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Seven Survive NYC Helicopter Crash; Police Renew Search for Natalee Holloway
Aired June 14, 2005 - 15:00 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, HOST: We're tracking a couple of breaking stories for you right now. First let's give you some live pictures just to bring you update with what's going on with Aruba.
West coast of Aruba, there you see a police dive boat that is involved in a renewed search near and around the Marriott Hotel on the west coast of Aruba, which is immediately adjacent to the Holiday Inn Hotel. This is all part of the search of Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen who's been missing now for two weeks.
As we have been telling you, three young men are being held by authorities. And we have reason to believe that some information gleaned from them has led police to begin this renewed search in front of the Marriott Hotel. About a mile from the hotel where Natalee Holloway was staying.
And we will check in with our correspondents on the ground there in just a few moments.
Another story we've been watching for you. About an hour and a half ago on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a helicopter, seven aboard. Apparently a sightseeing mission. Aircraft was just taking off from the heliport in lower Manhattan when apparently, it might have clipped something and caused some damage to its tail rotor, which caused it then to plummet pretty quickly.
The pilot was able to inflate emergency pontoons, those gray air bag-like devices there. And seven people aboard were taken away. Our initial reports from hospitals and the FAA was that everybody was OK.
CNN's Adaora Udoji has been working the phones in New York, and she has some new information for us. Adaora, what do you know?
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Miles.
Indeed, we are certainly getting a clearer picture of what did happen this afternoon.
From what we're told from the police sources and from the hospital where these six tourists have now been taken, they were indeed on a sightseeing tour. They are from Australia and France. They got on that helicopter down here near Wall Street. They went up in the air and came straight back down. Again, unclear exactly what caused that.
They plunged into the East River. And Miles, we're not talking about a far distance. Perhaps 250 yards the helicopter slammed into the East River. All seven, including the pilot, that's the six tourists plus a pilot. They landed in the water.
Within minutes, apparently, the firefighters and police boats were on the scene. They pulled them all out. We're told that there were at least four walking wounded. Two were immediately taken to the hospital. Then another five were taken to another local hospital.
And according to hospital officials, possibly one of those five was seriously injured. We were told earlier that the police don't believe that any of those injuries, though, Miles, are life threatening.
And the helicopter was towed to the pier. And as you mentioned, there are pictures now of a tugboat pulling that helicopter out of the water. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg has just arrived on the scene. And so of course, we'll expect him to be filling us in on the latest details.
O'BRIEN: All right, but just to underscore the point. Everybody -- the injuries are such that everybody is OK? No life threatening injuries, as far as you know?
UDOJI: Exactly. That's what we've been told repeatedly by the firefighters, by police, and by hospital officials. We were told, quote, "Possibly one was seriously injured." We don't know to what extent, what type of injuries. Not at this point.
O'BRIEN: All right. CNN's Adaora Udoji in Manhattan. Thank you very much for that update on that helicopter crash there.
Let's go back to another island, a long way away, in Aruba, where police investigators there are apparently acting on a new tip in the search for Natalee Holloway, the 17-year-old from Alabama who was celebrating a class trip, was just hours away from leaving Aruba and has vanished.
CNN's Karl Penhaul is not far from the scene you see there. To the mid left of your screen is what appears to be a police dive boat. Appear to be a lot more people on it. So maybe the divers have finished, at least, their initial dives off of the Marriott Hotel, not far from the hotel where Natalee Holloway was staying.
Karl, what are you seeing from your vantage point?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm behind the area that you are seeing there, Miles, where you're seeing what you're describing as a dive boat. From my perspective I can't see that.
I'm in an area which is covered by mangroves. It's an area between a main highway and the beach area that you're looking at, a space of about 150 yards wide by about 500 yards long has now been cordoned off by the police.
There are also some drainage ditches there and swampy areas in that area. The police are searching. The police commissioner is also down here. They do appear to be acting on a tip off. It's not clear whether those tip offs may have come from interrogations of the three suspects they have in custody. Those three suspects are the last three men to have seen Natalee Holloway. They in fact took her in a car from the Carlos 'n Charlie's bar.
Or it could be possible that somebody walking the area has found something and alerted police to that.
So far, though, police aren't saying anything about the reasons why they're here, but what we do know is that a wide area is cordoned off. It is close to the Marriott Hotel. And this is about a mile or a mile and a half from the Holiday Inn where Natalee Holloway was staying.
And initially those three suspects currently being held had told police that they dropped Natalee Holloway off at the Holiday Inn. Although one of two suspects who was released overnight, because there had been five suspects in custody has told us this morning that he was in the same jail cell as one of the younger suspects, and that that younger suspect had told him in a jail cell that the two Kalpoe brothers had talked of dropping off the third suspect, Joran Van Der Sloot, somewhere near the Marriott Hotel. That could also be one of the reasons for this search, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Karl, give us a sense. It looks like a fairly significant cordon. And yet as I look at the live picture there, I see a lot what appear to be pleasure craft and windsurfers right through the area. Police really are keeping the media at bay more than anything, aren't they?
PENHAUL: The police have certainly kept the media at bay. There was a small search area initially of probably 100 yards long by 150 yards wide. Police then pushed the media back and extended that search cordon to about 500 yards long and 150 yards wide, extending the search.
The police commissioner, in fact, as we speak now, Miles, the head of police here on the island, is in his vehicle and appears to be getting ready to leave the scene. Not sure if that indication is of any significance there.
But as you say, yes, on the beach area, because of the proximity to the high-rise hotel area here, on the beach a lot of pleasure craft, a lot of wind surfers, a lot of Jet Skis. In fact, a few yards where from we're standing is a kite center, as well, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Karl Penhaul will keep us posted there. Please stay not too far away from a close link to us here.
Don Clark, a former FBI special agent in charge out of Houston, still with us.
Don, this investigation, it kind of struck me when Karl Penhaul said, well, maybe somebody saw something on the beach. That didn't occur to me, quite frankly, because I thought by two weeks whatever would have been discovered would have been discovered. I guess that certainly is a possibility. Something could have turned up?
DON CLARK, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: It is a possibility. And when you look at the elements, Miles, you've got wind, and you've got waves that's coming in. So it is possible that something could have all of a sudden been discovered out there by somebody.
But one thing I think you can almost be certain of, Miles, is that when you see a group of law enforcement agencies who are in an investigation of this nature, all of a sudden converge on a particular spot, there has been a piece of information or something that's developed to lead them to that spot.
There's no -- no reason to try to lead the media or the public astray. I mean, you want to find now, No. 1, if this young lady is not alive, you want to find her body. And so they would go right to that spot.
I suspect someone has given them some information and they may not have been able to take them exactly to the exact spot, that this body may have been, but they may be someplace in the general area, and that's why you see them walking around and trying to look around for different things.
O'BRIEN: It's important to point out here, too, that the ocean is a very big place. And you really have to have specific locations before you do anything like what we're seeing here, putting divers in the water. Their ability to see is limited to a very small area. You really need to have some solid information, don't you?
CLARK: You absolutely do. And you just can't say well let's go and start diving in the ocean. That doesn't mean anything to anybody. You know, that's worse than trying to win the lottery.
So what you've got to do is have some specific information. At least a drop off point. And then you might compound the situation if, by chance, someone took a craft and took the body out further out in the ocean. Then you're really at a disadvantage of trying to locate.
I know that there are certain types of devices and instruments that may assist them in locating bodies and so forth, but that would certainly be an arduous task, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Don, with all due respect to the Aruban authorities, and this is meant as a compliment as well. They don't run into these kind of things too often. And we were talking a little while ago about the jurisdictional issues of the FBI being there and so forth.
Are they really up to the task in this case, do you think? And I know you're not an expert on Aruban police work. But nevertheless, do you have the sense that this is something that might be above their head?
CLARK: Well, you know what I look at? I compare this, Miles, with some of our small towns in the United States that have crimes and really heinous crimes that occur.
And are they up to the task? Perhaps the few people who may be assimilated there, they may very well have knowledge of how to do these types of things. But it takes a little bit more than knowledge. It really takes resources, and it also takes experience.
And unfortunately, we in this country have had a tremendous amount of experience, and I've had more than my share of having to go out in acreage and look for bodies that some sinister person has placed out there.
So no, as you said, sort after compliment on the one hand, that they don't have to do that. But when it happens, that's why you have got to hope that you can bring in people like the FBI and other foreign government who may have the expertise to help you resolve these cases.
O'BRIEN: And hope that turf issues don't, you know, get in the way of the big picture here, which is there might very well have been a terrible tragedy.
CLARK: Well, it would be a disaster if turf battles would take place here. And clearly we know they take place, but I suspect that it's probably not as pronounced when you start dealing overseas, because I know for a fact that the FBI's clearly aware that they don't have any control over the situation. So the turf battles are limited.
But you hope that there's a lot of cooperation that's going on and that they are listening. And that the foreign government such as the FBI have enough influence that they can input information, ideas, strategies, of things that can be used, rather than just bringing in equipment and saying, "Here, take this and use it."
O'BRIEN: Of course, another factor that's involved in all of this -- let's bring in CNN's John Zarrella to talk about this a little bit -- is that Aruba is heavily dependent on U.S. tourism money.
And you know, this event kind of sums it up. The media are being shooed away. And the wind surfers are being allowed to continue their wind surfing, right through the scene there.
John Zarrella in Aruba, they want this thing taken care of quickly. And that is not always in the interest of justice. It's in the interest of getting it just over with, right?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Miles, that's an understatement.
It's funny, because when I flew in here the other day I was talking -- of course, as you know, you can often glean the best information from taxi drivers. And the taxi driver told me on the way in here to the hotel during our ride from the airport that, you know, his family and he had joined in the search. And that you know many, many people on the island were very, very concerned about what had happened. And -- but on the other hand, he said, you know, that he did not believe that tourism would ultimately be adversely affected in the long term, because this is an isolated incident that could have happened anywhere in a country where crime is very, very, very low.
So his feeling was that they wanted to get this behind them as quickly as possible and get this resolved so that they could move on. But he added, also, saying, "Well, you know, last weekend," and this is in his words, "we had a great tourism week." There were 4,000 people here last weekend, which is above the summer average.
So -- but clearly 60 to 65 percent of their business is dependent here on tourism, the economy. It is a major impact when something like this happens. And you know, clearly all of the international exposure that -- that is being focused here on the island is the kind of focus that they certainly don't want -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Well, and just tell us on a personal level the kinds of dealings you' had with the authorities. Are they not so welcoming? They've been forthcoming with you?
ZARRELLA: well, I can tell that you my colleagues who have been here quite a bit longer than I have, you know, have related to me many, many accounts of, you know, that there are certain people who are very, very cooperative and, you know, forthcoming with information and will help you to no end to get the right facts, the right details on the air.
But on the other hand as we deal with in the United States, there are others who are not so forthcoming. And in fact would just as soon, you know, not have us here and not talk to us as all.
So -- but that's not unusual. We face that, you know, in any kind of an environment we go into when you are dealing in this kind of a scenario, this kind of a story -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. John Zarrella, who is on the island of Aruba. We have Don Clark, retired special agent in charge of the FBI.
We're going to continue our coverage of this as this search continues there, live pictures from Aruba on the west coast as that dive boat operated by authorities there acting on some sort of tip apparently looking for Natalee Holloway now two weeks missing on the island of Aruba. Back with more in a moment.
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O'BRIEN: Live pictures right now coming to us via videophone from Palm Beach, Aruba. A police boat there involved in the search for Natalee Holloway. This is occurring just offshore the Marriott Hotel, which is right near, about a mile away, I guess, from the Holiday Inn where Natalee Holloway is staying and from where she disappeared two weeks ago.
CNN's John Zarrella has been reporting on this and first broke this story for us just a little while ago. And John, one of the things we were talking about earlier was this particular site, why this site? Surely it had been searched. Maybe it hadn't. What do we know now?
ZARRELLA: What we know now from Aruban search and rescue officials are telling us in fact this specific area had not been searched before. Now, it may have been searched by some of the volunteer teams that have been out combing the island. Don't know about that. But the official search teams did not go to that specific area before.
And the reason being is that they were focused initially on the light house, on the beach by the light house, back by the Holiday Inn itself. Because the initial information that they had been given in the first two weeks of this investigation was that these three young men had gone to the beach by the light house, and then dropped her back off at the Holiday Inn.
Now within the last 24 hours, that has begun to change and, in fact, there was specific information that sources have told us that, in fact, she may have been dropped off or dropped off with one of the three young men not far from the Marriott Hotel.
And clearly, where they are searching now is within 200 yards of the Marriott Hotel. But, again, they had not conducted an official search in that area before. What we are seeing now today down on the beach -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: OK. So they had no reason to go there. There was nothing, no information, and they now have this information some two weeks later.
ZARRELLA: Exactly. In a nutshell that's what it is. There's information now that has led them to search this specific area.
Let's bring in Don Clark former special agent in charge for the FBI out of Houston. Don, what comings to mind here what time might have been wasted with that focus on those two security guards and how that might ultimately make it more difficult for the authorities.
CLARK: You know, Miles, you and John are pretty good at doing my job, my old job, because time can be your best friend and your worst enemy here. Because it's crucial to act on information as expeditiously as you can. But certainly, you've got to obtain the information.
And I don't criticize the law enforcement people for not having that piece of information. Perhaps the direction that was going and the information flow just didn't lead itself to there. But if you can gather it as quickly as you can and then move resources to it, at least you can either eliminate or you may be lucky and discover a live person or in a particular case maybe a body someplace. So time can be your friend or your enemy here.
O'BRIEN: As you look back on your career, though, can you think of some cases where, you know, you sort of got the blinders on early on and you ultimately regretted that, because there were some other clues out there that went begging?
CLARK: I certainly can. And one in particular I can think of Miles, is little Laura Smith, who in 1997 was kidnapped and was subsequently found, her body. Actually two fishermen found her body in a lake someplace.
And I sort of had blinders on. And we looked over a real large area, but the area that she was found was no place close to that.
Now, it's difficult to just pick out the places to go, but the point is, is that you have got to try to be imaginative with these things. And as far as the evidence will allow you, extend yourself beyond just where you think that this thing may have occurred and where someone could have reasonably taken the body or the person, because that's not always the thoughts in people who get involved in crimes of this nature.
O'BRIEN: The sad truth is you have to think like a criminal, don't you?
CLARK: Well, you know, you have to know what criminal minds are thinking about in these type of investigations. And sometimes criminal minds get lax and they do things that are silly and cause you to solve cases. And that's a good thing, too.
But also you've got to realize that the criminal usually does not want to get caught in these situations. So where do you try to hide something to keep from being found so that evidence can be developed at least back to the person that got them in that situation. Those are the kind of things that you've got strategize, Miles.
O'BRIEN: OK. It's worth underscoring here, of course, we don't know that any crime has been committed just yet. She is still just a missing person.
John Zarrella, we do know, though, that stories have changed among those that have been the focus of attention, correct?
ZARRELLA: ... the release of the two security guards. Because the one security guard who we spoke with last night was saying quite clearly that he was two cells down in the same jail with one of the three young men.
And he struck up a conversation with these -- with one of the Surinamese young man. And in that course or the conversation, the Surinamese young man, one of the three who allegedly had gone to -- to the beach with Natalee and then brought her back to the hotel, that he said that he had had the conversation and that the Surinamese had apologized.
He said he made up the story about the security guards that they saw talking with Natalee after they dropped her off. And then he said that, in fact, according to the security guard, the Surinamese was saying, "Well, we dropped her off near the Marriott Hotel with the Dutch boy," who was the third boy in this group. So that's where the story began to change. And that's where we really began to first hear this focus last night when the two security guards were released and then today that, in fact, there was this other area.
And now, lo and behold this is where you know police are searching. You know, Miles, real quickly, it's interesting because recall very tragically not so long ago the Jessica Lunsford case in Florida.
I can recall standing, you know, at the home -- her parents -- her father's home with the grandparents, and looking across the way no more than a hundred yards from where they ultimately found her body where, you know, they looked all over Citrus County. And there her body was buried right under a house less -- you know, under a trailer less than a hundred yards away.
So you know, clearly, you can see how these things happen.
O'BRIEN: John Zarrella, reminding us of that terrible tragic twist on all of that. All right. We appreciate that. John Zarrella, Don Clark, back with more in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: That wraps up this Tuesday edition of LIVE FROM. Busy one it was. Here's Suzanne Malveaux with a preview of what's ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."
Hello, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Well, hello, Miles. Thank you very much.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had a big announcement for the people of California. Then the jury came back with the Michael Jackson verdict. We'll look at how Schwarzenegger's plans for his special election are going.
And the battle over whether the U.S. should close its Guantanamo Bay detention facility is heating up. Two senators share their views on this divisive issue.
"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
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Aired June 14, 2005 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, HOST: We're tracking a couple of breaking stories for you right now. First let's give you some live pictures just to bring you update with what's going on with Aruba.
West coast of Aruba, there you see a police dive boat that is involved in a renewed search near and around the Marriott Hotel on the west coast of Aruba, which is immediately adjacent to the Holiday Inn Hotel. This is all part of the search of Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen who's been missing now for two weeks.
As we have been telling you, three young men are being held by authorities. And we have reason to believe that some information gleaned from them has led police to begin this renewed search in front of the Marriott Hotel. About a mile from the hotel where Natalee Holloway was staying.
And we will check in with our correspondents on the ground there in just a few moments.
Another story we've been watching for you. About an hour and a half ago on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a helicopter, seven aboard. Apparently a sightseeing mission. Aircraft was just taking off from the heliport in lower Manhattan when apparently, it might have clipped something and caused some damage to its tail rotor, which caused it then to plummet pretty quickly.
The pilot was able to inflate emergency pontoons, those gray air bag-like devices there. And seven people aboard were taken away. Our initial reports from hospitals and the FAA was that everybody was OK.
CNN's Adaora Udoji has been working the phones in New York, and she has some new information for us. Adaora, what do you know?
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Miles.
Indeed, we are certainly getting a clearer picture of what did happen this afternoon.
From what we're told from the police sources and from the hospital where these six tourists have now been taken, they were indeed on a sightseeing tour. They are from Australia and France. They got on that helicopter down here near Wall Street. They went up in the air and came straight back down. Again, unclear exactly what caused that.
They plunged into the East River. And Miles, we're not talking about a far distance. Perhaps 250 yards the helicopter slammed into the East River. All seven, including the pilot, that's the six tourists plus a pilot. They landed in the water.
Within minutes, apparently, the firefighters and police boats were on the scene. They pulled them all out. We're told that there were at least four walking wounded. Two were immediately taken to the hospital. Then another five were taken to another local hospital.
And according to hospital officials, possibly one of those five was seriously injured. We were told earlier that the police don't believe that any of those injuries, though, Miles, are life threatening.
And the helicopter was towed to the pier. And as you mentioned, there are pictures now of a tugboat pulling that helicopter out of the water. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg has just arrived on the scene. And so of course, we'll expect him to be filling us in on the latest details.
O'BRIEN: All right, but just to underscore the point. Everybody -- the injuries are such that everybody is OK? No life threatening injuries, as far as you know?
UDOJI: Exactly. That's what we've been told repeatedly by the firefighters, by police, and by hospital officials. We were told, quote, "Possibly one was seriously injured." We don't know to what extent, what type of injuries. Not at this point.
O'BRIEN: All right. CNN's Adaora Udoji in Manhattan. Thank you very much for that update on that helicopter crash there.
Let's go back to another island, a long way away, in Aruba, where police investigators there are apparently acting on a new tip in the search for Natalee Holloway, the 17-year-old from Alabama who was celebrating a class trip, was just hours away from leaving Aruba and has vanished.
CNN's Karl Penhaul is not far from the scene you see there. To the mid left of your screen is what appears to be a police dive boat. Appear to be a lot more people on it. So maybe the divers have finished, at least, their initial dives off of the Marriott Hotel, not far from the hotel where Natalee Holloway was staying.
Karl, what are you seeing from your vantage point?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm behind the area that you are seeing there, Miles, where you're seeing what you're describing as a dive boat. From my perspective I can't see that.
I'm in an area which is covered by mangroves. It's an area between a main highway and the beach area that you're looking at, a space of about 150 yards wide by about 500 yards long has now been cordoned off by the police.
There are also some drainage ditches there and swampy areas in that area. The police are searching. The police commissioner is also down here. They do appear to be acting on a tip off. It's not clear whether those tip offs may have come from interrogations of the three suspects they have in custody. Those three suspects are the last three men to have seen Natalee Holloway. They in fact took her in a car from the Carlos 'n Charlie's bar.
Or it could be possible that somebody walking the area has found something and alerted police to that.
So far, though, police aren't saying anything about the reasons why they're here, but what we do know is that a wide area is cordoned off. It is close to the Marriott Hotel. And this is about a mile or a mile and a half from the Holiday Inn where Natalee Holloway was staying.
And initially those three suspects currently being held had told police that they dropped Natalee Holloway off at the Holiday Inn. Although one of two suspects who was released overnight, because there had been five suspects in custody has told us this morning that he was in the same jail cell as one of the younger suspects, and that that younger suspect had told him in a jail cell that the two Kalpoe brothers had talked of dropping off the third suspect, Joran Van Der Sloot, somewhere near the Marriott Hotel. That could also be one of the reasons for this search, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Karl, give us a sense. It looks like a fairly significant cordon. And yet as I look at the live picture there, I see a lot what appear to be pleasure craft and windsurfers right through the area. Police really are keeping the media at bay more than anything, aren't they?
PENHAUL: The police have certainly kept the media at bay. There was a small search area initially of probably 100 yards long by 150 yards wide. Police then pushed the media back and extended that search cordon to about 500 yards long and 150 yards wide, extending the search.
The police commissioner, in fact, as we speak now, Miles, the head of police here on the island, is in his vehicle and appears to be getting ready to leave the scene. Not sure if that indication is of any significance there.
But as you say, yes, on the beach area, because of the proximity to the high-rise hotel area here, on the beach a lot of pleasure craft, a lot of wind surfers, a lot of Jet Skis. In fact, a few yards where from we're standing is a kite center, as well, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Karl Penhaul will keep us posted there. Please stay not too far away from a close link to us here.
Don Clark, a former FBI special agent in charge out of Houston, still with us.
Don, this investigation, it kind of struck me when Karl Penhaul said, well, maybe somebody saw something on the beach. That didn't occur to me, quite frankly, because I thought by two weeks whatever would have been discovered would have been discovered. I guess that certainly is a possibility. Something could have turned up?
DON CLARK, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: It is a possibility. And when you look at the elements, Miles, you've got wind, and you've got waves that's coming in. So it is possible that something could have all of a sudden been discovered out there by somebody.
But one thing I think you can almost be certain of, Miles, is that when you see a group of law enforcement agencies who are in an investigation of this nature, all of a sudden converge on a particular spot, there has been a piece of information or something that's developed to lead them to that spot.
There's no -- no reason to try to lead the media or the public astray. I mean, you want to find now, No. 1, if this young lady is not alive, you want to find her body. And so they would go right to that spot.
I suspect someone has given them some information and they may not have been able to take them exactly to the exact spot, that this body may have been, but they may be someplace in the general area, and that's why you see them walking around and trying to look around for different things.
O'BRIEN: It's important to point out here, too, that the ocean is a very big place. And you really have to have specific locations before you do anything like what we're seeing here, putting divers in the water. Their ability to see is limited to a very small area. You really need to have some solid information, don't you?
CLARK: You absolutely do. And you just can't say well let's go and start diving in the ocean. That doesn't mean anything to anybody. You know, that's worse than trying to win the lottery.
So what you've got to do is have some specific information. At least a drop off point. And then you might compound the situation if, by chance, someone took a craft and took the body out further out in the ocean. Then you're really at a disadvantage of trying to locate.
I know that there are certain types of devices and instruments that may assist them in locating bodies and so forth, but that would certainly be an arduous task, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Don, with all due respect to the Aruban authorities, and this is meant as a compliment as well. They don't run into these kind of things too often. And we were talking a little while ago about the jurisdictional issues of the FBI being there and so forth.
Are they really up to the task in this case, do you think? And I know you're not an expert on Aruban police work. But nevertheless, do you have the sense that this is something that might be above their head?
CLARK: Well, you know what I look at? I compare this, Miles, with some of our small towns in the United States that have crimes and really heinous crimes that occur.
And are they up to the task? Perhaps the few people who may be assimilated there, they may very well have knowledge of how to do these types of things. But it takes a little bit more than knowledge. It really takes resources, and it also takes experience.
And unfortunately, we in this country have had a tremendous amount of experience, and I've had more than my share of having to go out in acreage and look for bodies that some sinister person has placed out there.
So no, as you said, sort after compliment on the one hand, that they don't have to do that. But when it happens, that's why you have got to hope that you can bring in people like the FBI and other foreign government who may have the expertise to help you resolve these cases.
O'BRIEN: And hope that turf issues don't, you know, get in the way of the big picture here, which is there might very well have been a terrible tragedy.
CLARK: Well, it would be a disaster if turf battles would take place here. And clearly we know they take place, but I suspect that it's probably not as pronounced when you start dealing overseas, because I know for a fact that the FBI's clearly aware that they don't have any control over the situation. So the turf battles are limited.
But you hope that there's a lot of cooperation that's going on and that they are listening. And that the foreign government such as the FBI have enough influence that they can input information, ideas, strategies, of things that can be used, rather than just bringing in equipment and saying, "Here, take this and use it."
O'BRIEN: Of course, another factor that's involved in all of this -- let's bring in CNN's John Zarrella to talk about this a little bit -- is that Aruba is heavily dependent on U.S. tourism money.
And you know, this event kind of sums it up. The media are being shooed away. And the wind surfers are being allowed to continue their wind surfing, right through the scene there.
John Zarrella in Aruba, they want this thing taken care of quickly. And that is not always in the interest of justice. It's in the interest of getting it just over with, right?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Miles, that's an understatement.
It's funny, because when I flew in here the other day I was talking -- of course, as you know, you can often glean the best information from taxi drivers. And the taxi driver told me on the way in here to the hotel during our ride from the airport that, you know, his family and he had joined in the search. And that you know many, many people on the island were very, very concerned about what had happened. And -- but on the other hand, he said, you know, that he did not believe that tourism would ultimately be adversely affected in the long term, because this is an isolated incident that could have happened anywhere in a country where crime is very, very, very low.
So his feeling was that they wanted to get this behind them as quickly as possible and get this resolved so that they could move on. But he added, also, saying, "Well, you know, last weekend," and this is in his words, "we had a great tourism week." There were 4,000 people here last weekend, which is above the summer average.
So -- but clearly 60 to 65 percent of their business is dependent here on tourism, the economy. It is a major impact when something like this happens. And you know, clearly all of the international exposure that -- that is being focused here on the island is the kind of focus that they certainly don't want -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Well, and just tell us on a personal level the kinds of dealings you' had with the authorities. Are they not so welcoming? They've been forthcoming with you?
ZARRELLA: well, I can tell that you my colleagues who have been here quite a bit longer than I have, you know, have related to me many, many accounts of, you know, that there are certain people who are very, very cooperative and, you know, forthcoming with information and will help you to no end to get the right facts, the right details on the air.
But on the other hand as we deal with in the United States, there are others who are not so forthcoming. And in fact would just as soon, you know, not have us here and not talk to us as all.
So -- but that's not unusual. We face that, you know, in any kind of an environment we go into when you are dealing in this kind of a scenario, this kind of a story -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. John Zarrella, who is on the island of Aruba. We have Don Clark, retired special agent in charge of the FBI.
We're going to continue our coverage of this as this search continues there, live pictures from Aruba on the west coast as that dive boat operated by authorities there acting on some sort of tip apparently looking for Natalee Holloway now two weeks missing on the island of Aruba. Back with more in a moment.
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O'BRIEN: Live pictures right now coming to us via videophone from Palm Beach, Aruba. A police boat there involved in the search for Natalee Holloway. This is occurring just offshore the Marriott Hotel, which is right near, about a mile away, I guess, from the Holiday Inn where Natalee Holloway is staying and from where she disappeared two weeks ago.
CNN's John Zarrella has been reporting on this and first broke this story for us just a little while ago. And John, one of the things we were talking about earlier was this particular site, why this site? Surely it had been searched. Maybe it hadn't. What do we know now?
ZARRELLA: What we know now from Aruban search and rescue officials are telling us in fact this specific area had not been searched before. Now, it may have been searched by some of the volunteer teams that have been out combing the island. Don't know about that. But the official search teams did not go to that specific area before.
And the reason being is that they were focused initially on the light house, on the beach by the light house, back by the Holiday Inn itself. Because the initial information that they had been given in the first two weeks of this investigation was that these three young men had gone to the beach by the light house, and then dropped her back off at the Holiday Inn.
Now within the last 24 hours, that has begun to change and, in fact, there was specific information that sources have told us that, in fact, she may have been dropped off or dropped off with one of the three young men not far from the Marriott Hotel.
And clearly, where they are searching now is within 200 yards of the Marriott Hotel. But, again, they had not conducted an official search in that area before. What we are seeing now today down on the beach -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: OK. So they had no reason to go there. There was nothing, no information, and they now have this information some two weeks later.
ZARRELLA: Exactly. In a nutshell that's what it is. There's information now that has led them to search this specific area.
Let's bring in Don Clark former special agent in charge for the FBI out of Houston. Don, what comings to mind here what time might have been wasted with that focus on those two security guards and how that might ultimately make it more difficult for the authorities.
CLARK: You know, Miles, you and John are pretty good at doing my job, my old job, because time can be your best friend and your worst enemy here. Because it's crucial to act on information as expeditiously as you can. But certainly, you've got to obtain the information.
And I don't criticize the law enforcement people for not having that piece of information. Perhaps the direction that was going and the information flow just didn't lead itself to there. But if you can gather it as quickly as you can and then move resources to it, at least you can either eliminate or you may be lucky and discover a live person or in a particular case maybe a body someplace. So time can be your friend or your enemy here.
O'BRIEN: As you look back on your career, though, can you think of some cases where, you know, you sort of got the blinders on early on and you ultimately regretted that, because there were some other clues out there that went begging?
CLARK: I certainly can. And one in particular I can think of Miles, is little Laura Smith, who in 1997 was kidnapped and was subsequently found, her body. Actually two fishermen found her body in a lake someplace.
And I sort of had blinders on. And we looked over a real large area, but the area that she was found was no place close to that.
Now, it's difficult to just pick out the places to go, but the point is, is that you have got to try to be imaginative with these things. And as far as the evidence will allow you, extend yourself beyond just where you think that this thing may have occurred and where someone could have reasonably taken the body or the person, because that's not always the thoughts in people who get involved in crimes of this nature.
O'BRIEN: The sad truth is you have to think like a criminal, don't you?
CLARK: Well, you know, you have to know what criminal minds are thinking about in these type of investigations. And sometimes criminal minds get lax and they do things that are silly and cause you to solve cases. And that's a good thing, too.
But also you've got to realize that the criminal usually does not want to get caught in these situations. So where do you try to hide something to keep from being found so that evidence can be developed at least back to the person that got them in that situation. Those are the kind of things that you've got strategize, Miles.
O'BRIEN: OK. It's worth underscoring here, of course, we don't know that any crime has been committed just yet. She is still just a missing person.
John Zarrella, we do know, though, that stories have changed among those that have been the focus of attention, correct?
ZARRELLA: ... the release of the two security guards. Because the one security guard who we spoke with last night was saying quite clearly that he was two cells down in the same jail with one of the three young men.
And he struck up a conversation with these -- with one of the Surinamese young man. And in that course or the conversation, the Surinamese young man, one of the three who allegedly had gone to -- to the beach with Natalee and then brought her back to the hotel, that he said that he had had the conversation and that the Surinamese had apologized.
He said he made up the story about the security guards that they saw talking with Natalee after they dropped her off. And then he said that, in fact, according to the security guard, the Surinamese was saying, "Well, we dropped her off near the Marriott Hotel with the Dutch boy," who was the third boy in this group. So that's where the story began to change. And that's where we really began to first hear this focus last night when the two security guards were released and then today that, in fact, there was this other area.
And now, lo and behold this is where you know police are searching. You know, Miles, real quickly, it's interesting because recall very tragically not so long ago the Jessica Lunsford case in Florida.
I can recall standing, you know, at the home -- her parents -- her father's home with the grandparents, and looking across the way no more than a hundred yards from where they ultimately found her body where, you know, they looked all over Citrus County. And there her body was buried right under a house less -- you know, under a trailer less than a hundred yards away.
So you know, clearly, you can see how these things happen.
O'BRIEN: John Zarrella, reminding us of that terrible tragic twist on all of that. All right. We appreciate that. John Zarrella, Don Clark, back with more in just a moment.
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O'BRIEN: That wraps up this Tuesday edition of LIVE FROM. Busy one it was. Here's Suzanne Malveaux with a preview of what's ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."
Hello, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Well, hello, Miles. Thank you very much.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had a big announcement for the people of California. Then the jury came back with the Michael Jackson verdict. We'll look at how Schwarzenegger's plans for his special election are going.
And the battle over whether the U.S. should close its Guantanamo Bay detention facility is heating up. Two senators share their views on this divisive issue.
"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.
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