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American Morning

Kidnapped Girl Found Alive

Aired June 09, 2003 - 09:05   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Cild protection advocoate Marc Klaas started KlaasKids Foundation after his 12-year-old, Polly, was abducted and murdered about 10 years ago. He's live with us back here on AMERICAN MORNING in San Francisco.
Nice to see you, Mark.

Doesn't often happen this way, does it?

MARC KLAAS, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: No, it sure doesn't, Bill. When I went to bed last night I didn't think I'd be having this conversation with you this morning. But finally, we're able to talk about a wonderful success story and a little girl who's been recovered alive.

HEMMER: What does it say to you last hour, when the police in San Jose said, and I want to quote him now, "We are very confident we will know who this man is, and be in custody soon?

KLAAS: Well, this was not a random situation, I don't think there's any question about that. There's probably a lot more going on in this story than we know about.

But the buttom line is, you never use a child as any kind of a bargaining chip for whatever your beef might be with somebody or whatever your situation is. As far as the law enforcement, the media and the public were concerned, this little girl's life was in jeopardy. They had very little time to recover her alive. Everybody did exactly the right thing, and the result was, this guy couldn't even go for a glass of water without drawing attention to himself. He knew that that he had to let her go if he was going to be able to get out of this himself, one way or the other.

Half of the job is done. She's been recovered. Now it's time to get him and make sure he goes someplace where he can never do something like this again.

HEMMER: There are apparently two pieces of evidence right now that are quite critical. Jeanette's story, number one, who apparently has been very helpful for police, and the other things is this videotape that popped up on Sunday afternoon. How critical are those two pieces of evidence right now in tracking this guy down?

KLAAS: Well, you know, the videotape speaks to something larger, it speaks to neighbors watching out for earch other's welfare. And this was a family that obviously knew exactly what they were doing. They are surveiling their neighborhood. And one wishes that more neighborhoods were doing things like this, because it would be protective of children and of property. It's really about communities working together to protect each other's children.

Now, as far as the young girl goes, you know, she's going to bring this thing home one way or the other. She knows where she was, I'm sure, at least to some level. She knows who this guy is. She exactly what he looks like. So she's going to be critical to closing this thing, there's no question about it. And we have to applaud her. What a wonderful young lady to survive an ordeal like that and then hopefully bring this thing home.

HEMMER: Marc, does it appear to you on the outside right now that this may not be so much a question of whether or not he was looking for the 9-year-old girl, but possibly using her to locate something inside that house?

KLAAS: It's quite possible, Bill. I mean, like I said, and like people are saying now, this is probably about more than just going in. It's about more than sexual perdation, which is, I think, what everybody thought there was at beginning, but again, that doesn't matter. You don't use a child as the bargain the chip or a weapon in any kind of a situation, any kind of a dispute you have. You keep that among adults. This guy crossed a very, very critical line here, and went after something that he had no business going near.

HEMMER: The description for the suspect right now is not very specific, but perhaps as we grow later in the day there in California, about 6:00 in the morning where you are, perhaps we'll get more then publicly.

Marc, thanks. Marc Klaas, live in San Francisco. We'll talk again.

KLAAS: Thank you.

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 June 9, 2003 - 09:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Cild protection advocoate Marc Klaas started KlaasKids Foundation after his 12-year-old, Polly, was abducted and murdered about 10 years ago. He's live with us back here on AMERICAN MORNING in San Francisco.
Nice to see you, Mark.

Doesn't often happen this way, does it?

MARC KLAAS, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: No, it sure doesn't, Bill. When I went to bed last night I didn't think I'd be having this conversation with you this morning. But finally, we're able to talk about a wonderful success story and a little girl who's been recovered alive.

HEMMER: What does it say to you last hour, when the police in San Jose said, and I want to quote him now, "We are very confident we will know who this man is, and be in custody soon?

KLAAS: Well, this was not a random situation, I don't think there's any question about that. There's probably a lot more going on in this story than we know about.

But the buttom line is, you never use a child as any kind of a bargaining chip for whatever your beef might be with somebody or whatever your situation is. As far as the law enforcement, the media and the public were concerned, this little girl's life was in jeopardy. They had very little time to recover her alive. Everybody did exactly the right thing, and the result was, this guy couldn't even go for a glass of water without drawing attention to himself. He knew that that he had to let her go if he was going to be able to get out of this himself, one way or the other.

Half of the job is done. She's been recovered. Now it's time to get him and make sure he goes someplace where he can never do something like this again.

HEMMER: There are apparently two pieces of evidence right now that are quite critical. Jeanette's story, number one, who apparently has been very helpful for police, and the other things is this videotape that popped up on Sunday afternoon. How critical are those two pieces of evidence right now in tracking this guy down?

KLAAS: Well, you know, the videotape speaks to something larger, it speaks to neighbors watching out for earch other's welfare. And this was a family that obviously knew exactly what they were doing. They are surveiling their neighborhood. And one wishes that more neighborhoods were doing things like this, because it would be protective of children and of property. It's really about communities working together to protect each other's children.

Now, as far as the young girl goes, you know, she's going to bring this thing home one way or the other. She knows where she was, I'm sure, at least to some level. She knows who this guy is. She exactly what he looks like. So she's going to be critical to closing this thing, there's no question about it. And we have to applaud her. What a wonderful young lady to survive an ordeal like that and then hopefully bring this thing home.

HEMMER: Marc, does it appear to you on the outside right now that this may not be so much a question of whether or not he was looking for the 9-year-old girl, but possibly using her to locate something inside that house?

KLAAS: It's quite possible, Bill. I mean, like I said, and like people are saying now, this is probably about more than just going in. It's about more than sexual perdation, which is, I think, what everybody thought there was at beginning, but again, that doesn't matter. You don't use a child as the bargain the chip or a weapon in any kind of a situation, any kind of a dispute you have. You keep that among adults. This guy crossed a very, very critical line here, and went after something that he had no business going near.

HEMMER: The description for the suspect right now is not very specific, but perhaps as we grow later in the day there in California, about 6:00 in the morning where you are, perhaps we'll get more then publicly.

Marc, thanks. Marc Klaas, live in San Francisco. We'll talk again.

KLAAS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com