Ms. Lee and her colleague, Laura Ling, arrived in Los Angeles this morning after more than four months in the custody of the North Koreans. They were facing 12 years of hard labor when, Ms. Ling said at a news conference, they walked into a room and there stood Bill Clinton.
They knew, she said, that something good was about to happen.
The two young journalists were certainly intrepid; they were also certainly naïve. And they became unwitting pawns in a geopolitical drama that involved one of the most isolated countries in the world and the most powerful country on the planet.
Pres. Obama insists it was a private mission. Wink, wink. And we don't know whether Mr. Clinton discussed anything other than the pardoning of the two young women. Although we'd be surprised if he didn't.
Is this the beginning of new and more open relationship between North Korea and the U.S.?
We just don't know yet. What we do know is that Ling and Lee are home with their families.
And one more note about parent-child bonds. While Ms. Lee embraced her daughter, Ms. Ling's mother couldn't keep her hands off her daughter.
Love is grand. And reunion is wonderful.
We'll have the latest on the reunion and the political fallout, tonight at 11.
Also at 11, the drama and the investigation into the deadly crash on the Taconic Parkway continues unfolding. The family of Diane Schuler - the woman who was not only driving the wrong way on the parkway but who was also driving drunk - today insisting she was a "devoted mother" and a "dedicated wife."
It is a strange set of circumstances and at first blush seems a disconnect from the facts of the case, from the toxicology report that showed Schuler had consumed at least 10 drinks and smoke a hefty amount of marijuana by 1 p.m. on a Sunday. And on a day when she had her two kids and three nieces in tow for the long ride home from Sullivan County to Floral Park, Long Island. Are people just blind to problems? Are they afraid of legal action against them? Or did Ms. Schuler
hide her alcohol and drug use? We don't know.
What I know is that no relative of mine who has a sip of alcohol is going to drive my kids. And I suspect I'm not alone.
We'll have the latest on the troubling case, tonight at 11.
We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Lee Goldberg's AccuWeather forecast, and Scott Clark with the night's sports. I hope you can join Liz Cho and me, tonight at 11.
BILL RITTER
