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American Morning

Major Developments in Natalee Holloway Case; Massive and Desperate Search Under Way for Three Little Boys

Aired June 24, 2005 - 07:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien. Major developments in the Natalee Holloway case. This suspect's mother said her son lied about what happened the night Natalee disappeared. His father, a judge, now under arrest. We're live in Aruba with the very latest.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. A massive and desperate search under way this morning for three little boys. They disappeared near the banks of the Delaware River. We are live in New Jersey.

S. O'BRIEN: And homeowners are stunned. The nation's top court says yes, local governments can seizure house for private development. The fallout for families who trying to keep their properties, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Welcome everybody.

M. O'BRIEN: It's Friday. Happy Friday to you. Busy news day for you.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is. Let's begin, in fact, with the many big developments to tell you about in the Natalee Holloway case. The mothers of three of the suspects being held in Natalee's disappearance say their sons lied. Satish and Depak Kalpoe's mother telling CNN that her sons have changed their story, they say, to protect Joran Van Der Sloot. Joran's mother said that her son now admits he lied, that he now says he went to the beach with Natalee, but left her there alone. Joran's father, Paul Van Der Sloot, a local judge, now under arrest. He will remain jailed for up to 48 hours.

Chris Lawrence was with Natalee's mother, Beth, when she learned of Paul Van Der Sloot's arrest. Chris, good morning. What was her reaction?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, she was -- we were all coming back from the airport when she got the call, and she was certainly surprised. She smiled. She was a little bit excited about it, and immediately called her husband to let him know what had happened, and then she immediately rushed into a meeting with investigators to get some more information.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Paul Van Der Sloot rushed out of a police station after being questioned last weekend. On Thursday, he was not allowed to leave.

ANITA VAN DER SLOOT: I think it's ridiculous.

LAWRENCE: Anita Van Der Sloot said her husband was calm when police took him into custody. But police haven't explained how he may be connected. The Van Der Sloot's son, Joran, was arrested two weeks ago. And his mother now says Joran has changed his original story, that he dropped off Natalee Holloway at her hotel on the night she disappeared.

VAN DER SLOOT: He said mom, I dropped the girl at the beach. I walked with her. I left her because she wanted to stay there. I left and I don't know what happened.

LAWRENCE: Natalee's friends last saw her leaving this bar four weeks ago. She drove off with Joran Van Der Sloot and two brothers, Satish and Depak Kalpoe. The Kalpoe's mother visited Satish in prison, and said he admitted to her that he also lied.

NADIRA RAMIREZ, SUSPECT'S MOTHER: He said me and my brother give them a lift and they came home. They don't know anything else about that. I said, Satish, mamma is trusting you guys. He said, I'm telling you mamma, we didn't do anything.

LAWRENCE: Natalee's stepfather told us he expects answers now that both of the Van Der Sloots are suspected of being involved in her disappearance.

GEORGE "JUG" TWITTY, NATALEE'S STEPFATHER: How would you like to be in prison knowing that your father is now, you know, under arrest and think your dad may be going to jail now because of something you may have done.

LAWRENCE: Paul Van Der Sloot came to Aruba 15 years ago. He's in the early stages of becoming a full judge, and has already heard some cases. Now, he's a suspect in one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: But like the other suspects in custody, he has not been formally charged. Paul Van Der Sloot will remain in jail at least until tomorrow afternoon when prosecutors will have to prove why they should be able to keep him up to another eight days -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Chris Lawrence for us with an update. Chris, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Now to New Jersey, where the search is under way again for three young boys who vanished without a trace. The three friends, age 5, 6 and 11, last seen Wednesday evening playing outside one of the boy's homes. They live in Camden, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.

And Camden is where CNN's Alan Chernoff is now. Alan, they of course scaled back the search overnight. They will begin in earnest today. Where are they going to focus? ALAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles what's happening is that they are refining their search this morning, trying to make sure that they are checking every garbage can, every alleyway, ever swimming pool within a three-square-mile area surrounding the Cruz family home. That is where the boys were last seen playing outside. One of the mothers stepped inside, and then came right back out and the boys were gone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): A mother searches for her son and two friends along the Delaware River. Neighbors say the three boys had been walking in the area.

JESSICA PAGAN, MISSING BOY'S MOTHER: They're curious and they wander off, but you know, they're good kids, all three of them.

CHERNOFF: On the water, from the air, and throughout town, the search for the three boys continues. They disappeared Wednesday afternoon from the yard of Elba Cruz's home.

ELBA CRUZ, MISSING BOY'S MOTHER: I was cooking some dinner, and I stepped inside just for a few minutes and came out and he was gone. All the three boys were gone.

CHERNOFF: Missing since then, 5-year-old Jesstin Pagan, known as "Manny," 6-year-old Daniel Agosto and 11-year-old Anibal "Juney" Cruz. His mom said he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

JENNIFER CALO, MISSING BOY'S AUNT: Maybe they got lost in the woods or somewhere in an abandoned house, in and abandoned house, and just hoping that when we turn our heads somewhere, we look on the sidewalk and see them walking and see that they're okay.

CHERNOFF: Dozens of neighbors have joined in the search as local and state police scour the city. Authorities say they have no evidence that the children were abducted, but that possibility has not been ruled out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hope that we find these kids in a house sleeping.

CHERNOFF: As the search continues, though, three families are living every parent's nightmare.

CRUZ: Pure hell. I don't know where he's at, if he's cold, he's hunger. I'm just -- I just want to just see him.

DAVID AGOSTO, MISSING BOY'S FATHER: He's a very loving kid. I miss him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: A bloodhound was able to pick up the scent of the boys yesterday, but unfortunately that scent went cold and the dog was not able to find the children -- Miles. M. O'BRIEN: Allan Chernoff in Camden. In our next half hour, we'll get an update on the search efforts from the police officer in charge of the investigation -- Soledad.

Now to those wildfires that are burning out West. So far nearly 50,000 acres have burned over two states, In California just outside of Palm Springs, and near then Tonto National Forest near Phoenix, Arizona. Officials in California say the fire there is about 50 percent contained, and they hope to have it completely under control by tomorrow morning. About a thousand residents have been evacuated, but those orders are now lifted. Six homes were destroyed.

A different story, though, in Arizona. Two wildfires there have merged and officials are unsure when they're going to gain the upper hand. We've got two reports this morning.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim from the fire line in Arizona, and Chad Meyers has got the fire forecast for us.

Keith, let's begin with you. How does it look today?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was overall a good night, Soledad. This fire, which is now called the Cave Creek Complex Fire, officials say is heading toward wilderness, but not right now towards private homes. This fire began a couple of days ago, really, as two fires, both sparked by lightning strikes. Those two fires joined together and eventually consumed about 10 homes, and forced about 250 people to evacuate.

But as of last night, a good portion of those evacuees were allowed to return home, and firefighters felt that they had held the line and that the conditions were safe enough for people to go back.

There are still a couple of trouble spots, though. This morning we were talking to a sheriff's deputy out here, and he told us that there's a spot in then Tonto National Forest, not to far where from where we are now called Bartlett Lake, and about 68 people who were camping out there essentially were forced to evacuate.

Soledad, in a fire like this, Mother Nature always reigns supreme. The conditions, whether it is hot dry, a little wind, all of which is pretty much happening right now, those are the ripe conditions for a fire to grow. And this fire is still growing.

On the other hand, the human factor seems to be a big deal here. The firefighters held the line. They set back fires to prevent the fire from being able to grow towards where people live, and that really seems to have paid off here, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Keith Oppenheim is in Arizona for us this morning. Keith, thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: President Bush will meet with the prime minister of Iraq, Ibrahim Al Jaafari, about three hours from now. Their goal is to chart the course for Iraq's final transition to self-rule.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Marines in Fallujah. The military said the Marines sustained a number of casualties. That's all the details we have right now. We'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, military commanders will be back on Capitol Hill today. With public support for of the war falling, the top Pentagon brass squared off with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday.

Senator Edward Kennedy called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign, while the secretary told the committee it would be a mistake to set a timetable for U.S. troops to pull out of Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: And let there be no doubt, if the coalition were to leave before the Iraqi security forces are able to assume responsibility, we would one day again have to confront another Iraqi regime, perhaps even more dangerous than the last, in a region plunged into darkness, rather than liberated and free.

SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Secretary Rumsfeld, as you know, we are in serious trouble in Iraq, and this war has been consistently and grossly mismanaged, and we are now in a seemingly intractable quagmire. Our troops are dying, and there really is no end in sight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Some Republicans called Secretary Rumsfeld's attention to the drop in public support for the war. U.S. Commander, General John Abizaid, has stressed his concern that troops are becoming aware of the lack of support. We'll follow up with White House counselor Dan Bartlett a half hour from now.

Still to come on the program, a big blow to homeowners from the nation's High Court. A city can seize your property and put up a strip mall if they want. Ahead, a man who's losing a home for the second time to eminent domain.

S. O'BRIEN: And then later this morning, we'll go back to Camden, New Jersey, and that search for those three missing little boys. Those stories ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: In a split decision, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that local government may seize your house and turn your property over to private developers if they want to have economic development there. The justice has ruled 5-4 in favor of the city of New London, Connecticut. The town wants to clear a piece of property to build a hotel, a health club and offices. Town officials hope it will boost tax revenue and improve the local economy. The ruling will now force nine owners from their properties. Michael Cristofaro's dad has lived in one of the homes for 35 years. Michael joins us from out in front of that home this morning.

Good to have you with us, Michael.

MICHAEL CRISTOFARO, PLAINTIFF'S SPOKESMAN: Good morning, Miles. Thank you very much. It's good to be here.

M. O'BRIEN: Your dad is about 80 years old. Lived there a long time.

CRISTOFARO: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: And I know you're kind of are speaking on his behalf. Why don't you just tell us what this home means to him?

CRISTOFARO: Well, the house, you know, is not a commodity to my father. My father came over from Italy in 1962 and, you know, land to him means that he's rich and that he's got all the gold in the world. You take that away from him, and you know, he has nothing. You know, money means nothing to him. He would rather have the dirt where he could plant his shrubberies and, you know, his gardens and everything else. That's what he needs and that's what he wants.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's listen to the city attorney in New London and hear what he has to say. I'd like you to respond to this. Let's listen for just a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS LONDERGAN, NEW LONDON'S ATTY.: This case was not some type of a land grab. This case was about the city of New London, its six square miles and its economic survival. The case was about improving our roadway system, improving public access to the Thames River, increasing our tax base, filling in a flood plane, improving its water and sewer infrastructure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. The city says it needs the money, needs to make the improvements. New London has fall on hard economic times in recent years. What do you say to that, Michael.

CRISTOFARO: I hope I can say this on the air -- Bull crap.

M. O'BRIEN: You just did. It's OK.

CRISTOFARO: You're right, the city has fallen into some economic downfalls recently, but I've lived here in this town all my life, and the city of New London has used eminent domain for the last 40-plus years, and they've constantly been tearing down our properties here. They have not proved to the residents of this town that by taking property by eminent domain is going to be to the benefit of the public.

The roadways, the sewage system that he's talking about, you know what, like I say I have never seen the city put any money into this town to improve any of that stuff. We have approximately 90 acres of property sitting here in the Fort Trumble (ph). Eighty acres is up for grab right now to be developed. They have it. They can do whatever they want.

M. O'BRIEN: Michael, if you take away the personal story here for just a moment -- I know that's hard to do, because you're talking about a family home here. But surely if the city can improve its vitality and economic well being, create some jobs, that's a good goal, right?

CRISTOFARO: It's a good goal, but it shouldn't be at the expense of homeowners. Why should a homeowner lose their home just so that a developer can build, you know, say another Costco or Target or, you know, whatever. I mean, there is no need to be taking people's homes for those types of projects. I understand that they need to increase their tax base, but they could have built around us in this neighborhood. We could have coexisted with a new development. They could have turned this into a beautiful maritime village, which they refuse to do.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, final thought here. This is the second time this has happened to your father?

CRISTOFARO: Yes. City of New London took their first home 35 years ago. They purchased this home after that eminent domain. The city stated they needed that property for a sea wall. Well, guess what, 35 years later, that sea wall has never been built. That really stings us, because we gave that house up and we saw what they did. And on that property right now sits basically a parking lot for an office complex. That hurts. We drive by it everyday.

M. O'BRIEN: Michael Cristofaro, thank you very much. We appreciate it. We wish you well in your struggles there.

Jeffrey Toobin is our senior legal analyst and correspondent and joins us here now. Let's talk about this decision, closely split, 5- 4, John Paul Stevens writing the opinion. Does this change the law, or just kind of expand it? What does this do to the federal law.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's been in doubt for some time whether this could be done, but lots of states have done it. In fact, the most famous example of the use of eminent domain for a private developer was in the '80s in Detroit, where the city of Detroit condemned a big part of an old neighborhood called Pole Town to build a factory for GM, and the elected officials in Detroit said the same thing the people in New London did, which was, hey, we need jobs. That's what -- the politicians said we have to do this for our community, and that's as important as building a road or a hospital, which has been the traditional use of eminent domain.

M. O'BRIEN: I can see that argument, and the plant was built, right, after a big fight?

TOOBIN: Correct. M. O'BRIEN: Let's -- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote a rather blistering dissent. Let's listen -- read what she had to say: "The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz Carlton, any home with a shopping mall or any far with a factory." Is what she says there true based on this decision?

TOOBIN: She is. And basically what the majority said is, look, this belongs in the political system. If you don't like how your mayor is exercising the power of eminent domain, vote him out of office, but the Constitution is no bar to it. We're not going to get involved in micromanaging how mayors run their cities and how they exercise all their powers. The Constitution says -- the word -- literal words in the constitution are "public use." Eminent domain can be used for a public use. Under the majority's view, public use includes some kinds of private development that benefits the community.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's look at a map very quickly, show you at least at eight states in the United States that have eminent domain rules which make it difficult, actually forbid the use of eminent domain, for the sake of improving -- for private ownership. That kind of thing. Will this change what goes on in the states?

TOOBIN: Not at all. What the Supreme Court said is if states want to do it, they can. There's nothing in the opinion that says the supreme court -- that communities have to exercise eminent domain this way. It simply is if they want to do economic development this way, they can. Interestingly, John -- Justice Stevens' opinion did suggest that if there was some corruption involved, if there was some inside dealing involving private parties, then perhaps the transactions could be voided, but he said, you know, we'll leave that for another day.

M. O'BRIEN: Jeff Toobin, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

TOOBIN: All right, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, the price of a barrel of oil hits a record high, causing the Dow to slip and slide. We're "Minding Your Business." Andy Serwer is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. The stock market slips and crude oil is to blame. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.

For those who were wondering when recently spiking oil prices were going to tank the stock market, it happened yesterday, with a vengeance. The immediate catalyst was oil touching the historic price of $60 a barrel. Never happened before, before settling down to $59 and change. Here's the damage. You can see here that we did touch $60.

Now as far as the indexes go, the Dow was down 166 points. That's 1.5 percent. The Nasdaq down only about 1 percent. But the Nasdaq's down 5 percent for the year. These are the biggest drops in about two months.

Futures are lower this morning, but they've been coming back a little bit, Soledad. And I think the real question here is, obviously, this is going to mean higher gas prices, higher heating oil prices. People aren't going to stop driving and heating their homes come wintertime, but they're going to stop buying things at stores and making other kind of purchases, and that has economists concerned.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I bet it's going to have a impact on the economy, no question. Just when I think is the interesting question. When do they hit that tipping point?

SERWER: Well, it's coming soon. And people are talking about, you know, when gasoline gets over $2.5, which thankfully we're not there yet.

S. O'BRIEN: Not yet. All right, Andy, thanks.

Much more AMERICAN MORNING still to come.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop"...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: That goes without saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Tom Cruise sits down to chat with David Letterman. We'll show the good, the bad and the love sick. Plus, Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell team up for a big screen remake. Will "Bewitched" cast a spell on audiences? That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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