By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Want Greta's blog delivered directly to your e-mail box? Click here to sign up!
After Tuesday night’s show, as I drove home from work, I called Jim Hammer and we discussed the disappearance of Natalee Holloway (search) for a long time.
We agreed that the prosecutor may have an impossible case but that she is "playing with fire" by not making sure that she talks to Beth Holloway Twitty (search) daily. If she talked to Beth daily, she would have her "under control" which may sound terrible but the last thing a prosecutor wants is for a family member to be mad. It creates all sorts of problems when a family member gets mad — e.g. the family member starts doing his or her own investigation and can get the press fired up, etc. A family member can understand the problems a prosecutor can run into in an investigation — but if the prosecutor does not explain it, imaginations run REAL wild... real wild. Jim and I wondered how this prosecutor could allow herself into this situation since we assume she is experienced — "Just call Beth! Meet with her every day for 10 minutes!"
So what do I do when I drive in to work? I talk on my cell phone like everyone else! Tuesday as I drove in to work, I called my colleague Sean Hannity (search) who I had just been told was in Texas near the border. We talked for a long time as I drove (with an ear piece... it is the law in Washington, D.C.) about how important an issue immigration is — regardless of your views on it — and how hard it is to do a TV show on it. You can't just park a chair on the border and say, "Yup immigration is an issue." If it were that easy, we would sprinkle Texas sand around Sean in his New York set and turn down the lights to make it look nighttime. TV demands much more than location to engage the viewers in the debate and immigration is a particularly hard topic for television. Sean has some fascinating and creative ideas of how to "produce" the show on this topic, so you will want to watch. (And whether you agree with Sean or not on immigration, you should watch... it is often more engaging to watch someone whose ideas you do not agree with! And, if you agree with him, you can nod your head yes as he talks!)
I want to remind you again about our pod casting on our Web site — go to the upper right hand side of www.gretawire.com and you see a box that says "GretaCast." Click on it and follow the instructions. If you use iTunes, you can subscribe to "GretaCast." Go to the Music Store, click on pod cast genre, go to search and type in FOX News and then click on subscribe for the GretaCast.
We hit the road again on Thursday — but at least this time it’s by car. We are doing a roundtrip road trip to Philly — about 150 miles each way — and will be back in our D.C. studio by 10 p.m. I hope to show you the tape of what we learned at 10 p.m. Why are we going? Stay tuned... there will be pictures.
By the way, since from time to time I would like some "good news" ... check out the review of my sister-in-law's book. Her name is Marialisa Calta. Click here and tell me what you think.
Now for some of your e-mails:
E-mail No. 1
I have been following Greta's coverage on the Natalee Holloway case. I think many of the questions Greta is asking of Natalee's mother have not been thought out. I mean, really, why would you ask Beth how she would handle the opening statements if she were a lawyer? Please put yourself in her place before asking a question. She is a grieving mother, give her a break... please. She is in front of the camera's in front of the world at the most horrible time of her life. The stress and exhaustion that she must feel must be overwhelming. And yet, she must stay on the media's good side to keep this story alive night after night. Have some common human decency and ask her some questions that she can easily answer. Think before you ask.
Thank You!
Gail
AL
E-mail No. 2
Greta,
Was wondering if you might be interested in a story?
My sister and nephew recently traveled by Greyhound bus to from Oklahoma to South Dakota to visit me. Aside the terrible experience they had, such as losing their luggage BOTH ways, they shared with me some interesting things that occurred.
With all the security measures being taken at the airports, what happen to the security of these buses? Wasn't there just recently a bus bombed in London? Can it not happen here in the USA?
Apparently, as bus changes are made, the passengers are told to retrieve their own luggage, thus causing passenger to CLIMB underneath the coach to dig out their luggage.
Also, in dropping them off at the station for their return trip, I observed these NON-security measures... the ticket person hands the passengers the tickets for the luggage, never handling the luggage, the bus employee, then directs the passengers to take their bags curbside to wait for their bus to arrive. Upon arrival of the bus, the driver then has the passengers load their own luggage underneath the coach.
Now, don't you think it quite easy for someone, in crawling around underneath the passenger coach to possibly plant an explosive in there? Is it possible that in passengers loading and unloading their own luggage to do the same?
Hope you can do a story on this. I think there are many people who choose, as in my family's case, to travel by bus for fear of the past problems with terrorists on airplanes. I think they should know how unsafe the buses are in this as well.
(Not to mention the fact, the service really sucked! lol)
Thanks!
Kaylea Lockhart
ANSWER: Regrettably, it often takes a crisis for us to do anything.
E-mail No. 3
Greta,
I thought Beth looked very tired and not noticeably upset. (She has every right) It’s just that I have been amazed at her strength over and over appearing on your show. Strength is a good thing, but I really felt sad for her last night. I think the viewers need to see Beth in that light every now and then.
God Bless,
Susan Wilson
Decatur, IL
E-mail No. 4
Hi Greta,
From watching FOX News:
1) There was a fire at the landfill on Aruba this past Saturday, which prevented the new searcher with his talented dog from searching at the landfill over the weekend.
2) The dump bulldozer operator(s) put fresh trash over the "area of interest" at the landfill on Monday (yesterday) covering up the main exploratory hole dug by Jossy Mansur's (spelling) son. On your show last night it was reported that the cops in Aruba can't stop the activities of the landfill folks, even though the landfill is potentially a significant crime scene.
3) Oooooooooops!
4) Hmmmmmmmm?
5) What was the origin of the fire?
6) Has there been a recent BIG deposit to the bank account of the landfill "manager" or dozer operator? Maybe he just got an expensive new car.
7) The "new" search person recorded the GPS coordinates of the "area of interest,” so it is possible to go back and uncover the search area down to the "depth of interest.”
Has there been a stinking cover up?
I watch and enjoy your show. Thank you.
Dave
ID
E-mail No. 5
Greta,
The listeners need to know what happened at the landfill. If you can, please bring attention to the fact that the Aruban government let or had the employees at the landfill fill in the holes that had been dug for two weeks in order to search for Natalee. It is a disgrace.
Nicole
Westport, CT
E-mail No. 6
Hi Greta,
I have been wondering for a couple of months now... is your last name of "Van Susteren" of Dutch origin? If it is, I have also wondered if you have any relatives over there in the Netherlands that could help this Natalee Holloway search along?
Why do you think the female bone is not Natalee's? These guys could have taken it out to sea on that "Tattoo" boat and who knows where parts of her body could end up. Just wondering,
Omaha, NE
ANSWER: Yes, the name Van Susteren is Dutch but I was born here in the United States (and so were my father and grandfather.) I actually have more Irish blood in my body (my mother was 100 percent Irish) than Dutch blood, since my father was not 100 percent Dutch.
E-mail No. 7
Greta,
I saw you throw the first pitch out at Shea Stadium, what an honor it must have been, but I have to say you throw like a girl.
Chris Pantuso
ANSWER: I do not. I will defend myself on this one! I threw from the TOP of the mound — not from in front of the mound — and got it all the way to home plate! The ball went straight into the catcher's mitt and he never moved. I was told the night before I threw out the first pitch at the Mets game, a man threw out the first pitch and bounced it. Hmm. The New York crowd booed him.
E-mail No. 8
How come the U.S. can pay billions of dollars to relocate Israelis from Gaza but there is no money for upgrading the border patrol?
Merrill Trischler
Eugene, OR
E-mail No. 9
Greta,
I have to send you an e-mail today, because your comment last night about the arm found in Venezuela really bothered me. Who are you to say that it is almost impossible that that could be the remain of that poor girl, just because of the flow of the ocean. How do we know she REALLY wasn't kidnapped and taken by boat to Venezuela then when they realized how serious her case was, they took her and discarded her deep in their own ocean so no focus would be put on them. I think almost 75 percent of the people watching this case think she was kidnapped and taken to Venezuela or Columbia for a brothel.
Those sicko men down there LOVE blonde hair blue eyed American girls, and it was a way for Joran to pay some dept that he had off. I think that arm needs to be tested ASAP. Maybe this will give her family some kind of closure, and they can head home, and start to make sense of whatever life they have left. I'm also not too happy with your coverage of Natalee anymore. I feel that you have let some of the bad e-mails about people getting tired of hearing about Natalee get to you. Well, you need to know that the number of people who actually care about Natalee and her family, is WAY LARGER than the one's who don't. If they don't want to hear about it, then let them turn to their local news channel. You "were" doing an excellent job, but I am going to have to say Nancy Grace's coverage has been much better than yours this past week.
Snap back into it Greta!
Nicole
N.J.
ANSWER: Nicole, do me a favor and chill out. While I am not going to get engaged in an e-mail battle with you, you might at least want to get your facts right when you send a blistering e-mail to me. I never said that it was "almost impossible, blah, blah, blah (the underlined section above.)" If you recall correctly, and apparently you do not, I was asking the questions, not answering them. That remark was an answer, not a question. The remark that has unglued you was one made by my guest who is in Aruba in response to my question about the bone. I am not sure why you think you know better than my guest who is there talking to authorities. And perhaps my guest is wrong, but so are you to assign that remark to me. I simply asked a question.
Send your thoughts and comments to: ontherecord@foxnews.com
Watch "On the Record" weeknights at 10 p.m. ET
https://www.foxnews.com/story/blunder-in-aruba