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CNN Live Sunday

Special Ops Soldier Found in Afghanistan; Search Continues for 9-Year-Old Dylan Groene

Aired July 03, 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 rescue in Afghanistan. Sources tell CNN a special ops member missing in Afghanistan has been found. We're live with the details.
Also as the search continues in Idaho for nine-year old Dylan Groene, new details are emerging today on how his sister Shasta was found alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) in Africa is not asking for a handout. We're asking for a fair trade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And from Live 8 to G-8 summit, we'll hear from one actor going a few extra miles to spread the word on poverty in his homeland. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at CNN's global headquarters. First, a look at the top stories.

A surprise visit to Baghdad, this time from U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He's meeting with Iraqi Justice Department teams and government officials there, before mingling with U.S. troops on the fourth of July. A full report on that straight ahead.

In Baghdad, this setback. Egypt's ambassador to Iraq has been kidnapped near his residence there. The newly appointed diplomat has been in Iraq less than a month. Security forces have sealed off the Egyptian embassy.

And NASA explodes some fireworks of its own to usher in the fourth of July. Its deep impact space probe is expected to smash into the temple one comet overnight. The blast might be visible in some parts of the western hemisphere. NASA says there's no danger to earth. Experience CNN video on your computer. Log on to cnn.com, click on the video link and browse for the video you want to see. Watch what you want, whenever you want, free on cnn.com.

Our top story now developing, within last hour, CNN learned a member of a special ops reconnaissance team missing in Afghanistan since last week has been rescued. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the Pentagon with details on that. Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, finally some good news in what has otherwise been a grim story. Within just the last hour, word that, yes, one of the members of the special ops team missing in Afghanistan since Tuesday has been found alive. A U.S. official tells CNN the special ops member, quote, evaded the enemy and has been successfully rescued by U.S. forces. The official though would not give any further details about the other members of the team missing in the rugged mountainous region near the border with Pakistan.

This, of course, was a special forces team that on Tuesday, called for reinforcements prompting the dispatch of four Chinook helicopters, one of which was then shot down, nor would the same official give any precise details about the circumstances of this service member's rescue, though he is said to be in, quote, good shape.

So the search right now in their region by both U.S. and Afghan forces does continue. Obviously they may now have better information to act on with the service member's rescue. As for those who were killed when their MH47 helicopter came under fire and crashed to the ground on Tuesday, the Pentagon has released the names of the 16 dead. Eight were assigned to the Army's 160th special operations aviation regimen at Hunter Army air field in Georgia.

Eight were Navy SEALs, five of them based in Virginia Beach, Virginia at the Naval amphibious-based Little Creek. That base last night released photos of four of the dead SEALs. And then three were part of a SEAL team that was based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This weekend of mourning for those families who have lost their loved ones. But with the rescue now of this one special ops team member, Fredricka, a weekend of renewed hope for the families of the men still missing. Back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Kathleen, does the Pentagon have any hope for the other three special ops members. At least that was the number that was originally given that may have been with this one who was found alive?

KOCH: Right now the Pentagon is not talking numbers and really not talking about what may have or may not have happened to the rest of the team. Obviously, they really want to wait until the other team members are accounted for, are safe, have been located. They don't want to do anything at all right now to risk their safety. So once, though, their fate has been determined, I'm sure we will hear from Pentagon officials.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kathleen Koch from the Pentagon, thanks so much.

Let's get some more insight into such rescue operations. Military analyst retired Brigadier General James Marks is on the telephone with us from Oakton, Virginia. General, thanks so much for being with us. This is incredible news, isn't it?

BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET): It is. I mean there's great hope to understand that at least this one soldier's alive and ostensibly well. The thing to realize, Fredricka, is that the details that he can share will become known. And the Pentagon certainly will let those details out. But that young soldier right now is in the midst of debriefings so that we can -- so that the United States can more fully understand the nature of the operation that he was a part of.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. And we don't know his medical condition at this point as to whether officials will be able to immediately start interviewing him. Ordinarily what would be the process?

MARKS: Well, immediately upon his rescue, and it's phenomenal what it really tells you that the U.S. military does a great magnificent job of preparing these great patriots for what they have to do. This young soldier was in an escape and evasion mode for several days, managed to avoid contact with the enemy, yet maintained his wit, understood what his mission was all about and now he's been rescued and returned. And so immediately upon his capture or at least rescue, a debriefing of sorts will take place. You're exactly correct. There is no way to know right now what type of condition he's in. But observations of his medical condition, the shape that he's in, how does he feel and some immediate insights are being done right now, so that intelligence is being derived from his return that will assist in efforts to go recover his other buddies.

WHITFIELD: Now, this special ops team member was on the ground last week when the helicopter carrying 16 other special ops team members were looking for he or she and their team members there on the ground during this. Do you have, you know, when that chopper went down and all 16 ended up dying in that, do you have any sense as to -- or feeling as to whether the other three that may have been with this special ops member on the ground have as good a chance at survival?

MARKS: Well, you'd like to think the short answer is yes. They've all undergone the same training. And in an escape and evasion mode, you generally want to try to stick together, but there are decisions that have to be made on the ground in terms of the shape and the condition. And at the time when they made the decision to execute their escape and evasion routine and their requirements, they had to make some decisions as to whether they were going to split up and what the condition of the other folks might be. So intelligence will continue to be derived from this young soldier so that we can determine what is the condition -- what were the conditions that brought down the aircraft where the 16 Americans were killed and then what is the condition of those other soldiers that are out there.

WHITFIELD: General James Marks, thank you so much for being with us. Again, this developing story that we're continuing to follow here. One of four special ops members found alive in Afghanistan, missing since last Tuesday. When we get more information, we'll be bringing that to you throughout the day.

Now in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho where that eight-year-old girl missing since May has been found alive yesterday. The release now of the taped 911 call after recognizing Shasta Groene who entered a Denny's restaurant with an adult male, the manager called for help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPERATOR: Dispatch, Breanna. CALLER: Yeah, hi Breanna. This is Linda, the manager at Denny's.

OPERATOR: Yeah.

CALLER: I've got a little girl here with a tall gentleman and she looks so much like that Shasta.

OPERATOR: OK. Are they still in the building?

CALLER: Yeah. They're at table 20.

OPERATOR: Can you describe the male to me?

CALLER: He is probably -- how tall is he? Boy, probably 6 -- 6 -- I'd say 6'3", really slim.

OPERATOR: OK.

CALLER: Dark hair, curly with a hat on.

OPERATOR: Yeah, I'm sorry, table 20.

CALLER: Uh-huh. It's all the way in the back of the restaurant.

OPERATOR: All right.

CALLER: We're not sure, you know? I just -- I just -- she looks so much like her and I just -- I don't know.

OPERATOR: All right. We'll have someone go that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, it turned out her instincts were right. That was eight-year-old Shasta Groene, found alive. But the search continues now for her 9-year-old brother Dylan. Our Rusty Dornin has been following the story from Coeur d'Alene and we know Rusty that there will be a press conference scheduled at about 2:00 Eastern time. We'll be covering that live. Meantime what have you learned?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is great joy in this community, obviously, Fredricka. But also, tempered by fear and it's really summed up in the hometown newspaper, "one prayer answered." Again, Dylan Groene, they say they fear that he is dead but they won't say how or why they know that. They won't say whether they were tipped off by the little girl Shasta herself or by the suspect, Joseph Duncan. Meantime the little girl is in the hospital, apparently her father was out of town when he found out. He rushed from Tacoma back to Coeur d'Alene, apparently spent the night in the hospital. She's said to be resting comfortably. But the officials here of course say that the family has had a very emotional couple of days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT: It's been very bitter-sweet in the last 24 hours. The joy of having Shasta here back at home and then the belief, based upon the evidence we have so far that Dylan has -- is deceased. It's been a tough road for all of the investigators and the family to follow right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Investigators are also being very tight-lipped about whether they are trying to connect Joseph Duncan, the suspect and convicted sexual offender in this case with the three murders that sort of started this whole thing, the murder of Shasta's mother, brother and her mother's boyfriend May 15th. Police now are releasing a photograph of the car that Joseph Duncan was driving when he was discovered with Shasta Groene. It is a red Jeep Laredo, 2005, apparently had been stolen. They want to know from anyone, did they see him driving this car in this general region? They now think perhaps he did stay in this area. Now remember, we're surrounded by mountains and by forests, so he could have been anywhere. But they're hoping that someone might have spotted him, whether it was in a grocery store, getting something to eat, buying a newspaper, that sort of thing, and want them to go ahead and call police and tell them so they can start connecting his whereabouts and possibly of course find Dylan Groene. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Rusty, are they receiving any tips yet?

DORNIN: They haven't talked about it. They're being, again, very tight-lipped. We talked to Captain Ben Wolfinger this morning. He said that they're just not going to release any more information until they hold that news conference in a couple of hours.

WHITFIELD: All right. And we'll be looking for that and carrying that live as it happens. Thanks so much Rusty Dornin in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Elsewhere across America now, a grim outcome to a missing child case in Oregon. The body of four-year-old Matel Zachary Sanchez was found yesterday. The preliminary cause of death has been listed as homicidal violence. His stepmother is charged with aggravated murder. Police say Christine Coffman led them to the heavily wood area where the little boy was found.

Remembering now a former statesman and conservationist, Gaylord Nelson died this morning at the age of 89. He served two terms as Wisconsin governor, then as a U.S. senator. His claim to fame, though, the founding of earth day 25 years ago.

And it's happened again. A small plane flies into the restricted airspace over Washington, D.C. Two F-16 fighter jets reportedly intercepted the Cessna and forced the pilot to land at the Frederick municipal airport in Maryland last late night. Officials are now investigating.

Turning now to Iraq. An ambassador is kidnapped in Baghdad and troops get a surprise visit from U.S. Attorney general Alberto Gonzales. CNN's Aneesh Raman is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A day of extremes in Iraq, a kidnapping confirmed and a surprise visit from a top American cabinet official. First to the kidnapping. This, the car, that Egyptian officials in Baghdad say the country's top envoy to Iraq, Ihab Sherif, was kidnapped from on Saturday as he drove in his affluent suburb of Jamiaa. The Egyptian embassy in Baghdad immediately sealed off by police forces.

Sherif had arrived in Iraq at the beginning of the June as the country's top enjoy. As the country has sought Iraq for Arab countries to establish diplomatic presence and specifically to establish ambassadors, Egypt responded to that call at the end of June. Sherif was in line to become Egypt's first ambassador to Iraq since the 1991 Gulf war, also set to become the Arab world's first ambassador. So this kidnapping not only high profile, but clearly one that has diplomatic implications.

Also today, a surprise visit by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who came to meet with members of the Iraqi government as well as members of the Department of Justice, included among those FBI personnel. This also a holiday weekend in the U.S. of Independence Day. Gonzales set as well to meet with U.S. troops. Now this trip is meant as a further show of support from President Bush to the ongoing struggle in Iraq.

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm here to tell you that you're not alone, that the American people are very much with you. As the president talked about this week, what you're doing here in Iraq is so very important to the security of our country and the promotion of freedom around the world.

RAMAN: The very nature of the trip itself that it was surprise, shows the obvious security concerns that remain now two years on. Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Live 8 rocked the world, but will it roll leaders into action? We'll hear from one actor now headed to the G8 summit.

And the war on terror in Afghanistan. There are many heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. One man leaves behind a legacy that makes his family proud.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: As we've reported, a rescue in eastern Afghanistan of one member of a U.S. special ops reconnaissance team. The search continues for the other members missing since Tuesday. A helicopter with 16 special ops forces on board looking for their colleagues was shot down. CNN's Peter Viles with one family's memories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About 10 days ago, Dan Healy wrote his son a letter, an e-mail from Afghanistan. The message was simple: always try your best, never give up.

JAKE HEALY, DAN HEALY'S SON: My dad always tried his best, like, at anything. If you threw anything at him, he'd always do his best, you know, just ace it.

VILES: Those who knew him, like his younger sister Jennifer, had heard that message a lot.

JENNIFER HEALY, DAN HEALY'S SISTER: That's his thing. You don't give up. You find a different way around it. You find a different way to handle it and just be true to yourself.

VILES: Dan Healy, here he is in Afghanistan, knew something about perseverance. He was a Navy SEAL for 15 years and the training to become a SEAL is so punishing, that more than half of the recruits who say they want to be SEALs drop out.

JENNIFER HEALY: He was a proud SEAL. He was a damn good SEAL and he was a damn good man.

VILES: Dan Healy was in that helicopter, shot down in Afghanistan last week. He died in those mountains along with 15 other American servicemen.

VIANNE CENTENO, DAN HEALY'S EX-WIFE: I know every other family that lost a loved one, I know what they felt. I know they thought that that man was invincible, that that man would always be there because they made you feel safe.

JENNIFER HEALY: But he was there because he wanted to be there. And he never complained.

JAKE HEALY: My dad went into the war knowing that there is a possibility of him dying. But I mean, still, he wanted to be out there for sure. That's all he wanted.

VILES: Most families in this situation want their privacy. This family wants America to know who Dan Healy was.

JENNIFER HEALY: He was just an amazing person. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He made us want to go grrrr.

CHELSEA HEALY, DAUGHTER OF DAN HEALY: I just want everybody to know that he was a hero. I don't want them to forget it.

VILES: His teenage children are poised and brave, but they miss their father.

CHELSEA HEALY: Everything, just spending time with him.

JAKE HEALY: Every moment, you know, will always be precious. Just remember everything and appreciate it. VILES: In the letter he wrote just before he died, Dan Healy told his son, quote, give it everything you've got. You may not get another chance. Peter Viles for CNN, Bonita, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

WHITFIELD: "Reliable Sources" is up next and Howard Kurtz has a preview. Howard.

HOWARD KURTZ, CNN ANCHOR, RELIABLE SOURCES: Thanks, Fredricka. Coming up, how could the press have been so wrong about which Supreme Court justice was about to step down? A look at the weekend orgy of speculation about Sandra Day O'Connor's successor. Time, Inc. gives up reporter Matt Cooper's notes in the Valerie Plame leak investigation. Was this a corporate cave-in? And why is Robert Novak, unlike Matt Cooper and Judith Miller, not facing a jail term? All that and more ahead on "RELIABLE SOURCES."

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Howard. We'll be watching.

Let's find out what the national weather picture is for this holiday weekend. Let's check in with Brad Huffines. Brad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. Ditto. All right. Thanks so much, Brad.

Well, millions watched Live 8, but will leaders hear the call to action? It's a story that hits home for one actor who is from Africa and he's using his star power to help. CNN LIVE SUNDAY continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The sounds of music heard around the world as the live 8 concerts to end poverty rolled across nine cities Saturday. Hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide took part. The concerts were held ahead of this week's G8 conference to demand rich nations lift the poorest out of poverty especially those in Africa. Before the Philadelphia concern, I spoke with actor Djimon Hounsou. I asked the celebrity from Benin how he's using his celebrity status to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DJIMON HOUNSOU, ACTOR: I'm hoping that this -- my voice will count as a big voice and suddenly, you know, my supporters in my career could also hear what I'm saying, hear and understand the urgency that is, you know, that we deal with in regards to Africa. So I'm hoping that it will have a certain impact. Certainly we're asking people to raise their voice. We're not asking for anybody to -- we're not asking for money. We're not asking, I mean, directly we're not asking for money.

WHITFIELD: Instead you're asking for the G-8 leaders to commit to the funds from their countries to help Africa?

HOUNSOU: Absolutely. Absolutely. That's what we're asking for.

WHITFIELD: All right. And for you, it must feel really good knowing that you are playing a role as significant as -- and as important as this one?

HOUNSOU: Most definitely, most definitely. Giving the fact that I'm from Africa, it can't be any -- the cause, you know, hit right home. So I'm -- I'm championing everybody to do the right thing here.

WHITFIELD: Djimon Hounsou, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it and have a great weekend, a successful G-8 summit.

HOUNSOU: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That's going to do it for CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

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