Subpoenas Issued in John Edwards Probe
COOPER: We have got breaking news tonight: new subpoenas from the North Carolina grand jury believed to be investigating former presidential candidate John Edwards. Wade Smith, who is Mr. Edwards' attorney, told us -- quote -- "There have been a sizable number of subpoenas issued." He says, however, he does not know who issued subpoenas or to whom they were issued. John Edwards, you will recall, hasn't been seen much since revealing first that he had had an affair with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter, and then earlier this year admitting that he had lied about not having fathered a child with her, and admitted he in fact did father a child with her. Former aide Andrew Young has already talked to the grand jury. He tells the Associated Press that he testified about vast sums of money that changed hands to keep Ms. Hunter in hiding. Now, grand jury proceedings are supposed to be secret, of course, but, in practice, they're never airtight. Joining us now, CNN producer Raelyn Johnson, who was embedded with the Edwards campaign, and legal analyst Sunny Hostin, an "In Session" anchor from our sister network truTV. Raelyn, what do we know about what this investigation is? It's -- it's basically following the money trail that -- that may or may not have gone to Rielle Hunter.</s>RAELYN JOHNSON, CNN PRODUCER: Right. So, the issue here with John Edwards is that he's -- he's still in trouble. And that's because his political action committee, One America, you know, because it's a PAC, it's -- it has to adhere to very strict federal regulations. And some of that involves what money goes in and out of those accounts. And it is illegal -- he illegally gave money, funneled money from his campaign through those PAC into payments to Rielle Hunter for her videographer services, which some say are -- were very expensive and not sort of not worth of quality of those videos.</s>COOPER: Right. I think there was a payment of $100,000 from his PAC to Rielle Hunter, and then later I think another payment of some $18,000 that they said were some -- were for some -- some old tapes.</s>JOHNSON: That's right.</s>COOPER: Andrew Young has said that a lot more money was funneled from other sources and from other donors...</s>JOHNSON: Mm-hmm.</s>COOPER: ... to -- to basically put Rielle Hunter in hiding and -- and her child in hiding. I think the child at that point was -- was unborn and then later was born. I want to show one of the -- the Webisodes that Rielle Hunter was allegedly hired to -- to put together, because, I mean, they're sort of fascinating, because, clearly, there's a lot of chemistry between the two.</s>COOPER: And it's a side of John Edwards you don't normally see. Take a look.</s>JOHN EDWARDS (D), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: That is a great speech.</s>RIELLE HUNTER, VIDEOGRAPHER: I'm so glad you like it.</s>EDWARDS: I like it. Wait until you hear me give it live.</s>COOPER: Well, that's all we have of it. But, I mean, it's a beaming John Edwards. It's not the traditional John Edwards. Clearly, there's, you know, some sort of chemistry between these two. Why now are we just hearing about these subpoenas? And why do we know so little about it, Sunny?</s>SUNNY HOSTIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, because the grand jury is secret, and it's supposed to be protected. But we now know that there are subpoenas being issued. And -- and that's one of the things, Anderson, that I miss about being a prosecutor. I can't force anybody to talk to me now. But grand jury subpoena power is very serious. A prosecutor can force someone to -- to talk.</s>COOPER: And John Edwards himself cannot be subpoenaed for this?</s>HOSTIN: No, because you can't be really compelled to testify against yourself, because he's clearly the target of this investigation. But these things take a long time. It's quite possible that these prosecutors are digging and digging and digging. They need to know the who, the what, the where, the when, not necessarily the why, and they need to find that out, and it's very difficult to prove a campaign fraud case, but they're obviously still on the case.</s>COOPER: Allegations were that two big donors to John Edwards had given money at -- I guess at his request to Rielle Hunter through -- through Andrew Young.</s>JOHNSON: Yes. Mm-hmm. Bonnie Mellon, and she's one of them, an old famous New York socialite and philanthropist.</s>COOPER: Right, I think wife or daughter of Paul -- of Paul Mellon...</s>JOHNSON: Right.</s>COOPER: ... very, very rich man.</s>JOHNSON: Right. And then another prominent lawyer, a Fred Baron from Texas, who...</s>COOPER: And he passed away last year.</s>JOHNSON: Passed away literally -- to talk about the drama about this story, he literally passed away in the heat of, like, the Democratic Convention, just as John Edwards was being nailed again and on the cover of "The National Enquirer."</s>COOPER: And we see Rielle Hunter here with her team of attorneys going into -- I guess to the grand jury.</s>JOHNSON: Mm-hmm.</s>COOPER: This was probably last year.</s>JOHNSON: The first grand jury investigation.</s>COOPER: Right. Andrew Young has said there -- there was also a sex tape of these two that is now in the hands of the grand jury, that the grand jury had requested, that he -- I guess Rielle Hunter had, and then he got hold of. And, I mean, it's such a bizarre story, that this man who was so close to running for president -- or who ran for president, was so -- could have theoretically gotten it, was at the time having an affair, and not only that he lied to the American public. When he made his confessional interview, he said that the child wasn't his. He basically lied in that confessional interview...</s>JOHNSON: Yes.</s>COOPER: ... and then later on said it was his. Where does he -- do we know much about his life now?</s>JOHNSON: I think he lives a secluded life in North Carolina. He and Elizabeth -- Elizabeth Edwards do have a relationship with their children.</s>COOPER: They have separated, though.</s>JOHNSON: They have separated.</s>COOPER: After 30 years.</s>JOHNSON: And there's even been a -- you know, I talked to some sources tonight who even said that there's been a recent family vacation to Japan. So, clearly, they're co-parenting. And I hear that Elizabeth Edwards is doing really strong, and has come to -- come to some sort of peace, whatever peace you can get.</s>COOPER: Right.</s>JOHNSON: I don't know what you can -- about sort of the dissolution of her marriage.</s>COOPER: Yes. We're going to continue to follow it. Raelyn Johnson, appreciate it, Sunny Hostin as well. Thanks for coming in. Still ahead on 360: We knew the Obama administration had underestimated the BP oil spill. We have been talking about that for months this summer. Well, today, the panel appointed by the president to investigate blasted the administration. We have details on that ahead. Also, a fascinating e-mail sent by Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, blasting Joe Miller, the Republican -- the -- the Tea Party candidate she had supported for -- for Senate from Alaska for allegedly not endorsing Sarah Palin for president in a TV appearance. It's a leaked e-mail. It may provide a hint about Sarah Palin's presidential ambitions. We will show you the e-mail and also the television appearance which prompted it. And, also, we continue our weeklong series on bullying -- tonight, cyber-bullying and text-bullying, how it led a Florida girl to take her own life. We will also hear from Dr. Phil McGraw on what parents should know about kids' lives online.