Guest: Chris Dudley, Danny Coulson, Linda Allison, Jennifer Johnson
JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: Tonight's top headline, as you know, the manhunt in Middle America is on. The fugitives' van found near a Kentucky hotel and authorities now may be minutes behind the cop killers. We are going to have all the latest news.
Then, exclusive new information from Turkey in our SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY investigation into missing newlywed George Smith IV, what the Turkish authorities found, what the people nearby heard, details you won't hear anywhere else.
Welcome to SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY, no passport required and only common sense allowed.
ANNOUNCER: From the press room, to the courtroom, to the halls of Congress, Joe Scarborough has seen it all. Welcome to SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY.
SCARBOROUGH: Good evening, and welcome to the show. We are going to get right to our breaking news in a minute, and, later on, of course, incredible new exclusive details about missing honeymooner George Smith IV, again, information you are not going to hear anywhere else.
We went to the port in Turkey where the investigation began, and, tonight, exclusive new details about the case that we have uncovered, details seen only here. And that's just minutes away.
But first, flash news. The stolen van used by the fugitive couple in Tuesday's deadly escape at a Tennessee courthouse, well, it's found nearly 300 miles away, due north, in a motel in Kentucky. Authorities believe they could have been minutes behind the pair. And now the national manhunt across Middle America continues frantically tonight, more than 36 hours after convict George Hyatte escaped with his wife, Jennifer, who shot and killed a corrections officer in Kingston, Tennessee.
Now, for the very latest, let's go to our reporter Sheree Paolello. She's from our affiliate WLWT. And she is at the motel in Erlanger, Kentucky.
Sheree, what do you have?
SHEREE PAOLELLO, WLWT REPORTER: Well, this is a motel, quiet little motel, about 15 miles south of Cincinnati, Ohio.
And just a couple of hours ago, police got the tip they had been waiting for, this wanted couple apparently hiding out in this Econo Lodge behind me here. And, within minutes, as you can imagine, police had the place surrounded and were busting into room 111 here. Unfortunately, though, George and Jennifer Hyatte had already split, but they left behind some key evidence, Joe, blood found in the room.
Then that gold stolen van that everyone had been searching for was found in a parking lot next door. Now, right now, police have taken that van in as evidence, as well as they have been searching this room throughout the night here. Of course, all of that is going to be evidence, but, unfortunately, this wanted team on the run, again, and the manhunt continues out here. And the question now, where are they now? -- Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: Sheree, let me ask you, I mean, from the very beginning, many people have believed that it was the woman who was injured, that may have been bleeding. Do we have any new information tonight that possibly it could have been George?
PAOLELLO: Well, I just actually got done talking with some witnesses. Last night—I want to show you, if you will here, if you can move with me, right next door is a Speedway gas station over here.
Now, this couple had gone over here just to get something to drink. They knew nothing about what had happened in Tennessee, when they were approached by this couple, unknowingly that it was George and Jennifer Hyatte. Apparently, they were asking for some directions to the White Castle, maybe even the Kroger.
And then it wasn't until today that they saw our report and said, oh, my goodness, that's—those are the people that we saw. Now, apparently, federal agents came up to them and said, have you seen these people? And they said, yes, that was them. But what they said was, Jennifer apparently had dyed her hair black and that it was George who was injured. She said that he had his hand all bandaged up. So, it didn't appear to them, at least, that Jennifer was the one injured.
Now, of course, police are still taking all of this in. They do believe that these witnesses are reliable, but all of this is just so new. They are trying to track down all of these leads, including new leads coming in that they may have taken off in yet another stolen vehicle. The question again, where are they now? Police just trying to track down all of these leads—Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: So, Sheree, you are telling us that, from what you have learn, it is possible that they are trying to change how they look, change their identity, so they can continue on.
Can you tell us what the police in that area—what are they doing right now? Are they—are they searching through the woods with dogs? Are they—are they fanning out? Or do they believe that they have actually gotten into another automobile and left the area?
PAOLELLO: Well, to our surprise, it was quite quickly after we got here that police pretty much had said, look, people in the area can go back into businesses. Everything appears to be safe. So, they apparently have reason to believe that they are long gone from here, police saying that they had left this hotel, and hours have gone by, and they have not returned.
And now they are just tracking down all of those leads. Are they trying to change the way they look? Did they take another stolen car? There have been lots of reports that cars may have been stolen, black, white, you name it, different makes and models. But, right now, police just don't have anything definitive.
They are tracking down all of those right now.
SCARBOROUGH: Sheree, let me ask you, how is the area responding to this? Obviously, a massive manhunt going on throughout Middle America, and now it's come to this community's back door. How are they responding?
PAOLELLO: You can imagine, a lot of the people out here—of course, this happened in Tennessee. We are in Northern Kentucky. They may have heard of it, but they really didn't think anything was going to happen in this area.
So, when they saw all the SWAT teams, U.S. Marshals, federal agents, surrounding this little, fairly low-key Econo Lodge behind me here, they really were quite startled and very frightened, especially those people that said they saw these people last night, this wanted couple, in a little Speedway gas station. So, they were very fearful that they were standing very close to what could possibly be these killers.
SCARBOROUGH: All right.
And, obviously, these killers, like you said, who are now on the run, going due north, armed and extremely dangerous.
Thanks so much, Sheree Paolello. Greatly appreciate it, from NBC affiliate WLWT. Thanks, Sheree.
Now, let's bring in Jennifer Johnson. She is spokesperson for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. And she joins us live from Kingston, Tennessee.
Thank you so much, Jennifer, for being with us tonight.
Some new information coming forward tonight, but let me ask you, first of all, just generally, how would you characterize the investigation right now?
JENNIFER JOHNSON, SPOKESWOMAN, TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: You
know, we are very optimistic.
This all happened, as far as the car sighting and the entry into that motel room, around 6:00 Eastern time. Five hours ago, we didn't have a specific place in the U.S. or even in this area to point people to. Since we have identified that area, we have been inundated, even more so than before, from tips, from people who are in that area. We are piecing all that together as we speak.
I was listening to the reporter before me. She has thrown out a lot of different scenarios. At this stage of the game, we get a lot of conflicting reports, so that's our job at this point, is to sort through those and figure out fact from fiction.
SCARBOROUGH: Are you surprised that they were able to make it almost 300 miles due north from Kingston, Tennessee, from yesterday to today?
JOHNSON: Well, I think, certainly, they have had the time to accomplish that.
You know, they had a jump on everyone, in the sense that this was a surprise, obviously, to the Department Of Corrections, to everyone involved. It was premeditated. They had it planned out. So, they had a lot of thought put into it, obviously. So, I guess, in that respect, it's not that big of a surprise.
SCARBOROUGH: Jennifer, you were talking about having to sort out fact from fiction. Obviously, in any—I would guess, investigation, in any massive manhunt like this, you are going to have a lot of conflicting information.
Let's go over some of the new information that we just heard a minute ago from our reporter, Sheree. First of all, stolen vehicle. She says it's possible that there was a stolen vehicle from this Econo Lodge that they may have taken away with them. Do you have any information on that? Are you receiving that same information right now?
JOHNSON: This is the second time that I have been asked about it. I have not heard anything about a secondary vehicle at the Econo Lodge. Again, they are, as we speak, processing different leads and information.
So, perhaps that information hasn't made it to me yet, but I haven't heard that. One thing I would like to correct, or I guess shoot down as a rumor, is that there's a belief that he is injured. We still believe that she is injured, and I think that was one of the things that was mentioned in the earlier report.
SCARBOROUGH: OK. And, obviously, that would be a big difference from what we have been hearing for the past 24 hours.
Also, we heard the report that she may have been trying to change her appearance. Obviously, if that's the case, it certainly wouldn't be surprising.
Let me ask you, Jennifer, right now, obviously, they have moved from Tennessee up into Kentucky. But because, of course, there was a Tennessee law enforcement officer that was gunned down and killed yesterday, you all will still remain active in this investigation, correct?
JOHNSON: Yes, we will.
You know, this is a cooperative effort between the TBI, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Kentucky State Police, who were involved this afternoon. And wherever we track these people, local law enforcement will also assist. So, while the TBI is still the agency that is receiving all of the information, I guess we are the hub, so to speak, for all this information, we are by no means doing this by ourselves.
And I hope that people get the impression—or I hope they don't get that impression.
SCARBOROUGH: So—so, what can you tell us about what happens next in this investigation? You—again, you—you have got this sighting today. Obviously, you all aren't going to just sit back and wait for another sighting of an automobile. What is the next step in this process?
JOHNSON: Well, there are a lot of different behind-the-scenes things that are going on that I wouldn't be at liberty to really talk about, because, certainly, it might tip their hand. But what I can say is that we are still receiving about 35 to 40 and upwards of that leads per hour.
Many of those are centralized to the Kentucky-Ohio area. So, we do believe that the public is hearing this. They—they realize that the car has been found there, and they are playing a vital role in this. In fact, the way we found out about the car was from a tip that was phoned in by a member of the public.
SCARBOROUGH: Now, obviously, we don't want to frighten anybody on this show. Certainly, I know you all don't and law enforcement doesn't. But what do you tell people in Middle America that live in Ohio or Kentucky or Tennessee or west—or any of these surrounding areas? Any warnings about this couple going—again, they covered 300 miles yesterday. They may be in another stolen vehicle tonight going somewhere else.
Should people in Middle America lock—lock themselves inside, be concerned about sending their kids to school? What is the risk assessment here? How do you remain reasonable in the face of these—again, these runaway murderers?
JOHNSON: Well, it's a tough situation.
You know what, though? There are dangerous people around us every day, and we can't become scared or paranoid. I think what I have really been trying to impress upon people is, if they come into contact with them, say, in a convenience food store on a one-on-one basis, they really need to call 911. We want to get them help immediately.
And I think by doing—by calling 911, they will be able to accomplish that. If they have seen them and they perhaps see it on the news later and feel like this—these are the same two individuals, then we would encourage them to call the 1-800-TBI-FIND number.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Thanks so much, Jennifer Johnson.
JOHNSON: Thank you.
SCARBOROUGH: We greatly appreciate you being with us tonight.
JOHNSON: Thanks.
SCARBOROUGH: Talking about this manhunt. Again, friends, we are talking about this manhunt across Middle America, a remarkable—a remarkable report earlier tonight on this show, again, reports that these people may have changed their appearances, that they may have gotten into another stolen vehicle. That's certainly the word on the scene up in Erlanger, Kentucky.
And also—and, again, there's going to be a lot of fact, a lot of fiction flying around there, but also a report tonight that it may—and we have to repeat—may have been the man who got injured in the shoot-out as they ran away from the courthouse in Kingston, Tennessee, yesterday.
Obviously, we are going to continue to monitor late developments in this case. Reports earlier tonight, again, that authorities believe they may be minutes behind these people. The chase is on across Middle America. And when we get any information, we are going to pass it on to you immediately.
And coming up next, the very latest live from Aruba. Should police stop interrogating the main suspect, the Dutch boy in this case? Wait until you hear why his lawyers are saying, yes, they really need to cut Joran some slack. All the latest developments coming up.
Plus, secrets half-a-world away in Turkey, well, they may hold the key to what really happened to American honeymooner George Smith. Tonight, an exclusive SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY investigation inside. We will show you a side of this mystery you haven't seen yet.
It's a busy night tonight in SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY. We are just getting started, so stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCARBOROUGH: The very latest from Aruba, and you are not going to believe it, courthouse filings today, and Joran's lawyers claiming that the Dutch boy's human rights were being violated. You kidding me?
We will have that and a lot more when SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCARBOROUGH: Joran van der Sloot got a break from the interrogation today. Dutch authorities have been hammering this punk over the past couple weeks. But he goes to court now to claim that his human rights are being violated. Oh, really?
Meanwhile, a new battle is brewing between Natalee's mom and a key suspect. We brought you that story last night.
But, for all the latest developments tonight and what's happening now in the Natalee Holloway case, let's go live to Aruba and NBC's Michelle Kosinski.
Michelle, what do you have for us tonight?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Joe.
You are right. The action was definitely in the courthouse today. First of all, defense attorneys are still fighting the FBI's involvement in this case. They don't want prosecutors just opening up their files and evidence to the FBI. So, once again, they are going before the appeals court and saying, keep the FBI out.
Also, Joran van der Sloot's attorney had his own ideas today, trying to stop the interrogation that's been going on nearly every single day, before Dutch experts. And we haven't really known. The big question has been, what has been going on in that room? Every day, we see him brought from the police department.
Well, what we have been told is, he has been exercising his right to silence. He is not telling these experts anything. Well, his attorney has been fighting it for weeks, regardless. He says, hey, everything this kid has to say to police, he has already told them. But now he is telling us a little bit more.
And without going into details about those methods, which is, of course, what everybody wants to know, he's saying that the way they are doing this interrogation is to make him crack, that they want to see him, as he put it, frustrate his right to silence. In fact, his attorney is saying that not only are these methods violating his right to silence, they are violating his human rights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO CARLO, ATTORNEY FOR JORAN VAN DER SLOOT: Again, we argued that, you know, we oppose the intensity and the form that the interrogations are now being conducted, because we believe, in our opinion, that they are obviously aimed at trying to break the silence, or break the exercise—or frustrate the exercise of our client of his rights to remain silent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: And the courtroom has also become a sort of unwelcome arena for communication between one of the suspects, Deepak Kalpoe, and Natalee's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty.
She confronted him at his workplace the other day, asked him a lot of questions. Well, he didn't respond to the questions, according to her, but he did respond by going to police, filing a formal police complaint for harassment against her. Well, now she is thinking about filing a complaint against him. She is accusing him of lying about the whole thing—back to you.
(LAUGHTER)
SCARBOROUGH: A little back-and-forth there, Michelle.
What do legal experts tell you down there about the possibility that the court is going to listen to Kalpoe's complaint, this—this harassment charge? Any possibility at all that Beth Holloway Twitty is going to face any kind of repercussions from the Aruba court?
KOSINSKI: Well, I think Kalpoe's attorneys would like to see something happen.
Maybe they were just going to send a message, but today, outside the courthouse, they were fired up about it. They say Deepak feels like he was threatened and harassed. And we have been told that, in that complaint, he alleges that she was yelling at him, using profanity. She denies that she did that. And what we were able to see, the conversation seemed to be pretty tame between the two of them.
But legal experts say they don't see much of this complaint. At the most, police might try to intervene or warn her if she were to show up and keep questioning him. But it's not something that would lead to an arrest, unless she really went overboard and tried to question him repeatedly, even after the police intervened the first time.
SCARBOROUGH: All right, NBC's Michelle Kosinski, thanks so much for the report. We really appreciate it.
Now I want to get the family's reaction on today's events in Aruba.
With me now from Memphis is Natalee's aunt, Linda Allison.
Linda, I have got two different things I want to talk to you about. I mean, these guys sound like wimps. First of all, they are scared of a skinny Alabama mama that comes into their place of work. And they run to the police, claiming harassment. Now Joran is whining about his human rights being violated. Let's take those one at a time.
What do you think about Joran van der Sloot complaining about his human rights being violated?
LINDA ALLISON, AUNT OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Well, it just amazes me when I hear those kind of reports that Joran is complaining about his human rights being violated, when, obviously, Natalee is the victim in this case, and it's—where are her rights in all this?
This young lady was supposed to be going back to the Holiday Inn that night, and she didn't make it there, and those three boys are responsible for her whereabouts. And—and—and we just hope that he is going to break down eventually and talk.
And we did hear from the FBI today, and that he was not cooperating with the police. He was not talking at all.
SCARBOROUGH: You know, Linda, that's the thing I think that bother—that has to bother the family the most, but bothers everybody that's following this case.
I have yet to meet a person that doesn't think that those three boys know exactly what happened to Natalee that night, know exactly where Natalee was last seen with them, and, yet, they are not talking. What—what is the next step for you all?
ALLISON: I don't know, just hope that these Dutch authorities that are the behaviorists can get some type of information out of Joran.
I think Deepak needs to take a long, hard look at himself in the mirror and decide what he needs to be doing. If he is approached by a mother who is needing answers and he feels very threatened by her, again, when we look at—look at what he is saying about being stalked, he needs to look at himself in the mirror and determine, was he actually the stalker in this case?
SCARBOROUGH: What's the family's response been to the fact that here you have a mother, again, going out, trying to get answers about her missing daughter, desperately trying to find out what happened, and yet she actually has a complaint filed against her by one of the key suspects?
ALLISON: It—it—again, this kind of behavior just amazes me, that they would go to this extent. And it just to me shows, with his demeanor that he had that day in the Internet cafe, where he wouldn't respond to her, would hardly—I don't think he even looked her in the eye.
He had every opportunity right then and there to say to Beth, I had nothing to do with Natalee's disappearance. And, instead, he—he keeps his head down and refuses to say much of anything, other than he cannot talk to her.
SCARBOROUGH: Won't—and won't even look her—look her in the eye.
I am curious. A couple of weeks ago, we had you on—speaking of Internet cafes, we had you on. You were talking about a Web site you wanted to set up...
ALLISON: Yes.
SCARBOROUGH: ... to ask young women who had visited Aruba if they had any experience of the—experiences with Joran being overly aggressive with them in the bars. Any—any leads at all? Any tips? Any information that you can pass on to authorities or pass on to us tonight?
ALLISON: Well, I have been overwhelmed with hundreds of e-mails every day, some of those being well-wishers, some of those giving tips to the family.
It's just been overwhelming, that—the response that I have gotten, and I have had difficulty trying to get through this many. And I apologize for those that have asked for me to respond or someone in the family to respond to them, because, again, trying to get through so many, it keeps—
I was up until 2:00 last night trying to get through some of those.
And I have created another e-mail address, independent of this hope_for_Natalee, this hope_for_Natalee@Yahoo.com. I have created one that's investigation_for_Natalee@Yahoo.com And that is for people that actually have evidence that they want to share with the family. Or, again, if anyone had any type of past experience with Joran, I would hope that they would use this new e-mail address and be exclusive only for that.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. All right.
Thank you so much. We greatly appreciate you being with us, Linda Allison.
ALLISON: Thank you, Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: And, obviously, we put those Web sites up. We will continue to have them up on our site. Hopefully, you will get the leads and the information that you need.
ALLISON: Thank you.
SCARBOROUGH: Now, listen, friends, I want you to stay with us, because we are standing by, a possible press conference out of Tennessee, the latest developments on this massive manhunt that's going across Middle America. Obviously, yesterday, it started in Tennessee. It's gone 300 miles north, up into Kentucky, on the border of Ohio, and now it may be moving points north again. We are standing by, a possible press conference for late-breaking information in this massive manhunt across Middle America.
Also, coming up, explosive new details in the missing American honeymooner George Smith IV. We went halfway around the world to Turkey, where our investigation began. New details you haven't heard anywhere else, you will get them here tonight.
And he was in the cabin next door to George Smith, and he is back live exclusively to react to new information and tell us, again, what he saw that night.
More SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCARBOROUGH: We are going to be bringing you the very latest news on the manhunt in Middle America. We are standing by, a possible press conference, law enforcement authorities. A lot of talk out there about late-breaking news coming your way, that when SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY returns.
But, first, here's the latest news that you and your family need to know.
(NEWS BREAK)
SCARBOROUGH: Welcome back to SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY.
As you know, we have been investigating the disappearance of George Smith IV, who , with new bride, Jennifer Hagel, was cruising the Mediterranean, until George disappeared on July 5.
Now, we are going to be getting to that story and going to be talking about our investigation.
But, again, stay with us throughout the hour, because we hear there may be late-breaking news in the manhunt across Middle America. When that information comes in to us, we will immediately pass it on to you.
Right now, we are checking—right now, we are checking to see if there will be any investigations or any press conferences coming out. Reports scattered across Middle America tonight. We are getting them from affiliates, up and down the route.
Of course, as you remember, yesterday, this took place in Kingston, Tennessee. These two people took a 275-mile trek almost due north and made it up until—to the northern boundary of Kentucky. And now reports are that we are starting to get in that they may have continued into central Ohio, again, scattered reports coming in from stations all across America.
We are waiting for a press conference to begin. When that press conference begins in Tennessee, obviously, we will go to it right away.
But, right now, I want to bring in Danny Coulson, Danny, of course, a former FBI agent, somebody who can help us out...
Thank you so much for being with us, Danny...
DANNY COULSON, FORMER FBI AGENT: Thank you, Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: ... and help put context into this.
Now, again, we are hearing reports. We don't want to confirm anything on whether these people may have been taken into custody or not, but we can tell you, again, we are getting reports, in central Ohio right now, that there's a lot of activity going on up there. We are expecting a press conference soon.
And you look at that route going north. T.J., I don't know if we have the map.
Matt, if we can put up the map of the trek that they took yesterday, they go due north 275 miles.
Does it make sense, when you are running this kind of manhunt, Danny, that you continue to assume that they are going to steal another car and continue due north on that same path?
COULSON: Absolutely, Joe.
You can almost bet your bottom dollar that they would take another car. And, hopefully, it wasn't a carjacking. Hopefully, they stole it, because, oftentimes, these individuals just will do a carjacking, take some innocent bystander and take their car. And what that does for them is, it prevents that individual from reporting the theft of their car, so it gives them a big jump.
And they may very well just continue north along the route they were going on, because, remember, right now, whether or not you understand it or not, or we understand it, they are in a panic mode. They were working on adrenaline. That adrenaline is now gone, and they are now panicked. So, it causes them to make a lot of mistakes, and this could be the mistake that breaks the case, and maybe we have caught them.
SCARBOROUGH: Danny, help us. You know, it's so hard for us to get into the minds of these type of people that would gun down an innocent law enforcement officer, like they did yesterday.
But that's what you did for a living. That's what a lot of people in the FBI do for a living. Take us into the mind, because I'm thinking—you and I are sitting here looking and say, well, gee, if they know we went due north over the past 24 hours, we better go east; we better go west; we better circle back and go south. But do these people think logically like that? Like you said, a lot of times, they're working on adrenaline.
COULSON: No, they—no, they don't. Right—yes, right now, you and I are thinking logically about what we would do.
But you have to remember that, when they committed this act, this murderous act, that pumped them up with adrenaline. That absolutely drove them to the highest limits of their—of their being.
Now that adrenaline is gone. And they are in a fatigue mode. It absolutely wears them out to do things like this. And once that adrenaline goes, they still have the pressure of being chased, and that's what makes them make mistakes. Another thing that's very helpful to us is if they stay together. Had they split up, the chances of...
SCARBOROUGH: Danny.
(CROSSTALK)
COULSON: ... would be very small.
SCARBOROUGH: Hold on one second, Danny. Hold on one second, Danny.
We have got breaking news right now.
Our affiliate, our NBC affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, confirming—that's WCMH in Columbus, Ohio, confirming that this couple has been caught.
COULSON: That's very good news.
SCARBOROUGH: And they have been caught in Columbus, in Columbus, Ohio, at a motel. We are going to continue, of course, bringing this information to our viewers as we get it.
And we are anticipating very soon a press conference that's going to be brought to us from Tennessee, of course, Danny, where this began.
Now, of course, again, breaking news, the fugitive couple caught, of course, the two people responsible for the gunning down yesterday of a law enforcement officer in Kingston, Tennessee.
And, Danny, I want to go back to this map, because it underscores what you were saying before these two animals were caught. Again, they go north. You can trace them from Kingston up to Erlanger, Kentucky, and, again, they go 275 miles due north. It's very obvious they crossed over into Ohio, and, like you said, they just continued going on the same route.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Now, when you are conducting this type of manhunt, is that what you do? You say forget the East, forget the West; we know they are going through—through the heart of Ohio?
COULSON: Actually, Joe, you don't exclude anything.
I am sure that the agents, the Marshals, the local police, the sheriff's deputies, are covering every motel, every convenience store, every gas station along the route. And, really, what catches these guys is law enforcement, a big media blitz, like you are doing tonight, like other stations are doing, and the public.
That's what catches all of them, without any doubt. It's very much like the Amber Alert system. We recover a lot of missing children, because of the Amber Alert. And that's because of the public doing their job in cooperation with law enforcement and the media, the most indispensable part of the whole equation.
SCARBOROUGH: Now, information that we just got in, Danny, they were caught as a Best Value Inn, again, in Columbus, Ohio, off of Sinclair (ph) Avenue, at 10:00 p.m. tonight, just, again, we are looking at the clock now, about 36, 37 minutes ago.
And, you know, a lot of times, you will hear people criticize the media for following these type of stories. But, like you said, when you have Amber Alerts out there, when you have fugitives on the run out there, it really is—it really is law enforcement teaming up with media that gets the information out there. Then, all of a sudden—I mean, how much easier does it make it, that you have all of these people across Ohio and Middle America that have seen their faces, know exactly what they are looking for?
COULSON: Well, Joe, what it does, it gives you a million eyes out there, and that's exactly what you want.
You know, you can also think back about the bombing in London. The community there helped solve that case because of the publicity given to those surveillance pictures that the London Police Department put out. So, no, it's an indispensable part of the equation. And it is—it works good, and it's also—it shows that we can get dangerous people off the street in a very quick period of time, as long as we all work together and cooperate. And it's a—it's a—it's a—it's a blessing that we have caught these guys.
SCARBOROUGH: No, it sure is.
Hey, Danny, stay with us.
Right now, I want to go down to Kingston, Tennessee, and bring in Rita Cosby.
Rita, obviously, you have been following this story all day. You have got news for us. We are anticipating a press conference soon. And, again, looks like, looking up at the clock, they were apprehended 38 minutes ago in Columbus, Ohio. Tell us what you have.
RITA COSBY, HOST, “RITA COSBY: LIVE & DIRECT”: Well, I can tell you, we are waiting right now to hear from the sheriff, Sheriff David Haggard, who has been following this case from the beginning.
And, in fact, all of a sudden, right when we ended our broadcast, you know, just before your show, about 38 minutes ago, we got a tip from one of the deputies who said, you may want to stick around. We are hearing that they may have been caught.
And then, just about two minutes later, we were told that they were, indeed, found at a Columbus hotel. Now, what we were told, remember, earlier in the night, they tracked them. And they had said that they were just minutes away from them in Erlanger, Kentucky, a little motel in Erlanger, Kentucky.
And we are told that they got a tip. The actually scoured all the rooms. The FBI, four different federal agencies, a number of local agencies just transcended on that hotel. And they believe that they were just a few minutes away from them. They actually said that the gold van, their getaway vehicle, was still parked. It was still hot, that there were some still key items in there. In other words, maybe they knew that they were sort of hot on their trail.
Then they moved on, as it looks like, to Columbus, Ohio. Erlanger, Kentucky, just to give you a sense, Joe, is right on the border, so it's no surprise, because authorities were telling me, the head of the Tennessee Bureau of investigation was telling me, we are scouring Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio.
They had a pretty good idea that, once they got this pickup and got this tip that they were in Erlanger, that they might be in that area, in that border region, trying to cross the border, trying to elude authorities once again.
And, of course, it all started here yesterday, just an incredible day here, Joe. I mean, here we are at the courthouse, where it all began, you know, 9:00 a.m. yesterday morning, inmate George Hyatte, who obviously had a violent history, but his wife, Jennifer Hyatte, did not.
Suddenly, you know, they're talking—I talked to people today. They were talking in the courtroom, chitchatting in front of deputies, things like—looked like it was a fairly normal, routine day at court. He goes in for a hearing. He pleads guilty to assault and robbery, gets sort of a lesser amount because he does this plea deal.
And then everybody thought it was just a routine day, walks out of the door, basically, you can see behind me, and then comes out here into the parking lot. And, apparently, right when he is loading into a van just about 10 feet away from me. His wife suddenly pulls up in this vehicle, opens fire. It was probably about six to seven feet away from this officer, Officer Morgan, who was killed almost immediately, shot several rounds into him. And then they sped off.
And then this started this massive, massive manhunt, which I can tell you, there's a big sigh of relief tonight. Authorities thought they were close to him. You know, earlier in the day, we were just sitting by the command post and hoping and praying that they were this close to him.
And, in fact, on our show, we had Michael Hyatte, the suspect's brother, who came out in just did a tremendously emotional plea, and said, please turn yourself in. I am pleading with you. I am begging with you.
SCARBOROUGH: Rita.
(CROSSTALK)
COSBY: We also had Officer Morgan's children.
SCARBOROUGH: Yes, I will tell you, Rita, that was—it was remarkable moment.
If you can stand by with us, I want to go right now to Chris Dudley.
He is the director of operations for the U.S. Marshals Service.
Mr. Dudley, thank you so much for being with us tonight.
Can you tell us—can you give us the latest information on the end of this massive manhunt across Middle America?
CHRIS DUDLEY, CHIEF OF DOMESTIC OPERATIONS, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE:
Yes. I am chief of domestic operations, not director of operations for the Marshals Service.
But, yet, we had a—an arrest just recently in Columbus, Ohio, with the help of the Columbus P.D., through a lot of work by a lot of people from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and local authorities throughout the Southeast and through the Midwest region. And through a lot of help from a lot of people, we were able to put the two in custody tonight, approximately 20 minutes ago.
SCARBOROUGH: I was going to ask you, Chris, did you receive a lot of tips from people in Columbus? Was there a particular tip that led you? I understand it was a Columbus Best Value Inn. How did you all get on the trail of them, tips from—from eyewitnesses?
DUDLEY: No, you know what? It was a lot of hard, good police work done from—when folks like this are moving so fast across the country and trying to get away, it's not necessarily the local tips. It's tips that come in that we follow up on, and it was just good police work from all the way down to Tennessee, up to Columbus, that led us here.
So it wasn't necessarily a local tip that led us to them in this case.
SCARBOROUGH: Yes, no doubt about that, that everybody has been working together, from everything we have been hearing all day. So many law enforcement agencies have been doing a wonderful job working together on this.
Let me ask you about the end of the manhunt, and when you apprehended the suspects. Any reports of any shooting or any resisting of arrest, or did they surrender peacefully?
DUDLEY: No, it sounded like that, in this case, we were—and, as so often happens, we were able to get ahead of them on this case, and no shots were fired, no officers injured, and both are in custody peacefully tonight. And we will let the juries decide from here what has to happen.
SCARBOROUGH: Chris, we are looking—we are looking at the first images that are being fed in to us right now. This is, again, we are looking at the scene in Columbus, Ohio, where tonight at approximately 10:36, we first got information that these people had been apprehended.
Actually, around 10:0 p.m., they were apprehended. The news broke about 36 minutes later. This is a Best Value Inn in Columbus, Ohio, where, again, according to Chris Dudley, who is with us right now from the U.S. Marshals Service, the suspects were apprehended, and taken into custody without any violence.
Obviously, as you know, these two suspects allegedly responsible for the killing—eyewitnesses say, responsible for the killing of a law enforcement officer in Tennessee.
Chris, let me ask you about this type of investigation. As you have suspects in a manhunt going from Tennessee to Kentucky to Ohio, and, obviously, once they cross state lines, you also have federal officers involved, how difficult is it to coordinate all of these federal agencies and state agencies and local agencies together to apprehend these people before they kill somebody else?
DUDLEY: Well, I will tell you, the amazing thing about law enforcement is that you find that people that care so much about what they are doing, and, in this case, we had an obvious couple of people that we needed to get into custody.
Everybody pulled together. I can't say enough about the way that the local department in Tennessee and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation coordinated this entire investigation. And it just really becomes a matter of law enforcement communication, and that's what makes these things work.
And so, when—when—when folks communicate and when things go right, it happens because people want to work together. And that is—that is truly the story here. So—but communication, working together, and—and that's what makes this work.
SCARBOROUGH: All right, thank you so much, Chris Dudley of the U.S. Marshals Service. We greatly appreciate it. And congratulations to you, your agency, and all the other law enforcement officers out there that tonight gave their all, and obviously brought in two very dangerous people and brought them to justice.
Let's go right now to Ron Mott. He is in Kingston, Tennessee, right now with the very latest.
I understand, Ron, that we are expecting a press conference upcoming.
Can you tell us about it?
RON MOTT, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Well, Joe, what I know is that they are gathering behind me. Excuse me for turning around.
The media assembled behind me on the steps of the courthouse getting ready for the TBI to come out with some sort of confirmation that these two individuals were, indeed, taken into custody north of Columbus, Ohio, along Interstate 71 there. Interstate 71 runs north to the northeast from Columbus up through to Cleveland.
We don't know much about the details of that arrest, that alleged arrest. We are, as you mentioned, Joe, getting confirmation from our NBC affiliate there in Columbus, and we certainly trust and value their news judgment, obviously, that they have confirmation that the two people there are in arrest, that the Hyattes are in arrest.
Now, obviously, if that's the case, we are now dealing with a multijurisdictional situation here. You have got local authorities here in Roane County. Kentucky—you have got a potential crime scene in Ohio and also in Kentucky.
So, the next couple of days perhaps you are going to see some legal maneuverings taking place about who is going to get first crack at hearing these charges and reading these charges to the Hyattes.
Now, we do understand that authorities here in Roane County, Tennessee, filed additional charges, a charge of aiding and abetting, against Mrs. Hyatte, and I believe a charge of abandoning and escaping imprisonment for Mr. Hyatte.
We don't believe that charges for murder have been filed here yet. That perhaps could come as early as tomorrow. So, we are still waiting for that—that information. That is all to come, Joe. Let's send it back to you.
I believe the press conference is getting under way.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Thank you so much, NBC's Ron Mott.
We now go to Kingston, Tennessee. And talking, I believe, or spokesman—is the head of—Mark Gwyn, the head of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Let's go to that press conference right now.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
MARK GWYN, DIRECTOR, TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: They were at a Best Value Inn there in Columbus. Agents with the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, and the local Columbia police apprehended George and Jennifer Hyatte without incident.
We are processing the motel there now for evidence. We have found weapons. We don't know if it's the murder weapon, but we have found weapons. And we're processing those as we speak.
Obviously, we're still—we have agents on the ground. There's probably not a lot I can tell you. But I'll try to answer any questions that you have.
RITA COSBY, MSNBC HOST: Did he say anything? Did he say anything when he was taken into custody?
GWYN: I can't comment on that.
QUESTION: Can you tell us about their injuries, Jennifer and George?
GWYN: I can tell you that Jennifer is injured, but we don't know to what extent yet.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
GWYN: I'll let the marshal speak to bringing them down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry. The next question, please?
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He will make an appearance—should make an appearance tomorrow in federal court in Columbus, Ohio, at which time the UFAP warrant, which has been issued out of this district, will be dismissed. And he'll be turned over to local authorities for extradition back to Tennessee.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
GWYN: Depending upon her medical situation, she will eventually—the same thing should—will happen to her, and she will also eventually be extradited back by the state.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cannot give you a time frame, though.
QUESTION: Can you give us a timeline of what happened tonight?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For that—this evening, around—I guess around 8:00 or so, started getting some information that the suspects were in the Ohio area.
Our deputies were able to get some information, along with the FBI and the local authorities here, and started following up on some leads, which led them to the hotel, where they eventually were arrested.
COSBY: Were they in the hotel room when they actually were, you know, come upon?
GWYN: Yes, they were. They were in the hotel room. And they were apprehended without incident.
COSBY: What was their reaction, Mark?
GWYN: I can't say, but it was without incident. I—I'm sorry.
QUESTION: Was Jennifer brought to the local hospital?
GWYN: I don't have that information right now.
I just would like to say that this is a classic example of when law enforcement cooperates of what can happen. And we had total cooperation between local, state and federal law enforcement. And, if nothing else, we can give the Morgan family some closure to this tragic incident.
QUESTION: How did you learn that they were in the Columbus, Ohio, hotel.
GWYN: We started receiving intelligence that they were in the area, basically started conducting interviews, gathering more intelligence. And through that, the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI was able to determine they were there at the hotel.
COSBY: Was it local tips, or...
GWYN: I'm sorry?
QUESTION: Was there any indication how they got from Erlanger to Columbus? Did they steal another vehicle? Do we know at this point?
GWYN: We can't give out that information at this time. It's an ongoing investigation. We don't want to give out anything that's going to damage the integrity of the investigation.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
GWYN: There are warrants for first-degree murder for both George and Jennifer Hyatte.
QUESTION: Will they be brought back here when they're extradited?
GWYN: At some point, they will be brought back to Roane County to face those charges.
COSBY: Was he in shackles?
GWYN: No, he was not.
COSBY: He was not?
GWYN: Thank you.
SCARBOROUGH: We have been listening to a press conference held in Kingston, Tennessee. That was Mark Gwyn, who is the head of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
You have been looking at some footage also. We have been showing you the footage where—that sort of had a red tint to it. Those are the first images, right there, that have been fed in to us from our local affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. It is a shot of the hotel scene where George and Jennifer Hyatte were apprehended now approximately 52 minutes ago tonight.
And according to the head of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, there are warrants for arrests for both of these people, for George and Jennifer Hyatte, for first-degree murder, and Mark Gwyn promising that they would be brought back to Tennessee to face Tennessee justice.
Let's now go to Rita Cosby, who obviously has been on the scene all day, has just covered this story better than anybody, been talking to the families, and getting the inside scoop on it.
And, Rita, I heard—I heard your voice several times in the press conference. Put it all into context for us tonight, if you can. Just a few hours ago, you had these families hugging each other and crying, and now breaking news tonight, the Hyattes arrested, and soon to be in jail.
COSBY: I can tell you, a lot of relief for both families, because, on my show, they were just pleading for him to turn himself in.
And I—I asked them, do you think that he will do that? And I will tell you, both families, you know, were not optimistic at that point. They were really worried that this could just have a deadly ending, and they kept pleading, look, one person has already died. Let's not have another death.
And, obviously, the good news is that he did come in peacefully, is what we just heard from authorities. Another thing that is surprising too, he didn't have his shackles on. We were showing earlier, he had arm cuffs on. He had leg cuffs on. He also had a waist shackle on, a pretty intricate system that takes a lot to get out of. And you basically have to use a hacksaw or a drill, something pretty difficult, or a key—remember, this woman was a nurse and had some prison contacts—to get out of that.
So, it turns out that, indeed, he was free of those shackles. She has a minor injury, but the good news is that nobody else has been killed, and that they are coming in peacefully. And you can bet all eyes are going to be in Columbus tomorrow, all eyes on this courthouse when they get extradited back to here, Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: Rita, you know, early on, we had heard in the courthouse yesterday—last night, we had somebody on that was in the courthouse at the time, talked about how the wife left the courthouse. And we heard some talk about a third person. Have you heard any talk of that today?
COSBY: Yes, we heard a lot.
In fact, that was one of the questions that actually was not asked at this press conference, and I am going to ask them as soon as I get off the air with you, because even Mark Gwyn—I talked with him earlier in the night. And he still did not rule out that there was a third person, the reason being, remember, when they left the courthouse here, they left in an SUV.
Then they went to a little like mini-mart store not too far from here and then they changed into a gold van. So, speculation is, who got that gold van there? If she drove the van, who might have taken her back home, so she could then get ready to come here again the next day? They believe that there probably might have been some involvement.
But, then, today they were hearing all these sightings of these individuals. And, at that point, they were just hearing that it was George and Jennifer Hyatte spotted first at a location not too far from here, then spotted again four-and-a-half hours north, in Erlanger, Kentucky, and then spotted ultimately in Columbus, Ohio.
So, we will have to find out if, indeed, they do believe someone else was involved or maybe she just planned this all along and had been plotting it for some time and was able to carry it out.
SCARBOROUGH: All right, Rita Cosby, thank you so much. Greatly appreciate it.
And when you get an answer on that third person, if you could, run back and let us know.
COSBY: You got it.
SCARBOROUGH: I know you will be in hot...
COSBY: You got it.
SCARBOROUGH: I know you will be in hot pursuit the second you take off your microphone.
SCARBOROUGH: We are going to go back now to Danny Coulson, former FBI agent.
And, Danny, you—you saw the press conference. I got to tell you, one of the things that strikes me is, again, how ruthlessly efficient these law enforcement agencies were, despite the fact that you had the feds involved. You had Tennessee authorities involved, state, local, county. You could say the same thing about Kentucky and Ohio.
And, yet, they all worked together, ruthlessly, efficiently, to bring these people to justice. Talk about it.
COULSON: Well, hats should be off to all of them.
But you have to remember, Joe, that—that now we have task forces all over the United States. I mean, these guys work together all the time. The Marshals Service, the FBI, local law enforcement, state law enforcement, they work together every day in a variety of different kind of crimes, including terrorism. So, they have the ability to cooperate, and they did a great job here.
And I think it's a credit to them that, even though this individual was involved in such a brutal murder, that they arrested him and took him into custody, and he wasn't injured. That's—that's a credit to them. It's a credit to their professionalism. They arrested a very dangerous individual and didn't shoot him.
And that...
SCARBOROUGH: Yes.
COULSON: That shows how professional they are.
SCARBOROUGH: Boy, it really does.
You know, last night, we had George Hyatte's mother on our show. She called in, talked to us, and said, she believed that law enforcement personnel would gun him down, would kill him.
COULSON: Yes.
SCARBOROUGH: And also kill her daughter-in-law, because they were responsible for the death of a law enforcement officer, but, again, remarkable restraint shown tonight.
I want to show you a map. We have been looking at images right now, Danny, coming in from the hotel in Columbus, Ohio, where the couple was caught. But I want to go to a map right now that traces where the Hyattes have been over the past 24 hours.
They started in Kingston, Ohio. And, over the past 24 hours, they have gone up to Erlanger, Kentucky, again, almost due north, and then it appears they took the interstate that connected Cincinnati, Ohio, which, again, just north of Erlanger, over to central Ohio, in Columbus.
What are your thoughts about the movements that they have made and how predictable those movements have been? It looks like they were heading for Canada, doesn't it?
COULSON: Yes, it could very well be.
Also, they may have sort of an intermediate location where they planned to go. This plan—I'm sorry, this incident had been planned for many weeks, likely. And they may have had some hideout someplace in some rural area, and they were just trying to get there.
And, again, Joe, don't think they were using logic. They were—they were panicked. They were—they were tired and worn out. And we can't think about logic. And I am sure that the law enforcement guys just checked everything. They probably checked east and west, as well as north and south. I know, in some of the investigations I have done, while they do go in a straight line, you—you—you conduct investigations in a—in a big circle, and that's probably what happened here.
I think there's a good possibility here that—that these law enforcement officers may have gone to that motel just to check it out, and found out that they were there. I don't know that they got a tip or not, but I think that's a real good possibility. Good police work. They go to the hotel. They show the pictures, and they—they tell them they are there. I think that's a good possibility of what happened in this case.
SCARBOROUGH: I will tell you what, excellent police work.
Danny Coulson, thank you so much for being with us tonight.
COULSON: Thank you, Joe. It's a pleasure.
SCARBOROUGH: ... and putting proper context into this case.
It obviously started as a tragedy, but, tonight, great news and, really, verification of just how great our men and women in uniform are.
Right now, I want to kick it over to Tucker Carlson for “THE SITUATION
WITH TUCKER CARLSON.”
Obviously, Tucker, breaking news tonight out of Columbus, Ohio. Talk about it.
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, “THE SITUATION”: Thanks, Joe.
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