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January 06, 2009 |  |
Hostage ordeal over, Clinton resumes campaign |  |
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Source: CNN ROCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton was set to resume her presidential pursuit Saturday in Iowa after a hostage standoff at her campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire, was peacefully resolved Friday.
Five people inside the office at the time, including a small child, were eventually released unharmed. Clinton, who had been in the Washington area, flew to New Hampshire Friday night to meet with the hostages and their families. At a news conference afterward, she said they expressed "a lot of relief, a lot of gratitude." "It was for me and my campaign an especially tense and difficult day," said Clinton, who said her campaign had no previous contact with Eisenberg. "It appears that he is someone who was in need of help and sought attention in absolutely the wrong way," she said. Flanked by local police, Clinton expressed her gratitude to the team that resolved the hostage situation, which lasted more than five hours. "I want to thank them for their professionalism and their extraordinary work today," she said. "We're immensely relieved that this has ended peacefully." Clinton also praised her staffers for showing courage and handling the situation "extraordinarily well." She said she doesn't expect any further changes to her schedule or her campaign because of the incident. During the standoff, Eisenberg had three conversations with CNN staffers in Washington and Atlanta, Georgia, during which he said he had mental health problems and could not get the help he needed. CNN and police refused his requests to speak with Clinton.
Clinton said she made it clear to authorities that she would "take their direction" in deciding what to do. Dubois said Eisenberg is facing possible charges of kidnapping and reckless conduct and could also face federal charges. He was being held in a local jail Friday night. CNN notified law enforcement about Eisenberg's calls to the network. To avoid jeopardizing the hostages, CNN did not report on the calls until he had surrendered shortly after 6 p.m. Clinton had been scheduled to speak Friday afternoon at a Democratic National Committee event in Virginia, but the event was canceled because of the hostage situation. Clinton's Rochester office is just a few doors away from the local offices of two of her Democratic rivals, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards. Both offices were evacuated as a precaution, and police also locked down a nearby school and evacuated more than 20 buildings in the area. The first tests of presidential candidates in the 2008 campaign are the Iowa caucuses on January 3 and the New Hampshire primary on January 8. CNN's Kelly Marshall contributed to this report.
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