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American Morning
Talk with Natalee Holloway's Mother; Free to Broadcast
Aired June 28, 2005 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: American and Iraqi forces launching a new operation in Iraq aimed at rooting out insurgents. Operation Sword began early this morning in the Anbar province west of Baghdad. It is the fifth region in the region in recent weeks. Some 1,000 Marines, soldiers and sailors are taking part.
Some beaches in Gulf County, Florida are set to reopen in less than three hours. They were shutdown on Monday after a second shark attack off the Florida panhandle in three days. The latest victim, a 16-year-old boy. Doctors had to amputate his leg. He is now in critical but stable condition, and he is expected to undergo more surgery this morning.
In Wichita, Kansas, the confessed BTK Killer, Dennis Rader is black behind bars this morning, but his detailed and chilling confession about his crimes is bringing new pain to the victims' families. Rader's last victim was killed in 1991, her name Dolores Davis. Her son spoke with us last hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF DAVIS, SON OF BTK VICTIM: All the specifics of his atrocities and inhumanities in all those cases, the D.A. is going to pull from that, that barrage of inhumanity, and that's all going to be on the table, and I'm sure there's going to be some unpleasant things, some shocking things that will probably come out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Dennis Rader is expected to be sentenced in August.
The Vatican officially starts the process of beatifying Pope John Paul II today. Clerics who will take in the investigations will swear today to faithfully and diligently do their work, and promise not to accept any gifts that might sway their decisions. To canonize the late pope, the Vatican must find evidence of at least two miracles since his death.
And at least 20 large wildfires are burning on the West Coast. Firefighters used air tankers to hold back a blaze in southwest Utah, the flames forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate. Dry storms are expected near the area today, bringing with them lightning and the possibility of more fires. So, Soledad, no relief just yet.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: No, none to talk about at least. All right, Carol, thanks. With the release of an Aruban judge over the weekend in the Natalee Holloway case, Holloway's mother now saying she's afraid that the entire investigation might be back to square one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Natalee's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, is in Palm Beach, Aruba this morning.
Beth, it's nice to see you again. How are you holding up?
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S MOTHER: It's hard, Soledad. I mean, it's tough. But I'm in it, so I'm not giving up. No way.
S. O'BRIEN: You've had a lot of emotional ups and downs, and I know there was one just the other day with the release of Paul Van Der Sloot. You were hugely disappointed that they let him go. Why?
TWITTY: Soledad, I was devastated. I felt like we worked so hard for a month -- I mean, you know, we were here at 11:00 p.m. on the 30th and we worked so hard to where we were, and I can't believe it was ripped away from me, and I really -- Soledad, I don't know, am I back at square one? I don't know that.
S. O'BRIEN: What do you think is the link with Paul Van Der Sloot and your daughter's disappearance? I guess I'm not making the connection there. Why do you think he's so critical to this case? .
TWITTY: I think that he has information. He definitely has it, and he has to step forward with it. He has not provided them --
S. O'BRIEN: Why are you so sure? Why are you so sure, Beth? What has he said to you that you're so sure he's got information?
TWITTY: You know, on that night and early morning hours on the 31st, we knew that he had -- that he was instrumental, had something -- connection, some information that he was withholding. And once I spent that 90 minutes in his home, I had the confirmation that I needed to know, yes, yes, he does have some information. I don't know what he has. I don't know how he's involved, but he can help give us information on this.
S. O'BRIEN: Because he's the one who was dealing with his son in the early morning hours after your daughter disappeared. What kind of conversation did he tell you he had with his son?
TWITTY: You know, I was not involved in that conversation, Soledad, so that would be something that the other witnesses that were with me could tell you. I remained seated in the vehicle the entire time.
S. O'BRIEN: I guess you're just so adamant and I can't figure out if you're saying you think he's covering for his son, you think he specifically had a role in your daughter's disappearance, you think that he just has information and is not being forthcoming? Which is it? Why are you so convinced?
TWITTY: Soledad, you're exactly right. Really it's all three of them could be a possibility, and that's what we need to find out.
S. O'BRIEN: Steve Croes also released. Is that as devastating, do you think, to this investigation as well, Beth?
TWITTY: You know, I didn't have any thoughts on Steve Croes. You know, I've been pretty opinionated on the rest of the individuals, but you know, I just didn't have any thoughts there, whether he was arrested or whether he was released. You know, they still remain suspects, though in Natalee's kidnapping, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: You are the one who sort of raised the question a month in. And are you back to square one, do you think?
TWITTY: You know, I feel like that I have carried this -- and June 13th, I really felt like we were pushing forward, and we were working together, and you know, after this weekend when it's ripped out from me, you know, I don't know. Maybe I need a chart. I would love to know where I am. I don't know if I'm at the beginning. I don't know if I'm in the middle. You know, I don't think any of us know where we are anymore.
S. O'BRIEN: So is the FBI being helpful? I mean, do you think you're being stymied by the Aruban authorities? Are you getting enough assistance from the Americans helping here?
TWITTY: All I can comment on that is, they're only allowed to do what the government permits them to. I'm sure their hands are tied somewhat. I know they're working with them.
But now as far as divulging information to me, no, I'm not getting that, and I'm sure that would be jeopardizing the investigation.
S. O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, your sense of frustration is coming through loud and clear. Beth Holloway Twitty talking to us this morning. Beth, of course we'll continue to check in with you, and we keep our fingers crossed for any information.
TWITTY: Thank you, Soledad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Freedom of the press is one of the essential components of any democracy. Now that Afghanistan has a democratically elected government, the U.S. military is making its contribution to Afghan journalism.
Barbara Starr reports from Gardez, Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lieutenant General Carl Eikenberry (ph) can't offer advice on how to cover the news, but he is offering this televisions and radio station in Gardez, Afghanistan, a desperately needed new transmitter. The station employees work very hard for very little money. A reporter makes just $50 a month. They are proud to show what little they have. Their 25- year-old Russian transmitter often breaks down, making Eikenberry's gift welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is very old, and we don't have the spare parts for this.
STARR: The new transmitter means the station can broadcast its programs to a wider audience. And it will look better, too, in color. More Afghans will now be able to tune in to the more than five hours of daily programming on issues like women's affairs and agriculture.
And if you are wondering, yes, even in this deeply conservative area of southeastern Afghanistan, this TV station has two female journalists out there every day covering the news.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have local news from here, which is being produced by our reporters here in Gardez.
STARR: Life has been hard here, especially when Taliban were in power, often ruling with an iron fist. The equipment was broken down into small pieces and hidden away during those years. Discovery would have meant a death sentence for those who helped.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When we believed Taliban were gone and we can operate, we spent $5,000 to put them together and started operating.
STARR: The headline now, September's parliamentary elections. The news producer tells us his station is determined to provide impartial campaign coverage in Afghanistan's new democracy.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Gardez, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, a new leader is taking over the nation's oldest civil rights group. Some people say, though, he doesn't have the experience to fight for civil rights.
M. O'BRIEN: And something new on the menu at Starbucks. They say it will be music to your ears. Andy is "Minding Your Business," ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: In what could be a turning point in its history, the NAACP has chosen as its new president a former Verizon executive. He is Bruce Gordon. He succeeds Kweisi Mfume, who resigned in November.
Bruce Gordon is in our studio this morning. NAACP's chairman Julian Bond is in Washington, D.C. Gentleman, nice to see you both. Thanks for talking with us.
We're going to start with Mr. Gordon, if we may. First, congratulations.
BRUCE GORDON, NAACP PRESIDENT-ELECT: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: What is the biggest challenge that lies ahead, not only for you but for the NAACP?
GORDON: Well, I think this is an organization with great history. But going forward, it's got to be totally relevant to today's issues. And getting in that position, I think, is very important. Also, getting a financial base, an operational discipline, a connection to all of those 2,000-plus branches around the country.
S. O'BRIEN: Now you're talking like a businessman.
GORDON: Those are the things that have to happen. Well, I am, among other things, a businessman. And I think that the NAACP has to operate as effectively and as productively as businesses do.
S. O'BRIEN: Mr. Bond, let's turn to you. In some ways, Mr. Gordon is an unusual pick for several reasons. One, not a member of the clergy. He's not a politician. He's not a longtime board member on the NAACP. That was kind of a surprise for lots of people. What do you think Mr. Gordon brings to this organization?
JULIAN BOND, NAACP CHAIRMAN: Well, first, we've had 15 CEOs. Only two have been clergy, only one has been a politician. One is a librarian, one was an insurance executive. They've had a variety of backgrounds before they came to us.
Bruce Gordon brings an ability to focus sharply on what we need and where we have to go, and I think to carry us forward. He comes out of the business world, where, as he says, you operate by checking the bottom line, by making sure everything's working as it should. We're very glad to have him and we think he's just going to be great.
S. O'BRIEN: Is it sort of strange to have kind of your new boss sit there and talk about you and list all your experience and all the litany of things that they like but you?
GORDON: Well, what I like is that -- who this guy is who's saying this. Julian Bond has a fabulous history. One of the outstanding civil rights leaders of our time. The fact that we will have a chance to work together and to use our respective strengths for the good of the organization and the people we represent, I think, is great.
S. O'BRIEN: There are some critics who sort of highlight that what Julian Bond brings is kind of what you're lacking. For example, Gilbert Jonas, who has a long history with the NAACP, said this. "They've chosen someone from the corporate community with no civil rights background. It will be an uphill battle to regain any momentum they had 20 years ago." Do you think that's a fair criticism? GORDON: With all respect given to Gilbert, I think that what he may not recognize is that times have changed. My parents were civil rights activists in the '50s and '60s, and they spent time and all of their peers spent time breaking down barriers and opening doors, so that people in my generation could walk through those doors. I think the civil rights movement moved into other arenas, like corporate America, where people work, where jobs are created, where funds are invested.
I think that's a new front for civil rights. And I spent 35 years learning how to work in that arena and make things happen. So, frankly, I get offended when people say I'm not a civil rights activist. I was just a civil rights activist in a different place at a different time.
S. O'BRIEN: Mr. Bond, we don't have a ton of time, but I'll leave the last question to you. Difficult relationship with the White House. Many people point to that as a big problem for the NAACP. And, also, all this recent litigation about these civil rights murder cases that are finally coming to some conclusion in some cases. What will the new NAACP under Mr. Gordon be doing on these fronts?
BOND: Well, of course, we want to pursue all of these unsolved or unprosecuted cases. There are many of them pending. They're looking into the Emmett Till lynching right now. We've just had this conviction of the triple lynching in Mississippi 41 years ago. These are good news, but there's much, much more to be done.
As for the White House, we've had a good relationship with every president for almost 90 years. We'd like to have a good relationship with this one, and I'm sure Mr. Gordon and all the rest of us are going to do everything we can to make sure that we have an open door at the White House. We want to talk with President Bush. And I think there's much on which we agree.
S. O'BRIEN: Wonderful. Mr. Gordon, congratulations to you. Nice to talk to you.
GORDON: Soledad, thank you very much.
S. O'BRIEN: We wish you best of luck. It's my pleasure. And Julian Bond, as well, talking with us.
BOND: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Well, when you feel a cold coming on, do you go get some vitamin C and take a bunch of doses? Well, all those orange juice glasses, all those pills might be a waste of time. Conventional wisdom put to the test. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Well, to CD or not to CD, that is the question. Starbucks says yes. The Supreme Court says no, right? ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: That was pretty good, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: You like that?
SERWER: Yes, that was very good.
M. O'BRIEN: A little Shakespeare.
SERWER: Yes, we a couple of entertainment stories here for you this morning. First of all, a big victory for the entertainment industry, movie studios and record companies. Yesterday the Supreme Court ruling that these companies can sue file-sharing companies over their software that allows individuals to pirate music and movies.
This case goes back to 2001 when MGM and others sued two companies, Grokster and Streamcast. Yesterday the courts didn't actually rule on the case, but said that the movie studios are allowed to sue these companies, because -- and the case would basically entail, Miles, that in fact the only use for Grokster and Streamcast Software is to pirate music. These two companies say that they're other uses for this music. So we will have to see...
M. O'BRIEN: Isn't that the same as, like, banning guns, because guns are used in crimes, you know, when there's legitimate uses, too.
SERWER: That's right, and it goes back to the Sony Betamax case back in the 1980s when they tried to get that banned, but there are other uses for the video recorder besides just pirating tapes, as we found out, and the whole video store business came out of that. So it will be interesting to see. It basically pits the entertainment industry versus the technology industries.
And indeed we want to talk about Starbucks a little bit, because there's some big news there. The company is going to be the sole exclusive distribution point, if you will, of Bob Dylan's new album, called "Bob Dylan Live at the Gas Light." This is a live recording going back in the 1960s. You will only be able to get this CD at Starbucks. They're going to have exclusive rights to this for 18 months. They did this with the Ray Charles CD last year. They sold 750,000 copies of this CD.
M. O'BRIEN: So just when you think they can't figure out another way to come up with another revenue stream, they do.
SERWER: They do.
M. O'BRIEN: It's impressive.
SERWER: And if Bob Dylan goes to Starbucks...
M. O'BRIEN: What does he get?
SERWER: How about latte of rolling stone, the chai they are a- changing, things like that? No, not as good as your puns. Your puns are a lot better than mine.
Soledad is giving me the eye. Kind of weak coffee this morning?
M. O'BRIEN: They were both pretty lame. The best we could do.
SERWER: That was the best I could do.
S. BRIEN: You know I love you, Andy, but I can't give it to you.
SERWER: All right, now that was kind of weak. I agree. We tried.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to our medical segment this morning. Does Vitamin C really help prevent colds?
Dr. Pamela Peeke is assistant professor at the University of medicine at the University of Maryland. She's also the author of "Body for Life for Women." She's in D.C. this morning.
Nice to see you, Dr. Peeke. Thanks for talking with us.
DR. PAMELA PEEKE, UNIV. OF MARYLAND: Good morning to you.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.
This is a study that looked at really almost two dozen other studies about Vitamin C. Here's what they found. Daily low-dose Vitamin C doesn't prevent colds. Also, only marathon runners under extreme conditions did benefit from taking Vitamin C. Are you surprised by any of these findings?
PEEKE: Absolutely not.
S. O'BRIEN: Why not?
PEEKE: Let me wipe the shock off my face. I'm a scientist in this field, and what we've found over the years is this: We studied 55 reviews, looked at this over 65 years. Here's the bottom line. Number one, there's no question Vitamin C is a very powerful antioxidant, but does it really prevent colds? According to these studies, no. What it does do, however, it has some effect on duration of colds, and get this, it's better in kids than it is in adults. And you know, what kind of a difference does half a day to three fourths of a day less for your cold? Not huge here.
Here's the deal: If you're under extreme stress, like these marathoners, and quite frankly, other athletes, as well as smokers and people who have high levels of oxidation, well, guess what, it may have a greater effect, but you know, these are extreme situations.
Here's what we've really learned. do you really need to take lots of Vitamin C here? Absolutely not.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, do you need to take any Vitamin C? Because forget the people who are even just taking tons and tons of Vitamin C. I mean, why bother at all if it's not going to make an impact on your cold.
PEEKE: Hey, when in doubt, eat whole food. Now there's a radical thought. How about an orange or an apple.
What you need actually every single day is about 100 to 200 milligrams of Vitamin C, which can you can easily get if you strive for five and get those whole fruits and vegetables.
But here's the other thing, the cells in a human body can't even absorb more than 100 milligrams a day, and they keep up levels of 200 milligrams. So people taking 18,000 milligrams a day, you know, it's going out the other end. It's not really doing a whole lot more.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, we'll move on from there. Here's my question, though, do you take it -- is it better to take it in oranges or all the fruits we just showed there and in the vegetables, or is it basically the same if you take it as a supplement?
PEEKE: Look, in the best of all worlds, the best is always whole foods. But you know as well as I do that in real life most people aren't getting that, you know, five for five. So a multiple vitamin usually has the minimal amount, and that's what you need, and, please, get in those whole foods.
S. O'BRIEN: So are we back at square one when it comes to trying to figure out how we prevent colds or at least fight them more effectively?
PEEKE: Oh, heck no! Come on, square one? Lifestyle, get up and move, eat well. We already have beautiful, you know, scientific studies that clearly show people who live healthy lives have fewer colds.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Pamela Peeke, nice to see you as always. Thanks so much. Great advice, too.
Pamela Peeke from the University of Maryland School of Medicine -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, I learned a little something there. Appreciate that.
Americans get ready to celebrate the Fourth of July, which means fireworks of course. We have the ever-present annual fireworks safety tips for you. Don't do that. Kids, don't do that at home, OK?
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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