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ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Can Prosecutor Connect Wife`s Murder to Jason Young?

Aired February 17, 2012 - 19:00   ET

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


JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you from New York City.

Jurors have had a night to digest scandalous testimony about an accused killer`s sleazy double life with other lovers. But does it mean he`s capable of murdering his pregnant wife?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, disturbing revelations from the secret lovers of a man accused of murdering his beautiful pregnant wife. Jason Young`s ex-fiancee describes a strange and violent encounter. But will an expert be able to link this immature cheating husband and father to the crime scene where his wife died? And will more sex secrets be revealed in court?

And fans already lining up for Whitney Houston`s funeral, as the world mourns the pop superstar. An all-star lineup is set to perform. But will Whitney`s ex, Bobby Brown, attend? We`ve got all the latest details.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE MONEY, JASON YOUNG`S MISTRESS: We ended up having an intimate relationship while he was there.

GENEVIEVE CARGOL, JASON YOUNG`S FORMER FIANCEE: Everybody loved Jason. Everybody.

CAROL ANNE SOWERY, JASON YOUNG`S FRIEND: We ended up having sex.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His final comment was, "All of this would just, you know, go away if you`d let me have a girl on the side."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only complaint Jason ever had was that he didn`t get enough sex.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You actually engaged in an affair with the defendant?

MONEY: Yes, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I`m thinking is, Michelle`s dead.

CARGOL: Something inside him snapped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, an accused murderer is confronted with his shameful double life. Jason Young`s mistresses, his ex-lovers, give hours of captivating testimony, painting him as a philandering, violent liar and a drunken buffoon.

On a day that would have been his wife`s 35th birthday, jurors undoubtedly have testimony like this ringing in their ears.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARGOL: Something inside him snapped like I`ve never seen before. He grabbed me by the arms and threw me down and onto the bed, but with such force that it just -- it stunned me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: With the dark secrets of his toxic marriage laid bare, the prosecution is trying to prove Jason bludgeoned his beautiful pregnant wife to death in their home. They say it was a methodical, calculated murder, the crime scene covered with bloody footprints from the couple`s 2-year-old daughter.

But this pivotal question remains: can the prosecution place Jason at the scene of the crime, his own home?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then there was a lift that was taken that was determined to be of value for identification purposes off the medicine cup, correct?

ANDY PARKER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, COBI INVESTIGATIONS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the medicine cup that was on top of the Tylenol rapid blast bottle in Cassidy`s bedroom, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And again, those prints couldn`t be identified among the 162 people for which prints were taken, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to Beth Karas, who is on location in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been all over this case. A, there are mystery prints in the home; B, Jason`s prints are there, but he lived there. So, isn`t that a perfect argument for the defense? "Well, his prints are there, but that was his home."

BETH KARAS, CORRESPONDENT, TRUTV`S "IN SESSION": You`re right, Jane. That is a great argument for the defense, and they will make it.

What the jury did hear, though, today and in the past few days is that there was a shoe impression made from a Hush Puppy, a particular style Hush Puppy made for the DSW discount shoe store line. And Jason Young bought a pair of Hush Puppies the previous year, that discounted line, and they have never been recovered. He testified at the first trial last summer that they were worn out, and his wife must have thrown them out.

Well, they were only a year old. He had nine other pairs of shoes in his closet and who knows how many other pairs elsewhere in suitcases and other places, so, the jury may not believe they were actually worn out and thrown out by his wife. Maybe he threw them out because they were bloody.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: One thing has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, that this defendant is a cad and a cheater and a liar. Jason`s mistress, one of them, Carol Anne Sowery, could barely make it through her testimony. She sobbed, repeatedly, and hid her face as if in shame. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma`am, would you state your name please?

SOWERY: Carol Anne Sowery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. There`s a Kleenex right there to your left if you need one, OK?

SOWERY: Put Cassidy to bed and had some drinks. And we ended up having sex.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And was that downstairs on the sofa or do you recall?

SOWERY: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This woman clearly devastated, humiliated, embarrassed, scarred by having to testify that she had sex with a married man.

Psychiatrist Dr. Dale Archer, if there are lessons for America here, what are the lessons about the dangers of having an affair with somebody who`s married and who`s also creating a family?

DR. DALE ARCHER, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, in this particular case, this is a guy that has sex with other women as a game. For him, this is a conquest. It means nothing.

But he probably convinces these women that, "Look, you`re special to me. You know, let`s talk. I want to hear about your problems. I want to hear about you." And the next thing you know, he seduces them. But to him, they are absolutely nothing.

But I think that you have to understand, infidelity is going through the roof in America today, but there are many different motives. And for a guy like this, it means absolutely nothing.

But for the woman, at the time, it probably did mean something. Now she`s looking back and, saying, "I was just one of many. I meant nothing to him." That`s why she was so devastated.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, also, it`s shame. You could see the shame. And we`re not saying she had anything to do with any murder. She`s not -- it`s just having to get up in front of America and admit that you had sex with a married man.

Jason`s ex-fiancee talks about another aspect of this guy`s personality, saying he flew into a violent rage and become a different person, right down to the look in his eyes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARGOL: The fight was so scary, not just because of the violence of it, but I -- I`d never seen him like that before. His eyes were completely empty and deserted and glazed over, and it was like he wasn`t even seeing me. And I wasn`t seeing him. It was -- I felt like he was a different person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it seems like he`s [SIC] describing sociopathic traits.

I want to go to Matt Diamino (ph), defense attorney and Huffington Post contributor. Again, we`re trying to learn something from this case, even as we try to solve the mystery. He hasn`t been convicted, but I think that, at the very least, alarm bells.

If you`re with a guy who`s cheating on his wife, know that he`s a liar, know that he`s capable of deception, know that he is a dissembler. You can`t -- you`re not going to get what you think you`re getting. And just buyer beware.

MATT DIAMINO (PH), DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Exactly Jane. And that`s what the prosecution is trying to build with these mistresses and the ex- fiancee`s testimony.

One, they`re trying to show that he was a pathological liar. Two, they`re trying to show that he had motive, that he wanted out of his marriage, that he just wanted to be a philanderer. And three, they`re trying to show his propensity for violence.

The description, the vivid description of the violence that he put on his ex-fiancee, is just outrageous, and it shows that he could have committed this crime, he could have committed this type of violence against his wife, Michelle Young, and killed her in the brutal manner that he did. And that`s what the prosecution is trying to show here with these key witnesses.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mark Eiglarsh, former prosecutor, he testified, the defendant did, in his original trial that ended in mistrial. If he takes the stand in this trial, given all these witnesses who are saying, "Oh, he cheated. He`s a liar. He`s a sociopath, essentially." I don`t use those words. Will his testimony be as effective as it was the last time around when they thought he was sort of a nice guy?

MARK EIGLARSH, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Probably not. A lot of this stuff now will be very effective to be used in cross-examination.

But Jane, here`s what we`ve got. We`ve got a guy who has defects in character. Severe ones. And he looks really bad in front of this jury. But that ultimately was no different than what we had in the Casey Anthony case. And the outcome may be the same, for the same reason. Lack of scientific evidence.

Jurors who believe in the "CSI" effect would think that someone who commits this heinous, abhorrent act, involving blood and bludgeoning someone to death, should have blood covered all over them, all over their car. And there`s nothing here. That`s a problem for the prosecution.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Beth Karas, I understand that they are dragging this young child, who was there, the daughter who was 2 -- how old is she now and what might happen with her in this trial?

KARAS: Well, she`s not going to testify. She was 2 1/2 at the time. I believe she`s, what, 7 now. And she lives with Meredith Fisher. She`s being raised by Michelle`s sister.

But just a little while ago, the judge made a ruling, allowing the prosecution next week to put on one, maybe two day-care workers who observed little Cassidy within a couple of days after the murder acting out and maybe re-enacting the murder.

She took a mommy doll and put the mommy doll face down. She took another female doll and sort of hitting the head of the mommy doll with a female doll. Now, she wasn`t saying anything like, "Daddy did this to Mommy." She didn`t say anything, but she was acting out, it appears, the murder. So it appears that she was a witness.

The judge is allowing this, over the objection of the defense. One day-care worker saw it all. Another one saw the beginning where she actually went to select the dolls.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh. Well -- that just shows you how this child must have been traumatized. Even though she was just 2, 2 1/2, she still experienced all of this.

Michelle Bart, you`re a child advocate. What are your thoughts, vis- a-vis this little girl who is now, probably 7 or 8, getting dragged into this case?

MICHELLE BART, CHILD ADVOCATE (via phone): I -- I would think that would be a great question for Dr. Archer, because I`ll tell you, that would only -- you know, traumatize the child for future years to come, I would think, bringing her back to the time she was 2?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What do you think, Dr. Dale?

ARCHER: Well, there`s no doubt she is going to remember this, at least in her subconscious. And I think it`s very important for somebody to be working with this child but that it will traumatize her.

And the key in this particular case is, how much did she see? Was she actually there when it took place? If so, hypnosis can be very effective in these cases.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And again, there`s no indication they`re going to put her on the stand, but they are going to use her comments in some way. shape or form in the day care that describe mommy with boo-boos getting bludgeoned.

ARCHER: That can be telling, very, very telling. How much did she see? That`s the question.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re just getting started on this. We are going to take your calls on the other side.

And later, mourning the death of superstar Whitney Houston. I`m going to talk to one of Whitney`s friends in just moments.

But first, will secrets revealed by three mistresses spell doom for accused murderer Jason Young?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARGOL: He was pinning my arms behind my back with -- with such force that I felt like my shoulders were going to pop out of the sockets. I was able to wiggle my way out and then try to get away from him and that`s when he grabbed me and threw me down. Again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONEY: We just spent a lot of time talking and hanging out at the house. We ended up having an intimate relationship while he was there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And so at that point, were you actually engaged in an affair with the defendant?

MONEY: Yes, ma`am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A trio of ex-lovers have taken the stand in the trial -- and it`s actually a retrial -- of Jason Young, who is accused of murdering his pregnant wife as their toddler waddled about in blood.

And I was struck, personally, by the cavalier attitude of one of Jason`s mistresses, Michelle Money. Now, she was having an affair with Jason at the time of this murder. She`s a close friend of the victim, the dead woman and even her sorority sister, for goodness sakes. I`m going to show you a picture of her with the victim on the wedding day.

And yet Michelle Money seems to have had zero boundaries, zero judgment when it came to Jason Young.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONEY: When we were all on our group trips, they would joke about it and always in a lighthearted manner, but they would joke about it, that Jason wanted more sex than Michelle did. Him and I did discuss it briefly when we were talking on the phone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She seems to have no shame, and we have to tell you that Michelle Money was in contact with Jason Young before this murder occurred and after this murder occurred. Not to say that she has anything to do with the murder itself.

But Matt Diamino (ph), again, as we try to learn from this, what does it say about our culture that somebody can have an affair with impunity with one of their best friend`s husbands and the dangers they`re in?

DIAMINO (ph): Jane, it really shows that there`s no respect for the institution of marriage. The dark secrets came gushing out yesterday. Not only about this marriage, but this group of intimate friends. And it really painted the picture of a marriage gone horribly wrong.

And that`s what the prosecution wants to do here. They want to show that Jason Young was a jerk and he didn`t want to be in this marriage. He didn`t want to have the responsibilities of a family, a second child on the way. And that was his motive for killing Michelle Young and allowing him to continue in this way of philandering and just having the freedom that he wanted.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: If you are going to have an affair with a married man who has a wife who is pregnant with their second child, remember this fact. The leading cause of death for pregnant women is murder at the hands of the man who impregnated her. Anybody who has an affair with a married man who has children and is currently married and that wife is expecting is playing with fire.

We heard about Jason Young, the defendant, urinating on a friend`s floor, being naked in the middle of a party, drinking heavily, and then there`s this very bizarre story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOWERY: He woke up me up, saying, "You should go up to, you know, your bedroom or whatever" and started laughing. And I, you know, didn`t know. And he told me to go look in the mirror. And he had drawn, like, a, you know, a face on my face with marker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How bizarre. How strange. It shows that he`s capable of crossing some very strange lines in inappropriate behavior.

Let`s go to the phones. Lynn Ann, Arkansas. Your question or thought, Lynn Ann?

CALLER: Well, I have two comments, actually. Haven`t men today -- know that there`s a thing called divorce? And there`s lawyers, and they don`t have to murder?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me bring Mark Eiglarsh in on that, because that`s the obvious solution that these defendants don`t seem to consider.

EIGLARSH: Well, agreed. I don`t know why you`re pointing at me. I have never done or even thought anything like that.

But if you`re asking me legally, listen, a lot of the people don`t think. And also, I don`t want to presume that this guy is guilty. Eight people listened to the evidence the first time around and felt that he was not guilty. So, what...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Good points, as always, Mark Eiglarsh.

More on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELEZ-MITCHELL: The Jason Young retrial continues in a moment. But first, you voted for this week`s "Viral Video of the Week." Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BABY LAUGHING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you ever tell Michelle Young that you were having an affair with her husband?

MONEY: No, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And to your knowledge, did Jason Young tell her that he was having an affair with you?

MONEY: No, ma`am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is one of the mistresses of the defendant, Jason Young, and remember that, at the time that Jason Young`s wife was murdered, she was pregnant and they had a young daughter, Cassidy. And she was there the night her mom was murdered. She was just 2 years old, her tiny bloody footprints all over the crime scene. But did she actually witness the brutal crime?

With the jury out of the courtroom, the prosecutor described what Cassidy did -- there she is, that little girl -- the day she returned to day care, just a few days after her mom`s murder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cassidy sort of stayed to herself, which was unusual for her. She was -- Cassidy was playing with a dollhouse outside. She laid the momma doll face down on the bed, and she had another doll. She said the momma doll had a boo-boo and was being spanked.

Cassidy had woken up from her nap and said the following, without being prompted, "Mommy had boo-boos all over. Mommy was on the bed with red stuff all over her."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh. How traumatizing for this child. You see her beautiful face there, playing with the mother. That mother now dead, murdered. And that child there, whoever did it, that child was there, at the crime scene, possibly witnessed it.

Dr. Dale, do children act out things that they can`t verbalize with toys?

ARCHER: Absolutely. It`s called play therapy or doll therapy. Because that young, they really can`t verbalize. But they can take the domes, and they`ll actually act out the event with the dolls.

So, if you just give them a little encouragement -- give them a momma doll, give them a couple other dolls -- they`ll pick the dolls up, and they can also show you what took place. And it looks like that`s what we`re hearing from this day care center that that happened.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh.

Well, back to the phone lines. Kathy, North Carolina. Your question or thought, Kathy?

CALLER: I just have a question, wondering, why is he out now? Why is he free now?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Excellent question. Mark Eiglarsh, former prosecutor?

EIGLARSH: Judges can use their discretion. The only point that judges have to evaluate is whether he will return to deal with the trial. And he did the first time. He`s now out and returning and showing up every day. That`s the only role and the whole purpose of the judge`s decision.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What about danger to society?

EIGLARSH: I`m sure the judge balanced that and ultimately made a decision that, you know, I mean, he -- if he did do this, he took out the one person that he allegedly wanted to kill. And the judge probably balanced that and made a decision and said he`s going to show up to court.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but -- Dr. Dale Archer, I`m not saying he did this. But if he did this, this was a brutal, calculating crime where he goes to extreme lengths to say he`s staying at a hotel, checks in at the hotel, according to prosecutors, drives three hours, brutally murders his wife, allegedly. This is what the prosecution is saying. Her teeth are knocked out. She`s beaten to a pulp, with his child, his daughter, there, leaving the daughter there.

Isn`t a person like that capable of anything?

ARCHER: They`re capable of anything. And domestic violence doesn`t come with an on/off switch. It`s a continuum, and it progresses. So we have the prior fiancee talking about how he brutalized her. Now we have this. And so he is a danger, going forward. So, yes, I would be very worried about that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Thank you, fabulous panel. Whitney Houston up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember being so proud, you know, just so proud and, you know, of both of her singing and her acting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Extensive planning is going on to give Whitney the funeral and the good-bye that she deserves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve got tears coming out of my eyes, you know, just thinking about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tragedy. Such a talented human being. She set the standard for a bunch of singers right now and she`s gone. It`s sad.

WHITNEY HOUSTON, SINGER: I love the lyric. I love what it said. I knew how I could interpret it and I knew that if I sang it I would come from my heart.

GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: What a tragedy. What a terrible, terrible tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you. I love you. And I love you. And rest in peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Good evening, everyone, Jane Velez- Mitchell back with you from New York City.

Now, across the river in New Jersey, they are preparing to experience the loss and pain of Whitney Houston`s death all over again. In Newark, New Jersey the New Hope Baptist Church mobbed with grieving fans and well wishers paying heartfelt respects to Whitney Houston. As we learn more about the funeral, more info coming out about Whitney`s struggles with addiction.

We have a divorce document where Bobby Brown refers to Whitney`s drug problems. But tomorrow, all that is going to be set aside as we honor Whitney Houston`s achievements and her life. Streets are going to be closed off to the public. No procession in the streets.

Take a look at this. It`s the invitation of the funeral, which is called a "home-going service" in the text; and today, an invite-only viewing for Whitney`s family. Whitney`s godmother Aretha Franklin still trying to cope with the loss; doesn`t know what she`s going to sing at tomorrow`s funeral but gave a hint on the "Today" show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARETHA FRANKLIN, SINGER: She had this twinkle in her eye. So it could happen. I wrote a little something with that in mind and that was, "Twinkle, twinkle superstar, we don`t wonder where you are; up above the world so bright, like a diamond in the night; twinkle, twinkle, she stood alone. I can`t believe that she`s gone."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Along with Aretha, Alicia Keys will perform, as well as Stevie Wonder. Whitney`s mentor Clive Davis, also speaking. And we can also expect remarks from Kevin Costner and Tyler Perry.

And we`ve confirmed Bobby Brown has been invited but we`re not sure if he`s actually going to show up. He has a gig at a casino in Connecticut that night. So we`ll find out tomorrow if Whitney Houston`s ex-husband will be there.

I will be outside the church and live coverage starts at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on HLN. So, please join us, starting at 9:00 Eastern tomorrow morning.

Straight out to "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`S" Nischelle Turner; you are outside the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. Describe the mood.

NISCHELLE TURNER, HLN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know what, Jane, the mood has been a little bit celebratory today. I have to tell you though, you said no one knows if Bobby will show up -- I can bet you Bobby Brown will be here tomorrow for the service. And he does have a gig after that that he says he will try to make if he can, after the service.

You and I were out at the Beverly Hilton the night that Whitney Houston passed. If you remember, there were fans that were paying tribute, spontaneous songs breaking out. That`s exactly what`s been going on here today.

There were some fans that were sad, taking pictures, some were crying. But there was also some that were just breaking out in Whitney`s songs and dancing and joyous and celebrating her life. You know a lot of people here in Newark, New Jersey they claim Whitney as they own. They say, no matter her superstardom and all the success she has, she was still a girl from Jersey and they wanted to celebrate that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think you`re right, I think he probably will show. He certainly, if he does, will be the most controversial figure at the funeral. After all, he`s Whitney Houston`s ex-husband -- we`re talking about Bobby Brown. He has been invite and we`re being told he will attend.

You know, a lot of people still feel like maybe Bobby Brown is to blame for Whitney`s problems. We saw a glimpse of their chaotic marriage on Bravo`s "Being Bobby Brown".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOUSTON: We got to live with flies. We`ve got to live with (EXPLETIVE DELETED), with the anthrax.

BOBBY BROWN, SINGER: You just watch too much TV. I`m a true American. I`ve been to jail before. That`s American.

HOUSTON: Kiss my ass.

BROWN: All right, that`s what I mean.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, they split up a year after that and we, just a little while ago, got ahold of their divorce papers. In it, Bobby contends that in 2006, Whitney moved to California with their daughter Bobbi Kristina in order to attend drug rehab. Don`t forget in 2009, Whitney told Oprah she was sober. And then we know Whitney went back to rehab in 2011.

I want to bring in my very special guest, Sheryl Lee Ralph, was a friend of Whitney Houston`s and author of the book "Redefining Diva". I understand that you also knew Bobby Brown back when he was married to Whitney. He says he`s been sober for six years. We`ve heard reports to the contrary. What can you say to put this Bobby Brown relationship with Whitney Houston in context of all of this?

SHERYL LEE RALPH, AUTHOR, "REDEFINING DIVA": You know something, it`s very interesting. Everybody thinks they know what love is but as a good acquaintance of both of them, I can say I honestly believed that at that time, they truly loved each other.

Whitney had her issues, Bobby had his issues. We all have our issues. But sometimes when those things come together, they can be combustible. And the two of them, together, were definitely an intimate explosion, as we all saw on the reality show, "Being Bobby Brown". But I think that the core of it that there was definitely some love.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think you make a very good point. You make a very, very good point that two people who both have the same intensity and the same problems getting together can be combustible.

I speak as a recovering alcoholic, when I was in my disease -- and I`m 16 years sober and hopefully 17 years in April -- when I was in my disease, I might have hung out with other people who were heavy drinkers, but I didn`t date anybody like that because I was seeking a counter-balance, who would keep me under wraps, Dr. Dale Archer, clinical psychiatrist.

A lot of people are looking for almost, like, somebody who is going to be, play the bad cop to keep -- if you have two people with the same problem addiction-wise, it is really a prescription for disaster.

DR. DALE ARCHER, CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIST: Yes and actually the counter- balance is a very healthy way to be. Because it`s almost a survival mechanism where you know deep inside, you know what; if I don`t have that person, that anchor holding me back, I can self-destruct. And when two self-destructive people get together, then you have an explosion like we see here with Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Bobby Brown actually gave a shout-out to Whitney Houston at New Edition concert just last night in Maryland. Here is what he said and watch this from WTTG.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: That`s my love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: that`s my love is what he said there. Now, I have to say, there are some who wonder, could Bobby Brown be trying to use this terrible tragedy to in some way jump start his career?

There`s another cynical theory and these are not my theories. He`s a dad. He`s the dad of daughter Bobbi Kristina. But there are some who wonder, wow, he`s been with Bobbi Kristina now since this tragedy struck. Could there be something behind that?

I want to bring in Dorothy Pomerantz, Forbes L.A. bureau chief to talk about Bobbi Kristina and what she can do and what she should do to protect her assets given that a lot of people are now going to try to befriend her.

DOROTHY POMERANTZ, FORBES L.A. BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, definitely. She`s going to be very, very popular now. There`s a lot of money at stake here. You know, Whitney didn`t write her songs so she didn`t have the songwriter rights but she did have the artist rights and that`s got the potential for a lot of money. We are already seeing sales of her songs on the top of the iTunes charts, her albums are selling and that could generate money well into the future.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Whitney Houston`s famous cover song "I Will Always Love You" is actually going to make another singer a lot of money. Now, here is Dolly Parton singing that famous hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(DOLLY PARTON SINGING "I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Whitney Houston did not write that song, she made it famous. So, let me go back to Dorothy Pomerantz, Forbes L.A. bureau chief for a moment and talk about the financial implications, not only to Whitney Houston but also to Dolly Parton.

POMERANTZ: Absolutely. Dolly Parton stands to get very rich off of this tragedy. I mean that song was one of Whitney`s biggest hits. As that song gets played again, if somebody like Adele does a remake of that song, a lot of that money is going to go to Dolly Parton.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, let`s talk a little bit about Whitney Houston`s finances. She made millions over the years and it`s extraordinary the amount of money, $33 million from "The Bodyguard", $10 million from "The Preacher`s Wife". She renewed her contract with Arista for $100 million in 2001. And she made another $36 million from her tour, reportedly in 2010.

But I got to tell you, we are now reading Whitney`s divorce papers that say in 2007, Whitney was only worth $10 million. Sheryl Lee Ralph, you are an actress and a friend of Whitney Houston`s. How is that possible? How is that possible?

RALPH: You know something, so many things in this industry are very, very possible. Very often, you make all of that money and you live beyond your means. Sometimes the -- it happens all the time. People spend so much more than they make. Do you know what it takes to have that hair stylist, what it takes to have that makeup artist, what it takes to have that driver, what it takes to have that person to care for you in city to city to city. It`s an awful lot of business being famous, baby. It isn`t cheap.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, well, remember, I`m going to be live in Newark, New Jersey, for Whitney Houston`s funeral, beginning tomorrow. HLN`s complete coverage begins tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on HLN.

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STEVIE WONDER, SINGER: I`m sure that the two of them are in heaven, talking about how much fun they had, sharing time and space with each other as I`m sure that is now happening with Whitney Houston and Don Cornelius.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, as I mentioned, Stevie Wonder is going to be performing at the funeral tomorrow but he even mentioned her last night at a service for the late Don Cornelius. Whitney`s family is calling this a going-home service instead of a funeral. So, what does that mean?

I want to go out to Rachel Maresca, editor of celebbuzz. With these superstars this is not an ordinary funeral service. It is almost more like a celebration, a combination of just many, many tributes and a lot of performances.

RACHEL MARESCA, EDITOR, CELEBBUZZ: Right. It is a star-studded affair. It`s going to be Alicia Keys is going to be there, Kevin Costner speaking. We have Dionne Warwick there. You know, it`s invitation-only, strictly, invitation came out today, we were able to view it, it`s strictly just, you know, saying it`s a going-home party. It`s not, they`re not calling it a funeral, you know, they want to celebrate her life and her legacy.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s going to be unbelievable. I`m just going to read off quickly. Kevin Costner, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Alicia Keys, Dionne Warwick, Chaka Khan, we also hear possibly Oprah Winfrey might show up, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Clive Davis her mentor, 1,500 notables in the world of entertainment. And it`s just going to be astounding to watch.

Well, Whitney Houston`s a star, of course, a superstar of proportions. She was always -- it`s important to remember she was a mother, a daughter, a sister. Pastor Marvin Winans put it best on "AC 360".

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PASTOR MARVIN WINANS, NEW HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH: We don`t want to have a parade. We loved her when she was Nippy in New Jersey. The world loves her because of her voice. But if Nippy could not sing, the Houston family would love her.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, take a look at these extraordinary photos of Whitney from way back in 1982. She was only 18 years old. They called her Nippy. That was her nickname. Now, she would have been graduating from high school. Her career had just started.

I want to go back out to Sheryl Lee Ralph, who is a friend of Whitney Houston`s. How did she break through? Obviously she sang at the church where her funeral services are going to be held. We`ve seen, all of us, the video of that. But how did she become a star? What was her break?

RALPH: Oh, I have to tell you, and it was absolutely outstanding. A group of us were talking about it yesterday. It was in a club called Sweet Water. Sweet Water, Uptown, New York and the buzz around Broadway was, you got to see this kid. She was 19 at the time and she had her cute little short afro and just a touch of that teenage acne left over, but a voice that it was amazing.

And I remember that Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson were like, oh, you have to see her, Sheryl, and Loretta Devine and I saw her and it was just amazing. And her mother, this most incredible pride and joy she had with her daughter performing. You had to see this. You knew when you heard that voice.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: As I understand it, she got her stage abilities and her incredible charisma on stage from -- you see her performing there with her church choir -- but her mother is a famous gospel singer so she also learned the ropes by -- I understood that she would go to clubs with her mom and her mom would be singing and she would be in the background?

RALPH: That`s right. Absolutely. I mean, Whitney had the most incredible music pedigree. When you think, when you say, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, her mother, Cissy Houston and the sweet inspirations. All of that put together and then that whole spirit that she got from church, I mean, this is an incredible pedigree.

And somebody said something very interesting at Don Cornelius` memorial last night. They said it`s not about how they left this world. It`s about they lived in this world. And that`s some of the things we`ve got to remember. She was a loving child of God and an incredible talent.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We will always have her music.

RALPH: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Don`t go anywhere. We`ll be right back.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Back in a minute with good news for animals. But first you deserve a laugh break.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- which found thousands of pigs locked inside of tiny cages. And most of the bacon, ham and sausage that you can buy in restaurants and grocery stores throughout our country come from these type of factory farms where animals are treated less like the living, feeling creatures who they are and more like meat-producing machines.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s disturbing but important that we watch it. Tonight I`m happy to tell you a huge victory for animal protection, advocates and for the animals themselves. McDonald`s has announced it will now get its pork suppliers to phase out their use of gestation crates on pig farms. This follows a slew of hidden camera investigations that have revealed just how deplorable these pig gestation crates are.

Here`s a clip. I warn you, this is disturbing but it`s important to bear witness and believe me it`s nowhere near the worst of it. These crates have been compared to torture. They`re called the Iron Maiden for pigs. The pigs cannot turn around often to scratch themselves in these gestation crates.

But with McDonald`s, a powerhouse of the pork industry moving away from these crates, I`ve got to ask, is it the tipping point we`ve been waiting for when it comes to compassion for animals at factory farms? There`s billions of them in these factory farms.

Take a look at some of these headlines -- "Earthquake in the Pig Business". Straight out to my very special guest, Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States; Wayne, your undercover investigations led to this. How huge a victory is this for farm animals?

WAYNE PACELLE, PRESIDENT/CEWO, HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, Jane, you know, for many, many years, we at the humane society of the United States have been advocating for all animals, including farm animals. And one of the worst practices is the one you described, this immobilization of these breeding cells in these tiny cages barely larger than the animals` bodies.

The biggest restaurant chain in the world embraced our idea and to say that these crates are inhumane and that we need a new way forward is indeed seismic and we`re excited about the prospects.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: As we take a look at what`s going on in these pig gestation crates, we`re also going to show you some alternate video of pigs the way they`re supposed to be -- happy, roaming around, able to move. McDonald`s statement is, "McDonald`s believes gestation stalls are not a sustainable production system for the future and there are better ways." Essentially, they`re saying, "There are alternatives we think are better for the welfare of sows."

But I have to say in general, the industry is still very resistant, is it not, to change? I mean we`ve heard about these moves to criminalize, even taking a photograph of a farm. This is a nice farm, this is a sanctuary. We showed you the factory farms. But there`s a move in various legislatures to make it a crime to even take a photograph of a farm without the owner`s written consent. What`s that about?

PACELLE: Well, we`re dealing with a powerful industry and the production sector in terms of the pigs, the pork industry is really circling the wagons -- they`re entrenching. They`re trying to block people from documenting what`s going on largely because they fear that the public sees what`s going on in these farms and they`ll demand reform.

I mean I think if you`re trying to block people from taking pictures, you probably have something to hide. I think therein lies the story and therein is McDonald`s action. We`re really syncing up the retailers behavior with consumer attitudes. The public doesn`t support immobilizing animals and confining them for three or four years in a cage that doesn`t allow them to move.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we`ve got more on the other side. And again, there is hope. Americans are decent people. And they`re saying "enough".

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sure, we`re up against another organization, Mercy for Animals" did an undercover investigation into the abuse of turkeys. And Wayne, a doctor who works for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture pleaded guilty to tipping off somebody at the turkey factory farm about an upcoming raid.

PACELLE: Well, Jane, this is one of the problems. You know, you`ve got a real unholy alliance between the industry, some of the academic institutions at the (INAUDIBLE) colleges and the government agencies. The government agencies are supposed to be regulating the production sector. They`re not supposed to be tipping them off and defending these practices that the American public finds so repulsive.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I do feel we`re at a tipping point. Ten seconds, what`s to come?

PACELLE: So many different things, Jane. We have to think about our food choices, we have to get the corporations to be reflecting the public attitudes about animal welfare.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, what happened today was a very good start.

"NANCY GRACE" next.

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