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American Morning
Interview with Marc Klaas
Aired August 29, 2002 - 08:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: From California now, police continue the search for 9-year-old Nicholas Michael Farber, disappeared at 2:00 a.m. in side of his home, taken by force in Palm Desert, California by two men masked and armed, broke in, assaulted the father. There is some question that the kidnapping may have been part of an ongoing custody dispute, but the case is still being treated as a stranger abduction as of this point.
From San Francisco, Marc Klaas to talk about this and the latest on the Westerfield trial, as well.
Unfortunately we have you on every morning, Marc.
Good morning to you.
Thanks for getting up early.
MARC KLAAS, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: What is your take so far on what you're hearing out of Palm Desert on this case?
KLAAS: Well, first of all, I want to tip my hat to all of the southern California sheriffs. These guys know how to run these kidnapping cases. They pull out all of the stops. They get multi- jurisdictional teams, including highway patrol and the FBI together, and they move on these, this thing as if it's the number one priority.
In this particular situation, this little boy was taken in the middle of the night at gunpoint and his father was roughed up. If they were to treat it any differently than they are treating it, I think they would be remiss.
However, given the information about the mother and her not being around, it's beginning to look more and more like she probably has something to do with this.
HEMMER: Marc, help make sense of what happened yesterday. When we were on the air live reporting this story for the first time, an awful lot of confusion about the alert system that was put into effect. It's our understanding, and correct us if we're wrong here, since there was no license tag on that GMC Yukon, that white SUV, they could not put the sign up on the California freeways and initiate a full amber alert. Instead, it was a modified alert.
What's the distinction and how does it help or hurt? KLAAS: Well, in this particular instance the distinction would be the use of the highway signs to post the information to people that are driving on the highways. They were afraid that people would be forcing white SUVs off of the road and somehow engaging in vigilante activity, which obviously is not the intent of the amber alert.
What people should do if they see a white Yukon or a car that fits the description and they don't have a license plate is obviously contact the authorities immediately. And since most people now use cell phones, that wouldn't be a very difficult thing to do.
HEMMER: Let's go to another case right now, the case of David Westerfield. It continues in the punitive phase right now. The man may pay with his life for the conviction of the murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. You can relate to this story so well with the parents on the stand yesterday.
Listen to what Brenda had to say as she remembered her child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENDA VAN DAM, MOTHER OF DANIELLE: Before they arrested him, Bawano (ph) called us into his office to let us know that it was happening and the reason why they were arresting him. And when he mentioned blood, I had a major breakdown because I still wanted to believe she was alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: I've got to think that was one of the toughest moments ever a parent will face. And this must be right up there with them, sitting through the punitive phase and, gosh, what do you say about parents who once again are, you know, reliving the memory of their child in such a vivid way?
KLAAS: Well, they'll be remembering it for the rest of their lives. But, you know, this ordeal has been going on since February 1 and they've been under a gag order for the last several months. So this is really the first time that either Damon or Brenda has had to address the world and let the world know how they feel about this. And quite frankly, I think they're doing a good job.
But, you know, Bill, this guy is never going to be executed. The guy that murdered my daughter was sentenced to death but, you know, there's 600 guys on death row in California and they've only executed 11 people since 1977. So basically it's handing down a sentence and putting a layer of protection between us and them. But as far as these guys ever being strapped on the gurney, the chances of that happening are slim to none.
HEMMER: Marc, I know you're an advocate for the death penalty. But in your state, what is the attitude, knowing that statistic is there going back to 1977?
KLAAS: Oh, I believe people are in favor of the death penalty. It's hard to make a case for somebody like Westerfield or Richard Allen Davis or any of these baby killers or serial killers, that they should get anything less than the death penalty. Again, it's a layer of protection. It protects us from them.
HEMMER: Yes, but whether you're for the death penalty or not, why have the law if it's not enforced?
KLAAS: Well, you know, it could be enforced. I mean part of the problem is that the defense bar in California as a silent protest against the death penalty doesn't assign lawyers to appeal the cases for sometimes five to 10 years. So I mean that's where you get bogged down. And then you have the various activists, the dilettante actors that are against it. And they tend to drive up the cost of this whole thing and then they use that argument as the reason that we shouldn't have the death penalty when, quite frankly, I'd like to see California do what they do in Texas and Virginia and in Florida, and that's just take care of business.
HEMMER: We're out of time.
KLAAS: These are...
HEMMER: Yes...
KLAAS: These people are horrible people, Bill, remember that.
HEMMER: We've got to go.
Thank you, Marc.
KLAAS: Sure.
HEMMER: We'll talk again, unfortunately.
KLAAS: OK.
HEMMER: Marc Klaas, again, in San Francisco.
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