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Protests in Disrupting Edinburgh, Scotland, Site of G-8 Summit; Authorities in Idaho All But Certain 9-Year-Old Dylan Groene is Dead

Aired July 05, 2005 - 07:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. Protests already disrupting Edinburgh, Scotland, site of this week's G-8 summit. President Bush headed for that summit in about an hour.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And Tropical Storm Cindy sets her high on the U.S. Gulf coast. There's another storm still on the horizon that has forecasters' attention as well. We're tracking both for you, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. We begin on a down note, a disturbing discovery out West in the case of that missing Idaho boy. His sister found alive over the weekend of course.

S. O'BRIEN: Authorities in Idaho now say it is all but certain that 9-year-old Dylan Groene is dead. Investigators are awaiting the results of DNA tests to determine whether possible human remains that were found on Monday in Montana are, in fact, Dylan's.

Dylan's 8-year-old sister, Shasta, was found on Saturday with suspected kidnaper Joseph Duncan. Duncan is expected to make a court appearance today.

Let's get right to correspondent Rusty Dornin. She's in Coeur D'Alene Idaho this morning.

Rusty, good morning to you.

How long before we get this DNA analysis back?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going to be at least 72 hours, Soledad, and that's why investigators are saying their priority is still to find Dylan Groene. They say the remains were found in the area, that they were told to look as a possibility as where the three may have stayed over the last six weeks in western Montana. And of course, meantime, Joseph Duncan will have his first appearance here in Kootenai County via televised TV here at the courthouse. He'll be charged with kidnapping and two other warrants. One of them involved not showing up for a court date for a molestation charge for a little 7-year-old boy in Minnesota. Apparently he never showed up for that date. They're also looking at him very closely, now that they perhaps have found Dylan Groene's remains, to link him to the triple homicides in May.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER KOOTENAI CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We haven't been able to find any link to the family. And I know Steve Groene has said publicly that they don't know who Duncan is, and he couldn't find any link in his family as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: And Shasta Groene is, of course, still in the hospital. Her father says that she's doing very well. Police also says that she will stay there until she is, quote, "medically released." But we did have some new pictures of her there with her father smiling. So we'll have to see what happens, if we hear any sooner that 72 hours if that's indeed a confirmation that it is Dylan Groene.

S. O'BRIEN: It's nice to get a chance to see some of the pictures.

Let me ask you about the surveillance tape. It's that tape that shows Shasta and Joseph Duncan. They're in a convenience store, and it's just hours before the actual identification took place at the Denny's restaurant. What are authorities saying about this videotape?

DORNIN: Well, they're saying that absolutely they believe it's them, and apparently it's about six hours after they showed up at the Denny's in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, and this was in Kellogg, Idaho. It shows perhaps that he didn't seem concerned that the young girl was going to be recognized, nor did she -- looks very withdrawn, head down, that sort of thing. So it didn't look like, you know, she was trying to reach out for help. You have to wonder why was this little girl so frightened that she didn't want to reach out and tell someone that she wasn't with her family and she'd been taken away.

So just very disturbing video, and I'm sure we'll probably see some more of that come out when they start finding out actually where the three went during that six weeks.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it seems like authorities have a lot of information still to reveal about some of the evidence in this case as well. ' Rusty, thanks a lot for that update. And we should mention that in just a few minutes, we're going to be talking about this case with Captain Ben Wolfinger of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department. That's ahead -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: To Aruba now and the Natalee Holloway case. A pair of appeals to tell you about this morning. The judge in the case of the missing teenager, Natalee Holloway, released two suspects yesterday, as you know. Prosecutors could appeal that. That other appeal could come from one suspect still in custody.

Chris Lawrence joining us once again from Palm Beach, Aruba.

Chris, give us a timetable. How long is required? How much time do they have to file these appeals?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, they have three days to file the appeal. So if Joran Van Der Sloot doesn't agree with the judge's decision, he can file that appeal within three days. Right now, he's the only suspect still in custody after his two friends walked out of prison on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): The cameras nearly crushed Deepak and Satish Kalpoe Monday, as the brothers arrived home after 25 days in jail.

NADIRA RAMIREZ, KALPOE'S MOTHER: I can't even explain how I'm happy to see them, to hug them.

LAWRENCE: Nadira Ramirez welcomed her sons home, but she says she keeps praying for Natalee Holloway's mother, and hopes she's reunited with her daughter soon.

RAMIREZ: She's in a more difficult situation than us, because she don't know where her daughter is.

LAWRENCE: On Sunday, police said the suspects reconstruct what happened the night Natalee disappeared. They went to different points on the island to show investigators where they took her. In a written statement, prosecutors said their stories are not supported by other evidence or witness statements. Prosecutors also say there are phone calls, e-mails and text messages that point to those suspects. They argued all three should be detained another two months, but an attorney for one of the brothers says the longer you keep someone in jail, the stronger your evidence should be.

RUDY OOMEN, DEEPAK KALPOE'S ATTY.: My clients client's case was the other way around, the longer they stayed in detention, the more proof came out that they didn't have to do anything with the disappearance itself.

LAWRENCE: The Kalpoe's mother said her son later admitted they lied to police about where they dropped off Natalee, but only did so to protect their friend. Joran Van Der Sloot is the last suspect still in custody, and the question of what happened to Natalee Holloway remains unanswered.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Now, technically, the Kalpoes are still considered suspects, until prosecutors say otherwise. That means if more evidence comes to light, they could be rearrested. Prosecutors didn't say why the judge made the decision to let them go, but they are considering again whether to appeal his ruling -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Chris Lawrence in Aruba, thanks -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Violent protests broke out in Edinburgh, Scotland, ahead of the Group of Eight summit. About a hundred protesters were arrested on Monday. They are due in court today. The leaders of the world's richest countries begin three days now of meetings in Scotland. That stars tomorrow. Scottish police are out in force 10,000 officers are there to head off the kind of protests that erupted in previous G-8 summits.

President Bush leaves for the summit in the next hour. He's stopping off in Denmark before he heads to Scotland tomorrow.

Bob Franken live at the White House for us this morning.

Hey, Bob, good morning to you.

The president certainly has a very busy week. What is his main focus, though?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, probably his first focus is going to be on his birthday tomorrow. Yes, he's going to be celebrating that in Denmark, where he's flying directly from Washington this morning, making what is being billed as a thank-you trip to the nation that has offered support to the United States and Iraq, then it's on to Gleneagles, Scotland, and the big business of the trip, which is three days worth of a G-8 summit meeting. G-8 meaning the leaders of the top nations of the world, the top developed nations of the world. There will also be observers from several other countries.

But a really full agenda, everything that could cause a problem in terms of working out agreements or the facade of, including the very difficult issue of climate change, perhaps something a little bit more on the friendly side when it comes to Africa aid, although the chairman of the conference, Tony Blair, is not going to get all of the money and promises of money that he is seeking. That would amount to about $50 billion, and he's not going to get that much of a promise. The United States has already said it will not weigh in with as much as the prime minister of England would like to send to the African aid effort.

There's also going to be a long discussion about agricultural subsidies, and a lot of nuts-and-bolts issues that may be nuts and bolts, but they're the types of things that can cause problems, and very tedious and very difficult negotiations. Of course, the main effort is to try to make sure that this all looks cordial. The president will be spending three days in Scotland with the other world leaders, then heading back to the United States, where he faces a full summer, then he gets back to the main domestic issues that seems to be confronting him, and that is the battle over his Supreme Court justice replacement -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, lots on his plate. All right, Bob Franken at the White House for us this morning. Bob, thanks.

Well, just as they arrive in Scotland, half of the G-8 leaders are going to have their eyes on Singapore tomorrow. In fact, that's where the Olympic Committee is going to decide the site of the 2012 Olympic Games. Britain's Tony Blair traveled to Singapore to make a sales pitch for London. The leaders of France, and Spain and Russia are also going to be there today.

Senator Hillary Clinton is there with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. They're trying to convince the committee that New York is the best choice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MYR. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY: I think everybody understands every athlete would love to compete in the Big Apple. It's the ultimate stage, and if you're really proud of what you do, whether you're an athlete or actor, whether you're in government or in business, it is the center for an awful lot of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to carry tomorrow's announcement of the 2012 Olympic host city live from Singapore. That's at 7:30 Eastern Time, 4:30 Pacific, right here on AMERICAN MORNING -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: In New Hampshire, a holiday weekend tragedy, two men dead after being trapped in a powerful riptide. It happened Monday evening at Hampton Beach, a popular stretch of beach, about 50 miles north of Boston. The men were among at least 10 caught in the undertow. One boy was pulled out by rescuers. The rest managed to make it back to the beach on their own.

Lauren Przybyl of our Boston affiliate WHDH, live now in Hampton Beach.

Lauren, how is that rip current doing today?

LAUREN PRZYBYL, WHDH REPORTER: Well, Miles, lifeguards will arrive in the next hour, look at the water and check out the conditions this morning. The story reminds us just how powerful and mighty that the ocean is. Just yesterday -- we can show you some video from the scene -- this is when 10 people found themselves stuck in a riptide after they went in to try to help a 10-year-old boy. They were not able to swim back to shore, so they started yelling for help. This is late in the day, so lifeguards had already gone home for the day. The Coast Guard was then called in to try to rescue everyone. However, two men from Massachusetts died, including the father of that little boy.

We have learned that earlier in the day, when lifeguards were on duty, they were warning swimmers to stay away from this area, but because lifeguards were not here at the time, swimmers were venturing out into this area.

We're also being told that all along New England's coast that riptides this summer have been especially severe. They're saying that has to do because in May we saw such severe winter storms here. Of course this is a tragic end to a holiday weekend.

We are in Hampton Beach in New Hampshire. I'm Lauren Przybyl. Back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Lauren Przybyl, with WHDH. We appreciate it -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, the coastal residents in Mississippi and Louisiana are being warned to get ready for another big storm that's headed their way. The storm was given the name Cindy when it was upgraded this morning to tropical storm status as it moves north in the Gulf of Mexico.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, more on the investigation of the Dylan Groene case, possible human remains found in western Montana Monday. We'll talk to the sheriff's department up next.

S. O'BRIEN: Also the search goes on for U.S. Navy SEALS missing in Afghanistan. What can soldiers do to avoid capture in enemy territory? Coming up, we're going to talk to a man whose rescue was portrayed in the movie "Behind Enemy Lines."

M. O'BRIEN: And making your streets safer. AMERICAN MORNING's Kelly Wallace with a promising new tool on the war on crime, but is it Big Brother? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: The search for answers goes on in the case of a triple murder and the kidnapping of two children, Shasta and Dylan Groene. Possible human remains were found in western Montana on Monday. Do they belong to 9-year-old Dylan? He went missing had his sister, Shasta, on May 16th. Shasta was found on Saturday with suspected kidnapper Joseph Duncan. Duncan is expected to make a court appearance. That's today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Captain Ben Wolfinger is with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department. Nice to see you, Captain. Thanks for talking with us.

Let's first talk about the suspect, Joseph Duncan. You expect him in court today, facing charges of kidnapping and being a fugitive from justice as well. Do you expect you're going to add on to those charges?

WOLFINGER: Well, I know that the prosecutors and the investigators have met regularly over the weekend, discussing possible additional charges. That will really be a prosecutor's decision. But today's court will be his first appearance on the kidnapping charge, and then the outstanding warrants on Duncan from Minnesota and Pierce County, Washington.

S. O'BRIEN: Has your investigation been able to turn up any link to the murder of Shasta's mother, and her boyfriend, and her older brother as well?

WOLFINGER: Well, we don't have the specifics from the investigators on actual evidence, but that certainly is the number one question for the day, and obviously Duncan is the primary investigative lead in the homicides in this case. S. O'BRIEN: You've been talking about the search and the discovery of human remains in western Montana, and you seem very confident that these might be the remains of Dylan Groene. Why that sense of confidence? Why do you believe this might be the remains of the little boy?

WOLFINGER: Well, combined with awful the evidence the investigators were able to obtain in the first six to 12 hours, and the fact that is one of the many sites where we believe that Duncan held the Groene children, or stayed with the Groene children, over those last six or seven weeks, and then finding the remains, that just all leads us to believe that these are most likely the remains of Dylan. However, we're not going to make that 100 percent until we get the DNA confirmation later in the week.

S. O'BRIEN: Can you be more specific when you talk about different kinds of evidence that's leading new different directions. What kind of things have you found in the jeep and found in the suspect's apartment?

WOLFINGER: Well, we really can't be more specific at this time. The investigators have asked to hold that close to the vest until they're able to do follow-up and process some scenes, and then we'll be able to release what that evidence really is.

S. O'BRIEN: Shasta, we have some pictures of Shasta with her dad, and she looks terrific, I have to say. I mean, she really looks good. She's smiling in a lot of the pictures. How is she doing? And what kind of assistance has she been able to provide to your investigation?

WOLFINGER: Well, she's doing very well. The -- her medical condition is listed as good. But as you can see in the photographs, she's a happy little girl, happy to be back with her father. She's a strong little girl, amazingly strong. She's visited our investigators a couple of different times for quite a long period of time. She's been a great asset for us. And combining her talks with the investigators, she's -- with the physical evidence, it's been a great benefit for us, and really focused our investigation and gave us some great direction.

S. O'BRIEN: Captain Ben Wolfinger joining us this morning. Thanks for talking with us. We certainly appreciate it.

WOLFINGER: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, gas prices may be up,but there's some sweet deals out there if you want a new car. Andy has that for us next in "Minding Your Business." Now here's a look at some fireworks across the country last night, in case you were sleeping, like me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: GM's latest pricing scheme jumpstarts its sales numbers big time. Andy Serwer is here with that and more, "Minding Your Business." Andy.

ANDY SERWER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles. The numbers are in, and it say blowout for General Motors. Sales of cars and trucks up almost 47 percent in the month of June, the best month for the automaker, since -- get this -- September 1986. How long ago was that? That's when the Mets bead the Red Sox in the World Series.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, come one. You didn't have to bring that up. Did you have to bring the up? Geez!

SERWER: That's a very long time ago. I sure did have to bring the up.

You know, we talked about this possibility a couple of days ago when analysts were saying that GM sales were red hot. But now the numbers are in. And of course this is because of their "Employee Discount for Everyone" program that the automaker has been running.

Here's some numbers, for instance. A Chevy Silverado, sticker price, $31,000 -- GM now selling it for $24,000. No wonder why sales of that vehicle up 100 percent, basically doubled year over year.

M. O'BRIEN: Why don't we give viewers the employee discount on cable that we all get? You think? Wouldn't that help?

SERWER: No. We don't get that. Do you get that?

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's right, we don't get one. That's right, I forgot.

SERWER: No, we don't get that.

Now, the not-so-silver lining here, Miles, for GM, is, you know, are they making any money here? That's a big question. We don't know profit numbers yet, and obviously they'll be taking a big hit. The other not-so-silver lining is that Toyota and Nissan sales also hit a record in June.

Let's quickly talk about the markets last week. Of course, yesterday stock trading closed for the holiday. Up a little bit, and we will take it, of course. As far as this morning goes, though, guess what. Oil prices back up again, and so stock futures are lower. So we'll be talking about that later on in the program.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. You may mention '86, but remember last year. The Red Sox reigned supreme. Thank you.

SERWER: Yes, the did win.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, the top dog takes the prize again at the hot dog eating contest in New York City. Were you there?

SERWER: No.

M. O'BRIEN: You didn't try this.

SERWER: No. This is good stuff, though.

M. O'BRIEN: This is good stuff. For the fifth straight year, Japan's Takeru Kobayashi...

SERWER: That guy.

M. O'BRIEN: Takeru Kobayashi was the wiener in the Coney Island eatoff...

SERWER: No, no. Stop it.

M. O'BRIEN: ...downing 49 dogs if 12 minutes. But he didn't relish the victory.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, stop already.

M. O'BRIEN: He didn't...

SERWER: Soledad, get him out.

M. O'BRIEN: He didn't beat his own record of 53 set last year. Only one American has won the coveted mustard yellow belt in the past decade. Let's get the Americans going here.

SERWER: Isn't he a small guy, too? I mean, he's not big.

M. O'BRIEN: He's got a six-pack. You have seen his six-pack? I mean, this guy is...

S. O'BRIEN: He's in good shape.

SERWER: He's in good shape? Oh, I see what you're saying.

S. O'BRIEN: Is he newly blonde, orange-haired now?

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: I remember him with darker hair.

SERWER: That's true.

S. O'BRIEN: I've seen him -- I've seen him in person.

M. O'BRIEN: That could be out of a bottle. What do you think?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Just a guess? I've seen him in person, they dip it in the water thing. Makes you never want to --

M. O'BRIEN: Time or breakfast, kids.

S. O'BRIEN: Right, exactly.

Ahead this morning, we're learning some new details in that search for Navy SEALS that are missing in Afghanistan. We're going to take you live to the Pentagon for an update on that just ahead. Also,k we'll hear from a retired Air Force captain who was stuck behind enemy lines. We'll hear some of the tools that he used to evade capture.

Those stories ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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