Hannah Anderson's Father to Speak Momentarily; Good Day for Law Enforcement
BLITZER: Happening now, Hannah Anderson's father breaking his silence for the first time since her extraordinary rescue.</s>BLITZER (voice-over): The news conference just minutes away. When it happens, we'll go there live, you'll see it, you'll hear it. Plus, former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, in the spotlight as speculation grows about 2016. You're going to hear from her live in the next hour. And you're fired. A former AOL employee gets the axe from his boss in a very public way, with 1,000 co-workers listening in. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in the SITUATION ROOM.</s>BLITZER: Just minutes from now, we're going to take you live to the father of Hannah Anderson. He's speaking out for the first time since her extraordinary rescue and weekend captivity with the man police believed killed her mother and her brother then kidnapped her. CNNs Paul Vercammen once again is in San Diego. He's getting ready to set the scene for us. They should be walking out momentarily, Paul. I think the sheriff of San Diego County, the FBI agent in charge as well as the dad.</s>PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. All three of them going to address the media here. This is one of those moments where we might as well play some show and tell and never mind any poster (ph) whatever might get in the way. Go ahead, Mike. Go show to the left here. This is where the father will exit, and you can see there's quite a conglomeration of people over here. And then, if you come back over to the right, Mike Love, you can see all the media as well as quite a few high-ranking detectives and others anxiously awaiting the word from Brett Anderson, from the sheriff, and from the special agent in the FBI. You know, Wolf, in our business, this happens sometimes. You have eight days here where you're getting the information piecemeal. We may learn more in about the next five minutes than we knew for eight days as they begin to reveal more about the successful rescue of Hannah Anderson, how she never knew that she had been kidnapped by Mr. DiMaggio, and we'll probably learn much more about how the FBI took him down. CNN confirming that he had both a handgun and a long gun and that he fired once. And we're going to go ahead and look over here to the right and see if they're now exiting.</s>BLITZER: Looks like they're walking over. And so we'll hear -- there you see Brett Anderson. He's the father of Hannah. He's there as well. And, I assume Bill Gore, the San Diego sheriff, will speak first. Maybe they're about to the introduced by a communications specialist there. And Daphne Hearn, the special agent charge in the San Diego FBI office will speak as well. You know what, let's listen in.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff Gore will being speaking and then FBI assistant special agent in charge, Rob Howe, will make a statement. I'd like to introduce Brett Anderson.</s>BRETT ANDERSON, HANNAH ANDERSON'S FATHER: Thank you and thank you all for coming. I would first like to thank all of the branches of the law enforcement involved in their quick actions and professionalism in all aspects of this investigation. I would also like to thank Mary and Mike Young (ph), Mark and Crista John (ph) for without you, who knows how long this would have gone on. My family and I are eternally grateful. As a family, we offer a special thank you to our local sheriff department and the individuals from them and the FBI who have been by our families from the beginning for their tireless efforts. I want to thank all who spread the word, shared their hearts and thoughts through social media across the country. Because of you, this reached across and beyond the U.S. have no doubt that this made -- did make a difference. Though relentless, I would also like to thank you, the media. All of your coverage, keeping the issue alive and helped with bringing my daughter home. As a country, there are many missing children. And though some of them -- sorry -- some of you might find the amber alert annoying, please, pay attention, keep your eyes open, let's bring those children home. No one should have to go through this. Now, it's time for us to grieve and move on to the healing process. I respectively ask you to give me, all of our family and our friends, the respect and time to allow this to happen. As for my daughter, the healing process will be slow. She has been through a tremendous, horrific ordeal. I am very proud of her and I love her very much. She is surrounded by the love of her family, friends and community. Again, please, as a family, give us the time to grieve and heal. Thank you.</s>SHERIFF BILL GORE, SAN DIEGO COUNTY: Hi. I'm Sheriff Bill Gore. I want to thank you all for being here and add my thanks to those of Brett's for your outstanding coverage of this terrible abduction and crime. It's clear that had it not been for the media coverage that the hikers up in Idaho would have never known that the two people they saw along the trail were Hannah and Dimaggio. I want to emphasize that during the law enforcement interviews with Hannah, it became very clear to us, very clear, that she is a victim in every sense of the word in this horrific crime. From the time of her abduction in Boulevard to her recovery in Idaho by the FBI's hostage rescue team, she was under extreme, extreme duress. It was also during the interview with Hannah after her recovery up in Idaho that she was first told about the deaths of her mother and her little brother. Also during the interview with Hannah, she revealed that Dimaggio had a rifle and that he fired at least one round prior to being shot and killed by the FBI hostage team riflemen. This investigation continues. We'll be conducting more interviews, we'll be reviewing the crime scene results from the Boulevard fires, from the car recovered in Idaho and from the camp site at Lake Morehead. We're continuing this investigation so that we can answer all the possible questions that result from this type of horrific, horrific crime. Our primary concern, however, is for the well being of Hannah Anderson and her family. As Brett has stated already, they've experienced a horrific ordeal and tragic loss. We would appreciate your help in giving them that time to heal and to grieve. Thank you very much, and I'll turn it over to assistant special agent in charge Rob Howe from the FBI, who will make a few brief comments, and then we'll answer a few questions -- as many as we can, before ending. Go ahead, Rob.</s>ROB HOWE, FBI ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Thank you, Sheriff. On behalf of the FBI family, let me just say that we offer our condolences and our deepest sympathies to the Anderson family for the tragedy they have endured and suffered this last week. We also echo the sheriff and Mr. Anderson's statements they need the time to grieve and to get back to a somewhat normal lifestyle without most of the interruptions we have presented to them. And I would also like to say that the FBI very much appreciates the law enforcement partnerships that we have throughout the country. Not just here in San Diego, but it's the partnership we enjoy here with the San Diego sheriff's department that allow us to bring our resources to bear whenever state, local and regional resources aren't enough. We're very proud of the relationship that we have here and we are very happy we were able to bring this to the ending that we did. Thank you.</s>GORE: Let me add the FBI, as is their normal procedure, is conducting a shooting investigation up in Idaho. So there won't be any real details coming out about exactly what happened in the confrontation. And I'm sure when the investigation is complete, that will be -- those results will be released. I want to echo also what Rob said about the type of relationships and the type of investigative work that was done here. It's something that you rarely see, I think, on this level where you have federal -- and that's not just the FBI but the U.S. Marshal Service, Customs and Border Protection, the Idaho State Police, the California Highway Patrol, the sheriff's department in Valley County and Ada County in Idaho and then Fugitive Task Force, specifically here in San Diego County that left no stone unturned in trying to find Dimaggio and Hannah and bring them back. So, with that -</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you tell us some of the things that went on during Hannah's capture?</s>GORE: No. We're not going to discuss that out of respect for Hannah's privacy and her need to heal and get through this tragedy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you tell us how she's doing today and where she is?</s>GORE: She's - Hannah's back in San Diego with family members, and she's doing as well as can be expected after the terrible ordeal she's been through.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have any motive?</s>GORE: No, I'm not going to discuss any motive or any of the specifics. We're still -- the investigation is still ongoing, and we have people interviewed, crime scene results to be examined and evidence to be reviewed that we recovered in the car up in Idaho and from the crime scene in Lake Morehead.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, did Hannah ever try to escape?</s>GORE: I'm not going to go into any details about that.</s>GORE: No, she was -- I can't make it clearer. She was a victim in this case. She was not a willing participant, and she was under extreme duress from the time she left Boulevard until the time she was recovered in Lake Morehead, Idaho.</s>GORE: No. I mean, the report from the four hikers on horseback in Idaho was the key event that took us in the area, led us to the discovery of the vehicle and then the subsequent discovery of them camping by Morehead.</s>GORE: As reported by the two couples that saw them along the trail, they had backpacks, they had supplies they took in with them, although the people from Idaho thought they were not really prepared for the wilderness they were in up there in Idaho.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How was Hannah unaware that the rest of her family</s>GORE: You have to look at the size of the complex in Boulevard. There are several buildings up there and she was unaware of what happened, that her mother and her brother had been killed.</s>GORE: The FBI interviewer and forensic interviewer in Idaho did the interview with her and explained to her and revealed to her about her mother and brother's death.</s>GORE: I'm not going to go into any type of details on that, but she was under duress the whole time.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do we have a time in Idaho when the Amber Alert went out up there?</s>GORE: The Amber Alert had not been put out in Idaho until after the four campers up there came across them on the trail. Subsequent to that -- I think that would have been Thursday the Amber Alert was released in Idaho. We'd done it in California, Oregon and Washington, up into British Colombia but not into Idaho.</s>GORE: We're still in the process of putting all that investigative material together.</s>GORE: I don't have the results of the crime scene investigation in Idaho that's being done -- probably being done still as we speak. I do know from the interview of Hannah he did have a rifle, and he fired at least one shot. Beyond that, that will come out in the FBI's shooting team investigation they're doing up there.</s>GORE: She was in the close proximity to Dimaggio when he was shot and killed.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How close?</s>GORE: I don't know.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was the rifle fired at the time of the confrontation with the</s>FBI --  GORE: Approximate time. At least one shot was fired, possibly a second, and he was shot and killed shortly thereafter. As far as we know, Dimaggio fired his weapon first.</s>GORE: I don't know. I don't know.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What about the cat? Supposedly there was a gray cat with them that the horseback riders saw?</s>GORE: Yes, that was his cat.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did they recover the cat?</s>GORE: I don't know.</s>GORE: We're not ready to release the results of that yet.</s>GORE: I don't have that information. Sorry.</s>GORE: We've had that reported to us what she supposedly said under her breath as the four hikers drove off. I don't know, and I'm not sure we know what she meant by that. If she was asked that specifically, I haven't heard those results.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, was she sexually assaulted?</s>GORE: I'm not going to discuss any details of her abduction beyond the fact that she was under extreme duress.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think Dimaggio was headed to Canada?</s>GORE: I'm sorry?</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think Dimaggio was headed to Canada?</s>GORE: I don't know. He was familiar with that area of the country and had been up there - so - no, in Idaho.</s>GORE: I didn't say it was planned. I think that was will come out as we do more investigation. We don't think this was a spur of the moment thing, but I'm not prepared to go into details of why we believe that.</s>GORE: As has been reported extensively in the media, she was not a stranger to his house. A lot of people would go over there. So for her to go to that residence was not unusual. It was after she arrived there that some of these horrific crimes took place.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was she there when the fire started?</s>GORE: A matter of hours from the time they thought they saw the tent from some aerial surveillance until FBI teams were inserted into the area and made their way towards the campsite.</s>GORE: I'm sorry?</s>GORE: No.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What can you tell us about the</s>GORE: Not prepared to talk about that yet. Sorry.</s>GORE: Her mother? I can't -- we can't tell you that. Don't know.</s>GORE: Not that I'm aware of. Okay. Okay.</s>GORE: We're doing -- a lot of investigation remains to be done, a lot of people to interview. Comparing what we learn in interviews with results of crime scene investigations and searches of cars up in the Idaho area. We have a long way to go on this to determine exactly a timeline, what happened, why it happened as best we can. We might never know some of these answers. I think that's important to realize now. When you get a completely irrational act like we've seen here with two murders and a kidnapping, sometimes you're not going able to come up with a rational explanation of what happened. Go ahead. Last one.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you characterize the mood of your department through this long ordeal?</s>GORE: I think everybody is gratified that we've obviously got Hannah back alive. We're sad for the loss of Christina and Ethan. It's a tragedy. But as far as Hannah being recovered, that was a good day for law enforcement all over the country. And I thank you again, the media, for all your help in helping us locate her. With that I will -- last --</s>GORE: No.</s>GORE: I think there will be ways with any new technology, there are always ways to improve it. I think it worked. One of the things I'm aware of from my own alert that I got on my iPhone is that the alert pops up and then after you've read it, it's gone. So you can't just go back in like would you a text message and look at it again to determine what that license number was if you see the car. And I think those are some of the things they're working on, to make it retrievable in your iPhone or smartphone, so if you think you see something, can you refresh your memory of what you saw. With that, thank you very much for being here. Appreciate it.</s>BLITZER: So the San Diego County Sheriff, Bill Gore, wrapping up a news conference with the father, Brett Anderson. His daughter was found alive. She is okay -- the dad Brett Anderson saying it was a horrendous ordeal that she went through, he's very proud of her, I love her. The sheriff insisting, saying she was a victim, she was under extreme duress during this ordeal. Let's get some analysis right now. Joining us, the psychotherapist Robi Ludwig. Also, Mark Klaas, whose own daughter was kidnapped and murdered back in 1993. He's the founder of the Klass Kids Foundation. Robi, first to you. This poor 16-year-old girl must be going through hell right now. She was kidnapped by a 40-year-old man who supposedly was a very close friend of this family.</s>ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: I'm sure she is having a range of emotions, including survival guilt, post-traumatic stress, maybe even a feeling of betrayal. This was a man who was befriended by the family and confused her by saying he had a crush on her. So I'm sure she's even blaming herself, which is very unfortunate because, again, this is not her fault at all.</s>BLITZER: Do you have some advice for this young woman, this 16-year- old, Mark?</s>MARK KLAAS, FOUNDER KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Oh, yes, absolutely, Wolf. She needs to stick with the love of her family and she needs to find counseling. It's going to require a long time for her to get over the trauma of the last week. Everything in her life is different today than it was, say, eight days ago. Absolutely everything. It's been turned upside down. She now has to deal with the new normal.</s>BLITZER: And she's --</s>LUDWIG: Exactly.</s>BLITZER: And her dad basically says to the news media, thanks for helping find our daughter but at the same time saying this is the time they want their privacy, which I assume is pretty smart. Right, Mark?</s>KLAAS: Oh, absolutely. I remember when we were going through a similar situation when we found out that Polly had died. And we had a great relationship with the media but all of a sudden it was just -- the loss was so overwhelming. Now Brett has had this loss but he's also had this entire week of not knowing what's happening with his daughter. So I think that the array of emotions that he's gone through, I think he needs a few moments to sit back, collect himself and try to process what's happened.</s>BLITZER: And do you have any advice for this young woman, Robi?</s>LUDWIG: Absolutely that she should know that this is going to take time, she needs to speak to a counselor who she can trust and share her feelings with, that it may take her a while to trust herself but as long as she's around loving family, she should try to get back to her schedule as soon as she feels comfortable. Time can heal and it may take her a while to figure out why this has happened, if she ever figures out the why. But to find the purpose in it so that she can move forward because it is possible to move forward in a healthy way.</s>BLITZER: I want both of you to stand by, if you don't mind. We have more to discuss. And this note to our viewers, at the of the hour, like father, like son. There are eerie similarities between the man said to have kidnapped Hannah Anderson and an incident involving his father decades ago. Stay with us.