ALEX WITT, HOST: Which of these
stories will you be talking about tomorrow?
A late-breaking admission from the Pentagon tonight. The details are
released of Qu‘ran abuse at Gitmo, including details that a guard urinated
through an air vent onto a detainee and his Qu‘ran.
The Jackson jury. The superstar‘s fate is now in their hands. We‘ll take
you inside the courtroom for the final moments and ask if Jackson is
healthy enough to handle the stress of the verdict waiting game.
The mystery in Aruba. A high school senior trip gone horribly wrong.
Natalie Holloway has been missing four days, and now the boys she was last
seen with are being called persons of interest in the case.
And calling in the recruits in the battlefields of love. Some guys now
hiring gals, not as escorts, but as fake friends, all in an elaborate ploy
to make the girl they really want take notice.
All that and more, now on COUNTDOWN.
Good evening, everyone. I‘m Alex Witt, in for Keith Olbermann.
It is take-out-the-trash night at the Pentagon, the Defense Department
deep-sixing information it does not want covered by after 7:00 p.m. on a
Friday. Luckily for us, this newscast does not start until 8:00.
Our fifth story on the COUNTDOWN, remember those allegations of Qu‘ran
abuse at Guantanamo Bay? The Pentagon is confirming tonight that some of
the more salacious details are true.
It turns out that prison guards at the detainee center employed a variety
of creative means to desecrate the Qu‘ran, including soaking them with
water balloons, kicking them, stepping on them, scribbling obscenities
inside them. And while none of the incidents involved actual toilets, one
prison guard, it is confirmed, used his own urine, splashing a copy of a
Qu‘ran and a detainee. For that you don‘t really need a toilet, do you?
The investigation that uncovered these details was triggered by the
“Newsweek” magazine report that was retracted, amid much political
pressure from the White House, among others.
And here to help us gauge the political fallout, “Newsweek” chief
political correspondent, Howard Fineman, also an analyst for MSNBC.
Howard, welcome. We‘re glad you joined us on the phone this evening.
HOWARD FINEMAN, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, “NEWSWEEK” MAGAZINE (on
phone): Glad to do it, Alex.
WITT: Do your colleagues, Howard, feel absolved by this disclosure
tonight? Do you think it, you know, almost does not seem to matter that
there was not an actual toilet once urine is involved?
FINEMAN: Well, we‘re getting, we‘re getting close here. What we ended up
standing down from was the notion that a specific incident of that kind,
the toilet being (INAUDIBLE), the Qu‘ran being flushed down the toilet,
had been confirmed by federal investigators, and would be in a report
about Gitmo. That is what we retracted. And we‘re getting awfully close
now, it seems, the Pentagon is, to putting back into place what it is we
stood down on a couple weeks ago.
WITT: So big picture here, Howard, does this even matter, really, at this
point? Do you think most people are going to only remember the retraction?
FINEMAN: No, I don‘t think so. I think while we said that we couldn‘t,
because our source had changed his story, we couldn‘t stand by that
specific aspect of the report, of our report. We did say that we and other
news organizations were going to continue looking into the whole question
of how prisoners and their rights were being handled in places like
Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and so forth, that this was a big topic that we
and the rest of the media worldwide were going to continue to look at.
And we are. And I would say that the people under scrutiny right now, even
though, as you pointed out, it is, you know, an 8:00 on a Friday night,
after the usual news cycles of the week, the people under scrutiny right
now are the Pentagon. They came at us very hard on May 12, really came at
“Newsweek” very hard and said, Look, there is no—and I think Lawrence
DiRita, the Pentagon spokesman, said there was no credible allegation of
Qu‘ran desecration of the kind that we said was going to be confirmed in
the report.
Now the Pentagon has pretty much confirmed everything right up to the
edge, literally to the edge of the latrine, if you will. And I think it‘s
their credibility that‘s now in question.
WITT: And Howard, how much pressure the did White House put on “Newsweek”
to make that retraction, if at all?
FINEMAN: Well, they didn‘t put any pressure on, other than to angrily deny
that the specific point we were making about federal investigators
confirming this incident, and that it would be in the report, they took
issue with that. And when we went back to our source, that source was
unsure, as unsure as he had been initially, of exactly where he‘d read
that information.
So we had no choice, knowing what we learned, to retract that specific
thing.
But all the rest of it, we were going to continue to work on, that we
didn‘t retract, indeed, all the journalists around the world continuing to
look at. And I think the pressure is really on the Pentagon now. We, you
know, we weren‘t pressured other than to have our report challenged. And
when we couldn‘t back it up 100 percent, and that‘s the standard here, we
had no choice but to retract.
I think we were being very careful, and I think the Pentagon needs to look
at its own internal reporting sources now.
WITT: And Howard, give me a sense of the tenor inside of “Newsweek”
magazine in the wake of the retraction. And what do you do now with this
story?
FINEMAN: Well, as I said, and as we said at the time, we will continue to
look at it. We will be as careful as we possibly can. We sort of, you
know, tightened the nuts and bolts of our procedural machinery a little
bit.
But we aren‘t dissuaded from saying that these are important matters that
need to be looked into. And we‘re going to continue. We‘re just going to
continue to do it.
WITT: Do you think any folks are breathing a sigh of relief there at
“Newsweek”?
FINEMAN: No. I think it‘s a big, tense story that we need to continue to
be on, and we need to be extremely careful about every step of the way,
whatever happens over at the Pentagon.
WITT: All right. “Newsweek” chief political correspondent, Howard Fineman.
Always a pleasure to speak with you. Thanks for joining us here on
COUNTDOWN tonight (INAUDIBLE) breaking story.
FINEMAN: Glad to do it, Alex.
WITT: Appreciate it.
FINEMAN: Bye.
WITT: Well, for more now on the military angle of all of this, we‘re
joined by retired four-star general Barry McCaffrey, now an MSNBC military
analyst.
Good evening to you, General.
GEN. BARRY MCCAFFREY (RET.), MSNBC MILITARY ANALYST: Hey, hi, Alex.
WITT: Let‘s talk about this. Pentagon officials have insisted all along
that any incidents of desecration, what they referred to as “mishandling,”
I put in quotes, were all relatively minor. So do the details that we just
described at the top of this hour, urine, water balloons, obscenities, how
do those sound to you? How do you categorize them? Are they minor?
MCCAFFREY: Well, I think in the, you know, enormously inflamed and
volatile situation throughout much of the Islamic world, no, they‘ll be
used, exploited by decent Muslims, as well as the terrorist community.
Having said that, Alex, there‘s a bit of me that says this is sort of
small potatoes. You know, if we looked at Riker‘s Island over the last
five years, I‘m sure they‘d have several incidents of misbehavior.
The bigger issue, by far, in my view, is, we had improper, probably
illegal policies coming out of Secretary Rumsfeld, Steve Cambone, and
others. And so for the first year of this war on terror, I think there
were widespread abuses by overwhelmed reserve units and some active units,
intelligence, military police, et cetera.
That‘s the bigger problem. We may have killed as much as, you know,
30-some-odd people under investigation for murder, and another 300
incidences of abuse of detainees. That‘s the bigger problem.
WITT: General, let‘s look at the timing of the release of this information
from the Pentagon. It is 7:15 p.m. when it is received—released,
precisely, on a Friday night. What do you think the military does now,
sir, if this Friday document dump does not work, and this really gains
some traction as a story?
MCCAFFREY: Well, you know, the SouthCom commander, General John Craddock‘s
a superb, balanced officer of great integrity. I think they looked into it
honestly. I think we‘re hearing what‘s actually going on. I do believe
now, Alex, the place is absolutely cleaned up. These policy misjudgments
have been put behind us.
But this is spin control out of Secretary Rumsfeld and his people. It‘s
outrageous. They need to face up to this, get transparent, get it behind
us, and get on with the confronting the larger issues that menace the
American people.
WITT: General, you say this spin control is outrageous. Sir, what do you
think should be done? Should somebody be held accountable? And if so, who?
MCCAFFREY: Well, I think, you know, again, that‘s the job of the free
media, it‘s the job of the Congress to try and buttress this kind of
thing. I‘m more interested, though, to be honest, Alex, again, the policy
misjudgments that let us end up in a system where we—I think we were—there
was widespread abuse of detainees under our control, I think largely,
that‘s been corrected.
But I think we need to look at, you know, who gave those instructions? And
were they vetted, by who? And who should be held accountable inside the
civilian leadership of the Pentagon? That‘s my concern.
WITT: All right. General Barry McCaffrey, if it‘s your concern, it‘s our
concern as well, sir. Thank you very much for your time with us on
COUNTDOWN this evening.
MCCAFFREY: Good to be with you.
WITT: Of course, the other big question looming over this story is, how
will these new details play out in the Arab world?
Raghida Dergham, senior diplomatic correspondent for “Al Hayat,” also an
MSNBC analyst, joins us right now.
Welcome to you, Raghida. Nice to see you.
RAGHIDA DERGHAM, SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, “AL HAYAT”: Thank you,
Alex.
WITT: As you know, there was violence, extreme violence in the wake of “Newsweek”‘s
initial report, all these protests that had already been planned, but the
report was said to play a factor in it. Is there likely more violence to
come now, as a result of this disclosure?
DERGHAM: There will be demonstrations throughout the Muslim world, because
their feeling would be, I told you so. We knew it all along, that the
pressure was on “Newsweek” to retract, whereas these practices have gone
on.
I think what will avoid a spell of violence is the Pentagon coming clean
big, if you will. I think General McCaffrey is absolutely right. The
problem is with the policies. There has been this ad hoc policies in the
name of counterterrorism. Everything is permitted.
But I think they need to really open up the investigations that they had
before, come clean, share the investigations‘ results openly and publicly.
And I believe that it‘s about time to put the Guantanamo base and other
prisons under the international laws, rather than, here we go, we just
don‘t need that (INAUDIBLE) because we can do it in our own way.
I think it is very important right now to come out clearly with an
apology, accountability, punishment for those who have done these terrible
things, and accountability at the level of the civilian leadership in the
Pentagon.
WITT: Raghida, though, do you think this will appease the zealots out
there in the Arab world, coming clean, as you say, with full disclosure?
DERGHAM: I think, no, I think it‘s very important to undermine those who
want to go—to use this to their advantage for their own political power
struggle and political aim, so that they could incite people. But in order
to win against those who want to simply incite people for their own needs,
for their own, you know, agendas, I think it‘s important for the Pentagon
to come clean big.
WITT: All right. Our MSNBC analyst Raghida Dergham, thank you very much.
We appreciate your time with us on COUNTDOWN tonight.
DERGHAM: Thank you, Alex.
WITT: For those of you just joining us, a quick racap, that being the
Pentagon about, oh, less than an hour ago released an admission that
indeed there had been some desecration of the Qu‘ran, this inside of
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This was something that had been reported by
“Newsweek” magazine. They are admitting now that there were some
desecrations, most notably, and perhaps most obscenely, that there was one
particular guard who apparently had urinated inside of an air vent. That
move landed onto a guard, a detainee as well as one of the Qu‘rans.
Deliberation day now coming up in Santa Maria. The jury finally gets to
start deciding Michael Jackson‘s fate.
And day four in the search for Natalie Holloway. The Alabama teen
disappeared the last day of her senior trip in Aruba. The popular island
nation is now scrambling to find any clues to crack this case.
This is COUNTDOWN here on MSNBC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WITT: A year and a half ago, he was a cashier who liked to watch “The
Simpsons.” She was teaching a classroom full of high school students. And
today, they are much more than that. They are official members of the
Jackson 12.
Our number four story tonight, day 564 of the Michael Jackson
investigations. His case, and his life, now in the hands of the jury.
Fourteen weeks of testimony, more than 130 witnesses, and over 600 pieces
of evidence, weighing not only on the minds of those eight women and four
men who will decide his fate, but also, no doubt, on that of the defendant
himself.
Jackson arriving to court this morning with his family. His attorney, Tom
Mesereau, met them inside that courthouse, Mesereau concluding his closing
arguments today, telling the jury that they were the only thing standing
between the accuser‘s family and the huge payday they had been working
toward.
Jackson‘s lead defense attorney directly attacked the testimony of the pop
star‘s teenaged accuser, pointing out numerous inconsistencies. He
compared the family to sharks, saying, quote, “They‘ve been swimming
around lawyers and swimming around false claims for years.”
Unsurprisingly, there was invective enough for both sides, senior deputy
district attorney Ron Zonen, using the very same eccentricities the
defense had used to bolster their argument and their client, this to knock
Jackson down. Zonen portrayed the entertainer as a serial pedophile, an
alcoholic who fell in love with young boys and became their constant
companion.
But the last word belonged to that of Jackson‘s accuser, Zonen once again
playing a small excerpt of the boy‘s original interview with Santa Barbara
authorities, where he first alleged abuse.
Our eyes inside the courtroom in Santa Maria today were those of legal
analyst and “Inside Edition” senior correspondent Jim Moret.
Jim, good evening to you. Welcome.
JIM MORET, MSNBC LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks, Alex. How are you?
WITT: I‘m well, thanks. I hope you are too.
Let‘s get to the story. Mesereau began his closing argument today. Many
people thought it was not as good as he was capable of. Then today he was
quite emotional. Do you think he hit it out of the park?
MORET: I did at the beginning. I thought he came out of the box powerful,
focused, and very passionate. He was talking so rapidly, it was frankly
difficult to keep up, just taking the notes. But he had the jurors
captivated.
I‘ll tell you what was interesting. His choice at the very end of his
closing argument, he decided to replay a portion of these outtakes of the
Bashir documentary, the “Living with Michael Jackson.”
And I think the point of it was to show that Michael Jackson sees the
world differently from all of us. And frankly, that‘s been one of the
themes of the defense case, that, yes, Michael Jackson admits that he
sleeps in the same bed with young boys, but it‘s not sexual, and it‘s not
criminal. He just sees the world differently.
And frankly, it was rather jarring to see it again. I don‘t know how it
played with the jury. I think it was a rather risky proposition. But
overall, (INAUDIBLE) I think Tom Mesereau did an excellent job on the
closing argument.
WITT: You know, Jim, all along, another one of the main thrusts of the
defense‘s argument has been that this is a family of grifters, those
accusing him. And today Mesereau really went after the accuser in a very
direct way. Got to keep in mind, this kid is a cancer survivor. Do you
think that was a huge risk?
MORET: No, I think he had no choice, frankly. You have to remember that
there are several counts. There‘s 10 counts in the indictment. One is
conspiracy. That falls on the mom‘s shoulders, because she‘s the primary
person making who‘s these allegations. She‘s been vilified throughout the
trial.
But with respect to the allegations of molestation, they all fall pretty
much squarely on the shoulders of this now 15-year-old boy. And as you
say, he‘s a cancer survivor. But he almost has to be vilified in the sense
that his credibility has to be brought into focus. And what Tom Mesereau
has said is, This is a family of con artists, of actors and liars, and
that mother-son team had basically set up various people in the past, and
that the stakes kept getting higher and higher.
I don‘t think Tom Mesereau really had any choice but to go squarely after
this young accuser.
WITT: Jim, another part of the defense‘s cases here, you touched a bit on
it, that Jackson himself is someone who sees the world differently. He‘s
very eccentric, so strange that he couldn‘t possibly be capable of this.
But then that cut both ways once Ron Zonen began his rebuttal. Who do you
think it worked best for?
MORET: Well, frankly, I thought Ron Zonen was very powerful as well. And
he appealed to one thing all of the jurors seem to have, and that‘s common
sense. You go into that courtroom with common sense, wit your world
experience. And he said something very simple. He said, How normal do you
think it is for a 35-year-old man, a 45-year-old man, to sleep with
12-year-olds on a regular basis? You‘ve never heard of it before. You‘ll
never hear of it again, because it‘s not normal. It‘s wrong.
And he was appealing to our basic values, that something is wrong here.
There‘s been a parade of young boys have come in who‘ve basically admitted
to sleeping with Michael Jackson, whether they claim any molestation or
not. And we also heard from a former accuser of Michael Jackson, who said
Michael Jackson molested him.
And with all of that evidence, I think that you have an overwhelming sense
that something is wrong with this picture. And that‘s how Ron Zonen ended,
on a picture, six-and-a-half-minute tape of an excerpt of that young boy
talking to police investigators for the very first time, when he recounted
the allegations of molestation. And that was very powerful.
WITT: And how do you think Michael Jackson himself is holding up through
all this? Because he certainly appears frail. We know he visited the
hospital again last night.
MORET: Last night, he visited the hospital. One of his advisers, a close
friend of his family, Dick Gregory, a social activist and former comedian,
had said to him that he looked like he was dehydrated and suggested that
he go to Cottage Hospital, the same hospital he went to when he had the
back problem. And we were told that he was there for about a half an hour
and received IV fluids.
And he appeared to be frail-looking today, to be quite honest with you.
You can see this picture of him here on the screen.
We‘ve watched Michael Jackson over the past three and a half months. He
seems to be getting thinner and thinner and weaker and weaker. And if you
think back to that videotape of the Martin Bashir “Living with Michael
Jackson” documentary shot just a couple of years ago, he looks like a very
different person. He‘s lost at least 20 pounds since then.
So how he‘s holding up, I think it‘s anyone‘s guess. But it‘s clear
(INAUDIBLE) it‘s clear to see that this has really taken its toll on him.
WITT: All right, Jim Moret, legal analyst and senior correspondent with
“Inside Edition,” thanks so much for your insight on this. We appreciate
it.
MORET: Thanks for having me.
WITT: Well, no shortage of recruiting in this strange new sport. Pork
ball, anyone? Yes, pork ball with Tabasco sauce, mmm. Oddball‘s ahead.
And just when you thought the runaway bride story was (INAUDIBLE) behind
us, one more update that we just couldn‘t pass up. You‘ve heard the 911
call to police. Now hear the first call Wilbanks made to her jilted fiance.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WITT: I‘m Alex Witt, holding down the fort for Keith Olbermann this Friday
evening.
And it‘s time to pause our COUNTDOWN of the day‘s real news for a brief
segment of the day‘s for-real news, you know, like, for real.
Let‘s play Oddball.
We begin in Moscow, where the Russians appear to have figured out a way to
make the game of soccer interesting. They make pigs play it. It‘s pork
ball. There‘s no scoring in this game, the pigs just kind of push the ball
around. Hey, you know, just like real soccer.
But it‘s good for gambling, I guess. The winning team in this match moves
on to the city championships. The losers go home to roll around in their
own filth.
To London, where earlier this week we told you about how Big Ben, the
famous clock, mysteriously stopped for 90 minutes. Well, they got it
running again. And three days later, the Tower Bridge got stuck. What is
going on in London? Don‘t get in any elevators, mateys. The bridge got
stuck in the open position today, causing major traffic jams across the
city.
Now, officials think the bridge should be fixed by morning, but encouraged
drivers of really fast cars to go ahead and try and make it.
Finally, at a court in Madeira, California, a neighborhood so rich even
the horses have their own pools. Marco, Polo. Actually, that‘s steed,
named Zen, wandered into this yard and fell into the pool. The cover was
on. He thought he could walk on it and did an accidental triple Indy into
the shallow end. Firefighters were able to get the horse out of the water
no worse for the wear. But Zen did leave a little something special behind
for the pool guy.
Oh, man, the vacation getaway island of Aruba embroiled in a big mystery
now. An American teen disappears, and now authorities are scrambling to
find out what happened to Natalie Holloway. We‘re going to talk about the
persons of interest being questioned in this case.
And what‘s going on with comedian Dave Chapelle? There‘s been another
sighting, and it‘s a lot closer to home than that retreat in South Africa.
Is he about to return to his show?
Those stories ahead.
But first, here are COUNTDOWN‘s top three newsmakers of this day.
Number three, every runner who finished this week‘s Chicago Lake Shore
Marathon, every single one of them, set a personal record, because
somebody screwed up and made the finish line one mile too far down the
course, 27.2 miles.
Number two, Greg Lundy of Knoxville, Tennessee. He‘s a private
investigator who was hired by the city to visit its strip club to make
sure there wasn‘t anything illegal going on. According to an affidavit, he
was paid $100 an hour for his time and spent $300 on lap dances. Ooh,
those taxpayers are thrilled.
And number one, Derrick Sundquist of Orem, Utah. Police say he thought he
was having a heart attack. So he jumped into his car, and he rushed to the
hospital at full speed. Along the way, he smashed into a fence, he knocked
over a light pole, then finally crashed into the side of the hospital.
Now, doctors there said Sundquist was not having a heart attack. He was
drunk. He‘s been arrested on a whole variety of charges.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WITT: Send your child on a high school trip to an island paradise, and the
worst thing most parents would worry about is sunburn. But the parents of
Natalee Holloway are facing their worst nightmare tonight. In Aruba, a
their 18-year-old daughter has simply disappeared. Our third story on the
COUNTDOWN, the search for Natalee. Three guys held for questioning in the
case are now officially being called persons of interest. But four days
after she was last seen, there is still no sign of Natalee. Kerry Sanders
has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KERRY SANDERS, NBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dutch marines on the
Caribbean island of Aruba have now joined police in their search for
18-year-old Natalee Holloway. She disappeared Monday as she left an island
nightclub with a man police believe she befriended there. Laurie Maheer
(ph) is the local NBC affiliate reporter on the island.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The teenager was last seen leaving this establishment
on Monday morning at 1:30.
SANDERS: Nicknamed Hooty (ph), Natalee went to Aruba on a senior trip with
more than 125 other students from her high school. Her parents flew there
and are now appealing for help on island TV.
ROBIN HOLLOWAY, MOTHER OF MISSING GIRL: She‘s approximately 5-5. She
weighs about 110 pounds. She has blue eyes, and she‘s very petite.
SANDERS: Despite those pleas, the lead detective says there are absolutely
no clues.
JAN VAN DER STRATEN, ARUBA POLICE COMMISSIONER: You know Aruba is a
friendly isle, but it‘s a safe island, too. And we can‘t accept that this
happens in a crime form. So we are hopeful that the girl is somewhere
still alive.
SANDERS (on camera): Government authorities and police on Aruba are taking
this extremely seriously not only because there might be a crime here but
because it could directly impact the economy of their island: tourism.
(voice-over): The FBI has also dispatched a team to Aruba to help in the
search.
CARMEN ADAMS, FBI: Any time a child is missing, I‘m certain that‘s the
parents‘ worst nightmare. The longer they‘re gone, the more difficult it
becomes for their family. But I don‘t think you should give up hope. I
mean, you know, don‘t give up hope.
SANDERS: This Caribbean island is about the size of Wichita, Kansas. It‘s
more than 1,800 miles from the United States. Back in Natalee‘s Alabama
home town, classmates who went on the senior trip are now holding prayer
vigils.
MALLROY SYLVESTER, FRIEND OF MISSING GIRL: I can‘t believe something like
that would happen because we all went down there, I mean, to have fun. And
then, like, the next day, we come back, we‘re, like—we‘re about to leave
and we can‘t find her. And it‘s just—it‘s very shocking.
SANDERS: Prayers and hope that the girl they call Hooty will turn up, no
matter what the story of why she disappeared. Kerry Sanders, NBC News,
Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WITT: And for more on the search, we are joined now by former FBI profiler
Candice DeLong. Candice, good evening. Thanks for being here.
CANDICE DELONG, FORMER FBI PROFILER: You‘re welcome, Alex.
WITT: These three guys are now being called persons of interest.
Does this development raise the possibility of foul play?
DELONG: I think it does. There‘s a few things about this particular
report, the three men, that concern me deeply. Several witnesses
apparently saw her leave with them. And they have apparently admitted to
the police, yes, they were with her and they brought her back. But there‘s
no evidence that she ever made it back to the hotel or was in the hotel.
So I‘m deeply concerned about her safety regarding them. They apparently
were the last people to see her alive. They were strangers to her. They
were local people. They knew the island. It‘s troubling.
WITT: Do you think, though, there‘s a chance this could be another runaway
bride kind of situation? I mean, granted, she‘s not a bride, but could
Natalee be running away, do you think?
DELONG: You can‘t help but think about it after the recent events out of
Atlanta. And a couple of things occurred to me. Number one, we‘re dealing
with a fairly small island here. There‘s only two ways to get off of it,
by airplane. One would think, if that were the case, it would have been
reported. Some pilot would know that his cargo, this young woman, is now
the subject of an international investigation. The other way, of course,
being by boat. Either of those things would have probably taken a lot of
money on her part, and there‘s no indication—no one has certainly come
forward and said, Hey, you know, she asked me to take her here, she asked
me to take her there. So I‘m tending to rule that out.
The person I would want to talk to most, if I was involved in this
investigation, is her best friend.
WITT: All right. To try and get what kind of information?
DELONG: Well, most women, and especially teenage girls, have somebody that
they confide much of their life, if not every detail to. I would want to
know everything about her. How did she normally respond around members of
the opposite sex that she knew that she just met? Was she a trusting
individual? We know she‘s bright, but that doesn‘t necessarily mean she
had a lot of common sense. I don‘t know if she did or not. But going off
with three people that you don‘t know well, and you‘re a woman alone...
WITT: You‘re looking to see if there‘s any kind of pattern or history of
this...
(CROSSTALK)
DELONG: Yes, and I‘m looking—right.
WITT: Now, Candice, also, does it hurt at all that this search is taking
place in another country? This is about 1,800 miles from U.S. shores. Does
that make it more difficult?
DELONG: Well, the fact that it is an island means the search is going to
be finite. That‘s the good news. The bad news is...
WITT: But in terms of working with authorities.
DELONG: Right. Working with authorities. No, that‘s not really a problem.
The FBI has offices all over the world, and they have an office in the
Virgin Islands. They‘ve dispatched agents to Aruba. They‘re used to
working with foreign officials. So in that regard, that‘s a good thing.
WITT: What about Aruba itself, that island? Does it have any of the
concerns as a dangerous place, as we know some other Caribbean islands
have had, certainly, in the past?
WITT: Not that I‘ve heard of. But Alex, any place can be dangerous.
Beverly Hills can be dangerous, the Upper East Side of New York. People
are people wherever they go, and young people need to be careful not to
put themselves in harm‘s way.
WITT: Very sage advice. Point well taken. Former FBI profiler Candice
DeLong, thank you so much for your time tonight. Appreciate it.
DELONG: You‘re welcome.
WITT: Meantime, back here, police are investigating an alleged kidnapping
in Hollywood that sounds more like a movie thriller than real life. No one
reported a crime. No one reported a missing person. No one even suspected
that anything had actually happened at the Chateau apartments last
Thursday until security managers happened to review the surveillance tape
and saw this: a man standing outside the door, making a call on his cell
phone. One minute later, a woman comes out. They struggle. He pushes her
down the stairs. Other witnesses have now come forward saying they saw the
same woman struggling to get out of the man‘s car. They eventually drove
off, but without a victim name or a suspect, police are now turning to the
public to try and identify either of them.
And speaking of strange cases involving missing women, authorities have
released the first phone call made by Jennifer Wilbanks when she finally
stopped running from her own wedding. While she was still technically
missing, her fiance‘s family asked police to put a recording device on
their home phone just in case they got a ransom call from a possible
kidnapper. Well, instead, it recorded for all posterity Ms. Wilbanks
phoning her fiance, John Mason, and telling him some whopping fibs about
how she ended up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JOHN MASON, FIANCE: Jenny, where are you?
JENNIFER WILBANKS: I don‘t know.
MASON: Oh, my God. Where...
WILBANKS: I don‘t know where I am.
MASON: Are you OK?
WILBANKS: Yes.
MASON: All right, sweetie. Are you alone?
WILBANKS: Yes.
MASON: Are you hurting?
WILBANKS: No.
MASON: Are you hurting?
WILBANKS: No, I‘m OK.
MASON: Did somebody take you?
WILBANKS: I don‘t know where I am.
MASON: No, I know that. But did somebody pick you up?
WILBANKS: Yes (INAUDIBLE)
MASON: I know. We‘re just trying to figure out how to get to you, baby.
Are you sure you‘re not in Duluth?
WILBANKS: No, I‘m not in Duluth.
MASON: Are you in Georgia?
WILBANKS: I don‘t know.
MASON: OK. It‘s OK, sweetie. We‘re just trying to figure out how to come
find you.
WILBANKS: They cut my hair
MASON: They cut your hair?
WILBANKS: Yes.
MASON: And that‘s all they did to you? Well, that‘s great.
WILBANKS: It was a man and a woman.
MASON: It was a man and a...
WILBANKS: It was a Hispanic man, a Caucasian woman.
MASON: What?
WILBANKS: It was a Hispanic man and a Caucasian woman.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
WITT: By the way, those two are still planning to marry. Yes. No date yet.
Not as scary as the whites of Ms. Wilbanks‘s eyes, but still pretty
horrifying, we celebrate 30 years since that fake great white shark scared
millions of us out of the ocean. And scared of the singles scene? Maybe
it‘s time to hire a female friend to help steer you in the right
direction.
You‘re watching COUNTDOWN on MSNBC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WITT: The poster said, “See it before you go swimming.” Of course, a lot
of us wish we‘d done the exact opposite and enjoyed one last
dip—worry-free dip, that is—in the ocean before suffering from three
decades of a shark-induced phobia. Our second story on the COUNTDOWN:
“Jaws.” Yes, this month marks the 30-year anniversary of the giant
man-eating shark epic, and for some, that is a cause for celebration. The
movie was filmed entirely on Martha‘s Vineyard, where we find our own
Alison Stewart enjoying the festivities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALISON STEWART, MSNBC: Greetings from Martha‘s Vineyard. You might
recognize the bridge from over my shoulder if you‘re a fan of the movie
“Jaws.” That‘s where you saw the shark go underneath and go after that
little boy in the pond, just one of the many things that could scare the
swim trunks off you after seeing the movie, “Jaws.” Considered to be the
first major summer mega-blockbuster movie, it broke $100 million, first
movie to ever do that, and launched the career have a young man named
Steven Spielberg.
The movie was filmed entirely here on Martha‘s Vineyard. So this is why,
30 years later, they are celebrating “Jaws” Fest here, turning this island
back on to Amity Island, as it was called in the movie, local businesses
changing their names, the local paper also becoming “The Amity Gazette,”
rather than “The Vineyard Gazette.” Also, on the island this weekend, cast
and crew, Peter Benchley, who wrote the screenplay, as well as the book
it‘s based on.
And also on the island, a lot of artifacts and memorabilia from the movie,
that buoy that young swimmer clutched to in that first scene, as well as a
replica of that 26-foot great white shark called Bruce by the cast and
crew. That was actually the nickname of the shark because it was
Spielberg‘s lawyer‘s name. It‘s going to be going on all weekend,
including a live screening of the film down on the beach, music and all,
complete with that dunna-dunna that made us all so afraid to go back in
the water. And back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WITT: It is an easy segue tonight into our nightly round-up of celebrity
and entertainment news, “Keeping Tabs.” And Comedy Central‘s funny man may
be working his way back home. Dave Chappelle made surprise appearances at
two Los Angeles comedy clubs last night, saying he had just arrived in LA
and felt like performing. All this according to “Daily Variety.” Chappelle
high-tailed it to South Africa last month just as Comedy Central postponed
the premiere of the third season of Chappelle‘s show. But Chappelle denied
that he had checked into a mental health facility or drug rehab,
describing his waylay as more of a spiritual retreat brought on because he
wasn‘t happy with the direction of the show. A Comedy Central rep says
they‘ll be sitting down with Chappelle, quote, “really, really soon.”
And Cameron Diaz is really, really mad over a story in a tabloid magazine
that says she was stepping out, so to speak. The actress is suing “The
National Enquirer” for 10 million bucks, alleging that the celebrity rag
libeled her in its May 23rd issue. The headline, “Cameron caught
cheating.” “The Enquirer” claimed Diaz was cheating on boyfriend Justin
Timberlake with Shane Nickerson (ph), an MTV producer on her reality show,
“Trippin‘.” Diaz‘s lawsuit essentially said, You must be trippin‘ because
all we were doing was giving each other a good-bye hug after work. There
was no kissing or making out.
Really? Not either one of those things? No trippin‘.
And Mike Tyson may be flipping out if a new ordinance in Phoenix, Arizona,
is passed. It would set a limit on how many pigeons a person can have as
pets. The upper limit would be 40. And how many feathered friends does
Iron Mike have? Three hundred and fifty. Not these pigeons exactly, but
you get the idea. You didn‘t know Tyson had pigeons? Well, neither did
fellow pigeon owner John Sanford until he decided to fight the proposed
limit and discovered the once feared fighter‘s gentler side. But Sanford‘s
pigeon posse number‘s only 41.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They‘re a little dirty, but compared to, say, a duck or
a goose, they‘re very clean.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WITT: Well, the former champ could not be reached for comment, and his
little rat (ph) birds had nothing to say, either, so get lost.
Trouble meeting women? Can‘t start conversations with strangers? Have no
fear, lonely bachelor. It‘s wing women to the rescue. Ahead on COUNTDOWN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WITT: Nightclubs and chat rooms, elevators and water coolers, tailgate
parties and book stores, weddings and funerals. What do they have in
common? They‘re all places you might meet someone, if you‘re single and
looking. Of course, there‘s also on-line dating, speed dating and looking
for love in all the wrong places.
But in our number one story on the COUNTDOWN tonight, what if you need a
different kind of help. Men, picture this. You‘re alone. She‘s there. What
do you say? How do you say it? How do you avoid looking like a creep? And
why is the 21st century so very complicated? Well, we may not have answers
for all of that, but COUNTDOWN‘s Monica Novotny has the story of one new
approach. Monica, good evening.
MONICA NOVOTNY, COUNTDOWN: Hi there, Alex.
You might remember the term, “wing man” from the 1986 Tom Cruise movie,
“Top Gun.” Well, in the dating world, a guy‘s wing man is his friend, a
buddy, another guy who helps him look good in front of potential dates
when they‘re out looking for the ladies. But now there may be a better
option, a wing woman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANIKA ALTMAN, WING WOMAN: I‘ve convinced a lot of girls I went to high
school with. That‘s for sure.
NOVOTNY (voice-over): She may stretch the truth, but she‘ll probably get
you a date because that‘s her job. Gentlemen, meet the wing woman.
ALTMAN: If a girl sees a guy with another guy, they‘re immediately, like,
Oh, they‘re out to pick up chicks. But a guy with a girl is totally, like,
this guy‘s cool because the girl‘s cool, so there‘s got to be something
good about him.
NOVOTNY: Yes, this is actually a business, the theory that women are more
likely to respond to a man with a female friend, the wing woman, who
breaks the ice, makes nice and then introduces him. Founder Shane Forbes
(ph) charges $50 an hour for the service, and though he can‘t guarantee
you‘ll get a date...
SHANE FORBES, FOUNDER, WING WOMEN: Anyone who the client wants to meet,
the women will introduce them to them. And we also guarantee that every
guy (INAUDIBLE) going to have a great time.
NOVOTNY: So we found our own volunteer to test it out with a hidden camera
in his shirt, Brian, 24, single, successful and thus, by definition,
always on the lookout.
ALTMAN: So I guess right now, we‘ll just find out what kind of girls
you‘re into.
NOVOTNY: After getting to know her client, the wing woman takes aim.
ALTMAN: (INAUDIBLE) my friend, Brian. And we thought that we know from you
somewhere. I don‘t know. My name is Anika. You look so familiar to me.
NOVOTNY: Success. But why stop at one?
ALTMAN: Let‘s go over there and order another beer, and I‘m going tell her
I like the color of her shirt. And you guys work together?
NOVOTNY: Seems to be working, but how do the women feel? After we told
them they‘d been taped, they agreed to take part and weigh in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It‘s a little bit pathetic that you have to go to
these lengths to possibly meet a woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He came across as, like, a really nice guy
(INAUDIBLE) kind of—I don‘t know. I was more interested in him because he
was with a girl.
NOVOTNY (on camera): So just how popular are the wing women? Well, right
now, they say they‘re expanding in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami.
But if you want to give it a shot, there is one risk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They seemed to be together. I mean, that is—honestly,
I didn‘t feel there was an opening.
NOVOTNY (voice-over): But for our single guy...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It forces you to kind of be proactive about it, and
you‘re out there, and before you know it, you‘ve met six women. And I
don‘t know. All I can say is it was a good time.
NOVOTNY: Mission complete, though a wing woman‘s work is never done.
ALTMAN: I‘m, like, scoping out girls now all the time, you know?
I‘ll be out on a date (INAUDIBLE) She‘s cute.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOVOTNY: The business owner, Shane Forbes, says he‘s paying the wing women
$20 to $30 an hour for their match-making services. And he says he has far
more applicants for the job than he needs. Also, we should say thanks to
our volunteer tester, Brian. The wing women evaluated him, as well, and
said that he didn‘t need her help at all, of course.
WITT: Now, do these wing women—do they get free drinks?
NOVOTNY: That‘s—you know, that‘s not part of the deal. They just pay the
flat fee, $50 an hour. It‘s a three-hour minimum. But there‘s no tipping,
and they don‘t have to buy them drinks. But they say, you know, it might
help. You know, she might be a little more helpful. But their job is to
introduce the women, so—not bad.
WITT: Ahead of the curve, as always. COUNTDOWN‘s Monica Novotny, thank you
so much.
NOVOTNY: Thanks.
WITT: And now to our top five favorite stories of the week. And as always,
when we say “favorite,” we mean dumbest. Honorable mention this week goes
to Gypsy, the orangutan in Tokyo‘s Tama (ph) Zoo who‘s been taught to
clean her own cage. She doesn‘t mind, though. Next up, planting an herb
garden and building her own home theater.
But that‘s not bad. Here is Keith with COUNTDOWN‘s five favorites.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEITH OLBERMANN, COUNTDOWN HOST (voice-over): Number five, Kaufman (ph)
baseball stadium in Kansas City, the Royals getting set to take on the New
York Yankees just as soon as this guy plays through. It‘s PGA pro David
Ogren (ph) going for the record of most golf balls struck in one minute.
And he got it, 77 balls in 60 seconds. I thought we were trying to keep
the steroids off of our baseball fields.
Number four: It takes more than style to be a great Mexican bullfighter.
The man in the funny suit is apprentice matador Luis Gaillardo (ph).
Ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Wait a second. Apprentice matador? You‘re fired.
Nothing like a goring to humble a guy. But at least his friends and
colleagues there were to—look out, every man for himself! Gaillardo will
be OK. The bull, not so much.
Number three: It was National Spelling Bee Week. The winning word was app—appog—appoga-something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apoggiatura.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
WITT: All well and good for the winner, but I got the distinct feeling
that some of these kids there were against their will.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: H-E-...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: ... L...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: ... P...
WITT: Help me!
Number two, Miss Peru, Miss Frida Jimena Holer (ph). That‘s her riding the
horse at the fashion show. Actually, she‘s the former Miss Peru, and she
was formerly riding that horse at the fashion show. Down goes Frida! Down
goes Frida! I guess somebody thought that was a good idea. I doubt it was
the horse.
Number one is number one with a bullet. The top song on the British pop
charts this week, an annoying cell phone ring tone featuring a crazy frog
and the theme from “Beverly Hills Cop.” Number one song in Britain, a cell
phone ring. Then again, number two, not much better. The bells, the bells!
I‘m Keith Olbermann, and that‘s the top five.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WITT: And that brings this week of COUNTDOWN to a close. Thanks so much
for watching. I‘m Alex Witt, in for Keith Olbermann.
He‘ll be back on Monday. Have yourselves a great weekend. Good night, and
good luck. And here we go! Wish me luck!
End.
