Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Federal Agents Believe They've Cracked Terrorist Cell in Town of Lodi, California; Men Being Held in Aruba Expected to Appear Before Judge

Aired June 08, 2005 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Jack Cafferty. General Motors' 25,000 job cuts only the latest in a long line of auto industry losses in this country. As foreign competitors continue to move production here, what can be done to save America's own auto mangers?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And a wild scene in California, a freeway chase, a three-hour standoff, and it takes a grenade and a dog to end it. Police telling us the story, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Wednesday.

O'BRIEN: Hello. Lots of details to cover in the latest terror arrests.

HEMMER: There certainly are. A story still developing out of California at this hour. Federal agents believe they've cracked a terrorist cell in the town of Lodi, California. That's about 40 miles south of Sacramento. Two men are under arrest, two others are now being held, and Chris Lawrence is live from Lodi.

What are police saying about these men who are detained, Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, right now, just to give you an idea of where we are, we're standing in front of what was going to be an Islamic charter school for young children here in Lodi, California. The man who was going to run that charter school is now under arrest, part of an ongoing FBI investigation into terrorist training activities right here in the United States.

Now, federal agents have searched several locations over the past few days, including the homes of two top Islamic leaders, Muhammed Khan and Shabbir Ahmed. Both of them have been detained on immigration charges, according to the FBI officials.

Now "The Los Angeles Times" reported the two were arrested after meeting over the weekend with two other men, a father and a son, Umer Hayat and his son, Hamid Hayat. "The Los Angeles Times" says Hamid Hayat failed a polygraph, and later admitted that he attended an Al Qaeda training camp during the years of 2003 and 2004 and, quote, "learned to kill Americans." Again, according to "The L.A. Times," Hamid Hayat attended these training camps, lied about it to the FBI, and when the two spiritual leaders, the two imams of a local mosque, met with them over the weekend, those arrests were then made. We are hearing from good sources from the Associated Press that apparently the targets for Hamid Hayat were to have been supermarkets and hospitals in the area -- Bill.

HEMMER: Chris, two quick questions here. The two mosque leaders that you mentioned, what was their relationship with the Hayats?

LAWRENCE: Right now, interestingly enough, one of those men, Muhammed Khan, shortly after September 11th, here in Lodi, California, he came out publicly and he met with both Jewish and Christian leaders and issued a declaration of peace, and came out very publicly against terrorist activity anywhere in the world.

From what we know, from what "The L.A. Times" is reporting, the relationship is that they were meeting with the Hayats, who were the focus of the search. We expect to get more information on exactly how FBI officials put this together, and exactly what some of the accusations are against these two men, who had great standing here in Islamic community here in Sacramento. We hope to get more information about how that ties together, or how the FBI thinks it ties together, later today when they hold a press conference about 10:00 in the morning pacific time.

HEMMER: One more quick one. How long were they being tracked and traced, Chris, do we know?

LAWRENCE: We know that this has been an ongoing investigation. This was not something that just popped up over the last day or so, that they have looking at this for some time, and that this involved multiple searches of multiple locations here in the Sacramento area.

HEMMER: We'll be in touch. Chris Lawrence, you the same. Lodi, California, south of Sacramento. And stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: In just about three hours, two men being held in Aruba in the connection with the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway are expected to appear before a judge. Holloway has been missing since May 30th. She was visiting Aruba with some classmates on a senior trip from Alabama.

CNN's Karl Penhaul in Palm Beach, in Aruba this morning.

Karl, good morning.

The suspects go back to court today. What charges are they facing?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They look as if they're going to be facing murder or accomplice to murder, or homicide and accomplice to homicide. Those are manslaughter charges, in fact. And also kidnapping, leading to death.

But while those men are in court, the intense land and sea search is still going to be going under way. FBI divers once again are going to be back in the water, and dozens of volunteers from around the island are also going to be carrying out their searches -- Soledad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PENHAUL (voice-over): In twin raids Sunday, police arrested two hotel security guards, a 28 and a 30-year-old in connection with Natalee's disappearance. Their attorney, Chris Lejuez, says they've been formally accused of multiple crimes.

CHRIS LEJUEZ, ATTORNEY: They are mentioning murder, accomplice to committing murder, homicide, accomplice to committing homicide, and kidnapping with the consequence of death.

PENHAUL: But investigators have not yet offered any conclusive proof whether Natalee is dead or alive. Lejuez says his clients were not at work near the Holiday Inn where Natalee was staying on the night she disappeared. One was out partying with his wife.

Prosecutors have not publicly revealed what evidence led them to arrest these men who are now being held in separate jail cells at opposite ends of Aruba.

LEJUEZ: Both of them are very concerned. They are nervous. They know that they are being suspected of something very -- very heavy, very serious. But they are confident, both of them, and they have shown that confidence to me that they very categorically deny being involved in this case.

PENHAUL: At a Tuesday afternoon news conference, prosecutors said the two suspects would be held for at least another week while they gather more evidence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PENHAUL: The two suspects are likely to be brought briefly before a judge, but we're unlikely, Soledad, to hear much publicly about the evidence against them.

O'BRIEN: All right, Karl, thanks for the update. And as we've reported, Natalee's family has vowed they will not leave Aruba without her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: George Twitty is Natalee Holloway's stepfather. He's in Palm Beach in Aruba this morning.

Mr. Twitty, thank you for talking with us. We certainly appreciate it.

GEORGE "JUG" TWITTY, NATALEE'S HOLLOWAY'S STEPFATHER: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: It has been -- good morning. It has been a week and a half now that Natalee's been missing. How are you holding up, and how is your family holding up? TWITTY: We're trying to be strong. It's been incredibly tough. This is a difficult situation that I hope that no other mother or father has to ever experience. And basically we've said our prayers. We pray together, just try to stay strong and get through this ordeal.

O'BRIEN: Authorities -- do you feel they're being forthcoming with you, the information they have? There are two suspects, as you well know. Have they given you any specifics about these two men?

TWITTY: No, they have not. And yes, they are forthcoming. It's just that the laws in Aruba are different, and the way they do their investigations are totally different than they do in the United States, and it's difficult, it's frustrating; but on the other hand, I do feel like that they're doing everything they can to try to find Natalee.

O'BRIEN: The defense attorney for one of the men says that his client has been charged with homicide and kidnapping. Do you believe that Natalee is alive?

TWITTY: I do believe Natalee is alive, and every day that goes by even gives us more hope that Natalee's alive. The charges, as far as what the defense attorney is saying, I know nothing about that. The authorities here, our liaison with the police department has said nothing to us about that.

O'BRIEN: I know you're getting lots of support in the community, not only your hometown, of course, but in Aruba as well. How do you hold out hope for her safe return after so much time has gone by?

TWITTY: It's difficult. There was a period there of, you know, after about the third day, that you think, well, definitely something's happened, that, you know, they may find her, you know, somewhere, but as we go further into it, and there's no physical evidence, nobody can provide any evidence of any foul play at the present time, so it gives us hope that maybe somebody's holding her somewhere.

O'BRIEN: Is that the theory that you're operating under? Because nothing has really been found, you're hopeful that she's being held in that way, at least can be recovered?

TWITTY: That's the only hope I can have. I mean, I don't know any other -- I don't have any other details.

O'BRIEN: How long do you and your wife plan to stay on the island to search for Natalee?

TWITTY: As long -- until we find her. I mean the time doesn't matter. I mean, we're here to find her. Her mother's not going to go back without her. I'm not going to go back without her.

O'BRIEN: There are more court proceedings today. Will anyone from the family be attending those proceedings?

TWITTY: If we're advised, if we're asked to be there, I'm sure that one of us will be there or all of us will be there.

O'BRIEN: George Twitty is Natalee Holloway's stepfather, talking with us this morning. Thank you for talking with us. I know how busy you are and what a terrible time it's been for your family.

TWITTY: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: We wish you the best of luck in your search.

TWITTY: OK, thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And best of luck to them.

Ten minutes now past the hour. Now to this dramatic showdown in Southern California, that had just about everything yesterday. A three-hour chase, a three-hour standoff. In the end, a man suspected of attempted kidnapping is shot and captured with the help of a police dog. Peter Viles watched it all from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It shut down one of the nation's busiest freeways for hours. A bizarre standoff between a small army of police and an armed man threatening to kill himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's only two bullets in this car and they're meant for me. So I can't get any clearer than that. Your officers are not in danger.

VILES: The story began in morning rush hour, police pursuing the driver of a white van, believing he had attempted to kidnap a woman north of Los Angeles and that he was armed and dangerous.

DEREK BELL, KCAL HELICOPTER REPORTER: The suspect, apparently armed with a nine millimeter handgun, said that he will not be taken by the police.

VILES: At times, it slowed to a stop in rush hour traffic. At one point. the driver pulls a U-turn on Interstate 10, but the California Highway Patrol was patient and effective, laying a trap with a spike strip right here to flatten the tires.

BELL: Spike strip got it.

VILES: Then another textbook tactic, the so-called pit maneuver, or tactical ramming. CHP did it several times.

BELL: Here it comes, here it comes. Once again, spinning it around. Oh, look at that!

VILES: At that point, a second drama begins. Patrolmen surround the car and bring in the big guns, literally. Three armored vehicles from the sheriff's SWAT team, pinning the vehicle against a wall.

BELL: I've never seen him do this. But it seems like a pretty good maneuver.

VILES: The standoff lasted three and a half hours and ended with a bang, officers using a pole to push a percussion grenade and tear gas into the car. They also fired a single gunshot at the driver. Minutes later, a police dog dragged the driver from the vehicle. He was wounded, but alive.

Peter Viles for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: All that on live television, too. We'll talk to the captain of the SWAT team involved in that standoff a bit later here on AMERICAN MORNING. Another day in L.A.

O'BRIEN: Wow. Pretty amazing. I mean, that was actually riveting. Couldn't take your eyes off that yesterday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a medical first. A women gives birth after an ovarian tissue transplant from her twin sister. Dr. Gupta tells us just how many other women could benefit from this breakthrough.

HEMMER: Also, we'll take you inside that dramatic standoff in L.A. The captain of the SWAT team will join us live in a matter of moments, That's ahead, after the break here on AMERICAN MORNING. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning to talk about a medical milestone. Just two days ago, a baby girl was born to a mother who had the first successful ovarian tissue transplant. Dr. Gupta is with us with more on this. Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

An important story, a relevant story and not too often do we get to talk about medical firsts, but this is one of those. 25-year-old woman who was essentially infertile. She went into advanced menopause about the age of 14, was told that she wouldn't be able to have children probably ever. She subsequently also had an identical twin sister and underwent an ovarian tissue transplant to try and remedy the situation.

Let me tell you what happened first, sort of the timeline. It back in April of 2004 that she actually had the ovarian transplant. That means actually taking some ovarian tissue from her identical fertile twin sister and transplanting that. It was July of 2004. Just three and a half months later, she got some sense that maybe it took. A first light menstrual cycle. And then September of 2004, she had her successful normal menstrual cycle and then by October, she was pregnant. And it was just a couple of days ago, as you mentioned, that she had confirmed pregnancy. This was the first time that this has ever happened. Now this woman, named Stephanie, again 24 at the time of the transplant, 25 at the time of delivery, was told that she was infertile. She had tried different methods before, including in vitro fertilization with her twin sister's eggs. None of that worked. So this ovarian tissue transplant, first time that's been confirmed, actually seems to have worked and a confirmed pregnancy. Good for her.

O'BRIEN: Good news for them. Let's -- a bunch of questions that come to mind. Why did this young woman have advanced -- go into advanced menopause at 14 in the first place?

GUPTA: There's a condition, basically, where she was producing not enough of the sort of stimulating hormone to make her ovaries grow. Subsequently, her uterus didn't grow and she wasn't producing eggs.

O'BRIEN: So her twin sister, identical twin sister, didn't have this condition.

GUPTA: And what's really interesting about this, we did some homework on this, identical twins are five times more likely to have one of them go into advanced menopause. Don't know exactly why that is, but that's true.

O'BRIEN: So what are the implications for other women? Because, of course, you're talking about a woman who's able to -- you know, who has a twin sister and that's pretty rare. Identical twin.

GUPTA: Right. It is pretty rare and this obviously isn't for everyone yet. But there's a couple of important points here. For women for example who are going to undergo chemotherapy because of cancer and whose ovaries might be damaged by that could actually donate some of their ovaries, bank some of their ovaries, if you will, ahead of time. Then after the chemo's over, reimplant the ovaries. That's the sort of exciting part here. A lot of women are sort of forced into infertility because of chemotherapy could benefit from this.

O'BRIEN: And you basically act like your own identical twin.

GUPTA: You act like your own identical twin. Now, that hasn't been done successfully yet, confirmed. There was one reported case in Belgium where it might be done, but this is sort of where we're heading here, and it's pretty exciting for people.

O'BRIEN: Yes, really exciting. All right. A medical first. And you're right, we don't get to mention those a lot.

GUPTA: I know, it's nice.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay, thanks. Appreciate it -- Bill.

HEMMER: In a moment here, Soledad, big questions about the auto industry. A story that broke on the show yesterday. Is the one-time engine of the American economy, G.M., is it now breaking down? Andy Serwer looks at General Motors after the break here. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Want to get back to this news that broke when Andy was talking about this yesterday, the world's largest car maker planning some huge cuts. Looking back on the story now with GM, and Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" here.

What's behind these moves, Andy?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, basically, it's all about marketshare, that GM's marketshare has slipped dramatically over the past couple of years. Japanese have made tremendous inroads. That's no secret. We're going to break it down for you a little bit here. Look at that, 1980, they had 45 percent of the market in North America. Today, 26 percent. They were making six million cars a year, not too many years ago. They're now making five million cars a year.

The 25,000 jobs that GM plans to cut over the next three years represent 14 percent of the company's North American workforce.

Meanwhile, health care costs continue to soar at this company. Again, that's no secret. Yesterday, GM's CEO, Rick Wagoner said that this added $1,400 to every vehicle that GM makes. That's a couple hundred dollars more than Ford and Chrysler costs, that cost Ford and Chrysler, by the way.

Meanwhile, GM has a blog, which is interesting enough, called Fast Lane Blog, but we looked at it this morning and there was really no discussion of the job cuts.

HEMMER: Really?

SERWER: Just talking about models.

HEMMER: Give it some time.

SERWER: I think corporate blogs are an oxymoron, by the way.

HEMMER: We say GM is kind of like the engine of the economy for the U.S. here. Are these problems exclusive to that company, or is this a reflection of a bigger issue we need to think about?

SERWER: Well, it's a reflection of the bigger issue, and I think Jack's going to get to that. But the problems at GM are worse than at Ford and Chrysler right now, but they've all got some serious issues.

HEMMER: All right, thank. You set him up perfectly.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. Let's get right to Jack, in fact, with the Question of the Day.

CAFFERTY: Yes, General Motors isn't the only automaker in trouble. All of the big three, Ford, Chrysler, GM, are suffering. The big three and related companies have seen 100,000 jobs lost this year alone. GM's closed or discontinued production at several facilities. In the past five years, three million U.S. manufacturing jobs have disappeared. When GM's employment was at its peak in 1979, the company had 600,000 workers. Now it has 125,000.

Foreign rivals continue to expand their share of the North American car market, and following up on something Andy said about health care costs for GM adding $1,400 to the price of every car and truck they build. We have 50 million people in this country with no health insurance. We have corporations like General Motors being crippled by health care costs. And all the while we have illustrious politicians who could do something about it, sitting in Washington D.C., looking at each other across the aisle, and thinking of silly things to debate, like -- well, you know the silly things they debate.

The question is this, what can be done to save America's automotive industry? Getting those guys off their diamond at the nation's capital might be one step in the right direction. It's not just the car. Health care costs are a big factor in corporate life all over this country. And with the outsourcing of jobs and all the free trade agreements, where stuff can be made cheaper in foreign countries, American businesses working with two strikes against them before it ever gets up to the plate in many cases.

O'BRIEN: Yes, and not just big business. I mean, that's a huge problem for small business, too, those health care costs.

SERWER: Absolutely right.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jack, thanks.

Well, there's much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Ahead on "90- Second Pop," Russell Crowe arrested after a run-in with a hotel concierge. Can the "Cinderella Man" do damage control on "Letterman" tonight?

Plus, three big CD releases this is week. Are they must haves? That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired June 8, 2005 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Jack Cafferty. General Motors' 25,000 job cuts only the latest in a long line of auto industry losses in this country. As foreign competitors continue to move production here, what can be done to save America's own auto mangers?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And a wild scene in California, a freeway chase, a three-hour standoff, and it takes a grenade and a dog to end it. Police telling us the story, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Wednesday.

O'BRIEN: Hello. Lots of details to cover in the latest terror arrests.

HEMMER: There certainly are. A story still developing out of California at this hour. Federal agents believe they've cracked a terrorist cell in the town of Lodi, California. That's about 40 miles south of Sacramento. Two men are under arrest, two others are now being held, and Chris Lawrence is live from Lodi.

What are police saying about these men who are detained, Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, right now, just to give you an idea of where we are, we're standing in front of what was going to be an Islamic charter school for young children here in Lodi, California. The man who was going to run that charter school is now under arrest, part of an ongoing FBI investigation into terrorist training activities right here in the United States.

Now, federal agents have searched several locations over the past few days, including the homes of two top Islamic leaders, Muhammed Khan and Shabbir Ahmed. Both of them have been detained on immigration charges, according to the FBI officials.

Now "The Los Angeles Times" reported the two were arrested after meeting over the weekend with two other men, a father and a son, Umer Hayat and his son, Hamid Hayat. "The Los Angeles Times" says Hamid Hayat failed a polygraph, and later admitted that he attended an Al Qaeda training camp during the years of 2003 and 2004 and, quote, "learned to kill Americans." Again, according to "The L.A. Times," Hamid Hayat attended these training camps, lied about it to the FBI, and when the two spiritual leaders, the two imams of a local mosque, met with them over the weekend, those arrests were then made. We are hearing from good sources from the Associated Press that apparently the targets for Hamid Hayat were to have been supermarkets and hospitals in the area -- Bill.

HEMMER: Chris, two quick questions here. The two mosque leaders that you mentioned, what was their relationship with the Hayats?

LAWRENCE: Right now, interestingly enough, one of those men, Muhammed Khan, shortly after September 11th, here in Lodi, California, he came out publicly and he met with both Jewish and Christian leaders and issued a declaration of peace, and came out very publicly against terrorist activity anywhere in the world.

From what we know, from what "The L.A. Times" is reporting, the relationship is that they were meeting with the Hayats, who were the focus of the search. We expect to get more information on exactly how FBI officials put this together, and exactly what some of the accusations are against these two men, who had great standing here in Islamic community here in Sacramento. We hope to get more information about how that ties together, or how the FBI thinks it ties together, later today when they hold a press conference about 10:00 in the morning pacific time.

HEMMER: One more quick one. How long were they being tracked and traced, Chris, do we know?

LAWRENCE: We know that this has been an ongoing investigation. This was not something that just popped up over the last day or so, that they have looking at this for some time, and that this involved multiple searches of multiple locations here in the Sacramento area.

HEMMER: We'll be in touch. Chris Lawrence, you the same. Lodi, California, south of Sacramento. And stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: In just about three hours, two men being held in Aruba in the connection with the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway are expected to appear before a judge. Holloway has been missing since May 30th. She was visiting Aruba with some classmates on a senior trip from Alabama.

CNN's Karl Penhaul in Palm Beach, in Aruba this morning.

Karl, good morning.

The suspects go back to court today. What charges are they facing?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They look as if they're going to be facing murder or accomplice to murder, or homicide and accomplice to homicide. Those are manslaughter charges, in fact. And also kidnapping, leading to death.

But while those men are in court, the intense land and sea search is still going to be going under way. FBI divers once again are going to be back in the water, and dozens of volunteers from around the island are also going to be carrying out their searches -- Soledad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PENHAUL (voice-over): In twin raids Sunday, police arrested two hotel security guards, a 28 and a 30-year-old in connection with Natalee's disappearance. Their attorney, Chris Lejuez, says they've been formally accused of multiple crimes.

CHRIS LEJUEZ, ATTORNEY: They are mentioning murder, accomplice to committing murder, homicide, accomplice to committing homicide, and kidnapping with the consequence of death.

PENHAUL: But investigators have not yet offered any conclusive proof whether Natalee is dead or alive. Lejuez says his clients were not at work near the Holiday Inn where Natalee was staying on the night she disappeared. One was out partying with his wife.

Prosecutors have not publicly revealed what evidence led them to arrest these men who are now being held in separate jail cells at opposite ends of Aruba.

LEJUEZ: Both of them are very concerned. They are nervous. They know that they are being suspected of something very -- very heavy, very serious. But they are confident, both of them, and they have shown that confidence to me that they very categorically deny being involved in this case.

PENHAUL: At a Tuesday afternoon news conference, prosecutors said the two suspects would be held for at least another week while they gather more evidence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PENHAUL: The two suspects are likely to be brought briefly before a judge, but we're unlikely, Soledad, to hear much publicly about the evidence against them.

O'BRIEN: All right, Karl, thanks for the update. And as we've reported, Natalee's family has vowed they will not leave Aruba without her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: George Twitty is Natalee Holloway's stepfather. He's in Palm Beach in Aruba this morning.

Mr. Twitty, thank you for talking with us. We certainly appreciate it.

GEORGE "JUG" TWITTY, NATALEE'S HOLLOWAY'S STEPFATHER: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: It has been -- good morning. It has been a week and a half now that Natalee's been missing. How are you holding up, and how is your family holding up? TWITTY: We're trying to be strong. It's been incredibly tough. This is a difficult situation that I hope that no other mother or father has to ever experience. And basically we've said our prayers. We pray together, just try to stay strong and get through this ordeal.

O'BRIEN: Authorities -- do you feel they're being forthcoming with you, the information they have? There are two suspects, as you well know. Have they given you any specifics about these two men?

TWITTY: No, they have not. And yes, they are forthcoming. It's just that the laws in Aruba are different, and the way they do their investigations are totally different than they do in the United States, and it's difficult, it's frustrating; but on the other hand, I do feel like that they're doing everything they can to try to find Natalee.

O'BRIEN: The defense attorney for one of the men says that his client has been charged with homicide and kidnapping. Do you believe that Natalee is alive?

TWITTY: I do believe Natalee is alive, and every day that goes by even gives us more hope that Natalee's alive. The charges, as far as what the defense attorney is saying, I know nothing about that. The authorities here, our liaison with the police department has said nothing to us about that.

O'BRIEN: I know you're getting lots of support in the community, not only your hometown, of course, but in Aruba as well. How do you hold out hope for her safe return after so much time has gone by?

TWITTY: It's difficult. There was a period there of, you know, after about the third day, that you think, well, definitely something's happened, that, you know, they may find her, you know, somewhere, but as we go further into it, and there's no physical evidence, nobody can provide any evidence of any foul play at the present time, so it gives us hope that maybe somebody's holding her somewhere.

O'BRIEN: Is that the theory that you're operating under? Because nothing has really been found, you're hopeful that she's being held in that way, at least can be recovered?

TWITTY: That's the only hope I can have. I mean, I don't know any other -- I don't have any other details.

O'BRIEN: How long do you and your wife plan to stay on the island to search for Natalee?

TWITTY: As long -- until we find her. I mean the time doesn't matter. I mean, we're here to find her. Her mother's not going to go back without her. I'm not going to go back without her.

O'BRIEN: There are more court proceedings today. Will anyone from the family be attending those proceedings?

TWITTY: If we're advised, if we're asked to be there, I'm sure that one of us will be there or all of us will be there.

O'BRIEN: George Twitty is Natalee Holloway's stepfather, talking with us this morning. Thank you for talking with us. I know how busy you are and what a terrible time it's been for your family.

TWITTY: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: We wish you the best of luck in your search.

TWITTY: OK, thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And best of luck to them.

Ten minutes now past the hour. Now to this dramatic showdown in Southern California, that had just about everything yesterday. A three-hour chase, a three-hour standoff. In the end, a man suspected of attempted kidnapping is shot and captured with the help of a police dog. Peter Viles watched it all from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It shut down one of the nation's busiest freeways for hours. A bizarre standoff between a small army of police and an armed man threatening to kill himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's only two bullets in this car and they're meant for me. So I can't get any clearer than that. Your officers are not in danger.

VILES: The story began in morning rush hour, police pursuing the driver of a white van, believing he had attempted to kidnap a woman north of Los Angeles and that he was armed and dangerous.

DEREK BELL, KCAL HELICOPTER REPORTER: The suspect, apparently armed with a nine millimeter handgun, said that he will not be taken by the police.

VILES: At times, it slowed to a stop in rush hour traffic. At one point. the driver pulls a U-turn on Interstate 10, but the California Highway Patrol was patient and effective, laying a trap with a spike strip right here to flatten the tires.

BELL: Spike strip got it.

VILES: Then another textbook tactic, the so-called pit maneuver, or tactical ramming. CHP did it several times.

BELL: Here it comes, here it comes. Once again, spinning it around. Oh, look at that!

VILES: At that point, a second drama begins. Patrolmen surround the car and bring in the big guns, literally. Three armored vehicles from the sheriff's SWAT team, pinning the vehicle against a wall.

BELL: I've never seen him do this. But it seems like a pretty good maneuver.

VILES: The standoff lasted three and a half hours and ended with a bang, officers using a pole to push a percussion grenade and tear gas into the car. They also fired a single gunshot at the driver. Minutes later, a police dog dragged the driver from the vehicle. He was wounded, but alive.

Peter Viles for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: All that on live television, too. We'll talk to the captain of the SWAT team involved in that standoff a bit later here on AMERICAN MORNING. Another day in L.A.

O'BRIEN: Wow. Pretty amazing. I mean, that was actually riveting. Couldn't take your eyes off that yesterday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a medical first. A women gives birth after an ovarian tissue transplant from her twin sister. Dr. Gupta tells us just how many other women could benefit from this breakthrough.

HEMMER: Also, we'll take you inside that dramatic standoff in L.A. The captain of the SWAT team will join us live in a matter of moments, That's ahead, after the break here on AMERICAN MORNING. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning to talk about a medical milestone. Just two days ago, a baby girl was born to a mother who had the first successful ovarian tissue transplant. Dr. Gupta is with us with more on this. Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

An important story, a relevant story and not too often do we get to talk about medical firsts, but this is one of those. 25-year-old woman who was essentially infertile. She went into advanced menopause about the age of 14, was told that she wouldn't be able to have children probably ever. She subsequently also had an identical twin sister and underwent an ovarian tissue transplant to try and remedy the situation.

Let me tell you what happened first, sort of the timeline. It back in April of 2004 that she actually had the ovarian transplant. That means actually taking some ovarian tissue from her identical fertile twin sister and transplanting that. It was July of 2004. Just three and a half months later, she got some sense that maybe it took. A first light menstrual cycle. And then September of 2004, she had her successful normal menstrual cycle and then by October, she was pregnant. And it was just a couple of days ago, as you mentioned, that she had confirmed pregnancy. This was the first time that this has ever happened. Now this woman, named Stephanie, again 24 at the time of the transplant, 25 at the time of delivery, was told that she was infertile. She had tried different methods before, including in vitro fertilization with her twin sister's eggs. None of that worked. So this ovarian tissue transplant, first time that's been confirmed, actually seems to have worked and a confirmed pregnancy. Good for her.

O'BRIEN: Good news for them. Let's -- a bunch of questions that come to mind. Why did this young woman have advanced -- go into advanced menopause at 14 in the first place?

GUPTA: There's a condition, basically, where she was producing not enough of the sort of stimulating hormone to make her ovaries grow. Subsequently, her uterus didn't grow and she wasn't producing eggs.

O'BRIEN: So her twin sister, identical twin sister, didn't have this condition.

GUPTA: And what's really interesting about this, we did some homework on this, identical twins are five times more likely to have one of them go into advanced menopause. Don't know exactly why that is, but that's true.

O'BRIEN: So what are the implications for other women? Because, of course, you're talking about a woman who's able to -- you know, who has a twin sister and that's pretty rare. Identical twin.

GUPTA: Right. It is pretty rare and this obviously isn't for everyone yet. But there's a couple of important points here. For women for example who are going to undergo chemotherapy because of cancer and whose ovaries might be damaged by that could actually donate some of their ovaries, bank some of their ovaries, if you will, ahead of time. Then after the chemo's over, reimplant the ovaries. That's the sort of exciting part here. A lot of women are sort of forced into infertility because of chemotherapy could benefit from this.

O'BRIEN: And you basically act like your own identical twin.

GUPTA: You act like your own identical twin. Now, that hasn't been done successfully yet, confirmed. There was one reported case in Belgium where it might be done, but this is sort of where we're heading here, and it's pretty exciting for people.

O'BRIEN: Yes, really exciting. All right. A medical first. And you're right, we don't get to mention those a lot.

GUPTA: I know, it's nice.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay, thanks. Appreciate it -- Bill.

HEMMER: In a moment here, Soledad, big questions about the auto industry. A story that broke on the show yesterday. Is the one-time engine of the American economy, G.M., is it now breaking down? Andy Serwer looks at General Motors after the break here. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Want to get back to this news that broke when Andy was talking about this yesterday, the world's largest car maker planning some huge cuts. Looking back on the story now with GM, and Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" here.

What's behind these moves, Andy?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, basically, it's all about marketshare, that GM's marketshare has slipped dramatically over the past couple of years. Japanese have made tremendous inroads. That's no secret. We're going to break it down for you a little bit here. Look at that, 1980, they had 45 percent of the market in North America. Today, 26 percent. They were making six million cars a year, not too many years ago. They're now making five million cars a year.

The 25,000 jobs that GM plans to cut over the next three years represent 14 percent of the company's North American workforce.

Meanwhile, health care costs continue to soar at this company. Again, that's no secret. Yesterday, GM's CEO, Rick Wagoner said that this added $1,400 to every vehicle that GM makes. That's a couple hundred dollars more than Ford and Chrysler costs, that cost Ford and Chrysler, by the way.

Meanwhile, GM has a blog, which is interesting enough, called Fast Lane Blog, but we looked at it this morning and there was really no discussion of the job cuts.

HEMMER: Really?

SERWER: Just talking about models.

HEMMER: Give it some time.

SERWER: I think corporate blogs are an oxymoron, by the way.

HEMMER: We say GM is kind of like the engine of the economy for the U.S. here. Are these problems exclusive to that company, or is this a reflection of a bigger issue we need to think about?

SERWER: Well, it's a reflection of the bigger issue, and I think Jack's going to get to that. But the problems at GM are worse than at Ford and Chrysler right now, but they've all got some serious issues.

HEMMER: All right, thank. You set him up perfectly.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. Let's get right to Jack, in fact, with the Question of the Day.

CAFFERTY: Yes, General Motors isn't the only automaker in trouble. All of the big three, Ford, Chrysler, GM, are suffering. The big three and related companies have seen 100,000 jobs lost this year alone. GM's closed or discontinued production at several facilities. In the past five years, three million U.S. manufacturing jobs have disappeared. When GM's employment was at its peak in 1979, the company had 600,000 workers. Now it has 125,000.

Foreign rivals continue to expand their share of the North American car market, and following up on something Andy said about health care costs for GM adding $1,400 to the price of every car and truck they build. We have 50 million people in this country with no health insurance. We have corporations like General Motors being crippled by health care costs. And all the while we have illustrious politicians who could do something about it, sitting in Washington D.C., looking at each other across the aisle, and thinking of silly things to debate, like -- well, you know the silly things they debate.

The question is this, what can be done to save America's automotive industry? Getting those guys off their diamond at the nation's capital might be one step in the right direction. It's not just the car. Health care costs are a big factor in corporate life all over this country. And with the outsourcing of jobs and all the free trade agreements, where stuff can be made cheaper in foreign countries, American businesses working with two strikes against them before it ever gets up to the plate in many cases.

O'BRIEN: Yes, and not just big business. I mean, that's a huge problem for small business, too, those health care costs.

SERWER: Absolutely right.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jack, thanks.

Well, there's much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Ahead on "90- Second Pop," Russell Crowe arrested after a run-in with a hotel concierge. Can the "Cinderella Man" do damage control on "Letterman" tonight?

Plus, three big CD releases this is week. Are they must haves? That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com