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American Morning
Hundreds of Firefighters Battling Growing Wildfire in Arizona; New Developments in Natalee Holloway Case
Aired June 24, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hundreds of firefighters battling a growing wildfire in Arizona. No letup in sight. We're live on the front line of this breaking story.
New developments in the Natalee Holloway case. A fifth arrest and what the other suspects are saying about what happened the night Natalee disappeared.
And what really happened when Oprah tried to go shopping in Paris, and what that could cost the posh store that turned her away.
Those stories straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
Also ahead this morning, the planets are lining up, some of them, at least. The show in the sky that starts tonight. And you might never get a chance to see it again.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, this weekend. You really should go take a look. Our old friend Jack Horkheimer will join us and he'll give us some tips on seeing it. It's just after sundown, so kind of cocktail hour Saturday night. You can go out and see something you won't be able to see for another 65 years.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that'll be great.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: First, though, let's get a look at the headlines this morning with Carol -- good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Good morning to all of you.
Now in the news, President Bush is getting ready to host Iraq's prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is in Washington today. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan says the White House meeting is an opportunity to talk about the challenges that lie ahead in Iraq. The two leaders will speak with reporters after their private meeting. And, of course, CNN will have live coverage for u. That begins at 11:25 a.m. Eastern.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld standing firm on the issue of Iraq, saying American troops will stay there until Iraq can handle things on its own. Secretary Rumsfeld told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee that it would "throw a lifeline to terrorists if the United States were to set a time line for leaving the country." Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy accused Rumsfeld of mismanaging the war.
In Camden, New Jersey, a full scale search resumes this morning for the missing children. The boys, ages five to 11, were last seen playing in a yard on Wednesday night. Police say they're doing everything they can.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. MIKE LYNCH, CAMDEN POLICE DEPARTMENT: What we're doing is breaking the area down into geographical sectors so that we can go through there and literally leave no rock unturned. Our personnel and the resources that are working along with us are searching every swimming pool, every trash can, every vacant property. We are doing everything possible to locate these young missing children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Police are also not ruling out the possibility the boys may have been kidnapped.
Some Democrats are calling on White House strategist Karl Rove to say I'm sorry. At issue, Rove's comment at a conservative fundraiser in New York suggesting Democrats preferred therapy to military action against terrorists after the 9/11 attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL ROVE, WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR: Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to pare indictments and offer therapy and understanding to our attackers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Don't expect an "I'm sorry."
White House Spokesman Scott McClellan says Rove will not apologize and that he was highlighting the different philosophies for winning the war on terrorism.
And remember, you can view more CNN reports online. Just visit cnn.com. Click onto "watch" for free video and you can check out the most popular stories.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Casey Kasem, what's number one?
COSTELLO: I don't know, I haven't checked yet.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, you haven't checked. I'm sorry. I put you on the spot. I apologize. COSTELLO: It'll give me something to do, so I'll go downstairs and do that.
M. O'BRIEN: You seem like you always know that stuff, so -- all right.
COSTELLO: I know.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: See you a little bit later.
Wildfires raging in Arizona have burned nearly 50,000 acres so far this morning. Two fires merged into one yesterday, just outside of Phoenix, in and around the Tonto National Forest. Heavy winds are fanning the flames that were sparked by lightning.
Emily Garber is the fire information officer for the agencies battling the blaze right now.
She joins us now from, of all places, Carefree, Arizona.
Obviously not carefree this morning, right, Emily?
EMILY GARBER, FIRE INFORMATION OFFICER: Well, a little bit more carefree, since there were a number of people who were allowed back into their homes last night.
M. O'BRIEN: So are you gaining on this fire?
GARBER: Well, it's touch and go. We thought so yesterday afternoon and then the winds turned on us and there was a larger area that burned by late afternoon. But I think it's -- time will tell, as is usual, with fires. It is now about 46,000 acres, which is a little bit more than we anticipated when we started.
M. O'BRIEN: And it's been pretty windy and the conditions have not been ideal for the firefighters.
Give us an idea of the kind of tactics you're employing right now.
GARBER: Well, I think, you know, the main thing that we always worry about -- and you can see the way my hair is blowing around that it's even windy and it's very early in the morning, so that's unusual. What they've been doing is what we call indirect attack. They've been stepping back a ways from the fire, trying to build a fire line and burnout along that to use up the fuel, so if the wind changes and the fire comes back on that line, it'll, the fire will lie down on the ground because there will not be fuel for it to continue burning. And that way we're hoping to contain it a little bit.
M. O'BRIEN: And, by the way, that's a live picture for our viewers we're seeing on the right hand side, an aerial from one of our affiliates there.
And I imagine when it's this windy, setting all those back fires is, in itself, kind of a risky proposition.
GARBER: Well, the burnouts are risky, but we always put in our mostly highly trained people there. So we try to reduce the risk as much as possible. It's a tactic that's used in a lot of places, often used in the Southwest, and it's often very successful.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, so big picture here, given the way the wind is blowing and the way the fire is headed, is there any other areas that appear to be in jeopardy, some homes or businesses that lie in its path?
GARBER: Well, we're lucky, if you will, that where the fire moved to last night with the winds actually did not move it toward the dense areas of housing. Right now the fire is moving out toward forested areas where there are not -- where there is not any additional private property so far.
So right now the fire is moving away from the dense areas, and that's the good news.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, so maybe things are kind of carefree in Carefree, Arizona.
Emily Garber, fire information officer.
GARBER: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks for taking some time with us this morning -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, turning now to Aruba, there have been many big developments in the case of Natalee Holloway's disappearance. The mother of three of the suspects -- or the mothers, rather, of three of the suspects now say that the boys lied. Satish and Deepak Kalpoe's mother says that her boys tell her that they made up the story that they dropped Natalee off at the hotel in order to protect their friend Joran van der Sloot.
Joran van der Sloot's mother says that he told her on Thursday that he took Natalee to a beach then left her there alone.
Meanwhile, van der Sloot's father, who ran from the cameras over the weekend, is now under arrest in the case.
Mariaine Croes is the spokeswoman for the prosecution team.
She is in Palm Beach, Aruba this morning.
It's nice to see you, Miss. Croes.
Thanks for talking with us.
Paul Van Der Sloot, the father of the teenager who is being held, is now jailed himself.
Why is he a suspect now?
MARIAINE CROES, PROSECUTION SPOKESWOMAN: Stated in general terms, I can say that he is a suspect because at this point in the investigation there is a reasonable suspicion that he is somehow involved in the disappearance of Miss. Holloway.
S. O'BRIEN: When you say somehow involved, are you saying you think he has some information or are you saying that you think that he was somehow physically involved in this girl's disappearance?
CROES: Exactly what his involvement is, that is something that must result from the investigation that is also focusing on him now as a suspect.
S. O'BRIEN: Meaning you don't know or meaning you're not saying?
CROES: Meaning that at this point I cannot say specifically. No, I cannot.
S. O'BRIEN: Would he be in jail if his involvement was just helping the young men with their story?
CROES: It depends if his involvement is not that big and also if it's not necessary for him to be kept in jail, then he will be released. But that's a decision that in the first 10 days has been made by the prosecutor.
S. O'BRIEN: One of the mothers of two of the suspects says they told her that they lied to protect Joran van der Sloot. That's the son of the man we were just talking about. Joran van der Sloot's mother, Anita, says that her son is now admitting to her that he lied, that he admitted now that he was alone at one point with Natalee.
Is Joran van der Sloot the primary focus of this investigation now?
CROES: At this moment we cannot say we have one primary suspect. We only say we have five suspects in custody and as we go along further in the investigation, then we can say OK, now we have more clear information and then maybe we can say we have one primary suspect.
S. O'BRIEN: So five people still held, but not charged officially.
At what point will we see somebody officially charged in the disappearance of this girl?
CROES: The official charges will be made when the investigation is closed and the prosecutor has revised the whole investigation so all the documents and all the evidence pertaining to this investigation. And when that is done, then the suspects will be, if they are, formally accused. S. O'BRIEN: Meaning -- what kind of a time line are we talking about? Do you think you're days away from formally charging someone? Weeks? Months?
CROES: I cannot give a specific time. I can just say that between now and 146 days, they have to appear before a judge. So then you must have your accusations formulated more clearly. But at this point I cannot give a specific time for when that will happen. We have to wait for the investigation first. When that is closed, that's when the prosecutor can make that decision.
S. O'BRIEN: Mariaine Croes is a spokeswoman for the prosecution.
Thanks for talking with us this morning.
We appreciate your time -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's get a check on the weather now -- Chad, I saw the moon this morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: In the wee hours.
MYERS: Well...
M. O'BRIEN: Put my thumb up there and it worked.
MYERS: You missed...
M. O'BRIEN: Really, really very cool.
MYERS: You missed the full moon, though, by a couple.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, I mean, it wasn't quite full. You know, they call it the Honey Moon.
Did you know that?
MYERS: I didn't know that, no.
M. O'BRIEN: The Honey Moon.
MYERS: There are 12...
M. O'BRIEN: We're going to talk to Jack Horkheimer in just a few moments about this...
MYERS: Good.
M. O'BRIEN: ... because he knows all that kind of stuff.
MYERS: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
MYERS: You've got the hunter moon and the bear moon and (INAUDIBLE)...
M. O'BRIEN: The Honey Moon.
MYERS: There's names for all of those full moons.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
MYERS: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: My first week here it's good to have a Honey Moon, right?
MYERS: Exactly.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
MYERS: Your honeymoon is over, but it's all right.
M. O'BRIEN: It's now over?
MYERS: It just ended...
M. O'BRIEN: That's right.
MYERS: ... right there.
S. O'BRIEN: That's my line.
M. O'BRIEN: That's the end of that one.
MYERS: That was it.
M. O'BRIEN: OK, putting the thumb up now. I don't see you, Chad. I don't see u.
MYERS: Talk to the hand, Miles.
Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: Aren't there some movies out there for the weekend?
M. O'BRIEN: I don't know, is there anything you want to see?
S. O'BRIEN: Not one thing.
M. O'BRIEN: Not a one? There's not a one.
MYERS: Not really.
S. O'BRIEN: I saw something yesterday.
M. O'BRIEN: Definitely not doing "Bewitched." Not doing it.
S. O'BRIEN: It's so bad. M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: I'm not -- so bad I'm not going to...
M. O'BRIEN: You won't even say?
S. O'BRIEN: No. It was that bad.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, come on, say it. Let's hear it.
S. O'BRIEN: No. But I took the kids. It was a kid movie. It was horrible.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, OK.
The kids liked it?
S. O'BRIEN: Hated it.
MYERS: The kids hated it?
S. O'BRIEN: Cried.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow!
S. O'BRIEN: They cried.
M. O'BRIEN: You know it's a bad movie when the kids hate it.
S. O'BRIEN: They wanted to leave.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow!
S. O'BRIEN: We paid $10 for that ticket. You're staying...
M. O'BRIEN: Wow!
S. O'BRIEN: ... is what mom used to say.
M. O'BRIEN: Sit there. Sit there.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Chad.
Well, ahead this morning, Oprah. We're going to take a look at just how much one posh Paris shop stands to lose after they turned away one of the world's most powerful women.
M. O'BRIEN: The galaxy showing off a little bit. We'll tell you about a rare planetary alignment. And there's a cool Hubble image. It kind of looks like "Lord of the Rings," doesn't it? We'll check in with the man who knows all about such matters. Jack Horkheimer in the house.
But first, a question for you. After the sun and the moon, which of these planets is the brightest object in the sky? Come on, this is a chip shot, folks, but we'll give it to you anyway. Saturn, Venus or Mercury?
The answer after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, the question was, before the break, after the sun and the moon, which of these planets is the brightest object in the sky?
Bruce got it right. The answer is B, Venus. Oh, Venus. It's often called the morning star at sunrise and the evening star at sunset. Most nights, it's the brightest star that you'll see out there.
Now, if you've never been much of a star gazer, this might be the weekend to start. Beginning tonight, Mercury, Venus and Saturn will appear to be so close together, they'll look like one huge kind of constellation of stars. It's supposed to be a spectacular event, one that won't happen again until 2070, so you'd better catch it tonight.
Jack Horkheimer is the director of the Miami Planetarium, host of the PBS show "Star Gazer," and our favorite person to navigate through the heavens.
Jack, good to see you.
JACK HORKHEIMER, HOST, PBS' "STAR GAZER": Good morning, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
An unusual event.
When was the last time this happened?
HORKHEIMER: Well, actually, the big event is Monday night. And the event that won't happen again for 65 years is this super close spectacular meeting of Venus and Mercury on Monday night. Now, we have a spectacular gathering all weekend. It's just this is a weekend full of -- chock full of planetary events.
If you go look west-northwest tonight, right where the sun went down, and every night about 45 minutes after sunset during twilight, close to the horizon you'll see three planets grouped so closely together, you could cover them all with your pinky finger stretched out at arm's length.
Now, the interesting thing is you can watch them...
M. O'BRIEN: Wait a minute, Jack.
Do you have to be in the country to see this, though?
HORKHEIMER: Oh, no...
M. O'BRIEN: Could you see this right here in New York City?
HORKHEIMER: You can see it right in New York City.
M. O'BRIEN: Really? OK.
HORKHEIMER: They'll be so bright. Venus will knock your socks off.
M. O'BRIEN: Really?
HORKHEIMER: It'll look like the landing light of an airplane. Mercury will be pinkish and down to its right, Saturn to its left. And you can watch them come closer and closer. Tomorrow night, they'll be only one-and-a-half degrees apart. This is the super close meeting. But then on Sunday night, Mercury and Venus are only two tenths of one degree apart. And on Monday night, Mercury and Venus are closer than one fifth of a full moon.
"The Farmer's Almanac" says they'll be so close on Monday night, they may appear to blend into one star. They'll not be this close again for 65 years. Then all next week, you can actually see Mercury and Venus as they start to pull apart, because they'll still be super close.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Jack, it appears you're floating there in space, for those who haven't seen the program. Jack kind of guides you through the stars. This is your little primer on how to do just that.
What time should people start watching the west-northwest sky over the weekend through Monday?
HORKHEIMER: Forty-five minutes after sunset...
M. O'BRIEN: And that doesn't matter...
HORKHEIMER: ... west-northwest.
M. O'BRIEN: ... wherever you may be, you'll see this, right?
HORKHEIMER: Wherever you are. And it's beautiful to the naked eye. But if you've got a pair of binoculars, it'll knock your socks off. If you have a small, cheap telescope, you'll actually see the rings of Saturn.
M. O'BRIEN: What about binoculars?
HORKHEIMER: Well, binoculars are fantastic because they make things brighter --
M. O'BRIEN: You still see the rings, maybe? Oh, yes...
HORKHEIMER: No, you can't see the rings with binoculars.
M. O'BRIEN: OK.
HORKHEIMER: You have to have a small telescope, even a cheap one. M. O'BRIEN: OK.
All right, let's move on.
The Hubble, speaking of...
HORKHEIMER: Oh, wow!
M. O'BRIEN: ... telescopes. But let's go to the big category here.
Hubble got this incredible image and it looks, really, it looks right out of Hollywood, doesn't it?
HORKHEIMER: Well, the image actually looks like they say the eye of Sauron from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
M. O'BRIEN: There you go.
HORKHEIMER: But you're seeing a star in the center there and this huge dust ring around it. And what that is, is this is the first visual evidence we've ever seen of a planet forming, we believe, an early solar system forming. The star is called Fomalhaut. It's a very bright star. It was Cleopatra's favorite star.
M. O'BRIEN: It sounds like a Monty Python thing. Fomalhaut, huh?
HORKHEIMER: Fomalhaut. And it's in the constellation of the Southern Fish. And what we're seeing here, this dust ring is a ring of billions of comet like objects. But inside that ring, we believe planets are coalescing. And we believe that they're relatively small planets, nothing even five times as big as Jupiter. And when you see things like this for the first time, it's mind blowing, because this star is only 200 million years old. It was born during the time of the dinosaurs.
Our sun is five billion years old. We are seeing the early stages of planetary formation around a close star. It is only 25 light years away. So when you look at it tonight, you're seeing the light that left it only 25 years ago, which star wise is pretty close.
M. O'BRIEN: So it's like a planetary nursery.
A final thought, the Honey Moon. The Honey Moon is over. Or it will be.
HORKHEIMER: Oh, the Honey Moon. The Honey Moon was the June full moon. You know, there's a lot of stories about why it's called the Honey Moon. My favorite explanation is it looks like honey color because it travels so low across the sky and we see it through dirtier, denser layers of Earth's atmosphere. But another reason it's called the Honey Moon is June. And in all, excuse me. When a person is married, traditionally in Europe a long time ago, the Honey Moon, the month when the bridge and the groom were together privately was a month long. That's where we get our name moon from, moon and month. It's called the Honey Moon because during that month, the bride's father was forced to pay for all the honey beer, the honey colored mead, that the groom could drink during this month. So that's why we call the marriage thing a honeymoon. And since there are so many more marriages in June traditionally...
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, wow!
HORKHEIMER: ... the Honey Moon is the color of honey when all these marriages are (INAUDIBLE)...
M. O'BRIEN: Very, you know...
HORKHEIMER: It's kind of convoluted but fun.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, you're so much more than an astronomer. You're a historian and a teller of tales. And it leads us now to the moment where you give us your customized, world famous tag line.
HORKHEIMER: OK, Miles. Keep looking up.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack Horkheimer, director of the Miami Planetarium, host of the PBS show "Star Gazer."
We appreciate it -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks.
Still to come this morning, we're live in Queens, where the Reverend Billy Graham is about to hold what could be his final American crusade.
You want to stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The Reverend Billy Graham is set to launch a three day revival tonight right here in New York City. Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the events, which the 86-year-old Evangelist says will be his last crusade in America.
CNN's Alina Cho is in Flushing Meadows, Queens, where tonight's event is going to be held -- hey, Alina, good morning.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you.
Reverend Graham will be delivering three sermons this weekend, beginning tonight. This is his eighth trip to the New York area and his first since 1991.
He will be preaching to a much more diverse crowd this time around. Just as New York is a melting pot, so are its churches.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) CHO (voice-over): Across the street from a used car lot, a stone's throw away from a housing project, is New York's largest church. The Christian Cultural Center is symbolic of the changing face of the city's Evangelical Christians. At least that's how the pastor, A.R. Bernard, sees it.
REV. A.R. BERNARD, CHRISTIAN CULTURAL CENTER: Literally, the complexion of New York City is changing. Most of these churches are as far as, Latino, Korean.
CHO: And growing each day, part of the reason why Reverend Graham is coming back.
He first came to New York in 1957.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. BILLY GRAHAM, EVANGELIST: The day of opportunity would be gone and you had not given your life to Jesus Christ.
CHO: What was supposed to be a four week revival stretched to four months. At a packed news conference this week, the 86-year-old preacher, ailing from Parkinson's Disease, his voice now reduced to a whisper, said he loves New York and that this crusade will be his last in America.
GRAHAM: And I just thank god for a city that speaks all these languages with so many people.
CHO: Dr. Graham's message this weekend will be translated into 13 different languages. There is seating for 70,000 people and an open field to accommodate even more. Members of the Christian Cultural Center will be among those attending.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that he's crossed over to my demographic makes him significant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's a wonderful opportunity for me to become a part of history.
CHO: Reverend Bernard says New Yorkers will once again embrace Graham and his message. BERNARD: There are those who still think that New York City is in spiritual darkness and spiritual drought and in the hands of Satan. But I'm here to say and declare, with the spotlight that Dr. Graham brings, he is delighted to know that things have changed and god is alive and well and vibrant in New York City.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHO: And back here live, this is quite a sight to see -- 70,000 seats and, with the open field, room for 150,000 people. The stage behind me is enormous. It is almost like being at a rock concert. And I'm sure it will be very much like that tonight.
As I mentioned, this will be, or is expected to be, Dr. Graham's last crusade in America. But, Soledad, he is considering an invitation to London this fall. But he says he won't make any announcements or decisions about that until after he finishes up in New York.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, Alina, I think the sense is they want to see how his health is and how he holds up during what's sure to be a rigorous event.
Alina Cho for us this morning.
Alina, thanks.
Coming up in the next hour, we're going to be talking to the Reverend Graham's son, Franklin.
He's going to be attending tonight's event with his father.
And still to come this morning, the power of Oprah. What really went down when a Paris shop turned her away and what might it ultimately cost that store?
Stay with us.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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