Missing in Aruba; Al Qaeda Video; Iraq Death Probe
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: An Arab television network airs what it says is new video of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, and he reportedly has a message. We're on this developing story. A CNN exclusive. Inside the Marines' aggressive move on Iraqi insurgents.</s>BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S MOTHER: I have to have answers, and I have to have them now.</s>PHILLIPS: Natalee Holloway's mom speaks out. There are new developments in this case. We're following that story in Aruba. And suspected serial molester arrested. Police say lists made by this man could lead them to hundreds and hundreds of victims. We're going to talk live with the commander of the exploitation unit from the San Jose Police Department. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now. The search for Natalee Holloway is still coming up empty 17 days after she vanished. But there's another twist in the investigation into her disappearance. A fourth person is now in custody in Aruba. The police are keeping mostly mum on his identity, but our Karl Penhaul has been able to uncover new details. He joins us now by phone. Actually, no, he's live from Palm Beach, Aruba, with the development. Karl, tell us what you know?</s>KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, police and prosecutors first told us that a 26-year-old man was arrested in a raid on his home at about 6:25 this morning. That raid was in the town of Santa Cruz. That's the town in the center of the island. We went around to that house and we spoke to the man's uncle. He told us that they young man arrested is 26-year-old Steve Croes. He told us that he's a deejay on the Tattoo Party Boat. That's a three deck catamaran that sails off the west coast of Aruba, and in the evenings, partygoers will go to get aboard that boat and have a drink and a dance on the boat. We went down to the pier where that boat sails from and talked to Marcus Williams. That's Steve Croes' boss. It was a surprise to him that his deejay had been arrested. He wasn't aware of it at the time. He said he received no information from the police, nor, in fact, any request to search the catamaran. What he did tell us was that normally that catamaran sails in the evenings, it's back at the pier by midnight. It doesn't sail on a Sunday night. You'll remember Natalee Holloway disappeared on a Sunday night, early Monday morning. In addition to that, of course, Natalee Holloway's family are growing increasingly frustrated with the false leads and with the pace of investigations. And this morning, Beth Holloway talked to The Associated Press television and had this to say.</s>TWITTY: And I have waited, and I have waited, and I have waited, and I have listened, and I've heard lie after lie after lie unfold. And I have to have some answers, and I better get them soon.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you think they're lying to you? I just don't...</s>TWITTY: They're not lying to me. I don't know why they're lying to the authorities. I don't know why.</s>PENHAUL: The police commissioner told me this morning that the information leading to Steve Croes' arrest did come from a lead provided by one of the three young boys, or one of the three young men, rather, who have been suspects and been arrested about 10 days ago now. But, of course, we do know that those three suspects have provided false leads in the past. In fact, it was their information that led to the arrest of two security guards who were the first to be arrested but later released -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. Our Karl Penhaul working that story live from Aruba. Thank you so much, Karl. And I just want to add I'm getting word that Beth Holloway Twitty, of course the mother of Natalee Holloway, will join Anderson cooper, 7:00 p.m. tonight. Well, video of al Qaeda's number two. Al-Jazeera has just broadcast what it says are new images of Ayman al-Zawarhiri. In the video, Al-Jazeera says that the deputy al Qaeda leader criticizes U.S. reform -- well, plans, rather, for the Middle East. And for some more insight into what all that means, I'm joined now by CNN Senior Arab Affairs Editor Octavia Nasr. First of all, let's set up and remind viewers, al-Zawarhiri, of course, physician, best friend to Osama bin Laden.</s>OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SR. ARAB AFFAIRS EDITOR: And possibly his personal doctor. And he's also been hiding, some say, with him. It is believed that they are hiding in some remote areas on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Of course there's no way to confirm where this man is, but look at this video. This is a crisp video, compared to older videos from Zawarhiri. The background is a bit different. The man himself looks a little bit better than last time we saw him, which was back in February. His cheeks are rosy, he looks like he's gained some weight. He looks healthier. But again, you look at him, he's comfortable, he's relaxed. He's speaking directly to the camera. Also, the image of that camera is a little bit better than the images that we've seen before. One other video-wise note here. In the video that we saw in February, he had like a shawl on. Obviously, it was a little colder wherever he is, and now he feels that -- the dress itself is exactly the same, with that white turban on the head and the sort of Pakistani garb that he's wearing -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: So what has he said about al Qaeda, the activities of al Qaeda? What's happening now in the Middle East.</s>NASR: What he said is not really earth-shattering, no big news out of it. At least what we know, what we think he said, according to Al-Jazeera, Al-Jazeera summarized his speech, basically, and we are awaiting the airing of some sound from Zawahiri coming up in about 30 minutes. And we will bring that to our viewers as soon as we have it available. But basically, the summary is that he, first of all, criticized the U.S.' proposal for reform in the Middle East, which is nothing new for Zawarhiri. He's done that -- he's done exactly that, as a matter of fact, in February. He criticized apparently the governments of Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. This is something that observers usually pay attention to. The governments that he criticized, him, or bin Laden, in this case, mean that you have to expect some kind of attack against them. He also told the Palestinians, apparently, that they shouldn't be drawn into this game of elections. And also, he talked about some demonstrations that took place and not long ago in Egypt, where women were assaulted at demonstrations, anti-government demonstrations. So he's trying, basically, to give us a date on when this was taped. But he definitely, if what Al-Jazeera said is true, that means he left it vague and no specifics, and really no big news.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. Keep us updated. Octavia Nasr. Thank you so much. Well, mortars, bombs, gunfire and suicide attacks all responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. troops since the beginning of the war in Iraq. But the U.S. military says two of those deaths happened at the hands of a fellow soldier. He's now charged in what investigators call a case of fragging, a soldier killing his superiors. CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us now live from Washington -- Kathleen.</s>KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it's a sad story, and military officials aren't yet saying anything about what may have prompted these killings. Thirty-eight-year-old Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez -- he's a supply specialist from Troy, New York -- is charged with killing both his company commander and operations officer last week in Tikrit at the 492nd Infantry Division's base there in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. Captain Phillip Esposito and 1st Lieutenant Louis Allen died in an explosion in their office while going over the next day's missions. And initially it was blamed on a mortar round, but the Army looked more closely and launched a criminal investigation after determing that the blast pattern was inconsistent with a mortar attack. Now, they're not saying what type of weapon they believe was used, but only that it was something larger than a grenade. Martinez's friends in New York were shocked to learn of the charges.</s>BARBARA PREBOSS, FAMILY FRIEND: It's a sad situation. I'm just in awe. What could ever cause a young man to want to take the lives of two of his comrades? It's -- I hope it isn't so.</s>KOCH: Martinez joined the New York National Guard back in December of 1990, and he deployed with his unit to Iraq in May of 2004. Now, right now, Kyra, he's being held in a military confinement center in Kuwait.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. Kathleen Koch. Thanks for the update.</s>KOCH: You bet.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, a new offensive in Iraq aimed at taking out insurgents holed up just five miles from the Syrian border, it's said to be a no holds barred mission involving about a thousand troops, U.S. Marines, sailors and Iraqis. The city is Karabila, and it's focus of what's been dubbed "Operation Spear." U.S. Marines tell CNN's Jane Arraf they're using every weapon in their arsenal and count at least 30 insurgents killed so far. They estimate 100 foreign fighters are holed up there. Well, a check "Across America" now. California shaken again. Two more earthquakes hit the state yesterday for a total of four this week. One measured 4.9 magnitude in southern California. The other 6.6 in northern California. There were no reports of damages or injuries. A former Ku Klux Klan leader accused in the three civil rights era killings is back in a Mississippi courtroom today. Eighty-year- old Edgar Ray Killen was hospitalized for high blood pressure yesterday on the opening day of testimony. In San Jose, California, police say an accused child molester may have victimized hundreds of boys. Sixty-three-year-old Dean Schwartzmiller faces multiple counts of abusing children under 14. Police say they found a handwritten list with more than 36,000 entries in Schwartzmiller's home. They're asking for help in identifying apparent victims. Well, the child molestation case is being called horrendous by authorities. They say Dean Schwartzmiller may have even been operating a Web site to lure victims. For more on the case, we're joined by Lieutenant Scott Cornfield with the San Jose Police Department. And sir, you're the commander actually of the exploitation unit there at San Jose Police Department. Is that right?</s>LT. SCOTT CORNFIELD, SAN JOSE POLICE: That's correct.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, it's a pleasure to have you with us. Not a pleasure to talk about this story. But I know that you want victims to come forward and help you with this case, but put into perspective how big of a case this is. When I was talking to some of your investigators -- I mean, I remember Jeffrey Dahmer and that case rocking the nation. This could possibly be the worst yet.</s>CORNFIELD: Yes, it's quite possible that if, as I've said before, even a small fraction of the names listed in his volumes are an accurate representation of the children he's molested, then he could be one of, if not the most, prolific sexual predators that we have ever seen.</s>PHILLIPS: Now, tell me what the most disturbing part of this investigation. Tell me about these notebooks and what were in these notebooks.</s>CORNFIELD: Yes, that's clearly the most disturbing part of this whole thing, is the sheer volume. We had seven binders, seven spiral note books, 140, 150 pages. Both sides written, handwritten names from top to bottom. Some of the pages had titles on them like "Boys under 12," "Boys under 14," "Boys I Performed Specific Sex Acts With." Lots of name. Unfortunately, not last names with most of them. Some were nicknames, some locations. And we don't know if that's a location of where a crime took place or where the child was from. But when you add it all up, you come up with approximately 36,000 entries. And we realize some of these names have been duplicated a number of times, but, again, even a small percentage of that would be astronomical.</s>PHILLIPS: Thirty-six thousand entries. Now, how many young children do you believe truly were molested within that number of 36,000?</s>CORNFIELD: Really, really difficult to know at this point. But we know we're looking at a lot of names over a long period of time. Based on some of his own writings, it looks like we're going back perhaps more than 30 years, 35 years or more. So we could be looking at hundreds, if not thousands. I don't think it would be out of the question.</s>PHILLIPS: Now, Commander, here is the thing that literally blows me away, that this man was convicted 30 years ago of molestation, correct?</s>CORNFIELD: Yes.</s>PHILLIPS: How does somebody -- I'm sorry, go ahead.</s>CORNFIELD: You're right, 19 -- I think 1975 he had a conviction. So it goes way back.</s>PHILLIPS: Sure. So here we ask -- herein lies the confusion. This man was convicted 30 years ago. All of these years he's been moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, allegedly molesting hundreds, possibly thousands of children. You just have to ask, how can somebody like this be on the loose?</s>CORNFIELD: Well, I think there are a lot of reasons for it. I think one of the best things that we can look to now is that we are treating these kinds of cases far differently today than we did 30 years ago. You know, sentencing laws are much better today, and I think police departments around the country are much better equipped to deal with these kinds of offenders. I have in my particular unit, you know, we have a unit dedicated just to monitoring these sex offenders. And in California, we have a pretty good reputation of being one of the top units that just does that. I have five officers, and that's all they do is monitor these sex offenders. We didn't have units like that 30 years ago. So I think that's a big step in the right direction. But I think some of the same behavior you see today you saw then, and that includes things like neighbors making comments like, "Well, it seems a little strange," but no one said anything or did anything. That's the kind of thing that allows it to happen.</s>PHILLIPS: Sure. And in addition to the efforts that you are making -- and exploitation unit is a prime example of how things have changed and how important a unit like that is -- also, registration and Megan's Law. We can't forget that. But, for someone like this, he's not going to register.</s>CORNFIELD: Well, perhaps not. But those are the people that we arrest very quickly in California. If they come out of prison and they don't register, we get a list instantly when they're released and we go find them. And most of these folks are pretty easy to find because they know when they come out they're on parole. And they know that if they don't report, they go right back to prison. So most of the folks who come out, we know who they are. And we get them registered right away. Now, if they don't maintain those registration requirements and we find out about it, they go to jail. But that doesn't happen in all cases.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, it's fantastic that this man is behind bars. But I want to plug real quickly, because I know you want to hear from victims, two phone numbers to the San Jose Police Department's child exploitation division. We've got that number, and also, if you want to remain anonymous, you can also call the crime stopper number. Just real quickly, sir, as we wrap up, you really want to hear from these victims.</s>CORNFIELD: Yes. It's critically important that we hear from the victims, not only to make the best case we can against Mr. Schwartzmiller, but also it's a great part of the healing process for the victims themselves to actually acknowledge to someone that this happened to them and to come to us for help, or wherever they may be. Critically important that they get hope and they are able to move on and recover from something like. And many people are waiting to hear that other people are coming forward. We know that that happens, too. And fortunately, thanks to this kind of coverage, we're getting those phone calls. We've received calls already from Oregon, Alaska, I think Idaho. We're getting calls from a number of states from former victims. And that's critically important to us, and again, it helps the victims recover as well. So, please, we ask people to take a good picture -- take a good look at the picture.</s>PHILLIPS: Absolutely. We'll take that picture one more time. Lieutenant Scott Cornfield, San Jose Police Department. I can promise you it's a story that we will stay on top of. We salute you for the arrest. Thank you so much for your time today.</s>CORNFIELD: Well, thank you. We appreciate it.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, intense moments in the midst of war. The sights and sounds of an actual tank battle in Iraq. We're going to talk with the captain who was in the middle of the action straight ahead. And braver in the line of duty. A National Guard soldier from Kentucky becomes the first woman to get a Silver Star since World War II. She shares her story straight ahead.