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CNN Live Sunday
At Least 20 Dead in Iraq; Shark Attack Off Florida Coast Leaves 14-Year-Old Girl Dead
Aired June 26, 2005 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A destructive day by the insurgency in Iraq. Five bombings in the past 24 hours, at least 20 people are dead, including an American soldier. We're live from Baghdad with the latest.
Plus, this story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM DICUS, TRIED TO SAVE SHARK VICTIM: I was about 200 yards out, just past the second sand bar and when I heard the scream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A shark attack along the northwest Florida coast. A 14-year-old girl is dead. This hour, you'll hear from the man who tried to save her.
And recovering from the tsunami six months later. Enormous challenges remain. We're live from Banda Aceh. Welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Those stories straight ahead. But first, here are our top stories. More officials from the regime of Saddam Hussein have appeared before the Iraqi special tribunal. Officials say three of the six who appeared Monday were on the U.S. military's 55 most wanted Iraqis list. Among them, Watban Ibrahim al- Hassan and his brother Barzan, who are also half-brothers of the former Iraqi dictator.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is headed to Washington for talks tomorrow with President Bush. German officials say the two men will discuss a number of issues, among them, Germany's program to train Iraqi police outside the country. Iran's nuclear program and proposals for reworking the United Nations Security Council.
In New York City, the man known as America's pastor is getting ready for his last crusade sermon in the United States. The Reverend Billy Graham finishes a three-day crusade tonight. In six decades Graham has preached to hundreds of millions of people around the world.
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The situation in Iraq takes another bloody turn. Insurgents have launched deadly new attacks in Mosul and Iraq's capital city. To Baghdad now and CNN's Jennifer Eccleston for this live report -- Jennifer.
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. Well, three suicide attacks against Iraqi security forces and civilians around the northern city of Mosul and other assaults in Baghdad have killed at least two dozen people today this Sunday. This is according to Iraqi police and the U.S. military, who both give differing accounts of the number of dead and wounded.
Now, the latest attack happened at Mosul's general hospital emergency room where casualties were being treated from earlier attacks. A suicide bomber detonated his vest and killed between three and five people, including the police that were actually guarding the hospital. Up to a dozen people were wounded there. Earlier at an Iraqi army base outside of Mosul, witnesses say a suicide driver drove into a crowd outside the base and detonated his explosives. Between five and 16 people killed and again, several wounded. Many of the victims were Iraqi construction workers.
Now to another suicide driver bombing where he aimed his watermelon truck at police station in Mosul and set off a devastating explosion that killed between 5 and 13 police. We also understand that two civilians were killed. As you mentioned here in Baghdad, another violent day, a mortar round struck a home which killed a woman and two children and gunmen killed a high-ranking police officer in a separate attack in the capital and as you mentioned, the U.S. military announced today that a roadside bomb killed one American soldier and wounded two others. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Jennifer, what are the civilian people saying and thinking about all of this taking place?
ECCLESTON: Well, it clouds their daily lives. Every day, it's a matter of wondering whether or not you have to look over your shoulder for the bullets and the bombs and the mortars, whether there will be a general instability in the air, whether they can go about their day- to-day lives. The violence, from the people that I'm talking to, is the number one concern for just about everybody here on the ground especially in Baghdad. But the violence really has racked four of the largest provinces here in Iraq. Many other provinces have relative instability. But it's the provinces that where we see the insurgent attacks, the bombings, the suicide car bombings, the random firing at people, at officials and at military and police. As I mentioned, it clouds everybody's day-to-day existence and they just are looking forward to that day where they can walk around in relative security -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Jennifer Eccleston in Baghdad, thanks so much. How to deal with the insurgency in Iraq is among the topics that will be discussed at the top of the hour on CNN's "Late Edition" with Wolf Blitzer. The head of the U.S. Central Command, General John Abizaid is a guest. That's at 12:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
A bipartisan group of U.S. representatives say progress has been made to improve conditions for detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, but they add more must be done. The lawmakers spent time touring the facility yesterday. They ate the same lunch given to the prisoners and they say they witnessed interrogations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R) CALIFORNIA: There is no abuse here. If you believe General Hood who looks you straight in the eye, who has very strict policies, I think policies that are probably stricter than any prison in the United States or any county jail in the United States, not one prisoner had been struck during an interrogation. Not one prisoner has been painfully treated during interrogation, twisted, strangled or any other type of pain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The congressional visit was the first since international criticism intensified this spring. The Pentagon has maintained that conditions at the prison are humane.
The white sand beaches of Florida's northwest coast have reopened following a deadly shark attack yesterday. It happened east of Destin when a 14-year-old girl was dragged under by a shark. Earlier on CNN, our Drew Griffin spoke with the man who made a desperate attempt to rescue the girl.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DICUS: I was about 200 yards out just past the second sandbar and when I heard the scream, I turned around and saw one of the girls swimming towards the beach frantically and the other one had disappeared. And there was a big dark spot where she used to be in the water.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And you went with your -- you have a long surfboard, a nine-foot long surfboard, you went right to that blood pool to find her?
DICUS: Yeah, yeah.
GRIFFIN: And what did -- when you brought her up on the board, what condition was she?
DICUS: She was unconscious when I got to the blood pool. So I pulled her from the water. I tried to pull her from the water. The shark had made an attack during that, when I was trying to get her out of the water. But it gave me enough time to get her onto the board once he had to come back around and make another attack. So I got her onto the board and he proceeded to continue to attack all the way from the outer bar to the beach.
GRIFFIN: Your feeling is this shark was actually feeding or biting continuously?
DICUS: Yeah. He was really aggressive. I have been here a long time and I had never seen a shark get that aggressive.
GRIFFIN: Tell me about how far these people were out.
DICUS: Way too far. It was at least 200 yards out probably from here.
GRIFFIN: And you had warned other people not to be out that far?
DICUS: Yeah.
GRIFFIN: For this reason?
DICUS: Exactly this reason.
GRIFFIN: This is where the sharks are? This is where the bait fish is.
DICUS: That's right.
GRIFFIN: You got her to shore. You saw the injuries. Tell me what you saw.
DICUS: She was hurt really bad. It looked like she -- she was going to at least lose her leg. The damage on her left leg was really extensive. I don't -- I didn't know whether -- it -- if she had gone into shock. But she pretty much stopped bleeding by the time I got her to the beach. I didn't know how we were going to do to save her.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Last year there were 30 shark attacks in the U.S., 41 in 2003 and 47 attacks in 2002.
Five suspects held in the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway are in court this hour in Aruba. A judge will consider whether their detention can be extended another eight days. The suspects include Aruba Judge Paul Van Der Sloot and his son, Joran. None have been formally charged. Meanwhile, search and rescue specialists from Texas continue to comb the beaches for Holloway. She has been missing since May 30th. The 27-member team includes eight divers and four dogs.
Checking some other stories making headlines across America. The NAACP's board of directors selected a new leader, 59-year-old businessman Bruce Gordon. He's expected to be confirmed next month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE GORDON, NAACP PRESIDENT-ELECT: I don't know that it's all settled in yet. I've had plenty of time to think about whether this might happen, obviously. But now that it has, I'm probably a tad numb. I'm excited because I look at myself as a guy who got where he is because a whole lot of people in my parents' generation took some pretty tough stands, made a lot of personal sacrifices. Some even gave their lives so that my generation could have a fair shot at the American dream.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: In West Virginia an emergency landing, not at an airport but on interstate 77. The pilot is glad he escaped injury. But now he's trying to figure out why his newly purchased plane lost power, forcing this frightening end to his flight.
The old convention center in Charlotte, North Carolina reduced to rubble after a planned implosion this morning. Hopefully you're about to see it. New retail stores, theaters and restaurants will replace it. There it goes.
Six months after the devastating southeast Asia tsunami, millions remain displaced. We'll go live to a town that is rebuilding hearts and homes.
And the torture house that's left four men with physical and emotional scars, their chilling stories straight ahead.
Plus the last crusade, Reverend Billy Graham preaches his message and has some notable guests. We'll take you to New York when CNN LIVE SUNDAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Welcome back to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Across south Asia, the rebuilding process from December's tsunami continues. The terrifying wall of water slammed the region six months ago today, killing more than 176,000 people. 50,000 are still missing. And more than 2.2 million others were left homeless or displaced. An update now from CNN's Atika Shubert who joins us via videophone. She's in one of the hardest hit areas of Banda Aceh, Indonesia and she joins us now. Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) but no one here is marking the date. It's just another Sunday unfortunately, waiting for aid. It's been about six months and all of that aid is only just beginning to trickle in. In the last few days $2.8 billion finally disbursed and that's in large, thanks to the agency for reconstruction here. We had a chance to talk to the director of that agency and ask him how he plans to rebuild Aceh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHUBERT (voice-over): Dancing amid the ruins to mark six months since the tsunami struck. Their linked arms form a wave but the song calls for strength in the face of adversity. The message is not lost on Kuntoro Mangkusobroto, the man responsible for rebuilding Aceh, appointed a little more than a month ago, he now has the massive task of reconstructing more than 173,000 hectares of land.
Progress has been slow. Six months after the disaster, many are still living in tents. Hopes are high that Kuntoro will be able to deliver aid and begin building houses here as soon as possible before another six months go by. Kuntoro's first priority, housing. More than 500,000 are homeless. Kuntoro makes daily field visits to hear their complaints from leaky tents to fears of corruption, something survivors have in common with donors. Indonesia's ranked among the top five most corrupt nations in the world according to Transparency International. With more than $7 billion pledged to Aceh from international donors, it is Kuntoro's job to make sure that none of it gets into the wrong hands.
KUNTORO MANGKUSOBROTO, AGENCY FOR RECONSTRUCTION: Corruption is our number one enemy. We have to eradicate that. We have to be accountable for those who donated the money.
SHUBERT: And accountable to those who need it most. Saiful lost his mother and everything he owned in the tsunami. He now lives with three others in this tent, determined to rebuild on his land. He is hopeful, but wary that Kuntoro can deliver.
SAIFUL, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: He seems sincere Saiful says, but he can only promise. He says he will help, but he doesn't say when and all we can do is wait. Kuntoro is promising Aceh not just to return to normal, but to a better life. He has moved his family here and become an Aceh resident. His mission should last four years but he says he won't leave until the job is done.
MANGKUSOBROTO: We have to build back better such that we have a stronger foundation for the people of Aceh to be (INAUDIBLE) with other communities in the nation as well as the world.
SHUBERT: Words that Aceh wants to hear and hopes will come true.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SHUBERT: Many here we speak to say that they are encouraged Kuntoro's promises, but they want to see his words followed up by action. If not, they say they will lose patience and go ahead with rebuilding whether or not the government approves it or not. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Atika Shubert, thanks so much for that update.
Well, after surviving almost unspeakable torture, CNN's Jane Arraf speaks to the men held hostage in a torture house in Iraq. Their chilling story straight ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: This time last week, CNN's Jane Arraf was reporting on the discovery of a torture house near Iraq's border with Syria. Inside that house, U.S. Marines found four Iraqis. They were bound and had been badly beaten. Now, the men are speaking about their treatment only on CNN. Here's Jane Arraf.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was no key to these shackles. A U.S. Marine cut through the metal, an Iraqi soldier removed it. The man was painfully thin. He had been bound and tortured for three weeks. There were four men here. Terrified of their captors, they begged us not to identify them in any way. Just after they were discovered, they told us their story. Two were former Iraqi border police and two unemployed young men, held from eight to 22 days in a house in the city near the Syrian border. Their hands and feet were bound. They were blindfolded. Their ears were stuffed with cotton and covered in tape so they couldn't hear voices of their captors. When one of the younger men would say he just wanted to see his mother, a man would whisper in his ear "there's only death for you." They were tortured. This is the worst of the rooms, a very heavy rope hanging here from the ceiling.
They say they were hung here by their feet. One of them tells us that, as he was hung, he was dipped in water. His head dipped first in a bucket of water. They would bring him up again and then they would give him electric shocks. One of the men is so broken he can barely sit up or speak. His skull is bandaged. There's a deep wound on his nose from having his head slammed into the floor.
You saved our lives, he says to the Iraqi soldier who asked him how he feels being freed. Another man was whipped with cables and a rubber hose. His back is crisscrossed with raised welts and dried blood. Their captors fled when the bombing started. The hostages were held in a complex used to make car bombs. As Marines fired on the adjoining buildings, the men feared the building would collapse around them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We entered the house and I heard them yelling but the Americans don't understand Iraqi. They were blindfolded and their ears were taped. I took off their blindfolds and wiped their faces and gave them water.
ARRAF: Torture was nothing new under Saddam Hussein. But this is like nothing they've ever seen. Why are they trying to destroy Iraq, this Iraqi soldier asks? This is perhaps the worst, but just one section of the city. A city, it seems, taken over by masters of terror and their students. Jane Arraf, CNN, Karabila, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Dedicated followers prepare to say good-bye as Reverend Billy Graham leads his last crusade. When we come back, find out which notable guests joined him last night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: More than half a century of Reverend Billy Graham's revivals ends tonight in New York. The evangelist will deliver what is expected to be his last crusade sermon in the U.S. Former President Bill Clinton joined Graham on stage last night, calling him a person who has always lived according to his faith. The 86-year-old Graham also found time to finally talk about Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. BILLY GRAHAM, EVANGELIST: Many years ago, when I was speaking and he was in the audience, he had just spoken and I told him before an audience, that I thought that when he left the presidency, he should be an evangelist because he has all of the gifts. And he could leave his wife to run the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: "Reliable Sources" begins in just a few minutes. Howard Kurtz has a preview.
HOWARD KURTZ, CNN ANCHOR, RELIABLE SOURCES: Coming up, the author of that new book slamming Hillary Clinton. What's behind the hostile media reaction even among some conservatives? Did the mainstream press minimize those controversial comments about Guantanamo Bay by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin while playing up harsh remarks about 9/11 by White House adviser Karl Rove.
Also, a look at whether PBS is being politicized and Bill O'Reilly and the interview that wasn't. That's all ahead on "Reliable Sources."
WHITFIELD: All right. But first let's take a look at our national weather picture with Bonnie Schneider.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Fredricka, we're looking at some nice conditions in many parts of the country. But I say if you're looking for the coolest weather, you really have to head out west, to Seattle actually. Look at this, it's already 56 degrees there. That's the coolest spot on the map and we're talking about the forecast for Seattle. You'll find over the next few days, it will get into the 60s. A little bit of rain, of course, but up to 72 on Tuesday.
Flip it around, check out Phoenix. Getting even hotter, all the way up to 113 on Tuesday. So the heat is building for the desert southwest. No big surprise, as you know, it's been hot there for much of the past couple of weeks. Elsewhere across the country, we're also watching for a strong area of low pressure to continue to bring rain, especially to parts of the Carolinas and on into Tennessee where it's coming down right now into Nashville. We'll see rain from Memphis, as well.
A couple of spotty showers for south Florida, but a much drier weekend than what we saw last weekend. You'll also find it's certainly going to be comfortable further up to the north as well. We're not going to see rain, but we are going to see the heat build. Temperatures are really warming up there.
Just wanted to mention once again tonight a celestial sight in store for everyone. All three of these planets, Saturn, Venus and Mercury will be visible tonight as they cluster together. You'll see that as the sun sets this evening tonight and Fredricka, also tomorrow night.
WHITFIELD: All right. We'll be looking for that. Thanks so much Bonnie.
Well, that's it for CNN LIVE SUNDAY." Up next, "Reliable Sources" with Howard Kurtz. Then at noon Eastern on "LATE EDITION" Wolf Blitzer interviews the head of the U.S. Central Command, General John Abizaid on Iraq and U.S. military preparedness. And at 2:00 Eastern, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" profiles evangelist Billy Graham and the impact of his ministry. But first a check of the headlines.
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