Jaycee Dugard Honored in D.C.; Interview with Bryan Cranston; Discovery of Three Ohio Women Fuels Hope
COSTELLO: And you're looking now at a picture of Amanda Berry's home. Her family's home as you can see is decked out with flowers and the balloons welcoming her home from -- well from ten years of hell. As you can see there's also a police officer standing out front to keep people away and to we assume, that she's reuniting in a good way with her family, at least we hope so. No one knows what the three kidnapping survivors in Cleveland are going through quite like Jaycee Dugard. Dugard was abducted in 1991, she was held captive for 18 long years. She even gave birth to her abductor's children while she was in captivity. Last night the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children honored Dugard for her work helping other families of missing children. And she did reference the Cleveland case.</s>JAYCEE DUGARD, HELD CAPTIVE FOR 18 YEARS: It's hard to believe that story is me. It's just, thank you for tonight and I want to say what an amazing time to be talking about hope with everything that's happening. I feel like I have come full circle. And we are all finally together celebrating the wonderful hope that you at NCMEC keep alive every day. I am so thankful for the team of people that have supported me throughout these last few years. I am so grateful to all of you. I can't say they have been easy, but anything in life worth doing is sometimes hard, like speaking.</s>COSTELLO: Oh but she spoke so very well. Also awarded last night, a man you might recognize from TV shows like "Breaking Bad," and "Malcolm in the Middle" we're talking about actor Bryan Cranston and his wife. They were honored for their support of the center which they've worked with for more than a decade.</s>BRYAN CRANSTON, ACTOR, "BREAKING BAD": This is indicative of what is possible in the human condition. This is hope is not to be short changed. It is --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's never too late.</s>CRANSTON: Never too late. It is a -- it is a wonderful thing to hold on to. It's a very human experience right? To be able to say, we have hope, we have faith.</s>COSTELLO: It is. Bryan Cranston joins me now from Capitol Hill where he's attending the congressional breakfast for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Welcome, Bryan.</s>CRANSTON: Good morning, Carol. How are you?</s>COSTELLO: I'm great. And thank you so much for being with us. I wondered what it was like listening to Jaycee Dugard?</s>CRANSTON: Well, she's a remarkable young woman who not only took her ordeal and began to put the pieces back together for her life, but she's also now extending that to help other victims of abduction and how they assimilate back into society. And she's a remarkable young woman, received a standing ovation last night at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Hope Awards. And it's -- it's a lesson in grace and courage.</s>COSTELLO: Oh, she looks -- she looks fantastic. But you know, in just her short remarks that we listened to, she said it's not been easy. It's been very difficult. But she did reassure us all that there's hope. But it makes you wonder about the recovery of these three young women in Cleveland.</s>CRANSTON: Well, I don't think any of us can really imagine what an ordeal like that would be like to be captive by someone for even a week let alone 18 years in Jaycee's situation or nearly ten years or over ten years in the situation in Cleveland. We're very fortunate that we got that news right before the Hope Awards. And it really illustrated that hope is alive and that is the main message that we want to send to families who are -- who are grieving right now around the world, whose loved ones are missing that hope is there still and faith and keep that. And you never know what kind of break is going to come. It's very fortunate for these three women in Cleveland and -- and now there's a big road ahead of them. Physically, they're -- they're now back together with their families. But emotionally, intellectually, they need a lot of support and help to get through these next several months and years.</s>COSTELLO: Absolutely. You've been involved in the national organization for a very long time. I'm sure there was talk last night about how Cleveland police handled these cases. What was said?</s>CRANSTON: Well, there's a lot of discussion about what's going on. And I think it's not a bad thing to do. It may be Monday morning quarterbacking, but in this case, law enforcement needs to do that on a regular basis. To look back, look at the things that they did right, look at the things they did wrong, and figure out how to make those corrections for future cases. I can't comment on what the Cleveland police were able to do or not do. I'm not privy to that information. We're just at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, we're just excited that these three women and four, in fact, the little girl have been reunited with their families and hopefully will have a fruitful life ahead of them.</s>COSTELLO: And just tell me why you've been involved with this organization for such a long time.</s>CRANSTON: I'm a parent. And I think it's every parent's nightmare to think of what happened to John and Reve Walsh's son Adam many years ago. They needed to turn their anger and frustration into something positive and they created the National Center almost 30 years ago in their garage. And they did the right thing and they (inaudible) their grieving process to something that was positive. Once you become a parent, you realize that they're -- they're living my nightmare of something happening to my child. And so that's all the impetus I needed for my wife and I to get involved in the National Center many years ago and continue working for their progress.</s>COSTELLO: Bryan Cranston, thank you so much for being with us this morning.</s>CRANSTON: Thank you, Carol.</s>COSTELLO: You're welcome. Coming up next in the NEWSROOM more of our special live coverage out of Cleveland, Ohio -- another family still waiting for good hopeful news about a -- about a family member who has been missing since 1995. We'll tell you about that.