http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9923468/
'Rita Cosby Live & Direct' for November 3 Read the transcript to the Thursday show
Updated: 10:27 a.m. ET Nov. 4, 2005
Guest: Sigi Gonzalez, Duncan Hunter, William Slemaker,
Pat Rutherford, Karen(?) (Helen) Lejuez, Jossy Mansur, Gil Davis, Robert Mintz, Christopher Kennedy Lawford, Ted Poe
RITA COSBY, HOST: Good evening, everybody. Tonight, a bombshell in the Natalee Holloway case. Wait until you hear what Dr. Phil says he believes happened to her. He says she's probably still alive. And we're going to get to that stunning claim in the Holloway investigation in just a moment.
Snip...
And why did Dr. Phil tell Jay Leno that he thinks Natalee Holloway could be alive? The shocking theory some say is possible is coming up.
Snip...
COSBY: Big-time shocker to report tonight in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. It's been five months since the Alabama teen vanished, but one talk show host isn't giving up. Dr. Phil now says he has evidence that Natalee could still be alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PHIL MCGRAW, TV PERSONALITY: We have a reasonable belief and some credible evidence that Natalee Holloway is alive.
JAY LENO, HOST, TONIGHT SHOW: Is alive?
MCGRAW: Is alive. We can't - we cannot prove that at this point, and we don't know where she is, but, you know, there is a huge sex slave underground in some of those countries down there. Young women have disappeared from that part of the world before. And we have reasonable cause to believe that she may well be alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: Well, while many people hope Dr. Phil's comments are true, just how likely is it that Natalee Holloway is now part of some sort of sex trade? LIVE & DIRECT tonight is private investigators Pat Rutherford. He's the president of Worldwide Tracers.
Mr. Rutherford, is it possible that she's alive and involved in this sort of sex trade over there?
PAT RUTHERFORD, PRESIDENT, WORLDWIDE TRACERS: Well, we've had cases where exactly that happened. I was a little shocked when I heard Phil said that, but, yes, very definitely, it could be possible.
COSBY: You know, give us a sense of region. I want to show a comment that Dr. Phil said, talking about where his crews were out and about. Let's play that, and I want to get your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCGRAW: We've had to extract a few of them recently—I had to send a private jet in for a couple of them just recently in Mexico, because things were getting really hot. And, you know, maybe we're getting close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: Mr. Rutherford, is it possible she'll be in Mexico? Is it possible even Venezuela? That was one of the theories I was hearing while in Aruba, because it's so close, you know, to Aruba, Venezuela right there.
RUTHERFORD: We had one in Mexico. A 15-year-old that was down there with her missionary parents was kidnapped, taken to Mexico City, put on drugs. Next thing you know, she's in prostitution. And then she started doing pornographic films. That's the way we found her.
She was in a magazine. And the person I was working with down there happened to see the magazine. And next thing you know, we got the parents down there. And she had been so brainwashed in the year that she'd been missing that she wouldn't go home with them.
COSBY: Wow. So but she was so entranced by these people?
RUTHERFORD: So it does happen.
COSBY: In the case of Natalee Holloway, with the proximity, again, to Aruba, do you believe it's Venezuela? Would it be another country if, again, this is true?
RUTHERFORD: We had a kidnapping case in Venezuela, too. So, sure, it's true down there. It's like justice gone wild. Nobody's controlling anything.
You know, crime is running rampant. And I thank God that we only do after family members and such, because I can't imagine even you on that border. By the way, if you don't like your job, we've got an opening, because we only hire women.
COSBY: Thank you. I'm hired, after you saw me in the bullet-proof vest there, right?
RUTHERFORD: You're good. Boy, you got a lot of nerve.
COSBY: I've been told I had some guts. Thank you.
RUTHERFORD: You've done a good job. You bet.
COSBY: Thank you. Hey back to...
RUTHERFORD: So keep that in mind.
COSBY: Thank you. It's good to know. Good to know.
In terms of the Natalee Holloway case, how tough is it to track this down? You know, we talked about—we talked now—you may have heard this story of this father looking for his daughter in Mexico. You know, it's just overwhelming for him.
How tough is it—say Natalee Holloway is missing. Say she's in some sort of sex slave trade. How tough is it to track her down?
RUTHERFORD: Well, honestly, you've got to have a team. And you've got to involve the people that are on the ground there.
There is good Mexican people. There is good Venezuelan people. And there is good investigators. And we always study the case, put a team together, and that's the way we solved the one in Mexico.
If we hadn't had the person on the ground searching for the girl, we would have never found her. But we work as a team. We put it together. So that's what you got to do.
COSBY: Pat Rutherford, thank you.
RUTHERFORD: It's not an individual thing.
COSBY: No, it sounds like it's a case-by-case basis. And it's amazing work you guys are doing and really admirable. Thank you very much, Mr. Rutherford. We appreciate your insights.
(CROSSTALK)
RUTHERFORD: Hey, enjoy talking to you. The job is still open.
COSBY: Thank you. I will keep it in mind. I appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
And those explosive comments that you heard from Dr. Phil about Natalee maybe being in the sex trade come on the same day that Natalee's mom, Beth Holloway Twitty, meets with Aruban officials. On the phone tonight from Aruba is Helen LeJuez. She's the attorney who's representing Natalee Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty.
Helen, first of all, what do you make of these comments that Natalee may be alive and in some sex trade?
HELEN LEJUEZ, TWITTY FAMILY ATTORNEY: I hope they're not true.
COSBY: You do, but what about the fact that maybe this is a good sign that she may be alive?
LEJUEZ: Well, the fact that she is alive, I hope that. That could be true. But, well, people talk about this, but we have not heard about these things happening in Aruba.
COSBY: Does the family put any credence in this comment from Dr. Phil?
LEJUEZ: I didn't hear your question. Could you speak...
COSBY: Does the family put any credence—do they think that this could be possible, what Dr. Phil is saying?
LEJUEZ: Not to my knowledge.
COSBY: Not from your knowledge. I want to show a comment, if I could, Helen. This is from Chief Dompig. We had him on our show exclusively last night. And I want to get you to react. This is the chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEROLD DOMPIG, DEPUTY POLICY CHIEF OF ARUBA: I still believe that these boys have been lying. They're still lying. And everybody knows that by now. So there's no doubt in my mind that they know something, they're guilty of something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: Helen, what's the reaction from the family? The chief even—
I asked him—he said to me on the phone, “They are guilty as hell. I just have to prove it.”
That's a pretty strong comment from the chief. Where do you see the investigation at this point?
LEJUEZ: Well, that is a strong comment. And if that is true, and if they can prove what the chief is saying, then these boys will be behind bars pretty soon. That's what I learn from what he said, and I hope that is true.
COSBY: Well, let's hope that's the case if, indeed, they are guilty.
Thank you very much, Helen. We appreciate it.
And meanwhile, some interesting developments. Protesters took to the streets of Aruba today. Their target, a surprising one: Natalee Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty.
LIVE & DIRECT tonight is Jossy Mansur. He's the managing editor of Aruba's “Diario” newspaper.
Jossy, tell us about this protest. Why against Beth Twitty?
JOSSY MANSUR, EDITOR, “DIARIO”: Not against her personally, but it was against whatever negative publicity the island has been receiving because of this case. And a small portion of the island—it's not widespread on the island—but a small portion of the people are a little disgusted with this negative aspect of the case.
COSBY: What is the mood there about, because Beth is there on the ground? How is she being received?
MANSUR: Well, I think good, because the majority of the people sympathize with her, sympathize with her cause. They know that she lost a daughter, that she is very interested in getting some answers as to where she is or what happened to her. But you always have—in any community, you have a small group of people that love to go to the streets and protest against anything.
COSBY: You know, we were just seeing some pictures—those are the new pictures of her coming there. Jossy, what do you—you know this case so well. Do you put any stock, any credence to the new words from Dr. Phil saying that there may be some sex trade, that Natalee may be alive? Have you heard anything?
MANSUR: No, I don't believe so. I don't know where Dr. Phil got this information from. He must have some basis to say that.
We cannot rule out the possibility that she is still alive or that she is no longer alive. We don't have any hard evidence to prove any one of the two. But I think it's highly improbable that that is the case.
COSBY: All right, Jossy, thank you very much. We appreciate it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9923476/
'Scarborough Country' for November 3 Read the transcript to the Thursday show
Updated: 10:31 a.m. ET Nov. 4, 2005
Guest: Peter Schweizer, Rebecca Voelkel, Frank Malloy,
Dave Holloway,
James Cobb, Mort Zuckerman, Timothy Lickness
Also, I don't know if you caught this. I can't believe the guy said it on national TV, but Dr. Phil went on late-night TV, and he claimed that Natalee Holloway could still be alive and trapped in a sex ring. Well, Natalee's dad is in SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY tonight. I am going to ask him about his reaction to what Dr. Phil said, and his reaction about news that Dr. Phil was breaking on a late-night entertainment show.
Snip...
Also, I don't know if you caught this. I can't believe the guy said it on national TV, but Dr. Phil went on late-night TV, and he claimed that Natalee Holloway could still be alive and trapped in a sex ring. Well, Natalee's dad is in SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY tonight. I am going to ask him about his reaction to what Dr. Phil said, and his reaction about news that Dr. Phil was breaking on a late-night entertainment show.
Snip...
Welcome back to SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY—those stories in just minutes.
But, first, for more than five months, Natalee Holloway's family has been desperately searching for the truth about what happened to her the night she vanished in Aruba on a senior high school trip. We are going to be talking to her father, Dave, in just a minute.
But first, a pretty remarkable suggestion last night from Dr. Phil on “The Tonight Show.” Watch what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, “THE TODAY SHOW”)
DR. PHIL MCGRAW, HOST, “DR. PHIL”: We have reasonable belief and some credible evidence that Natalee Holloway is alive.
JAY LENO, HOST: Is alive?
MCGRAW: Is alive. We can't—we cannot prove that at this point. And we don't know where she is, but, you know, there is a huge sex slave underground in some of those countries down there. Young women have disappeared from that part of the world before. And we have—we have reasonable cause to believe that she may well be alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCARBOROUGH: Let me bring in Natalee's father, Dave Holloway. He joins us on the phone right now from Aruba.
Dave, thank you for being with us.
DAVE HOLLOWAY, FATHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Thank you.
SCARBOROUGH: You got Dr. Phil going on TV, saying he has reason to believe—or he says, we have reason to believe Natalee is still alive. Did that announcement on an entertainment show last night come as a shock to you and Beth?
HOLLOWAY: Well, no, not really.
I had a lengthy conversation, in fact, just yesterday morning with the FBI, and based on material they read from Aruba, the lady—or an individual is a homicide investigator, and she point-blank told us, this has been going on five months, since June the 10th. We have not changed our position. We are 99.9 percent sure that we are looking at a homicide, but, you know, you still have a 1 percent chance or one-tenth of 1 percent.
And, you know, I have heard those theories before, and I hope Dr. Phil is right.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, have you talked to Dr. Phil? Do you have any insight for us tonight? When he goes on national TV, and he keeps talking about we—we have reason to believe that Natalee Holloway may still be alive. Does Dr. Phil—what, does the guy have a gang of investigators following him around? What is he talking about?
HOLLOWAY: Well, he does.
There's a group of people that are investigating that aspect of it as well. So, without going into any further details, I have talked with an individual who has that same theory, and has had that for a long period of time. But, you know, we have checked some places and have come up empty-handed.
SCARBOROUGH: So, Dave, there's no new information out there right now that you know of that would suggest, as Dr. Phil suggested last night, that Natalee is in the middle of some sex trade in Central and South America?
HOLLOWAY: Well, based on the information that I know, at this point in time, it's a theory. But, you know, they have pulled rabbits out of the hats before, so, you know, maybe they know something that I don't know.
SCARBOROUGH: Can you give us a quick update on the investigation down there? Obviously, a lot of frustration. You have the chief of police down there, who sounded like he was going to be helpful before you all got there, but, since you have been there, it doesn't sound like he is willing to go the extra mile to uncover the truth of this case. What is the status tonight?
HOLLOWAY: Well, I am not sure what the exact status tonight is, but we delivered a letter there asking for the removal of all the investigators all the way up through the prosecuting attorney.
And we—Dompig knows. We had one last hope to resolve the case, that one last witness to possibly interview, and I really didn't want him to mess up on it. And I asked Mr. Dompig to handle it himself. You know, and that didn't happen. And I don't know whether they have lost the case now or not. So...
SCARBOROUGH: All right.
All right, Dave, well, thanks a lot for being with us, as always. And we are certainly thinking about you and your family tonight. Good luck with everything down there.