Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Look at Threat of Kidnappings and Worst Just Across Border From Texas in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

Aired February 01, 2005 - 11:30   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.


RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Sudan's government is dismissing a U.N. report on the killings in the Darfur region. The U.N. panelist concluded the government's action in Darfur did not constitute genocide, and it recommended suspects be tried in international criminal court for the masked killings, rape and torture in the region. The U.S. opposes the court. The Bush administration wants the U.N. to set up a new tribunal to prosecute the people behind the crimes. The differing opinions have human rights groups irritated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE CRAWSHAW, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: It's just extraordinary that the American administration, which has been so strong in condemning the terrible crimes in Darfur, is now unwilling or at least until now, has been unwilling to accept the obvious (INAUDIBLE).

I say the United Nations commission, which was tasked precisely to look at where would be the right place for these people to be prosecuted, said not only yes, it should be the international criminal court, but has said no, don't think of the other places, which are more complicated and, of course, involve delays. You have to set up a new tribunal in the building, where the Rwandan tribunal is held, but it would actually need all the cumbersome process of setting up a new place. You have an existing court. It needs to be used.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The Bush administration late last summer labeled the killings in the Darfur region a genocide. An estimated 70,000 people have been killed in Darfur by militias, and more than a million thus far have been displaced.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what's making news overseas in this morning's world wrap: Condoleezza Rice leaving Thursday on her first trip as secretary of state. She'll stop in a half-dozen European capitals, as well as Jerusalem and the West Bank. Rice is likely to sit down with new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Pope John Paul II is clearing his calender as he fights a bout of the flu. The 84-year-old pontiff suffering from a number of ailments, and has been frail for several years. Vatican sources tell CNN there is no reason for concern.

And South Korea predicts the north will soon return to the negotiating table. North Korea put six-party talks on its nuclear program on hold until December. It said it wanted to wait until the Bush administration's policies became clear.

SANCHEZ: Here's a special report on CNN Security Watch this morning. The threat of kidnappings and worst just across the border from Texas in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The FBI says there's an ongoing sudden epidemic of kidnappings there, and families who are missing loved ones in the border town find that they're facing that nightmare essentially alone.

Here's CNN's Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SLEMAKER, STEPFATHER: No, is that the correct time?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the past four months, William Slemaker, says he's made this crossing more than 100 times, crossing the international border into the narrow streets of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, searching for a daughter who has not called, not come home, not been seen since September.

B. SLEMAKER: You see, I cruised up and down all these streets looking for Yvette's car.

GRIFFIN: Slemaker's step-daughter is 28-years-old. In the early morning of September 17th, she and her friend, Brenda Cisneros were on their way home from a concert and night on the town in Neuvo laredo. It was Brenda's birthday. At 4:00 a.m., still on the Mexican side but just four blocks from the border they called a friend.

B. SLEMAKER: And the call she got was from this intersection right here.

GRIFFIN: The young women made the call to ask their friend to meet them for breakfast on the American side. Somewhere within these four short blocks, Yvette Martinez, and Brenda Cisneros vanished.

B. SLEMAKER: I can see the American flag. Yes. She was not far at all. It's very unfortunate that she didn't make it from such a close distance.

GRIFFIN (on camera): You must have stood here many a time and thought, what -- what happened?

B. SLEMAKER: What happened.

GRIFFIN: In the five minutes it would take.

B. SLEMAKER: I stood there, parked my car there, stood at that intersection looking and wondering to myself where could she be. Trying and praying, hoping she could contact me and let me know, to get a feel of what to do.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Bill Slemaker and his wife, Maria, no longer know what to do. Days have turned into weeks and now months.

(on camera): The last phone call that she made, that you know she made, was so close to the border, it must have be absolutely frustrating to have heard that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. To know that she was so close and didn't make it.

GRIFFIN: She probably could have seen the border. Certainly the lights.

B. SLEMAKER: Oh, yes.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Bill and Maria are not alone. People are being kidnapped, killed or simply disappearing at an alarming rate. In past years, the number of Americans kidnapped in this border town averaged three or four a year. But just since August, 27 Americans have been kidnapped or have gone missing and police are quick to say those are only the reported cases. Nuevo Laredo, just a walk across the bridge from Laredo, Texas, is being described, by U.S. police officials, as lawless.

PATRICK PATTERSON, FBI: I would call it epidemic.

GRIFFIN: Patrick Patterson is the special FBI agent in charge.

PATTERSON: They're kidnapped. They're held for ransoms. We even express kidnappings, what we call express kidnappings, when the individual is grabbed on the other side of the border, held in the trunk of the car for 24 hours while they deplete the bank account with a credit card. This has all the time. Many times goes unreported to local law enforcement, state law enforcement or federal law enforcement.

GRIFFIN: And according to Patterson, the kidnapping is out of control. Yvette Martinez and Brenda Cisneros are just two of the missing caught up in a violent Mexican border town says Patterson where drug cartels are battling for turf. What's worse according to Patterson and others Mexican police seem stand on the sidelines.

PATTERSON: That's why we're having an epidemic problem, because there is very little being done to resolve the problem on that side of the border. And that's what really has to be done.

GRIFFIN: At first the Slemakers say even American police weren't that concerned. But Maria knew her daughter, knew she would have come home. And knew the border police would be able to tell if her daughter's car made the crossing back.

MARIA SLEMAKER, MOTHER: I said, let me go and check the car because we have the system here when you go...

B. SLEMAKER: Into Mexico.

M. SLEMAKER: ... into Mexico, I mean, they captured your license plates.

B. SLEMAKER: Your license plate. They register your plates.

M. SLEMAKER: So then I we went over there and asked if the car returned. And then he said, no, the car never returned into the United States.

GRIFFIN: How did you feel then?

M. SLEMAKER: Wow, I almost collapsed there. I was thinking, you know, the worst.

GRIFFIN: No longer able to sit by and wait for Mexican police, Bill and Maria have joined forces with other families. The Gonzales', searching for two sons missing since December. Pablo Cisneros want to find his daughter, Brenda. The family of Sergio Cabara (ph), already know their son is dead, they want the killers caught. They have focused their frustrations, creating a Web site and are printing posters asking for anyone who knows anything to call.

B. SLEMAKER: God forbid that she's dead, we want her body anyway. We want her body. We want to give her a proper burial. We want to close this. We hope that's not the case. But if she's alive, we want her. We want her in any way. We want her back. This is one of the streets I've traveled looking for her car.

GRIFFIN: The fact is, say U.S. authorities, if these families want their children back, they will most likely have to go into Mexico and find them themselves. Two months ago, Bill Slemaker came as close as he may ever come when this train conductor turned detective found the car he was looking for.

B. SLEMAKER: That's it. That's the car right there. That's Yvette's car. Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: When we come back, more of the families heartbreaking story and a closer look at the rising violence in Nuevo Laredo that increasingly targets American citizens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And Back now to our Security Watch. We're talking about the kidnapping of American citizens in Neuvo Laredo, Mexico, right on the Texas border. Now authorities blame drug cartels for the violence. Families who are missing loved ones, though, just want them to come home.

Here again is CNN's Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: The crossing at Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and Laredo, Texas, is the busiest inland port on the U.S. southern border. Forty percent of all U.S.-Mexico trade passes right through here. But the heavy traffic has attracted something else: drug cartels that are in a heated battle for control of this town and the drugs that flow north.

MICHAEL YODER, U.S. CONSUL: We're always living on the edge of violence here. That's part of the border. GRIFFIN: Michael Yoder is the U.S. consul in Nuevo Laredo. For the past year he has watched the drug cartels fight it out. Yoder warns anyone traveling to Nuevo Laredo, if you are American, you may be a target. And if you're kidnapped here, don't rely on the U.S. or anyone else to find you.

YODER: We're in Mexico. And solving a crime that occurs in Mexico is up to the Mexican authorities. And we have this problem, that local police and state police are often out equipped, the narco traffickers, the criminals here have better guns, they have more money.

GRIFFIN: And money, the FBI says, has corrupted many police to look the other way.

Daniel Pena is Nuevo Laredo's new mayor. He's in charge of the police. He insists his city is safe.

DANIEL PENA, NUEVO LAREDO MAYOR (through translator): Yes, Nuevo Laredo is safe. And we're taking charge to guarantee that tranquility and peace.

GRIFFIN: But when the camera was turned off, he added that he believes most if not all people kidnapped are likely involved in drugs. The U.S. consul says that may have been true in the past but now insists the innocent civilians are the targets.

To the Slemakers, who know their daughter, knew she was just going to a concert, the Mexican government's lack of action has added to their pain.

MARIA SLEMAKER, MOTHER: Night after night, thinking where is she? where is her friend. It's not only them. Now, where is the other people, too?

BILL SLEMAKER, FATHER: There are so many missing.

M. SLEMAKER: So many missing persons.

GRIFFIN: Without help from the police, Bill Slemaker has spent endless days and nights trying to track down his daughter himself. He spent a month searching for her car. He finally found it in a place that made him very angry: a storage yard used by local police.

Walking through here, you'll find dozens of other cars with U.S. license plates just like Yvette's. Bill says he has asked how Yvette's car got here, who brought it and when. But no one can tell him. It has never been dusted for fingerprints or searched for evidence in any investigation.

B. SLEMAKER, FATHER: I hope she comes home. I hope she comes home.

GRIFFIN: Are you afraid, Bill, I hate to say it, that this is all you'll ever find of your daughter?

B. SLEMAKER: I am afraid, yes.

GRIFFIN: And that you'll never know what happened.

B. SLEMAKER: God Almighty, I hope we find her. I hope we find her. Oh, my.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And that was our Drew Griffin bringing us that report. CNN Security Watch keeps you up-to-date on safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

SANCHEZ: The heat on Celebrex grows even hotter. Another consumer group calls for its removal from the market. Who they are and why when we come back.

KAGAN: And CNN's "New You Revolution" continues with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. We'll catch up with him and his latest participant when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Checking on today's "Daily Dose." A controversial claim against a familiar drug. The consumer watchdog group Public Citizen is renewing its call to have the arthritis drug Celebrex pulled from the shelves. The group claims that Pfizer, which makes Celebrex, conducted a study in 1999 that showed patients taking the drug were four times more likely to have a heart attack than those taking a placebo. Pfizer, bby the way, denies those claims.

SANCHEZ: OK, here we go. It's the third week of the "New You Revolution," where we are trying to help five people break bad, unhealthy habits. How's it going? Well, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look now at the progress some of his participants are making.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: All of our participants do seem to be headed in the right direction and are seeing some early results. Today, we want to take a closer look at how well our runner, Harald Fricker, has been doing so far.

GUPTA (voice over): Harald has been doing a lot of running, and he's lost at least 10 pounds already.

(on camera): We're doing all these sprints here. What's next for you? Are you going back to Colorado?

HARALD FRICKER, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT" Oh, yes.

GUPTA: What are you going to do out there?

FRICKER: Well, we're going to do a little snowshoeing.

GUPTA (voice over): He's addicted to running under any conditions. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going out for your normal 100-mile snowshoe, Harald. We're going out for maybe 100 seconds.

GUPTA: Can his trainer stop him from doing too much?

FRICKER: He got mad at me the other day when I spent five extra minutes on one of the machines.

GUPTA: Harald has to learn more is not always better.

FRICKER: I used to be able to do knuckle push-ups by the hundreds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was, I was, all right?

FRICKER: All, I'm just giving you the...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here, right now, Harald.

FRICKER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we want to work smarter, not harder.

GUPTA: And that it's a variety of exercises that will fuel his metabolism and help bring down his weight. Harald still thinks he's that young, fit runner from the '90s, who ran with other super athletes like Mike Closer (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good to see you. Out for a snowshoe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to get him moving.

GUPTA: If Harald wants to be like Mike, he needs to do one more thing: Get more sleep, something he's still not doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love my sleep. I sleep eight hours a night.

FRICKER: You do?

GUPTA: Studies have shown that lack of sleep can lead to weight gain. Harald has been working on curbing his food cravings.

FRICKER: Can I have any of these? Not a Kit Kat, Three Musketeers, Milky Way, all of that's out? What about Pop Tarts?

GUPTA: When he's about to slip, his trainer is just a call away.

(on camera): Minor setbacks and some real results are what our other participants have experienced as well. Here's their weekly check-up.

THELKA FISCHER, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: It is 8:30, and I am in the office. And I'm going to go sit and do a little more work.

GUPTA (voice over): So, Thekla is still working late and skipping meals and discovered another cause of her late-night eating habit: being separated from her husband.

FISCHER: I end up eating late with him or maybe having more to eat because it's a time where we bond.

GUPTA: But she's made it to yoga three times in the past week.

FISCHER: That's definitely more than I was doing before.

LEIGH ANN RAYNOR, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: It seems like everyone's enjoying this but me.

GUPTA: Actually, Leigh Ann is enjoying breaking her bad habits and is exercising regularly.

RAYNOR: I've lost, like, four and a half pounds.

GUPTA: She's thrilled because she's now able to walk two miles on the treadmill. And Leigh Ann is listening to her body just as the doctor ordered. She tried an aerobics class at her church, but it proved too much for a sore knee.

RAYNOR: Oh, no, we're not.

GUPTA: So, she'll continue to do what works best: cardio rehab and walking.

This week, Jonathan has something to celebrate in addition to his birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Superstar!

JONATHAN KARP, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: I went to scratch my back, and I was like, ooh. It's like something I'm totally not used to.

GUPTA: Keeping track of his nail-biting is paying off.

KARP: I'm starting to see some white spots on my nails in certain spots. This nail looks really good.

GUPTA: He's armed with a nail file to smooth out his gnawing urges. And although fighting stress from work is no piece of cake, he's on his way.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, for the "New You Revolution."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Next week, Sanjay's going to be checking on our grandmother. Well, a grandmother. Her name is Sandra Garth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDRA GARTH, "NEW YOU REVOLUTION" PARTICIPANT: What's inside the "New You" refrigerator?

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: What has she been doing? Well, she stocked her fridge with healthy foods. She's working out every day, even with her grandson. We're going to see how she's staying motivated. And you can track all of our participants' progress by logging on to CNN.com/newyou.

KAGAN: Talk about a great arm. When we come back, we're going to show you a basketball shot. Well, you're going to have to see it to believe it. Stay tuned. We'll show it to you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I know i've always wanted to do play by play, and I know she loves to do play by play.

KAGAN: You start.

SANCHEZ: So what I'm going to do, ready, I'm going to set her up, and I'm going to give her -- it's a chance of a lifetime, folks. Here we go, you watch 1,000 basketball games and you're going to never see a shot like this.

KAGAN: All right, Less than a second left in overtime, tie game. The Randolph Macon guard misses the second -- watch this -- the second free throw on purpose to keep the clock ticking.

SANCHEZ: Here it is.

KAGAN: Guilford's Jordan Snipes (ph) has one option. He shoots. He scores. It is all net. They go on to win the game.

SANCHEZ: This is a 92-foot shot.

KAGAN: Excellent. Once in a lifetime.

SANCHEZ: Can you believe that?

KAGAN: They'll be playing that one over and over and over again.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(WEATHER REPORT)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired February 1, 2005 - 11:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Sudan's government is dismissing a U.N. report on the killings in the Darfur region. The U.N. panelist concluded the government's action in Darfur did not constitute genocide, and it recommended suspects be tried in international criminal court for the masked killings, rape and torture in the region. The U.S. opposes the court. The Bush administration wants the U.N. to set up a new tribunal to prosecute the people behind the crimes. The differing opinions have human rights groups irritated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE CRAWSHAW, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: It's just extraordinary that the American administration, which has been so strong in condemning the terrible crimes in Darfur, is now unwilling or at least until now, has been unwilling to accept the obvious (INAUDIBLE).

I say the United Nations commission, which was tasked precisely to look at where would be the right place for these people to be prosecuted, said not only yes, it should be the international criminal court, but has said no, don't think of the other places, which are more complicated and, of course, involve delays. You have to set up a new tribunal in the building, where the Rwandan tribunal is held, but it would actually need all the cumbersome process of setting up a new place. You have an existing court. It needs to be used.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The Bush administration late last summer labeled the killings in the Darfur region a genocide. An estimated 70,000 people have been killed in Darfur by militias, and more than a million thus far have been displaced.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what's making news overseas in this morning's world wrap: Condoleezza Rice leaving Thursday on her first trip as secretary of state. She'll stop in a half-dozen European capitals, as well as Jerusalem and the West Bank. Rice is likely to sit down with new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Pope John Paul II is clearing his calender as he fights a bout of the flu. The 84-year-old pontiff suffering from a number of ailments, and has been frail for several years. Vatican sources tell CNN there is no reason for concern.

And South Korea predicts the north will soon return to the negotiating table. North Korea put six-party talks on its nuclear program on hold until December. It said it wanted to wait until the Bush administration's policies became clear.

SANCHEZ: Here's a special report on CNN Security Watch this morning. The threat of kidnappings and worst just across the border from Texas in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The FBI says there's an ongoing sudden epidemic of kidnappings there, and families who are missing loved ones in the border town find that they're facing that nightmare essentially alone.

Here's CNN's Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SLEMAKER, STEPFATHER: No, is that the correct time?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the past four months, William Slemaker, says he's made this crossing more than 100 times, crossing the international border into the narrow streets of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, searching for a daughter who has not called, not come home, not been seen since September.

B. SLEMAKER: You see, I cruised up and down all these streets looking for Yvette's car.

GRIFFIN: Slemaker's step-daughter is 28-years-old. In the early morning of September 17th, she and her friend, Brenda Cisneros were on their way home from a concert and night on the town in Neuvo laredo. It was Brenda's birthday. At 4:00 a.m., still on the Mexican side but just four blocks from the border they called a friend.

B. SLEMAKER: And the call she got was from this intersection right here.

GRIFFIN: The young women made the call to ask their friend to meet them for breakfast on the American side. Somewhere within these four short blocks, Yvette Martinez, and Brenda Cisneros vanished.

B. SLEMAKER: I can see the American flag. Yes. She was not far at all. It's very unfortunate that she didn't make it from such a close distance.

GRIFFIN (on camera): You must have stood here many a time and thought, what -- what happened?

B. SLEMAKER: What happened.

GRIFFIN: In the five minutes it would take.

B. SLEMAKER: I stood there, parked my car there, stood at that intersection looking and wondering to myself where could she be. Trying and praying, hoping she could contact me and let me know, to get a feel of what to do.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Bill Slemaker and his wife, Maria, no longer know what to do. Days have turned into weeks and now months.

(on camera): The last phone call that she made, that you know she made, was so close to the border, it must have be absolutely frustrating to have heard that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. To know that she was so close and didn't make it.

GRIFFIN: She probably could have seen the border. Certainly the lights.

B. SLEMAKER: Oh, yes.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Bill and Maria are not alone. People are being kidnapped, killed or simply disappearing at an alarming rate. In past years, the number of Americans kidnapped in this border town averaged three or four a year. But just since August, 27 Americans have been kidnapped or have gone missing and police are quick to say those are only the reported cases. Nuevo Laredo, just a walk across the bridge from Laredo, Texas, is being described, by U.S. police officials, as lawless.

PATRICK PATTERSON, FBI: I would call it epidemic.

GRIFFIN: Patrick Patterson is the special FBI agent in charge.

PATTERSON: They're kidnapped. They're held for ransoms. We even express kidnappings, what we call express kidnappings, when the individual is grabbed on the other side of the border, held in the trunk of the car for 24 hours while they deplete the bank account with a credit card. This has all the time. Many times goes unreported to local law enforcement, state law enforcement or federal law enforcement.

GRIFFIN: And according to Patterson, the kidnapping is out of control. Yvette Martinez and Brenda Cisneros are just two of the missing caught up in a violent Mexican border town says Patterson where drug cartels are battling for turf. What's worse according to Patterson and others Mexican police seem stand on the sidelines.

PATTERSON: That's why we're having an epidemic problem, because there is very little being done to resolve the problem on that side of the border. And that's what really has to be done.

GRIFFIN: At first the Slemakers say even American police weren't that concerned. But Maria knew her daughter, knew she would have come home. And knew the border police would be able to tell if her daughter's car made the crossing back.

MARIA SLEMAKER, MOTHER: I said, let me go and check the car because we have the system here when you go...

B. SLEMAKER: Into Mexico.

M. SLEMAKER: ... into Mexico, I mean, they captured your license plates.

B. SLEMAKER: Your license plate. They register your plates.

M. SLEMAKER: So then I we went over there and asked if the car returned. And then he said, no, the car never returned into the United States.

GRIFFIN: How did you feel then?

M. SLEMAKER: Wow, I almost collapsed there. I was thinking, you know, the worst.

GRIFFIN: No longer able to sit by and wait for Mexican police, Bill and Maria have joined forces with other families. The Gonzales', searching for two sons missing since December. Pablo Cisneros want to find his daughter, Brenda. The family of Sergio Cabara (ph), already know their son is dead, they want the killers caught. They have focused their frustrations, creating a Web site and are printing posters asking for anyone who knows anything to call.

B. SLEMAKER: God forbid that she's dead, we want her body anyway. We want her body. We want to give her a proper burial. We want to close this. We hope that's not the case. But if she's alive, we want her. We want her in any way. We want her back. This is one of the streets I've traveled looking for her car.

GRIFFIN: The fact is, say U.S. authorities, if these families want their children back, they will most likely have to go into Mexico and find them themselves. Two months ago, Bill Slemaker came as close as he may ever come when this train conductor turned detective found the car he was looking for.

B. SLEMAKER: That's it. That's the car right there. That's Yvette's car. Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: When we come back, more of the families heartbreaking story and a closer look at the rising violence in Nuevo Laredo that increasingly targets American citizens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And Back now to our Security Watch. We're talking about the kidnapping of American citizens in Neuvo Laredo, Mexico, right on the Texas border. Now authorities blame drug cartels for the violence. Families who are missing loved ones, though, just want them to come home.

Here again is CNN's Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: The crossing at Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and Laredo, Texas, is the busiest inland port on the U.S. southern border. Forty percent of all U.S.-Mexico trade passes right through here. But the heavy traffic has attracted something else: drug cartels that are in a heated battle for control of this town and the drugs that flow north.

MICHAEL YODER, U.S. CONSUL: We're always living on the edge of violence here. That's part of the border. GRIFFIN: Michael Yoder is the U.S. consul in Nuevo Laredo. For the past year he has watched the drug cartels fight it out. Yoder warns anyone traveling to Nuevo Laredo, if you are American, you may be a target. And if you're kidnapped here, don't rely on the U.S. or anyone else to find you.

YODER: We're in Mexico. And solving a crime that occurs in Mexico is up to the Mexican authorities. And we have this problem, that local police and state police are often out equipped, the narco traffickers, the criminals here have better guns, they have more money.

GRIFFIN: And money, the FBI says, has corrupted many police to look the other way.

Daniel Pena is Nuevo Laredo's new mayor. He's in charge of the police. He insists his city is safe.

DANIEL PENA, NUEVO LAREDO MAYOR (through translator): Yes, Nuevo Laredo is safe. And we're taking charge to guarantee that tranquility and peace.

GRIFFIN: But when the camera was turned off, he added that he believes most if not all people kidnapped are likely involved in drugs. The U.S. consul says that may have been true in the past but now insists the innocent civilians are the targets.

To the Slemakers, who know their daughter, knew she was just going to a concert, the Mexican government's lack of action has added to their pain.

MARIA SLEMAKER, MOTHER: Night after night, thinking where is she? where is her friend. It's not only them. Now, where is the other people, too?

BILL SLEMAKER, FATHER: There are so many missing.

M. SLEMAKER: So many missing persons.

GRIFFIN: Without help from the police, Bill Slemaker has spent endless days and nights trying to track down his daughter himself. He spent a month searching for her car. He finally found it in a place that made him very angry: a storage yard used by local police.

Walking through here, you'll find dozens of other cars with U.S. license plates just like Yvette's. Bill says he has asked how Yvette's car got here, who brought it and when. But no one can tell him. It has never been dusted for fingerprints or searched for evidence in any investigation.

B. SLEMAKER, FATHER: I hope she comes home. I hope she comes home.

GRIFFIN: Are you afraid, Bill, I hate to say it, that this is all you'll ever find of your daughter?

B. SLEMAKER: I am afraid, yes.

GRIFFIN: And that you'll never know what happened.

B. SLEMAKER: God Almighty, I hope we find her. I hope we find her. Oh, my.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And that was our Drew Griffin bringing us that report. CNN Security Watch keeps you up-to-date on safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

SANCHEZ: The heat on Celebrex grows even hotter. Another consumer group calls for its removal from the market. Who they are and why when we come back.

KAGAN: And CNN's "New You Revolution" continues with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. We'll catch up with him and his latest participant when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Checking on today's "Daily Dose." A controversial claim against a familiar drug. The consumer watchdog group Public Citizen is renewing its call to have the arthritis drug Celebrex pulled from the shelves. The group claims that Pfizer, which makes Celebrex, conducted a study in 1999 that showed patients taking the drug were four times more likely to have a heart attack than those taking a placebo. Pfizer, bby the way, denies those claims.

SANCHEZ: OK, here we go. It's the third week of the "New You Revolution," where we are trying to help five people break bad, unhealthy habits. How's it going? Well, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look now at the progress some of his participants are making.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: All of our participants do seem to be headed in the right direction and are seeing some early results. Today, we want to take a closer look at how well our runner, Harald Fricker, has been doing so far.

GUPTA (voice over): Harald has been doing a lot of running, and he's lost at least 10 pounds already.

(on camera): We're doing all these sprints here. What's next for you? Are you going back to Colorado?

HARALD FRICKER, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT" Oh, yes.

GUPTA: What are you going to do out there?

FRICKER: Well, we're going to do a little snowshoeing.

GUPTA (voice over): He's addicted to running under any conditions. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going out for your normal 100-mile snowshoe, Harald. We're going out for maybe 100 seconds.

GUPTA: Can his trainer stop him from doing too much?

FRICKER: He got mad at me the other day when I spent five extra minutes on one of the machines.

GUPTA: Harald has to learn more is not always better.

FRICKER: I used to be able to do knuckle push-ups by the hundreds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was, I was, all right?

FRICKER: All, I'm just giving you the...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here, right now, Harald.

FRICKER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we want to work smarter, not harder.

GUPTA: And that it's a variety of exercises that will fuel his metabolism and help bring down his weight. Harald still thinks he's that young, fit runner from the '90s, who ran with other super athletes like Mike Closer (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good to see you. Out for a snowshoe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to get him moving.

GUPTA: If Harald wants to be like Mike, he needs to do one more thing: Get more sleep, something he's still not doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love my sleep. I sleep eight hours a night.

FRICKER: You do?

GUPTA: Studies have shown that lack of sleep can lead to weight gain. Harald has been working on curbing his food cravings.

FRICKER: Can I have any of these? Not a Kit Kat, Three Musketeers, Milky Way, all of that's out? What about Pop Tarts?

GUPTA: When he's about to slip, his trainer is just a call away.

(on camera): Minor setbacks and some real results are what our other participants have experienced as well. Here's their weekly check-up.

THELKA FISCHER, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: It is 8:30, and I am in the office. And I'm going to go sit and do a little more work.

GUPTA (voice over): So, Thekla is still working late and skipping meals and discovered another cause of her late-night eating habit: being separated from her husband.

FISCHER: I end up eating late with him or maybe having more to eat because it's a time where we bond.

GUPTA: But she's made it to yoga three times in the past week.

FISCHER: That's definitely more than I was doing before.

LEIGH ANN RAYNOR, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: It seems like everyone's enjoying this but me.

GUPTA: Actually, Leigh Ann is enjoying breaking her bad habits and is exercising regularly.

RAYNOR: I've lost, like, four and a half pounds.

GUPTA: She's thrilled because she's now able to walk two miles on the treadmill. And Leigh Ann is listening to her body just as the doctor ordered. She tried an aerobics class at her church, but it proved too much for a sore knee.

RAYNOR: Oh, no, we're not.

GUPTA: So, she'll continue to do what works best: cardio rehab and walking.

This week, Jonathan has something to celebrate in addition to his birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Superstar!

JONATHAN KARP, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: I went to scratch my back, and I was like, ooh. It's like something I'm totally not used to.

GUPTA: Keeping track of his nail-biting is paying off.

KARP: I'm starting to see some white spots on my nails in certain spots. This nail looks really good.

GUPTA: He's armed with a nail file to smooth out his gnawing urges. And although fighting stress from work is no piece of cake, he's on his way.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, for the "New You Revolution."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Next week, Sanjay's going to be checking on our grandmother. Well, a grandmother. Her name is Sandra Garth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDRA GARTH, "NEW YOU REVOLUTION" PARTICIPANT: What's inside the "New You" refrigerator?

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: What has she been doing? Well, she stocked her fridge with healthy foods. She's working out every day, even with her grandson. We're going to see how she's staying motivated. And you can track all of our participants' progress by logging on to CNN.com/newyou.

KAGAN: Talk about a great arm. When we come back, we're going to show you a basketball shot. Well, you're going to have to see it to believe it. Stay tuned. We'll show it to you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I know i've always wanted to do play by play, and I know she loves to do play by play.

KAGAN: You start.

SANCHEZ: So what I'm going to do, ready, I'm going to set her up, and I'm going to give her -- it's a chance of a lifetime, folks. Here we go, you watch 1,000 basketball games and you're going to never see a shot like this.

KAGAN: All right, Less than a second left in overtime, tie game. The Randolph Macon guard misses the second -- watch this -- the second free throw on purpose to keep the clock ticking.

SANCHEZ: Here it is.

KAGAN: Guilford's Jordan Snipes (ph) has one option. He shoots. He scores. It is all net. They go on to win the game.

SANCHEZ: This is a 92-foot shot.

KAGAN: Excellent. Once in a lifetime.

SANCHEZ: Can you believe that?

KAGAN: They'll be playing that one over and over and over again.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(WEATHER REPORT)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com