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Rick's List
Primary Day Arrives; Joran van der Sloot Confesses
Aired June 08, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: -- a lot of concerns still about that moratorium on offshore drilling, keeping a close eye on that one, all the updates on BP. I know you are following it. So are we on the site and, of course, Apple, as everyone loves to talk about...
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: ... Rick.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: There she is, Poppy's list, CNN Money, the cat's meow, as they call her in New York.
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SANCHEZ: My thanks to you. We look forward to talking to you again tomorrow.
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SANCHEZ: By the way, as we begin this newscast, I am honored to report that we are the news of record for American Forces Network at this hour. We welcome all of our troops watching us right now from overseas.
Here is your national conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's making the LIST on this day.
Joran van der Sloot, he confesses to killing a woman in Peru, but what about Natalee Holloway? There are a bevy of new details that may tie these two cases, and we got them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, I'm not seeing any bands of oil on the Gulf, which is good news.
SANCHEZ: Where is the oil? Where is it heading and what does it mean for beach towns on the Gulf Coast?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're significantly down. Our tourism has dropped 40 percent to 50 percent.
SANCHEZ: Voters are off to the polls today in 12 states, including California, South Carolina, Arkansas. Who will win? Who will lose? And what will the results say about the mood of the nation?
The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's landed on the list you don't want to be on? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why I keep a list.
Pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Rick Sanchez.
This is hour two, and it's time to pick up the pace of today's LIST. For those of you just now checking in, number one, Joran van der Sloot's murder confession. Have you heard? The 22-year-old Dutch playboy has admitted to Peruvian authorities that he killed 21-year- old Stephany Flores in his hotel room.
Van der Sloot says he did it because Flores was asking too many questions about Natalee Holloway. And everyone wants to know, did he have anything to do with Holloway's disappearance? Most people close to the case say, as you heard here, yes, he did. But there was never any proper evidence, according to officials in Aruba.
The Alabama teen was last seen in Aruba hours before she was supposed to catch a flight May 30, 2005. Van der Sloot was arrested twice in her disappearance, but the charges did not stick. Van der Sloot's confession was, in Flores' murder, reportedly a tearful one. He cried, told Peruvian officials -- quote -- "I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life" -- stop quote.
He says Flores was searching his laptop and discovered van der Sloot's arrest in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Van der Sloot claims that's when he became enraged and began beating Flores to death. Officials say her neck was broken.
With this confession, the young woman's family is now convinced more than ever that he was involved in Natalee's disappearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLINA JORGE, SISTER-IN-LAW OF VICTIM: We need justice for our family, for Natalee's family, too. I think he's a psycho, a murderer, and he has to pay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Jean Casarez is a correspondent for "In Session" on truTV. And she's good enough to join us now live from Lima, Peru.
What broke this overnight, Jean? Suddenly, we wake up to the news that he has confessed to the crime less than, what, 48 hours since we first started talking about this
JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT TRUTV: You are exactly right. You know, Rick, I was sleeping last night. I got a phone call that in fact he had confessed. And authorities have confirmed that he has confessed to murdering Stephany Flores.
You know, we're hear at the Hotel Tac. This is where police say the murder happened, on the third floor. I want to tell you some information. Peruvian national police have just confirmed with us for the very first time what happened the minutes before and during the time that Stephany was killed.
I want to show everybody, look over my left shoulder. This is the entrance to the Hotel Tac. You see all the newspapers now. Nobody can go in or out, although residents are still staying in the hotel. But Peruvian police authorities are telling us that Joran van der Sloot very well did come out of the hotel early Sunday morning. He was going to get coffee and bread.
And he went to the neighboring (SPEAKING SPANISH) or in English, we call it the little market, the convenience store attached to the gas station. He purchased coffee and bread. While he was doing that, Stephany Flores got on his computer and started researching a little bit about him.
He walked from the market back to the hotel. He went through the front entrance, went back up to their room. And that's when Stephany Flores, authorities are confirming with us, confronted him about Natalee Holloway.
There was a confrontation. There was an argument. She wanted to leave. Authorities are telling us he would not let her leave. She slapped him. Now, this is according to Joran van der Sloot. He then slapped her. And police are confirming with us that he then grabbed her neck, and that is the beginning of the end of Stephany Flores being murdered.
SANCHEZ: We have heard reports that, at some point, police and Joran van der Sloot are going go back to the scene of the crime, where you are right there, and he's going to take them through the building and reenact the crime. Has that happened already? Or do we expect it will happen?
CASAREZ: No.
No, but you are exactly right. And that is why we all have been waiting here, because, since he has confessed, the next step under the legal system here in Peru would be a reenactment, because we don't have formal charges yet. They haven't charged him with any crime.
So they want to bring him back to go through everything, for him to explain what happened, how it happened. And that can differentiate the elements of a crime from murder to manslaughter. And that will help the prosecution when they then, at the culmination of this criminal investigation, a death investigation, determine what formal charges should be filed, which will then be the beginning of the legal process. But it will be shorter now that he has confessed, attorneys tell me, but there will still be a duration of time, even a trial. And, of course, the sentencing could greatly be impacted because of this guilty plea. He could get far less of a sentence than the maximum here in Peru of 35 years.
SANCHEZ: Maximum is 35 years for premeditated murder?
CASAREZ: For murder, 15 to 35 years.
SANCHEZ: That seems remarkable.
CASAREZ: But, if you confess, it can be less.
SANCHEZ: And they -- and they -- they -- they have no death penalty?
CASAREZ: No death penalty, except in treason in time of wars, or killing of a governmental official in a high position.
SANCHEZ: That seems strange that murder would be 35 years. A young man like him, that means he would be out some -- like at a still reasonably young age.
CASAREZ: And -- and, Rick, there is even more.
SANCHEZ: I'm sure -- go ahead.
CASAREZ: You can get good time credit here in Peru. You can get good time credit, two for one.
So, for every day you serve, you can get two days' credit if you exhibit good behavior. And, of course, that is dependent on the dependent -- department of prisons, but that means a sentence could be cut in half.
SANCHEZ: Wow. That means he could end up spending only 15 years in prison, which seems remarkable by U.S. standards.
Let me ask you, Jean, now about the other side of this story in Aruba. And that is the Holloway case, obviously. I just spoke to one of the family's attorneys a little while ago, who said that they will be adjourning the case and asking Aruban authorities, so that they can file papers as well.
Have you seen any movement or heard anything on the Natalee Holloway side of the story while you've been there in Peru as well?
CASAREZ: You know, when we ask officials here, law enforcement officials, they will not comment one way or the other if during the interrogation that he in fact was asked questions about Natalee Holloway.
But we were able to confirm with law enforcement that every day he has been questioned. And yesterday's session lasted about seven hours. SANCHEZ: Wow.
CASAREZ: And the duration of that is when he confessed.
But two more things that law enforcement confirmed with us. They do not feel a sexual assault occurred at this point. Now, Rick, are toxicology results in yet? Are forensics, rape exam kits in yet? That can take time, but that is what law enforcement is saying. They also say Joran van der Sloot actually admitted he was under the influence of marijuana.
SANCHEZ: Well, there is a non-surprise.
By the way, there's been a lot of talk that prosecutors might be able to try and cop some kind of deal where they get him to give them information perhaps about Natalee Holloway in return for a favorable sentence or some kind of break or something of that ilk.
Under what you know of Peruvian law, is that something that would be expected? Is it something they can do under their guidelines? And what have you heard?
CASAREZ: You know, that's a really good question. I don't think anyone knows the answer. It would be an international cooperation between nations.
I can tell you that Natalee Holloway is a common household name in this entire country. They know the case. They remember the case. Their heart is in that case. But this is a hometown girl. This is Stephany Flores. Now, since he has confessed to Stephany Flores, will it help him? Because Peru has gotten what they wanted.
SANCHEZ: Right.
CASAREZ: They have got a confession.
Will it help him to confess to Natalee Holloway? Possibly for sentencing. I think anything is possible. But the main thing on the minds of prosecutors is building the case against Stephany Flores with formal charges that will be in the near future.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, and that's understandable. And, to credit the Holloway family, Beth Holloway -- or Beth Twitty, actually -- went on the air today during a news conference and said that her heart was with the Flores family as well.
So, what a story, a story of who families almost a half-a-world apart, both of them grieving about essentially the same thing, one of the cases solved, the other yet to be solved.
Jean Casarez, my thanks to you. Great reporting. Thanks for hanging in there amid the noise and all the other street scenes.
CASAREZ: Thank you. Thanks.
SANCHEZ: And we will get back to you to get more information on this as the story warrants.
Meanwhile, we're going to stay on the Joran van der Sloot story throughout the hour. In just 20 minutes, we're also going to be talking with a former FBI agent who investigated the Natalee Holloway case. He has been tracking van der Sloot. You don't want to miss the latest information coming in on this story.
And we understand that, as you heard from Jean, there might be a reenactment during this hour. If it happens, we will take you back and let you see it for yourself live.
Also, we haven't stopped watching that oil disaster in the Gulf. We have gotten exclusive access this scientific animation which shows the movement of the oil slick closest to the Gulf Coast. We are going to take you through it. No matter where you live, we will tell you where the oil is and when it might be getting close to your shores, if you are in Florida or Alabama or Mississippi, Louisiana.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Jeff from Indianapolis
There's 47 million gallons of oil that naturally leaks into the water each year. Keep in mind that oil is an organic product of nature. And, as bad as it is right now, it will get better.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: OK. Here is what we want to do.
We want to be able to try and give you information that you can use. I mean, I think the key -- and Chad probably will agree with me on this -- what we can do as a news organization for you every single day is, look, we are all going to be coping with this thing for several months, if not more.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Mm-hmm.
SANCHEZ: But we can do is, we can give you definitive, concrete information on where the oil is, where it's moving, how much is out there, when it might be coming your way, what's in it.
I mean, those -- that's the kind of information I think is most helpful, right?
MYERS: Sure. Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: So, we have got this -- this professor, this scientist. His name is Ian MacDonald. And we have made contact with him. And he's good enough to join us now.
Mr. MacDonald, are you there, sir? IAN MACDONALD, PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF OCEANOGRAPHY, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: Hi, Rick.
SANCHEZ: How are you? Chad Myers, Rick Sanchez.
You sent us this. And we're going ask you questions as we look at it. It looks to me like what you have done is, you have taken the oil slick that is closest to the Gulf. That's not all of it. There may be more somewhere else down there.
MACDONALD: Of course.
SANCHEZ: But this is the one closest to the Gulf. And you have given us a sense of where exactly it is, so that we can see the patterns there. There's one of them. There's where it would be on May 31.
And the green over here is where it would be on June 1. We love it. When you sent it to us, everyone on our staff said, this is fantastic. This makes people understand exactly what's going on with this.
Tell us -- tell us what we need to know about your animation, sir.
MACDONALD: Well, exactly.
I think Thad Allen explained it very well today. He said that the Gulf region was facing a lot of small oil spills that were going to come ashore in many places...
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
MACDONALD: ... throughout the Gulf Coast.
And what we have done here is to try to show what this process is like. And, so, what you are looking at in the yellow is a small fraction of the oil that broke loose from the main slick, which is still way offshore in most cases.
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
MACDONALD: So, about 250 square miles of that broke off.
And, on May 31, you see it there near the coast. And then it gets caught up in the longshore currents.
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
MACDONALD: And it moves from Dauphin Island to approximately off Pensacola.
MYERS: Yes.
MACDONALD: And, all during that time, little bits of tar balls come -- come ashore all along the way. SANCHEZ: Now, we noticed there is this distance between here and here, you know, and here and here, just between those arrows that Chad just drew.
Why is it staying there? And when will it actually move into shore, if at all?
MACDONALD: Well, actually, we looked at the -- at the most recent satellite data, and the winds have changed a bit. And a lot of that oil has pulled more offshore. So, it's good news in the sense that probably some of that is going to sink and not directly impact the beaches.
SANCHEZ: Chad.
MYERS: Professor, I noticed that -- I am going go back to May 31. And I don't know the square mileage here, but I'm just using my eye.
MACDONALD: Mm-hmm.
MYERS: That's a lot -- the yellow area, a lot larger than the green area.
MACDONALD: Right.
MYERS: And, so, what happened? Did the oil sink? Did it evaporate? Did it get to the shore? Why is that area smaller?
MACDONALD: Well, that -- that is what happens. And that is the process, ultimately, that's going to clean this oil up, you know, is that this oil is going to get broken down by the sunlight, broken down by the wave actions, and stirred and evaporated.
A lot of it is going turn into small tar boils -- TARP balls that are not -- not so immediately toxic.
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
MACDONALD: And's will come in. And we can pick those tar balls up.
But a lot of it is going sink. And this is the process that -- that we have to go through to get rid of all that oil that is floating out there.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: Yes. Let me -- let me take you just real quick, because I have this.
SANCHEZ: Go ahead.
MYERS: And I -- this is Navarre Beach, tar balls not that far away, people still enjoying the beaches.
SANCHEZ: But, you know, but wait a minute.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But let's be fair about this. I grew up in South Florida, Professor. You are a Florida guy, right?
MACDONALD: Oh, yes.
SANCHEZ: Look, I have been seeing tar balls on the beach since I was a little kid, and we have been taking -- what was it that my mom took to take when we went on picnics on the beach to get rid of the tar balls, like alcohol, Vaseline or whatever, to rub it off?
So, that's part of living on these -- on these beaches, right? What's the difference between these tar balls and those tar balls?
MACDONALD: Well, there's probably more of them.
But I think one thing we should note is that the authorities in Pensacola, where they have a big concern to be -- to serve the tourists, they were -- they handled it exactly right. They were totally honest. They said, there is some tar out there. It's coming ashore. We are dealing with it. Here is how much it is. Here's the areas you have to avoid.
And I think that is what we need. I think we need the authorities to be totally honest and straight about what is out there. And that will allow people to make decisions that will protect their health and allow them to enjoy the beach.
SANCHEZ: I'm sorry, Chad. I think it interrupted. You were going make a point about tar balls, right?
MYERS: I was just going to ask the professor, I am used to South Texas beaches...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MACDONALD: Yes.
MYERS: ... which were -- were spoiled because of Ixtoc in -- in the late '70s, early '80s, with all that oil just washing up forever.
And the oil -- the sand never got to the same color, I don't think, that it ever was, or else, when I was a kid, I thought it was brighter. I'm not sure.
Can we -- are we going be looking for this -- this oil to be polluting these sands, these -- these pristine Destin beach sands forever, or does it -- does it go away?
MACDONALD: Not forever, but I am afraid that we are looking at many months of this. I mean, after all, the oil is still gushing, and we still have a lot of oil out there. And even now, 45 days into this, we're just starting to get, you know, more or less, continuous landfalls of this stuff. SANCHEZ: All right. Let me ask you the final question.
For the people who live on the Gulf Coast in the state of Florida, this is just at -- could you put his thing back up there, so we could show it?
MYERS: Actually, they can if they put it in four.
SANCHEZ: Put it in four. We will see it.
MYERS: I wanted to -- I wanted to see -- show you that the beaches were still all open.
Go ahead. Go ahead, guys.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: We just wanted -- I just wanted to check one thing with you. If it's at Pensacola now, at what point in Florida will it continue on to? I mean, you go down the Florida shores on the Gulf Coast, you're going to get to Saint Pete, Bradenton, Tampa. You can get all the way down to, you know, beyond Naples into...
MYERS: You -- you -- you can't actually, because there is a little dead zone there. And that low -- the current won't take it into the west coast area. There is a little zone here that is actually quite safe.
Professor, tell me about that. Tell me how the -- I know you probably know about it.
SANCHEZ: Yes, you have got it -- Professor, you have got it right here. Can it make its way all the way down here? And, if so, when, and in what form?
MACDONALD: It -- well, probably not that oil. I think that raft of oil, you know, has -- has -- has -- has run its course.
But there are other rafts that are going to break off in other ways. And it depends a lot on the local winds. You know, that -- you're right. That -- that dead zone there does enjoy some protection from this. But there are wind patterns that would get oil into that.
So, this is -- this is a -- this is the -- you know, a trial run for something that we're going to see many, many examples of in many different parts of the coast, as I say, in the months to come.
SANCHEZ: Scientist Ian MacDonald good enough to join us with some very concrete information that I am sure can help a lot of folks who have been watching this for some time.
And, as usual, Chad Myers...
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: I just hope it doesn't completely destroy tourism on the -- on the Florida coasts.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: And, then, all of the sudden, there is not a mom and pop shop to be found, because they can't afford to stay in business. And, all of a sudden, next year, the beaches are completely clean, there is nobody left.
SANCHEZ: That is why it is incumbent upon us to be clear, concrete and tell the truth about what's going on...
MYERS: There you go.
SANCHEZ: ... and not sound alarmist, which is what we try to do.
All right, watch this. What really happened to Natalee Holloway? Her family has asked that question since the disappearance five years ago. We were there just days after the news broke. Me and producer Michael Heard made a trip down there.
We're the first ones to talk to the Natalee Holloway family there in Alabama. Today, we show you some of that. We take you back as we search for new answers on the fifth anniversary of her death.
Today's elections could be called the dirty dozen, name-calling, sexual innuendo, the huge amounts of campaign cash, incumbents on the run and on the ropes, as normally reliable voters turn to the Tea Party or untested newcomers. We are following the day's hottest races. That's on our political list.
And we're going to be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
Twelve states holding primaries today. And incumbent anger is spreading, as you know, case in point, Arkansas. This is a race where Senator Blanche Lincoln is fighting off a challenge from Governor Bill Halter -- pardon me -- Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter. I misspoke.
He is not a liberal from the left. He isn't a conservative from the right. He's a fellow moderate Democrat.
Dana Bash is -- is in Little Rock, Arkansas.
You know, it's interesting, Dana. Halter is really taking advantage of the anti-incumbent mood in Arkansas but it's not like he actually fits the bill, as in a cookie model, right?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not -- not at all when it comes to what you usually see in Democratic primaries.
Usually, you have a moderate like Blanche Lincoln, if she is challenged, it is usually genuinely from the left, and that's what the challenger will be doing. You don't see that in Bill Halter's case. You you're don't, Rick.
And what he is doing is following the 2010 playbook to a T. And that is, as you said, he is running as an outsider. He is not running as somebody who will have lefty policies, so to speak, because that just wouldn't work here. This is a very conservative state in Arkansas.
Having said that, he might not be doing that. But I am telling you, the left groups, so to speak, unions and MoveOn.org, they have come down here in full force because they do want to unseat Blanche Lincoln because of her moderate stance on a host of issues.
SANCHEZ: It is interesting. It's almost as if, you know, Republicans call them RINOs, right? What do the Democrats call them? DINOs?
BASH: DINOs.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: So, she -- she...
BASH: Pretty much. I mean, pretty much.
SANCHEZ: Is she what they would be calling them, DINOs, right? I mean, she -- she would be a DINO, according to that definition, a Democrat who they -- who some believe has not been Democrat enough?
BASH: According to many of the people on a national level who want her out.
For example, I will just give you -- just be -- to be specific, the unions. They have come down here, as I said, in full force. They are spending millions of dollars. One union source I talked to said $6 million just in TV and radio ads alone.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
BASH: Why is that? The reason is because they want to make an example out of her, Rick. They say that she is a case in point of a Democrat who doesn't vote on Democratic issues.
She was against the public option for health care, one of the Democrats that forced that -- that issue off the table with the health care bill. She is somebody who has voted for free trade bills. And she has not supported some of the other union issues.
So, they say look, why have to stand our ground within the union movement, and we want to send a message to other Democrats who are moderates like Blanche Lincoln, we're not going to stand for it. If you cross us, we're going to try to fight you.
And that is what is going on with the unions vs Blanche Lincoln down here. SANCHEZ: All right, I want to go South Carolina now. Let's go to South Carolina, where things have just been downright weird.
Nikki Haley is running for the Republican nomination for governor. She is the favorite, fighting off allegations of extramarital -- I don't know -- my kids call it hookups.
CNN political producer Peter Hamby is joining me now by phone in Columbia, South Carolina.
Man, what a race, what a state. Is Haley going be able to get the 50 percent needed to avoid the runoff, after being in the news as much as she has been in the last couple of weeks about such bizarre stuff, Peter?
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: I asked Nikki Haley that last night in Charleston, and she said she wants 50 percent and that's what she is going for. It doesn't look likely that that is going to happen. I asked her why she wanted to get to 50 percent. Is it because the race is too nasty and a runoff will put you through two more weeks of this process?
And she kind of smiled at me. But, yes, it looks to be that it will be Nikki Haley and whoever the second-place finisher is among the four candidates heading into a runoff. And that vote will be on June 22. So, it looks like we have two more weeks of this race. And there -- you know, there's really no signs that the intensity and -- and madness of this race is going let up.
SANCHEZ: Now, another man apparently has come forward and said something about knowing her or having an intimate relationship with her.
HAMBY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And it's bizarre even talking about this stuff. But then another Republican came out and called her a "rag-head," akin to the president being a "rag-head." And it turns out she is a Sikh, or her mother was a Sikh Indian. So, what was he even talking about?
I mean, this guy may have ended up doing her a huge favor, right? He is victimizing her, right?
HAMBY: Oh, absolutely he did her a favor.
You know, every -- Nikki Haley's support has solidified greatly in the wake of these allegations and attacks. And, by all appearances, she has not been hurt by them, and she will be the first- place finisher tonight.
SANCHEZ: Isn't that funny the way these things work out sometimes?
(LAUGHTER)
HAMBY: Exactly. (LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: And the guy, the state senator, Jake Knotts, who -- who called her and President Obama a "rag-head," he was -- is a surrogate and an ally of Andre Bauer, another candidate in the race.
And the folks we talk to down here say, you know, that he certainly did not do Lieutenant Governor Bauer any favors by saying that.
SANCHEZ: Wow. Well, what did Yogi Berra say, weirder and weirderer?
My thanks to both of you.
Dana, keep following that one for us, as well as you, Peter. Good stuff. We'll look forward to seeing how this thing turns out. And obviously we'll be watching our election coverage tonight, the best in the business.
Meanwhile, let's go back to South Carolina. The circus hit a low point when one of the candidates became the target of that racist rant that I just told you about in my conversation with Peter.
I need to tell you more about this, specifically about this man, Mr. Knotts -- and I will.
Also, where do the buffalo roam? Well, in this case, anywhere he wants to. We're going to show you what is not -- I repeat, not -- an animal park.
That's ahead on THE LIST.
I'm Rick Sanchez. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
We have talked to our correspondent in Lima, Peru, just a short while ago and have received brand new information on this story regarding Joran van der Sloot and the death of a young Peruvian woman.
Apparently, she has just learned that it was while he was at a store shopping for milk and some other items that she got on his computer and started looking through it, and that's when he was asked questions upon his return about the Natalee Holloway case, which apparently infuriated him. What else is interesting is at any moment now, we understand that they're going to be taking him back to the apartment and doing a reenactment.
We're going be taking you through this in just a little bit, so stay right there. More information on Joran van der Sloot, the situation in Peru, and whatever ties or links it may have now to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
We'll be right back. This is RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
This is your list, RICK'S LIST.
And I want to tell you about in college, I learned something that was called fortunate or unfortunate juxtaposition. It's the way a picture is taken that makes things look not necessarily what they are or what they're supposed to be.
That the theme for today's "Fotos del Dia."
How is this for juxtaposition? This crash resulted in a rather uncomfortable position, and a "Washington Post" reporter was on the plane. These are the pictures from inside the plane.
It flipped nose over tail, landing right there, as you see it. No one was injured. The plane is part of eight planes in town as part of a publicity stunt.
Now look at this. Holy cow! Wait, no. Holy buffalo!
That's right, this is not an animal park. This is a roadway, and that buffalo is strolling down the roadway.
Imagine you're driving down a road and all of the sudden you look up and, hey, buddy, get -- no, wait a minute. That's a buffalo. I'm going to just let him do whatever it is that he wants to do.
Buffalos on roadways, planes flipped upside down. What are we coming to?
I'll tell you what we're coming to. This is just another day in "Fotos del Dia."
The story everyone is talking about, Joran van der Sloot confessing to the murder of a Peruvian woman. But where does that leave the Natalee Holloway case?
I'm going to talk to one of the lead investigators. That's going to be as soon as we come back from this next break.
Stay right there. Lots of new information.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: One of the fastest-moving stories in the news on this day is the situation with Joran van der Sloot there in Peru, where he has, according to officials, confessed to killing that Peruvian woman, Flores. And now the question is, what's the deal with the case of Natalee Holloway?
Joining me now is Harold Copus. He is former FBI and was an investigator in the case of Natalee Holloway down in Aruba. Right?
HAROLD COPUS, FMR. FBI AGENT: Right.
SANCHEZ: Harold is joining us, as well as Brooke Baldwin.
My thanks to both of you.
What do you make of this recent report we got just moments ago from our correspondent, Jeanne Casaras (ph), down there in Lima, that it was when he got up and went to the store, she was left in the hotel room by herself, and she got into the laptop, started looking him up, and found out who he was, the Natalee Holloway -- and when he came back she told him, I just found out this thing about you and that's what started the whole problem?
It seems like an interesting story. Isn't it?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't think -- I think that's fairly normal, for, perhaps, a young woman to hop on a laptop. I think what interested me is the rage that it invoked from him -- right, Harold? --
COPUS: Oh, yes.
BALDWIN: -- once he then comes back in the hotel room with two cups of coffee and then, da, da, da.
SANCHEZ: Go on.
COPUS: Think about the fact that that upset you so much, you go into such a rage, you kill someone? I mean, that is --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But what could she possibly have told him about himself he already didn't know or had read about himself.
COPUS: Absolutely nothing. So, all he is doing at this stage is now acting out something in there that says this guy was just a cold- blooded killer.
SANCHEZ: So, in other words, there's a pattern of behavior here with this guy?
COPUS: It certainly looks like a pattern.
BALDWIN: I think what we were talking about, the continuum, when you look at the history -- let's say five years ago you have what happened in Aruba, and again he's not confessed, he is not guilty, on the record for that crime. You have Aruba, then you have -- I want you to go through what happened with Thailand, also what's happening now in Peru.
SANCHEZ: What's the deal with Thailand?
BALDWIN: No repercussions.
COPUS: Well, if you remember, about two years ago, he was in Thailand, and they caught him and got him on tape, and he's trying to recruit young girls, take them back to the Netherlands for prostitution. You have a whole series as you move down this line with this guy, the things that have happened. You have Aruba, you have Thailand, you have the extortion in Birmingham where he tries getting money out of Beth, which he does.
And now you have the situation in Peru.
SANCHEZ: So this is just something waiting to happen then. I mean, those stories describe a person who really is disturbed and has a fixation on sex and women. And probably has a tendency to want to have ownership over them.
Right?
COPUS: It certainly sounds like it. And it's very, very horrible for Ms. Flores, obviously.
SANCHEZ: Well, boy, I'll tell you, this is coming back to Aruba. This is coming back to why that country either had laws or judges that allowed this guy to be able to get away with what he did.
And, you know, look, I'm not an expert and I don't mean to besmirch a country's reputation legally, but you followed this case. Did they not have enough to get him in that case? Because it's almost frustrating now to say this Flores gal would be alive today if they had put him behind bars whenever he did what he did to Natalee.
BALDWIN: They said not enough evidence, right?
COPUS: That's right. It was circumstantial, no body. And that was the key, initially, was the fact that we don't have a body, we just have a young girl who came down here partying, and she just maybe went out on her own someplace, we think maybe she'll be back.
SANCHEZ: So let me ask you -- you know as much about this case as anybody -- was there no evidence in the Aruba case other than perhaps circumstantial evidence that they could have nailed this on him with?
COPUS: Circumstantial. Initially, there were things that could have been done that just got missed.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: But there was that hidden camera video, remember, from 2008 with that Dutch journalist.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: I mean, essentially, he was confessing, and it was caught on tape. But again, it was ruled --
SANCHEZ: But that can't come in.
BALDWIN: That can't come in.
SANCHEZ: That can't come in. It's in a different place, different venue, wasn't recorded by a member of -- an official member of the court. I mean, what a story.
One last thing?
COPUS: Well, as you know, Van der Sloot told -- as many years as he has been on this earth, he has told at least that many stories about what happened. He's 22; there's 22 different stories.
SANCHEZ: Yes, that's the problem, consistency.
Harold Copus, Brooke Baldwin, my thanks to both of you.
And we'll stay on top of it.
By the way, South Carolina's candidate, Nikki Haley, isn't the only person on a list that you don't want to be on, but she's at the center of this one. That's right.
When we come back, the man who makes the list today who used a racial slur and then some against her.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
Time and time again, we expose cases of blatant racism, xenophobia and ignorance. Today, I think we have a trifecta.
Here is "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
State Senator of South Carolina Jake Knotts not running in the primary there today, but he is slinging mud, nonetheless, left and right and wrong. He insulted one of his fellow Republicans on an Internet radio show, calling her a "raghead."
Let me read you what Knotts said about Nikki Haley.
"We've already got a raghead in the White House. Don't need another raghead in the governor's mansion."
Raghead? Yes, that makes sense when you're talking about a guy who was born in Hawaii and a woman whose family is from India.
He's insulting one of his own Republican colleagues, by the way, who happened to be raised a Sikh. They wear black turbans, in case you didn't know that. While comparing her to the president of the United States, all the while perpetuating the ubiquitous myth that Obama is a Muslim, and therefore must be un-American. Let me say again for the umpteenth time on this program, our president is a Christian, and Nikki Haley is a Christian convert. Not that any of that matters to Mr. Knotts. They just happen to be the facts.
I should add, Jake Knotts apologized for his comments, said he meant them in jest, and that Nikki Haley is still "pretending to be something that she is not."
Let me give the last word on this show to the Reverend Welton Gaddy. He is president of the Interfaith Alliance.
Using the language Knotts did is "repulsive and demonstrates his own lack of knowledge about how to conduct himself as a public servant."
There you go. Jake Knotts, state senator from South Carolina, number one today on "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
Will Tea Party politics have influence on today's primary elections? Will the president of the United States have coattails? When the smoke clears, will Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln still have their jobs?
Wolf Blitzer is going to be looking into this. His show is coming up. We're going to be joining him in just a little bit.
In the meantime, as we go to break, let me show you that we've got some visitors. This is getting so popular. People are just showing up left and right here at CNN to come by and be a part of RICK'S LIST.
And you know what? I'm glad they are here.
Brooke, what are you doing?
We'll be right back.
Oh, that gal is so silly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Let me turn over here to camera three and talk to my good friend Wolf Blitzer about what promises to be a really big day in politics. Primary day in 12 different states -- California, Arkansas, heck, Georgia, where I am.
Wolf, what do you look for in terms of trends on a day like this?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one thing we're going to be looking for, to see if incumbents are going continue to be kicked out.
Arlen Specter, the incumbent senator in Pennsylvania, not the Democratic nominee. Robert Bennett, the incumbent Republican senator from Utah, not the Republican nominee. Will Blanche Lincoln, the incumbent Democratic senator in Arkansas, will she be kicked off the Democratic ticket? Bill Halter is ahead in the polls. We'll see what happens later tonight.
That's one thing I'm looking for tonight.
Also, out in California, who is going face Barbara Boxer for the Senate seat? Who's going to face Jerry Brown, the Democrat, former governor, on the Republican side? I think there could be two women, the Republican candidates for both, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina. We'll see how they do tonight.
So, there is some interest. There's some interesting races.
I think the next biggest night will be latest in August, when John McCain faces his primary --
SANCHEZ: J.D.
BLITZER: -- against J.D. Hayworth. We'll see how he does in August.
So this is a big night for those of us who love politics.
SANCHEZ: All right. You're going to have this, I imagine, throughout both of your hours, you're going to be talking about what's going on. And you're probably going to be included in our coverage throughout the evening as well, right?
BLITZER: Beyond all of that, you know, they close the polls out in California late. We're going to have a special one-hour "LARRY KING LIVE" at midnight tonight. It will be live. I'll be filling in for Larry.
So we'll do the whole hour on what happened in the world of politics later tonight, at midnight. So that will be good as well.
SANCHEZ: Who better than you, Wolf? Who better than you?
BLITZER: You know what? We're all part of the best political team on television.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: You're so good. I knew you were going to say nobody. That's something my kids would say.
Thanks, Wolf. Good to see you. I'll look forward to the coverage. I can guarantee you, it's going to be fantastic.
By the way, let's go back to our top story now, Natalee Holloway and that investigation.
We've been following breaking developments all day just like we are following the story from the very start. Interestingly enough, I was one of the first corespondents sent by CNN to Alabama to look into this story the day after we heard the news. This is the first interview on the day it happened with Marcia Twitty. That's Natalee's aunt.
What a story. We'll take you back when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Some of you who have followed me for a while know that I used to be the correspondent on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." I was the guy who went out and covered most of the stories before they were nice enough to give me my own show.
And David Doss, the executive producer of that show, ,asked me one day if I would go to Alabama on a weekend and find out what was going on with some missing girl who had suddenly disappeared on some island named Aruba. The story was so fresh at the time, nobody knew exactly what was going on, but I headed down there and started hunting for someone to talk to.
I met a wonderful, wonderful woman named Marcia Twitty. She was a little reluctant at first to talk, but then she sat down and started telling us her story. Little did we know how this thing would end up, but on that day, here is how the story went. We're taking you back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Natalee Holloway was among more than 100 seniors on a graduation trip to Aruba. This picture was taken just hours before she disappeared from a nightclub.
MARCIA TWITTY, NATALEE'S AUNT: They're just typical high school girls.
SANCHEZ (on camera): Out on the beach?
TWITTY: Out on the beach, having a good time on their senior trip. There's nothing unusual. Thousands and thousands of kids go on senior trips every summer, and they should. I mean, these kids are growing up.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Marcia Twitty is Natalee's aunt. She says nobody seemed to notice that when the friends left the nightclub, Natalee wasn't with them.
TWITTY: Everybody thought everybody had each other. Because there's a bunch of them. A bunch. It wasn't, you know, 20 or so. There's a whole bunch of kids. And they all kind of went in, went to bed that night.
SANCHEZ: It wasn't until people started waking up Monday morning, ready to return to Birmingham, that they realized she was missing. Natalee's friend, Frances, was staying in an adjacent room.
What did it feel like Monday morning when you guys were all getting ready to go and you realized that she wasn't around? FRANCIS ELLEN BYRD, NATALEE'S FRIEND: We immediately knew something was wrong because she was the first one to wake up. And when her roommates knocked on my door and said that they didn't know where she was, we went straight to the chaperones and they immediately started working on it.
SANCHEZ: They suspected Natalee was still on the island because in her room they found her luggage.
BYRD: Right.
SANCHEZ: Found her passport.
BYRD: Right.
SANCHEZ: But no Natalee?
BYRD: Right.
SANCHEZ: Do you rack your brain trying to come up with theories of what could possibly have happened?
TWITTY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And do you allow yourself to think of every possibility, even if it includes some culpability on Natalee's part?
TWITTY: Natalee wouldn't get -- just -- Natalee wouldn't just, on her own, you know, sitting there and, you know, normal mind, walk in, go somewhere with three kids. These are kids. These are not men. There's are kids. She just wouldn't leave.
SANCHEZ: She wouldn't get in the car with somebody she doesn't know?
TWITTY: Not the Natalee I know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Marcia Twitty, I talked to her on the phone today. A delightful woman who is convinced to this day, remains convinced and thinks will be proven right at some point, that, in fact, it was Joran van der Sloot who killed her niece.
Here's Wolf Blitzer and THE SITUATION ROOM.
