Page 5 - Jen Carson News Today

Existence, and he was going to come save me. >> and you still loved him? >> i still loved him. yeah. >> so, jen, where are we going now? >> were headed to my old elementary school. this is where i was a fourth grader when my mother came and told me about his arrest and crimes. >> when was the last time you were here? >> 35 years. i have just avoided coming over here because it is completely intertwined in the worst day of my life. >> how does it feel to be here right now? >> i dont know. its str...

Beliefs matter and understanding them matter. >> ladies and gentlemen, heres zach ibrahim. >> this is model united nations. thousands of high school students from all over the world have gathered here to learn how to become future leaders and now zach has their full attention. >> i was 7 years old when my father went to prison and theres not a day that goes by that i dont wish he had chosen a peaceful path. instead, he exposed me from a very young age to the intolerance and radical nature of ext...

You want it touched up a little bit? >> go ahead and look at me. >> this is jen carson. at 43 years old, jen has returned home to care for her mother, with whom she shares a close bond and a dark history. >> recently i was helping clean out my moms house. and i found a bunch of girl scout patches. i also found some pictures. >> jens childhood started off like many others, with a mom and dad who loved her. >> those were my parents, jim and lynn, and thats me. my mom was teaching and my father was...

Very, very different but strangely enough, they are very similar. they are both very protective of their mothers and theyre both very passionate about their mission. in many ways, their childhoods and adult lives have been defined by what their fathers have done but they have chosen to spread messages of life and not death. >> being a child of a killer is a silent burden but jen and zach are no longer hiding. >> in the past i was trying to atone for my fathers crimes and now i know i cannot brin...

After trauma, that feeling goes into overdrive. sensing her ex-husband was a danger to her child, jen fled with lynn to southern california. >> when you first came here you were essentially in hiding? >> yeah. we were renting rooms and sleeping on couches. we were kind of semi-homeless. >> this place, while it looks like paradise, marks a difficult chapter in lynns life. >> this is where my mom was working. she had to take very low-income jobs. you know, we were just very poor. i often couldnt g...

The last time jen saw her father was the one time she visited him in prison more than 20 years ago. at the time, he showed no remorse. and today she refuses to speak with him. for years, jen thought the carsons would never get out. but in 2014, a new california state program allowed elderly inmates the possibility of parole. in 2015, michael and susan received hearings. susan was denied, and michael will be seeing the board again in 2020. >> do you believe that over 60 years old, your father is ...

Lie and keep this a secret, the shame and sadness i felt for these victims. and this fear that i was doomed. >> when did you stop feeling that way? >> i dont think that has stopped. >> jens life was forever changed by the actions of her father. im about to meet another whose world was also turned upside down by a man who became one of the first jihadi terrorists in america. >> i had been dealing with my fathers legacy for such a long time. i grew up, and i realized that wo rkforce overnight out ...

Jen had seen some clips from the press conference over the years but were about to watch one shes never seen before. >> evil doesnt create -- >> my heart is beating from hearing her voice. i need to go take a break. just take a minute. it freaked me out. >> you literally havent heard her voice since then? >> no. >> you havent seen them? >> my heart started racing. it just made me really overwhelmed. i know that voice, but those things hes saying are so bizarre and disturbing. and then hearing he...

When my father was given a parole hearing, it just spun me out. i was frightened, you know? i felt unsafe. >> to keep the carsons behind bars, jen has connected online with each of the victims families, to fight their parole. today, shes meeting the family of the carsons last victim in person for the very first time. >> john offered a ride to my father and susan, and susan stabbed him repeatedly, and then my father shot him. >> why do you want to meet the family members of the people your father...

I mean, were standing where my mom gave me this life-changing news. >> do you remember what your mom said to you that day? >> yeah. i remember every second of that moment. she said, i told you that daddy was really sick and thats why he couldnt see you anymore. and daddy got more sick, and he hurt a bunch of people. then i looked up and i said, are the hurt people dead? she said, yes, and thats when she started crying. >> thats the day your life changed forever? >> yeah. >> during the years jen ...