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JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Sex Offender Questioning about Missing Soldier

Aired April 18, 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 live from New York City. Breaking news tonight in the missing soldier case as cops search the pond now for clues. Was a registered sex offender the very last person to see Kelli Bordeaux before she vanished?

And we`re also going to talk to a TV star, a musician about the death of Dick Clark and how that music legend changed American history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, the search intensifies for a beautiful missing soldier from Fort Bragg. Cops now investigating a sex offender they say drove the 23-year-old woman to and from a bar as they scour the place for where cell phone last pinged. Who is this mystery sex offender? I`ll investigate, and I`ll talk to the missing woman`s mother and sister.

And cops say the newly-separated husband of a missing mother of three is a person of interest in what they`re now calling a murder investigation. He insists he had absolutely nothing to do with it. Will DNA prove he`s telling the truth? The missing mother`s sister joins me live tonight.

And big development in the Trayvon Martin case as the judge steps down. We`ll have all the breaking news.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re getting word that a Fort Bragg soldier is missing and police say she may be in danger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via phone): I just can`t imagine anything happening right now. I just can barely function without knowing where my daughter is. I just...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is 23-year-old Private Kelli Bordeaux. She was last seen Saturday. She is stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe that she may be in danger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please bring her back. Sorry. I just -- please just bring my sister.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, breaking news in the hunt for that beautiful missing soldier assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. A brand-new tip has led cops to a pond less than nine miles from where Private 1st Class Kelli Bordeaux was last seen. As we speak, divers right now searching that water.

And while divers search, new information just coming in about this beautiful woman`s last known steps. Local affiliate WTVD reports cops have now questioned a local sex offender twice in the 23-year-old`s disappearance. This man allegedly works at the Froggy Bottoms bar where she was that night and lives behind the building in a lean-to.

Cops say Kelli last seen 1:20 a.m. Saturday morning, leaving that bar. And now our affiliate is reporting this 25-year-old registered sex offender told them he gave Kelli a ride home but says he dropped her off at the front of the complex, not at her personal front door. And this is right in line with what Kelli`s mom told me on this show just last night. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via phone): Supposedly someone had -- was going to give her a ride home from the bar, but that`s where the story doesn`t, I think, quite add up. That I don`t think she got home from the bar. Supposedly the person that dropped her off, something supposedly spooked her in the car. He told them one time that something spooked her that she didn`t get out of the car, but yet she got out of the car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But this must be coming from the person who drove her, because we haven`t been able to speak to her. She disappeared. Do we believe that? Do we believe that she was spooked and that`s why he says he dropped her off not at her front door, but near the front of the complex.

What do you think? Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

Straight out to Amanda Webber with News 14. What do you know about this breaking news about the search in a pond nine miles approximately from the bar where she spent the evening Friday night into Saturday?

Do you hear me, Amanda? Amanda, can you hear me?

OK. Well, she can`t hear. Let me say this. I want to go to Dr. Dale Archer, clinical psychiatrist who`s here with me on set.

There`s some disturbing things about this guy who has now told a local affiliate that he drove her home to her apartment complex. He`s a sex offender. We`re not going to give you his name right now. And we`ve got to stress, he has not been named a suspect or even a person of interest, but he`s a 25-year-old man who helps out at the bar where Kelli spent Friday evening.

And this is what disturbs me. He reportedly lives in a lean-to behind the bar, and most disturbing of all, reports claim he was convicted in 2003 when he was 16 years old of indecent liberties with a 5-year-old child.

ABC 11 reporting that he says he had nothing to do with Kelli`s disappearance and that he thinks he`s being targeted because of his criminal record. Thoughts, Dr. Dale Archer?

DALE ARCHER, CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIST: He`s being targeted because he`s the last person to see her. So he`s going to be targeted no matter what.

But here`s what I wonder. So she says she`s spooked. And I wonder, is she spooked about something going on inside the car, i.e., him or is there something out there that she`s spooked, and she doesn`t want to go all the way back to her place and wants to get out early.

So I think that`s a hugely important question. But, you know, at first I thought, wow, her intuition kicked in and said this guy was dangerous and wanted to get out of the car, but it could go either way.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, my question is was she spooked at all? I mean, everything is coming, Vikki Ziegler, from the word of this man, this registered sex offender who lives in a lean-to behind a bar.

VIKKI ZIEGLER: There`s no credibility at this point. We don`t know - - nobody else has seen what happened to her after she left the bar. There has to be this full investigation which is ongoing. We don`t know exactly what happened to her. Was he the last person to see her? Did he actually drop her off in front of the complex? In front of her apartment?

And most importantly, where did that text message come from, her phone saying, "I`m home safely." That is a critical element. Did it come from the vehicle within which the sex offender dropped her off? Was it far away? Was it nine miles away? That`s a big questions.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All very good questions, and we`re looking at a map there of some of the key points in the search for this beautiful -- she really is stunning -- 23-year-old, very petite, 99 pounds. That`s the pond they`re searching. Cops say they`re basing this search on Kelli`s last cell-phone pings, which hit off some towers near what`s being called the North Ramsey Corridor, which is near the bar.

Listen to this from a news conference that occurred just a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our investigation has revealed at this point, cell phone records from Miss Bordeaux`s cell phone were pinging off the cell tower along the tower sites along the North Ramsey street corridor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now, here`s a straight view of part of the area near the Froggy Bottoms bar. Kelli lives less than a mile from this area in an apartment complex. She is involved with Fort Bragg, but she has her own apartment in an apartment complex.

I want to go now, Amanda Webber -- we`ve got you, News 14 -- and ask you, do you have any idea why authorities decided to search this pond, which is nine miles away, and what do you know? We have so many questions. Have they found her cell phone? Have they found her purse? Have they found her I.D.? What do you know? Give us all the details you`ve acquired.

AMANDA WEBBER, NEWS 14 REPORTER: And Jane, this morning at the news conference reporters and myself were asking Chief Tom Bergamine questions, and stuff like that. He`s staying tight-lipped on those questions.

But around 4 p.m. this afternoon, they moved the search from here at the Froggy Bottoms bar in and around this area to about eight miles from this area, just south of I-295. They say they`re on a private property. That pond is on a private property. A tip led them there. When asked about that tip, they`re not giving any information into that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, at some point of the night Kelli sent two text messages to an unknown recipient. One said, quote, "Got home safely." That`s super important.

Now, again, here`s a straight view of Kelli`s apartment. Did Kelli really get home safely and send that text message?

One of the problems with text messages is anyone can send them. Anyone can type them in from somebody else`s phone. It`s not like hearing somebody`s voice.

So I want to go out to Steve Moore, former FBI agent. You`ve been analyzing this case. What do you make of it?

STEVE MOORE, FORMER FBI AGENT: I`m bothered by that message where it says, "Got home safely." If you communicated with somebody that you`re spooked about something and then later on you just give a one -- a three- word thing, "Got home safely," that`s inappropriate.

When you`ve scared somebody about your situation, you`re going to call them or give them more of an explanation than just "Got home safely," not going to explain it.

And there`s also things you can do. You can look in the apartment and see if there is evidence of somebody coming home, turning on an air conditioner, turning on a heater, turning on a light.

The fact that this -- she was driven home by a licensed sex -- or a registered sex offender to me is what we would call a clue. The obvious inference here is that there`s a problem, and you don`t want to ignore that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, you raised some good points. We`re going to get to Judy in Massachusetts on the other side.

We`re taking your calls: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Coming up, cops say the disappearance of a missing mom in Florida is now a murder investigation. I`m going to talk to that woman`s sister, but first, more on the search for this missing Fort Bragg soldier, a beautiful 23-year-old and, boy, it`s a frantic search going on as we speak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, just return my sister. She`s -- I have a 3-year-old son, and Kelli hung the moon for him, and I don`t want to have to try to explain anything to my son. He can`t understand this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sister is missing. She is -- she`s the most amazing person I know. Her friends and family love her very much. If anybody knows anything, please contact the Fayetteville Police Department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And apparently, this pond, about nine miles away from the bar where Kelli Bordeaux spent Friday evening into Saturday morning, being searched as we speak. We understand that her husband is participating in the search and is in the area where searches are going on.

Meanwhile, we`ve been asking what is going on with Kelli`s husband of two years? His name apparently Mike. Last night Kelli`s mom told us there might be trouble in paradise. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was down in Florida visiting with his father that lives in Florida.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was coming back. I mean, they were having some marital problems, but the person that drove her home wasn`t, you know, any kind of person to her. I think he was just a friend of hers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The missing woman`s husband just spoke off camera to NBC 17 and said, quote, "I would never lay a hand on her," adding the marriage is, quote, "happy" and they are not estranged as police reported and as you heard from this woman`s mother.

We heard from Kelli`s mom that he was in Florida at the time that her daughter vanished Saturday, but he is not confirming that with the local station he spoke with, except to say he was not at the apartment.

But he also said he talked to Kelli at 3 p.m., just hours before she disappeared, and everything was fine. What do you make of it, clinical psychiatrist, Dr. Dale Archer?

ARCHER: Well, the spouse of a murder victim, statistically, is going to be...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We don`t know murder yet. We hopefully -- God willing, we`re praying that -- that -- that she is going to be found OK. I understand what you`re saying, but I just want to caution. Go ahead.

ARCHER: OK. So, normally the spouse is the No. 1 suspect, and statistically speaking, they commit the act more than anyone else does. So by definition, when you have a missing person, the spouse is going to be a person of interest. Unless they have a rock-solid alibi that can`t be broken, he`s going to be looked at.

So I don`t care about what anybody says about how bad the marriage was, he`s going to be looked at. So I don`t care what he says about how good the marriage was, and I don`t care what anybody else says about how bad the marriage was. He`s going to be looked at, and he`s going to have to be accounted for.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, if -- if he was in Florida, obviously, this is happening in North Carolina, but it`s interesting that he wouldn`t confirm that he was in Florida as the missing woman`s mother told us last night.

ARCHER: We worked a case not too long ago, Jane, where the guy drove in the middle of the night all the way through the night and ended up committing the murder when he was supposedly several hours away by car. So you know, he could be saying he was there, but unless he has absolute, documented proof, it`s going to be a problem.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. And we want to say he is not considered a suspect or a person of interest. There are no suspects or persons of interest.

All right. We`ve got a caller. I missed it, Anita? Shanita, Virginia, your question or thought? How you doing?

CALLER: Hi. Thanks for taking my call.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sure.

CALLER: My question is, have the authorities searched this registered sex offender residence of the car? He lives right behind the bar. Has anybody executed a search warrant on either of the two?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I -- I can tell you. I don`t know. That`s an excellent question. I don`t know whether those documents have been filed, but I can tell you that police were swarming all over that area.

And Steve Moore, former FBI, the fact that it`s a lean-to. I mean, it seems like something they could almost, like, peer into and see. Why somebody is living in a lean-to, according to published reports, is beyond me. They apparently help at the bar.

By the way, we`ve been calling this bar on and off ever since the story broke, and we have not gotten through. The phone is busy. All right. Your thoughts, Steve Moore?

MOORE: Well, I think -- I think the lean-to gives him less of an expectation of privacy. They could probably do more with -- on a search without a warrant than anywhere else. I would suspect that they`re going to look through that with a fine-toothed comb and his vehicle.

It surprises me that he has a lean-to and a vehicle.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. There are so many unanswered questions here, Vikki Zeigler, family law attorney. Do you think, for example, that the husband -- and again, you know, he may have been 1,000 miles away -- should lawyer up just for his own protection or not?

ZEIGLER: Absolutely, right away. I mean, at this point -- and Dr. Dale Archer is absolutely right. Twenty-five percent to 30 percent of women that are killed are usually killed by their husband, boyfriend, or an ex.

You know that the police is looking at him. So if you were in Florida, I would say, Kelli`s husband, you better go tell them, provide proof, whether you drove there or you took a plane there. Make sure that you can provide a stone-cold alibi that you weren`t actually at this bar or near this bar when, in fact, this woman disappeared.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And again, he -- we have no suspects in this case.

On the other side, we`re going to talk about how dangerous this area is and a recent rape which raises the possibility of other suspects.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More breaking news in a moment, but first, here`s your "Viral Video of the Day."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just can`t imagine, you know, anything happening right now. I just...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m so sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just can barely function without knowing where my daughter is at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Our heart goes out to the mother of this missing soldier. Cops searching this pond as we speak.

And I want to tell you we were scheduled to speak to that mother tonight, as well as the sister of missing Kelli Bordeaux, and now they are not responding to our calls, and we hear that the search is going on. We see it`s going on right now at the pond. We don`t know, but certainly it`s kind of ominous. We hope that it`s not bad news, but we don`t know. Something could be going on. Let`s suffice it to say that.

Judy, Massachusetts, your question or thought. Judy?

CALLER: Yes. Hi, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.

CALLER: Jane, I was just wondering, did they ever find her cell phone? Or how did they know -- if a person did take her, if they didn`t take the phone and toss it to mislead the police?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely. Or texted that text, "Got home safely." That certainly could be typed in by anyone who had access to that phone.

Now, I have to say this. Cops haven`t named a person of interest, but our affiliate is saying that Kelli went with a registered sex offender to the bar that night, and additionally, here`s another complication. This county, Cumberland County in North Carolina, has 434 sex offenders.

According to one Web site, which is NeighborhoodScout.com, this city, Fayetteville, North Carolina, only has a ranking of three out of 100 on the crime index. So 100 is the safest. Three is a very dangerous place. This is really bizarre that it rates a three.

I can tell you there have been numerous stories that we found in our research of serious crimes in and around Fort Bragg. In fact, less than three weeks ago, a jogger said she was raped less than a quarter mile from the very bar that Kelli vanished from.

Cops say they don`t know if these two are connected, but again, here`s something else that cops have to worry about. The possibility that neither, nobody that we`ve mentioned heretofore is involved, and it`s some rapist that was raping three weeks ago, Dr. Dale.

ARCHER: Right. Well, you know, I did a search because when I saw those I said, "Man, so many crimes around this military base. Is that common for all military bases?" And the answer is no. I did a Google search, and I couldn`t find that anywhere else.

So then I wondered what is it about this area? What is it about this base? I don`t know, but clearly, you can get a persona for a region. And when you start having these crimes, you get copycats that are jumping in. And the next thing you know, it becomes an epidemic and that looks like what we`re dealing with here.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And briefly, sometimes there`s a false sense of security. Oh, a military base, just like a university or a police station across the street. It doesn`t mean crimes -- crimes don`t occur right there. Of course, they do.

Anyone could be the person of interest at this point, interviewing, surveillance cameras. Who was at the bar? Who saw her leave? These are all very important questions.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you, panel.

Up next, a missing mom in Florida, now a murder investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We do not know what happened to this missing woman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many people are suspecting the worst.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My family is just destroyed. We just don`t know what to do. It feels like a dream.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police are investigating this case as a murder.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Police are taking a look at her estranged husband.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We always knew there were, you know, problems in the marriage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have anything to do with her disappearance?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Relatives say Cid Torrez threatened suicide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m going to get a gun and end it all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ever since they had married -- (inaudible) ok. There`s been a rocky relationship.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is no evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am hoping that she`s alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight the mysterious disappearance of a mother of three takes a very grim turn. According to brand new search warrants, police now believe 38-year-old Vilet Torrez may have been murdered. Look at this beautiful woman. Does her estranged husband know more than he is saying?

Cid Torrez reportedly said that Vilet was missing. He`s the one who reported her missing April 2nd. He says he is not responsible and he has no clue as to how or why she vanished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have anything to do with her disappearance?

CID TORREZ, ESTRANGED HUSBAND OF MISSING WOMAN: Nothing at all.

I`m counting the hours and I`m counting the minutes and I`m hoping -- I`m hoping she comes back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We asked him and his attorney to appear on our show but we have not gotten a response. They`re invited on any time.

Meanwhile, police have seized several items from the couple`s home. They swabbed Mr. Torrez`s mouth for DNA. They took hair and fingerprint samples from him. They`re also testing paint scrapings off of his car.

Vilet`s family, they say the couple had a very rocky 13-year marriage before splitting up about three months ago. A judge ordered custody of their three children to their maternal grandparents earlier this month and that`s after the husband allegedly threatened to, quote, "get a gun and end it all".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA GARCIA, MISSING WOMAN`S BEST FRIEND: When I got the call that that allegation was out I became very concerned because I do feel that it was a viable threat. So, yes, I was very concerned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Will all the evidence, the new evidence police collected help vindicate him or the opposite? Straight out to Vilet`s sister Najiva Blanco; I can only imagine Najiva that these past few weeks have been hellish. They`ve been sheer torture for you and your family. You have said repeatedly there is absolutely no chance that Vilet would leave willingly -- leave her three children and disappear on her own voluntarily. So what`s your gut feeling as to what really happened to your sister?

NAJIVA BLANCO, SISTER OF VILET TORESS: Well, my only gut feeling is that somebody has to have done something to her because, like I`ve said before -- and I know my sister and all of the people that know her can tell you -- that she just loves her children too much to just disappear on them.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, her husband, Cid Torrez insists he has nothing to do with his wife`s disappearance. He says his focus is staying strong for his three kids. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TORREZ: It`s not easy trying to stay together. All right? I have three kids that I`ve got to fight for. If I don`t keep myself together my kids will be gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now later this month a judge is going to hear his plea to get custody of his kids back. Right now they`re with the maternal grandparents.

Najiva, first of all, has your brother-in-law told you what he was doing that night? Does he have an alibi? I understood that your sister dropped the three kids off with him. They were estranged. He`s living at another place, not the family home. She drops the three kids off with him and then goes out to dinner with another man who has been described in reports as her new boyfriend. Correct me if I`m wrong. Is that the situation?

BLANCO: Well, from what I understand my sister gave him the kids. He actually went to pick them up for this weekend which is something that doesn`t happen all of the time. The kids spend weekends with my mom because she works on weekends and he is usually not around on weekends. And so the normal thing for the kids to do every weekend is to go to my mom`s and that weekend my mom called me and was very surprised that the kids weren`t there. And I just tried to calm her down and said, well, maybe this weekend she decided to give them to him and maybe he`s watching them. So I understand he picked them up for the weekend, but after that, I don`t know what happened.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The oldest one is -- what -- 12, my understanding is?

BLANCO: 12. Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Have you been able to talk to the 12-year-old and say, what happened, honey, that night? Did daddy go anywhere that night or did you stay with him the whole night and watched TV?

BLANCO: I think she said they went to the movies that night and then after that I guess they went home. She only said we went to the movies and she spoke to her mom and her mom said I`m going out to dinner and she said ok.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did she say she went to the movies with her dad?

BLANCO: Yes. I think -- I understand that he took them to the movies. He took the three kids to the movies that night. That`s what I understand.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So Dr. Dale Archer, your thoughts? I mean at this point I would assume that police have a complete timeline of everything they did. They`re going to get the ticket stub for the movie and the question obviously is they have -- they have focused on this man. Again, we invite him on at any time or his attorney to talk. I have no idea what he was doing. He could have been at the movies with a double feature with the kids the whole night until dawn, but what do you make of it?

DR. DALE ARCHER, CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIAST: You`re right. The police have said he`s a person of interest and then we hear this that he has what sounds like a very good alibi that he is with his own kids watching a movie and then you have to wonder why haven`t we put all that together? I don`t understand. I mean it would have made any sense.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, look, I mean a movie lasts an hour and a half.

VIKKI ZIEGLER, FAMLY LAW ATTORNEY: What happened after the movie is the question. You know how long was the gap before she came home from the restaurant wherein her car was found in the apartment complex not in front of the apartment? Was there surveillance? Was she with anyone else at the time, this alleged man? We don`t know. There are so many questions.

But to say that he`s a person of interest but because he`s got an alibi and went to the movies, that he`s off the hook, I don`t think so.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to go to Najiva again. Do you have a message for the estranged husband of your missing sister?

BLANCO: The only thing that I would tell him is that he should be thinking of his children all the time, and if he knows anything at all, just to think of his children, you know? The children, they need their mom and -- and if he loves them that much then he needs to understand that that`s the one thing that he can do for them. Find their mom. Get their mom back.

If he knows anything he needs to say it. And he`s not a person of interest, so the police are going to be asking him questions, and I hope he understands that this is the most important thing, to find her -- to find her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: From what you know, has he helped with the search? Has he been out there, like, pounding the pavement looking for her?

BLANCO: No. Not with us. I mean we have done it ourselves, my family, my brother, myself, friends of hers from high school have met with us. Friends that we haven`t seen in years, co-workers have met with us, have walked the pavement like you said and gone through shopping centers around her house, distributing flyers, trying to keep the story alive, trying to look for her.

And he hasn`t been there. He hasn`t been around. He hasn`t shown that he`s looking for her, at least not to us. If he is, I want to see it in the media, too. I want to see somebody covering him, you know, showing that he`s doing that, you know? I mean, he wants his children back. Does he want her back?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now police executed search warrants at the Miramar, Florida home that Vilet used to share which was outside Miami. They took 28 items, bricks around a flower bed that had strange marks them, bath towels and female shorts that had some kind of stain that might be blood. We don`t know. They also seized a bible from his white jaguar and some paint scrapings from the same car.

Steve Moore, what do you make of them especially taking bricks around the flower bed? Some reporters out the house claimed they thought they saw some kind of smear on those bricks.

STEVE MOORE, FORMER FBI AGENT: Yes. Their standard operating procedure is "Oh, and don`t forget the bricks." That had to be a very specific pull from them. They had to see something. They had to see something that is interesting enough to actually dislodge these bricks. There`s something important there.

The police have got more information than we have. They`ve heard about the movie. They`re still interested in him. They know something we don`t and the things that they took to me are just an indictment that they`ve got something.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, I want you to know, Najiva, we`re staying on top of this story. Please contact us if you have any new developments. We are going to do what we can and our hearts go out to you. We are so sorry you are going through this. I know it`s hellish. There are no words.

Up next, we`re going to have breaking developments in the Trayvon Martin case -- big news today.

Stay right there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You can come to the co-op for just about everything, not just food. I`m talking soap, shampoo, body lotions, toothpaste, et cetera. And what I love about it is I only shop cruelty-free and a vast majority of the products are cruelty-free. That means they have fewer ingredients and less chemical ingredients and that`s great for you.

You know, the average American woman pours more than 100 different chemicals on her body every day and she has no idea what those chemicals do. Here, you generally are buying things that are much more basic and that are not loaded with chemicals that could hurt you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George Zimmerman could get out of jail this week. A bond hearing scheduled in Sanford, Florida, on Friday --

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGED WITH TRAYVON MARTIN`S MURDER: Hey. We`ve had some break-ins in my neighborhood. And there`s a real suspicious guy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just said he shot him dead. The person is dead laying on the ground.

CROWD: No justice, no peace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you following him?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. We don`t need you to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Zimmerman has made the statement of self- defense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The neighborhood watch is neighborhood watch, not neighborhood shoot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you see when you`re face-to-face with Mr. Zimmerman?

MARK O`MARA, ATTORNEY OF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: A very, very frightened 28-year-old. He`s very sorry --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, score one for George Zimmerman`s defense team because they won this round. The judge assigned to the case Jessica Recksiedler is out, disqualified because of a conflict of interest related to her husband`s law practice.

And this guy is in -- veteran judge Ken Lester, Jr. He`s been on the bench for 15 years. He is rated the top judge in the county. This all happened just in the nick of time because George Zimmerman`s bond hearing is scheduled to happen this Friday and we`re hearing it will not be delayed. That means Zimmerman could potentially get out of jail by the end of his week. How is his attorney going to keep him safe if that happens?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O`MARA: Very concerned about his safety. The concern, of course is once we get him out we need to keep him safe. Again, there`s been a lot of emotions that have come forward in this case and some of those emotions are showing themselves in bad ways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: If Zimmerman is released will it look something like this. Remember this? Casey Anthony getting released with bail and all the hullabaloo there? Or will it be done under the cloak of darkness.

This case about to heat up again. Straight out to my very "Transformers" star Tyrese -- you all know him; and also attorney Darryl Parks, who represents Trayvon Martin`s family.

Darryl let`s begin with you. Now that we have this new judge what can we expect at this bond hearing on Friday? Would it be safe to assume that you want George Zimmerman kept behind bars and no bond given to him?

DARRYL PARKS, ATTORNEY FOR TRAYVON MARTIN`S FAMILY: Your assumption is exactly correct, and I think that, you know, this family has gone through a lot. Mr. Zimmerman has been in jail now about a week, and they are -- this is a very fresh wound for them, for this long period of time to finally get him arrested.

So right now we`d rather he not be walking about. You remember that this guy, he`s killed someone and that`s very serious.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There`s been so much ugly rhetoric in this case, it`s been so divisive -- but guess what? They did a poll and it would appear that most Americans wanted George Zimmerman arrested for shooting Trayvon Martin. We`ve got this new CNN poll that found 78 percent thought Zimmerman should have been arrested -- 78 percent. Only 11 percent were against it.

So I want to go to Tyrese Gibson. In terms of looking at the culture, doesn`t that tell you that hey, even though we`ve heard extremes from both sides, most people have common sense about this and are really going with the -- something that actually is really favorable to tolerance and justice?

TYRESE GIBSON, SINGER/ACTOR: I think the fact that he was finally arrested represents the pressure not just coming from African-Americans but Americans in general. This represents the new America. We`d love to believe that we are completely consumed in racism all across the board, all white people hate all black people and vice versa; but I think the fact that he`s in jail represents all pressure that came from all Americans about this tragic case behind Trayvon Martin.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I agree with you. I think that people who are the noisiest have a tendency to get the most attention.

GIBSON: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But there is a big swathe of people in the middle who say, look, this was a shooting. Let`s arrest the guy and then we`ll proceed to trial.

Are you pleased by that, Darryl Parks, that 78 percent think he should have been arrested?

PARKS: Well, you know what; I think most people get it. I think at the heart of this issue, regardless of what Mr. Zimmerman says took place, most people really believe if you`re an armed person and the other person is unarmed and they end up dead then you probably should be arrested. It`s very basic.

I mean, regardless of what the law is, most people, regardless of political affiliation and regardless of history see the wrong in this.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Darryl, we hope to have you back on soon -- or as soon as this Friday when we have this major development. We`re going to be all over it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More with Tyrese in a moment, but first, you deserve a laugh break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGH BREAK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CLARK, TV HOST: How long have you been singing?

MICHAEL JACKSON, MUSICIAN: Three years.

CLARK: So you wanted to grab it right away. You were going to snatch it right out of my hand. Was that -- are you 9 or 10?

JACKSON: 9.

CLARK: You know, it`s very difficult, what`s with the ohs and the ahs -- There`s a few girls over there that want to take you home with them and who knows. How many brothers and sisters do you have?

JACKSON: I have three sisters and six brothers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A young Michael Jackson talking to Dick Clark on "American Bandstand". Dick Clark died today, 82 years of age; Michael Jackson died almost three years ago at 50 -- both men in their own way eternally young.

Dick Clark remarkable in the way he broke down barriers for African- American artists. He didn`t care about the color of anyone`s skin. He cared about the beat. And that`s why so many remarkable musicians got their first huge break on "Bandstand": The Supremes, James Brown, Gladys Knight and the Pips to name a few. Dick Clark, clean cut, conservative, introduced America to those artists.

Tyrese, thank you for being with us tonight on this sad occasion; you are famous for so many thing things, the "Transformers" movies from Paramount. That`s you in the scene right now. We had to play that. And also your new album is called "Open Invitation". You are performing in Atlanta this Friday at the Civic Center. Everybody, go see this man perform.

But, about Dick Clark, as a musician, as an artist yourself, what did Dick Clark mean to you?

GIBSON: You know what, long before I even started doing music myself, Dick Clark was just one of those people in the business that you always see on television and you just knew like a Clive Davis, even though they don`t really compare, there were just certain people that represented the strength of music and the real backbone of music.

And, you know, as I got further into my knowledge about the music business itself, then you realize that Dick Clark played a major role in creating a national stage for African-American recording artists back then when we had no television outlets to expose our gifts and talents.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and, in fact, watch this incredible footage, it`s Dick Clark in 1969 talking to a young artist, well, I don`t need to name him. You`ll recognize him. This from YouTube.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARK: Let me get hold of a harmonic -- you were speaking of it. You started to tell me how long ago it was you played this instrument. How old were you when you first picked one up?

STEVIE WONDER, MUSICIAN: I was actually 4 when I started playing and the first song I played was three blind mice.

CLARK: A little irony.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Of course that is Stevie Wonder. Tyrese, wow.

(CROSSTALK)

GIBSON: Yes, you know, I won an American Music Award which was one of the highlights of my music career, off of my first album. And I remember hanging out with Dick Clark and him personally congratulate me after that moment happened.

And so, you know, I just want to thank Dick Clark and his family and everybody for contributing to the music as we see it and know it today. He`s created a lot of levels of new standards in music and the music about business in is itself. And we are forever grateful for his legacy and what he represents. Thank you, Dick Clark.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dick Clark was also a pioneer in that he integrated audiences with both white and black teens dancing together to the same tunes.

GIBSON: Absolutely.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And his show used to originate from Atlanta in 1958 the National Guard had to step in because he had gotten threats from the Ku Klux Klan. He performed despite those threats. This guy a hero and he will be missed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: For the latest on the death of Dick Clark, go to hlntv.com -- a lot of analysis and information.

Russell Simmons wrote, "Dick Clark was eternally young. No matter what cultural phenomenon was happening, he always embraced it."

And, Tyrese, I think that`s the key -- the key to staying young. He really taught it to us. It`s always staying in tune with whatever the music of the day is.

GIBSON: Yes, you know what`s really significant about Dick Clark passing this year specifically we also lost another very powerful, significant man in music that happens to be a host in Don Cornelius earlier in the year. And I just think of all of the time -- timing, how can we lose two of our most significant musical programming hosts the same year?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tyrese, we have to leave it there. But Atlanta this week --

END