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CNN Saturday Morning News
Confession in Natalee Holloway Case; Tropical Storm Arlene Gains Strength
Aired June 11, 2005 - 8:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING begins right now.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING on the 11th day of June. It's 8:00 a.m. here on the Eastern time zone.
I'm Rob Marciano, in for Tony Harris, who's off on vacation.
NGUYEN: And what a good time that Tony Harris is. But we're glad to have you on the anchor desk this morning.
And I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for being with us.
Here is what is happening right now in the news.
There's word of a confession in the Natalee Holloway case. A police source tells CNN a suspect has confessed to killing the American teen. She vanished in Aruba nearly two weeks ago. We will take you live to the Caribbean island. That is straight ahead.
Tropical storm Arlene is gaining strength this morning as it heads for the north central Gulf Coast. Want to give you a live picture right now from our affiliate WTVT. Very dark and gray out there as the rain comes in.
Forecasters expect it to grow into a hurricane before it hits land sometime this afternoon. We'll take you live to the Florida panhandle in just a moment.
And the jury in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial has the weekend off. Jurors ended their first full week of deliberations yesterday without reaching a verdict. We will talk more about the case in our legal briefs this hour.
But we begin this hour with a big development in the Natalee Holloway case. It comes almost two weeks after the Alabama teen went missing in Aruba.
So let's go straight to Palm Beach, Aruba, where CNN's Karl Penhaul has the latest. Karl?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, a senior police official told us before midnight that one of three young men arrested Thursday had made a confession during interrogations to the killing of Natalee Holloway. There were no further details from that senior police official.
Police are playing, at this stage, cards very close to their chest. But, of course, the three men that were arrested on Thursday were the three men last seen in Natalee Holloway's company in the wee small hours of May the 30th, the day that Natalee Holloway disappeared.
Those three men were interviewed shortly after Natalee's disappearance, interviewed, not arrested. At that stage, they told police that they had dropped Natalee Holloway back off at the Holiday Inn. Then we had further investigations, and those arrests took place Thursday.
And it seems then, since then, the three men had been interviewed separately, interrogated separately, and that has led to this confession.
Interestingly, the prime minister of Aruba, we talked to him overnight. And he said at this stage, he has not been informed of any confession, but went on to say that the only people able to make that statement were those conducting the investigation. Because of the separation of political powers here, the prime minister would not routinely been informed of such developments in this case, although obviously in this case, this is of prime national importance because of the impact it's having on the country, Betty.
NGUYEN: Karl, let me ask you this. As we put together the pieces here, we have this confession now. There is also word that the brothers, the two brothers who are among the suspect, had talked about some sexual contact involving Natalee Holloway. Do we know if she was sexually assaulted?
PENHAUL: It's too early to say at this stage, Betty. Police, as I say, are playing their cards very close to their chest. We would presume that they're continuing interrogations and continuing to gather and piece together pieces of evidence.
What we do know, though, from earlier witness statements, and those revealed to us by a defense attorney, that what the two brothers had spoken of was that there was some kissing and fondling that went on in the car between Joren Van Der Sloop (ph), the 17-year-old, and Natalee Holloway. Joren and Natalee met the day before she disappeared in the casino of the Holiday Inn, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Still trying to gather all this information and put it together, and still don't know where Natalee Holloway is, or her remains. Are they searching any particular area?
PENHAUL: Not that we know of at this stage. The prime minister did tell us that there were no searches for any remains overnight, but he did say that in the early morning, and as of this early morning, that investigative teams would be back doing their job, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Karl Penhaul in Aruba. Thank you for that update. We'll be checking in with you too.
Rob?
MARCIANO: Betty, people along the north central Gulf Coast are bracing for tropical storm Arlene. Tropical storm is close to hurricane strength. It's expected to become a category one hurricane later today with winds of 75 miles an hour.
The coming storm has prompted Florida Governor Jeb Bush to declare a state of emergency, and evacuations have been ordered in Pensacola and other coastal areas. Several shelters have been set up.
With that said, let's check in with Bonnie Schneider. She just gave an update about 10 minutes ago, kind of shortchanged her on the time there, so...
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: Yes, we're trying to do these updates every 15 minutes to give folks an idea of where it's moving and if it is moving rapidly. So what is the situation right now?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Betty, what's interesting is that even though the storm isn't directly moving towards south Florida, south Florida's also being affected by this storm. We had some tornado warnings posted earlier this morning. And still very stormy conditions. It's teeming right now with rain in West Palm Beach, north of that, towards Stewart, and we're also seeing a lot of heavy rain towards Fort Lauderdale, Miami getting a little bit of a breather, but I'm sure we'll pick up those storms throughout the day today.
In the meantime, if we check out where this tropical storm is right now, you'll find it is still about 102 miles south of Pensacola, with winds maximum speed at 70 miles per hour, 85-mile-per-hour gusts. This tropical storm is likely to become a hurricane before it strikes land somewhere west of the Mobile Bay. That's what we're thinking right now.
So really, anybody in the Gulf Coast is certainly watching Arlene very closely. Arlene is not here yet, but the effects are being felt. Boy, is it ever. In Pensacola, Mobile, even inland into Alabama, we're seeing heavy rain towards Birmingham, the panhandle of Florida certainly.
What's interesting with this storm as we've been watching it for the past few days, most of the activity has been into the northeast quadrant of the storm. So as it comes on shore, look at this, it's hardly raining at all towards Gulfport, Mississippi, and back out towards New Orleans. I'm sure those folks are watching for Arlene as well.
But we think the worst of it, where we'll see power outages and the potential for flooding, will be in this region through here, from Pensacola, Mobile, and then further to the east a little bit as well.
So we're watching Arlene, likely to become a hurricane before it makes landfall around 2:00 p.m. today. I'll keep you posted, Betty, Rob.
NGUYEN: Gaining strength, and could be packing a punch. We'll stay on top of it. Thank you, Bonnie.
MARCIANO: Bonnie's on it, Jacqui Jeras from later today. And I'll stick my nose in there every once in a while.
Stay tuned for CNN with continuing coverage of tropical storm Arlene. We're going to have live reports from the Gulf Coast, including Pensacola, coming up.
NGUYEN: Well, from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest, in other news across America, tornadoes in Kansas. Look at this, a funnel cloud that touched down in Stockton on Thursday. This morning, there is some damage, but no injuries, after several twisters swept through the state. Now, in one incident, a twister picked up a police car and threw it to the pavement.
The U.S. government is checking into a possible case of mad cow disease. One test on a cow came back positive, but another was negative. So U.S. officials are now sending samples to Britain for more testing. The cow did not enter the food chain.
And in Canada, a boat overfilled to twice its capacity capsized. Disturbing images here, the boat rocking over. One woman drowned. Dozens of others spilled into lake just a few yards away from the shore. Canadian crews have righted the vessel and are now venturing inside to find out who was driving that boat and why it was overfilled.
MARCIANO: Well, it's a beautiful area out there in British Columbia.
Yesterday was a busy day for the judge and the lawmakers in the Michael Jackson molestation trial.
NGUYEN: And the jury had a long list of questions as it wrapped up the first full week of deliberations.
So do any of the day's activities offer clues to a verdict? Legal briefs, that's live coming up.
Plus, Gulf Coast residents prepare for the worst as Arlene kicks up her heels. Tracking the tropical storm, that is next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We will take you live to Pensacola.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: And there was a major break overnight in the search for a missing student on vacation in Aruba. An update from the tropical island at the top of the hour, live on CNN SATURDAY, 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
NGUYEN: First, a CNN extra for you this morning.
You're the right one for the job, but there's one big problem, your weight. Twenty-five percent of human resources workers recently polled said an applicant's weight played a role in their hiring decision, not hiring someone because they're overweight may not be right, but it isn't illegal. Federal law only prohibits discrimination based on sex, religion, race, age, or national origin.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Checking our top stories right now, there are new developments this morning in the case of the Alabama teenager missing in Aruba. A senior police official says one of three young men arrested Thursday has confessed to killing 18-year-old Natalee Holloway.
In China, authorities still don't know what caused a deadly hotel fire. At least 30 people were killed yesterday when the fire broke out, engulfing the top three floors of a hotel. That happened in southern China.
And the parents of a young cancer patient have dropped their objection to their daughter getting radiation treatment. It comes after they learned in court yesterday that she is no longer in remission. A judge has ordered the girl, who turns 13 today, to remain in state custody.
MARCIANO: The Florida panhandle is already feeling the effects of tropical storm Arlene, and people in, living in low-lying areas are being encouraged to evacuate.
Let's get more now from John Gaughan. He's a meteorologist at our affiliate WJXT, got out of the studio and took a drive into the path of the storm. John, give us the latest on the conditions right now.
JOHN GAUGHAN, METEOROLOGIST, WJXT: Well, as you can see back behind me, Rob, the rain's coming down pretty heavily. And, you know, you're a meteorologist too, Rob. You would love this. I mean, we go from one extreme to the next. At moments you can almost feel like the sun wants to kind of at least brighten up the sky a little bit, and then literally within 30 seconds, the skies darken, the winds pick up, and the like, and then the rains come down very heavily.
Back behind me, you can see businesses are trying to open up here on this early Saturday morning. Again, the rain slowing people down, but the storm itself really not much of a storm.
As we take a look at what's going on back behind me, we're going to show you the coastal highway, if you will, that is along the Gulf Coast. And you can see traffic is fairly light here this morning. You can see the causeway. That causeway goes all the way out to the beach, which is where the Gulf of Mexico is.
And those locations this morning, well, the big story there is the surf, which is just huge. Nobody's out there surfing, and the conditions (INAUDIBLE) extreme as you can get without actually having a full-blown hurricane, as winds there at the beach are around 35 to 50 miles an hour and some gusts. The sand's being blown around. And it's hard to describe this without witnessing it for yourself, but here, it's like a wasteland out there, and the reason why everything's such a wasteland, I mean, it's just a open sea of sand dunes that have been flatted out. This is what was left over once Ivan had came through last year. Of course, Ivan a much, much more powerful hurricane, and that was a hurricane, a major hurricane, causing winds in this area of up to around 100 miles an hour, the damage widespread.
My photographer, Skip -- Skip, see the cowboy sign? Can you see it in the rain there? There was a restaurant there. Remember, I pointed out to you the causeway. There's the beach. The wind, the rain, and the like, and the storm surge, came all the way up to the highway, where that Jeep passed through, and it wiped out, again, a restaurant on the mainland side here along the Gulf Coast.
This morning the rain's coming down heavily, Rob, and it looks like the big story for the next couple hours is whether or not they will see flooding. If they do get three to five inches of rain, they had some terrible rainfall back in the month of May, it could cause some inland areas to have some serious flooding once again. So the folks here are not looking forward to that possibility.
But for now, the wind's not really the big story, Rob.
MARCIANO: John, you mentioned the storm surge from Ivan, this one a much less intense storm. What do they expect as far as a storm surge from this storm?
GAUGHAN: Well, you know, I was just out there at the beach. I would say it's only running about a foot or two above normal. However, remember, the high storm surge usually comes with a center of low pressure, and that'll be well west of here, and that would be out toward Mobile Bay and the back out toward Gulfport, Mississippi. They'll have to deal with the possibility some higher storm surge there, Rob.
MARCIANO: Thanks very much, John Gaughan, one of our meteorologists, or a meteorologist of our affiliate WJXT live in Pensacola, Florida. Thanks, John.
NGUYEN: Well, we are going to be talking to one of our meteorologists besides you, Rob. We have Bonnie Schneider in today. This is her first day on the job. And what a day to start, Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: That's right, Betty.
And we're looking at already a lot of thunderstorm activity, heavy downpours of rain. Yes, you heard, that's right, rain is really going to be the big issue with potential for flooding. We're already seeing some heavy downpours even further down the state of Florida. You can see some heavy rain coming into south Florida right now. Miami had a record rainfall yesterday of 1.81 inches. So the rain continues with several inches of rain expected, especially for the Florida panhandle, where they already have about three inches on the rain, on the ground right now. And as you can see, as Arlene works its way to the north and slightly northwest direction, we're likely to see even more rain for this area. A total rainfall is expected, five to eight inches, from Pensacola, Mobile, and then further off to the east as well. This is going to be a lot of rain in a short period of time, so flooding is a major concern.
But the winds will also be strong enough that we may see power outages as well.
I'll keep you up to date on tropical storm Arlene. Landfall is expected as a hurricane with maximum winds at 75 miles per hour, that's later today at 2:00, Betty, Rob.
NGUYEN: We'll be watching for that. OK, Thank you, Bonnie.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Bonnie.
NGUYEN: Well, the jury in the Michael Jackson trial asked for testimony from the pop star's teenage accuser. Is that a clue to which way the panel is leaning? That question on the dock in a legal brief. That's live next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
MARCIANO: Plus, rock-bottom mortgage rates are dropping again. Find out how to make it work for you this morning on "OPEN HOUSE," 9:30 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: More than 28 hours of deliberations during six days, and still no verdict. Is it a sign of progress, or are the jurors in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial looking at a long week?
Well, that's the question. Our legal eagles have the answer. And joining us today, civil liberties attorneys Lida Rodriguez-Tassef is live from Philadelphia, not from down south in Miami. And former prosecutor BJ Bernstein is here in Atlanta, just over my shoulder.
Thanks, ladies, for being with us this morning.
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF, CIVIL LIBERTIES ATTORNEY: Good morning.
BJ BERNSTEIN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Good morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, let's start with you, Lida. The jury has deliberated for a week now, and finally, yesterday, they asked for some more testimony from the accuser, which maybe gives a little bit of a sign to what they're thinking. What does it tell you?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: It tells me that they're thinking about the charges, that they're going through the counts, and that they're actually discussing and deliberating, far from, you know, what might have been -- what we might have expected with a jury that is under this much scrutiny.
I think what they're doing is all good. So far, so good. It looks like they're talking, they're thinking, they're deliberating, they're following the jury's -- the judge's instructions.
NGUYEN: BJ, does this bode well for either side, or does it give some kind of a clue that maybe they're at odds on certain aspects of this decision?
BERNSTEIN: I don't know so much if it shows which side they're leaning toward. I think what it shows is, we have an astute jury looking at the very key issue here. From the beginning, it's always been, Do you believe what this child is saying? Do you believe the way he said it, what he said, what he talked about, lends the air of credibility, because that's what happens in most child molestation cases.
So the jurors asking for the child's testimony means they really are paying attention to the critical issue in the case.
NGUYEN: All right. We're paying attention as well, because Jackson's attorney, Thomas Mesereau, issued a statement -- we're going to put this up on the screen for you -- saying, "I have not authorized anyone to speak or hold any press conferences on behalf of Michael Jackson or his family. A gag order is in effect, which the defense team will continue to honor."
And just last night, on top of this, we learn that Jackson has fired his spokesperson, Ramone Baine (ph). What sparked this? And why now, Lida?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Well, you know, let me take this opportunity, Betty, to speak out again against gag orders. What really sparked this was the fact that from the beginning of this case, the court issued a gag order preventing witnesses and people involved in the case, family members and lawyers, from speaking about the case.
Now, gag orders are a bad thing, because they intrude on that wonderful thing we call the First Amendment, but they're also a bad thing because they're almost impossible to enforce, and we're seeing it here. You have Mesereau having to take the extreme step of saying, Not me, I didn't have anything to do with this. I didn't give authorization for these people to talk.
And the reason he has to do it is on pain of contempt. The defense is so worried about violating the court's gag order that they have to be very, very careful who they permit to speak, and that they make it clear that none of the people who are running around talking have anything to do with them.
Gag orders are just impossible to enforce. And they violate the First Amendment.
NGUYEN: All right, BJ, I'm going to let you weigh in here. What do you think about these gag orders? And is it too late to worry about the circus surrounding this? Because it seems like it's been going on since this trial began, so why now?
BERNSTEIN: Well, gag orders are important. In fact, I'm involved in a case now with a gag order, and I'm very grateful for it. And you have to remember that the defense wanted this gag order in this case for a very good reason. The wild speculation of before you pick a jury and even, in this instance, where there is a jury who's not being held at the courthouse all the time, has not been sequestered, could be open to hearing far too much from the defense or the prosecution.
And that's not right. You want the case tried in court. And in terms -- I've been surprised all along that Jackson has had Ramone Baine all these months talking on the evening talk shows, then here on CNN, on Larry King's show, talking at length, which was already running close to problems with the restraining order.
And I think Mesereau did the right thing and possibly should have done it a long time ago, which is said, you know, I realize Michael Jackson's a public figure, I realize he has a career to worry about, but the bottom line, the most important thing about -- to worry about would be his liberty.
And in order for both sides to have a fair trial, a gag order is really appropriate.
NGUYEN: Speaking of who's talking and who's not talking, there is word that juror number five could be doing some deal to get a book out of all of this. So with that the case, Lida, should this juror be taken off of this trial?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Probably and absolutely. You know, this goes back to the issue of the jury being sequestered. Twenty-two hundred members of the media have descended upon this little town to watch this trial. It is almost impossible to get away from the media scrutiny, the media coverage. And these jurors are likely to become celebrities once this trial finishes, and they know it.
And that's what's so dangerous about this. And when jurors are dealing outside of the process that they're supposed to be engaging in, which is deliberating about the facts that were presented before them, and they're worrying about their future and their lives and their ability to make money out of jury selection or out of being selected to be on this jury, it does affect the rights of the defendant.
And so if this is, in fact, happening, there should probably either be an immediate removal of this juror, and if that doesn't protect the defendant, then you declare a mistrial, because you have a tainted panel.
NGUYEN: All right, so let's get these predictions one more time. We haven't heard yours yet, BJ. But Lida, you say, when is the verdict going to come, and what do you think it's going to be?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Well, you have about probably at least another week of deliberations, and it appears that what you'll end up with is guilty on the molestation charges, and an acquittal on the conspiracy.
NGUYEN: All right, BJ, what do you say? BERNSTEIN: Well, at the -- in the very end, I'm going to agree with Lida. I do think there's going to be a split verdict (INAUDIBLE) be a conviction on certain counts, but he'll be freed on the conspiracy counts.
NGUYEN: You agree.
BERNSTEIN: And I think it's going to take a few more days.
NGUYEN: The ladies agree today. All right, we thank you both for being with us. See you next weekend.
BERNSTEIN: Thank you.
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Rob?
MARCIANO: For those of you just waking up (INAUDIBLE) this morning, there's disturbing news out of Aruba overnight. CNN has learned one suspect being held in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway has confessed to killing her. A live report from Aruba at the top of the hour.
NGUYEN: But first, having trouble with your memory? Dr. Sanjay Gupta makes a "HOUSE CALL" with tips on how to sharpen the recall process. So forget about everything else, top stories in "HOUSE CALL," that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired June 11, 2005 - 8:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING begins right now.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING on the 11th day of June. It's 8:00 a.m. here on the Eastern time zone.
I'm Rob Marciano, in for Tony Harris, who's off on vacation.
NGUYEN: And what a good time that Tony Harris is. But we're glad to have you on the anchor desk this morning.
And I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for being with us.
Here is what is happening right now in the news.
There's word of a confession in the Natalee Holloway case. A police source tells CNN a suspect has confessed to killing the American teen. She vanished in Aruba nearly two weeks ago. We will take you live to the Caribbean island. That is straight ahead.
Tropical storm Arlene is gaining strength this morning as it heads for the north central Gulf Coast. Want to give you a live picture right now from our affiliate WTVT. Very dark and gray out there as the rain comes in.
Forecasters expect it to grow into a hurricane before it hits land sometime this afternoon. We'll take you live to the Florida panhandle in just a moment.
And the jury in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial has the weekend off. Jurors ended their first full week of deliberations yesterday without reaching a verdict. We will talk more about the case in our legal briefs this hour.
But we begin this hour with a big development in the Natalee Holloway case. It comes almost two weeks after the Alabama teen went missing in Aruba.
So let's go straight to Palm Beach, Aruba, where CNN's Karl Penhaul has the latest. Karl?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, a senior police official told us before midnight that one of three young men arrested Thursday had made a confession during interrogations to the killing of Natalee Holloway. There were no further details from that senior police official.
Police are playing, at this stage, cards very close to their chest. But, of course, the three men that were arrested on Thursday were the three men last seen in Natalee Holloway's company in the wee small hours of May the 30th, the day that Natalee Holloway disappeared.
Those three men were interviewed shortly after Natalee's disappearance, interviewed, not arrested. At that stage, they told police that they had dropped Natalee Holloway back off at the Holiday Inn. Then we had further investigations, and those arrests took place Thursday.
And it seems then, since then, the three men had been interviewed separately, interrogated separately, and that has led to this confession.
Interestingly, the prime minister of Aruba, we talked to him overnight. And he said at this stage, he has not been informed of any confession, but went on to say that the only people able to make that statement were those conducting the investigation. Because of the separation of political powers here, the prime minister would not routinely been informed of such developments in this case, although obviously in this case, this is of prime national importance because of the impact it's having on the country, Betty.
NGUYEN: Karl, let me ask you this. As we put together the pieces here, we have this confession now. There is also word that the brothers, the two brothers who are among the suspect, had talked about some sexual contact involving Natalee Holloway. Do we know if she was sexually assaulted?
PENHAUL: It's too early to say at this stage, Betty. Police, as I say, are playing their cards very close to their chest. We would presume that they're continuing interrogations and continuing to gather and piece together pieces of evidence.
What we do know, though, from earlier witness statements, and those revealed to us by a defense attorney, that what the two brothers had spoken of was that there was some kissing and fondling that went on in the car between Joren Van Der Sloop (ph), the 17-year-old, and Natalee Holloway. Joren and Natalee met the day before she disappeared in the casino of the Holiday Inn, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Still trying to gather all this information and put it together, and still don't know where Natalee Holloway is, or her remains. Are they searching any particular area?
PENHAUL: Not that we know of at this stage. The prime minister did tell us that there were no searches for any remains overnight, but he did say that in the early morning, and as of this early morning, that investigative teams would be back doing their job, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Karl Penhaul in Aruba. Thank you for that update. We'll be checking in with you too.
Rob?
MARCIANO: Betty, people along the north central Gulf Coast are bracing for tropical storm Arlene. Tropical storm is close to hurricane strength. It's expected to become a category one hurricane later today with winds of 75 miles an hour.
The coming storm has prompted Florida Governor Jeb Bush to declare a state of emergency, and evacuations have been ordered in Pensacola and other coastal areas. Several shelters have been set up.
With that said, let's check in with Bonnie Schneider. She just gave an update about 10 minutes ago, kind of shortchanged her on the time there, so...
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: Yes, we're trying to do these updates every 15 minutes to give folks an idea of where it's moving and if it is moving rapidly. So what is the situation right now?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Betty, what's interesting is that even though the storm isn't directly moving towards south Florida, south Florida's also being affected by this storm. We had some tornado warnings posted earlier this morning. And still very stormy conditions. It's teeming right now with rain in West Palm Beach, north of that, towards Stewart, and we're also seeing a lot of heavy rain towards Fort Lauderdale, Miami getting a little bit of a breather, but I'm sure we'll pick up those storms throughout the day today.
In the meantime, if we check out where this tropical storm is right now, you'll find it is still about 102 miles south of Pensacola, with winds maximum speed at 70 miles per hour, 85-mile-per-hour gusts. This tropical storm is likely to become a hurricane before it strikes land somewhere west of the Mobile Bay. That's what we're thinking right now.
So really, anybody in the Gulf Coast is certainly watching Arlene very closely. Arlene is not here yet, but the effects are being felt. Boy, is it ever. In Pensacola, Mobile, even inland into Alabama, we're seeing heavy rain towards Birmingham, the panhandle of Florida certainly.
What's interesting with this storm as we've been watching it for the past few days, most of the activity has been into the northeast quadrant of the storm. So as it comes on shore, look at this, it's hardly raining at all towards Gulfport, Mississippi, and back out towards New Orleans. I'm sure those folks are watching for Arlene as well.
But we think the worst of it, where we'll see power outages and the potential for flooding, will be in this region through here, from Pensacola, Mobile, and then further to the east a little bit as well.
So we're watching Arlene, likely to become a hurricane before it makes landfall around 2:00 p.m. today. I'll keep you posted, Betty, Rob.
NGUYEN: Gaining strength, and could be packing a punch. We'll stay on top of it. Thank you, Bonnie.
MARCIANO: Bonnie's on it, Jacqui Jeras from later today. And I'll stick my nose in there every once in a while.
Stay tuned for CNN with continuing coverage of tropical storm Arlene. We're going to have live reports from the Gulf Coast, including Pensacola, coming up.
NGUYEN: Well, from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest, in other news across America, tornadoes in Kansas. Look at this, a funnel cloud that touched down in Stockton on Thursday. This morning, there is some damage, but no injuries, after several twisters swept through the state. Now, in one incident, a twister picked up a police car and threw it to the pavement.
The U.S. government is checking into a possible case of mad cow disease. One test on a cow came back positive, but another was negative. So U.S. officials are now sending samples to Britain for more testing. The cow did not enter the food chain.
And in Canada, a boat overfilled to twice its capacity capsized. Disturbing images here, the boat rocking over. One woman drowned. Dozens of others spilled into lake just a few yards away from the shore. Canadian crews have righted the vessel and are now venturing inside to find out who was driving that boat and why it was overfilled.
MARCIANO: Well, it's a beautiful area out there in British Columbia.
Yesterday was a busy day for the judge and the lawmakers in the Michael Jackson molestation trial.
NGUYEN: And the jury had a long list of questions as it wrapped up the first full week of deliberations.
So do any of the day's activities offer clues to a verdict? Legal briefs, that's live coming up.
Plus, Gulf Coast residents prepare for the worst as Arlene kicks up her heels. Tracking the tropical storm, that is next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We will take you live to Pensacola.
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MARCIANO: And there was a major break overnight in the search for a missing student on vacation in Aruba. An update from the tropical island at the top of the hour, live on CNN SATURDAY, 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
NGUYEN: First, a CNN extra for you this morning.
You're the right one for the job, but there's one big problem, your weight. Twenty-five percent of human resources workers recently polled said an applicant's weight played a role in their hiring decision, not hiring someone because they're overweight may not be right, but it isn't illegal. Federal law only prohibits discrimination based on sex, religion, race, age, or national origin.
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NGUYEN: Checking our top stories right now, there are new developments this morning in the case of the Alabama teenager missing in Aruba. A senior police official says one of three young men arrested Thursday has confessed to killing 18-year-old Natalee Holloway.
In China, authorities still don't know what caused a deadly hotel fire. At least 30 people were killed yesterday when the fire broke out, engulfing the top three floors of a hotel. That happened in southern China.
And the parents of a young cancer patient have dropped their objection to their daughter getting radiation treatment. It comes after they learned in court yesterday that she is no longer in remission. A judge has ordered the girl, who turns 13 today, to remain in state custody.
MARCIANO: The Florida panhandle is already feeling the effects of tropical storm Arlene, and people in, living in low-lying areas are being encouraged to evacuate.
Let's get more now from John Gaughan. He's a meteorologist at our affiliate WJXT, got out of the studio and took a drive into the path of the storm. John, give us the latest on the conditions right now.
JOHN GAUGHAN, METEOROLOGIST, WJXT: Well, as you can see back behind me, Rob, the rain's coming down pretty heavily. And, you know, you're a meteorologist too, Rob. You would love this. I mean, we go from one extreme to the next. At moments you can almost feel like the sun wants to kind of at least brighten up the sky a little bit, and then literally within 30 seconds, the skies darken, the winds pick up, and the like, and then the rains come down very heavily.
Back behind me, you can see businesses are trying to open up here on this early Saturday morning. Again, the rain slowing people down, but the storm itself really not much of a storm.
As we take a look at what's going on back behind me, we're going to show you the coastal highway, if you will, that is along the Gulf Coast. And you can see traffic is fairly light here this morning. You can see the causeway. That causeway goes all the way out to the beach, which is where the Gulf of Mexico is.
And those locations this morning, well, the big story there is the surf, which is just huge. Nobody's out there surfing, and the conditions (INAUDIBLE) extreme as you can get without actually having a full-blown hurricane, as winds there at the beach are around 35 to 50 miles an hour and some gusts. The sand's being blown around. And it's hard to describe this without witnessing it for yourself, but here, it's like a wasteland out there, and the reason why everything's such a wasteland, I mean, it's just a open sea of sand dunes that have been flatted out. This is what was left over once Ivan had came through last year. Of course, Ivan a much, much more powerful hurricane, and that was a hurricane, a major hurricane, causing winds in this area of up to around 100 miles an hour, the damage widespread.
My photographer, Skip -- Skip, see the cowboy sign? Can you see it in the rain there? There was a restaurant there. Remember, I pointed out to you the causeway. There's the beach. The wind, the rain, and the like, and the storm surge, came all the way up to the highway, where that Jeep passed through, and it wiped out, again, a restaurant on the mainland side here along the Gulf Coast.
This morning the rain's coming down heavily, Rob, and it looks like the big story for the next couple hours is whether or not they will see flooding. If they do get three to five inches of rain, they had some terrible rainfall back in the month of May, it could cause some inland areas to have some serious flooding once again. So the folks here are not looking forward to that possibility.
But for now, the wind's not really the big story, Rob.
MARCIANO: John, you mentioned the storm surge from Ivan, this one a much less intense storm. What do they expect as far as a storm surge from this storm?
GAUGHAN: Well, you know, I was just out there at the beach. I would say it's only running about a foot or two above normal. However, remember, the high storm surge usually comes with a center of low pressure, and that'll be well west of here, and that would be out toward Mobile Bay and the back out toward Gulfport, Mississippi. They'll have to deal with the possibility some higher storm surge there, Rob.
MARCIANO: Thanks very much, John Gaughan, one of our meteorologists, or a meteorologist of our affiliate WJXT live in Pensacola, Florida. Thanks, John.
NGUYEN: Well, we are going to be talking to one of our meteorologists besides you, Rob. We have Bonnie Schneider in today. This is her first day on the job. And what a day to start, Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: That's right, Betty.
And we're looking at already a lot of thunderstorm activity, heavy downpours of rain. Yes, you heard, that's right, rain is really going to be the big issue with potential for flooding. We're already seeing some heavy downpours even further down the state of Florida. You can see some heavy rain coming into south Florida right now. Miami had a record rainfall yesterday of 1.81 inches. So the rain continues with several inches of rain expected, especially for the Florida panhandle, where they already have about three inches on the rain, on the ground right now. And as you can see, as Arlene works its way to the north and slightly northwest direction, we're likely to see even more rain for this area. A total rainfall is expected, five to eight inches, from Pensacola, Mobile, and then further off to the east as well. This is going to be a lot of rain in a short period of time, so flooding is a major concern.
But the winds will also be strong enough that we may see power outages as well.
I'll keep you up to date on tropical storm Arlene. Landfall is expected as a hurricane with maximum winds at 75 miles per hour, that's later today at 2:00, Betty, Rob.
NGUYEN: We'll be watching for that. OK, Thank you, Bonnie.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Bonnie.
NGUYEN: Well, the jury in the Michael Jackson trial asked for testimony from the pop star's teenage accuser. Is that a clue to which way the panel is leaning? That question on the dock in a legal brief. That's live next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
MARCIANO: Plus, rock-bottom mortgage rates are dropping again. Find out how to make it work for you this morning on "OPEN HOUSE," 9:30 Eastern.
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NGUYEN: More than 28 hours of deliberations during six days, and still no verdict. Is it a sign of progress, or are the jurors in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial looking at a long week?
Well, that's the question. Our legal eagles have the answer. And joining us today, civil liberties attorneys Lida Rodriguez-Tassef is live from Philadelphia, not from down south in Miami. And former prosecutor BJ Bernstein is here in Atlanta, just over my shoulder.
Thanks, ladies, for being with us this morning.
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF, CIVIL LIBERTIES ATTORNEY: Good morning.
BJ BERNSTEIN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Good morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, let's start with you, Lida. The jury has deliberated for a week now, and finally, yesterday, they asked for some more testimony from the accuser, which maybe gives a little bit of a sign to what they're thinking. What does it tell you?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: It tells me that they're thinking about the charges, that they're going through the counts, and that they're actually discussing and deliberating, far from, you know, what might have been -- what we might have expected with a jury that is under this much scrutiny.
I think what they're doing is all good. So far, so good. It looks like they're talking, they're thinking, they're deliberating, they're following the jury's -- the judge's instructions.
NGUYEN: BJ, does this bode well for either side, or does it give some kind of a clue that maybe they're at odds on certain aspects of this decision?
BERNSTEIN: I don't know so much if it shows which side they're leaning toward. I think what it shows is, we have an astute jury looking at the very key issue here. From the beginning, it's always been, Do you believe what this child is saying? Do you believe the way he said it, what he said, what he talked about, lends the air of credibility, because that's what happens in most child molestation cases.
So the jurors asking for the child's testimony means they really are paying attention to the critical issue in the case.
NGUYEN: All right. We're paying attention as well, because Jackson's attorney, Thomas Mesereau, issued a statement -- we're going to put this up on the screen for you -- saying, "I have not authorized anyone to speak or hold any press conferences on behalf of Michael Jackson or his family. A gag order is in effect, which the defense team will continue to honor."
And just last night, on top of this, we learn that Jackson has fired his spokesperson, Ramone Baine (ph). What sparked this? And why now, Lida?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Well, you know, let me take this opportunity, Betty, to speak out again against gag orders. What really sparked this was the fact that from the beginning of this case, the court issued a gag order preventing witnesses and people involved in the case, family members and lawyers, from speaking about the case.
Now, gag orders are a bad thing, because they intrude on that wonderful thing we call the First Amendment, but they're also a bad thing because they're almost impossible to enforce, and we're seeing it here. You have Mesereau having to take the extreme step of saying, Not me, I didn't have anything to do with this. I didn't give authorization for these people to talk.
And the reason he has to do it is on pain of contempt. The defense is so worried about violating the court's gag order that they have to be very, very careful who they permit to speak, and that they make it clear that none of the people who are running around talking have anything to do with them.
Gag orders are just impossible to enforce. And they violate the First Amendment.
NGUYEN: All right, BJ, I'm going to let you weigh in here. What do you think about these gag orders? And is it too late to worry about the circus surrounding this? Because it seems like it's been going on since this trial began, so why now?
BERNSTEIN: Well, gag orders are important. In fact, I'm involved in a case now with a gag order, and I'm very grateful for it. And you have to remember that the defense wanted this gag order in this case for a very good reason. The wild speculation of before you pick a jury and even, in this instance, where there is a jury who's not being held at the courthouse all the time, has not been sequestered, could be open to hearing far too much from the defense or the prosecution.
And that's not right. You want the case tried in court. And in terms -- I've been surprised all along that Jackson has had Ramone Baine all these months talking on the evening talk shows, then here on CNN, on Larry King's show, talking at length, which was already running close to problems with the restraining order.
And I think Mesereau did the right thing and possibly should have done it a long time ago, which is said, you know, I realize Michael Jackson's a public figure, I realize he has a career to worry about, but the bottom line, the most important thing about -- to worry about would be his liberty.
And in order for both sides to have a fair trial, a gag order is really appropriate.
NGUYEN: Speaking of who's talking and who's not talking, there is word that juror number five could be doing some deal to get a book out of all of this. So with that the case, Lida, should this juror be taken off of this trial?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Probably and absolutely. You know, this goes back to the issue of the jury being sequestered. Twenty-two hundred members of the media have descended upon this little town to watch this trial. It is almost impossible to get away from the media scrutiny, the media coverage. And these jurors are likely to become celebrities once this trial finishes, and they know it.
And that's what's so dangerous about this. And when jurors are dealing outside of the process that they're supposed to be engaging in, which is deliberating about the facts that were presented before them, and they're worrying about their future and their lives and their ability to make money out of jury selection or out of being selected to be on this jury, it does affect the rights of the defendant.
And so if this is, in fact, happening, there should probably either be an immediate removal of this juror, and if that doesn't protect the defendant, then you declare a mistrial, because you have a tainted panel.
NGUYEN: All right, so let's get these predictions one more time. We haven't heard yours yet, BJ. But Lida, you say, when is the verdict going to come, and what do you think it's going to be?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Well, you have about probably at least another week of deliberations, and it appears that what you'll end up with is guilty on the molestation charges, and an acquittal on the conspiracy.
NGUYEN: All right, BJ, what do you say? BERNSTEIN: Well, at the -- in the very end, I'm going to agree with Lida. I do think there's going to be a split verdict (INAUDIBLE) be a conviction on certain counts, but he'll be freed on the conspiracy counts.
NGUYEN: You agree.
BERNSTEIN: And I think it's going to take a few more days.
NGUYEN: The ladies agree today. All right, we thank you both for being with us. See you next weekend.
BERNSTEIN: Thank you.
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Rob?
MARCIANO: For those of you just waking up (INAUDIBLE) this morning, there's disturbing news out of Aruba overnight. CNN has learned one suspect being held in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway has confessed to killing her. A live report from Aruba at the top of the hour.
NGUYEN: But first, having trouble with your memory? Dr. Sanjay Gupta makes a "HOUSE CALL" with tips on how to sharpen the recall process. So forget about everything else, top stories in "HOUSE CALL," that's next.
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