Notre Dame football player Manti Te'o speaks out on girlfriend hoax – George Howell reports

FROM CNN WIRES:

(CNN) - Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te'o has again admitted to lying, marking at least the second time he has acknowledged knowingly spreading falsities in the saga of his fake dead girlfriend.

In an interview with ABC News' Katie Couric set to air Thursday evening, the Heisman Trophy runner-up says he fibbed to the media - albeit briefly - after learning that the death of supposed girlfriend Lennay Kekua was a hoax.

Te'o said he believed Kekua, whom he thought was his girlfriend despite never meeting her face to face, had died of leukemia on September 12 after a car accident left her hospitalized. But he received a call December 6 from the woman he thought was Kekua, and she said she was alive, he has said.

Te'o told ABC he felt he had no choice but to continue the ruse.

Today on "Early Start," CNN's George Howell reports on the latest in the Manti Te'o story.

READ MORE: In ABC interview, Te'o admits, again, to lying about fake girlfriend