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CNN Live Today

Teen Reunited with Family

Aired March 13, 2003 - 11:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Elizabeth Smart back with her family this morning, more than nine months after she was snatched from her bedroom in the middle of the night. Authorities have two suspects in custody and a lot of unanswered questions. But the Smart family is rejoicing over Elizabeth's safe return.
CNN's Rusty Dornin begins our coverage live from Salt Lake City, Utah.

Good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, one of those unanswered questions, is why weren't Salt Lake City Police able to zero in on this suspect, Brian Davis Mitchell, a little earlier.

Now, what is interesting is he worked for the Smart family for only five hours, working on the roof in November of 2001. Now it wasn't until October of 2002 that Elizabeth Smart's younger sister, Mary Katherine, went to her father and said, dad, I think I know who it is, it's Emanuel. That's the name he gave the Smarts. Now the police were not able to come up with an identity for this individual over a four-month period. It was the family that released a sketch in February, the 3rd of February.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICK DINSE, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: We didn't have a real clear understanding of who he was for a while, his real name. All we had was Emanuel and a description. We had several descriptions. We had some drawings that were not compatible. They were different looking drawings, so we didn't want to put out drawings that looked differently when we were looking for somebody. That could have an impact on it. But we knew we were looking for him, and we put it out as soon as we had a good drawing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Of course, they did find him in Sandy, Utah, along with Elizabeth Smart. She was questioned, taken to a hospital for a quick checkup, and whisked home in a police van to well-wishers and her family. She remains at her home. Of course, the family says they've been busy pinching themselves the past 24 hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SMART, ELIZABETH'S UNCLE: It didn't really sink in until last night when I was able to hug Elizabeth and just tell her how much we loved her and cared about her, and even the first time I had to go back and hug her again, just a reality check, that she is back. And it almost feels like we've been tied up into a little cage, and that door finally flung open and seeing Elizabeth and just the relief that she's back home with her family is just overwhelming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: A number of the smart family have been coming through this morning to talk to reporters here. This is the prayer meeting hall where the family comes every Sunday. There's a number of them inside. They're going to be having a press conference in a couple of hours. You can see actually the setup for the photographers here that are setting up for that press conference, as well as all the blue balloons. Now those are all over town. What that symbolizes is, is that is Elizabeth Smart's favorite color. They always had blue ribbons and that sort of thing, and there are balloons all over town saying, "Welcome Home Elizabeth."

COSTELLO: Thanks a lot. Rusty Dornin, live from Salt Lake City.

Even as he celebrated his daughter's safe return, Ed Smart reached out to help other missing children. He made an emotional plea for Congress to pass a nationwide Amber Alert System that could instantly distribute information to news outlets, highway message boards and other media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SMART, ELIZABETH'S FATHER: All of the children out there deserve to come home to their parents the way Elizabeth has come back to us. And I just hope and pray that Congress will quickly pass the Amber Alert.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: His open prayer may be answered, because Jonathan Karl told us a short time ago that the Amber Alert issue is being taken up on the Hill today.

Joining us now Mike Brooks, CNN law enforcement correspondent.

And you have many questions years in law enforcement, too, and I have so many questions for you.

I want to talk first about the Amber alert and if this could have helped find Elizabeth Smart sooner.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It could have. If they had the information right off the bat, after her abduction, it could have gotten out to the emergency alert systems. Right now, it's just a voluntary system, if you will, between the media and law enforcement. And it's kind of a coordination between the two, because there are basically -- there are some criteria that have to be met before they put it out, you know, if the child is in imminent danger of death. If they have a description of the car or of the abductor, then law enforcement would get that out. But right now it looks like, again, it's being taken up on Capitol Hill. The judicial committee says it's a high priority. And right now, there are a total of about 88 different Amber Alert networks around the country. There are 34 local, 15 regional and 39 statewide. And to date, 49 children have been recovered as a result of the Amber Alert system.

COSTELLO: That's just awesome.

BROOKS: It's unbelievable. It started back in 1996 after the abduction and brutal hilling of Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas, after she was abducted and killed wile riding her bicycle, and the number of states that have it, it's named different things. But they wanted to have one huge coordinated Amber Alert.

COSTELLO: So it could be uniform.

You are saying it could have worked because, supposedly, Elizabeth Smart's Kidnappers took her out of state, out of Utah. We have a map showing the places they went. Does this surprise you?

BROOKS: Not at all.

COSTELLO: From a homeless guy and his wife.

BROOKS: What is the motivation? We still don't know the motivation behind a kidnapping. Apparently, there was no ransom demands. What was the relationship between Elizabeth Smart and this guy and his...

COSTELLO: Do you think there could have been a prior relationship, I mean before the abduction between Elizabeth Smart and her alleged abductor?

BROOKS: As what Rusty Dornin just reported, as we've known He did work at their house back in November one time.

COSTELLO: But only supposedly for five hours.

BROOKS: Exactly. You know, what other relationship do they have? Supposedly, she and her mother had found this guy on the street and asked him to come over and do some work on their roof. You know, people have to -- law enforcement sources are saying people have to be strict -- very, very careful about who they invite into their homes.

COSTELLO: Let's talk more about this guy, this homeless guy. He called himself Emanuel, which is a Hebrew name for Jesus. He really saw himself as Jesus. He sort of dressed up like Jesus, and we're not hearing much about his wife either. But apparently, her 14-year-old daughter ran away from home, and she was very upset about that, and oddly enough, Elizabeth Smart looks like her daughter.

COSTELLO: Is there a possibility that he may have taken her to take the place of his daughter?

BROOKS: Exactly. COSTELLO: There is that possibility.

BROOKS: Law enforcement sources are also saying right now it doesn't look like there is much forensic evidence from the kidnapping scene, fingerprints and otherwise, that would lead them to Brian David Mitchell. So there is a lot of questions that remain to be answered.

COSTELLO: So there's some forensic evidence in the bedroom that they have not identified from any known suspects.

BROOKS: That's what we're hearing.

COSTELLO: So he may have had help?

BROOKS: May have. There's a lot of questions to be answered.

COSTELLO: And the other weird question is first we heard she was kidnapped at gunpoint, but now her father says she was actually kidnapped at knifepoint.

BROOKS: At knife point. And all of a sudden, this past October, the revelation by Mary Katherine, the daughter, her sister...

COSTELLO: The nine-year-old daughter.

BROOKS: The 9-year-old daughter, now 10 years old, says all of a sudden, I think it's Emanuel. What brought her to that. Was it something that was in the recesses of her mind that all of a sudden just came forward

COSTELLO: So many unanswered questions.

Mike Brooks, thanks for joining us. I'm sure you'll be busy in the days to come.

BROOKS: Yes, I will be.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired March 13, 2003 - 11:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Elizabeth Smart back with her family this morning, more than nine months after she was snatched from her bedroom in the middle of the night. Authorities have two suspects in custody and a lot of unanswered questions. But the Smart family is rejoicing over Elizabeth's safe return.
CNN's Rusty Dornin begins our coverage live from Salt Lake City, Utah.

Good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, one of those unanswered questions, is why weren't Salt Lake City Police able to zero in on this suspect, Brian Davis Mitchell, a little earlier.

Now, what is interesting is he worked for the Smart family for only five hours, working on the roof in November of 2001. Now it wasn't until October of 2002 that Elizabeth Smart's younger sister, Mary Katherine, went to her father and said, dad, I think I know who it is, it's Emanuel. That's the name he gave the Smarts. Now the police were not able to come up with an identity for this individual over a four-month period. It was the family that released a sketch in February, the 3rd of February.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICK DINSE, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: We didn't have a real clear understanding of who he was for a while, his real name. All we had was Emanuel and a description. We had several descriptions. We had some drawings that were not compatible. They were different looking drawings, so we didn't want to put out drawings that looked differently when we were looking for somebody. That could have an impact on it. But we knew we were looking for him, and we put it out as soon as we had a good drawing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Of course, they did find him in Sandy, Utah, along with Elizabeth Smart. She was questioned, taken to a hospital for a quick checkup, and whisked home in a police van to well-wishers and her family. She remains at her home. Of course, the family says they've been busy pinching themselves the past 24 hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SMART, ELIZABETH'S UNCLE: It didn't really sink in until last night when I was able to hug Elizabeth and just tell her how much we loved her and cared about her, and even the first time I had to go back and hug her again, just a reality check, that she is back. And it almost feels like we've been tied up into a little cage, and that door finally flung open and seeing Elizabeth and just the relief that she's back home with her family is just overwhelming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: A number of the smart family have been coming through this morning to talk to reporters here. This is the prayer meeting hall where the family comes every Sunday. There's a number of them inside. They're going to be having a press conference in a couple of hours. You can see actually the setup for the photographers here that are setting up for that press conference, as well as all the blue balloons. Now those are all over town. What that symbolizes is, is that is Elizabeth Smart's favorite color. They always had blue ribbons and that sort of thing, and there are balloons all over town saying, "Welcome Home Elizabeth."

COSTELLO: Thanks a lot. Rusty Dornin, live from Salt Lake City.

Even as he celebrated his daughter's safe return, Ed Smart reached out to help other missing children. He made an emotional plea for Congress to pass a nationwide Amber Alert System that could instantly distribute information to news outlets, highway message boards and other media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SMART, ELIZABETH'S FATHER: All of the children out there deserve to come home to their parents the way Elizabeth has come back to us. And I just hope and pray that Congress will quickly pass the Amber Alert.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: His open prayer may be answered, because Jonathan Karl told us a short time ago that the Amber Alert issue is being taken up on the Hill today.

Joining us now Mike Brooks, CNN law enforcement correspondent.

And you have many questions years in law enforcement, too, and I have so many questions for you.

I want to talk first about the Amber alert and if this could have helped find Elizabeth Smart sooner.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It could have. If they had the information right off the bat, after her abduction, it could have gotten out to the emergency alert systems. Right now, it's just a voluntary system, if you will, between the media and law enforcement. And it's kind of a coordination between the two, because there are basically -- there are some criteria that have to be met before they put it out, you know, if the child is in imminent danger of death. If they have a description of the car or of the abductor, then law enforcement would get that out. But right now it looks like, again, it's being taken up on Capitol Hill. The judicial committee says it's a high priority. And right now, there are a total of about 88 different Amber Alert networks around the country. There are 34 local, 15 regional and 39 statewide. And to date, 49 children have been recovered as a result of the Amber Alert system.

COSTELLO: That's just awesome.

BROOKS: It's unbelievable. It started back in 1996 after the abduction and brutal hilling of Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas, after she was abducted and killed wile riding her bicycle, and the number of states that have it, it's named different things. But they wanted to have one huge coordinated Amber Alert.

COSTELLO: So it could be uniform.

You are saying it could have worked because, supposedly, Elizabeth Smart's Kidnappers took her out of state, out of Utah. We have a map showing the places they went. Does this surprise you?

BROOKS: Not at all.

COSTELLO: From a homeless guy and his wife.

BROOKS: What is the motivation? We still don't know the motivation behind a kidnapping. Apparently, there was no ransom demands. What was the relationship between Elizabeth Smart and this guy and his...

COSTELLO: Do you think there could have been a prior relationship, I mean before the abduction between Elizabeth Smart and her alleged abductor?

BROOKS: As what Rusty Dornin just reported, as we've known He did work at their house back in November one time.

COSTELLO: But only supposedly for five hours.

BROOKS: Exactly. You know, what other relationship do they have? Supposedly, she and her mother had found this guy on the street and asked him to come over and do some work on their roof. You know, people have to -- law enforcement sources are saying people have to be strict -- very, very careful about who they invite into their homes.

COSTELLO: Let's talk more about this guy, this homeless guy. He called himself Emanuel, which is a Hebrew name for Jesus. He really saw himself as Jesus. He sort of dressed up like Jesus, and we're not hearing much about his wife either. But apparently, her 14-year-old daughter ran away from home, and she was very upset about that, and oddly enough, Elizabeth Smart looks like her daughter.

COSTELLO: Is there a possibility that he may have taken her to take the place of his daughter?

BROOKS: Exactly. COSTELLO: There is that possibility.

BROOKS: Law enforcement sources are also saying right now it doesn't look like there is much forensic evidence from the kidnapping scene, fingerprints and otherwise, that would lead them to Brian David Mitchell. So there is a lot of questions that remain to be answered.

COSTELLO: So there's some forensic evidence in the bedroom that they have not identified from any known suspects.

BROOKS: That's what we're hearing.

COSTELLO: So he may have had help?

BROOKS: May have. There's a lot of questions to be answered.

COSTELLO: And the other weird question is first we heard she was kidnapped at gunpoint, but now her father says she was actually kidnapped at knifepoint.

BROOKS: At knife point. And all of a sudden, this past October, the revelation by Mary Katherine, the daughter, her sister...

COSTELLO: The nine-year-old daughter.

BROOKS: The 9-year-old daughter, now 10 years old, says all of a sudden, I think it's Emanuel. What brought her to that. Was it something that was in the recesses of her mind that all of a sudden just came forward

COSTELLO: So many unanswered questions.

Mike Brooks, thanks for joining us. I'm sure you'll be busy in the days to come.

BROOKS: Yes, I will be.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com