Elizabeth Edwards told Larry King on Wednesday night that she was willing, at one point, to be the step-mother of John Edwards and Rielle Hunter’s child. Elizabeth, who refrained from mentioning the name of her estranged husband’s ex-mistress, said that while she’s never spoken with Rielle, she has met Rielle and John’s little girl, Quinn. “When John and I were together, and he was wanting to be a father — which I admired, that he should; when he found out that in fact this was his child and he wanted to be a father, and if that were the case and we were together, I would be this child’s step mother,” Elizabeth told Larry. “We went down to Charlotte and a third party picked up Quinn and brought her to where we were, and I let John spend some time alone with her,” she continued. “It was before Christmas; we bought Christmas presents and dresses and little things…” “It was not awkward in the least,” Elizabeth said. “She didn’t know who I was — that was something she was going to learn over time… but, I love children, and sitting there playing with toys with her, she seemed like a really nice child. And I looked forward to having a relationship with her at that time… Now, there’s no reason really for me to.” She also denied Rielle’s claims that her marriage with John was “toxic” long before Rielle entered the equation. “If that were true, why would John and I have worked so hard, under such difficult and public circumstances to make the relationship work? I really think we both worked hard in the end to make it work.” “I suppose there are a lot of women in her position who like to justify their behavior – rationalize it – by thinking that this relationship in which they’re thrusting themselves wasn’t valuable to begin with. It was clearly valuable to both of us and something that we tried very hard to save.” Elizabeth, who said she’s feeling great while receiving chemotherapy for her ongoing battle with cancer, added that she and John are making their separation work: “We’ve got an amicable way of dealing with the kids and dealing with one another that is really quite satisfactory.” As for how she dealt with the pain of learning about John’s affair, Elizabeth said she initially found it hard not to blame herself, in part. “It’s really hard not to attach it to yourself; not to say, ‘What did I do wrong?’… I think it’s important for me to understand that I didn’t do anything wrong; not just important for me, but important also for my children to understand.” “I think it’s probably been hard for [John], too, to see himself in this new light as not the person on whom I can lean,” she said, adding of her estranged husband’s behavior: “It disappointed a lot of people. I think that probably includes himself.”

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“The Insider” has learned that police in Portland have decided to re-open a case involving former Vice President Al Gore, in which a woman alleges that she was “repeatedly subjected to unwanted sexual touching.” The news comes one week after the Portland, Oregon Bureau of Police said the case was not being pursued and that Gore was never charged due to insufficient evidence. A rep for the Gore family tells “The Insider,” “Further investigation into this matter will only benefit Mr. Gore.  The Gores cannot comment on every defamatory, misleading, and inaccurate story generated by tabloids.  Mr. Gore unequivocally and emphatically denied this accusation when he first learned of its existence three years ago. He stands by that denial.” Last week, police said the woman spoke with their Detective Division in January, 2009 about an incident that she says occurred between she and Gore in October, 2006. The woman, a Licensed Massage Therapist, told police that she was called to a local hotel to provide a massage to the former vice president, and allegedly endured unwanted sexual contact. According to the news release provided by police last week, “The woman reported that she still had clothes that she had worn during the encounter. But due to the description she gave of the incident, detectives did not collect the clothes as evidence because they did not feel there was any evidentiary value to the clothing.” After giving her statement in 2009, law enforcement says the woman contacted them this month to ask about obtaining a copy of her statement. She was given her statement and she inquired as to whether she could edit her statement, saying she could provide detectives with additional clarifications. Earlier this month, it was reported that Gore and his wife Tipper were splitting up after 40 years of marriage.

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Jake Pavelka and Vienna Girardi have one of the most talked-about breakups in “Bachelor” history. On Monday night, the two will make an appearance during “The Bachelorette” in their first interview together since the split — and “The Insider” has your sneak peek. Host Chris Harrison will be conducting the interview and here is what Vienna has to say when asked why she took her story to Star magazine. “No matter how we broke up, this was going to have to happen,” Vienna says. “The world was going to want to know what happened. And we were going to be doing interviews. I know Jake, and as soon as we broke up, he was going to run to a media outlet and tell his side of the story. I wanted to make sure I had a voice also. I haven’t had a voice this entire time. I have let everybody say what they wanted to say about me and their thoughts about me, but I wasn’t going to let it happen again. I wanted people to know that I did try in this relationship. I stayed with him because I thought it would be different. I loved him and I wanted it to be different.” Jake and Vienna’s interview will air on “The Bachelorette” on Monday, July 5 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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