[Cooper:] A 360 follow to a story we reported last night. The custody battle for a 9-year-old girl named Sonya. Before the age of 2, she went to live with a couple who eventually adopted her. They were the only parents that Sonya ever knew until January when a state judge ordered that she be returned to her biological father. Her adoptive parents, Dave and Kim Hodgin were forced to turn Sonya over to a man who was a stranger to her.
[Unidentified Male:] And Sonya is crying her eyes out, just screaming bloody murder. Saying please dad, don't make me go.
[Unidentified Female:] And she took her bags, that is the last time we've seen her.
[Cooper:] Here's what happened, Sonya's birth father, John McCaul, is a convicted criminal. Under Tennessee law, his parental rights will automatically terminated when he was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. But his sentence was later reduced in a plea deal, allowing McCaul to re-assert those rights. So he fought Sonya's adoption and got it reversed. The last time the Hodgins spoke to Sonya was just after she was given to McCaul. Here is what she told them.
[Kim:] Tell me how bad is the house?
[Sonya:] Dirt everywhere. I think there's even mold. He didn't have no clean water.
[Kim:] No clean water, no drinking water.
[Sonya:] It's just so it's so dirty. There is dirt all over it. There's cigarettes everywhere.
[Kim:] Is he being nice to you?
[Sonya:] Yes.
[Cooper:] That recording she pointed out was made one day after she was taken. Now a hearing was held today before the same judge who granted John McCaul custody of Sonya. Randi Kaye joins us with that. So what happened?
[Randi Kaye, Cnn Investigative Correspondent:] It was a bad day, Anderson, bottom line for the Hodgins, the adoptive parents. They went to court for two things. They had filed a motion to try and get the judge to vacate the order which sent Sonya back to Nebraska to be with her biological father. So they wanted that order vacated and they also wanted visitation rights for Sonya. He rejected the order. He said that Sonya will remain in Nebraska at least for now with her biological dad. He did not rule on the visitation. He said he is going to review that. So it was a very emotional day for Kim and Dave Hodgin, very emotional for everybody really involved in this case. This is what, Dave Hodgin, the adoptive father had to say after court.
[Dave Hodgin, Sonya's Adoptive Father:] What has happened in this court today is devastating for Sonya. Sonya doesn't deserve the pain that this court and DCS has given her. And we will never stop. That is what they have appeals court for and beyond that. We'll never stop, ever, ever until we get our daughter safe back home in Dixon, Tennessee.
[Cooper:] The daughter does have a legal representative in the state who said that she wants to stay with her biological father. But the adoptive parents have not been able to talk to her so they don't believe it. What is the next step?
[Kaye:] The last call is the one we listened to from January 30th. The next step right after court today the family's attorneys appealed to the higher circuit court. They want a best hearing. They say the judge made the ruling and sent her back to the father. They want the ruling to happen in this higher court. One interesting note is the Nashville attorney who worked on helping re-tool Tennessee's adoption law. And he has come out and talked about this case and said the juvenile judge who ruled on the case should have had a best interest hearing for Sonya. He said this judge made an error in not having the best interest hearing. He said the law requires it. And so the Hodgins are listening to it and will make sure as far as they can that Sonya has that hearing.
[Cooper:] And the little girl really didn't know her biological father?
[Kaye:] No, she was 9 years old when it happened. She had been living with them for about seven or eight years. And had one phone call with her father that lasted 12 minutes. He had been in and out of prison and didn't really have a lot of time for her. But he did fight for her and got her back. But the child protective services has been defending his side and they spoke after court, as well, today.
[Rob Johnson, Spokesman For Dcs:] He has been as far as we can tell, a good father. He has fought for his daughter. He doesn't have a perfect record. He is not a boy scout. But he has done everything the state of Tennessee has asked.
[Kaye:] So both sides go back to court next month, juvenile court, to handle the motion that they were working on today. And then so far no date has been set yet for the higher court. The circuit court that will hear that appeal. And possibly hold that best interest hearing.
[Cooper:] Difficult case. Thank you very much, Randi. You're watching a number of other stories tonight as well Randi.
[Kaye:] I certainly am. We have a 360 follow now on the V.A. hospital scandal. Dr. Robert Petzel, the undersecretary of Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs has resigned a day after speaking at the hearing on patient care and wait times. Petzel was scheduled to retire sometime later this year. And 360 follow, this one from the Georgia, the body of Shirley Durman was found in the river. She was abducted two weeks ago, authorities believe, when her husband was beheaded in their home. And this is from the summer of 1937 at the Major League Baseball all- star game. The eight-second clip is from the archives. FDR was paralyzed by polio in 1921, and tried to hide his disability from the public. And it was Barbara Walters said farewell to "The View," ahead of her retirement from ABC news. She shattered the glass ceiling for female journalists and dozens of women reporters from Oprah to Joan London, they were all on hand to thank her. Barbara had this message for the audience.
[Barbara Walters:] From the bottom of my heart to all of you with whom I have worked and to all of you who have watched and been at my side for so many years, I can say thank you, thank you, thank you.
[Cooper:] Amazing career, we wish her the best.
[Kaye:] I don't think she is done yet.
[Cooper:] I have no doubt she is not done yet. Randi, thank you very much. Ahead tonight on AC360, my conversation with Anthony Bourdain, we'll preview his program, which this weekend, he looks at the food and traditions in the Mississippi Delta. Also ahead, I'll talk to journalist, Glenn Greenwald, about his new book, "The Behind The Scenes Look at Edward Snowden," going public that surveillance video from the NSA.