Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Abducted 16-year-old Rescued; Bob Filner Facing Harassment Charges; Jesse Jackson Jr. To Be Sentenced
Aired August 11, 2013 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A16-year-old girl is found alive after nearly a week with a suspected killer. The intense manhunt ended yesterday with FBI agents rescuing Hannah Anderson and killing her captor. Her grandparents talked to us live, next.
And a new iPhone could be just around the corner. Apple is apparently getting ready to make their next big announcement.
An athletic clothing store, Lulu Lemon is taking heat for aiming to sell to women size 12 or less. What one former employee has to say about all of that.
A 16-year-old girl is reuniting with her father today after living through a horrible ordeal. Hannah Anderson's mother and brother were killed, and she was kidnapped by the suspected killer. A family friend she had known for years, James Dimaggio, took her across state lines and into the woods in Idaho where FBI agents tracked them down yesterday. Dimaggio is dead. And Hannah is alive.
Paul Vercammen is live for us right now in San Diego with Hannah's grandparents who have been through so much this week. Paul.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, joining me now are Sara Britt and her husband, Ralph. Of course, you now have had time to process a little bit of this information and tell us how you're feeling now that you know that Hannah's safe.
SARA BRITT, HANNAH ANDERSON'S GRANDMOTHER: We're very excited. Just ecstatic. Jubilation. You know, we're just -- couldn't ask for anything more. This is the outcome we wanted.
RALPH BRITT, HANNAH ANDERSON'S GRANDFATHER: It's relief. Relief. I was hoping it wouldn't be a long confrontation, and it wasn't. So thankful for that.
VERCAMMEN: I'm going to step aside and allow you to look at something here. In your front yard of course you moved the statue of for you this is Hannah and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan. And he often would read to her. Tell us a little bit about their relationship, if you could please, come back here.
SARA BRITT: Hannah and Ethan were very, very close. There's seven years between them. And Hannah was, you know, part-time mother and father to Ethan. And she did everything with him. Helped him with his homework and read to him all the time. You know, she was the best big sister ever. You know.
RALPH BRITT: No, I agree. She was very protective of him.
SARA BRITT: Yes.
RALPH BRITT: Of each other. And Ethan of Hannah. Sister and brother, they would have their little squabbles, but they loved each other deeply.
VERCAMMEN: We've talked about how bittersweet this is because of course you've lost your only child, your daughter, and your grandson, Ethan. How would you like him to be remembered by?
SARA BRITT: Just the ecstatic happy little guy ever. He was a fisherman. Would spend every day going fishing. And he learned early on how to fish. And that's his whole goal in life, you know, was to be a major professional fisherman. So that's how I will remember him. There were good times.
VERCAMMEN: How would you like to remember Christina?
RALPH BRITT: As a daughter and a mother of two great kids. That's it.
VERCAMMEN: Did you ever have any sense looking back, in hindsight is, of course, 20/20, that somehow Jim Dimaggio, this trusted family friend, would snap?
SARA BRITT: Never.
VERCAMMEN: No. No.
SARA BRITT: Even the way it turned out, I mean, he loved little Lee and he loved my daughter. And for him to do such a horrific act is just not fathomable. I can't understand it because he loved them too.
VERCAMMEN: Both of you have said for any teenagers watching, for any parents watching, there's some lessons to be learned here.
SARA BRITT: There certainly is. You know, what surfaced at the end here was that, you know, just a few weeks ago Hannah made a comment to her friends that she felt awkward, weird around him because he said he had a crush on her. And she was afraid to tell her parents because Jim's family, and her friends, you know, the awareness wasn't there for them to tell their parents or another adult so that, you know, we could have acted on this earlier - a week earlier. That might have helped.
VERCAMMEN: I thank you so much for taking time out. I'm very sorry for your loss, but I appreciate you're talking to everybody. And hopefully, you know, someone will learn a lesson and we won't have any sort of repeat of this somewhere else. So I appreciate again you're taking time out. I know you said you might go have a refreshment now which you well deserve.
RALPH BRITT: Thank you.
SARA BRITT: Thank you very much.
VERCAMMEN: Well, that's the latest from California where Hannah's grandparents live. Back to you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Our hearts go out to them. Thanks so much, Paul Vercammen. So you heard there what a painful week this has been for the Anderson family, hoping and praying for Hannah. Investigators have been on edge as well searching across several states for her and the man accused of taking her.
Miguel Marquez has more on this emotional and difficult rescue.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, physically Hannah is in good shape in a hospital in Boise. Among other things she's getting care from an FBI victims specialist. And although her physicality, or physically she may be fine, the trauma of this past week may take a lifetime to heal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Exclusive CNN video of FBI hostage rescue team members and other federal agents heading out on a dramatic rescue mission. Amazingly the teams in full tactical gear were delivered to waiting helicopters in a U-haul van.
A modest start to an enormously successful mission.
SHERIFF WILLIAM FORE, SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Suspect James Lee Dimaggio was shot and killed. Hannah Anderson was located with Dimaggio. She appears well.
MARQUEZ: The FBI team moved in on foot to confront James Dimaggio.
(on camera): The area where these two individuals were seen is about 30 miles from Cascade, the only way to access it is by helicopter.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): The pair was spotted first from the air near their campsite. Teams on foot then moved in.
MARY ROOK, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI SLC DIVISION: Special agents with the FBI's hostage rescue team along with Salt Lake City division of the FBI observed Hannah and the suspect near Morehead Lake at a campsite. Agents moved in to rescue Hannah. The suspect is deceased.
MARQUEZ: FBI releasing few details saying the entire operation will now be reviewed by a team heading here from Washington. With Dimaggio considered armed and dangerous and Hannah a potential hostage, the stakes enormous.
ANDREA DEARDEN, VALLEY COUNTY, IDAHO SHERIFF'S OFFICE: This is a homicide suspect that was in a very rugged area and we had a 16-year- old girl, we have to look at the tactical issues. It is certainly a complex search.
MARQUEZ: A complex and successful operation ending a week of fear and grief. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: And we're getting a better idea of how this operation went down. After spotting the two near Morehead Lake, the FBI moved in by helicopter dropping teams a two-hour walk away from that camp. They got up there, surrounded it, waited until Hannah and Dimaggio had separated. That's when they confronted Dimaggio and dispatched him. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Miguel Marquez, appreciate that.
Meantime, there are conflicting reports now about a suspect in a new Amber alert for a missing two-year-old Rhode Island boy. The suspect is identified as Malcolm Crowell. Nick Valencia is following that story for us. And conflicting because it's unclear whether the suspect was captured or not and also the whereabouts of the child.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And bottom line is it's about this two-year-old missing child. But my source at a local law enforcement agency in Rhode Island told me just a short time ago that the suspect Malcolm Crowell, 22 years old, was in custody. He was arrested in Fall River, Massachusetts. It's about 30 to 45 minutes outside of Johnston, Rhode Island, where this whole incident developed earlier this morning.
They did say though that this two-year-old boy remained missing, the two-year-old Isaiah Perez. We're working to get an image of him to help our viewers, perhaps locate him because bottom line, Fred, this is about that missing child. But again conflicting information. "Boston Globe" reporting Massachusetts state police officer saying that they misspoke and that it was a false alarm, that the suspect that they did have in custody was not one that was related to this incident. But our sources still telling us and maintaining that this suspect was arrested about an hour ago in Fall River, Massachusetts.
WHITFIELD: And, again, this suspect is also being linked to a double murder case in addition to now this alleged kidnapping.
MARQUEZ: That's right. It was a double homicide that happened in a quiet suburb in Rhode Island. And it all unveiled and developed I should say about 5:30 this morning. The Amber alert was issued around 8:00 a.m., but two-year-old boy still missing. We're working on more details in flushing out these conflicting reports.
WHITFIELD: OK. Nick Valencia, thanks so much.
All right. A look at other stories now that we're following. The rain is headed east, giving some relief to flooded areas in the middle of the country. This has become the image of the flooding that hit Manitou Springs, Colorado. One man describes a 30-mile-an-hour rush of water as a rage of river of black mud. With the rain ending searchers are still looking for three missing people. The flooding has killed one person and now the massive cleanup begins.
And there's some good news on the wildfire front. The silver fire as it's being called burning through the mountains east of Los Angeles is now 75 percent contained. It has blackened about 30 square miles, some people still can't return to their homes however. The fire is blamed for injuries to 10 firefighters and one homeowner. Riverside County has been declared a disaster area.
Two JFK airport workers were sickened earlier today by a kind of phosphoric acid. It was in a package that came from China and gave off an odor. An FBI hazardous response team showed up out of an abundance of caution securing the chemical, retesting the package and rescreening the workers. The package was contained to the airport post office and airport operations were not affected.
Most of the U.S. embassies in the Middle East closed after a terror threat. Well, they're now back open. The U.S. had shut down diplomatic missions in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. But the embassy in Yemen will remain closed over fears of a possible Al Qaeda attack. And the embassy in Lahore, Pakistan will remain closed because of a separate threat.
A dangerous rescue mission that ended up with the kidnapping victim rescued and the suspect dead. So how did the FBI hostage rescue team do that. A former agent describes what those harrowing missions are typically like, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Now back to the story of the rescue of a California teen in Idaho. An FBI agent shot and killed suspected kidnapper James Dimaggio yesterday. And a rescue teen Hannah Anderson who had been missing for a week. Former FBI agent Steve Moore joining me now from Los Angeles.
So Steve, we're talking about a very difficult search and even more difficult apprehension of a suspect and the alleged victim. So as we understand it, once authorities by way of airplane located these two in the wilderness in Idaho, then they had to come up with an incredible plan that involved two hours of trekking before they could even get to the campsite area. Give me an idea all that transpires, all that's taking place to try and delicately almost surgically, you know, kind of separate these two.
STEVE MOORE, FORMER FBI AGENT: Well, as you said, you used the word surgical, that's exactly what this is. You're not going to come in sliding down ropes when there's a hostage right there. It's too easy for the hostage taker to get to the hostage. So they will start hours away and do an infiltration of the area completely covertly, very surreptitious. So that at the time they are within shooting solution of the hostage taker, the hostage taker is unaware of their presence and then they can wait until the hostage and the hostage taker are separated in order to act.
WHITFIELD: And apparently that is what took place. Somehow there was a separation between the hostage taker and, you know, the hostage.
MOORE: Sure.
WHITFIELD: And a decision was made right there on the fly to kill the suspect. But give me an idea of how that comes about as opposed to waiting for a separation and then hoping to apprehend both of them, one being whisked off to safety and the other into custody. How is that decision made?
MOORE: Well, the decision is made by the individual agents on site. They are not sent in to execute anybody. What they are sent in to do is, number one, save the hostage. Number two, apprehend the suspect alive. Number one is always the most important. If you can't do number two without doing number one, then the hostage taker may not get out safely.
So what they are trying to do is save the hostage. They will wait for a separation, then they will engage the suspect hopefully having him surrender. If he does not, if he does not immediately surrender, if he makes a move towards the hostage, then they're going to expend a lot of high caliber ammunition down range.
WHITFIELD: And then we understand, according to sources, that once the young girl was taken away, she was immediately put into a helicopter and then likely off to the hospital. But along the way there's a possibility there would be some questioning. Give me an idea the circumstances in which that questioning will take place given that she is a minor? Do you think that she was asked a number of questions? Or are they waiting for her father to appear before asking her questions to paint a better picture about what happened, whether she voluntarily left or left against her will?
MOORE: The reason the FBI went in the first place was to rescue her. Once the hostage taker has been taken care of, it doesn't help to traumatize her. So the only questions she would be asked immediately are are you all right, is there any other immediate danger, is there anything we need to know right now, then they are going to make sure of her mental and physical health at that point. Questions will be asked down the line. And part of that is just to make sure that she doesn't have to live with those questions about was she part of this.
Nobody really believes, I think at this time, that she was. But you have to ask the questions and you have to show everybody that the reason she appeared to be going along voluntarily was that she was scared to die. So those will be asked, but not until she's down the line better able to answer them.
WHITFIELD: Former FBI agent Steve Moore, thanks so much for your time.
MOORE: Any time.
WHITFIELD: San Diego's mayor isn't just facing a growing sexual harassment scandal, he's also preparing for a possible big battle in court. The harassment lawsuit that could ultimately force him from office, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: This week's sentencing for former Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. Prosecutors are asking for four years in prison for his guilty plea in spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items.
And then out west, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner says that he will continue outpatient therapy after admitting to acting inappropriately. He has been - he is being rather sued following sexual harassment allegations and calls for him to step down.
Joining me right now are Mo Ivory, a lawyer and radio talk show host in Atlanta and Carrie Hackett, a criminal defense attorney. All right. Let's begin with the mayor, ladies. The mayor so far is digging in his heels. He continues to maintain his position. Although he has admitted that he acted inappropriately and said he was voluntarily going to this two-week therapy session, he exited after a week but will continue in an outpatient way.
So I wonder, Carrie, you know, if you have a pending lawsuit against you, sexual harassment, in what way does this therapy assist you in your best defense? Even though he's come out publicly I made mistakes.
CARRIE HACKETT, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It helps with settlement. It helps if he actually committed the acts that he's alleged to have committed and kind of mitigating that situation and then showing them that this is not going to be a continuing problem. It would help settle the case. I think though that this is a person Mayor Filner does not believe that he actually did all of these things that he was alleged to have done or does not want to publicly admit it.
WHITFIELD: You think he's in denial.
HACKETT: I think he's in denial. And I think that he probably had some difficulty with this counseling and that's the reason that he's not going back.
WHITFIELD: Really?
HACKETT: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Both of you in my lead and I'm seeing your expressions and you're like - oh, physically responsible - and
(CROSSTALK)
MO IVORY, HOST "THE MO IVORY SHOW": Yes, Fredricka, he is not in denial about what he's done. He is an egomaniac narcissistic, you know, crazy man who is not going to say, "You know, I was wrong." He basically already said he did it but doesn't want to take responsibility for what it means to have done it. I don't think that leaving therapy was, you know, any sort of like, "Well, I think I'm better, I'm going to go home and get better."
I don't think he wanted to go in the first place. So it was part of his handler saying, "Listen, I think you should go to therapy because it's going to look better if you do." And I think when he got there he's like "I don't want to be here. "
HACKETT: He can't (INAUDIBLE) with the underlying problem?
IVORY: Exactly. I don't want to be here.
HACKETT: There are allegations from at least 13 women, you've got two senators who are saying step down along with a chorus of people to step down.
WHITFIELD: But bottom line is it sounds like it's - you know, the ball is still in Mayor Filner's court.
IVORY: I think it's about a settlement.
WHITFIELD: Really?
IVORY: I think this is really about he's paying his own legal fees right now, which is not something he's happy about.
WHITFIELD: And many jurisdictions, city officials, are protective.
IVORY: Protective.
WHITFIELD: Is this the case?
IVORY: Well -
HACKETT: Generally protective when they're acting within the scope of their employment.
IVORY: Exactly.
HACKETT: I think in this particular case he was acting outside the scope of his employment, so there's no way that the government's going to pay.
IVORY: And he can't make a case for that. And so I think he is trying to figure out how he will settle with them so he doesn't - you know, if he doesn't have any protections, it's going to come out of his pocket all of the lawsuit settlements or whatever they end up finding that he has to compensate these victims for. It could wipe out his whole retirement with 13, 14 - who knows how many more. Who knows how many more can come out. I think that's what this is all about.
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's shift gears. Let's talk about former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. This week in court, scheduled sentencing, prosecutors are saying they want four years for his admission of guilt of misuse of campaign funds to the tune of $750,000. That he admitted to this offense. Does that offer any leniency as he heads to court for sentencing?
IVORY: No.
This judge is a new judge, Judge Jackson who was appointed by President Obama in 2011. And she's going to have to really make a case for whatever she decides. And I do think that there are all kinds of factors that she will consider. The fact that both parents, if they're both in jail who will care for the children, you know, his wife is also going to be sentenced. So is it better to have her at home, on probation, on house arrest? I think she's also going to be burdened with whether or not she has to make sort of a statement about politicians gone awry.
WHITFIELD: Use this as an example, talking about the power.
IVORY: Absolutely.
And we're talking about a family name.
WHITFIELD: Right, which has such great prominence on so many different levels.
IVORY: Right. I do think he should serve some jail time and I do think she should too.
WHITFIELD: Carrie, last word.
HACKETT: I agree. I think that they will both should serve some very limited jail time. I think that his wife may serve a very short sentence for six months.
WHITFIELD: Does first offense make a difference here? Might it be instead of jail time, maybe community service or something -
HACKETT: That's a possibility. But I think that the court is going to want to teach them more of a lesson here. I think it's going to be more punitive and about punishment and taking them out of society and showing them no matter where you are in society or in politics this does not fly.
WHITFIELD: All right, Carrie, Mo, always good to see both of you ladies. Thanks so much for sharing.
HACKETT: Thanks for having us.
WHITFIELD: All right. Ignoring a plus-size customers. That's what one clothing company is being accused of doing limiting their business to strictly thin affluent women. A former employee speaks out, next. Maybe you ladies ought to stick around for that one. I've have a feeling you've got strong opinions about that too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Any moment now we expect a press conference to be underway. You see folks assembling there out of Idaho to get more details about that daring rescue of 16-year-old Hannah Anderson and the killing of her abductor, James Dimaggio. Of course when that press conference gets underway we'll take you there live.
All right. Meantime, a clothing company has come under fire for what critics call selective marketing. When it comes to athletic wear, plus-size women often don't have a large selection. One brand in particular, Lululemon is catching heat, labeled as biased in favor of customer who is are thin.
Here now with CNN's Rosa Flores.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Serious fashion can mean serious bucks, but Elizabeth Lucorish says it's a reminder of what she considers a serious problem.
ELIZABETH LUCORISH, FORMER LULULEMON ENTERPRISE: I was uncomfortable with the bias that we had towards affluent thin women that they were sort of more deserving of our attention than larger plus-size women.
FLORES: She sold yoga pants at a Lululemon in Philadelphia in 2011. She quit, one of her frustrations not being able to help every guest.
LUCORISH: We didn't receive many shipments of what is considered a guest plus-size for Lululemon even though it's a very standard American woman size. So when customers would come in, they would encounter the pants hidden away almost in a very shameful way.
FLORES: She went public with her concerns to "the Huffington Post." CNN reached out to Lululemon for comment, but we were directed to a statement on facebook saying in part, our product and design strategy is built around creating products for our target guest in our size range of 2 to 12.
MADELINE JONES, CO-OWNER, PLUS MODEL MAGAZINE: That would be really great.
FLORES: Madeleine Jones, co-owner of "Plus Model" magazine says retailers that ignore plus sizes are leaving cash on the table.
JONES: They're running 5ks and they're bicycling and they are swimming. This is what they do. This is part of their life as well.
FLORES: Sixty-nine percent of American adults 20 and over are --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Sorry. We have to cut out of that piece early.
You're looking at live pictures right now, press conference underway out of Idaho, this concerning the rescue of the 16-year-old girl Hannah Anderson. You are actually looking at the horseback riders who first reported spotting Hannah Anderson and James DiMaggio. Again, she was rescued last night and James DiMaggio was killed. Let's listen in on all that's taking place now.
MARK JOHN, HORSEBACK RIDER: Got a ranch up in Sweet. Former John county sheriff, retired army officer, army rangers. This is my wife Christa (ph). She's been with me for 52 years -- actually, 53 or 54. So we're hanging in there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: So you guys can get started by asking questions. As you come up you guys can talk about --
JOHN: I would like to have Mike and his wife.
MIKE YOUNG, HORSEBACK RIDER: Mike and Mary Young. We are also from Sweet, Idaho. We got a ranch there also.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So questions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Which one of you guys made that first phone call?
JOHN: I made the first phone call.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)
JOHN: Well, when we got up on the mountain that morning. We hadn't been into the lake fishing for quite a while. And so, that Tuesday morning we took off and went up to the lake and that Wednesday morning we rode in, we set up camp and rode in. Mike here was the first one to encounter the two hikers, the guy and the girl. Red flags kind of went up on him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What red flags?
JOHN: The girl -- I will let Mike explain that to you what he saw. And then when we went to the lake and then they showed up at the lake and there was just like a square peg going into a round hole. They didn't fit. He might have been an outdoorsman in California, but he was not an outdoorsman in Idaho. He didn't fit.
So, when we got back to the camp that night after fishing, after our twice we encountered them, then we discussed it. Then we got home Thursday evening and I put all the horses away, took care of our livestock and everything and then we went into the house and the news flashed on. And the amber alert was on the television. And I told my wife, I said, that is that girl we seen on the mountain. But there was no phone number, so I talked to my wife and I called Mike and Mary and we said look at the TV and see if that girl doesn't look exactly like what we seen on the mountain. They kind of confirmed that.
And then I called a friend of mine in the Idaho state police, Tom Nesbit, he used to work for me as my investigator when I was a sheriff. And so, I had all the confidence in the world in him and I called him and told him what we had seen and what was going on. And I knew that he would get the ball rolling and keep it rolling. And then the next morning we heard on the news where they found the car exactly where we told them it would be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Did you guys see the car too?
JOHN: We never seen the car. Our trail head -- our trail going in T'd, came to a t with a trail that they came in on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)
JOHN: I can't hear you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: What was the mood between the two? Did she seem frightened at all?
JOHN: They didn't -- they weren't friendly and they didn't talk. UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: They didn't talk at all?
JOHN: They asked Mike some simple questions.
JOHN: What did they say?
JOHN: Mike?
YOUNG: I just asked him where he was headed and he said he was going to the Salmon River, hopefully. But they were headed the wrong direction to get to Salmon River. That was one red flag for me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: How would you describe how Hannah was behaving?
YOUNG: She was trying to turn her face away. I talked to her -- well, I didn't talk to her. I was mainly concentrating on him, but she was kind of had a scared look on her face when I first come up the trail. We didn't know if it was from the horses or what. But then when I turned and talked to him a little bit, I just had a gut feeling about him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: How long was that interaction?
YOUNG: Just a few seconds. And then when we went up the trail a little ways I turned around and told these guys that there was something wrong there. It just wasn't right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Did you get a sense at all that there was danger? That somebody was in danger?
YOUNG: Not really. You know, we thought maybe she was just scared of the horses or something like that. But I spend a lot of time in the back country and you usually don't run into somebody that's wearing pajamas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Who was wearing pajamas?
YOUNG: Well, it looked kind of like pajamas bottoms that she was wearing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: What were those guys wearing?
YOUNG: She-- he had a backpack on and she was just wearing either sweats or pajamas. You know, regular top. But like I say, she not long after I got she turned and, you know, was trying to look the other direction. And at the second encounter we had was kind of the same way and I talked to him a little bit there too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: What did he say?
YOUNG: They actually followed us into the lake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Was there anything else about them that made you feel that they didn't fit?
YOUNG: No, just kind of a gut feeling. You know, like they didn't belong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: How were they outfitted? What kind of gear did they have?
YOUNG: Well, he had a pack on. And when we got up the trail a ways, they had had a tent society up on a big dry ridge up there, which was really strange.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: A two-man tent.
YOUNG: A two-man tent. And there was a lot of foot traffic going back and forth from the tent to the trail head.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: What was strange about having a tent on that ridge?
YOUNG: No water.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lightning.
YOUNG: Yes. And just like being a lightning rod sitting up there on top of that ridge. It's a dangerous place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: There were some reports that he had tried to disguise his campmate, did you notice that at all?
YOUNG: No. That was after we left.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Was he bearded or dirty? Were they dirty?
YOUNG: He had a couple days growth. But they weren't dirty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Did they approach you, or did you approach them?
YOUNG: No, I seen them when we was coming up the trail. They moved off the trail for us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Did she appear to be there against her will? Did you have any indication?
YOUNG: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Did she say anything to you?
YOUNG: No. No. She never did speak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Were they going the same direction or opposite when you first met them?
YOUNG: They were going the same direction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Toward Morehead lake.
YOUNG: Yes. UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: This was Wednesday morning, you guys --?
YOUNG: Right. Yes. We left our trail head about 8:30 and encountered them about 9:30.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)
YOUNG: It was about 5:00 is when we left the lake and they had followed us in.
MARY YOUNG, HORSEBACK RIDER: When Mike first passed them they were about ten feet apart. And I followed mike up the trail so it was a short time later that I encountered them. And in that time he had moved closer to her and it looked like he had his arm around her waist. She did appear frightened, but I thought it was fear of the horses because she was wanting to move off the trail.
But that encounter was very brief because we were moving up the trail at the time and they were off the side of the trail. And they did not want to talk with us. Mike asked a brief question. He did say as I went past he said that's the way to travel in this country is horseback.
YOUNG: Usually when you meet people in the back country you have a pretty good encounter, you know, and talk about where they've been and where they're going like that, but they didn't want to talk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: When you parted ways, what did you all say amongst them? What were your thoughts?
JOHN: When we left them at the lake, the girl was down at the lake shore soaking her feet in the water. We already saddled up and mounted our horses and everything. That's when we first seen them. We felt that was quite strange because they had a whale of a hike coming down through that rocks in that steep country. And when I say steep, when we go down some of those switchbacks going down through there and that trail, it will just about take the hide off a horse's tail going down through there because they're sliding down all on fours getting down to the lake. So we was kind of surprised because they had hiked a long ways. And they had some big rug sacks at that time setting on the ground. Like I said, she was soaking -- but he was off to the side of the trail petting a gray cat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What?
JOHN: Petting a gray cat. I made comment then. I said what are you doing with a cat in here? And cats are only good for wolf, you know, to chum a wolf in or to bring in a mountain lion or something. And he just kind of grinned. Didn't say much more. Had a little smirk on his face.
Again, that was strange because in the back country in Idaho, you run across somebody back there hiking, they're usually quite friendly and they exchange pleasantries. And they exchange knowledge about where they've been, what they've done, where they were going. These people did not want to talk to us whatsoever. And I said to the girl soaking her feet, I said what are you doing with your feet in the water. I said don't you know there's fish in there, kind of joking. And as we turned away she didn't make any comment. So we started riding away and she says it looks like we're all in trouble now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: She said that?
JOHN: I had no idea what she meant. Maybe she was in trouble because she was killing fish with her feet in the water or something. I don't know. I just said it jokingly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: So what was it you heard her say?
JOHN: She said looks like we're all in trouble now -- or we're in real trouble now. And then we rode on out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)
JOHN: What's that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Did she say that phrase to herself or to you?
JOHN: It was loud, loud enough to hear but it was mostly to herself. And I thought it was extremely strange they were up there packing when all of their gear looked like it was brand new. That was another little flag that just wasn't normal or natural.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: So you guys were fishing all day on the lake.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Did you observe any interaction with them?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn't see them.
JOHN: We didn't see them until we was getting ready to leave at 5:00. And the fishing wasn't that great either.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have lots of granddaughters. As a matter of fact one of them looks just like Hannah. And so, we were really concerned. But I spoke to him also and I says what the heck are you doing out here. And he said last year it was her turn to pick a place and she wanted to go to Los Angeles and Hollywood. And I went. He says that's why I picked this place. So we left it at that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What was your gut feeling about --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you know, that could have been father and daughter and he drug her along on a hiking trip she didn't want to go. So, you know, there was no immediate we said, we got to rescue her. There was nothing like that. It was unusual. It was strange, but it was explainable. And I thought he handled it pretty good when he said she picked Los Angeles and Hollywood and I picked this place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: When you got home do you remember the newscast you were watching? Do you remember how quickly you called after that?
JOHN: We had gotten home and we had unpacked our outfits and put our livestock away and everything else and then walked in the house. And I believe it was on channel 7 or something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
JOHN: It was the evening news. And this amber alert flashed and that's when I said -- we had discussed this so much at the camp the night before and that next morning that we was all very suspicious of what they were doing there and everything. And then when I seen that picture on the screen, I told my wife, I said that is the girl that was up on that mountain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Was that Thursday?
JOHN: That was Thursday evening at about, oh, what was it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wednesday evening.
JOHN: Wednesday -- no, it was Thursday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We spent Wednesday night at the trail head. And then Thursday we --
JOHN: No, it was in the afternoon. Don't know exactly what time it was. It was probably pretty late, wasn't it, mike?
YOUNG: Yes, it was about the time you called me.
JOHN: Then we called mike to verify it and everything. And then I immediately called the Idaho state police, Tom Nesbit, and he got the ball rolling. And then everybody was calling us wanting information. The next morning the FBI showed up and set at the table. That night we told ISB where the car was probably at, where they would enter the trailhead up there on Burnt Log Road later onto find out it was Snowshoe Cabin road, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: How does this make you feel that you helped crack this?
JOHN: It makes me feel really great that the girl was found and that she's safe. I'm very grateful for the amber alert program and how it played a role in the whole thing because without that, this would not have happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Idaho wasn't even on the radar for her. Nobody suspected her to be there. And the area, I mean, you saw aerial photos of it. It's much worse than it looks from the air. Let me tell you.
JOHN: It's rough country. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And for us to be there at the precise time to interact with them is one chance in a trillion. I mean, everything had to be just meshing otherwise we would have missed them, if they'd been over the side hill a little bit or inside their tent, we wouldn't have bothered. We would have never known. We would have never seen them. So that was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime events.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)
JOHN: Well, I don't know, maybe getting a little hit on the limelight or something, you know. We had volunteered our services immediately because Mike here is an expert back countryman. He has been an old outfitter and he can read the terrain, he can read maps, he knows the trails and he can track. And likewise I'm an army ranger and I have had all the experience. And we felt we could have been a real asset to that search party. We volunteered our horses, our trailers, and one thing and another.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Did they take you up on it?
JOHN: We felt like we were put on the back burner like chopped liver, so I called and kind of complained about it. And next thing you know we're standing here shaking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: From the point that you realize there was an amber alert, to the point you found out about the conclusion yesterday, what was that like for you just knowing that you were going into this?
JOHN: We were all on pins and needles wondering what was going on and what was happening. And, you know, you get all sorts of thoughts that go through your head, like, did we alert them to the point where he's going to do something stupid like, you know, shoot her and then do his self in or you know. We were really worried we had caused a problem by reporting it and getting things stirred up. And we was extremely happy when we found out that it turned out the way it did. And we want you to know, our hearts went out to her father, her grandmother, and we are extremely sorry that what happened to her mother and little brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do you feel like you're a hero?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I think if you had been there and been us, you would have done exactly the same thing. And that people in Idaho that's usually, you have that feeling, that prickly feeling, you do what is right. And sometimes it's better to call and be wrong than not to call and wished you had it. So I think everybody else that sits here, that's standing here, would have done exactly what we did. There's nothing heroic about it, nothing. Just that's what you do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do you feel like you're a part of a miracle?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is.
JOHN: We do now. UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What was it like for you when you got home, turn on the TV and that moment you kind of the instant you realize put the connection together that --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your heart is up here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: You have been through law enforcement and stuff before, made arrests and investigations and stuff, was this different?
JOHN: It was -- when we put the connection together and we realized -- and believe me it was possibly her, we didn't know 100 percent for sure. And then you have always got this reservation about are we sending these people out on a wild goose chase, or is this going to be a real thing. But then after we made the phone call, we did what we had to do and they found that car the next morning, then we knew we had done the right thing. And we felt really good about it. But we are still nervous about what the outcome was going to be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: What was your reaction when you did hear about the outcome?
JOHN: Very relieved. Very relieved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike was changing water and I was on watching the news. And he was coming up on the four-wheeler and I was just jumping up and I was going like this and he was looking at me, you know. So we were relieved that she's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) what investigators believe essentially happened leading up to yesterday, we think back about the comment you heard her make that we may be in trouble now is that something you thought about in hindsight now?
JOHN: You know, I didn't think about that very much and in hindsight you do. While we were at the lake, my wife wanted to go up and talk to her because she felt so strongly about something being wrong. And she wanted to talk to the girl. And I said, no, you leave it alone, this might just be a lover's quarrel or a family problem or what have you and it's none of your business. And it makes me very nervous as to what may or may not have transpired if she had gone up there and started talking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Were you folks --
JOHN: Oh, yes. We all three was all packing pistols. Don't go in the woods without a pistol.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: INAUDIBLE QUESTION)
JOHN: He might have got one of us, but we'd got him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Was he armed?
JOHN: Don't have any idea. Didn't see a weapon on him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Can you describe more about their clothing, shoes, hats and rain gear.
JOHN: Mike, you can talk.
YOUNG: I think they had -- both was wearing tennis shoes type shoes. No rain gear. I think -- I was kind of concentrating on their faces more than anything else, but I think she had kind of a sweatshirt on, if I remember right. And either pajama bottoms or a sweat pants.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: How about a jacket?
YOUNG: No, he just had a grey shirt on and he had a black backpack on his back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: When you first saw him, did you recall what the girl was wearing?
YOUNG: Tennis shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Did that seem appropriate?
YOUNG: Well, yes, some people wear that. I had been looking at the trail and there had been a lot of foot traffic with tennis shoes. Other than that there hadn't been any traffic up there. We were the first ones in on horses for quite a while.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have got on that comment of we are in trouble now. I'm thinking they followed us to the lake so quickly that they were hoping we would go on and go to maybe a semi-civilization where they can maybe get into a cabin or something. And then when we turned around and went back the other way, she probably felt like we are done in now because we don't know where to go from there. They didn't want to go back to where they came from, and we wasn't going the other way. So I think that kind of panicked her. That's just my summation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: When you saw for the first time, were they headed up for the first time to the lake as well?
YOUNG: No. They were headed up the same direction we were, but they had a tent probably a block further onset up. They had been down the trail and back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: They would been camped there?
YOUNG: Possibly a day or so, yes. Around the tent there was no campfire, no trampled grass or anything like that. So, they hadn't been there very long.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: So obviously they were unfamiliar with the area. Did you get a feeling they were lost? Just flat out lost?
YOUNG: Yes, that could have been. I would think he would have had a map with him, but they were definitely going the wrong direction to get down to the Salmon River. If it'd been me, I would have just dropped right straight off. There's some pretty good trails going right to the Salmon River. WHITFIELD: A real strange confluence of events in the back country of Idaho, but then for these four horsemen instincts really pay off. They were the ones who saw this 16-year-old Hannah Anderson and James DiMaggio there in the back country. And according to one gentleman there, Mark John, saying that he seemed like a square peg in a round hole, something just didn't seem right according to these horsemen when they saw them. It didn't appear as though they were comfortable in the wilderness. They definitely made it very clear that the young girl she was trying to turn her face away, she wouldn't speak, she had a very scared look on the face. But at the same time you heard Mark John underscore there that he wasn't quite sure if this was a lover's quarrel or if something strange was taking place in a family dynamic, so he discouraged his wife from trying to talk to Hannah further.
But in the end they say they are relieved, they are grateful for the amber alert. And they praise that system for working because once they got home after being on the trail on horseback all day long they saw that amber alert, they saw the news reports, they recognized the young girl Hannah. And then they called authorities that they knew already in the system.
Let's talk further about all of this with psychologist Wendy Walsh and Marc Klaas, father of kidnap and murder victim Polly Klaas joining me live now.
This is an extraordinary event here listening to these horsemen talking about all that took place. And their instincts really kicked in, Wendy. But what's interesting too is the way they kind of evaluated the dynamic between Hannah and James. And it was unclear to them whether there was a spat, whether they got along, whether somebody was there against their will. But I thought it was extraordinary that one person said they thought her -- that they heard her say we're all in trouble now. Still lots of mysteries here about what was taking place.
WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think as they said, it's like a one in a trillion chance that they would stumble across these two in the outback. But also they've got females with these guys who have their wives with them. So you get the female intuition, like what's going on there, I want to talk to that girl, right?
So you have got, well, the guy seeing the square peg in the round hole and, hey, this is a California camper. This is not somebody from Idaho, and then you have got the wives and then they are trading information. The four minds, the four of them was helpful. And the fact it's a former sheriff and army ranger. So they had instincts about this kind of stuff, trained instincts. It's amazing. And then we can't forget, Fredricka, the power of the media. The fact they could come home and there it would be in their living room.
WHITFIELD: And then, Mark, just to hear really about maybe a little bit of the psychology of James DiMaggio. That he was quick with an explanation saying that she would have chosen Los Angeles or Hollywood, but this was my pick to be out here in the wilderness in Idaho. Is that kind of a classic, I guess, type of, you know, hallmark of someone who may have planned an event like this and planned encountering strangers or people who might suspect something strange between this man and this young girl?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT, FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Sure. And first of all, what a wonderful people these are. They did such a great job in helping to rescue this girl.
This guy was a desperate man. This obviously wasn't very well planned out. They were wearing tennis shoes in the rough back country. They should have been wearing hiking boots. They should have been much better equipped. I don't think he had planned this. He wasn't really ready for any kind of interaction with anybody and proved to be glib enough to get through the initial interaction. And she did what she had to do. She stayed alive.
WHITFIELD: Marc and Christa, John and Mike and Mary Young, all describing their Boise, Idaho, that the amber alert system worked. We have heard a lot of, you know, criticism from different corners of the nation this week, but they are saying if not for that amber alert system, Marc, and maybe you can underscore that the importance of all this, if not for that, they wouldn't have necessarily known who to look for, what to suspect and what to do with those instincts.
KLAAS: Well, yes. That's absolutely true. There's going to be a time to quibble with the amber alert. There's no question about that. I think that it could have been done better, but they were rescued. That's the important thing. And now it's Hannah's turn and her father's turn to begin their new normal.
WHITFIELD: Yes, it's going to be an incredible pathway of healing and recovery.
Wendy Walsh, Marc Klass, thanks to both of you for joining us.
As I know Marc, I know are probably going to be sticking around for the next hour.
Much more of NEWSROOM" straight ahead with my colleague, Don Lemon.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Don, an extraordinary confluence of events, I know you're going to pick it up from here.
