'Scarborough Country' for July 18

JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: Tonight‘s top headline: There is a new clue in Aruba that could be the answer Natalee‘s family has been waiting for.
 
Four strands of hair now being analyzed by Dutch authorities and the FBI, could they break open the mystery of Natalee Holloway‘s disappearance? Plus, this dramatic encounter between Natalee‘s dad and the parents of prime suspect Joran Van Der Sloot. We‘re live in Aruba. And we are going to have all the details.

SCARBOROUGH: This is a remarkable story. Good evening.
 
You know, it has been seven weeks since Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway disappeared from her high school trip in Aruba. Now there is what some are calling a potentially major find in this case.
 
Let‘s go live to Aruba right now and talk to NBC News‘s Michelle Kosinski.
 
Michelle, good evening.

SCARBOROUGH: Talk about the latest developments in Natalee‘s case.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know investigators here and in the states are testing strands of hair found on a piece of duct tape in a national park by the park ranger. He said he saw it in a cove by the water.
 
When he looked at it, it had four strands on it, two of them blonde and two a bit darker. Usually, he said he would throw something like this away. But, in this case, given what has been going on, on this island for weeks, he just couldn‘t ignore it this time.

SCARBOROUGH: You know, there is—there is actually, also, some reports coming in. You were talking about—or, we talked about at the top a meeting this weekend between the prime suspect‘s father and Natalee‘s father. What can you tell us about what went on?

KOSINSKI: It was really remarkable to see this happen, and it was completely unexpected.
 
Dave Holloway, Natalee‘s father, left the island this afternoon. But he said, before he left, he had one thing in mind that he wanted to do, given there is no sign of his daughter. He wanted to talk to the key suspect in her disappearance, Joran Van Der Sloot, face-to-face. So, he heads down to the jail, tries to gain access. And, as he is there, Joran‘s parents are coming out.
 
So, they meet. They clasp hands. And the whole time, they are holding hands and talking to each other. Dave Holloway told us that Joran‘s parents, actually, the mother wanted him to talk to their son and she said that Joran wanted to talk to him. But the father didn‘t want that to happen until after the investigation is over.
 
And he says that they started talking about their son‘s mental state, that he feels tortured. They said he hates himself, that he cries and that he feels stupid for leaving Natalee alone on the beach the morning she disappeared. But they say that he denies hurting her in any way. Dave Holloway also told us that Paulus Van Der Sloot, the father, denies ever telling any of these three suspects, no body, no case, and that he denies that anybody in his family had anything to do with Natalee‘s disappearance.

SCARBOROUGH: You know, I want to ask, if my staff can once again role those images, because, Michelle, while you were talking, we were seeing pictures of the meetings between the fathers. And it looks like—we saw hugs.
 
But, also, the father gave Joran‘s father, I understand, what, a Bible and “The Purpose-Driven Life,” gave him a couple of books.

KOSINSKI: Right.

KOSINSKI: Go ahead.

SCARBOROUGH: Go ahead. Tell us—no, tell us about that.

KOSINSKI: Well, he brought the books with him, wasn‘t sure how that would go over. He brought three books, one of which is the Bible and “A Purpose-Driven Life.” Another is a book written by a spiritualist. And he offered these to the parents. And they willingly took them and thanked him.
 
And, at this point, Dave Holloway said, Paulus Van Der Sloot had broke down and cried. They hugged each other, as you saw. And then he offers them these books. And they said, well, Joran already has a Bible in jail and he has been reading it. But they accepted the other two books and said thank you very much.
 
And then these two families just walked their separate ways. But Dave Holloway did tell us, he is not done trying. He still wants to come back to this island and try once again. That would be the fourth time now to try to talk to Joran man-to-man, as he put it.

DAVE HOLLOWAY, FATHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: The last word was, you got have to understand, this is my son, and I will do anything for my son. And with that, you know, my confidence level was not very high with him.

KOSINSKI: Of course, any bit of evidence that is presented, whatever it will come to, is very important to the Holloway family. They are really desperate for any clues in this case.
 
So, when this tape turns up with hairs on it, yes, that could be something significant. And that is why it is being tested as we speak.

SCARBOROUGH: All right, thanks so much, Michelle. We always—we always appreciate you coming on and getting us up-to-date in this case that so many Americans are following.
 
We really appreciate it.
 
I want to go now to Natalee‘s uncle, Paul Reynolds.
 
Paul, thanks a lot for being back with us today.
 
I‘ve got to ask, what is the family‘s reaction to this evidence found on the beach that actually could lead you all to at least give you some insight on what happened to Natalee?

PAUL REYNOLDS, UNCLE OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: We are certainly very interested in the evidence, or finding out if it is evidence.
 
But we are not—we‘re not sure where it will lead us. But we want to follow up on every lead and every bit of information that we can find and see where it leads us. The main thing is that we are just very encouraged by the fact that people are still looking, and that the park ranger was looking, that he is thinking about it. And we have heard reports that tourists are still looking.
 
So, we are encouraged by—by the fact that everyone wants to find her and wants to find out what happened.

SCARBOROUGH: Have you talked to Beth recently, since they found this evidence?

REYNOLDS: I spoke to her this morning. And, you know, of course, she is also interested in it. We are anxious to find out, you know, what is determined after it has been researched and tested.
 
But we are trying to avoid all the highs and lows that we have experienced over the last seven weeks. We are trying to stay level-headed and focused on our objective. And that is finding out where Natalee is.

SCARBOROUGH: Boy, that has got to be so tough, having the ups and the downs and, again, finding yourself in this catch-22 position, where you want to know what happened to Natalee. But at the same time, when you open up a barrel, you certainly don‘t want to find Natalee inside of there dead.
 
And, in the case of the hair, obviously, if it‘s her hair on the duct tape, also, that is very bad news. But, again, at least there is possibly some closure there.
 
I have got to ask you a question. You know, you have been critical, as I have—I have been a lot more critical than you and just about anybody else following this case—about Dutch authorities, about Aruban authorities and how they have handled this case, how they have botched it, how I think that they have actually engaged in a cover-up.
 
Do you trust the Dutch authorities to handle this evidence carefully and to have a thorough investigation to see if it is in fact Natalee‘s hair on that duct tape?

REYNOLDS: Well, as we have talked about, we have had some concerns about the investigation.
 
You know, this—that has nothing to do with the Aruban people, who have been overwhelmingly gracious to us, who have helped in the searches. You know, I think the spirit of the island is a great force.
 
But we have been concerned about certain things in the investigation. But, you know, at this point, I‘m optimistic about some of the things I‘m seeing. We are seeing an increase in responsiveness. And we‘re hoping that what we see is a dedication towards resolving this case. And we are going to try to keep our hopes up and hope that we can make some progress here.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, I‘ll tell you what, Paul. That is great news tonight, hearing that you are feeling a little more positive tonight about the way the investigation is moving forward.
 
Obviously, we have all been greatly concerned. Thank you for being with us again tonight. Look forward to getting an update tomorrow with you.
 
Let‘s bring in now criminal defense attorney Larry Pozner and former FBI profiler Candice DeLong.
 
Candice, I want to start with you.
 
You know, I remember when the runaway bride got out of town, went to Vegas. We didn‘t know where she was going, but they found some hair cut in a parking lot. Remember, everybody just laughed when people were trying to tie that with her. It ended up—it ended up actually it was her hair. This obviously also is a long shot. But let‘s just assume—let‘s just assume this is her hair on the duct tape. What does that mean?

CANDICE DELONG, FORMER FBI PROFILER: Well, if that is her hair on the duct tape, and the police—well, one thing that occurred to me is that, possibly, if those hairs indicate that they were pulled out and they are on the duct tape, you know, as if the duct tape was being removed from her and got some of her hairs, that speaks to premeditation.
 
Someone brought duct tape with them to do whatever it was, whatever interaction they were going to have with her is one possibility. If the police can tie that duct tape to the suspect in any way, his home, his car or himself, case over.

SCARBOROUGH: I was just going ask—I was just going to actually ask you that, because, obviously, what the Dutch authorities, what the FBI are looking at right now, is, they are looking to see if this is Natalee‘s hair.
 
But if it is Natalee‘s hair, that really doesn‘t nail Van Der Sloot, doesn‘t nail the two Kalpoe brothers.

DELONG: No.

SCARBOROUGH: How do you tie the duct tape together with Van Der Sloot or the Kalpoe brothers?

DELONG: Well, it would be easy to do if, in their searches, they found duct tape in the car or the home or anything, anyplace where they were able to put any of the suspects. But let‘s not...

SCARBOROUGH: It is a fairly—obviously, it‘s a fairly common household—household possession that you have.

DELONG: Yes.

SCARBOROUGH: I mean, what—you do—what do you do, duct tape testing?

DELONG: Yes.
 
And duct tape can be—there‘s a variety of ways they can test it. If they find the original role, if they find other pieces of duct tape that match that type of duct tape that they found—whoever this forestry officer was that found on the beach. There is a variety of things they can do, not the least of which there may be there—you said there were two blonde hairs on the duct tape and two dark hairs. Who are the two dark hairs?
 
Are they able to—it is not an identical match, by the way, not like a fingerprint. The best they can say is similar, dissimilar, inconclusive. If they were to find a fingerprint on that duct tape belonging to any of the suspects, once again, case closed.

SCARBOROUGH: Yes.

DELONG: And, like I said, that would speak to premeditation.

SCARBOROUGH: It is all over.