It would seem that everyone has already had a say about the death of Caylee Anthony and the trial -- and acquittal -- of her mother Casey. But for the first time, Casey's parents George and Cindy Anthony are speaking out to Dr. Phil McGraw in an interview he claims had "no restrictions."
McGraw appeared with TODAY's Matt Lauer to discuss the interview and to preview exclusive clips.
In the taped talk, McGraw quizzed the parents, who said they've had no contact with their daughter since she left jail, about several elements of the case. He started with a message posted on MySpace by Cindy saying that Caylee was missing over a week before Caylee was actually declared gone.
Cindy claimed that was metaphorical, not literal. "Caylee was missing in my heart that day. She wasn't missing physically. I thought I knew where she was at," she said. "I wanted Casey to know how much she was hurting me. And I thought she was purposely keeping Caylee away from me."
He also asked them about why they thought Casey's car smelled so badly -- could it have been that Caylee's body was in the trunk, as was suggested at the trial?
Cindy said, "Truthfully, to this day I don't know." Added George: "Do I want to believe Caylee was back there? I don't want to believe it. I'm going by what the investigators have told me. All I know is that Caylee is not with us anymore. I know that. I know that."
McGraw also asked about allegations that George might have helped dispose of Caylee's body, even if he wasn't involved in her death. To that, Cindy said, "George would have never have put us through those six months of not knowing where Caylee was if he knew where Caylee was. Because I watched his heart break every single day. And I watched him as frantic as he was."
Lauer had questions of his own, asking if McGraw was sure Casey's parents would not be profiting from this interview. (An unspecified donation was made to Caylee's Fund by McGraw's production company.) TODAY's Kerry Sanders reported that McGraw was on record saying that the money "would not be funneled to them" and McGraw told Lauer they would not accept money for the interview: "They've certainly gone on public record in my interview saying absolutely not."
"The real frustration here, Matt, is that no one has been held to account for Caylee's loss at this point. Casey was acquitted and nobody's been held to account," said McGraw.
Could the family have a relationship again, after all that's been said, asked Lauer? McGraw didn't answer directly, but said he had granddaughter around Caylee's age. "I put myself in that situation and said would there be a 30 day period of time where I wouldn't hear her in the background? ... This little girl was living with them and then for 31 days not one peep, laugh, cry, nothing? And warning bells don't go off? ... How could they not see?"
The full interviews with George and Cindy Anthony will air on "Dr. Phil" on Tuesday and Wednesday; the first part of the interview, originally slated for today, was postponed due to U.S. Open coverage.
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