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Possible Break in Amber Alert Case; Sheriff: Suspect's Car Has Been Found; Son "Very Scared" of Deputies at Door; Obama Press Conference Soon

Aired August 09, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking news here at the bottom of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We're showing you a picture here. These are live pictures out of San Diego as we are awaiting the sheriff to come forward and speak here as news has broken in that Amber Alert story that we've been talking about the last couple of days. They've been looking for this suspected murder, James DiMaggio, and possibly this young girl who disappeared just a couple of days ago here. So we should be getting some new information because the news is the fact that they have found a car that is similar in make and model to that of James DiMaggio up in Idaho.

So over the last couple of days, this Amber Alert has shifted from where the story emanated in southern California, northward toward Oregon. And now the latest is specifically Idaho.

We have Miguel Marquez who is standing by for us in Los Angeles. He's been working this story. We have another correspondent there standing by for when this news conference begins.

But, Miguel, just begin with what you know. Tell me about this car that they found in Idaho.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the biggest break in this case so far. There have been so many tips that have come in and this one is in an area called the River of No Return Wilderness Area. It's about 50 miles in a very, very remote area near Cascade, Idaho.

Authorities saying that the car matches the description of James DiMaggio's. They have not said whether or not the license plate is the same. They have also not said what sort of shape the car itself is in. They also have not recovered anybody in the car or around the area from what they're saying so far.

I do know that law enforcement resources are from several different agencies, federal down to local, are rushing to this area now to try to close off areas into and out of this very rough area to hopefully stop anyone from leaving that area, if indeed they are in there. But at this hour, Mr. DiMaggio, Hannah Anderson, the 16-year-old that's believed to be in his custody right now, in his hands, and Ethan Anderson,

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- to hopefully stop anyone from leaving that area, if indeed they are in there. But at this hour, Mr. DiMaggio, Hannah Anderson, the 16-year-old believed to be in his custody right now, in his hands, and Ethan Anderson who may also be with him, none of them have been spotted. None of them found.

But this car certainly the biggest break in this case so far. And I can tell you this. The sheriff himself will be coming out to address the media here shortly, which is a very telling sign that they are -- that they are on to something -- Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: That we could have some significant news. A couple of questions for you, one, you had mentioned when we spoke earlier the possibility of explosives in or near this car that's been found in Idaho. Tell me about that.

MARQUEZ: Yes. As authorities have gone through Mr. DiMaggio's house in the aftermath of the fire and the deaths in that house, they have found increased evidence, they say, that he was building explosives and evidence that he may have rigged the car or been -- try to figure out how to rig the car. That has caused them concern. That either he would ditch the car somewhere like a remote wilderness area and rig it so that it would explode like an improvised explosive device like you would see in Iraq or Afghanistan so that it would further complicate law enforcement or he could have just been using it to go out in a blaze of glory or to protect himself or to keep authorities at bay.

This is a guy, it's a shocking case. This is a guy who nobody, nobody I've talked to said they would ever expect this out of this guy. The family compared him to Jim Carey. He was this lovable, laughable sort of silly guy. In the last six or eight months, though, they say his character has changed. His physicality has changed. He got very, very thin in the last several months. They're not sure what that is about. Clearly, authorities are taking this with the utmost of seriousness -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: We've been showing this picture from Facebook with James DiMaggio sitting alongside him is 16-year-old Hannah who has been missing. To your point, we heard that incredibly emotional interview from -- between Chris Cuomo and between Mr. Anderson, Hannah's father. And he just sort of reinstated -- or reinforced your point, that this was a very, very close friend. But at the same time, there's been news over the last couple of days, Miguel, that one of the friends apparently said that this man had a crush on this young woman, correct?

MARQUEZ: Yes. This is something that we also heard from the family. I spoke to several members of the family. And they said over the last few years, there were worrying signs that he was spending more time with the kids. That he was -- with Hannah. That as she began to blossom -- she's a very, very lovely 16-year-old, very, very popular. She was on the cheerleading squad, lots of friends. This is a guy who knew her from just about the time of her birth. He watched her grow up. In the last six months, even in the last couple of years family members saying there seemed to be an unhealthy relation -- untoward type of relationship between him and her -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Miguel, stand by for me. We are continuing to watch this live picture. We are awaiting potentially huge, huge news in this amber alert case as this car matching the make and model of Joe DiMaggio has been found. Quick break, back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Back to the breaking news. Here he is, the sheriff, possible huge, huge news in the amber alert case. Let's watch this live.

SHERIFF BILL GORE, SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: -- search for James DiMaggio. On Wednesday, a group of horseback riders in cascade -- or about 70 miles northeast of Boise, Idaho, in -- outside of Cascade, Idaho, came across a man and a woman that they believed after subsequent discussions when they returned were possibly James DiMaggio and Hannah Anderson, the two individuals we've been obviously looking for the last week.

When they -- after they encountered these people, at the time they encountered them, they didn't know that there was an amber alert issued for these two people. They came back late Wednesday night and upon seeing some news of the -- of the missing Hannah and DiMaggio, contacted local law enforcement and led to a subsequent search for that vehicle in the area. This morning, about 8:00, the blue Nissan Versa was discovered covered in brush. The license plates had been removed.

But local law enforcement in the area were able to confirm through the VIN number that the vehicle did belong to DiMaggio. Local law enforcement in the area, the Valley County and Ata County Sheriff's Department, Idaho state police, the FBI, the U.S. Marshal Service, Customs and Border Protection, have all joined in the search for the missing Hannah and James DiMaggio. It is a wilderness area and extremely difficult terrain to navigate.

Like you say, the campers or the hikers that came across them on Wednesday were on horseback and didn't return back until late Wednesday night. We've been in contact -- I've been in contact personally with the Valley County Sheriff, Patty Bolen this morning. They're coordinating the investigation and will be working with all of the resources brought to bear on the search. Again, it is a very difficult terrain and we have a lot of resources.

And we're bringing -- we're sending some of our investigators from San Diego up there to assist with the search. The car will be examined by bomb and arson technicians in Idaho so they can render that vehicle safe and then obviously further forensic examination will be done. I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did these witnesses give any indication of the condition of the 16-year-old girl?

GORE: From the account we received, they both appeared to be in good health.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was she being held against her will according to them?

BALDWIN: OK, this is pretty huge. Some of the details that are coming out of the sheriff, the biggest thing, the fact that we have now heard from folks on horseback midweek in this very, very rugged terrain area of Idaho where they did, in fact, see who they later realized upon returning home and watching the news was James DiMaggio and Hannah Anderson who police have been looking for, for a number of days.

Miguel Marquez, let me bring you back in. Really what I heard is the fact that they saw this car. They know it's James DiMaggio's car, but he had covered it up.

MARQUEZ: Look, my blood is running cold right now. The idea that you had on Wednesday horseback riders who came across these people, thought, a little strange, two people out here in the middle of nowhere. Wednesday night, get back, see the amber alert, and realize who they were. And now James DiMaggio and Hannah Anderson are somewhere in the wilderness in Idaho.

It's -- it's frightening beyond belief at the moment. Covered by brush, the license plates removed. They were able to get the VIN number so we have a positive ID on the car. We know that the ids of the two individuals they saw, what the sheriff did say, the most important question is, were they OK, they seemed to be in good health. It's not clear that she was struggling. It's not clear she was trying to get away or trying to signal them in any way.

Perhaps she was -- if she witnessed whatever happened in that house, I'm sure she was scared to death. Having talked to the family so much over the last few days and knowing the story so well, I don't know what's going on in their heads, but my heart goes out to them right now because this is a very, very frightening situation.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. Fingers crossed that this ends well for this family and that they find Hannah Anderson alive. Miguel Marquez, thank you very much. Big news there coming out of San Diego as they are looking for these two people, very, very hard. Miguel, thank you.

Now, coming up next --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're opening the door. Please stop. We're opening the door. Please stop. OK. Please stop. You're being -- you're being filmed. Please stop. Please stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Authorities raid a Georgia home in the wee hours of the morning. But was this raid justified? We will hear from the side of the sheriff's deputies and from the two people who were inside that home. The voice you just heard will join me live in Studio 7. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Law enforcement. They're meant to serve and protect, right? One family in Georgia says they need protection from the officers that came to their door just last month. Deputies from DeKalb County, Georgia, that's in the Atlanta area, had a warrant for this mother. Eight of them showed up at this front door 1:30 in the morning last month pounding on the door.

Family says they tried to figure out why the deputies were there in the first place. They even picked up the phone, called 911, got no specifics. So for more than 40 minutes the mom decides to open the door, but is terrified as far as what would happen next. What was her warrant for? Not murder. Not drugs, but an overdue court fee, a 1,000 bucks. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lord, please. Lord, please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Send Satan back to the depths from which he came! Send Satan back to the depths from which he came. I haven't done anything! I haven't done anything!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not doing anything! We're not doing anything!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office is investigating the deputies. A spokesman tells CNN this. Quote, "The warrant was for the correct address. The video is misleading. No excessive force was used. But the cursing is against protocol. When deputies arrived, the lights went off. People were peeking through the windows. It took 45 minutes for those inside to open the door.

So joining me now next to me, Tanya Griffin, who was arrested July 26th. This was that day. You've paid that $1,000 fee since.

NATANIA GRIFFIN, HOME RAIDED BY DEPUTIES: I did.

BALDWIN: Also with her, her son, Donovan Hall, who shot some of the video. We hear some of your voice there and Tanya miller, who is joining us here, attorney here to walk us through legally what's OK. So welcome to all of you. Let me begin with a question I know, it's the easy question. I'm just going to ask this. In the very beginning when you hear knocks on your door and you know it is police. I'm thinking if I have nothing to hide, you open the door. Why didn't you?

GRIFFIN: You want to speak first of all? DONOVAN HALL, UPLOADED YOUTUBE VIDEO OF RAID: I'll speak first. I was the first person to notice the banging that was on the door. It wasn't -- it wasn't a knocking. You know what I mean? It's a difference between a police officer coming and knocking on your door and someone outside the door banging the door down, screaming, cursing, open the f--ing door -- you know what I mean? In the beginning once I heard these sounds, it immediately confused me as to what was going on. You know, so I responded, why are you here? Please tell us what's going on. They would never respond with an answer.

BALDWIN: They never explained why they were there -- Tanya.

TANYA MILLER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. So officers who have an arrest warrant, they can come to your house and seek to execute that arrest warrant, right? The question becomes, at what point do they exceed the force necessary to do that? Now, I would advise people that when the police knock at your door and you've been told that the police are there lawfully, you should open the door. The question is not whether or not they did what they were supposed to do.

The question is did they go further than what they needed to do in order to execute this warrant. We hear them cursing. We hear them threatening to tased people who are already handcuffed. They make entry into the house and question these young men for a significant period of time after they've already executed the arrest warrant.

BALDWIN: We hear your voice, comparing it to that of the deputies, very calm. What's going on? At one point, you know, I've watched this whole video. You're doing the Lord's Prayer. You're praying. You're crossing yourself. You said you thought you could die.

GRIFFIN: I absolutely did.

BALDWIN: Why?

GRIFFIN: I felt like this because we had a previous experience with the police in which they came to my home three days after I purchased it, profiled me, telling me they thought I was a sovereign citizen because I looked too young to own a house of that caliber and came -- we called them back two months later for an incident that occurred. They busted in my house without a warrant. Body slammed me to the floor.

Four officers, two of them broke my thumbs while one held a gun to my head. I have no trust. For the past two years, I've been requesting an investigation for internal affairs. I have been going back and forth with the police department in DeKalb County. They've done nothing but attempt to cover it up.

BALDWIN: So you're frustrated. This is a separate incident. CNN hasn't confirmed that. This is just according to you.

GRIFFIN: Sure.

BALDWIN: Let me end this by saying quickly, what are you doing with this tape? Are you doing anything legally with this?

GRIFFIN: Absolutely. We want the United States Attorney, Eric Holder, to come in and put a spectre of light and look into this because we can't trust DeKalb County to police themselves. Just based on their conduct, it lets you know that they lack professional conduct and professional ethics. They're not following the standards and procedures set forth for the police. We cannot trust them to police themselves. If they feel like they're justified in their actions, let the federal government come in and look. Let the Department of Justice come in and investigate what was done.

BALDWIN: Ten seconds. Do they have a case?

MILLER: Well, I don't know. I mean, it's too soon to really tell. It looks really bad on this tape. The question is whether or not they were excessive. They certainly looked like bullies and, you know, in the court of public opinion it really looks bad.

BALDWIN: Tanya, Donovan, quickly.

HALL: Let's make no mistake. They say, you know, you can only hear cursing, but it was a lot of excessive force. Officers stood on top of my head. One officer had his knee on my back. Two officers are bending my arms backwards. A shorter officer stands on top of me with both feet. That is extremely forceful. Once I was handcuffed.

BALDWIN: They weren't looking for you. DeKalb County sheriff says it was not excessive force when they came in the house. Just their side. Thank you.

Coming up, we're minutes away from a news conference from the president. President Obama set to answer a wide variety of questions there from the east room of the White House. We're live in Washington, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We want to welcome our viewers to the CNN NEWSROOM, our viewers here in the United States and around the world. President Barack Obama is about to meet reporters in the east room of the White House. He's expected in his opening statement to announce some changes to government spying, to government surveillance programs. Changes designed to reassure a skeptical American public.

Polls show the president's popularity at the same time slipping somewhat. Our most recent CNN survey back in mid-June had his approval rating dropping to 45 percent. Several newer polls have put it even lower than that. We have assembled a team of reporters and news analysts to report and assess what's going on.

Let's go to chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin. She broke the news about the changes in the surveillance regime, the explanation the president is about to give. Jessica, tell us what you know.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the president will come out and make a statement about a new transparency measures designed to, as we're told, improve public trust in our surveillance programs. This comes after officials here at the white house have held several meetings which we have previously reported on in the last weeks. Not just with people on the Hill, but also with privacy groups and organizations, internet groups and others who have had a stake in this issue and have been deeply concerned.

As you know, there's been a heated discussion about all these issues ever since Edward Snowden went public with so many of these NSA documents. Some nine weeks ago. But while this will be the topic at the top of the press conference, expect the president to take a host of questions on a far range of topics. He has not held one of these east room press conferences by our counts since January actually by CBS' News Mark Knoller's account. He's the unofficial historian smiles over here.

We expect the president to get questions on the Moscow summit that was just postponed with Vladimir Putin and the gridlock ongoing on the Hill, the upcoming debt fight they'll face with Congress and so many more questions -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Guys, stand by. I know you're getting ready to ask a question yourself, Jessica. Jill Dougherty, our foreign affairs correspondent is over at the Russian Embassy right now here in Washington. Some high level meetings between U.S. and Russian officials, we do expect the president will be asked about his decision to cancel that one on one meeting with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow just before the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. What's the latest? What are you getting over there, Jill?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we're right outside of the embassy. Just a few minutes ago the car of Foreign Minister Lavrov also carrying the defense minister came into the Russian embassy. They're going to be giving a news conference in just a few minutes. They will be summing up what happened at that meeting over at the State Department, the secretary of state, secretary of defense, and the Russian officials meeting to discuss this relationship and hopefully something for the G-20.

But the relationship really is having a lot of difficulty, primarily because of the Snowden affair, the NSA leaker. There is a raft of other issues that they don't see eye to eye on. I want to hear from this -- from both gentlemen what they think was accomplished, if anything.

BLITZER: We'll hear from the president. Presumably, he'll be asked about U.S./Russian relations as well. Let's go to Capitol Hill. Dana Bash is standing by. Even before the president has spoken, Dana, some Republicans already starting with some pre-emptive reaction, shall we call it?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's going on so far in private in conversations that I've had with some Republicans here on Capitol Hill. The NSA surveillance program is one of the few areas where you've actually seen Republicans agree with the president. Think that this program is the right thing to do for American security. So expect Republicans to say that they're concerned about what Jessica reported, widening the transparency of this program.

Because they say the problem isn't the program, it's the way the president has communicated about it or maybe the better way to say it, has not communicated about it. I think you're going to see some criticism, maybe skepticism on the Republican side. The whole question, though, is what Democrats are going to do because they have been probably the most vocal critics of this program particularly those on the left.

You have senators like Mark Udall of Colorado. I just spoke with his office. They say transparency is fine, it's a good first step, but they're not going to stop fighting the White House. They're going to continue to push to narrow the program, not have what sources called a dragnet of information. Just keep it focused on what the U.S. needs. That's something we'll hear more about.

Of course, as Jessica said, there are so many issues that are quiet right now because these halls are really empty, which is, I think, another reason the president is talking. He's got the stage to himself, the upcoming fight on the debt ceiling, on whether or not the government is going to shut down. Of course, on what the president wants to be part of his legacy, immigration reform. I can't expect those won't come up as well.

BLITZER: Our analyst, Kevin Madden, a former Romney strategist, Donna Brazile, the Democratic strategist. Donna, the president would have loved to have signed into law comprehensive immigration reform package. Now it's the end of the summer. He's getting ready to leave tomorrow for a week or ten days in Martha's Vineyard. That hasn't happened. There's no indication it's going to happen any time soon. This is a pretty significant disappointment.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALST: Look, the president has a lot on his plate, Wolf. He's trying to re-enact the grand bargain with the Republicans to come up with a very strong yobs program and do something about tax reform. On immigration reform, look, Speaker Boehner can control this situation. There are about 17 or 21 Republicans who are eager to sign on to an immigration bill. What we need Speaker Boehner to do is to release those Republicans. Get away from the rule, which requires him to only use Republican votes. Basically come up with a compromise for the Democrats and we can have comprehensive immigration reform.

BLITZER: You think that's going to happen?

KEVIN MADDEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Immigration reform is a very tough challenge. Everybody up on Capitol Hill, I think, is unhappy with the current system. Everybody out in the country I think is unhappy with the current system. But the process by which they're going to reform it, it's going to take a long time. There are significant challenges. I think with all the host of other issues the president's going to have in the fall like the budget battles we're going to see up on Capitol Hill, that's going to suck a lot of oxygen out of the room. It's going to be increasingly difficult. BLITZER: Briefly back to Jessica Yellin, she's over at the White House. I know the president will be walking into the east room momentarily. I assume it's a packed crowd in there. Usually these news conferences, what, they last for about an hour or so. He'll open with an opening statement for a few minutes. Then he'll start taking questions. I suspect 8 or 10 or 12 reporters will get a chance to ask some questions. The president likes to give lengthy answers. Give us a little flavor of the mood over at the White House as the president gets ready to head out of town tomorrow.

YELLIN: Well, I'll tell you, that's very optimistic, Wolf. I think you recall a different era when maybe you got a president who had even shorter answers. We expect to get not through 8 or 10 or 12 questions, but it's probably more likely we'll lucky to get through six. He sometimes gives 10-minute answers to each question or seven minute answers to each question. If you are right, that would be fantastic.

So we're all hopeful Of course, he blames us for asking very long winded questions. The room is somewhat tense and quiet. I'll tell you, it's a different vibe because he doesn't do many of these. One of the frequent tensions between the press and the white house is that there's always a clamor for more opportunities to question the president. As I pointed out earlier, this is the first since January, first time he's been in here, his third full press conference.

But there are so many questions to ask him. You know, this is the first time he's taking questions since he postponed the Moscow summit, as we've discussed. He was with reporters where he had. When a reporter shouted a question about it at him, he said I'll answer that tomorrow in the press conference. He likes to kick it over to this event. But there are also Egypt, Iran, Syria. Questions up on Capitol Hill not just about immigration reform, but what is his relationship these days with Speaker Boehner?

There are domestic questions related to Obama care and its implementation. The IRS, all these things he's now recently termed, quote, unquote, phony scandals. Benghazi. The list of topics well exceeds what I described as potentially six to eight questions, Wolf. We'll see what he gets through.

BLITZER: The thing about these news conferences, Jessica, as you well know, is that a reporter can stand up, ask a question. The president answers it. Rarely does the reporter have a chance to follow up if the president doesn't necessarily completely answer the reporter's questions. One of the features of these --