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American Morning
Discussion with Marc Klaas
Aired February 19, 2003 - 08:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to the latest in the search for Laci Peterson. Police in Modesto, California returned to the Peterson home yesterday looking for new clues about her disappearance. They removed several bags of items and impounded a new truck belonging to Laci's husband Scott. It is the second search of the Peterson home since Christmas Eve, when Laci was last seen.
Joining us now from Chicago to talk more about the case, Marc Klaas, found of the Klaas Kids Foundation.
Good to have you back.
Good morning, Marc.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Hi, Paula.
ZAHN: Have you gotten any information about what might have triggered this latest search of Laci and Scott Peterson's home?
KLAAS: No. No, not at all. But it's good to see some movement in this case. It's been well over 50 days now and you can just see her family deteriorating before all of our eyes. So, you know, it's got to be very compelling or the judge wouldn't have signed the search warrant. I would guess it's probably something forensic or it's probably something very intimate, since they did have Laci's sister there with them yesterday.
ZAHN: Investigators continuing to say that Scott is not a suspect, but they are not ruling him out as one. What do you read between the lines here?
KLAAS: Well, listen, this character, the defense attorneys continually come on the television talking about, saying that we shouldn't be indicting this guy because everybody acts differently. But I can assure you that in these circumstances there are commonalities with everybody that are, that is desperately searching for a loved one.
You're in a state of very high anxiety. You're paralyzed by fear and you're driven by anger. And these emotions are going to manifest themselves in some way. But we don't see any of that with this character Scott. We see the ice man here. His behavior is aberrant. The looks on his face don't work. Nothing seems to work with this guy.
So one hopes that they can bring this thing home very, very quickly so that they can put Laci's family out of agony and hopefully bring some kind of a closure to this.
ZAHN: Well, as you know, Scott's immediate family is defending him. Do you think it's fair just because you're describing him as an ice man that that translates to guilt on his part?
KLAAS: Well, quite frankly, I'm beginning to think yes, it does translate to guilt, and I think that his family has crossed over a line from defending him to enabling him. Again, you know, he's not talking to Laci's family. These are the people that are desperately searching for their daughter. And his mother, his sister, his sister- in-law continually come out and make these excuses for the guy. They're saying things that we know aren't true. They say that he is talking to law enforcement. They say that he is talking to Laci's family. But according to them, none of these things are occurring. He's not cooperating with law enforcement.
And, quite frankly, it's come to Jesus time with this guy. His family should say Scott, we have to end this thing. Take the lie detector test. Clear yourself. Put this thing behind us so that they can go out and find what really happened. And if that doesn't occur, it raises huge questions in my mind.
ZAHN: Well, I don't enjoy particularly playing his defense attorney here, but you have to acknowledge, Marc, this morning there is no evidence that you're aware of that conclusively ties him to the disappearance of Laci Peterson.
KLAAS: You know, there's not. But I do know that he's lied, Paula. He lied about me. He told a, he told one of the reporters that he had spoken to me about this case when, in fact, he hasn't. And if he's going to throw out some kind of a, something like that that's so easily discredited, so terribly easily discredited, it makes one wonder what other kinds of things he is saying that are not truthful.
I have no time left for this guy and I don't know about anybody else, but, you know, there's an amazing presence here. Laci Peterson is an amazing presence. People are absolutely transfixed by this woman's smile. Everybody's out there looking for her. Everybody's doing absolutely what they can to try to bring her home and this ice man stands there and seems to be running interference the entire time. And it just, it's a horrible thing to watch. It's so incredibly unfair and it's so incredibly disrespectful.
ZAHN: Scott's family is throwing out the possibility that maybe her pregnancy had something to do with her disappearance.
KLAAS: No.
ZAHN: Is...
KLAAS: Well, you know, they're throwing out a lot of things.
ZAHN: Is that something you think is plausible?
KLAAS: It's possible. It's also possible that aliens came down out of the sky and took her back to Mars. I mean anything is possible. But you just look at what's going on here and it looks more and more like Scott is running interference, Scott is blocking the truth, Scott is lying about things and hopefully, fortunately we're dealing with a law enforcement agency that has an awful lot of experience in high profile missing person cases and hopefully that experience is going to manifest itself in a quick arrest in this case.
ZAHN: Marc Klaas of the Klaas Kids Foundation, as always, good to see you.
Thanks so much for joining us.
KLAAS: Thank you.
ZAHN: We're going to turn now to our own legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, for his perspective on developments in this case.
Now, I think what Marc Klaas is saying this morning reflects what is probably being heard at a lot of water coolers across the country.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Absolutely.
ZAHN: I mean people have convicted this guy already.
TOOBIN: Convicted this guy in a second. And...
ZAHN: The guy hasn't even been charged, he hasn't been arrested.
TOOBIN: And, you know, I'm not a defense attorney either, but I mean the criminal justice system operates on the basis of evidence, not on the basis of how someone looks in the, not, you know, he looks like a nice man. He doesn't, he looks guilty.
But this...
ZAHN: Does he look those -- I mean you're a former prosecutor.
TOOBIN: I know. I mean...
ZAHN: Is his behavior odd?
TOOBIN: His behavior is perhaps odd. But you know...
ZAHN: Perhaps odd. Come on.
TOOBIN: I mean it's not, I don't even think it may be that odd. What's he supposed to do? I mean he has, he has cooperated with law enforcement in the past. He's obviously somewhat estranged from Laci's parents. But as we learned last week when we spoke to her mother, there has been some contact between Laci's mother and Scott over the past few weeks. I mean he's being beaten up in the media constantly during all this. I can understand a certain paranoia setting in.
And, yes, he may be guilty. But in terms of actual evidence, there is virtually none against him. You know, he has this Christmas Eve fishing trip, which some people regard as suspicious. He was having an affair. And that's about it. And, yes, the husband is usually the suspect. But other than that...
ZAHN: The only lie they've caught him in so far is the fact that he admitted to this affair and he said Laci knew about it. And in your interview her mother said no, that is not true.
TOOBIN: They did not know about it. But, I mean, that is not proof of murder. I'm sorry, it really isn't. And, you know, to -- and I'm not saying he's innocent. I have no idea whether he's guilty or innocent. But to say that, you know, he has to plead guilty, he has to come to Jesus now, I mean it's just simply unfair at this point. These cops know more about the case than Marc does, with all respect to Marc, and if they thought he was guilty, they would have arrested him.
ZAHN: There is a reason why they went back in that house again yesterday.
TOOBIN: Absolutely. That means that they have, they've got probable cause to find more evidence. But it does not mean that they have an arrest warrant or that they are anywhere near an arrest warrant in this case. In fact, they said that they weren't near an arrest.
ZAHN: That's why we come to you for an interest, in the interests of balance here.
TOOBIN: That's what we're trying to do.
ZAHN: Thanks, Jeffrey.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 19, 2003 - 08:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to the latest in the search for Laci Peterson. Police in Modesto, California returned to the Peterson home yesterday looking for new clues about her disappearance. They removed several bags of items and impounded a new truck belonging to Laci's husband Scott. It is the second search of the Peterson home since Christmas Eve, when Laci was last seen.
Joining us now from Chicago to talk more about the case, Marc Klaas, found of the Klaas Kids Foundation.
Good to have you back.
Good morning, Marc.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Hi, Paula.
ZAHN: Have you gotten any information about what might have triggered this latest search of Laci and Scott Peterson's home?
KLAAS: No. No, not at all. But it's good to see some movement in this case. It's been well over 50 days now and you can just see her family deteriorating before all of our eyes. So, you know, it's got to be very compelling or the judge wouldn't have signed the search warrant. I would guess it's probably something forensic or it's probably something very intimate, since they did have Laci's sister there with them yesterday.
ZAHN: Investigators continuing to say that Scott is not a suspect, but they are not ruling him out as one. What do you read between the lines here?
KLAAS: Well, listen, this character, the defense attorneys continually come on the television talking about, saying that we shouldn't be indicting this guy because everybody acts differently. But I can assure you that in these circumstances there are commonalities with everybody that are, that is desperately searching for a loved one.
You're in a state of very high anxiety. You're paralyzed by fear and you're driven by anger. And these emotions are going to manifest themselves in some way. But we don't see any of that with this character Scott. We see the ice man here. His behavior is aberrant. The looks on his face don't work. Nothing seems to work with this guy.
So one hopes that they can bring this thing home very, very quickly so that they can put Laci's family out of agony and hopefully bring some kind of a closure to this.
ZAHN: Well, as you know, Scott's immediate family is defending him. Do you think it's fair just because you're describing him as an ice man that that translates to guilt on his part?
KLAAS: Well, quite frankly, I'm beginning to think yes, it does translate to guilt, and I think that his family has crossed over a line from defending him to enabling him. Again, you know, he's not talking to Laci's family. These are the people that are desperately searching for their daughter. And his mother, his sister, his sister- in-law continually come out and make these excuses for the guy. They're saying things that we know aren't true. They say that he is talking to law enforcement. They say that he is talking to Laci's family. But according to them, none of these things are occurring. He's not cooperating with law enforcement.
And, quite frankly, it's come to Jesus time with this guy. His family should say Scott, we have to end this thing. Take the lie detector test. Clear yourself. Put this thing behind us so that they can go out and find what really happened. And if that doesn't occur, it raises huge questions in my mind.
ZAHN: Well, I don't enjoy particularly playing his defense attorney here, but you have to acknowledge, Marc, this morning there is no evidence that you're aware of that conclusively ties him to the disappearance of Laci Peterson.
KLAAS: You know, there's not. But I do know that he's lied, Paula. He lied about me. He told a, he told one of the reporters that he had spoken to me about this case when, in fact, he hasn't. And if he's going to throw out some kind of a, something like that that's so easily discredited, so terribly easily discredited, it makes one wonder what other kinds of things he is saying that are not truthful.
I have no time left for this guy and I don't know about anybody else, but, you know, there's an amazing presence here. Laci Peterson is an amazing presence. People are absolutely transfixed by this woman's smile. Everybody's out there looking for her. Everybody's doing absolutely what they can to try to bring her home and this ice man stands there and seems to be running interference the entire time. And it just, it's a horrible thing to watch. It's so incredibly unfair and it's so incredibly disrespectful.
ZAHN: Scott's family is throwing out the possibility that maybe her pregnancy had something to do with her disappearance.
KLAAS: No.
ZAHN: Is...
KLAAS: Well, you know, they're throwing out a lot of things.
ZAHN: Is that something you think is plausible?
KLAAS: It's possible. It's also possible that aliens came down out of the sky and took her back to Mars. I mean anything is possible. But you just look at what's going on here and it looks more and more like Scott is running interference, Scott is blocking the truth, Scott is lying about things and hopefully, fortunately we're dealing with a law enforcement agency that has an awful lot of experience in high profile missing person cases and hopefully that experience is going to manifest itself in a quick arrest in this case.
ZAHN: Marc Klaas of the Klaas Kids Foundation, as always, good to see you.
Thanks so much for joining us.
KLAAS: Thank you.
ZAHN: We're going to turn now to our own legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, for his perspective on developments in this case.
Now, I think what Marc Klaas is saying this morning reflects what is probably being heard at a lot of water coolers across the country.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Absolutely.
ZAHN: I mean people have convicted this guy already.
TOOBIN: Convicted this guy in a second. And...
ZAHN: The guy hasn't even been charged, he hasn't been arrested.
TOOBIN: And, you know, I'm not a defense attorney either, but I mean the criminal justice system operates on the basis of evidence, not on the basis of how someone looks in the, not, you know, he looks like a nice man. He doesn't, he looks guilty.
But this...
ZAHN: Does he look those -- I mean you're a former prosecutor.
TOOBIN: I know. I mean...
ZAHN: Is his behavior odd?
TOOBIN: His behavior is perhaps odd. But you know...
ZAHN: Perhaps odd. Come on.
TOOBIN: I mean it's not, I don't even think it may be that odd. What's he supposed to do? I mean he has, he has cooperated with law enforcement in the past. He's obviously somewhat estranged from Laci's parents. But as we learned last week when we spoke to her mother, there has been some contact between Laci's mother and Scott over the past few weeks. I mean he's being beaten up in the media constantly during all this. I can understand a certain paranoia setting in.
And, yes, he may be guilty. But in terms of actual evidence, there is virtually none against him. You know, he has this Christmas Eve fishing trip, which some people regard as suspicious. He was having an affair. And that's about it. And, yes, the husband is usually the suspect. But other than that...
ZAHN: The only lie they've caught him in so far is the fact that he admitted to this affair and he said Laci knew about it. And in your interview her mother said no, that is not true.
TOOBIN: They did not know about it. But, I mean, that is not proof of murder. I'm sorry, it really isn't. And, you know, to -- and I'm not saying he's innocent. I have no idea whether he's guilty or innocent. But to say that, you know, he has to plead guilty, he has to come to Jesus now, I mean it's just simply unfair at this point. These cops know more about the case than Marc does, with all respect to Marc, and if they thought he was guilty, they would have arrested him.
ZAHN: There is a reason why they went back in that house again yesterday.
TOOBIN: Absolutely. That means that they have, they've got probable cause to find more evidence. But it does not mean that they have an arrest warrant or that they are anywhere near an arrest warrant in this case. In fact, they said that they weren't near an arrest.
ZAHN: That's why we come to you for an interest, in the interests of balance here.
TOOBIN: That's what we're trying to do.
ZAHN: Thanks, Jeffrey.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
