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Jury Seated for Jodi Arias Trial; Man Suffering from Amnesia Searches for Identity

Aired December 21, 2012 - 19:00   ET


JANE VELEZ MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, the state of Arizona versus Jodi Arias, brand-new information tonight. Was the actual murder caught on camera? Did this gorgeous young photographer stab her boyfriend 27 times, as investigators believe? We`re going in depth on the Jodi Arias case right now.


VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, the secrets behind the trial of beautiful photographer Jodi Arias. We`re examining the controversial photos at the heart of this mystery.

And is this the end of the world as we know it? Thousands of people are ready for this day to be their last. We`re going to ground zero of the doomsday believers.

And who is this man? He doesn`t remember anything about his past. We`re trying to find the secret that will help him get his life back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jodi Arias, she`s young and beautiful. Police say she`s a cold-blooded killer.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That beautiful woman accused of viciously -- and I mean viciously -- murdering her former boyfriend by stabbing him 27 times and slashing his throat.

JODI ARIAS, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER: This isn`t a two-sided story. This is a multifaceted story. There are many sides to this story, and I just don`t feel like mine has been represented.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jodi is extremely articulate. She`s beautiful. But she`s also very well-spoken. She`s not hysterical. She`s not overly emotional.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s frightening, both her calm and what`s also a little disturbing is how much she seems to be liking all of this attention.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, new developments as a jury is seated in the high-profile murder trial of Jodi Arias. The beautiful 31-year-old is accused of stabbing her ex-boyfriend 27 times, shooting him in the face and then snapping photos of the grisly crime scene. Tonight, we`re learning there could be a photo of the murder itself.

Good evening, I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell.

Prosecutors say Jodi, an aspiring photographer, went to the Mesa, Arizona, home of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, back in June of 2008. Prosecutors believe that they had sex, and then she proceeds to shoot him, stab him, slit his throat and take bizarre, provocative photos all the while. Here is the defendant.


ARIAS: There have been a lot of people that have been speaking out and saying things, you know, on their side. And there isn`t -- this isn`t a two-sided story. This is a multifaceted story. There are many sides to this story, and I just don`t feel like mine has been represented.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: The jury of 18, 12 jurors and 6 alternates, now ready for opening statements January 2. We will cover this case in depth on my show every night.

But which Jodi will the jury see? The primping, smiling woman we`ve seen since her arrest, or the quiet, standoffish woman that victims` friends saw? I spoke exclusively with Travis` old roommate. Listen.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via phone): Jodi, when I knew her, was -- was kind of aloof so it`s hard to make sense of anything of Jodi. I see it now as kind of unbelievable because she -- she was so quiet and was so introverted from the very beginning.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to journalist and true crime author Shanna Hogan.

You have been in the courtroom. Shanna, what do you make of these new reports from a local Arizona affiliate that court records indicate the murder itself may have been inadvertently caught on camera?

SHANNA HOGAN, JOURNALIST/AUTHOR (via phone): Yes, Jane. Well, we`ve known since the murder that there are photos of the aftermath of the murder, of the victim lying on the ground with blood around his neck. And now what we`re hearing is there might be photos of the actual crime, which would just be a stunning development.

Excuse me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: An absolutely stunning development. Jodi and Travis had only been dating for five months and were broken up when he was murdered. Jodi says they continued, even after their breakup, to have a sexual relationship. Listen.


ARIAS: As much as Travis and I told ourselves and everyone that we were just friends, I think that our behavior was not as innocent as we tried to make it.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: So Mike Brooks, HLN law enforcement correspondent, let`s talk about this camera found in the washing machine downstairs at Travis` home. It had been run through the wash, but the digital memory card was still intact.

And investigators found a photo of Jodi lying nude on Travis` bed. At about 1:40 p.m. that was taken on the day that Travis died. Eight photos total, many of them provocative, sexually, and then a photo taken at 5:22 in the afternoon, showing Travis posing naked in the shower. Then at 5:30, there`s one last photo of Travis alive, and then just two minutes later a photo of a dead Travis Alexander on the bathroom floor.

Now, what do you make of our affiliate KNXV saying that court records indicate there could be an actual photo of the murder itself? How extraordinary would that be in terms of evidence?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Oh, that would be huge. I mean, these pictures in and of themselves are -- are pretty damning for Jodi Arias, especially via the time line, because there were a lot of pictures taken, Jane. It`s not just snap one, snap another one, snap another him. But then it shows him dead and apparently blood coming from his back. So who took them?

You know, she`s come up with three different stories: "I wasn`t there," "Well, yes I was there and there was a man and a woman, and then I left and I was afraid to call police." And now it`s self-defense. So what story is a jury to believe?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Again, the jury has now been sworn in, a panel of 12 jurors plus 6 alternates. Seven are women, but 11 of them are men. So very heavily male, all white as for ethnicity, also an Hispanic male. These jurors range from their mid-20s to retirement age.

Joey Jackson, criminal defense attorney, the defense had complained prosecutors systematically excluded women and African-Americans. Prosecutors deny that. But why, given that this is a death penalty case, would the defense want more women, for example, on the jury? Why would that have helped the defense?

JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, sure. Well, ultimately, Jane, what happens is, is that jurors are important because you want a receptive audience. You want people who are going to listen to what you have to say.

Now, in this particular case, based on the challenges you were talking about, that related to African-American jurors who the -- apparently, the prosecution was systematically excluding from the jury. The defense was arguing that, look, you can`t do. That you can`t exclude them predominantly because they`re black. You need some other basis.

Of course, as we now know, Jane, what the judge did was say, you know what? There were other reasons not associated or related to race as to why they were excluded.

Ultimately, though, Jane, what I do believe is that, if you have a jury that is, you know, full of male jurors, you might have those jurors who are receptive to her who maybe feel sorry for her who think she`s attractive and, as a result of that, who might be willing to listen to her claims.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree with you. That was my first thought. The defense wanted more women on the jury. I thought perhaps because they felt maybe women would be less likely to give her the death penalty. But I was thinking men might be the perfect thing for Jodi Arias. She`s been quoting as saying, "No jury will ever convict me."

This defendant appears extremely confident and very preoccupied with her looks. She took naked photos with Travis. In jailhouse interviews she grins, she works the camera, she even applies makeup before jailhouse interviews. Check this out.


ARIAS: I guess it`s really all I needed. Sorry. Don`t roll the tape yet.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Forensic psychologist Jeff Gardere, some people worry that Jodi might mesmerize the jury as some suspect Casey Anthony, another attractive defendant, did during her long-running murder trial. She was obviously, very famously found not guilty.

In the Casey Anthony case, I remember walking into the courtroom and being stunned to find that the defense team had positioned the defense table in an unusual way so that Casey faced the jurors, not the judge. And I was thinking, why is the prosecution allowing this to happen? She`s going to bat her eyes at the jury.

Jodi has also been described as flirtatious and coquettish. Given so many men on the jury in the Jodi Arias case, could she wordlessly seduce or mesmerize the jurors?

JEFF GARDERE, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST (via phone): I think it`s precisely because of what happened with Casey Anthony that this may backfire. The way that the victim was killed, in such a brutal fashion, and then to have this dichotomy of this sort of coquettish, nice, very attractive woman is not really going to work. I think it`s going to turn off jurors.

And I would have to say the reason, perhaps, they wanted more female jurors was because she`s claiming that -- that the victim was aggressive with her and maybe women would be open to that. The men are not going to buy it, and I think she is in a heck of trouble with the -- with the jury composition the way it is.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but look at that expression. That is her mug shot, Mike Brooks. And it looks like a head shot from Hollywood. Ninety- nine percent of all communication is nonverbal. Are you concerned that she could bat her eyelashes and seduce the jurors, the men on the jury?

BROOKS: Well, you know, I was waiting for her to say during one of her interviews, "Well, I`m too pretty to be put to death."

But no, I`m -- I`m thinking the men in this jury are going to be able to see through this, because it`s so brutal, Jane. You know, the autopsy report is unbelievable: 27, maybe 29 stab wounds, shot once in the head, and then slit from ear to ear. All this is self-defense? I don`t think so.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And there`s a whole lot more evidence, forensic evidence in this case, than there was, for example, in the Casey Anthony case. More on the other side.



ARIAS: I lamented a lot that he got a lot of grief from his friends about the amount of time that we spent together.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did they not like you?

ARIAS: I don`t know that it was so much that. I think they were more concerned with his future prospects for marriage.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jodi Arias accused of viciously murdering her ex- boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Has told three different stories about what happened.

First she denied being at Travis` home at all. Then she told cops, "Oh, yes, I was there, but it was a home invasion. Two intruders came in and attacked us." Then she said, "Yes, I was there, it was self-defense," claiming that Travis was getting rough with her. But now she says she feels like nobody is listening to her.


ARIAS: I kind of feel like since I`ve been incarcerated just there`s been a proverbial duct tape over my mouth and I haven`t been able to say anything.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Joey Jackson, criminal defense attorney, the defense tried to get everything, all these stories that she elicited before trial, thrown out. But the judge said no way. So will prosecutors get to lay out her flip-flopping stories, and, if so, do you think that`s going to be enough to convict?

JACKSON: Oh, without question, Jane, on the issue of will they lay it out. They`ll lay it out, and they`ll make it clear. What will they show? That she was lying in these misrepresentations. Why? Because she`s guilty.

But now she`s going to have to stick with the story of self-defense? Why? Because her DNA is there. The photographs are there so it puts her there. However, if she testifies, the problem is further complicated, Jane, by the fact she has to explain these things to a jury. And of course, what she`s going to say, right, is that, "Look, I misrepresented because I was scared, I didn`t know what to do. I was confused. I had a misrepresentation. I thought I would get into trouble." So those are the things she`s going to advance to the jury.

Will it work? It`s going to be very difficult in this case. Not only that, Jane, but based on the other evidence. Not just the statements but the collective amount of evidence is compelling.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And Mike Brooks, what is that other evidence? Apparently, unlike the Casey Anthony case where there was a lack of hard forensic evidence, in this case apparently there`s a slew of it.

BROOKS: Yes. One of them is a bloody palm print of hers there, Jane, and either she`s going to have to explain that away, "Oh, yes, I was there but I didn`t murder him. I ran because I was scared." Oh, that`s -- that`s story No. 2.

But if she is going to keep with this self-defense, which Joey mentioned, she`s going to have to. Jane, she is probably going to have to get on that stand, and is she going to be able to hold up under cross- examination when they -- when they nail her down on those other two inconsistencies? I don`t think she can.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we have to remember that Casey Anthony told a slew of lies and, of course, the prosecution`s opening statement was, where`s little Caylee? Because she kept lying about, oh, she dropped her off with Zanny the nanny.

And none of that seemed to matter to the jury at the end of the day, which of course was so shocking to all of us. Shanna Hogan, you`re the journalist, true crime author. You`re down there on the ground in Arizona. Do you think that this woman will take the stand, either out of hubris or because that`s her last card to play?

HOGAN: I think she will take the stand, because it is her last card to play, but we actually have a really good indication that she will take the stand. The defense, part of what that they were saying this week on those motions to try and get those previous testimony kept out of court, was that she is going to take the stand and talk about, like, what she says happens now. So they didn`t want those things being presented to discredit her and, you know, it`s definitely going to.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And I`ve got to wonder, though, Jeff Gardere, forensic psychologist, the one thing -- this is turning into a mega trial. And I`ve covered many mega trials. The one thing you can predict about them is you can`t predict anything. That they`re like runaway freight trains. You don`t know what`s going to happen. Something crazy comes out of left field.

I mean, we saw that in the Michael Jackson molestation trial. You saw that in the Casey Anthony case, where this was this bombshell new explanation in the opening statement that the child had drowned, something that nobody had ever heard of, and Jose Baez admits that there was no kidnapping, no Zanny the nanny. Could we have a surprise like that in the opening of this case in January?

I have no doubt something like that may happen because, as we talked about, this woman Jodi Arias, being extremely attractive, we know that those sorts of individuals also attract a lot of what I call emotional traffic. There`s just so many things that are attached to them, so many things from their past that are so complicated, and then they just seem to just pop up the more we get to know those individuals.

So I think you are right on with this.

And just really quickly, Jane, I believe this woman Jodi Arias, she better hate Casey Anthony, because I think it`s going to be a backlash. People were fooled by Casey Anthony the first time, and they may not allow that to happen again.

She`s going to pay for Casey Anthony.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More on the other side.



UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went to my car and grabbed my laptop, because I had an immediate suspicion that it was Jodi who had done this. And so I went on my laptop and got onto his wireless, which was coming out of his house and got onto his network and went onto Facebook and showed the police her profile. And I said, "You need to find out where she is."


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Travis` friends told cops immediately they suspected Jodi could have committed this crime. One friend told the 911 operator that Jodi had been following Travis and slashing his tires. Listen.


UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has he been threatened by anyone recently?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he has. He has an ex-girlfriend that`s been bothering him and following him and slashing tires and things like that.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Court records show that Jodi and Travis exchanged more than 82,000 e-mails over the course of their short relationship.

Mike Brooks, what kind of stalking behaviors did Jodi allegedly exhibit?

BROOKS: Well, one of the other things, Jane, is they think that she hacked into his Facebook account to keep an eye out on who he was talking to. In fact, he had a vacation planned to Cancun, but it didn`t include her. It included another woman.

And Jane, they`d only been dating five months when she moved to Mesa. You know, and if she was being -- if she was being attacked by him and abused by him, why move closer to the person that`s doing this to you?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s the holiday season, and even Jodi Arias has gotten into the spirit of it. Do you remember this? This one is the real jaw-dropper for me. Her prison talent show? And she won the contest.


ARIAS (singing): O holy night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of our dear savior`s birth.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Joey Jackson, you are a noted criminal defense attorney. The contrast between her lighthearted behavior and her girly affect and the hideousness of this murder is extraordinary. But how will prosecutors try to show the other side of her, as opposed to the smiling young lady at the defense table?

JACKSON: Oh, there`s a huge distinction, Jane, to be clear and to be sure there is. But I think the way the prosecution will do that is by going to the evidence in the case, and it is compelling.

You look at the photographs. Terrible, right? I mean, I`m sure the photographs that relate the injuries are not going to be good. A bullet to the face, 27 or 29, if you look at the autopsy report, as Mike Brooks has indicated, I mean, stab wounds all over the place. That`s not someone who sings "Silent Night." That`s someone who has severe and significant problems.

And then you look at the inconsistent statements. The stories that were told. This is a person who is not well. And as a result of that, you could see that such a person would have a dichotomy of personalities, and on that night, the prosecution will say that personality was about death, destruction and murder.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Shanna Hogan, we have about 30 seconds. Why do you think she is this way, so charming?

HOGAN: I think her beauty has played against her her whole life. She has been treated -- you know, put on a pedestal and gotten all this male attention, and she`s used to getting what she wants. And I don`t think it`s going to work this time. I think the jury will see past that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we`re going to have to see. This trial, we`re going to be all over it. It starts January 2, and we`re going to cover it in depth, every day, and bring you the very latest.

My heart goes out to the family of Travis Alexander, the victim, and his many, many good friends. What a popular, well-loved guy. We are going to answer all your questions on this case.



UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Emergency crews found him three years ago, beaten, blind, without clothes or a wallet.

BENJAMIN KYLE, MAN SUFFERING FROM AMNESIA: I was found behind a Dumpster at Burger King in Richmond Hill. You can`t even get into a homeless shelter without a Social Security number. You can`t rent an apartment, can`t get a driver`s license. It`s like I`m a ghost walking -- walking through the country.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, uncovering the secrets of a man found naked, blind, unconscious and covered in fire ant bites behind a Georgia Burger King with -- are you sitting down? -- absolutely no memory of who he is or how he got there. I`m going to talk to this very special guest -- He is right there -- who goes by Benjamin Kyle, in just a moment.


UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He could be dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma`am, where are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looked like somebody tried to kill him. I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Calm down, ma`am. We`ll send an ambulance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God, oh, my God.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Benjamin was found nearly dead eight long years ago. Countless people -- we`re talking the police, FBI, even Dr. Phil -- have tried to help him and unlock his past. But not a single person he knew before he woke up behind that restaurant has come forward. Nobody.

Without knowing who he is, he can`t get an I.D. Or Social Security number. Without those things he can`t really function in society. There is now a fascinating documentary called "Finding Benjamin" about him. Watch this.


KYLE: Hello, my name is Benjamin Kyle. You don`t know who I am, and quite frankly, neither do I. For the past six years I`ve been looking for something. Something just out of reach. But I`m not going to be able to find it by myself.

I don`t have a Social Security number, but I`m still a person. Nobody has recognized me, but I still have a past. I`m going to tell you my story, because I want a future.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s a compelling mystery. Straight out to my very special guest, Benjamin Kyle -- Benjamin, extraordinary, I`m just almost speechless at your adventure. I`m going to put a positive spin on it.

Now, you`ve told me that you were kind of hazy when you were first discovered naked near this dumpster at a Georgia Burger King but then after a while you started to kind of sharpen up. Did you remember anything? Were there any recollections you had about your life at all?

KYLE: Well, you know, I think I was born in Indianapolis. I remember a lot of things from Colorado. We`ve determined from what I remember in Colorado that I was there between, like, `76 -- 1976 and the mid-`80s.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So you have these shards of memory. But what`s it like coming to and saying, "I don`t know my name. I don`t know if I have a family. I don`t know if I`m married. I don`t know if I have a career. I don`t know where I live?" You had no -- nothing with you? You didn`t have a cell phone, no keys, no car?

KYLE: No, nothing. There was actually no investigation done after I was found until 2007. And by then all the tapes from the security cameras were gone. There are several motels around the Burger King. All that stuff was gone. There was just, you know, no way to trace anything back after three years.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And yet you speak. You are very presentable. You obviously were educated. You can read, right?

KYLE: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So you can do all those things, but you just can`t remember -- this is extraordinary. Joining me now, the documentary filmmaker, John Wikstrom; John, you did much more than interview Benjamin. You followed him around and did this extraordinary documentary, getting some undercover footage of him at a homeless shelter.

Let`s look, and then I`ll talk to you.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He went to a homeless shelter to see if they could make an exception.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re not allowed to film on premises.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, ok. I can turn off the camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, please. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you let people stay that don`t have social security numbers?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to have social security and a valid photo ID.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, here`s the thing. I was reading some of the research, and it says that there seems to be a connection to a Waffle House in Georgia because Benjamin seemed to have all these skills involving using the machinery there. Tell us about that.

JOHN WIKSTROM, DOCUMENTARIAN, "FINDING BENJAMIN": Well, we did an "ask me anything" on (inaudible) the other week. There are two users who believe they saw someone who might have looked a lot like Benjamin either looking at a Waffle House or servicing a Waffle House. And another user had a spouse that works in Waffle House corporate. So right now we`re talking to them to see if there`s any type of employment database that we can look through.

It`s really exciting, and you know, you never know what`s going to come out of it. But it`s an inspiring and hopeful lead.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we`re doing this show tonight hoping somebody watching at home might recognize Benjamin and say, "I know him. His name is John or Dave." Benjamin, which is the name he gave himself when he woke up not knowing who he was, suffered from blindness after this brutal beat down that he got from somebody.

I have to say one of the most remarkable parts of your story, Benjamin, has to be the moment you looked at yourself in the mirror for the first time when you got your vision back. Dr. Phil shows us the man you thought you would staring back at that mirror. Watch this. Fascinating.


DR. PHIL MCGRAW, TV HOST: Look behind me. This is an age-regressed photo of Benjamin that he might have looked at various ages. This is him today, how he might have looked in his 40s and 30s.

KYLE: Got up that morning and my vision had finally cleared up. I started to shave and I just couldn`t believe how old I looked because I felt -- I mean I looked like an old man compared to how I felt.

Geez, the gray hair, bags under the eyes. I didn`t feel that old. I didn`t think I should be that old.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: So I don`t get this. You get beaten up by somebody. You show up naked near a dumpster at a Georgia Burger King. And you look at yourself when you finally get your eyesight back and you think, I should be a lot younger. That raises the specter that somehow you were kept in captivity by people. It blows my mind.

What are your theories, Benjamin?

KYLE: You know, I try not to speculate too much on it because, well, it gets very frustrating. I mean you can make a hundred different guesses. I mean there are people that claim I was kidnapped by aliens and brought back and dropped there. I don`t -- you know, unless I can actually remember I just try not to speculate on it. I think it`s a way of going crazy, actually.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What`s so crazy about this, you`ve done Dr. Phil. You`ve been out there and nobody has come forward and said, that`s my daddy or that`s my husband or that`s my brother or that`s my good friend, that`s my co-worker. Nobody has come forward and said, "I know you."

The FBI has even tried to figure out who Benjamin is through extensive fingerprinting. Check this out.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can help reunite him with some family members or make his life easier, that`s our responsibility. Unfortunately, their exhaustive search did not result in finding fingerprints that matched Kyle`s.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: You were the first person listed on the missing person`s Web site, whose whereabouts are actually known. I`ve got to go back to the documentarian -- John, it boggles my mind because if he was beaten up by some thugs and thrown there, naked at the dumpster at the Georgia Burger King, then that would have happened not so long previous. Like people would have said, yes, I saw him out there a couple of days ago walking down the street.

But nobody has come forward. Why do you think that is?

WIKSTROM: You know, like Benjamin said, there`s so many reasons to speculate, and I -- it`s so hard to tell why no one would have come forward, especially when you look at everything the FBI has done. It just really doesn`t make any sense.

That`s why the petition we have for the documentary with people, you know, going online and spreading the word about, let`s --


VELEZ-MITCHELL: John, let me jump in and ask you this. Why do you think he thought he would be so much younger when he finally looked at himself in the mirror?

WIKSTROM: Oh, well, I guess -- I don`t know about him being in captivity. But I guess when I heard him talk about that, I always just assumed that he was sort of a blank slate when he woke up and then, you know, he had the image of himself from being maybe younger, maybe being a little cleaner cut.

But, you know, just essentially waking up and having that idea of who you are, you know, covered in ant bites, covered in whatever is something, you know, completely different than what you are.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Benjamin, we are almost out of time, but I want to ask you, is there anybody you miss? I mean when you`re separated from somebody you love, you miss them. Is there a feeling in your heart that you`re missing someone who should be with you?

KYLE: Well, you know, it`s more of a feeling like I`m missing a lot of stuff. It`s not any individual person, no. You know, we were talking about not remembering -- or about me being a lot -- or looking a lot older. You know, in -- I`ve said ever since I woke up that my brain wasn`t working right, that I couldn`t remember things and, you know, the doctors had done test and they said my brain`s normal.

And I realized in this last year what it is, is that I remember my brain from like in the 40s and now I`m in my 60s. I`ve got a 60-year-old brain. That`s why it doesn`t seem to be working right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, that`s fascinating. That`s fascinating. Sir, I want to tell you that we`re going to stay on this. I hope -- somebody out there has to know who Benjamin is. Please come forward. Call 911. Call us. We`ve got to find this guy. We`ve got to find his loved ones.

More on the other side.



UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re still here. We`re still here. Some believed that the world would end today because an important phase of the ancient Mayan calendar --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before we came we thought that according to the Mayans that it is the end of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the Mayans it`s not the end of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not planning on the world going away. That sucks. However, I`m a realist. I`m not going to put my head in the sand.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Breaking news just in, the world has not ended -- at least not yet. Millions of people around the globe have been anticipating this day, 12/21/12 for some time convinced, some of them, that the end of the Mayan calendar meant the end of the world.

But even most Mayans don`t buy that. They say the end of their calendar simply means the next calendar starts tomorrow. But does that mean we`re in the clear? Maybe not.

Watch this from "Doomsday Preppers" from the National Geographic Channel.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Across the country, ordinary Americans from all walks of life are taking whatever measures necessary to prepare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My family is preparing for a biological terrorist attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the new Madrid earthquake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For a series of F-5 tornadoes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And protect themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch your hand. Push him away. Push him away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From what they perceive as the fast approaching end of the world as we know it.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lovely. Well, whether they believe the world would end or not, many have flocked to the Mayan ruins in Mexico to see this phenomenon firsthand. And that`s where we find CNN`s Nick Parker in Chichen Itza, Mexico. So Nick, any sign of the world ending in Mexico?

NICK PARKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jane, I have to say not right now. The sky is darkening a little bit, and maybe there are a few spots of rain here, but beyond that, there`s very little sign of any kind of living apocalypse, I`m afraid. And as you say, thousands and thousands of people have poured into this site.

Authorities here say there`ll probably be about 25,000 people that will visit this site today. About five times as many that normally do at the height of the high season. So it`s been a hugely, hugely popular event for tourists from all around the world.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s like a flash mob. They`re doing all sorts of dances out there, outside those pyramids. And they`re having a good time. There are people out there preparing for all kinds of disasters right now. And you`re going to meet one of them in just a moment.

First, our look at our guest on "Doomsday Preppers" from the National Geographic Channel.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would defend my family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off the property.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re preparing for a breakdown of social order caused by an economic collapse.


All right, Doomsday Prepper Jay Blevins author of "Survival and Emergency Preparedness Skills" joins me now. Jay, first of all, were you concerned that something might happen today, really?

JAY BLEVINS, AUTHOR, "SURVIVAL AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS SKILLS": You know, we weren`t concerned; didn`t really buy into the Mayan prophecy at all. And my wife`s birthday is today, and I plan to go home and celebrate it with her. So no, we weren`t concerned.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So what are you preparing for, then? You`re doing all these preparations? An economic collapse is what you`re preparing for?

BLEVIN: Sure. You know, as a prepper, I want to be ready for anything that happens, whether it`s a hurricane that comes through, an earthquake. But for the show we do talk about being ready for social unrest brought on by an economic collapse. And as you can see, we are approaching that fiscal cliff and I`m not sure what`s going on downtown, but it doesn`t look like there`s any agreement yet.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh. Well, I hope you are prepared. I don`t do any preparation for any of that stuff. I just say "Que sera, sera."

The movie "2012" set up this entire doomsday prophecy when it was released three years ago. In the movie a large group of people had to deal with numerous natural disasters. Watch this from YouTube and Sony Pictures.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This mass suicide adheres (ph) to the Mayan which predicts the end of time -- to occur on the 21st of December of this year.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Don Stansberry, doomsday expert and author of the book "Secret Blood" -- that`s quite a title there. Some suggest we do seem to be seeing a lot more natural disasters. I mean look at the recent Hurricane Sandy we all went through. But is it the Mayan calendar or something more basic like global warming?

DON STANSBERRY, DOOMSDAY EXPERT: Well, right now I think it`s anybody who`s maybe on the fringe or believes in that kind of thing, even Big Foot people were jumping on the Mayan calendar trying to put everything together into what they format as a doomsday type scenario.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, the end of the world stuff isn`t just isolated to Mexico and the Mayan ruins; in the United Kingdom, thousands and thousands of people gathering at Stonehenge for an all night Summer Solstice/End of the World party.

I have to ask you Jay, do you get mocked a lot because it seems that some of these things are quite tongue-in-cheek and that people are having just a good time and they`re using this as an excuse to party.

BLEVINS: Well, you know, there is a lot out there in pop culture right now, and yes, I think folks -- I heard of a lot of people having the end of the world or doomsday parties. And that`s fine. But we do take it very seriously. I mean, since the year 2000 we`ve had 17 major disaster declarations in the state of Virginia, anything from the 9/11 terrorists attacks to earthquakes and hurricanes, things that you wouldn`t normally think of in the state of Virginia.

So yes, I think there is a lot out in pop culture that causes people to have a different idea about it and maybe it is used as an excuse. But I do take it very seriously.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, yes. I`m not making fun of your decision. As an American, you have a right to make a decision to prep yourself. You`re the preppers. I say I`d rather take that energy and put it into looking at the causes underlying some of these natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy and saying, well, is some of our behavior causing that and can we change our behavior as Americans?

For example, just silly little things like not using straws and plastic bags and plastic bottles could perhaps slow the pace of climate change and the hurricanes that we experience won`t be as strong. Climatologists said that Hurricane Sandy was made stronger by climate change.

So just a couple of things to think about. Happy end of calendar to all of you.

We`ll be right back.



UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The problem is nobody knows this is happening. There is an impending slaughter of wolves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re here to make a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don`t have that many wolves left.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, tragedy in Wyoming as one of the world`s most famous wolves is, in my opinion, murdered. The beautiful alpha female was tracked by researchers who said the extraordinary wolf taught us humans so much about the way wolf packs function.

Well, now she`s dead, shot by a hunter, because she overstepped the imaginary boundary that separates Yellow Stone National Park from the rest of the world. How was she supposed to know she is leaving Yellow Stone National Park? She is a wolf; this, adding to the never ending uproar surrounding the slaughter of gray wolves seen here in footage from Landis Wildlife Films in and around Wyoming.

Why have we declared war on these beautiful, innocent creatures? Straight out to Jason Rylander, Defenders of Wildlife, senior staff attorney. First of all, folks, if you want to help, get involved with Defenders of Wildlife. Just Google Defenders of Wildlife and jump in there because these animals cannot speak for themselves.

Jason, tell us about this wolf who was killed. She was very much loved inside Yellow Stone.

JASON RYLANDER, DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE: That`s absolutely right, Jane. This was a really wonderful wolf that has really captured the hearts of many visitors who have come to Yellow Stone. She was part of the Lamar Canyon pack and was part of a group of animals that were very, very visible in the park that many, many people had seen. She was a particularly charismatic and beautiful animal, an excellent hunter and really had been an icon for wolf restoration in Yellow Stone. A lot of people had seen her and identified with her and with that pack.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now wolves were reintroduced into Yellow Stone National Park 17 years ago because hunting had almost decimated them. Now Wyoming has a plan that takes them off the endangered species list and basically classifies wolves as predators who could be shot on sight in most of the state.

So, first, we spend millions of taxpayer dollars working hard to save these animals. This wolf had a collar around her neck because biologists were tracking her to learn more about wolves. She crosses this imaginary line leaving Yellow Stone and she is shot dead by a hunter.

Again, this is video from Landis Wildlife Films. So, Jason, why is the government working at cross purposes? We spend taxpayer dollars to save the wolves. Now because of pressures we are now hunting and killing the wolves. Who are the interests who benefit and want to see these wolves dead?

RYLANDER: Well, that`s a really good question. We have spent many, many years and many millions of dollars recovering wolves to the northern Rockies and the job of wolf recovery around the country is not yet done.

Unfortunately, wolves have been removed from the protection of the endangered species act in Idaho and Montana and recently they`ve been removed also from protections in Wyoming. We`ve gone to court to try to reverse that because the fact of the matter is the states are allowing rampant killing of these beautiful animals and it`s just too much. We`re concerned --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How many have been killed?

RYLANDER: This year there have been 270 wolves killed already this year and last year in Idaho and Montana alone it was about 545, I think, which is about a third of the entire population in the northern Rockies --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable.

RYLANDER: So the pressures on these animals really is unbelievable right now.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s unbelievable. On the other side, how you can help and who is behind this slaughter.



UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re back here in the northern Rockies. They`re back here in Yellow Stone. That`s something to celebrate given their history of human hatred.


VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re going to look at video right now of one of the wolves who was shot dead by hunters. I`m talking to Defenders of Wildlife. If this upsets you get involved. Join Defenders of Wildlife.

I want to talk to you about what we can do, Jason. But let`s find out who is behind this. Critics say the cattlemen and the hunters. Cattlemen obviously don`t want to have to put up fencing for their cattle. If they shoot the predators that`s not a problem then? They can just roam free. That`s one theory.

The other is hunters. They don`t like the fact that the wolves eat the elk so let`s shoot the wolves so we can go out and shoot the elk ourselves. Wow. Is that your -- give us your thoughts.

RYLANDER: Well, that`s basically it, Jane. And that`s -- the problem is that anti-wolf zealots and special interests have bent the ear of state management and so we`ve seen these states of Idaho and Montana and Wyoming adopt wolf (inaudible) that allow for a tremendous amount of killing of wolves.

Now there has always been some conflict between wolves and livestock production but there are ways to deal with that in nonlethal ways. And we`ve been very successful and doing demonstration projects that show how people can co-exist with these animals on the ground and they can continue to enjoy their place in the ecosystem. I will say that Montana has --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What can people do? Ten seconds.

RYLANDER: Well, people should get in touch with the governors of these states and ask them to protect wolves, ask them to create buffer zones around Yellow Stone National Park so beautiful animals like the female that just killed will not get killed as soon as they walk outside of the park borders and contact us at

VELEZ-MITCHELL: yes.; get involved, humans, because these wolves are being decimated. They need your help. And these very powerful interests, they need to be counteracted.