Bill Clinton: “Well, I think like every American, especially every parent, I have followed this gripping incident, and it's been a…”

“Well, I think like every American, especially every parent, I have followed this gripping incident, and it's been a heartbreaking thing. I think today what I would like to do is to say a word of encouragement to the people of Union, the people of the community, beginning with the sheriff and all the law enforcement officials, all the children who prayed, all the people who worked to try to recover those children. It is very important that they not, in any way, feel that their efforts are diminished. The American people looked on them with enormous admiration, the way they pulled together across racial and other lines, the way they tried to find those children, the way they worked to get to an answer, the way they prayed for the safety of the children. I just don't want them to believe that somehow what the mother did in any way diminishes the quality, the character, the courage of what they did. And so my thoughts and prayers are with them today. And I would hope the American people would feel that way as well. I think we were all moved and deeply impressed by how that community responded, and this awful turn of events cannot undermine that.”