Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Wife goes 'missing' on belated 'honeymoon cruise' turned murder plot

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Wife goes 'missing' on belated 'honeymoon cruise' turned murder plot · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace. She was on her honeymoon sailing the
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Speaker 1: High Seas when forty one year old Isabella Hellman mysteriously
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Speaker 1: vanished in the night. Her husband of three months, Louis Bennett,
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Speaker 1: claimed he was asleep below deck when their thirty seven
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Speaker 1: foot catamaran hid an object and Isabella fell overboard. He
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Speaker 1: told investigators when he awoke, Isabella was gone and the
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Speaker 1: boat was sinking, but prosecutors alleged Bennett killed his wife
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Speaker 1: and deliberately sank the boat to make it look like
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Speaker 1: a tragic accident. According to reports, the experienced voter did
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Speaker 1: not take any measures to signal his position, activate flares,
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Speaker 1: or call for help when he realized his wife was missing. Instead,
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Speaker 1: rescuers found him floating in a dinghy about one thousand
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Speaker 1: yards from the wreckage. Adding to suspicion was the Coastguard's
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Speaker 1: discovery of forty thousand dollars in stolen coins hidden on
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Speaker 1: Bennett's life raft. Despite an intense for day search, Isabella's
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Speaker 1: body was never found. The couple's ten month old daughter, Emilia,
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Speaker 1: was left with Isabella's family during the ill fated trip.
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Speaker 1: When Bennett arrived to pick up his daughter, Isabella's relatives
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Speaker 1: vehemently accused him of murder. That from our friends at
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Speaker 1: Daily Mail TV, I Meancy Grace. This is crime stories.
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Speaker 1: What happened to a beautiful young mom? Is Sabella Hellman?
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Speaker 1: The irony catch this as this was their belated honeymoon
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Speaker 1: shrip oh. Yes, the husband delays the honeymoon and he
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Speaker 1: tells his wife he wants to take her on a
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Speaker 1: romantic catamaran cruise. Somehow, there's a boating accident. Then he
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Speaker 1: goes to sleep after the boating accident. He goes to sleep,
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Speaker 1: he here's a splash, wakes up. His wife's gone and
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Speaker 1: he's floating out in the water on a dinghy with
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Speaker 1: about forty thousand dollars worth of stolen coins and she's
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Speaker 1: quote missing. Joining me right now, Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics expert,
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Speaker 1: Professor forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My
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Speaker 1: Feet on Amazon. Doctor Daniel Bober, forensics psychiatrist, Also with me,
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Speaker 1: juvenile judge, founder of Ashley Wilcott dot Com. Ashley Wilcott
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Speaker 1: right now to investigate. A reporter John Lemley with Crime
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Speaker 1: online dot Com. John Lemley, what happened? Well, this real
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Speaker 1: estate broker Isabella Isabella Hellman and her husband Louis Bennett.
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Speaker 1: As you've mentioned, they were on a two week long
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Speaker 1: trip starting from the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. They
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Speaker 1: were meant to travel first to Puerto Rico, then on
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Speaker 1: to Cuba, before finally coming back to Florida. A friend
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Speaker 1: of Hellman's says that the trip, as we've said, was
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Speaker 1: a belated honeymoon for the newly weds. Lewis Bennett reportedly
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Speaker 1: said that he was asleep below the deck of their
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Speaker 1: boat when he heard the vessel hit something, just before
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Speaker 1: he discovered that his wife was nowhere in sight. After
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Speaker 1: emerging topside, there was no trace of Hellman. She was
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Speaker 1: wearing a life vest when he last saw her, according
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Speaker 1: to Lewis Now. Hellman's sister has said that she spoke
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Speaker 1: with Hellman by way of a satellite phone just hours
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Speaker 1: before she was reported missing. She said, I'm in the
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Speaker 1: middle of the ocean right now. We left Cuba. She
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Speaker 1: said that she didn't tell her what time, but we
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Speaker 1: left Cuba and that's it. She said, I'll see you tomorrow. Well,
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Speaker 1: the whole thing doesn't make sense to me. To Ashley Willcott,
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Speaker 1: you have a boating accident and then you go down
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Speaker 1: below in the catamaran to take a nap. What the
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Speaker 1: next thing you know, you wake up to a splash
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Speaker 1: and you managed to escape on a dinghy with forty
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Speaker 1: thousand dollars with a stolen coins, and your wife quote disappears.
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Speaker 1: Her body's never been found ever. So Nancy, that's where
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Speaker 1: I to the money, right, follow the money. Money sucks,
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Speaker 1: rock and roll, all of the things that get involved
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Speaker 1: with these crimes. Once you have the money aspect of it.
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Speaker 1: I don't buy the story at all. Yeah, it just stings.
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Speaker 1: Doctor Daniel Bober, renown forensic psychiatrist with us. I think
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Speaker 1: I can figure it out, Bober, but on my own
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Speaker 1: that whole adding thing too, plus two equals four. But
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Speaker 1: go ahead and weigh in, Bober. What a story this
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Speaker 1: guy's come up with. Yeah, Nancy O, the thing smells
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Speaker 1: really bad. But remember it's, you know, one of those
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Speaker 1: things where you know, it's very hard to prove, you know.
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Speaker 1: And I don't want to get into an argument with
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Speaker 1: you about this, but you know, forty thousand dollars, well,
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Speaker 1: then why are you here? Then? Why are you here?
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Speaker 1: You're not. I'm going to argue with you because what
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Speaker 1: you say is going to be totally wrong. Go ahead,
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Speaker 1: I don't know what it is yet, but don't confuse
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Speaker 1: me with the facts. Forty thousand dollars in coins in
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Speaker 1: the dinghy does not necessarily prove that he killed her. Obviously,
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Speaker 1: it doesn't look too good, but it's not a slammed
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Speaker 1: stolen coins. Stolen coin even stolen doesn't prove that he
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Speaker 1: killed her. I'm not saying that he didn't kill her,
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Speaker 1: but I'm just saying that it's just, you know, it
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Speaker 1: doesn't smell too good, but it's not proved. You know what, Baber,
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Speaker 1: you really beat all? You just beat all. Joe Goot
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Speaker 1: Morgan Q please help me out. Oh well, I don't
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Speaker 1: know if I can or not. What I do know
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Speaker 1: is that we don't have a body at this point
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Speaker 1: in tom And you know, one of the curious things
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Speaker 1: about this case in my reading, is that, oh you
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Speaker 1: mean the body that was wearing the life jacket that
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Speaker 1: never pad. Is that you've got this this guy that
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Speaker 1: is essentially taking a few weeks below deck so that
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Speaker 1: he can sleep while they've been on this excursion. And
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Speaker 1: he's rated as a really high swimmer, and one of
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Speaker 1: the articles I read it, I read she's rated as
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Speaker 1: a very poor swimmer. And I'm thinking, why in the
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Speaker 1: world are you going to leave her in charge of
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Speaker 1: the boat in the middle, you know, in the middle
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Speaker 1: of this vastness out there, And you know, he claims
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Speaker 1: that they hit something, They just hit something, and she disappears,
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Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, the botus can well, wait, wait, wait,
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Speaker 1: what did somebody release the kracking? Because they're out in
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Speaker 1: the middle of the ocean. What are they gonna hit,
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Speaker 1: Joe Scott. Yeah, I have no idea. A coral reef.
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Speaker 1: I don't know a bottle nudge, well, the great Cuban
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Speaker 1: coral reef. I've dived all over the world. I've never
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Speaker 1: heard of a coral reef out in the middle of
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Speaker 1: the ocean. Now, on the other side of Cuba, there's
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Speaker 1: good diving. There's no coral reef. You're gonna have to
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Speaker 1: go far, far away for that. Yeah. Now, so let's
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Speaker 1: let's revise you back to the kracking theory. Is that
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Speaker 1: what they hit? No, I don't know what they hit.
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Speaker 1: But he did say that the thing was foundering, and
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Speaker 1: he said he said. Ashley Wilcott says, when do we
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Speaker 1: start taking the husband's word for it? Oh? Yeah, I'm
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Speaker 1: sorry this case still. I don't mean to be so cynical.
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Speaker 1: I just think follow the money in this particular case
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Speaker 1: is where the facts are going to take it. Well,
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Speaker 1: speaking of money, John Limley, isn't it true that he
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Speaker 1: didn't have two dimes who rubbed together while she owned
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Speaker 1: a condo? And how to save his account? Am I wrong?
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Speaker 1: If you are exactly correct as far as their you
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Speaker 1: know their yearly budget went. It was heavily weighted in
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Speaker 1: her favor, with her being the money winner. Listen to
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Speaker 1: the extraordinary sound being played at wp BF with Gianna
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Speaker 1: Cassetta as a police bodycam catches a heated confrontation between
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Speaker 1: Isabella's sister and her husband. On May twenty eighth, twenty seventeen,
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Speaker 1: Louis Bennett went to his in law's home in Boca
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Speaker 1: Raton to collect items. As we're taken from his home. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: I want to buy. No, why would you go ahead
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Speaker 1: and search the house? Do you have any of these things?
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Speaker 1: I don't want anything. Bennett called the Boca Raton Police
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Speaker 1: Department for a civil assist. The officer's bodycam recorded the
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Speaker 1: heated exchange between Bennett and Isabella Hellman's family. If you
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Speaker 1: can I see sif can I see stiff? But now
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Speaker 1: a bizarre twist in the story of Isabella Hellman's disappearance,
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Speaker 1: leaving her family angry and bitter. The British smuggler was
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Speaker 1: taken Indo federal custody for transporting the stolen coins and
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Speaker 1: eventually charged with his wife's murder. Now, one month before
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Speaker 1: his trial, Lewis Bennett has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter
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Speaker 1: after striking a shocking plea deal that sees the murder
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Speaker 1: charge against him dropped. What involuntary manslaughter the main charge
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Speaker 1: of second degree murder dropped. No wonder her family is distraught, bitter,
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Speaker 1: upset beside themselves. This young mom absolutely gorgeous Elisabella, Isabella
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Speaker 1: Hellman disappears at sea. Her husband, forty one year old
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Speaker 1: Louis Bennett, found floating peacefully in a dinghy with forty
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Speaker 1: thousand dollars of stolen coins stolen from his employer. The
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Speaker 1: source of anger because the husband is going to walk free.
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Speaker 1: Bottom line, Ashley Wilcot. In voluntary manslaughter in that jurisdiction
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Speaker 1: carries a max of eight years in this case. And
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Speaker 1: what this means is all he admitted was he did
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Speaker 1: a negligent act that led to her death. Eight years
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Speaker 1: and to top it all off, to add insult to injury,
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Speaker 1: Ashley Wilcot, his family, His family has the granddaughter, the
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Speaker 1: two year old little girl with them in the UK.
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Speaker 1: To top it all off, Ashley in voluntary manslaughter eight
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Speaker 1: years will probably walk in four exactly, Nancy, he got
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Speaker 1: a sweetheart deal. I mean that is one heck of
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Speaker 1: a plea who wouldn't take that of charge with murder because,
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Speaker 1: like you said, Nancy, he could be out in four
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Speaker 1: years for killing his wife. Murdering his wife. I feel
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Speaker 1: for that family of that wife because that would just
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Speaker 1: make me stick to my stomach every day. Listen to
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Speaker 1: this through their attorney. Isabella Hellman's family released a statement
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Speaker 1: saying Louis Bennett continues to cause them pain by keeping
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Speaker 1: his daughter from them. Today, prosecutors told the judge that
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Speaker 1: Bennett's negligence and reckless disregard for human life caused Isabella's death.
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Speaker 1: The prosecutor said Bennett had Helman keep watch at the
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Speaker 1: helm of the boat with no experience, no life, has
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Speaker 1: no harness, and when she went missing, he did not
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Speaker 1: look for her at seat. Helmett's family says they hope
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Speaker 1: Bennett will show remorse for what he's done and allow
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Speaker 1: them to share his two year old daughter, Emilia, with
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Speaker 1: his family in England. That's where the child has been
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Speaker 1: for more than a year. The only thing that would
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Speaker 1: make this less bitter is if Emilia came back to
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Speaker 1: the United States and spend time with Isabella's family. You're
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Speaker 1: hearing from WPB if TV is Giannicaserta and you were
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Speaker 1: also hearing from the family lawyer talking about baby Emilia,
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Speaker 1: and apparently the source of the husband's anger was that
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Speaker 1: he no longer felt the same toward his wife after
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Speaker 1: she had the baby. Oh please, you know, and he
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Speaker 1: was furious over the spelling of the daughter's name. Emilia
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Speaker 1: was spelled E M I L I A. You know
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Speaker 1: what when I nearly died in childbirth? Okay, Lucy and
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Speaker 1: I nearly died on the spot, I changed Lucy's name.
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Speaker 1: It was going to be Halley after Halley's comment once
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Speaker 1: in a lifetime to Lucy, after my grandmother, who I
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Speaker 1: felt her presence with me during my delivery, and I
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Speaker 1: picked out John David's name, and David my husband. He
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Speaker 1: never said a word, not a word, doctor Daniel Bober,
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Speaker 1: as he should not have, I might add, it wasn't
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Speaker 1: him lying there losing blood. It was mommy, okay, which
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Speaker 1: I like to point out the twins whenever they argue
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Speaker 1: with many. Okay. But it's starting to lose effect, doctor Bober,
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Speaker 1: because I now say who nearly died in childbirth? They
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Speaker 1: oh you, mom, you you nearly Sadly, it's worn off.
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Speaker 1: I've got to come up with something new. My point is,
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Speaker 1: what does he have to be upset about or no
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Speaker 1: longer loved her after she had the baby, he didn't
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Speaker 1: quote feel the same. I totally agree with you, Dancy.
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Speaker 1: I always laugh when you know you're talking to a
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Speaker 1: couple and the man says, we're pregnant. I just want
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Speaker 1: to be like, we're pregnant, you're pregnant, or she's pregnant.
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Speaker 1: So it's it's unfortunately something that the woman has to
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Speaker 1: experience and has to bear the brunt of the pregnancy
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Speaker 1: and the labor and all the health stuff that goes
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Speaker 1: with that. You know what's interesting to Joseph Scott Morgan
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Speaker 1: and you keep saying there's no proof. There's no proof,
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Speaker 1: Joe Scott, I know you make your living on hard
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Speaker 1: forensic evidence, but have you ever heard the term circumstantial evidence? Yeah,
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Speaker 1: I've come across it a few times. Nancy. Yeah, Okay,
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Speaker 1: good to know, because circumstantial evidence under the law is
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Speaker 1: given the same weight as direct evidence, such as an eyewitness,
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Speaker 1: a DNA or a fingerprint. Okay, the same weight under
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Speaker 1: the law in every jurisdiction in this country, including our territories.
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Speaker 1: So long story short, you may not be able to
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Speaker 1: figure it out because you don't have your fingerprint kent
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Speaker 1: out there, and you're not getting touch a DNA off
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Speaker 1: her body which has never been found. But in my
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Speaker 1: mind I can still add two plus two and I'm
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Speaker 1: getting four. And now he plays guilty too in voluntary
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Speaker 1: and gets eight years. I mean, you know, John Limley
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Speaker 1: on eight years and are crowded jailhouse. He'll probably walk
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Speaker 1: in four four four years. And Jackie here in the
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Speaker 1: studio keeps going, what about the coins? Why are you
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Speaker 1: obsessed with the coins? Why do you care about the
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Speaker 1: co This woman is dead? John? Do you just please answer?
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Speaker 1: Didn't he get like seven months on the coins? Exactly
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Speaker 1: on that there? Jackie? Are you happy he got seven
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Speaker 1: months for the stolen coins? Okay? So can we get
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Speaker 1: back to the murder. The original charge that he was
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Speaker 1: facing before his plea was second degree murder. In court documents,
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Speaker 1: investigators pointed to what we've already said a predictable motive,
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Speaker 1: the money and property that Hellman brought to the marriage,
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Speaker 1: backed by Bennett filing for a presumptive death certificate just
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Speaker 1: four months after her disappearance in Florida there's a presumption
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Speaker 1: of death after five years, so I'm sure it was
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Speaker 1: him leading the crusade to have her declared dead. Her
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Speaker 1: family now quote bitter. The case ended in a cheap
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Speaker 1: plea Ashley Wilcot, juvenile judge and veteran trial lawyer, Ashley,
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Speaker 1: you can prove a murder case without body. Why should
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Speaker 1: this guy get a gold star for getting rid of
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Speaker 1: her body? So I agree with you. Circumstantial evidence obviously
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Speaker 1: can be enough to prove charges. You don't need the body.
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Speaker 1: The problem, probably that prosecution decided was their problem was
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Speaker 1: we are going to save money. We are going to
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Speaker 1: not try this case. We are not going to take
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Speaker 1: that risk of not having a body. Instead, we're going
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Speaker 1: to give him this plea. I'm not saying I agree
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Speaker 1: with it because he could be out and four, which
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Speaker 1: is devastating. I just think that's the choice that District
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Speaker 1: Attorney's office made in this case. Instead of trying to
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Speaker 1: prove circumstantial evidence, they gave him a sweetheart deal. Well,
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Speaker 1: maybe I'm missing something. Let me go pick on Joe
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Speaker 1: Scott Morgan for a moment, forensics expert, professor of forensics,
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Speaker 1: an author of Blood Beneath My fate on Amazon. Let
16:49
Speaker 1: me understand this, Joe Scott. So he leaves the catamaran
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Speaker 1: on a life raft that's packed with supplies and all
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Speaker 1: the stolen coins. He is the experienced sailor. He is
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Speaker 1: the one that after the first boating accident, I guess
17:11
Speaker 1: that's when he hit the kraken, he decides to go
17:15
Speaker 1: downstairs and go to sleep, and that the sounds of
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Speaker 1: either a splash or sails loose flapping in the wind
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Speaker 1: woke him up. He goes upstairs and she's gone, and
17:31
Speaker 1: now he can't quite remember if he called out her
17:35
Speaker 1: name to look for her or not. So you're telling me,
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Speaker 1: Joe Scott, that that's not enough to take to a jury. Oh,
17:44
Speaker 1: you can take it to a jury. I think that
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Speaker 1: it is compelling. But you know, you know human nature
17:50
Speaker 1: well enough to know that they want to see a body.
17:53
Speaker 1: And I think that the DA the prosecutor here, has
17:57
Speaker 1: made a choice. Well, maybe I'm not understanding that the
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Speaker 1: nature of water. Because she just fell off with a
18:04
Speaker 1: life raft on with a safety vest on. Wouldn't she
18:07
Speaker 1: just be floating right there? I mean, aren't that? Isn't
18:09
Speaker 1: that what safety vest or for? Yeah? Yeah, and yeah,
18:13
Speaker 1: but she was it was she she wasn't and uh,
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Speaker 1: they're never going to find her body, not out in
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Speaker 1: that vastness and not at the bottom of the ocean,
18:21
Speaker 1: way down by cement blocks. I guess not take a
18:24
Speaker 1: listen to this. This video shows Isabella's mother pleading with
18:31
Speaker 1: her son in law not to take her granddaughter, Emilia,
18:35
Speaker 1: who was sitting in the backseat of the car. One point,
18:38
Speaker 1: she even collapses to the ground. Are you doing already kills?
18:43
Speaker 1: What else you want? Now? You want to kill my mom?
18:46
Speaker 1: That's right now? You on now. The incident came just
18:50
Speaker 1: thirteen days after Isabella vanished at sea during a boating
18:53
Speaker 1: trip with her husband. Bennett is charged with second degree
18:56
Speaker 1: murder in connection with her death. At one point, the
18:59
Speaker 1: office or suggests Bennett allow the family to see Amelia
19:03
Speaker 1: take off. That's say, I mean, if you want to
19:04
Speaker 1: let them see the baby one more time, that that
19:06
Speaker 1: would be quite a good will, you know what I'm saying.
19:08
Speaker 1: I'll stick around. If you want to let them hold
19:10
Speaker 1: a baby for a few minutes, I definitely another right.
19:12
Speaker 1: Then it denies the request, gets in the car and
19:15
Speaker 1: drives off with his daughter. That was from wp B
19:19
Speaker 1: FTV and as far as I'm concerned to Louis Bennett,
19:25
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Speaker 1: vehicle trying to look past this thing that's between us
21:05
Speaker 1: wondering when all this angle fade, the stars look the
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Speaker 1: same for where we're standing, Why can't we fix this
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Speaker 1: mess we've made. Let's not forget that our fade stars
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Speaker 1: one just because we feel numb and the train there
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Speaker 1: is There must be something, got somethings to train you
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Speaker 1: hearing the most beautiful song and it actually brought tears
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Speaker 1: That song, now adopted by Uni Seth, means so much
22:12
Speaker 1: to me because it was written by a beautiful young girl,
22:18
Speaker 1: a very dear friend of mine, Greer Baxter, and it
22:21
Speaker 1: is being sung you probably recognize that voice by Broadway
22:26
Speaker 1: star of Hamilton, Mandy Gonzalez, and right now both of
22:31
Speaker 1: them are with me. That is incredible. You are a
22:38
Speaker 1: university's student, and you know when I read the news,
22:42
Speaker 1: I'm always looking at Oh there's been another frat party
22:46
Speaker 1: where there is this drunken incida. This happened, that happened. You,
22:51
Speaker 1: on the other hand, have written this incredible music. Tell
22:58
Speaker 1: me what motivated you? Where did you get the idea
23:02
Speaker 1: for Line in the Sand? Well, thank you so much
23:06
Speaker 1: for having us on Nancy's I'm honored to be here
23:09
Speaker 1: with Mandy. Also, the title Line in the Sand refers
23:15
Speaker 1: to the symbolic border between two countries, but also the
23:20
Speaker 1: fact that this conflict and disagreement between people is something
23:26
Speaker 1: that we as people have sort of drawn up ourselves,
23:30
Speaker 1: and it can easily be erased as as a line
23:33
Speaker 1: in the sand, And it also means a point beyond
23:37
Speaker 1: which one will not go. And so I titled the
23:40
Speaker 1: song that because they're already irreversible consequences to what has
23:45
Speaker 1: taken place, and it really has to stop, you know,
23:49
Speaker 1: Greer Baxter with me, Greer, I'm trying to imagine you
23:52
Speaker 1: writing these lyrics. You wrote the lyrics, you wrote the
23:56
Speaker 1: music and the words. Where were you when you wrote
24:00
Speaker 1: this song? What were you on a bus? Were you
24:04
Speaker 1: in your bedroom, were you in the bathtub? Where were you?
24:07
Speaker 1: So it was actually during mid term exams at college,
24:12
Speaker 1: but so I locked myself in the music room that's
24:17
Speaker 1: in the basement of my dorm for about thirty six
24:21
Speaker 1: hours until the song was finished and ready to send
24:24
Speaker 1: to the producer. And I really didn't leave because once
24:28
Speaker 1: you leave one of those rooms there, you're not getting
24:30
Speaker 1: back in. And so I had and I had already
24:33
Speaker 1: really been immersing myself in all of the news related
24:37
Speaker 1: to the issue. And but the song is about the
24:40
Speaker 1: human element of the issue, which is sadly often overshadowed
24:45
Speaker 1: by politics. And I wrote the song. I know that
24:49
Speaker 1: you're talking about the wall and what's going on at
24:54
Speaker 1: our border with Mexico right now. And you know what, guys,
24:58
Speaker 1: whether you are the wall or anti the wall, there
25:04
Speaker 1: is no doubt that people are suffering. I don't know
25:10
Speaker 1: the answer, but I know people are suffering. And I
25:15
Speaker 1: was thinking about that the other night. I had cooked
25:18
Speaker 1: supper and we were all gathering around the table, you know, Greer,
25:21
Speaker 1: my mom lives with us now, and I was just
25:25
Speaker 1: thinking how blessed we were. And it was turkey hot dogs.
25:30
Speaker 1: The children were so excited they were having turkey hot dogs,
25:35
Speaker 1: and I was just thinking, how so many people have
25:40
Speaker 1: so little. Also with me along with Greer Baxter, and
25:46
Speaker 1: I'm going to play some more of this incredible song.
25:48
Speaker 1: Lyne in the Sand is superstar on Broadway, Mandy Gonzales.
25:54
Speaker 1: You know, Mandy. In my world, all lawyers think their stars,
25:59
Speaker 1: I guess, but you're the real deal. Mandy Gonzalez starring
26:04
Speaker 1: in Hamilton. Mandy, your career is incredible and you're so young.
26:11
Speaker 1: You've been of course, you were at Nina Rozario off Broadway.
26:17
Speaker 1: You've been in so many productions. How did you find
26:22
Speaker 1: out about Greer, that there is a Greer Baxter in
26:26
Speaker 1: the world, and that she had created this incredible song.
26:29
Speaker 1: Oh well, thank you so much for your your kind words,
26:34
Speaker 1: and I'm so honored to be here with you, Nancy
26:37
Speaker 1: and with Greer. When I found out about Greer's song
26:44
Speaker 1: because of a project that was brought to me called
26:49
Speaker 1: Fandango at the Wall, which is an album that was
26:52
Speaker 1: recorded at the border of Mexico and San Diego, and
27:00
Speaker 1: it's an album that was done by Arturo Offerid and
27:03
Speaker 1: Kabier Segal And they approached me with this and said,
27:10
Speaker 1: you know, there's a festival that happens every year at
27:14
Speaker 1: the same place, and it is a festival that involved
27:18
Speaker 1: musicians on both sides of the wall on the Mexican
27:21
Speaker 1: side and on the American side, and they play together
27:25
Speaker 1: through this, through this border that's there, and they create music.
27:30
Speaker 1: And so what they wanted to do is film a
27:33
Speaker 1: documentary and bring more musicians from both sides to the wall,
27:39
Speaker 1: and they were going to record it, and they asked
27:41
Speaker 1: me if I wanted to be part of it, and
27:44
Speaker 1: because of my Mexican American heritage, because of my love
27:49
Speaker 1: of family and children, I wanted to be a part
27:53
Speaker 1: of it. And so when we were putting it together,
27:57
Speaker 1: they approached me with two songs which are on the album,
28:00
Speaker 1: A mortrifeme fronteras Love without Borders and a new song
28:05
Speaker 1: by a new songwriter, and it was called Line in
28:09
Speaker 1: the Sand. That's a career Baxter. Yes. And when I
28:17
Speaker 1: heard this song, um, I said I have to sing it.
28:21
Speaker 1: I thought that it said everything about what I felt,
28:28
Speaker 1: the situation that's there represented. You know, I think that
28:35
Speaker 1: so many people forget about the human aspect of this
28:39
Speaker 1: hold on. I want to tell a little bit more
28:41
Speaker 1: about Mandy Gonzalez because you may know her as a
28:45
Speaker 1: Broadway star, you may know her as a TV star.
28:50
Speaker 1: She's been in the Good Wife, Third watch Guiding why
28:53
Speaker 1: Madam's Secretary. I mean she's been everywhere, but that she
28:59
Speaker 1: didn't know this. Her father is Mexican, her mom Jewish
29:04
Speaker 1: and Polish. She went to high school in California. She
29:08
Speaker 1: went to California Institute of the Arts. Then she worked
29:11
Speaker 1: as a background singer for Bette Midler, and she moved
29:16
Speaker 1: to New York, where she worked as a coach check
29:18
Speaker 1: attendant while trying to get on stage. And I can
29:23
Speaker 1: tell you a story about little Greer backstore, who's not
29:25
Speaker 1: so little anymore. Her mom and I go way way back.
29:29
Speaker 1: Her mom is a book editor, one of the best
29:32
Speaker 1: in the business. And somehow our worlds collided. And I
29:36
Speaker 1: remember seeing Greer, don't get embarrassed, Greer dancing around on
29:42
Speaker 1: her den floor in her pj's, in front of the
29:44
Speaker 1: Christmas tree. And now that beautiful little thing has created this.
29:51
Speaker 1: I want you to listen. There is something there is hard.
30:02
Speaker 1: We must shine here if we talk fig far rest
30:07
Speaker 1: of my life, side by side, stars look the same,
30:12
Speaker 1: for we're standing. Why can't we fix dismiss we've made.
30:19
Speaker 1: Let's not forget that our fame stars one just because
30:24
Speaker 1: we feel numb and the train Greer Baxter, Mandy Gonzalez
30:29
Speaker 1: with me now and Nancy. You know that's also Career
30:32
Speaker 1: on the piano playing as well. With our tutro. He
30:37
Speaker 1: did a little solo, but that's Greer, um, that's Greer
30:41
Speaker 1: behind me playing, which is fabulous true. Thank you for
30:46
Speaker 1: adding that. I did know that I did that. I'm
30:49
Speaker 1: gonna play the whole thing in a moment. But you two,
30:53
Speaker 1: Greer Baxter and Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez make me feel
30:58
Speaker 1: like totally the ugly duckling. There's really no doubt about battle.
31:02
Speaker 1: I mean, with all that talent, all that talent, Greer
31:06
Speaker 1: and that talent, Amanda, your voice, you're acting together, the
31:11
Speaker 1: two of you. Greer Baxter, what is your message today?
31:17
Speaker 1: And again, this is not whether you want the wall
31:20
Speaker 1: or you don't want the wall, or your pro Trump
31:22
Speaker 1: or your anti Trump, It doesn't matter. This is about
31:26
Speaker 1: people that are suffering. I don't know the answer, and
31:29
Speaker 1: I don't claim to know the answer, but I do
31:31
Speaker 1: know I don't want people to suffer, especially children. Greer,
31:37
Speaker 1: what is your message? With all the hours of work
31:40
Speaker 1: you've poured into this beautiful song, what's your message? Well?
31:46
Speaker 1: I think I think we can all agree and relate
31:49
Speaker 1: to the desire to be safe and with our families
31:53
Speaker 1: and for our families to be safe, and that's really
31:55
Speaker 1: what is at the core of this issue, and everyone
31:58
Speaker 1: deserves to feel save. Children should feel protected and not scared,
32:03
Speaker 1: and loved ones shouldn't be separated. And where all human
32:07
Speaker 1: beings were all the same, we all feel unhurt and
32:11
Speaker 1: love no matter where we're from. And so that's really
32:16
Speaker 1: what I would say. And all change comes out of awareness,
32:19
Speaker 1: and every lacked counts, So everybody should be getting involved
32:23
Speaker 1: and raising awareness. And really, you know what, career, When
32:27
Speaker 1: you say that, I feel like that's a battle I've
32:31
Speaker 1: been fighting for so many years on a completely different front,
32:35
Speaker 1: trying to protect people. Mandy Gonzalez. This song has now
32:40
Speaker 1: been adopted by Uni Seth. I can remember as a
32:44
Speaker 1: little girl with those little cardboard boxes. Jackie Howard, do
32:47
Speaker 1: you remember the little card I mean the paper boxes, really,
32:50
Speaker 1: and you would go around and collect money for Uni Seth.
32:54
Speaker 1: And now you guys have created this masterpiece and Union
33:00
Speaker 1: has adopted it. Yes, and I think it's a tribute
33:05
Speaker 1: also to where we come from. You know, we come
33:08
Speaker 1: from very loving families, very loving mothers. I know my
33:13
Speaker 1: mother back in the late sixties early seventies wanted to
33:17
Speaker 1: join the Peace Corps and eventually that's how she met
33:21
Speaker 1: my father, by writing letters to soldiers. So I think
33:24
Speaker 1: that empathy I was taught at a very young age,
33:30
Speaker 1: and I think that I just feel so proud that
33:35
Speaker 1: I'm a part of this album, that I'm a part
33:38
Speaker 1: of this song, and that unisf has has taken it
33:42
Speaker 1: as their own. And the hashtag is A child is
33:46
Speaker 1: the child because a child is the child's and we
33:50
Speaker 1: all no matter what side we're on, we're all in
33:54
Speaker 1: the same side, which is the human side. So I
33:58
Speaker 1: just I won't give up with hop Man. That is beautiful.
34:04
Speaker 1: The way that you two are phrasing this is really
34:10
Speaker 1: touching my heart. And you know, as we are all
34:14
Speaker 1: gathered together at the holidays, many of us around our
34:20
Speaker 1: table celebrating the season and all the love, let's don't
34:26
Speaker 1: forget those less fortunate than we are. Greer Baxter and
34:31
Speaker 1: Mandy Gonzalez with us. And there's really nothing more to
34:34
Speaker 1: say except this, the line and the scent BA. But
34:47
Speaker 1: trying to look past this thing that's between us, wondering
34:52
Speaker 1: when all this angle fade. The stars look the same
34:58
Speaker 1: for standing. Why can't we fix this mess we've made.
35:05
Speaker 1: Let's not forget that our faints ours one just because
35:10
Speaker 1: we feel numb and the train there is half. There
35:16
Speaker 1: must be something God, something strong to train you and me.
35:22
Speaker 1: There is hard. We must try if we talk Regre
35:28
Speaker 1: out of doors of my life, side by sight, forever
35:33
Speaker 1: you and me, we are stronger together hoping to find
35:41
Speaker 1: a path to forgiveness going the pride always gets in
35:46
Speaker 1: the way. We all want a place where it's safe
35:50
Speaker 1: to be human, the welcome and brace of a brand
35:54
Speaker 1: new day. Let's not allow what we have to us
36:00
Speaker 1: just because of what someone might say. There is love.
36:07
Speaker 1: There must be something got to think strong between you
36:12
Speaker 1: and me. There is hard. We must shine if we
36:18
Speaker 1: don't figure out the rest of my life side by side,
36:23
Speaker 1: for ever you and me we are stronger. There is hard.
36:54
Speaker 1: There must be something got to think strong between you
36:59
Speaker 1: and there is hot. We must shine here. You know
37:08
Speaker 1: it's only fitting that with Greer and Mandy talking about
37:11
Speaker 1: children who are suffering during this holiday season and year round,
37:19
Speaker 1: so much less fortunate than we are, that my vision
37:22
Speaker 1: of Greer Baxter is at Christmas dancing around the tree
37:27
Speaker 1: in her pj's. There is there must be something, got
37:34
Speaker 1: something sore. There is hot. We must shine here, wear
37:44
Speaker 1: my life side by side pfver you and me, we
37:49
Speaker 1: are stronger good. There is love. There are muss Nancy
38:02
Speaker 1: Grace Crime Story signing off, goodbye friend,