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American Morning

Immigration Bill is Dead; Paris Hilton Might Go Back to Prison; Missing Teen Found Alive; Kelsey Smith Murder Case

Aired June 08, 2007 - 06:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: -- O'Hare airport that ended up having to be canceled. We're going to check in with the airport to see how things are today and also Chad Myers is going to give us a look ahead to the weekend.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It's not a good day to be flying through O'Hare yesterday. News about President Bush this morning forced to sit out the G8 summit in Germany because of a stomach virus. He did hold some private meetings though, he met with Nicolas Sarkozy of France and is expected to meet with Vladimir Putin as well. So, everything should be OK as he makes his way to Poland later on today. Look at this.

CHETRY: Speaking of OK, this certainly wasn't. This was a big fight in Alabama on the Senate floor of the state legislature there. Did you see that punch? That was Republican Senator hitting the Democratic rival in the face there and then a lot of people jumping in. It was a big fight. We're going to tell you exactly what sparked it and whether or not they're going to be pressing charges in Alabama today.

ROBERTS: It looked like the Taiwanese legislature there for a second, didn't they?

CHETRY: Yeah.

ROBERTS: We start on Capitol Hill this morning, where the immigration bill is suddenly dead and the blame game is on, after two weeks of debate, months of negotiating, the bill fell short of moving forward last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On this vote, the yeas are 45, the nays are 50. Three fifths of the Senate is duly chosen and sworn, not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Sixty votes were needed to end debate and move to a final vote, but as you heard, the bill fell 15 votes short. Andrea Koppel is on Capitol Hill this morning and Andrea, is this really the end of the line or as Harry Reid has suggested, could this come back?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, I think at this moment, John, for all intents and purposes, the bill is dead, at least for the time being. We heard for months now from senators on both sides of the aisle that this was going to be the last best chance to get a bill this controversial through the Senate. Still as you mentioned, senators in both parties are still trying to hold out, at least a glimmer of hope that they will be able to bridge differences in coming weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: I have every desire to complete this legislation. We all have to work, the president included, to figure out a way to get this bill passed.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: I didn't feel I could support (INAUDIBLE) at this point, although I certainly could at some point, provided we had enough votes on the amendments for which there was a demand on our side of the aisle, but we weren't there yet. We could have finished this bill in a couple of more days, in my judgment.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: But the Democratic Leader Harry Reid refused to give Republicans the time they say they needed to whittle down their list of amendments and in the end, the bill went down, 38 Republicans refused to cut off debate, 11 Democrats refused to cut off debate, as well. John?

ROBERTS: So Andrea this is a pretty big setback for President Bush who's in Europe right now, he'll be coming back next week. Are Republicans expecting to hear from him about why this whole thing went down?

KOPPEL: I think a lot of Republicans are wondering, John, why they didn't hear from him yesterday. White House aides admitted as much, that the president didn't make any phone calls. You're absolutely right, this was a top domestic priority for President Bush and certainly for someone whose approval ratings are hovering somewhere in the low 30s, it would have been a much-needed boost. I can tell you there may not be -- this may not be the end of bad news. Next up in issue on the Senate floor today, a no confidence vote against Attorney General Gonzales. John?

ROBERTS: Well President Bush was a little busy yesterday trying to avoid a cold war, but certainly people were looking for a little more support from him on this immigration bill. Andrea Koppel, thanks, we'll talk to you a little bit later on. And we will also talk with senators coming up, to see if there is any hope left for the bill or how they move on from here. Democratic Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado joins us in our 7:00 a.m. eastern hour, Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas who is one of the original negotiators of the bill, will join us in our 8:00 a.m. eastern hour.

CHETRY: Well Mother Nature seems to be throwing everything she's got at the Midwest this morning. Baseball sized hail, tornadoes and heavy rain. At least five twisters touched down across Wisconsin, including one that tore apart a resort. Kayaks were thrown more than 30 feet into trees and one mobile home was wrecked, other buildings also damaged. We're taking in some i-Report images, this is hail from Wisconsin Rapids, look at it coming down there all over the asphalt and the grass. Some of the chunks, at least according to our i- Reporters, there you see one the size of a baseball.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: A fired up judge is demanding Paris Hilton come back to court this morning. She served three days of an already shortened sentence before heading home to her mansion under house arrest. Sibila Vargas is live in Hollywood, she's got more on the growing backlash. Sibila, any idea of whether this judge is going to order her back to jail or he just wants to talk to her?

SIBILA VARGAS: Oh, absolutely, they're ordering her back to jail as early as 9:00 a.m. this morning here in downtown Los Angeles. But the honeymoon, indeed, might be over for Paris Hilton. A lot of people angry with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department to have her serve her time at home, but now we're being told that she may not be wanting to get too comfortable with her surroundings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are the flavors that she orders when she comes to our store.

VARGAS (voice-over): It looks like there is a party at Paris's with this complimentary cup cake delivery to her home on the day of her release from jail. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department which made the decision to reassign her to house arrest, didn't get into details about the medical reason for the Hollywood socialite's release.

STEVE WHITMORE, LOS ANGELES CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: I can't specifically talk about the medical situation other than to say that that, yes, played a part in this.

VARGAS: Hilton will now serve 40 days at home wearing a monitoring bracelet, her behind-bars sentence cut short by 20 days prompted words like miscarriage of justice from black community leaders in Los Angeles.

NAJEE ALI, DIR. OF ISLAMIC HOPE: Their decision to release Paris Hilton is a slap in the face to every inmate, every family of a loved one who has inmates that is still currently incarcerated in the L.A. County Jail.

VARGAS: On his radio show, civil rights activist Al Sharpton joined those crying foul.

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: If Paris Hilton was a white coal miner's daughter in West Virginia or if she was a platinum selling black hip-hop artist, would she have been treated the same way? I think this is a glaring example of the disparity in the judicial system in this country.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: And a lot of people echoing that sentiment. City attorney Rocky Delgadio, spearheading this thing to get Paris Hilton to court today to determine if she will, indeed, go back to prison. Last night L.A.'s superior court issued this statement again explaining how disdainful they feel about the L.A. County Sheriff's Department's decision. "This was a unilateral decision by the sheriff's department. Judge Michael T. Sauer, who presided in the case, indicated to the sheriff's department that he would not change his order absent of a written application supported by substantial facts. No application was made. The original sentencing order was never modified." So, again, she will be at court today, downtown Los Angeles at 9:00 a.m. and we'll see if Paris Hilton does indeed go back to jail.

ROBERTS: Sibila, did we ever find out what the medical condition was that had the sheriff's office release her from custody into house arrest?

VARGAS: No, they never disclosed what it was, only to say that it wasn't a staph infection. However, tmz.com, the celebrity Web site, did say that they did speak with law enforcement officials, and basically it was a psychological condition, not a physical but a psychological condition. Apparently she had a very high end psychologist go into the prison, into her jail cell and she was very depressed and she said that she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. So apparently Paris Hilton did not like being in a 12 by 8 foot cell, as I imagine a lot of people probably wouldn't.

ROBERTS: Not a lot of people like jail. Sibila Vargas, thanks very much. And the Reverend Al Sharpton wants to meet with the L.A. county sheriff about Paris's release, he's going to join us live at 7:30 eastern this morning. We will ask him what he wants to say to the sheriff.

CHETRY: Looking forward to that. Well he's accused of hiding $90,000 of bribe money in his freezing, now Congressman William Jefferson's assets are frozen. A federal judge is keeping Jefferson from using nearly $500,000 and about 33 million shares of corporate stock. Jefferson is to be arraigned this morning in Washington on bribery, racketeering and money laundering charges. Prosecutors say he promoted the sale of telecommunications equipment in West Africa in return for stocks as well as cash.

ROBERTS: The 15-year-old apparently held captive for a year in Connecticut still has not been reunited with her family as police try to figure out exactly what happened to her. Danielle Cramer is being held by child welfare, where police have had some limited conversations with her. They believe 41-year-old Adam Gault brainwashed her into staying in his house, keeping her at times in a hidden room under the stairs. He and two other women in the house were arraigned yesterday. Danielle's mother spoke out after the court appearance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JENNIFER HESSE, MOTHER OF TEEN FOUND ALIVE: I could never describe the horror of losing a child and having to maintain a family at the same time and continuing to go on and not every parent gets this opportunity to have a happy ending.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: It's a story that still has a lot of questions surrounding it. We'll try to get some answers at 6:30 this morning eastern time when Jennifer Hesse, her husband and the family attorney join us live for an exclusive interview only here on CNN.

CHETRY: It was a much sadder ending for a different family who was missing their daughter and there's some disturbing developments today in Kansas about the kidnap and murder of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith. 26-year-old Edwin Hall appeared before a judge on closed circuit TV to hear the charges against him. There's also news overnight that Hall appeared to have a MySpace page where he called himself Jack and that he's a sweet troubled soul whose hobbies include harming small children. That page has since been removed from MySpace. We're also learning now how police were tipped off to Hall. His neighbors recognized him from those well publicized surveillance pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMERON MIGUES, SUSPECT'S NEIGHBOR: That was exactly what she said. She said, I saw the picture and she goes it looks just like our neighbor. We both just kind of laughed it off at first, and then when I saw the picture of the truck and she mentioned it, then it was like well --

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: That was his neighbor talking about his wife who said, honey, I think I recognize the guy on this Target surveillance tape. Police say Hall's truck can also be seen in the surveillance video from the store. There you see it. That's the parking lot where Kelsey was taken. In some video, it's hard to make out, but you can actually see Kelsey being taken.

ROBERTS: President Bush is not feeling well this morning. His spokesman says he's got a stomach problem, maybe a virus. He's staying in his room and skipping working sessions at the G8 summit in Germany today. He did meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier. When the G8 wraps up today, President Bush is supposed to go to Poland and then wrap up his trip in Italy before heading back home. The summit did produce a thaw in the cold war between the United States and Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested using a Russian radar site in Azerbaijan(ph) rather than install a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic and put missiles in Poland. President Bush described the offer as, quote, interesting.

CHETRY: A slug fest on the Alabama senate floor, it's all caught on tape. Take a look. This is Republican Charles Bishop and Democrat Lowell Baron exchanging punches. Well they say exchanging, but it looks like he was the only one that actually landed one. Bishop is accusing Baron of name calling. He denies doing anything to provoke the smack down and now he's deciding whether or not he's going to file criminal charges. Bishop says he regretted throwing the punch, but he didn't apologize. Republicans were upset that Baron hadn't put on an election reform bill on their agenda.

ROBERTS: A tribute to the Virginia Tech victims tops our quick hits now. The school is building a permanent memorial that was inspired by one created by students in the days after the shootings. There will be 32 engraved stones, one for each of the victims.

If your summer vacation is all planned and you're still waiting for that passport, don't sweat it. The government is so bogged down with passport applications, they're giving travelers to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean a break. Today they're expected to announce a suspension in new passport rules for people with applications pending through the end of September.

Thirteen minutes after the hour. The collapse of the immigration bill, did the Democrats drop the ball? We'll ask one of their biggest supporters, coming up next. AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning is on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes now after the hour. Strong winds and thunderstorms slammed Illinois. The nasty weather forced airlines at O'Hare International Airport to cancel more than 400 flights yesterday. Marcella Raymond is with our affiliate WGN, she's live inside one of the terminals there at O'Hare to tell us if flights are taking off this morning. Marcella, are they trying to get back to normal, are they back to normal?

MARCELLA RAYMOND, WGN: They are and you know what, there are just a few flights canceled right now John, so that's the good news. And there are a few that are delayed as well, mostly to the west of Chicago. So, the situation is getting back on track. You know how often this happens at O'Hare, so they're kind of used to this by now. Passengers though, airlines still playing catch-up right now. Security checkpoint doesn't look too bad, but if you move on down the terminal here at American, you can see that the lines way down at the end of the ticket counter are definitely getting busier. And because those 400 flights were canceled yesterday, thousands of passengers were stuck in the airport or the city, cots laid out all in the downstairs area of O'Hare just in case folks couldn't get a hotel room. So it was very busy down there. Not the greatest place to get a good night's sleep. And you couldn't even drive to your final destination. One guy I talked with was trying to get to Grand Rapids, which is about four hours from here. There were no rentals available and he couldn't get out of O'Hare until 7:30 tonight. So, I haven't been able to find him this morning at O'Hare, but he is not having a fun time. In fact, he called his whole experience here in Chicago, hell, I think, is what he said. John, back to you.

ROBERTS: That would probably be putting it lightly. Well good news there that things are getting back to normal so people flying through O'Hare today may not be too delayed. Marcella Raymond from WGN, thanks very much.

CHETRY: Well it was one of the president's top legislative priorities. It looks though like the immigration reform bill will not be happening anytime soon. Senator Harry Reid promising to move on to other issues if the senate could not agree to stop debate on immigration and when they tried to vote on that last night, it failed. Rachel Maddow from Air America joins us this morning. First of all, I want to ask you about whether or not you're surprised that this bill, this grand compromise as they put it, flopped.

RACHEL MADDOW, AIR AMERICA RADIO: Not at all. I'm not an I- told-you-so kind of radio host. But I told you so. When this first happened, when they first announced this bargain, my take on it on my radio show at the time was, this is not going to happen. The only thing I'm surprised about is that they weren't even able to get it out of the senate. I thought for sure it would just fail in the House. But the senate is where they brokered this compromise and they couldn't even get it done there.

CHETRY: Yeah and it was strange because even people who helped broker it were the ones who voted against stopping discussion. Republican leaders today are saying though, we would have eventually relented if we had just been given a little more time. In fact, Senator John Cornyn, who we're going to be speaking with in our 8 o'clock hour, said quote, "I simply do not understand why some of my colleagues want to jam this legislation through the congress without a serious and thorough examination of its consequences." Did they just try to move it ahead too quickly?

MADDOW: I don't think so. When you look at the list of amendments that were considered, the list of amendments that they did vote on that really fundamentally changed the character of the bill after it had been worked out as this delicate compromise, I think the (INAUDIBLE) vote was inevitable and I think it was inevitably going to fail once they'd allowed those changes for it. This is an issue where the people who feel most strongly about it, who have power in Washington and within their parties have actually more of an interest I think in nothing passing so they have something to keep complaining about. The people who are really going to benefit from the issue becoming new law, from having new policy on this, are immigrants and people who advocate for the rights of immigrants, and they do not have enough power to be a driving force to make this happen. It's the know nothings, it's the people who really don't want an immigration solution who are really mostly just anti-immigrant, I think that drove this.

CHETRY: But it was not just harsh criticism from those on the right, it was actually -- there was a lot of liberal criticism of this bill as well, for, of course, opposite reasons. It was the president who said, look, let's stop scaring people on both sides and get something done, yet he was nowhere to be found yesterday in terms of making some behind-the-scenes calls. Do you think that he could have done more?

MADDOW: I think he could have done more but I think the president has low approval ratings and the president while he is the leader of his party, wasn't going to bring along, for example, all of the Republican presidential candidates who all railed against this bill, all but John McCain in the most recent presidential debate. I think that right now the power on this issue in terms of rhetoric and political points is among those who want there to be something to complain about with immigration. Immigration has become an issue that is very easy for politicians to blame all sorts of economic woes on. If there's no political solution, they can keep doing that complaining and they can keep doing that, kind of whipping people into a frenzy on the issue. A solution isn't actually in their political interest, even though it's in the country's interest.

CHETRY: It's strange though, because they're hearing over and over again from their constituents on both sides that the American people want this resolved, so it is unfortunate. Rachel Maddow from Air America, thanks for being with us.

MADDOW: Thanks for having me.

ROBERTS: Twenty-one minutes now after the hour. The first shuttle mission of the year topping our quick hits now. The weather is good, "Atlantis" is ready to go. The shuttle was damaged in a hail storm you'll remember back in February. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:38 eastern time this evening.

You've heard of Jesus and the Virgin Mary popping up on everything from tortillas to trees, but here is a new one. Folks living in a Chicago suburb say this is the image of the town's late mayor, Donald Stevens. They say that Stevens saved this particular sycamore from the chipper twice and now he's watching over it. You need to have an imagination.

CHETRY: That's a stretch.

ROBERTS: Yeah, a little bit of a stretch there. They're bringing sexy back in Chicago. Remember this racy billboard for a divorce attorney? The windy city ripped it down, but a new version is literally hitting the streets today. We'll show it to you straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

CHETRY: Why do we have to blur out the guy's chest?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Living like a millionaire for a fraction of the cost on this week's fortune first. If you've ever dreamed of sailing the seven seas in a lavish yacht but thought you just couldn't afford it, there may be a way to make your dreams come true. It's called fractional ownership. An expensive asset like a yacht is divided into shares and sold to individual owners. A fractional share usually gives an owner certain privileges, such as a number of hours, days or weeks to use it.

EUGENIA LEVENSON, REPORTER, FORTUNE: People who buy into fractional ownership want to pursue a passion or a hobby without the responsibilities of ownership, without the maintenance, the upkeep and they also don't want to tie up a lot of capital. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While you can buy a slice of a vineyard, destination club or helicopter, you can also just test drive some luxuries like cars, jewelry and even designer hand bags.

LEVENSON: If you want variety, this is something that a lot of people find very attractive about these programs. One of them is called from bags to riches, it rents all kinds of designer bags. And a second company called bag, borrow or steal has actually added jewelry to its line. So you can rent jewelry to go with your latest purse. Our society really is now focused on experience rather than necessarily ownership. We always crave the newest, the best, the most updated version of whatever it is we have.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, the prognosis is in for a controversial "Grey's Anatomy" star, your quick hits now. ABC deciding not to renew the contract of Isaiah Washington. You may remember Isaiah Washington checked into rehab earlier this year after using a derogatory term to describe a gay cast member.

Singer George Michael will be sentenced today in London, pleading guilty to being unfit to drive after police found him slumped over the steering wheel of his car. Tests found drugs in his system.

ROBERTS: Well those creative divorce attorneys in Chicago are back at it. Their slogan, Life is short, get a divorce, is back with a new ad and some more racy pictures. The ad is going to be displayed on the sides of trucks that will roam around the windy city. You'll remember their first billboard was taken down by the city saying it didn't have a permit. We spoke with Attorney Corri Fetman last month about the goal of her ad campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORRI FETMAN, DIVORCE ATTORNEY: We're telling people to take stock of their life. If you're in an unhappy marriage, then be honest with yourself, you're not doing anyone a favor. Your life is very short, it could be over with in an instant.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So take stock of your life, and if you don't have any of those pictures on the billboard in your life, well it may be time for a change, right?

CHETRY: We said to her, hey, is this false advertising, so if you get a divorce you end up with that? I don't think so.

CARRIE LEE: Equal opportunity, a man and a woman, a lot of things aren't, so.

CHETRY: You're right. Twenty-seven past the hour now and Carrie Lee is minding your business. Good to see you. LEE: Good to see you, as well, happy Friday to both of you. Mortgage rates on the rise once again for the fourth straight week. Freddie Mac reporting the 30-year fixed rate loan is now averaging 6.53 percent. That's the highest level we've seen since August. It's up from 6.42 percent last week. Although a year ago, the same 30-year fixed rate was 6.62 percent. So a little bit lower than the year ago period. Basically mortgage rates are rising because of economic strength outside of the slumping housing market. Case in point, the strong jobs report for May that we got last week. Basically, the economic strength is what's propelling mortgage rates higher, but that is what has been pushing the market, stock market lower. That's because investors are inclined to think that Fed Chief Ben Bernanke and team will be less likely to cut interest rates. In fact, he's even indicated that a rate increase could be in the future. So Kiran and John, the Dow down over 400 points in the last three days, down almost 200 in the past two days, yesterday alone. So, we'll see if so far it's looking like a weak open for this morning, as well. So it could be four for four.

CHETRY: All right, thanks Carrie.

Missing for an entire year, her family having no idea where she was and then she's found alive, hidden under a staircase. Well now there are three people facing charges in Danielle Cramer's disappearance. We're going to be talking to the teen's parents, next.

Also, fighting nature's furry, new technology that could keep you safe and your home standing in a tornado.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even if the sirens go off, we don't have to worry about it. There will be damage, but not as much as it is happening now.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Chris Lawrence takes us into this cutting edge storm simulator, straight ahead. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning is here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Police are investigating whether a missing teen found under a staircase in Connecticut had inappropriate relations with adults in the house. Three people have been charged in the case -- 41-year-old Adam Gault; his common-law wife, Ann Murphy; and another won, 26-year-old Kimberly Cray. Fifteen-year-old Danielle Cramer is in the custody of child welfare officials at present, but her parents are just relieved to have found out that she's still alive.

Her mother and stepfather, Jennifer and Jamie Hesse, and their attorney, Marc Needelman, are joining us now this morning for an interview that you'll see only here on CNN.

Folks, thanks very much for joining us.

Let me ask you, first of all, Jennifer, your thoughts on having your daughter back after almost a year of being away?

JENNIFER HESSE, DANIELLE CRAMER'S MOTHER: I'm ecstatic. I never thought that I would see her alive. I am so relieved that she is, and that she's in good hands right now. And I'm very happy to have my daughter back.

ROBERTS: All right.

Jamie, any idea when your daughter will be -- or your stepdaughter, at least, will be returned to you?

JAMIE HESSE, STEPFATHER OF DANIELLE CRAMER: We hope as soon as possible. There are some things that they want to test out and make sure that she's OK, and we'll go from there.

ROBERTS: Right.

MARC NEEDELMAN, ATTORNEY FOR THE HESSE FAMILY: There's a reintegration.

ROBERTS: A -- can you...

NEEDELMAN: There's a reintegration process.

ROBERTS: Do you want to explain that for us?

NEEDELMAN: Sure. She's been through a terrible ordeal, and the professionals want to do whatever they can first to try to understand what she's been through. And once they have a handle on it, they can begin to provide her with the support and treatment to reintegrate, come back to a real family situation.

ROBERTS: All right.

Jennifer, as you said, you're just really happy to have her back. But can I ask you, why did she run away in the first place?

JENNIFER HESSE: We're really not sure at this point why. She's always been a very good child. She's always had really high marks in school, perfect attendance. We're not clear as to why she decided to leave.

ROBERTS: There are some pretty...

JENNIFER HESSE: We're still working on that one.

ROBERTS: There are some pretty inflammatory charges that are being thrown around by the other side in this case. Michael Georgetti, who's an attorney for Kimberly Cray, who is one of the people in custody, said that she was running away from a bad situation at home.

Take a quick listen to what he said yesterday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL GEORGETTI, KIMBERLY CRAY'S ATTORNEY: What you're going to find is this is not a case of kidnapping. What you're going to find is this is a case of individuals trying to protect a young girl from being sexually assaulted and physically assaulted.

QUESTION: By whom?

QUESTION: By whom?

GEORGETTI: By individuals that I'd rather not discuss at this point.

QUESTION: By her family?

GEORGETTI: I'd rather not discuss that at this point.

QUESTION: By people...

QUESTION: Someone in the house?

GEORGETTI: By -- no. By individuals in the home where she originally resided.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So, I mean, some pretty strong inferences there.

Jennifer, what do you say in response to that?

NEEDELMAN: Well, if I could interrupt, you know, Mr. Georgetti has a job. He's a defense attorney. He's paid to try to create doubt in terms of the guilt of his client or clients.

It's a total fabrication. The Bloomfield Police Department have been involved in the investigation for over a year.

They publicly stated yesterday in no uncertain terms that Jennifer and Jamie have absolutely no responsibility, have committed no crimes or engaged in any kind of impropriety. So, it's a lot of hogwash. That's what it is.

ROBERTS: Jennifer, Georgeetti also said that during the almost year that she was away from you, Danielle was free to come and go, attended school under her own name, even had a cell phone.

Any evidence to support that?

JENNIFER HESSE: There is no evidence to support that. She says otherwise.

JAMIE HESSE: If I may, when they were asked about what school they were attending, they couldn't give an honest answer as to a name for a school.

ROBERTS: Right.

Well, folks, we certainly hope that there is a positive outcome to all of this.

Any idea how long this reintegration process is going to take, Mr. Needelman?

NEEDELMAN: Well, the authorities are really moving slowly. It's been a year. They really haven't gotten a complete handle on what she's been through.

That's the first step. And mom and dad say, look, if it takes a few more days, an extra week...

JENNIFER HESSE: We'll wait.

NEEDELMAN: ... to give her the support and the help, they can see her. The family will be involved in the whole process. And look, as you just said, it's a happy ending. There aren't always these type of happy endings, and we're just all smiles here.

ROBERTS: All right.

Well, folks, very good luck to you. Thanks very much for joining us. Appreciate it.

JENNIFER HESSE: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Jennifer and Jamie Hesse, Marc Needleman.

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