Nightline (ABC) - 1999-07-30

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] This is a Night Line Friday night

[0:04] special.

[0:05] He admitted killing his wife and

[0:08] children.

[0:08] >> I am stunned that this had happened. I'm

[0:11] saddened that there was this tragedy.

[0:13] >> He said he would go out and kill as many

[0:16] people as he could and then he went out

[0:19] and did it.

[0:20] >> It is something I didn't think he had in

[0:22] him. The authorities remain convinced he

[0:25] killed for the first time years ago, but

[0:28] he denied committing those murders to

[0:30] the end. They had absolutely no proof

[0:33] back then that he had committed the

[0:35] offense.

[0:36] >> Tonight, last words. A murderer

[0:39] confesses, but did he tell the whole

[0:42] truth?

[0:46] From ABC News,

[0:51] this is Night Line

[0:54] reporting from Washington, Ted Cbell.

[0:58] He noted the time to the minute, 6:38

[1:02] yesterday morning. Mark Barton wrote

[1:04] three brief notes and a letter. The

[1:06] notes were left on the bodies of his

[1:08] wife and two children. They read like

[1:11] introductions. Whether to the person who

[1:13] would find the bodies or to the almighty

[1:15] it's hard to say. Quote, "I give you my

[1:18] wife, Leanne Vanderver Barton, my honey,

[1:21] my precious love. Please take care of

[1:24] her. I will love her forever. I give you

[1:27] Matthew David Barton, my son, my buddy,

[1:30] my life. Please take care of him." I

[1:33] give you Michelle Elizabeth Barton, my

[1:35] daughter, my sweetheart, my life. Please

[1:39] take care of her. The letter was

[1:42] addressed to whom it may concern. Leanne

[1:45] is in the master bedroom closet under a

[1:47] blanket. I killed her on Tuesday night.

[1:49] I killed Matthew and Michelle Wednesday

[1:52] night. Barton describes the murders in

[1:54] some detail. There was little pain, he

[1:57] wrote. All of them were dead in less

[1:59] than 5 minutes. I hit them with a hammer

[2:01] in their sleep and put them face down in

[2:04] a bathtub to make sure that they did not

[2:06] wake up in pain, to make sure they were

[2:08] dead. Later, Barton explains why he

[2:12] killed his children. To exchange them

[2:14] for five minutes of pain for a lifetime

[2:17] of pain. I forced myself to do it to

[2:20] keep them from suffering so much later.

[2:22] No mother, no father, no relatives. The

[2:26] fears of the father are transferred to

[2:28] the son. It was from my father to me and

[2:31] from me to my son. He already had it.

[2:33] And now to be left alone, I had to take

[2:36] him with me. I killed Leanne because she

[2:39] was one of the main reasons for my

[2:40] demise as I planned to kill the others.

[2:44] It seems here that Barton may have been

[2:46] writing about the people he would shoot

[2:48] yesterday because he ends his letter by

[2:50] saying, "I don't plan to live very much

[2:53] longer, just long enough to kill as many

[2:56] of the people that greedily sought my

[2:58] destruction. You should kill me if you

[3:01] can." Signed Mark Oarton.

[3:05] There was one other intriguing message

[3:08] in the letter. Early on, Barton wrote,

[3:11] "There may be similarities between these

[3:13] deaths and the death of my first wife,

[3:15] Deborah Spivey. However, I deny killing

[3:18] her and her mother. There's no reason

[3:20] for me to lie now." Barton had been a

[3:24] principal suspect in the murders of his

[3:26] first wife and mother-in-law nearly six

[3:28] years ago. He had taken out $600,000

[3:32] worth of life insurance on his wife

[3:34] shortly before her murder. And as you

[3:36] may have heard on this program last

[3:38] night, the insurance company didn't want

[3:40] to pay. And Barton's lawyer, Michael

[3:42] Haltman, who joined us last night, won a

[3:45] settlement of $450,000.

[3:50] I am stunned that this had happened. I'm

[3:52] saddened that there was this tragedy.

[3:54] Um, however, I still believe he was

[3:56] innocent of the crime in um, Alabama.

[3:59] Really, they had absolutely no proof

[4:01] back then that he had committed the

[4:03] offense. In fact, um,

[4:07] they had another suspect who's presently

[4:10] in custody in Indiana that had um,

[4:14] confessed to the killings,

[4:16] >> but they never they never charged that

[4:18] person with that crime, did they?

[4:19] >> And they did not.

[4:21] >> I beg your pardon?

[4:22] >> No, they did not. I I'm astonished at

[4:25] what you're saying here. Here's a man

[4:26] who today shot nine people. A couple of

[4:29] days ago, shot his second wife and or

[4:32] killed his second wife and two children.

[4:34] I don't know if he shot them uh 4 days

[4:37] before his previous wife and

[4:40] mother-in-law are found. He takes out a

[4:41] $600,000

[4:43] life insurance policy on his wife. And

[4:46] you don't think he had anything to do

[4:47] with that?

[4:47] >> Um, absolutely not. I think he was

[4:49] devastated by the fact that she was

[4:51] killed back then. Um

[4:54] he um he he was horrified by it. Um and

[4:59] that

[5:00] >> well he said he was horrified by it.

[5:02] >> Well, you know, I I think I could tell

[5:04] by um my dealings with him that that it

[5:07] was something that that had devastated

[5:09] him. the um fact that the person who's

[5:14] in prison in Ind Indiana um was present

[5:17] at the scene. My client was 100 miles

[5:20] away with um a pretty good alibi.

[5:23] There's a person in Indiana who was

[5:25] present at the scene of that murder. Um

[5:28] confessed to the murder and had access

[5:30] to the type of weapon that was used in

[5:32] that murder, which which was a very

[5:34] unusual type of hatchet.

[5:35] >> Hold on one second. You're telling me

[5:37] that someone was apprehended in Indiana

[5:39] who confessed to this murder but has

[5:41] never been charged with a murder. That's

[5:43] passing strange, isn't it?

[5:45] >> Um,

[5:47] I'm not a prosecutor in Alabama. It's

[5:50] not my job to prosecute their cases.

[5:53] >> And joining us now from Atlanta is Ben

[5:56] King. His firm was retained by Investors

[5:58] Life Insurance Company of Nebraska to

[6:01] file suit against Mark Barton for fraud.

[6:04] That suit was in fact filed in 1995

[6:07] within the two-year statute of

[6:08] limitations following Deborah Spivey's

[6:10] murder. Why ultimately, Mr. Kingre, did

[6:13] your firm settle?

[6:14] >> Well, we had uh we also sue not only Mr.

[6:18] Barton, but we also joined his children

[6:21] as defendants because if uh the jury

[6:25] were to find that Mr. Barton did in fact

[6:27] murder uh his wife but did not take this

[6:31] policy out with the intent to murder,

[6:33] the funds would go to the children. In

[6:35] other words, we had a twofold burden of

[6:37] proof. One to prove that he murdered his

[6:40] wife and secondly to prove that when he

[6:42] took this policy out, he had the then

[6:45] present intention of committing this

[6:46] crime.

[6:47] >> And I I gather you also weren't

[6:49] altogether eager to be the big insurance

[6:51] company up against some of the interests

[6:53] of the kids.

[6:54] >> Uh absolutely. uh we would still be

[6:57] litigating with Mr. Barton, but uh we

[6:59] had a feeling that that jury would have

[7:01] uh not let those kids go away without

[7:03] any funds.

[7:04] >> There's that intriguing line in his

[7:06] letter, which I read at the end. Uh you

[7:08] know, what reason do I have to lie? Now,

[7:11] let's say he'd confessed to the crime

[7:12] now, or let's say he had not made that

[7:15] kind of a denial. Even theoretically,

[7:17] would your insurance company have a

[7:19] right to go back and try to reclaim the

[7:21] money?

[7:21] >> No. We we signed a mutual release where

[7:24] uh the children and and Barton released

[7:27] the company and and we released any

[7:28] right to go back against Barton at a

[7:31] later date. No, we we would not have had

[7:32] that right.

[7:33] >> So, I mean, putting that into the

[7:34] letter, it wasn't a way of protecting

[7:36] anybody in the family. I mean, frankly,

[7:38] he'd killed the kids. So, I don't know

[7:39] who whom he would have been protecting

[7:41] anyway,

[7:41] >> right? It would be the kids heirs, which

[7:43] I assume would be Mr. Spy now.

[7:45] >> Yeah. And and he had no reason to try to

[7:47] protect Mr. Spivey.

[7:48] >> Right.

[7:49] >> Okay. I thank you very much, Mr. King.

[7:51] It's good of you to come in. Joining us

[7:54] now from Douglasville, Georgia, David

[7:56] McDade, that county's district attorney.

[7:59] Mr. McDade, how do you explain? And you

[8:01] you heard me read that line from his

[8:03] letter where he talks about I mean, you

[8:04] know, what reason do I have to lie? Now,

[8:07] that's a that's a fairly compelling

[8:09] question at this point. It

[8:10] >> it's the words of a madman. I I would

[8:13] give them no more credits now than I

[8:14] would uh six years ago.

[8:16] >> Why wasn't it pursued more aggressively

[8:18] than it was? Well, it was certainly

[8:20] pursued aggressively from this end. I

[8:22] think the Alabama officials were

[8:23] somewhat uh overwhelmed by the magnitude

[8:26] of the investigation. I think they did

[8:27] the best with what they had. We would

[8:29] certainly have liked to seen more, but I

[8:31] think they did the best with what they

[8:32] had that they could do.

[8:33] >> You know, this is this is a question

[8:35] that obviously you can only speculate

[8:38] on. I can only speculate on, but you're

[8:40] in a in a better position to do so than

[8:42] I. If a little more attention had been

[8:45] paid at the time, we probably wouldn't

[8:48] be confronting what we confronted

[8:50] yesterday and what happened earlier in

[8:53] this week. Is that fair to say?

[8:55] >> If enough evidence had been developed by

[8:56] the Alabama authorities to arrest Mr.

[8:58] Barton, I believe your assumption is

[9:01] correct. Mr. Barton would not be on the

[9:02] street.

[9:03] >> You heard what uh Mr. Barton's attorney

[9:05] told me last night um having to do with

[9:08] a suspect in Indiana. Do you know

[9:12] anything about him?

[9:13] >> No. Mr. Hman's a colorful character.

[9:15] He's a friend of mine, but he's a

[9:16] defense attorney. I uh I would want to

[9:19] hear concrete information from from a

[9:21] reliable source in law enforcement. I

[9:23] don't believe there's any other suspect

[9:24] that's ever reached the level of Mr.

[9:25] Barton. Mr. Barton has remained until

[9:27] his death the prime and the only suspect

[9:30] in those murders.

[9:30] >> Now, we'll have Mr. Hman on again a

[9:32] little bit later in this broadcast.

[9:34] Unless I'm mistaken, I think it's his

[9:36] impression that you told him about this

[9:38] suspect in Indiana. Absolutely

[9:40] incorrect. Absolutely incorrect.

[9:42] >> So as far as you know, there is no such

[9:44] person. No one has confessed to the

[9:46] crime.

[9:48] >> Absolutely not to my knowledge.

[9:49] >> Has there ever been anybody other than

[9:51] Mr. Barton who was suspected in this

[9:53] case?

[9:55] >> I I think in an investigation of this

[9:57] source of this type, you don't exclude

[9:59] anyone, but you take you where your

[10:01] evidence leads you. And in this case,

[10:02] the evidence and the circumstantial

[10:04] evidence quickly surrounded Mr. Barton

[10:06] and never left him.

[10:08] Why was he not indicted?

[10:11] >> That question is best left to the

[10:12] Alabama prosecutors, but candidly, they

[10:15] made the determination. They didn't have

[10:16] sufficient evidence to indict him. And

[10:19] uh that's a decision they have to make

[10:20] based upon their evaluation of the

[10:22] evidence in Alabama law. I don't

[10:23] question their decision. Uh they they

[10:26] can't manufacture evidence and in a

[10:28] circumstantial evidence case, it can be

[10:29] difficult.

[10:30] >> There was uh another charge at one point

[10:32] that was brought against Mr. Barton, I

[10:34] understand, by by his daughter. Uh you

[10:36] want to tell us about that?

[10:38] >> Several months after the death of Mr.

[10:40] Barton's first wife, uh his daughter

[10:43] Michelle, who was then 2 and 1/2 years

[10:45] old, reported to a daycare worker that

[10:47] she had been uh fondled or molested by

[10:50] Mr. Barton and a child protective

[10:53] services investigation was initiated.

[10:56] But remember, the child was 2 and a half

[10:57] years old and that investigation uh did

[11:00] not result in sufficient evidence for

[11:02] the child protective service agency to

[11:03] bring a formal charge against Mr.

[11:04] Pardon. But he was interviewed by a

[11:07] psychologist or a psychiatrist I

[11:09] understand. And if you could just

[11:11] quickly tell me what his evaluation was.

[11:13] >> Uh the psychologist interviewed his

[11:15] children to prepare a report for defects

[11:17] at Department of Family Children

[11:18] Services. And as a correlary to that

[11:21] investigation, the psychologist

[11:23] interviewed Mr. Barton and reported

[11:26] orally to the defects case worker and

[11:27] myself that he felt confident that Mr.

[11:30] Barton was certainly capable of having

[11:32] committed the homicides in Alabama and

[11:34] reported that as part of his findings.

[11:36] >> Does that come back with a particular

[11:38] chilling effect? Do you know?

[11:39] >> Absolutely.

[11:41] >> Mr. McDade, I thank you. It's good of

[11:42] you to come in and join us.

[11:44] >> Thank you, sir. We invited investigators

[11:47] from Alabama to participate in this

[11:49] program tonight. They declined. When we

[11:52] come back, a man who has been

[11:54] investigating the Alabama murders for

[11:57] six years.

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[14:38] And joining me now from Leach, Texas,

[14:40] Captain Jerry Wyn, a Douglas County

[14:42] Sheriff. Um, you're absolutely convinced

[14:45] he he did it. When I say it, I mean

[14:47] those those murders of his first wife

[14:49] and mother-in-law in Alabama these six

[14:52] years ago now.

[14:53] >> Yes, sir. I believe so.

[14:54] >> Why are you so evidence shows? So,

[14:56] >> I beg your pardon?

[14:57] >> I believe the evidence shows that.

[14:59] >> Which evidence?

[15:00] >> The crime scene in Alabama, all the

[15:02] anger was directed towards the wife. Uh,

[15:05] there was less injuries to the

[15:06] mother-in-law than it was the wife. Uh,

[15:08] it was a staged crime scene. And there

[15:10] was persons dumped all over the room, a

[15:12] pistol left laying on the counter of

[15:14] cash money left there in the floor. That

[15:17] was the beginning that would make you

[15:18] think that that he's involved just

[15:20] because of all the anger directed

[15:22] towards the wife.

[15:24] >> Now, uh, having said that, clearly if

[15:27] the authorities in Alabama had had found

[15:30] the evidence, there was no reason for

[15:31] them not to indict him, right? That

[15:35] >> Well, my district attorney is probably

[15:36] more of aggressive district attorney

[15:38] than theirs. Uh, you can present a case

[15:40] to a grand jury anytime you want to. You

[15:42] choose either to present the case or not

[15:44] to present the case. The case could have

[15:46] been presented if Alabama's law is

[15:47] anything like Georgia law is.

[15:49] >> But what about physical evidence? I

[15:50] mean, beyond what you're talking about

[15:53] is interesting, but it's not dispositive

[15:55] as the lawyers would say. Was there any

[15:57] blood evidence? Did they ever find a

[15:59] weapon?

[16:00] >> They found blood evidence at the home.

[16:01] Now, I don't know what the results of

[16:03] the test were. Uh, they indicated that

[16:05] someone had thrown thrown up at the

[16:07] crime scene. you know, you can do DNA of

[16:09] the saliva. Uh there's evidence in Mon

[16:11] they didn't pursue. Uh they informed me

[16:14] they had some narcotic cases they had to

[16:16] complete and they couldn't stay over

[16:17] that night that they were particularly

[16:19] the night that they were here, which was

[16:20] the night after the funeral, and go to

[16:22] Mon and and do some more work.

[16:23] >> What was it? What was it that they that

[16:26] they could have looked at in Mon that

[16:28] you're talking about? Uh, in the

[16:29] interviews that I conducted with some

[16:30] witnesses in Mon and Warner Robbins, it

[16:33] was learned that Mark and Leanne were at

[16:36] a restaurant entertaining guest or

[16:38] eating supper with other people when

[16:39] Mark had his arm around Leanne and told

[16:42] the guests there and the other people in

[16:44] their party that he was going to be with

[16:45] Leanne by October. Now, this was in

[16:47] June.

[16:47] >> Now, Leanne was Leanne was the second

[16:49] wife. That was the wife he murdered this

[16:51] week,

[16:51] >> right? And at that time, it was the

[16:53] girlfriend. And, uh, he told his friends

[16:55] he would be with Leanne. They would be

[16:56] together by October. And this was in

[16:58] June. And of course, I believe it was

[16:59] July or August when he purchased the

[17:01] additional $600,000 worth of life

[17:03] insurance uh on his present wife and

[17:06] Deborah, which that just makes no sense.

[17:09] What do you say to to what his lawyer

[17:12] points to, which is the existence of

[17:14] this other suspect in the case, the man

[17:16] who who allegedly confessed to the crime

[17:19] and actually gave some fairly

[17:20] interesting information about a a claw

[17:23] hammer, the kind that a roofer would

[17:24] use? Well, I don't know how much

[17:26] information that Alabama authorities had

[17:28] put on the street to where a lot of

[17:29] people had knowledge of that. It was in

[17:30] the paper. So, I mean, anybody could

[17:32] have read that and figured that out or

[17:33] talked to a neighbor. Uh, but I've been

[17:35] told that that person was cleared. There

[17:37] were witnesses that didn't that placed

[17:39] him elsewhere at the time the crime was

[17:40] committed.

[17:42] >> So, as far as you're concerned, it it

[17:45] was never a doubt. I mean, I gather you

[17:46] were quite aggressive at times that you

[17:48] you followed Mr. Barton around. You told

[17:50] him that you were you were going to nail

[17:52] him one of these days. Is that right? I

[17:54] looked him in the eye and told him at

[17:56] least six times that Mark, you killed

[17:58] your wife, you killed your

[17:59] mother-in-law, and instead of, you know,

[18:01] if you say that to someone that's not

[18:04] guilty, you get a response of anger. He

[18:06] didn't react. He listened. He was

[18:08] listening when he should have been angry

[18:09] at me. If I accuse you of doing

[18:11] something like that, you haven't done

[18:12] it, you should be uh mourning, you

[18:14] should be upset, and he wasn't upset at

[18:16] all.

[18:16] >> Well, I mean, he clearly seems to have

[18:18] been a very troubled man. There's

[18:19] there's no question about that. And and

[18:22] even if he committed those crimes back

[18:24] then,

[18:26] does that explain what happened 6 years

[18:28] later this week to you?

[18:31] >> I think it does. Uh he's a very

[18:33] controlling, very he's he's a very smart

[18:36] person. He's very organized person. Just

[18:38] like in his letter when he says he

[18:39] didn't do it, that's just his last way

[18:41] of saying haha to to everybody else. You

[18:43] know, it wouldn't accomplish anything to

[18:44] him if he said, "Yeah, I killed Deborah

[18:46] and I killed my mother-in-law." That

[18:48] would not benefit him any. This leaves

[18:49] people just wondering.

[18:51] >> You You knew Deborah Spot. In other

[18:53] words, you were a friend of hers.

[18:55] >> I I went to school with her elementary

[18:57] school. I went to school with her in

[18:59] junior high school.

[19:00] >> So, as far as you're concerned, this is

[19:02] personal.

[19:03] >> Well, I work I worked I would have

[19:05] worked as hard on Deborah Spy's homicide

[19:07] as I would a total stranger. Uh my point

[19:10] in this whole matter is a homicide

[19:12] you've got to work 24 hours a day, seven

[19:14] days a week until you're finished. you

[19:16] until all leads are are are gone. You

[19:19] don't stop and go work other cases as in

[19:21] drug cases. You don't fail to follow up

[19:23] leads. You know, in rural America,

[19:25] America, you're not guaranteed a a true

[19:27] good investigation if you're murdered.

[19:29] And that's a shame.

[19:31] >> Is it over now? As far as you're

[19:33] concerned,

[19:35] >> it'll never be over. It haunts you, you

[19:38] know, that what could have I done that

[19:39] maybe 12 people that died yesterday

[19:41] wouldn't have died.

[19:45] It's the question, I guess, that's

[19:46] haunting everyone in in this country.

[19:48] But, Captain Win, I thank you very much.

[19:50] It was good of you to come in. Thank

[19:53] >> When we come back, we'll be joined by

[19:55] Mark Oartton's attorney, former

[19:57] attorney, Michael Hman.

[20:26] Avalon, because peace and quiet aren't

[20:29] going to come looking for you.

[21:00] Ask your doctor about Viagra

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[21:36] Coming up, a lesson in flirting.

[21:38] >> The one thing I really hate about guys,

[21:40] I hate when you walk by and you go high

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[21:43] >> "What's that?"

[21:44] >> Politically Incorrect with Bel Maher.

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[22:22] >> Cookies and cream. Chocolate.

[22:25] >> Hi, News Neil Lauren with my pals here

[22:27] at the Martha O'Brien Center. Chocolate,

[22:28] vanilla, cookies, and cream. You'll find

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[22:57] And joining us now from Atlanta, Michael

[22:59] Halman, Mark Barton's former attorney.

[23:01] Uh Mr. Hman, yesterday uh you told me

[23:04] all about this fell in prison in Indiana

[23:06] who confessed to the crime.

[23:08] >> That is correct.

[23:09] >> Where'd you get that story? When we took

[23:12] the deposition of the Cherokee County,

[23:16] Alabama's District Attorney's Office

[23:18] chief investigator,

[23:20] we had discovered that approximately 2

[23:23] hours before the 911 call came in, a man

[23:27] in the campground had told one of his

[23:30] neighbors that earlier in the evening he

[23:34] had killed two women and described how

[23:37] he had killed the two women. Um the

[23:40] sheriff's department investigators went

[23:42] out and picked him up

[23:45] and asked about the crime and

[23:47] essentially he told them that he had

[23:49] just killed these two women and that he

[23:51] had used a claw type hatchet commonly

[23:55] used by roofers um to commit the

[23:58] murders. He in fact drew a sketch of the

[24:02] hatchet for the um investigators that

[24:06] interviewed him. Um, he was subsequently

[24:09] polygraphed

[24:11] and based on the fact that his

[24:14] confession was deemed by the polygrapher

[24:17] to be false, he was released from

[24:19] custody. Well, I mean, let's face it, if

[24:22] the Alabama police, who, as we've heard

[24:25] previously in the program, the Alabama

[24:27] authorities are under a lot of pressure,

[24:29] they're looking for a guy, they they

[24:31] surely want someone whom they can

[24:33] prosecute.

[24:34] If all of those things that you say

[24:37] happened as you tell them, it sure seems

[24:41] to me that they would have pressed it a

[24:42] little bit harder. I mean, as you said

[24:44] yesterday, uh, you expressed extreme

[24:47] contempt for polygraphs. So, why do you

[24:50] think they would have any more faith in

[24:52] them than you do? Law the law

[24:54] enforcement community has a tremendous

[24:56] belief in um, polygraph examinations.

[24:58] Why they let this guy go, I have

[25:00] absolutely no idea. Um, I disagree with

[25:03] Mr. McDade and I disagree with Mr. Wyn

[25:06] um regarding what the um law enforcement

[25:10] authorities in Alabama did. They not

[25:12] only had the aid of the Douglas County

[25:14] Sheriff's Department, the Douglas

[25:15] County, Georgia District Attorney's

[25:17] Office, the Alabama Bureau of

[25:18] Investigation was brought into this

[25:20] case, the Georgia Bureau of

[25:22] Investigation was brought into this

[25:23] case, and the um Federal Bureau of

[25:26] Investigation was brought into this

[25:27] case. And notwithstanding all of that,

[25:29] they were not to they were not able to

[25:31] put enough evidence against Mark to even

[25:34] bring an indictment. Why they let

[25:36] somebody who confessed two hours before

[25:38] the police knew about the murders go?

[25:40] You you'll have to ask them. I have the

[25:42] faintest idea.

[25:43] >> So, as of as of this late hour then,

[25:45] you're just as convinced as you've ever

[25:47] been that Mark Barton, who did in fact

[25:49] kill 12 people in himself, did not kill

[25:52] those two people.

[25:53] >> Um, absolutely.

[25:55] >> All right. I thank you once again, Mr.

[25:56] Huffman for joining us. I'll be back in

[25:59] a moment.

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[26:57] >> Before you go here, go here. Whether

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[27:06] >> ABC is America's broadcasting company.

[27:09] And ABC Sports is where more Americans

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[27:20] The bowl championship series

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[28:07] >> This weekend at Just for Pete, the

[28:09] world's largest athletic shoe store.

[28:10] >> It's a 30% off storewide sale on kids

[28:13] shoes

[28:13] >> this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

[28:15] Save 30% on all kids shoes.

[28:17] >> Nothing's held back.

[28:18] >> Everything's on sale.

[28:19] >> Every single kid shoe.

[28:20] >> 30% off.

[28:21] >> Every name brand.

[28:22] >> 30% off.

[28:23] >> Every style.

[28:24] >> 30% off.

[28:25] >> Every color, every size, every sport.

[28:27] >> Something for every kid.

[28:29] >> Just in time for back to school.

[28:30] >> 30% off all kids shoes.

[28:32] >> This Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at

[28:34] Just for Feet,

[28:35] >> where 13 pair is free.

[28:41] >> Sunday on This Week with Sam Donaldson

[28:43] and Koki Roberts. More on the Atlanta

[28:45] shootings and the debate over tax cuts.

[28:47] That's our report for tonight. I'm Ted

[28:49] Cppel in Washington. For all of us here

[28:51] at ABC News, good night.

[28:57] Night line is always on with

[28:59] abcnews.com,

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[29:36] Dana Plant, private investigator, never

[29:38] loses sight of what's important.

[29:40] >> I've been a detective a long time. Oh,

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[29:50] >> From the creator of The Practice and Ali

[29:52] Mciel comes David E. Kelly's Snoops. ABC

[29:54] Sundays this fall.

[29:57] >> Watch handhold on News 2 at 5 and 6.

[30:03] Good evening and welcome to Politically

[30:05] Incorrect. Thanks to global warming and

[30:07] the morons in our government who

[30:09] continue to ignore it, you may have

[30:11] noticed this week that the planet has

[30:13] started to incinerate.

[30:18] As a uh

[30:20] as a tribute to those who are weathering

[30:23] this weather, we would now like to offer

[30:25] this homage to the hot joke special

[30:28] Washington edition. It was so hot