Sister Wives: Jane Velez-Mitchell Panel Discussion

From two softball interviews with entertainment interviewers to a "semi" hardball panel discussion on Sister Wives led by Jane Velez-Mitchell. The first time I saw Ms. Mitchell, it was during the Casey Anthony trial. The jury had just finished deliberating and Nancy Grace was predicting Casey Anthony would get a guilty verdict. Ms Mitchell was the only reporter to disagree with Ms Grace, vehemently I should add. Ms Grace got so tired of her, she cut her off mid-sentence and refused to talk to her again. Guess who was right?

Frankly, this woman scares even me . Can you imagine if Kody had agreed to an interview? Yikes!

That poor Jeffs woman looked and sounded like she didn't quite understand why she was there.





ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
War on Women;  Casey Anthony`s Life in Hiding; 'Sister Wives' Downplaying Polygamy?
Aired September 21, 2011 - 19:00:00   ET

And can polygamy work? The stars of controversial reality show "Sister Wives" are fighting back against a backlash in the wake of Warren Jeffs` conviction for his, quote, "spiritual marriages" to underage girls. Should polygamy between adults be protected under the law? I`m taking your calls

Up next, this -- you`ve got to see this. It`s wild. "Sister Wives" controversy; yes, you know, that TV show about polygamy. Now they are trying to distance themselves from the Warren Jeffs scandal. And they are also promoting their new season. We`re taking your calls on this, 1-877- 586-7297.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KODY BROWN, "SISTER WIVES": My name is Kody Brown. You`ve got to meet my family. I`m a polygamist. But we`re not the polygamist you think you know.
Over here. I show over and over that I got the ability to love these children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have more to give?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he needs all the children because as we parent all the children little pieces of our parenting go into their mental and their emotional and they change.
BROWN: The fear of being prosecuted is less daunting than the fear of continuing a society in secrecy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A confessed polygamist with four wives and 16 children and counting says the TLC show "Sister Wives" has allowed his family to live out in open. I`m so happy for you.
But here`s what I want to know. On the heels of the Warren Jeffs trial where polygamy was denounced and Jeffs was convicted of raping two children I got to wonder what makes plural marriage so socially acceptable on the TLC show "Sister Wives".
Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Ok. Everybody who thinks it`s a boy go over here.
I show over and over that I`ve got the ability to love these children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. One of the wives is about to give birth to number 17 -- child number 17. The family now lives in Las Vegas after fleeing Utah to avoid possible persecution. Kody Brown and three of his wives appeared on ABC`s "Good Morning America". Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: It`s normal to us. I mean we deal with every day kind of whoa that happened, you know, there`s just things that surprise us in our lives.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- not normal to everybody else, right?
BROWN: We totally get that it`s not normal to everybody else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, it`s not normal. Where`s the outrage we heard during the Warren Jeffs trial when we found out he had 60 wives and dozens of children. I realize none of Kody Brown`s wives are underage. But is that really the point?
Polygamy -- isn`t polygamy, polygamy no matter what the age? What do you think? Give me a call, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.
Now, I want to go straight out to Laurie Allen, producer of "Banking on Heaven", an investigation film -- fabulous film that exposed the secret world of polygamist cults. Laurie, they are trying to distance themselves from Warren Jeffs at the same time as they promote their new season. Why are people watching this? Why are they embracing "Sister Wives"?
LAURIE ALLEN, PRODUCER, "BANKING ON HEAVEN": Well, they`re watching it Jane because they`re not being told the truth. I mean this is a reality show that is really about as real as my little finger. I mean these people are scamming every which way. They have been in all kinds of trouble. They`ve all filed bankruptcy. They rotate the wives around. One files one year; a couple of years later, another one. They shift the dead around. They are living off of food stamps. They have been in all kind of financial trouble. This is what my sources tell me.
And the show come along which as far as I know is why they left Utah because, you know, it`s ok; it`s like "don`t ask, don`t tell" in Utah. It`s ok to practice polygamy but don`t talk about it, don`t go on TV because then the law enforcement and attorney general`s office has to do something about it. So it puts them in an awkward position which is why they moved to Vegas. And now they want to go back.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Basically -- on the show they are basically underwriting the whole concept of polygamy and essentially encouraging it. Now, "Sister Wives", the family -- they blew up on GMA because they were asked, somebody had the audacity to refer to their compound in Utah. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all have broken up a bit from your move to Las Vegas. No longer own the same compound, four separate houses.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? Oh.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We live in a house.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: -- negative connotation, it sounds Branch Davidian.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, they`re upset about it being called a compound.
Sherie Jeffs, you`re the ex-wife of Ward Jeffs (ph) -- former sister- in-law of Warren Jeffs, do they have -- first of all we tried to contact Kody Brown`s attorney, couldn`t reach him. He`s invited on or any of them. They are all invited on any time to tell their side of the story.
But there was a claim by Laurie Allen that essentially they are living off this show and otherwise they would really have no way of supporting themselves when they have now 16 kids and counting. What say you?
SHERIE JEFFS, FORMER SISTER-IN-LAW OF WARREN JEFFS: Well, to be honest with you I haven`t watched that show, and I don`t know what they are doing. But I feel like it`s a disservice to so many of the polygamist families in the state of Utah to paint them with that brush that they are all like that family because so many of them aren`t.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So, you`re defending the polygamy concept?
JEFFS: Well, yes, because you have freedom to live your religion the way you`re supposed to in this country, of course. I mean as long as you`re not --
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me ask you a question. I can understand why the guy wants four wives or 16 wives or 60 wives, I get that. Why do the women get involved? What`s in it for the women?
JEFFS: Well, if you believe that it`s a tenet of your faith, of your religion, of the Mormon religion that it`s a celestial principle, then you live it. But not everyone lives it perfectly or does a really good job with it. Some families do. I would have to say that most families do. Do well by it. And you have to make a distinction between those that are --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
WARREN JEFFS, POLYGAMIST LEADER: The woman if she is not careful will be overbearing and always ask permission for what she wants. And ladies, build up your husbands by being submissive.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, in the wake of his conviction on two counts of child rape, a lot of people are taking a second look at the whole issue of polygamy and so it raises the question, are shows like "Sister Wives" which some say glorifies polygamy, really cute (ph) or are they really dangerous.
So I want to go to Jim Moret, my journalist colleague extraordinaire - -
JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": Hi Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`ve actually talked to all the women, the four wives and this guy Kody --
MORET: Right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- from "Sister Wives", why do the women do it? I don`t get that.
MORET: Well, we heard one of your guests talk about the religious aspect. And I suspect that`s a great part of it. But I was taking notes because I listen to everything you say. You said the word cult, rape, underage -- none of that applies to this family. So in this sense I would say this family is not like the Jeffs compound at all.
This is an unusual family. When you watch them you can say I don`t understand how they are living this way. I don`t understand how four women can share one man. But they are not odd balls. They are very nice, gracious people --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, are the women masochists?
MORET: No. Look, we`re watching the show, my wife says, "You know, that`s not a bad idea. Maybe I should share you I don`t have to listen to you complain all the time."
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Just don`t share with me.
MORET: But -- but they are not trying to enlist people any more than "Jersey Shore" is trying to change people -- maybe I shouldn`t use that as an example.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But here`s my point. And I just want to go quickly to the "Big Love" clip from HBO because this is a show that everybody loves to hit. It may be fantastic but again, why are we hooked on this idea? Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am trying to make it better for all of us. The life we`ve chosen leads to eternity but yes there are consequences.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re not in eternity, Bill. We`re in Sandy, Utah, and I don`t think I can live this life in Sandy, Utah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Laurie Allen, women all over the United States are watching this show and grooving on it. Why are women so interested in glorifying cultures that denigrate them and treat them as chattel?
ALLEN: I don`t know. Flavor of the day -- I`m not sure Jane why people give this show any viewing time. It`s disgraceful. It`s -- I guess it`s because it`s an oddity. I mean they are just weird people that are living on the fringes of society and getting all this publicity. When, in fact, the truth is not being told and there`s a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes that we`re not talking about.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sherie Jeffs you used to practice polygamy. But correct me if I`m wrong, it almost sounded like you were defending the polygamy, the actual polygamy, and saying that oh, "Sister Wives" the TLC show kind of makes polygamy look bad.
Isn`t it the other way around? I mean "Sister Wives" is sort of a sanitized version of polygamy. The real polygamy is a lot more sordid?
JEFFS: Not really. And I`m not really defending it. I just want to you know that what you`re seeing on TV is not what really happens within those families.
Now with the case of Warren Jeffs, of course, that went off in left field and created havoc for anyone that is really truly trying to live the religion and, you know, have more than one wife and create a loving family unit. And you have to understand that the women do it because they believe it`s a tenet of their faith and the men do it also because it`s a tenet of their faith.
And you have to ask yourself how difficult that would be to keep that many children and that many women clothed and fed and emotionally cared for.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Because the government is underwriting the entire thing with welfare.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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