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Shark Kills 14-Year-Old Girl Off Coast of Florida; Tracking New Developments in Natalee Holloway Case

Aired June 27, 2005 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. Shark experts try to learn more about the kind of shark that killed this 14-year-old girl off the coast of Florida. The beaches are back open this morning, but there are fewer people and more shark sightings. We're live on that story.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien. Tracking new developments in the Natalee Holloway case. The father of one suspect, the judge on the island is released from jail. Another suspect goes free today. A live report from Aruba is straight ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: And at the supreme court, all eyes on this man. Will Chief Justice William Rehnquist step down, creating the first opening in more than 10 years? What that could mean for the bush White House on this AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.

M. O'BRIEN: Less than a week into summer, already a deadly shark attack to tell you about.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. It's where we begin in fact this morning. An autopsy is planned today for that 14-year-old Louisiana girl who was killed by a shark along Florida's Gulf coast on Saturday. Jamie Marie Daigle was swimming on a boogie board about 200 yards offshore when she was attacked. It happened on Miramar Beach, a town on the Florida Panhandle, about 120 miles west of the capital, Tallahassee.

CNN's Drew Griffin is there this morning. Drew, good morning to you.

What is it like at the beach today?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Another beautiful day here, just like it was on Saturday, Soledad. Oddly, it's just a peaceful, beautiful surf, and people already beginning to get on to the beach.

There will be an autopsy, in fact, later this morning in Pensacola. And that's going to be key to determining what type of shark this was and what size of shark this was. Sharks quite common to these waters.

What's expect, though, here is to find out it was a bull shark, which is known for its aggressive behavior. It is that shark that experts believe attacked Jamie Daigle when she was about 200 yards offshore here with a friend on Saturday at 11:15. Tim Dicus, a surfer in the area, heard her shriek and turned his surf board directly into the path of the shark trying to save that girl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM DICUS, ATTEMPTED RESCUE: As soon as I got into the blood pool and got to her, she was face down in the water and unconscious, appeared to be unconscious. As I reached for her, the shark surfaced right next to her, and I could see it was about four or four and a half feet between the dorsal and tail fin, so that would probably make him about eight feet long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Last night we visited a makeshift memorial on the very spot where Jamie Daigle was brought onshore. And I think you can see, Soledad, just how peaceful the scene was as people yesterday were getting back into the water, although cautiously and extremely close to shore.

Experts believe that Jamie Daigle and her other friend, her 14- year-old friend, were simply out too far. You can't blame them for anything, but they were out more into the sharks' water than where the people should be.

Back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: What a terrible story and a huge loss, obviously, for that family. Thanks, Drew. We appreciate it.

Coming up this, morning we're going to talk to that surfer who tried to rescue the girl. We're also going to talk this morning to a shark expert. He's going to take part in the autopsy today, and he'll tell us a little bit of how we can reduce the risk of shark attacks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: The Supreme Court finishes its term today with decisions on several big cases, but all of that could be overshadowed by the chief justice. There's speculation William Rehnquist would announce his retirement plans.

Dana Bash live now at the White House. Dana, I assume the White House has been preparing for quite some time for a Supreme Court vacancy.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've got it, Miles. They're extraordinarily prepared here. In fact, that was one of the first assignments of White House lawyers four-plus years ago, was essentially, from day one, to get ready, to look into the writings, the rulings of any and all potential nominees just in case there is a vacancy. But at this point, they've moved well beyond that. Our understanding is the White House has interviewed potential candidates on a short list already.

And you know, it's interesting to note that this is a top-secret process here at the White House. Even for a White House known for holding their cards very close to their vest, this is a whole different level. Only a handful of the most senior Bush officials are involved.

However, in talking to some here at the White House and outside advisers that have been consulted, we do have a sense of those who are among the potential candidates, and we can show you some of them.

First of all, Michael Lutig. He is a judge on the Fourth Circuit. Harvie Wilkinson, who is also on the Fourth Circuit. Samuel Alito. He is an appellate court judge in Philadelphia. John Roberts on the D.C. Circuit. Emilio Garza, on the Fifth Circuit in Texas.

But there is another name that's always talked about and has been talked about since day one here, and that is Alberto Gonzalez. He course is the attorney general. He was the president's counsel here in the first term. He has been a close confidante of President Bush dating back to their days in Texas. But social conservatives say that they would oppose him because they say that he is too moderate and point to rulings when on the Texas state supreme court, rulings on abortion and other cases. So they say they would oppose him. But certainly, Miles, it's important to note that nobody really knows, a, if there is going to be a vacancy, if there is, who will step down, and then no one really knows what they will decide here at the White House, but they say they will move fast.

M. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash at the White House. Thank you very much. U.S. forces in Iraq are working to recover the pilots of a downed helicopter. The chopper crashed this morning about 20 miles north of Baghdad.

Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier was killed by small-arms fire in the capital city.

Jennifer Eccleston is live in Baghdad.

Jennifer, let's begin with the chopper crash. What do we know about it?

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles. Well, there's no word on casualties just yet, but the U.S. military did confirm, as you said, that an Army Apache helicopter crashed northwest of Taji. That's a major airbase some 20 miles north of Baghdad. Two soldiers were onboard, and they were assigned to Task Force Baghdad. Now the cause of the crash of the ah AH-64 helicopter is yet not known, and it's under investigation.

And as you mentioned, it was another violent day for the capital, for U.S. forces and for Iraqi civilians. The U.S. military confirms that a soldier was killed by small-arms fire today while investigating a burning vehicle. And attacks in two Baghdad districts killed four Iraqis. A bomb exploded this morning in the northern part of the city, killing a man and wounding his wife. And then gunmen killed three people at a barbershop in southeastern Baghdad. The attackers then placed a bomb inside the shop and blew it up before escaping.

Now this follows a bloody weekend in the northern city of Mosul. Four suicide attacks against Iraqi security forces and civilians, an attack on a military base, two separate car bombings on Iraqi police and a suicide bombing at a Mosul's General Hospital killed at least 23 people according to the Iraqi police, but U.S. military accounts differ. They say 38 were killed during that weekend of violence.

Now Mosul is Iraq's third largest city. It's witnessed a surge in insurgence violence since November, and that's when U.S. forces launched its anti-insurgency operation in Fallujah. Many of the insurgents that were based out of Falluja and now thought to have moved to that city in northern Iraq, in Mosul -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Jennifer Eccleston in Baghdad, thanks very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: New developments in Aruba in the case of Natalee Holloway, missing today for four weeks. Twenty-six-year-old disk jockey Steve Croes will be released later today. This after Aruban Judge Paul Van Der Sloot was let go on Sunday. Van Der Sloot is the father of one of the teenagers who's still in custody in the case. Chris Lawrence live for us this morning in Palm Beach, Aruba.

Chris, good morning to you.

So now we've got three who are still in custody. The fourth, obviously, as we mentioned, about to get out. Do you expect formal charges against those three any time soon, Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not sure about that, Soledad. That of course is what we've all been waiting for, to see whether at some point they would be charged or let go. But they've got plenty of time. They can hold these people in incremental periods, up to 116 days.

Now we were with Natalee Holloway's mother last week when she heard about Judge Van Der Sloot's arrest. She was so excited, thought there was a big break in that case. Last night, she was so upset she couldn't talk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Paul Van Der Sloot walked out of the police station with his lawyer leading the way. The man recently appointed a judge is free after spending three days in jail.

ARIE SWAEN, ATTORNEY: What my client wants, he told me, he wants to go home.

LAWRENCE: Police didn't need probable cause to arrest Van Der Sloot. In Aruba, reasonable suspicion is good enough. But within a couple days, prosecutors have to prove why they should be able to keep him.

SWAEN: What he told me until now is that there is not -- no sufficient suspicion.

LAWRENCE: It was a blow to the parents of Natalee Holloway, who thought they were closer to finding their missing daughter after Van Der Sloot's arrest last Thursday.

DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S FATHER: I feel like he still knows or has some answers.

LAWRENCE: Steve Croes was still handcuffed Sunday, but he was all smiles, knowing the judge had ordered his release, too. Croes is a deejay on a party boat that docks near the hotel where Natalee was staying.

His mother cried when she heard the news, but wasn't surprised.

QUESTION: Do you think he's innocent?

IMOLDA STATIA SALIANA, STEVE CROES' MOTHER: Of course. I'm sure.

LAWRENCE: Judge Van Der Sloot's son, Joran, and two brothers are still in prison. All three initially told police they dropped Natalee off at her hotel. But the attorney for one of the brothers says they were with Natalee and Van Der Sloot only up to a certain point.

DAVID KOCK, SATISH KALPOE'S ATTY.: He and his brother dropped Joran off at the Marriott Beach. He went home. He didn't wake up until the next morning.

LAWRENCE: Satish Kalpoe's attorney says phone records show Joran called Deepak Kalpoe and told him he left Natalee on the beach and was walking home. He says about 40 minutes later, Van Der Sloot text- messaged that he had arrived.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: And as the judge, and prosecutors and police try to put all those stories together, that volunteer search team from Texas has been looking all weekend with their special sonar equipment. In fact, we're also told that they brought the search dogs out today before dawn -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Chris Lawrence for us this morning. Chris, thanks for the update -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: About three hours from now, the man accused in the BTK murders will be back in A Wichita, Kansas courtroom.

CNN's Jonathan Freed is outside the Sedgwick County courthouse.

Jonathan, what can we expect this morning?

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Miles.

You know, this was the court appearance that everybody thought would not be happening today. People expected the defense to ask for a continuance, in other words, to ask for a delay in the start of the trial. But so far, Miles, that hasn't happened, at least not yet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The man accused of terrorizing Wichita, Kansas, for more than 30 years will be back in court this morning. When Dennis Rader last appeared in May, the judge entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. Rader is accused of killing 10 people between 1974 and 1991. In a recent telephone interview given to CNN affiliate KSN-TV, Rader listed what he sees as his legal options.

DENNIS RADER: Three things can happen on the hearing. There's a continuance, there's a plea or we go for trail.

FREED: The Sedgwick County district attorney's office provided CNN with more detail about all that. Saying, for example, if Rader changes his plea to guilty, and if it's accepted by the court, a sentencing hearing would likely be set for a month from now. But as for the possibility of a continuance Rader mentioned, meaning to delay the trial, the DA has long insisted she'd never ask for one, saying she's ready to try the case right now.

NOLA FOULSTON, SEGWICK CO. DIST. ATTY.: We're ready to, you know, do whatever we need to do. We're well studied on it.

FREED: So that means any request for a continuance would most likely come from the defense. Prosecutors say Rader could also wave his right to a trial by jury where District Judge Gregory Waller would then decide if Rader is responsible for the string of murders. And that option would also delay the start of the trial.

Rader could also try to enter a plea of no contest, where he wouldn't be admitting guilt, but he wouldn't be fighting the charges either. But the DA has said firmly that she would never agree to that, insisting that the victim's families deserve nothing less than a verdict of guilty.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, Wichita, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREED: Now, Miles, just about everybody that's close to the trial that we've been able to talk to keeps saying -- shaking their heads and saying, they just don't know exactly what to expect this morning -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: And we're glad you're there, then. Jonathan Freed, thank you very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, a journalist takes her fight to the Supreme Court. Should she go to prison for protecting a source on a story that she never wrote?

S. O'BRIEN: Also, the military is falling short of recruiting goals by the thousands. The top army recruiter tells us what he thinks it's going to take to fix the problem. M. O'BRIEN: And more on the deadly shark attack off the coast of Florida. We'll ask a shark expert what he thinks might have prompted that attack. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: More shark sightings off Florida's panhandle this weekend. The shark was spotted near the same beach where a 14-year- old girl was killed Saturday. The beaches are open today, but many swimmers are afraid to go in the water, understandably, after the Louisiana girl was killed by a shark off Miramar Beach Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: George burgess is the director of the Florida program for shark research.

George, good to have you with us this morning. We appreciate your time.

Tell us a little bit about what lies ahead in this investigation. You're going to be at the autopsy a little later this morning. What will you be able to determine from that autopsy, you think?

GEORGE BURGESS, DIR. INTL. SHARK ATTACK FILE: Well, we certainly will determine the size of the shark, based on bite patterns and hopefully we'll be able to determine the species as well. A very sad case.

M. O'BRIEN: How can you do that just by looking at the wounds?

BURGESS: The actual wound pattern is oftentimes diagnostic for individual species. Once in a while, a tooth fragment will be left behind. And of course that's the smoking gun to help us identify an individual species.

M. O'BRIEN: So the teeth are distinct for each species of shark?

BURGESS: Very much so. Very much so, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: There are reports this might have been a bull shark. What do you know about that?

BURGESS: I would say that's the top of the candidate list right now. Certainly this area is an area where bull sharks are quite common this time of year. And it's a species that comes relatively close to shore.

M. O'BRIEN: Bull sharks are very aggressive, aren't they?

BURGESS: Yes, they are. They literally are bullish. And part of the story here was that there was a series of repeat attacks by the shark -- attempted attacks on the victim and the saving people, so it likely was a bull shark.

M. O'BRIEN: There are all kinds of tips that we can share with people. You have a long list of them. And we don't have time to go through them all. There's the obvious ones. Don't swim at night. Don't go out too far. Stay away from sandbars and steep drop-offs.

A couple of the ones that I didn't know so well was, for example, avoid waters known to have effluents or sewage. There's probably a lot of other reasons to avoid that. Why would you avoid those kind of waters?

BURGESS: Those are areas where you have -- if you have effluent or sewage, you're going to have other animals actually eating the sewage, if you can imagine that. But it's an attractant, and you sort of go up the food chain then -- little fishes, go to big fishes, go to sharks.

M. O'BRIEN: Another one is to avoid uneven tanning and bright clothing.

BURGESS: Sharks see contrast particularly well. We think that sharks probably are able to see bright colors in the water very well. And of course uneven tanning; if you've got white skin against your well-tanned skin, it's going to be a contrast.

M. O'BRIEN: If you see porpoises or dolphins, does that mean sharks may be nearby or not?

BURGESS: Sort of a misconception that porpoises and sharks aren't going to be found together because they're enemies. The fact of the matter is that some sharks, such as the bull shark that might have been involved here, commonly eat dolphins. So it doesn't mean that sharks aren't around if you see a dolphin.

M. O'BRIEN: Final thought: Put this in some perspective for us. How rare?

BURGESS: Well, this is the first attack ever in this county, only the third fatality ever in the panhandle region of Florida, so it's an extremely rare event indeed. So shark attacks simply don't occur here very often, and when they do, they're usually not fatal. Very unfortunate circumstance and our thoughts go out to the family of the victim.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, they do. George Burgess is the director of the Florida program for shark research at the university of Florida, curator of the International Shark Attack File. Thanks for being with us this morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: And Next Hour coming up, we'll talk to the surfer who tried to rescue the girl -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, interest rates and oil. They have something in common, and it's not good news for consumers. We're "Minding Your Business" just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate what caused this twin-engine plane to crash into Lake Huron on Sunday, about 65 miles northeast of Detroit. All five passengers and the pilot rescued by boaters who witnessed the crash. Authorities say the pilot was forced to bring the plane down. Apparently he was having some kind of engine trouble -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow, that's pretty amazing. Thank goodness they were all rescued.

Let's talk some business now. An interest rate hike is expected. Oil prices, though, showing no signs of easing. A look at the day of ahead this morning. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

Good morning, Mr. Serwer.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad. Nice to see you.

S. O'BRIEN: Bad and more bad news.

SERWER: Yes, well, sorry to be the bearer of.

Let's talk about oil, though, first of all, Soledad, so much attention there. Now over $60 a barrel this morning in trading. And you can see here -- we don't have the full screen? Well, I can tell you -- there we go. OK, sorry about that. You can see here up 60 percent from a year ago. Demand for gasoline is up strongly. And, Soledad, that is causing gasoline prices to rise sharply to $2.24 a gallon. That's up 8 cents over the past two weeks. And you know, we've been talking about this, but is $3 a gallon for gasoline in our future? A lot of people think so. We were talking to legendary oil tycoon Boone Pickens over the weekend and he was suggesting that was definitely a possibility.

Meanwhile, a lot of other attention being focused on Fed chairman Alan Greenspan because the Fed meets today -- sorry, on Wednesday and Thursday for a two-day meeting. And it looks like that we're very likely to get higher interest rates on Thursday. But the talk is that this could be the last interest rate hike. So there's a lot of optimism on Wall Street about that.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy.

M. O'BRIEN: Last ever?

SERWER: Thank you.

The last ever, Miles.

S. O'BRIEN: The last for this week. Thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Andy. We appreciate it.

SERWER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: After four straight months of falling short, how does the military fix its recruiting problems? The Army's top recruiter will be joining us, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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