"When my parents were together, it was happy," says Samara, 11. "I want my family life to be normal, no fighting or anything. My mom is really fun to be around. I don't feel safe around my dad. I don't really talk to my dad. He drinks a lot. I want my dad to get help, so he's not, like, the way he is. It makes me feel sad."
Dr. Phil asks for Peter's reaction to his daughter's interview.
"It's her mother talking," he says. "Last year, my daughter was coming over to my parents' house, spending a lot of time with me, and until that order was lifted, she was doing fine. That's her mom talking. It is so disturbing to hear that." Peter asks Tisha, "Why would I now, after 11, 12 years of my daughter's life, want to not have a relationship with her? Why?"
Tisha asks him if he's so concerned about his daughter, why would he send the police to check on her when she's at a playground with her friend, instead of checking himself?
Peter explains that he was out of town, and when he learned his daughter was at a playground unsupervised in a town with four registered pedophiles, he called a friend to check on her. "I didn't think two 11-year-old girls should be on a playground in the middle of the summer by themselves, while you're working out at the gym with a friend of yours." Peter says his friend waited with her until he could come pick her up " their daughter wasn't taken from the park by police.
Dr. Phil asks him, "Were you genuinely concerned that your daughter on this playground was at risk of four pedophiles in this community, or was this a way to profile [Tisha] being negligent?"
[AD]"Dr. Phil, the thing is I don't get to see my kids. If she's dropping my daughter off for two hours unsupervised on a playground, why can't these kids be with me?" Peter asks.
"Absolutely. Why can't they?" Tisha asks.
"Why don't you drop them off at my house?" he asks. "Why is my daughter saying stuff like ‘Daddy needs to get help'? How does my daughter know I drink beer if I drink beer? She's never there with me, Tisha. You threaten to take my kids, and you're doing it."
Lisa speaks up. "The problem is the court order provides you get your son once a week, right? So, Tisha is complying with the court order. She's not required to give you either child on Monday, or Tuesday or Wednesday, and if you want that, why not ask the court for that?"
Peter says he's done that and doesn't know why the court hasn't responded in his favor.
Areva says, "One of the things we're not hearing is who is going to provide the more stable house for the child? The courts want to know, who's going to be the stable parent? Who's going to take care of those kids? And I haven't heard anything " where do you live? Who has a job? Who has the children enrolled in school? Who's taking the kids to counseling? Who's in parenting classes? That's what the court is going to want to know. Is anyone working on any of these issues?"
Tisha explains that she has legal custody of the children, and they split 50/50 physical custody. "I am working three jobs to take care of our children. He has not given me one penny in 14 months," she says.
Peter argues with his wife about child support and what he has contributed.
[AD]Areva asks him, "Do you want your kids?"
"I do want them, absolutely, 128 percent," he says.
"You're not a lawyer. I'm a lawyer, Peter. I do this for a living," she says. "Listen to me: If you want to get your kids, you have to put aside the issues with your wife. If your daughter is afraid of you " and even if it's not true, and it's her perception, you have to deal with that perception. You have to get into some parenting classes. These children, Dr. Phil said, have been damaged by all of this fighting. So you have to be the bigger person. Take the high ground."
Tisha maintains that she wants her kids to have a relationship with their father.
Dr. Phil asks her, "What would it take for you to get behind and support him having joint custody of these children, him having more access to these children? What would have to take place?"
"He needs to acknowledge that they have their own feelings, they have their own perception of things. He just started counseling on his own " "
"Put some verbs in your sentences. What is it that he has to do for you to feel safe, and it's healthy for him to have more access to the children?" Dr. Phil asks.
"He needs to change," she says, wiping away her tears.
"What? Give me a list."
"He needs to be responsible for his actions."
"What actions?"
"What he did to me was abuse " "
[AD]Dr. Phil interrupts her. "Wait a minute. Listen. You guys don't understand this. The fact that you have hurt each other is history. The only way your past becomes your future is if you walk through life looking over your shoulder. That's gone. That's done. That's over. You don't think he was a nice guy with you. He's not going to be a nice guy. He doesn't like you. You don't like him. Y'all tried this. It didn't work. You have so much unfinished business. That is hurting your children! Do you not get that? Do you not get that the children are being hurt here?"
"I know they're being hurt," Peter says.
Tisha maintains that she wants her kids to have a relationship with their father.
Dr. Phil asks her, "What would it take for you to get behind and support him having joint custody of these children, him having more access to these children? What would have to take place?"
"He needs to acknowledge that they have their own feelings, they have their own perception of things. He just started counseling on his own " "
"Put some verbs in your sentences. What is it that he has to do for you to feel safe, and it's healthy for him to have more access to the children?" Dr. Phil asks.
"He needs to change," she says, wiping away her tears.
"What? Give me a list."
"He needs to be responsible for his actions."
"What actions?"
"What he did to me was abuse " "
[AD]Dr. Phil interrupts her. "Wait a minute. Listen. You guys don't understand this. The fact that you have hurt each other is history. The only way your past becomes your future is if you walk through life looking over your shoulder. That's gone. That's done. That's over. You don't think he was a nice guy with you. He's not going to be a nice guy. He doesn't like you. You don't like him. Y'all tried this. It didn't work. You have so much unfinished business. That is hurting your children! Do you not get that? Do you not get that the children are being hurt here?"
"I know they're being hurt," Peter says.