this way. Police may have theories about what happened, but they need more evidence. And, you know, I think we have to assume that one possibility is that they won`t be charging at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Developments happening every hour in the baby Maddy case. I`m going to go straight out to Paula Hancocks, CNN correspondent, standing by there in Portugal. Portugal, the scene of that luxury resort vacation where baby Maddy went missing.

Paula, what`s the latest?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Nancy. Well, here in Portugal, we understand the judge is still looking through the files, 10 files of police evidence. Obviously, this is all the investigation for the past four months, more than four months. And, also, the many hours of questioning that the police have undergone with Kate and Gerry McCann.

And, at this point, we understand from British and Portuguese media reports that they are looking for certain evidence. They want to take control of certain evidence. And, of course, they have to get approval from the judge that they are able to use this. So if there is ever a case in the future, they are able to use it legally.

GRACE: Out to Caroline Gammell, reporter with the "Daily Telegraph," what can you tell us about new allegations that baby Maddy may have been the victim of a massive dose of sleeping pills? Where are they getting that information, from the DNA in the car?

CAROLINE GAMMELL, REPORTER: Well, this has been circulating for several weeks in the Portuguese media. Certainly, the English press has been very careful not to take it too seriously. The allegation is that the parents in some way drugged Madeleine or sedated her, but their spokesman has always insisted most emphatically that they never have, never would, and never will sedate their children.

GRACE: To Emily Chang, CNN correspondent, it`s also my understanding, Emily, that the P.R. team representing the McCanns are quitting.

EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, the leading P.R. officer for the McCanns that has spearheaded this international media campaign is reported to be stepping down later this week. They`ve cited that she is very exhausted. But they`ve also said that the McCanns may be seeking a P.R. manager who has more legal expertise who can help them with this investigation. However, it does come at a seemingly crucial and potentially inopportune time, given that she played such a large role in creating this very successful media campaign.

GRACE: You know, Paula Hancocks joining us from Portugal, CNN correspondent, it seems to me that the Portuguese police have an ego problem. Scotland Yard apparently, we now learn, offered to come in and help with the case. Who would turn down Scotland Yard? They didn`t even call them back, apparently.

HANCOCKS: Well, it certainly could be the case that Scotland Yard would have offered this help. In Britain, it`s not unusual, if a case after a few weeks appears to be floundering, there doesn`t appear to be too much evidence or too much progress being made, then another force will offer help, a fresh set of eyes, if you like. So it is certainly possible that the metropolitan police -- very well-respected police force -- will have offered help to the Portuguese police.

But the fact is, Madeleine disappeared on Portuguese territory. It is not the territory of the metropolitan police, so it`s not beyond the realms of expectation that they would have offered, but certainly it wouldn`t have been expected that they would have had to accept the metropolitan`s offer.

GRACE: At least call back, for Pete`s sake. You know, back to Caroline Gammell of "The Daily Telegraph," what made police interested in the first place, Caroline, in this rental car, a rental car that was not rented until 25 days after baby Maddy was reported kidnapped?

GAMMELL: Well, about five weeks ago, the police reviewed the case and looked at the evidence. And a whole load of different searches were carried out. It wasn`t just the car; the car was amongst the searches. There were DNA samples taken from the McCanns, from the friends of theirs that went on holiday with them. There were also samples taken from the holiday apartment where they were staying when Madeleine disappeared. So the car was just one of a number of objects that was used for samples. And it just so happens that the results have come back making the car a very important factor in this case.

GRACE: Caroline, what is the police theory? Is the police theory that they sedated the little girl to make her sleep, it killed her, then they hid the body, and one of the parents stayed there until they finally both left the area to go to Rome for the papal visit, and when they both left the area, they re-hid the body? Is that the police theory, Caroline?

GAMMELL: Well, the police in Portugal are notoriously backward at coming forward in terms of what they believe. But as far as we can understand and from sources speaking to here in Portugal, the police believe that Mrs. McCann, Kate McCann, may have accidentally killed Madeleine. They`ve not gone into details as to exactly how; that is what they`re still trying to find out. And, hence, the further investigation in the case.

But they believe that it was -- they`re working on a theory that Mrs. McCann may have been the one responsible for her daughter`s death and had called in her husband, Gerry, to help cover up the case. Now, this is a claim absolutely denied by the couple, but the Portuguese police certainly believe that this is worth exploring and worth investigating further.

GRACE: Out to Dr. Michael Hunter, forensic pathologist joining us out of the Miami jurisdiction. Dr. Hunter, thank you for being with us. How would they determine that there was a massive dose of sleeping sedative in Maddy`s blood from that tiny bit of DNA allegedly found in the car trunk?

DR. MICHAEL HUNTER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Right. If there is actually biological material in that vehicle -- first of all, you really want to try to do as much as you can with DNA to identify who that belongs to. And if you`re satisfied with that, you can wash that. You can basically pull whatever is in there into a solution and get an idea through a drug scene of what could be there.

So if there is a sedative, you may get a positive. Now, that`s not -- you`re not going to get a level. You`re not going to be able to get a drug level to look at and say, "Well, that`s a very high level, and that`s the reason why she died." The only thing that you`re possibly going to get is a positive test.

GRACE: Dr. Hunter, you`re not even supposed to give children adult Benadryl, are you? I mean, with a child...

HUNTER: Well, you know, I don`t think we really should be giving our children anything to sedate them, so I would say no.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Heidi in Michigan. Hi, Heidi.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: How are you, dear? What`s your question?

CALLER: I`m doing good. My question is, even when their attorneys advise them to leave Portugal, their resolve had been from day one to not leave the country until they had the answers they needed for closure. Why did they leave once the heat was on that makes them look guilty? I would have said, "I`m not leaving, I didn`t do anything, I`m staying until we find out what happened to my child."

GRACE: To Bethany Marshall, Heidi has a point. They swore they were going to stay there. They did stay for a while. And as soon as the heat was on, the mom, Mrs. McCann, they left immediately. They fled the country immediately and went home.

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, it`s a good question, why did they leave now? I think a more important question is, why did she leave with the diary? Because I know that the investigators want to take a look at that. Was she leaving because she wanted to take the diary with her? And why did she write that diary? Was it characteristic of her to keep one? Was she keeping track of the evidence?

I understand that one family member asked her to keep the diaries so that, when they found little baby Maddy, she could convince Maddy and document the fact that she had, indeed, been looking for her, which to my mind is a very strange reason to keep a diary. So if I were the police, I`d want to take a look at the diary to put together a psychological profile of this mother. How did she really feel about the daughter? And is the diary an attempt to malinger or fake confusion and surprise over the daughter`s disappearance?

GRACE: Bethany, I don`t know if I agree with you on that, because an attempt to -- and you got to give them credit for -- they did stay there for a very long time, Marc Klaas. Marc Klaas joining us, president of Beyond Missing. They stayed there a very long time. And a lot of moms and dads keep diaries that they`re going to give their unborn children to tell them how much they love them and they`re looking forward to them coming. And I don`t find the diary -- I don`t know. What do you think, Marc? You were under the gun, too, when your daughter went missing.

MARC KLAAS, FOUNDER OF BEYOND MISSING: Indeed I was. And I think if they`re guilty, their behavior is really counterintuitive, because they have done everything seemingly possible to keep this story in the forefront and to put themselves in the forefront with the story. Now, I kept a journal when we were at trial because I didn`t like the quiet. I didn`t like to just have no time to do anything. And I felt that, if I put my expressions down in writing over the course of that period of time, I would maybe be able to make more sense of it. It might be something as simple as that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flurry of support for the parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann appears to be waning. Kate and Gerry McCann have been named suspects in their daughter`s disappearance. The British media report two millionaire businessmen who donated to a fund to help find the missing girl are reluctant to back the legal fight to clear the McCanns` name. The McCann spokesman, since their daughter went missing in May, has now also reportedly decided to step down.

Meanwhile, Portuguese newspapers are publishing excerpts from what they claim is Kate McCann`s diary. The entries were reportedly written before and after Madeleine was reported missing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Police now demanding round three of questioning with baby Maddy`s mother, and they have filed emergency motions for a diary belonging to her, the dad`s laptop, and baby toys. A judge OKs those requests.

Out to the lines, Irene in Canada, hi, Irene.

CALLER: Hi there, Nancy. I`m just wondering if -- like, if they did keep the body for 25 days and then take it away, what bodily fluids would they have found? Wouldn`t everything have sort of dried up by then?

GRACE: My original question exactly. Let`s go to Dr. Michael Hunter, forensic pathologist. What fluids would have been transferred or leaked in that car trunk?

HUNTER: Yes, 25 days, I mean, there was the initial talk that there was blood. There`s not going to be blood. That`s going to be decomposition fluid. When a person dies, the tissues, the cells break down, and you produce a lot of fluid.

GRACE: Is it like a piece of fruit that goes bad?

HUNTER: Yes, I guess you could say that. It`s all these tissues which break down. It`s fluid-rich, and it will saturate wherever -- anything that that body has to be in.

GRACE: And you know what`s so interesting is not DNA necessarily in itself, but where it`s found, if it was actually found in the trunk of their car up under the carpet. To Amy in Florida, hi, Amy.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. My question is, do they have a witness or has any witnesses come forward that have backed them, that they even put Madeleine down that evening before they went to the dinner party?

GRACE: Amy, I, for the life of me, cannot establish a timeline. Out to Emily Chang in Rothley, England, none of these guests that had dinner with the McCanns can place Maddy at any time that evening. Nobody saw Maddy alive. What time was the last time Maddy was seen alive by anybody other than the parents?

CHANG: Well, the last time Maddy was seen alive was about 2 1/2 hours before the McCanns went to dinner. And their account of what happened hangs on the accounts of about seven friends that they were having dinner with. And all of those friends have come out publicly supporting them, the McCanns, proclaiming their innocence. However, not all of them have -- we don`t know exactly what they`ve said to police.

GRACE: So about two hours before the dinner party is what Emily Chang is telling us. Out to Laurie in Canada, hi, Laurie.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. I love your show.

GRACE: Thank you, love.

CALLER: My question is, if Kate McCann did kill Madeleine, why wouldn`t she accept the two-year plea deal they offered her?

GRACE: Marc Klaas, you have been in this spot before, but unlike many people, Marc Klaas, when his daughter Polly went missing, he said, "Here I am, question me, polygraph me, take my blood, take my hair, check my apartment, check my car, please, and then go find the real perpetrator." You know, there may be a million reasons why she would not want to take a plea, if, in fact, she`s responsible, Marc.

KLAAS: Well, that`s very true. And I think what I`d like to point out here is that this investigation was so bungled, they not only had no protocols, but they apparently had no clue as to how to investigate a kidnapping case, because they seemed to pay very little attention to the family until many months later. And in the United States, 78 percent of all abductions are family abductions, so that`s where they should have looked. They should have done their questioning. They should have done their polygraphy. They should have been able to deal with this and not have to go back and engage in all of this nonsense right now.

Mrs. McCann is in a situation where she is not going to admit guilt. The entire world is looking at her. And if she had done something, the time would have been at the beginning.

GRACE: Excellent thought, Marc Klaas. But if that DNA really has turned up in the trunk, they`re in a lot of hot water.

Very quickly, "CNN Heroes."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHAMMED MAMDANI, CNN HERO: Many young Muslims feel that they are leading double lives because they have to behave in a particular way within the Muslim community, and there`s a conflict between trying to be old (INAUDIBLE) as well as being old Muslim at the same time.

At the age of 17, I became more aware of the fact that so many of my Muslim peers were experiencing issues related to drugs, relationship problems with their families, mental health issues. These are common social problems. Yet for a Muslim community, they are very much no-go areas. I felt I had to take responsibility for the situation, and there began the story of Muslim Youth Help Line.

My father installed a telephone line in my bedroom. It would ring at all times of the day, sometimes in the middle of the night. Muslim Youth Help Line, honestly, became my life.

Six years on, we take thousands of calls related to depression, self- harm, suicidal feelings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re sensitive to their faith and their culture. At the same time, we`re nonjudgmental. So it helps just having a Muslim on the other end of the phone that can understand and relate to these issues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday, the people of London suffered a terrible heartbreak together.

MAMDANI: After the London bombings, I decided to set up a new project which aimed to deal with young people face-to-face. Ansar Youth Project is like a youth organization. It`s a very friendly environment. It`s a very brotherly environment. It teaches them the skills to reconnect with their Muslim identity, while it`s also learning to integrate better into British society.

I wouldn`t say the work that I do is necessarily heroic. It`s just something that`s needed in society. My aim is to help young Muslims just be themselves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Tonight, police want Maddy McCann`s mother for round three of questioning. Back to the lawyers, Mickey Sherman, Alex Sanchez.

To you, Mickey Sherman, is it worth fighting extradition back to Portugal?

MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No. I don`t think they will fight extradition. The only thing to fight is whether or not they`re looking for the right person. They`re not going to have a mini trial to find out whether or not she did it. I think they`re going to go back if, in fact, a warrant is issued. But, you know, so far all we know is they think this, they think that. The Portuguese police did apparently a shoddy investigation. I agree with Marc Klaas. And now they`re coming back to square one saying, well, maybe we were wrong about all this. You know, let`s see the facts, instead of guessing so much.

GRACE: What about it, Alex Sanchez, fight extradition? And do they have a leg to stand on demanding an independent review of the evidence?

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, first of all, I would fight extradition, because what I see happening here is an attempt by the Portuguese government to lay blame on what I see to be an innocent party here. And, you know, I don`t think we should discount the issue that money is playing in this. Portugal does not want to become another Aruba, and they`re going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars if people believe that there`s a killer out there. So they`re laying the blame on the parents.

GRACE: Mickey Sherman and Alex Sanchez joining us tonight.

Let`s stop to remember Marine Sergeant Jon Bonnell, Jr., 22, Fort Dodge, Iowa, killed, Iraq, on second tour. Loved family, friends, baseball, barbecue, leaves behind parents, Denise and John, sisters, Sarah, Brandy and Tashia. Jon Bonnell, Jr., American hero.

Thank you to all our guests, but especially to you for being with us and inviting us into your homes. And tonight, a special happy birthday to our show`s real star -- there he is -- look up. Sit up. There you go, the executive producer and creator of the show, Dean. Happy birthday! You`re not getting older; you`re getting better.

See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, our prayers with the (INAUDIBLE). Good night, friend.

END