John and Callahan Walsh on re-introducing ‘America’s Most Wanted’ to the new generation | Variety & Rolling Stone Truth Seekers Summit
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00:00You know, we have the new generation, too, of America's Most Wanted, Callahan.
00:04And I wanted to ask you, you know, as we are introducing this new generation to the show,
00:09how you guys decided to come together and bring this back together as a father-son endeavor.
00:14Well, I think it was a great idea.
00:17Cal had worked for me for years. He has two jobs.
00:20He works during the week at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
00:24which was started by my wife, Revae, after our six-year-old son Adam's murder in 1981.
00:29So the center has main headquarters in D.C., 500-plus people.
00:34We're the only place in America that has 17 federal agencies working together.
00:39We have five branches, and the National Center has become a huge, huge factor
00:44in the exploitation of children and teaching children all kinds of safety.
00:48We do all kinds of stuff there.
00:50But Cal runs the West Palm Beach, which is probably the most important, is the hotline.
00:54So he's worked for Walsh Productions over the years,
00:57and he works at the National Center because he loves that.
01:01And he's a dad, and he makes a huge difference there.
01:05But I get him on the weekends, and he's got the young legs.
01:08And I just got out of the hospital.
01:10I got a couple of rotten discs that blew up, you know, getting old as a bitch.
01:15But anyway, here's the young legs.
01:18So I'm glad to have him. He's a really, really wonderful young man.
01:24It really has truly been an honor to be able to follow in my father's footsteps.
01:29Giant shoes to fill, of course.
01:32But I watched my parents, both my mother and my father, channel their emotions
01:36and their anger over what happened to Adam, my brother,
01:39who was kidnapped at 6 years old back in 1981.
01:42I watched them channel their emotion and their anger over what happened to him
01:44to make sure Adam didn't die in vain.
01:46You know, we grew up in a family that said if Adam's song is to continue,
01:48then we must do the singing.
01:50We do that every day at the National Center.
01:52So whether it's finding missing children, fighting exploitation,
01:55preventing future victimization, or finding bad guys on TV,
01:59it's honestly just truly an honor for me to be able to follow in my father's footsteps.
02:03Honored to have you. Really proud of you.