Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Three New Jersey Boys Missing Since Wednesday Night; Billy Graham's History with U.S. Presidents
Aired June 24, 2005 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Here are the headlines right now. Military officials tell CNN as many as six U.S. service members were killed last night by a suicide bomber in Iraq. More than twice that number are hurt. Some women are among those casualties. Those details still are unclear, but it did happen in Falluja. We'll continue following that story.
Relief firefighters in Arizona say a huge blaze is moving away from populated areas. It's still growing, 46,000 acres and only five percent contained, but officials allowed evacuated residents of Tonto Hills and Carefree to return home today. It is believed the fire was started by lightning.
And Iranian voters went to the presidential polls again today. It is the runoff election, after last week's vote failed to produce a clear winner. Election officials kept polls open an extra hour for the high turnout. The runoff is between a former president and the mayor of Tehran. We could see initial results as early as tonight.
And you'll want to be sure to check out CNN's most popular video of the day. That's at CNN.com. Click on the video link at our Web site, and then look for the most popular video of the day.
The other missing persons case that we're following closely today, aside from the one in Aruba, is in Camden, New Jersey, where three boys, ages five to 11, last seen playing together Wednesday night, just vanished.
CNN's senior correspondent Alan Chernoff is in Camden, where frustrated searchers have so far come up with nothing.
Alan, any clues to where these boys might be?
ALAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, so far no, and because of that, in about a half hour, Camden Police intend to announce a reward. They're not saying how much money it will be, but they certainly are hoping that will lead to clues that could lead to finding these children, a very tough case here, because the Camden police now for almost two days have been searching the entire town, and they're not only talking about the police here, but they're also using the efforts of the state police, troopers, federal authorities as well. In the air, helicopters, and on the water, they've got bodies along the Delaware River. Keep in mind, Philadelphia is on the other side of the river from Camden. They're also using bloodhounds. They've been trying to track the scent of these children, and even all-terrain vehicles and horses long the shore of the river. Divers even have gone into little inlets off of the river.
So it's been a very extensive search. They've been focusing on a three-square mile area surrounding two homes of these children, and they believe that the kids walked away, perhaps got lost, perhaps are hiding, perhaps afraid to come home because they could be in trouble. But so far, this entire effort for the police has been very frustrating.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LT. MIKE LYNCH, CAMDEN N.J. POLICE: It's disturbing. I mean, I think we're all sitting here, everyone in this room, not just law enforcement, but think about it, just, you know, they've disappeared. So it's very disturbing to us. But I think it's also giving us, you know, that drive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Missing are 5-year-old Jesstin Pagan, 6-year-old Daniel Agosto, and 11-year-old Anibal Cruz. The three friends were playing in the side yard of the Cruz family home, and all of a sudden they disappeared. What happened was the mother stepped inside to prepare dinner. She said she was inside for five to 10 minutes. When she came out, the children were gone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELBA CRUZ, MISSING BOY'S MOTHER: The only thing I can think of, they just walked too far and just can't find their way back, and they're just lost. That's all I can think of right now, that they're just lost and just can't find their way back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Police say there is no evidence of abduction, but they certainly are not ruling that out. They also point out that in the history of Camden, they can't even think of one case of a child being abducted. And of course, Betty, here we're talking about three children. They still maintain they think the children simply walked away, and they're focusing on that three-square-mile area -- Betty.
NGUYEN: And you also mentioned the Delaware River because of search dogs and them leading searchers to the banks of that river. Now could that just be because the boys may have played near there before, or is that a really good indication of where they were lost seen?
CHERNOFF: The river itself is only about three, four blocks away from the home where they were last seen. So it is an area where children were playing, but they're not, of course, focusing only on the river. They've also looked at rail yards, Conrail (INAUDIBLE) yards, also New Jersey Transit, so they've been using the various transit authorities, checking trains. The police have been looking inside of trash cans, between alleys, anywhere they can possibly think. So they really are doing whatever they can to find these children as quickly as possible. NGUYEN: Yes, like they said, leaving no stone unturned. Thank you for that information, that update. We appreciate it.
Now a look back at an event that brought law enforcement and the community together to save a baby girl. In our look back at 25 years of CNN, an update on one of the most riveting stories of 1987, Baby Jessica and the well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA ZAHN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Baby Jessica was everyone's baby back in October of 1987. The 18-month-old fell 22 feet into an abandoned well shaft, just eight inches wide, while playing in her aunt's backyard in Midland, Texas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the Lord's help, and with your prayers, we know that little girl's going to make it.
ZAHN: The world watched as hundreds of rescuers drilled, hammered, and chiseled. She was finally pulled to safety three days later.
Since then, Jessica McClure has had more than a dozen surgeries, and still bears scars from her ordeal on her forehead and thigh.
Her parents, who divorced after the rescue, have gone to great lengths to keep Jessica out of the media spotlight. She quietly graduated from Greenwood High School in Midland last year. She's now 19 years old and attends Midland Community College. Public donations went into a trust fund, which is reportedly in excess of $1 million, that she'll receive when she turns 25. The well she fell into is still there, albeit capped, in the backyard of a now vacant home. Rescuers put a small plaque on it shortly after Jessica's rescue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is for Jessica, 10-16-87, with love from all of us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, it will be a historic weekend for rev land billy graham in New York, as the 86-year-old preacher prepares to host his final American crusade. We'll take a look back at his unprecedented influence on the Oval Office.
And up next, the Olympic Park bomber reveals some surprising details about his life on the run.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN.com is offering a whole new way to get the headlines. You can read them and now you can watch them, too. Stay connected to the world around you. Log on to CNN.com and click on the latest now in the news update. You'll find a fast-paced, constantly updated two-minute rundown of the day's top stories. International headlines, stories from the homeland, health, market updates, and the latest in showbiz.
To find the updates, search for the green watch box located on our home page and down below you'll find a Now in the News link. The stories will be brought to you in a much larger format. Our new video player has dimensions similar to widescreen televisions.
So log on to CNN.com to get the headlines on demand and at your command, anchored by Christina Park and yours truly. And for the next couple of weeks, catch Anderson Cooper as he brings you updates from our CNN studios in New York. "Now in the News" video updates, a quick way to stay updated online all the time, available now at CNN.com.
From the dot-com news desk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The alleged confession of a convicted child molester is made public. That tops our look at crime stories making news today. John Couey is accused of raping and killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Prosecution documents released yesterday say that Couey admitted to investigators that he buried Lunsford alive in a garbage bag two or three days after abducting her. The cause of Lunsford's death was suffocation.
The FBI hopes a father's taped confession will help find the bodies of his two murdered children. The agency released the tape of Manuel Gehring describing where he buried the bodies along Interstate- 80 in the Midwest two years ago. The FBI believes the account might help people identify the spot. Gehring strangled himself in jail last year while awaiting trial.
And confessed serial bomber Eric Rudolph writes about his life on the run. A militant, anti-abortion Web site features an article by Rudolph, who is in jail for attacks including the 1996 Olympic Park bombing. Rudolph apparently wrote, quote, "The FBI headquarters was less than three miles from where I was spotted. It should take them less than an hour to get their stuff together and start a systematic search. Where were they? Where were the choppers?" Rudolph will be sentenced next month.
Well, Natalee Holloway's family is energized by the latest developments in Aruba. The father of a jailed teenager linked to Holloway's disappearance faces more questioning today. Anything beyond that, why, for how long and if he is cooperating, Aruban officials, they just aren't saying.
Perhaps Don Clark has a theory of his own. He is a former FBI special agent and a veteran of similar investigations, and he joins us today from New Orleans. John, we appreciate -- Don, we appreciate you being on the show.
And I guess my first question to you, this Paul Van Der Sloot, the father of the 17-year-old suspect. He was taken into custody, arrested yesterday as a suspect. Why him? What does he know? DON CLARK, FORMER FBI INVESTIGATOR: Well, you know, they've got to use every tool they possibly can, Betty, in this investigation. And I suspect what has happened is that they apparently developed some evidence, some information that gives them suitable probable cause to go out and bring this person in.
And bear in mind, he's only in for questioning, and every international police department that I've worked with, they have certain rules. Like we have the six-hour rule here, and I know Aruba has 48 hours. So they have 48 hours to try to see if they can get information out of him. I suspect if he's got information, they would be looking at some type of obstruction charge if he doesn't come forth with it.
NGUYEN: All right, but the key is getting that information out of him. This interrogation process has to be somewhat difficult, considering this man knows Aruban law, and he's going to be very careful, of course.
CLARK: Well, albeit he may know Aruban law, but keep in mind, you've got people there that are good, trained investigators, they are trained interrogators, and they're asking the questions. And it's a different story when you're on one side of the table versus the other side of the table. And hopefully that the investigators will be asking questions that they have a large percentage that they know what the answer might be. So he has to be very careful and make sure that he doesn't perjure himself during the course of this, because that would give them more probable cause to add on to any obstruction charge.
NGUYEN: Well, Don, you also have to factor in the fact that he is a father. His son is a suspect. So, obviously, this could be an emotional interrogation. And he could be very protective of his son, too.
CLARK: Well, I would think that's going to be the case. And I can tell you again, Betty, in my experience that almost every time that you talk to a parent about a child being -- accused of being involved in some type of criminal activity, you usually get, no, that's not my child, and no, my child wouldn't do that.
But it depends on the experience of the investigators. And they've got to be sensitive to the fact, too, that this is a parent here and know how to deal with a parent, because invariably, that you can determine that information and be able to withdraw that information from the people, how you deal with them will help do that.
NGUYEN: Don, let's move from the investigation to the search for Natalee Holloway. The search crew has arrived from Texas today. Where do you look? It's been almost a month. Where do you look?
CLARK: You know, I know that search crew that's coming from Texas is Texas EquuSearch. They're down near Houston, and I worked with them a lot when I was in the FBI. But they will go and look in every place that they think that there is some information that this person could have been there. I suspect the one place that they will go is the start point. And the start point in these type of cases has to be where was the last place that this young lady was seen alive? And no matter if it's in the nightclub, or if it's getting out at -- near the hotel, that's where they've got to start from.
And then they've got to look at the evidence that's been collected. And they won't get a total look at the evidence, but I think the law enforcement people will cooperate with them, because this is not a private investigative firm that's going on. This is simply a search team trying to locate her and give them some ideas as to where they might be -- where they might look.
NGUYEN: All right. Former FBI, Don Clark. We thank you for your time and insight today.
CLARK: You bet, Betty.
NGUYEN: In the days after the Asian tsunami truck, volunteers, they responded. And now six months later, some of them are still on the job with a whole lot of work left to do. How do they keep things going? Well, we will catch up with them next hour.
And up next, the preacher and the presidents. We'll take a look back at Reverend Billy Graham's unprecedented access to the men in the Oval Office.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: He's one of the nation's most revered and recognizable Christian leaders. Today in New York, the Reverend Billy Graham opens his final crusade in the United States. CNN's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" this weekend reflects on Graham's legacy, including his role as presidential spiritual adviser.
CNN's Kyra Phillips reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REV. BILLY GRAHAM, EVANGELIST: The New Testament looks back at him, but the center of the scriptures is Christ!
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Billy Graham's singular message and unfaltering faith in God has made him a trusted resource for Americans of all backgrounds, but he cemented his status as the nation's premiere preacher like his ties to the White House, and its chief residents.
JIMMY CARTER, FMR. PRES. OF THE UNITES STATES: I think all of us felt in the time of greatest challenge and responsibility of our public lives -- that would be the presidency -- that we needed some Christian or religious counseling from a completely trustworthy, and objective and fair source to guide us through those difficult times.
PHILLIPS: What started out as a historic and unprecedented single visit with President Truman became a regular occurrence with Richard Nixon. The powerful pair spent many hours together, publicly and privately, talking about religion, politics, and the pressing social issues of the day.
But that cozy connection cause caused criticism when an old tape surfaced 30 years later. In 2002, the National Archives released a taped Oval office conversation, laced with anti-Semitic slurs. When President Nixon ranted about what he saw as Jewish media control, Reverend Graham joined in.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GRAHAM: This stranglehold has to be broken or this country is going to go down the drain.
RICHARD NIXON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You believe that?
GRAHAM: Yes, sir.
NIXON: Oh boy. I can't ever say that, but I believe it.
GRAHAM: No, but if you get elected a second time, then we might be able to do something.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Graham's comments sparked outrage. Jewish leaders expressed horror that a role model with high access would tolerate, let alone actually make such statements.
CHARLES COLSON, FMR. NIXON AIDE: I've been in those meetings. Nixon was a very dominant personality, he could do that, and of course he's president of the United States sitting behind that desk, and a certain awe goes with it, and even Billy Graham is influenced by that.
PHILLIPS: In a written apology, Graham said the recording did not reflect his true views. He also apologized in person to Jewish leaders meeting in Cincinnati. Abraham Foxman, president of the Anti- Defamation League, issued a statement accepting Graham's apology.
NIXON: I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: In the wake of the Watergate scandal, the evangelist was forced to confront the notion that the man he considered a friend had not always been honest with him. And that he had been made a political pawn.
WILLIAM MARTIN, BIOGRAPHER: And he said, I knew what I'd said to the president, and I knew what he'd said to me. But when I saw all those memoranda circulating in the background, I felt like a sheep led to the slaughter.
PHILLIPS: Relations with future administrations would be different, less political, more pastoral. The preacher to president set up a cautious space between his ministry and the Oval Office. MARTIN: In an interesting term, when Gerald Ford, who succeeded Nixon, of course, asked -- Billy Graham was holding a crusade in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ford's home state in 1976, and he had made a contact to see if maybe he could say something at the crusade or make an appearance. And Billy wrote to him, how different this is from his writing to Truman, begging him to come, that I don't think it would look good for either one of us for me to make a special thing, but we do have a VIP section, and I'll be happy to recognize you, just as I will recognize Governor Carter when he comes to visit.
PHILLIPS: Appearing at the White House less frequently did nothing to diminish Reverend Graham's stature. Billy Graham hopscotched the globe with his messages of salvation, freedom and peace.
But close friendships with two particular families brought him back to the U.S., and back to the White House, despite being burned in the past.
MILLER: With Reagan, they had been friends since the '50s. He had known Reagan for a long time, and visited the White House a great deal during the Reagan administration, but it was always -- almost always kept private. He said, we never discussed politics. He also said he wasn't really interested in politics; he wanted to talk about the old days in Hollywood.
PHILLIPS: Graham had also known then-Vice President George Bush since his 1957 New York crusade, and even vacationed with the Bush family in Kennebunkport.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Just two hours ago, allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait.
MILLER: Before launching the first Gulf War, President Bush at the time invited Billy Graham to the White House, and then asked him to lead the prayer service the next day with the Army brass and others in the Pentagon and the White House.
PHILLIPS: Once again, critics questioned whether a U.S. president was using Reverend Graham to endorse a war, but others said, it was natural for President Bush to call on his old friend at that crucial time.
COLSON: And if there was ever a time that you want the reassurance that you're doing God's will, the reassurance that God is sovereign and watching out for you, that you have God's blessing, it's when you're in that crunch.
PHILLIPS: Grahams says, unlike many of today's religious leaders who speak out on hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage, he is content to stay above the political fray.
CARTER: Billy Graham always believed in the basic separation of church and state, or keeping a sharp dividing line between religion and politics. And that didn't mean any prohibition against a religious leader like Billy Graham being a friend and a counselor to a president.
GRAHAM: I'm trying to stay out of politics, and I've been queried quite a bit lately why I don't take stands on certain issues. I just feel that my issue is the gospel of Christ, that God loves you, and that God is willing to forgive you. Put your trust in him, and I think that's my message.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And you don't to want miss a revealing look at the life of this legendary crusader. Tune in to "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" Sunday at 7:00 p.m. for in-depth profile of the Reverend Billy Graham.
So what is it like to grow up in the shadow of the world's most famous preacher? On Sunday, I'll talk with Ann Graham Lott. She's just to the left of her dad in this picture taken back in 1963. Billy Graham says she is the best preacher in the family. That is at 8:00 a.m. Eastern on Sunday.
Our second hour of LIVE FROM begins after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
