'Bachelorette's Emily Maynard, Jef Holm still engaged, talk cheating rumors

Emily Maynard and Jef Holm appeared on "Good Morning America" on September 7 to set the record straight about recent infidelity reports.

"It's crazy, it's just rumors," Holm said. "And it's just tabloid stuff written about us - and it's not true. Emily and I are so happy, and we are great - we're in love and we're happy."

Maynard, 26, appeared on the 15th season of "The Bachelor" in 2011 and was chosen by Brad Womack. The relationship quickly fizzled and Maynard was cast as the season 8 "Bachelorette." On the show, one contestant stole the event planner's heart - 27-year-old Holm - an entrepreneur from St. George, Utah who proposed to Maynard on the July 22 finale.

Shortly after their joyous announcement, rumors swirled that Maynard was having an affair. The young mother spoke out about the scandal on the ABC morning show, dismissing all of the claims.

"I was shocked, because I was thinking like, 'Why would anybody do that, why would somebody make that up?'" Maynard said. "But you know, it broke my heart for Jef more than anything - I can get through whatever anybody says about me, but the fact that it was family just broke my heart for him. But we are better than ever, it doesn't phase me one bit."

The rumors were reportedly started by Holm's own brother, who he confirmed gave a tip to an entertainment outlet. While the pair is disappointed in his actions, Holm explained that he still supports his brother and that they remain in contact.

"I don't know why he would do that, I don't know why," Holm explained. "Sometimes in our situation, I think, it brings out the worst in people. You know? I don't even know if he really knows why he did that. I love my family, I love my brother, and I support him and I know he supports us as a couple - it just makes people do crazy things sometimes, you know?"

"Me and my brother are speaking - we're good," he added.

Maynard and Holm, who appeared all smiles on the morning talk show, said that they are still engaged and that Holm has even moved to Maynard's hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina.

"The first on my checklist was getting him to Charlotte, and now we can start the fun part and you know, plan our wedding," Maynard said. "I just want it to be like, super chill, good music and good food and lots of family - I just want him [Jef] there, it'd be great."

Maynard has previously been engaged twice - to Brad Womack on season 15 of "The Bachelor" and to NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick, who died in a 2004 plane crash, a week before she found out she was pregnant with their daughter Ricki, who is now 7 years old.

In the season finale, which aired on Sunday, July 22, Maynard chose between Holm and race car driver Arie Luyendyk Jr. Before the day of the proposal, Maynard told Luyendyk that she had more confidence in Holm.

Watch the full interview from "Good Morning America" here.

(Copyright ©2012 OnTheRedCarpet.com. All Rights Reserved.)

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Hours from voting, Iowa still unpredictable

  By KASIE HUNT and PHILIP ELLIOTTDAVENPORT, Iowa -- Unpredictable to the end, many of Iowa's GOP voters still haven't settled on a favorite candidate just hours before they cast the first ballots of the 2012 presidential contest.

After weeks of face-to-face campaigning and millions of dollars in advertising, Republican presidential hopefuls made last-minute appeals to undecided GOP voters.

A confident Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, told a rally Monday, "We're going to win this thing."

Whether he would pull that off was far from clear. The two who appear most likely to challenge Romney for the Iowa victory are former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

More than a third of all potential caucus-goers say they could yet change their minds.

From Sioux City in the western part of the state to Davenport in the east, the six presidential hopefuls hustled through 23 fast-paced campaign events combined Monday. That and the $13 million or more already spent on television commercials was evidence enough of the outsized importance Iowa holds in the race to pick a Republican opponent for President Barack Obama next fall.

Romney had one eye on his GOP rivals and another on Obama as he argued he is in the best position of all to capture the White House. The president has been "a great divider, the great complainer, the great excuse giver, the great blamer," said the former Massachusetts governor, who is making his second try for the nomination and has been at or near the top of the Iowa polls since the campaign began.

Later, before a noisy crowd in Marion, he predicted his own victory in a state that humbled him four years ago. "We're going to win this thing with all of our passion and strength," he said.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul flew into the state accompanied by his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and urged supporters to "send a message tomorrow night that echoes not just around Iowa but ... around the world." Many in the audience of about 300 chanted "end the Fed," a reference to the Texan's pledge to abolish the nation's central bank as a first step toward repairing the economy.

Most polls in recent days have put Romney and Paul atop the field in Iowa, with Santorum in third and gaining ground. More than a third of all potential caucus-goers say they could yet change their minds.

"Do not settle for less than what America needs to transform this country. Moderate candidates who try to appeal to moderates end up losing," Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, said in a slap at Romney.

After absorbing a pounding in television commercials from Romney's deep-pocketed allies, Gingrich said he was looking ahead to next week's primary in New Hampshire, and then to one in South Carolina on Jan. 21.

"I don't think I'm going to win, I think when you look at the numbers that volume of negativity has done its damage," he said of the Iowa caucuses.

Romney is viewed as the overwhelming favorite in New Hampshire, although Santorum, Paul and Gingrich have all said they intend to campaign there.

South Carolina figures to be more wide-open, the first contest in the South, and in a deeply Republican state.

If others were thinking about conceding Iowa, they did not show it.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry took swipes at Romney, Santorum and Paul in an appearance in Sioux City. "If you have my back tomorrow at the caucuses, I'll have your back for the next four years in Washington, D.C," he said.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann unveiled the first television ad in months. It hailed her as Iowa-born and the only "consistent conservative fighter" in the race and concluded, "She'll never back down."

The commercial was the last in a race in which the candidates' own ads were sometimes overshadowed by the more negative ones run by super PACs, organizations established and funded by their allies.

Perry and a super PAC supporting him spent the most, $5.5 million, according to one tally of the ad spending.

But it was the combination of Romney ($1.3 million) and his super PAC ($2.7 million) that appeared to have the most noticeable impact on the race. That was particularly so in the final few weeks, when Gingrich surged to the front of the polls.

The former speaker soon found himself under relentless attack in ads by the Romney super PAC. At the same time, the former Massachusetts governor's campaign took the high road, airing positive ads designed to show him in a favorable light.

Short on funds, Gingrich was unable to respond in kind, declaring instead he would run only a positive campaign.

It wasn't much of a contest, and before long, he faded, while Paul and then Santorum rose.

In fact, Gingrich's emergence was only one in a series of twists that seemed to produce a new front-runner every few weeks.

Bachmann earned that distinction when she won a straw poll last summer in Ames, but she was bumped off stride when Perry entered the race. His boomlet lasted until his first few debate performances were judged lacking, and then it became Herman Cain's turn. The former business executive suspended his campaign after being accused of personal indiscretions, and Gingrich began gaining ground, then Paul.

Throughout it all, Romney remained steady, advantaged by his well-funded campaign, the super PAC that supports him and the missteps of his rivals.

Yet to the end, the polls suggested the former Massachusetts governor was having trouble persuading Iowa Republicans that he was conservative enough to warrant their support.

Somehow, even an intense post-Christmas push by the candidates through Iowa's cities, small towns and smaller towns left Iowa Republicans uncertain about which contender to back.

"I'm really still undecided," said Bill Brauer, of Polk City, as he listened to Santorum speak on the campaign's final day.

"I'm going to make up my mind tonight," he said.

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Associated Press writers Brian Bakst, Thomas Beaumont, Philip Elliott, Mike Glover, Kasie Hunt and Shannon McCaffrey in Iowa contributed to this report. Espo reported from Washington.

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Elizabeth warehouse fire contained, but still burning

  Eyewitness NewsELIZABETH, N.J. (WABC) -- Officials say a huge fire that broke out inside an Elizabeth, New Jersey warehouse has finally been contained.

But the blaze will likely keep burning for at least a few more days.

Dozens of firefighters have been battling the blaze since it broke out Wednesday afternoon. But safety concerns about the building's stability have kept them from fully attacking the fire, though the warehouse isn't expected to collapse.

Authorities aren't sure what sparked the blaze, though it's believed that it started with a car fire inside a body shop in the warehouse.

And while it's now unlikely the fire will spread further, it's not clear what items may still be burning.

No injuries have been reported.

Crews remained on the scene Sunday to monitor the blaze.

PHOTO GALLERY: PHOTOS FROM THE AREA SURROUNDING THE FIRE

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Investigation: Charged dismissed, but still in jail

Web produced by Bob Monek, Eyewitness NewsBROOKLYN (WABC) -- An explosive Eyewitness News investigation about an unbelievable breakdown in the justice system.

A Brooklyn man convicted of charges that were dismissed before he ever got in the court, but that man is still in prison and the district attorney's office putting up a fight to keep him there.

"They have a Judge, a DA, a defense counsel, and everybody miss this?" said defendant Oswind David.

When we visited Oswind David in Sing Sing prison last week, he was still waiting for the Brooklyn District Attorney's office to correct the mistake that's kept the 31-year-old man behind bars for five and a half years. He was sentenced to 23 years and never should have gotten here.

"They tried me on charges that was dismissed& They submitted those charges to my jury which was never supposed to happen," he said.

But it did happen. He was convicted on two counts of first degree assault stemming from a fight with a box cutter outside a relatives' home in Bed-Sty, Brooklyn.

"It was a fight. I didn't set up to injure anyone," he said.

Six months before David's trial, a judge had dismissed the two counts of assault because of a prosecutor's procedural mistake in the grand jury.

So how could so many people miss this decision? The court, the prosecutor (apparently the same one before and after the trial) and the defense attorney too. There were other attorneys later.

"It was just a bunch of errors that were compounded," Rita Dave, David's attorney, said.

Dave has now taken on David's case pro bono His original defense attorney declined comment.

"This was just a complete utter mess-up, on every level," she said.

David just happen to notice the mistake recently when he received a copy of the DA's response to his latest motion. To add insult to injury, the "mistake" was buried 19 pages into the brief, and made the argument that since David and his attorney didn't object earlier, it's too late now.

WALLACE: "Essentially the DA's office blamed you for not catching this."
DAVID: "Mind you, I was indicted on 20 counts&"
WALLACE: "So it was confusing."
DAVID: "Yeah. From the day they realized this, they should have contacted somebody and got me out of jail."

But the DA is claiming that David should stay in prison because his convictions on first degree assault automatically includes second degree assault and those charges weren't dismissed. David believes that argument will never hold up and that he will get out soon.

WALLACE: "You're looking at this as a second chance?"
DAVID: "It's what I have been praying for."
WALLACE: "When you get out, you believe you'll be on the right track?"
DAVID: "I know I'll be on the right track."

David's attorney plans to go before an appellate judge in Brooklyn Tuesday morning to ask for immediate bail pending any other legal steps.

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