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U.K. Honors Tunisia Terror Attack Victims; Tunisia Deploys More Security Forces To Tourist Spots; Coalition Airstrike Kills Senior ISIS Leader; Son Of Australian Football Coach Charged With His Murder; Financial Markets React To Greek Uncertainty; Survivor Describes Philippines Ferry Rescue; Sanders Gaining Momentum In U.S. Presidential Race; New York Prison Not Alone In Corruption Scandals; Baltimore Prisoner Ran Drug, Sex Schemes; Experts Defend Vaccinations As Safe. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 02, 2015 - 03:00   ET

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

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Flying at half-staff, honoring those that were killed in the Tunisia terror attack, this as more victims arrive back in the U.K. today.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead of Independence Day in the United States, this weekend, fears of an ISIS inspired attacks have authorities on edge.

HOWELL: And ahead of a referendum, Greece's financial future hangs in the balance. We hear from Greeks about what they think of the debt crisis.

ALLEN: Plus the number of shark attacks along the eastern coast of the U.S. has beach goers a little nerved up. One survivor shares his story.

HOWELL: I would be nervous to get into that water.

ALLEN: I know.

HOWELL: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is 8:00 a.m. in the United Kingdom where the nation is stopping to remember the 30 Britons killed in last Friday's terror rampage at a beach resort in Tunisia.

HOWELL: That's right. Flags across the country have been lowered to half-staff including at Buckingham Palace in London. You see this picture here. In the coming hours, U.K. will observe a moment of silence to honor those victims. Their bodies will continue to be repatriated today.

Our Phil Black is covering this from Tunis. Phil, good to have you with us. What's the very latest on the investigation at this point?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George, according to the authorities here, they have eight people in custody, of which one is a woman, but we know that they are still looking for more. The Interior Ministry here has posted an image and details of another suspect that they are looking for specifically it's the third time they've done it this week.

In this case the 29-year-old man who they believe played a role not only in the resort attack a week ago, but also in the museum attack here in the capital of Tunis in March, which killed 22 people. The authorities are clearly working on a theory that both of these attacks, these events, were linked.

And it is believed that the gunman in each massacre trained together across the border in neighboring Libya, that increasingly lawless country where Islamist groups such as ISIS are getting a stronger foot hold day by day.

We spoke to a prosecutor here yesterday who said they are being very cautious in the information that they are releasing publicly because they believe they are in the process of disrupting a wider terror network that they have uncovered through the course of this investigation.

And reluctant to make too much information known for fear of tipping off those who they believe are members and allowing them to escape.

HOWELL: Phil, around the country, Tunisia is certainly beefing up security as you have been reporting. But I'd like to know, I mean, what sort of differences have you seen any differences that this point?

BLACK: It is not a striking difference I don't think you would say. One week from the attack security has been lifted, yes, certainly in beaches and areas popular with tourists. It is more noticeable. But it is not blanket coverage.

You see people patrolling. You see police and security forces own bike, on foot, moving around by car. This is still a place where freedom of movement is still, well, still very open, and there is no sense that the securities are really blanketing the coverage of any particular area.

But I should say a lot of the tourists we have spoken to don't necessarily want that. They don't believe that would be appropriate. They understand what we are talking about here and it speaks to the challenge really, a very wide area of sand and sea and large towns and so forth.

[03:05:05] The idea of cracking down and really securing this in an absolute sense, it is a real challenge. It would take extraordinary amount of work and would certainly change the atmosphere of this place dramatically -- George.

HOWELL: Our senior national correspondent, Phil Black, live in Tunis, Tunisia. Phil, thank you so much. We will stay in touch with you as this investigation continues.

Now given what happened in Tunisia, members of Britain's parliament say they are now willing to discuss stepping up their fight against ISIS inside Syria.

KOSIK: Where they have not been. They've been inside Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL FALLON, BRITISH DEFENCE MINISTER: We know that ISIL is organized and directed from Northern Syria. That's why prime ministers said during the debate last September on taking military action in Iraq, that, and I quote, "there is a strong case for us to do more in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Well back in Tunisia, the city has become a pipeline for radicalizing young men driving them into the arms of ISIS. CNN's Nima Elbagir checks into that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mountains on Tunisia's border with Algeria, for months now the government has launched campaigns aimed at rooting out the terror camps hiding in these baron slopes. This operation, like all those before it, failed.

Winding on the foot hills is the roads to the town. It was in these poor streets that spark of the Tunisian resolution caught flame, hoping for a better life that never came.

We have nothing, nothing, but something else did. This young man spent two months in a Tunisian jail. He said he was charged with being a terrorist, a charge he denies.

We are not revealing his identity for his safety and the safety of his family. They thought me how to pray. We used to pray together. Then one day the police raided the mosque. I stopped going to the mosque. I even stopped praying.

But they weren't done with him. Earlier this year, the threats began arriving over Facebook. It was the men from the mosque. He says they told him they knew where he lived. His sin, he hadn't joined them.

A man describing himself as an ISIS commander told him, we've got a job for you. I knew it was either be killed or be a killer. Western intelligence agencies believed Tunisian fighters swell ISIS ranks in numbers unmatched by any other nationality.

And Tunisian authorities identifying (inaudible) a very simple pipeline of recruits. Many of the mothers we meet here tell us they lost sons to Jihadi ideology even missing, jailed, or dead. A son prayed in the same neighbor mosque. One day last year, he disappeared.

After ten months we were watching the news and we heard them say they had been fighting in the mountains. As we sat there, we heard them announcing his name and the group with him was killed in the mountains. I heard the interior minister announce it. In spite of the influence of foreign fighters, the Tunisian Jihadi battle grounds are increasingly here at home. Where attacks on soft western targets grab headlines around the world. Recruitment, we're told, is in the mosques, brazen and in person.

He said to me, you, I know your mother, your father. I can take your brother, your mother. I can throw a bomb over your wall. The terror caps aren't just a few of the training grounds in the mountains of northwestern Tunisia. It is a contagion spreading across the country and felt far beyond its borders. Nima Elbagir, CNN, Tunisia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: The man known as the emir of suicide bombers has been killed in a coalition air strike in Syria. U.S. Defense Department officials say a Tunisian, Tariq al-Harzi (ph) was responsible for getting people and materials into Iraq and Syria and help to recruit fighters.

We spoke with CNN military analyst, Retired Lt. Colonel Rick Francona, to get his thoughts just a short time ago. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RETIRED LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Any time you kill one of these leaders, it's a good thing, but what happens is they are easily replaced. The good thing is, when they are replaced, they are normally replaced with someone who doesn't quite have the skill set or they would have been in charge.

So you constantly whittle away at these organizations by taking out the leadership. This is a good tactic.

[03:10:04] It worked very well against al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq. So I think if we start taking out the leadership that is going to continue to work for us. These are small steps.

What we need to do is find out where the leadership is and go after them with a vengeance. And I think it is incumbent upon us to deal ISIS a blow, a real military defeat because as long as they appear to be successful on the battlefield, their recruitment efforts are going through the roof.

If you look at what happened last week, their recruitment is up because of the success they had in Kuwait, in Tunisia, and in France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: That is profile indicates he was freed from prison in 2013 during an ISIS raid.

ALLEN: Concern among U.S. security officials is growing over potential terror threats against the United States during the upcoming July 4 holiday. The U.S. Air Force had cancelled a big fireworks and air show celebration at an air base in England.

HOWELL: And then on Thursday, there was a lock down at Washington's Navy Yard. CNN's Jim Sciutto has been working his sources and has more from Washington.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, George, the alert at the navy yard here in Washington started with a phone call just before 8:00 in the morning from an employee who heard noises and thought it might be gunfire. It turned out to be construction work.

But this shows the level of the concern here today. This is really across the country. Concerns about attacks by ISIS supporters tied to the July 4th weekend added here was the fact that it was a military facility there on a higher level of alert.

And it is a military facility that two years ago had another shooting event, but it shows you the difficulty of these decisions as they are happening. It is hard to keep on alert for all these things in so many places and we saw this repeated overseas.

U.S. military base on a British military base in the north of England. There the base commander is making a decision that the risks of holding a July 4th celebration outweighed the rewards of doing so.

We're told by the U.S. military that this was a base decision, by base commanders there. It is certainly not a U.K. wide or a European wide decision to cancel July 4th celebrations. But again, it is a very difficult decision to make with the threat level with very nonspecific threats.

I speak to counterterror officials all the time. They say their concern is this broad call by ISIS to supporters around the world to time their attacks to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But heightened concern in the U.S. about other holidays.

As it happens, July 4th falling within the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, great concern here. Difficulty responding to these threats. But it really is a measure of that nervousness -- George.

HOWELL: That is Jim Sciutto reporting there. Authorities in Nigeria are looking into a series of attacks that killed nearly 150 people.

ALLEN: It looks like Boko Haram has struck again. CNN producer, Brent Swails, joins us by phone from the capital. Brent, how is the government, the new government there, dealing with what has happened?

BRENT SWAILS, CNN PRODUCER (via telephone): Natalie, that's actually a really good question. This is a critical time for the new administration and the president during election and now pledging to take the fight to Boko Haram.

He's actually removed military checkpoints in much of the country. Even in the north, there were no checkpoints there. Police were manning a few that still were around. But one could take soldiers off the streets. He wants them out of Boko Haram.

And there is optimism, that wasn't the case in attacks continue despite what is a multinational coalition. You see attacks on visitors where hundreds of defensive civilians have been targeted and killed -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Yes, they just continue their rampage. It seems no matter what. Brent Swails for us there from Nigeria, thank you -- George.

HOWELL: Colombia's defense minister said a series of explosions in downtown, Bogota, are without question terrorism. The explosions happened outside the offices of a pension fund management company. At least eight people were wounded in the explosions.

Officials say someone called to say that they left a suitcase full of explosives. The government is offering a $38,000 reward for anyone with information about who basically called in those explosions.

ALLEN: There is an overwhelming outpouring of grief across Australia's sporting community after a prominent football coach was murdered.

HOWELL: Phil Walsh was allegedly stabbed to death by his 26-year-old son during an argument at the family home.

[03:15:04] A highly revered character in Australian Rules Football for decades, Walsh made his mark as a player then as an assistant coach before taking the top job this season. The team's game this weekend was cancelled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GILLIAN MCLAUGHLIN, AFL CHIEF EXECUTIVE: You know that usual fun and passion of our game will not be there. And members and supporters will gather in a spirit of respect for mourning in support for the family and friends of a great football man who's loved by so many.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: In a recent interview, Walsh described how he was trying to reconnect with his son because coaching he said have fractured their relationship.

HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Greece is counting down to Sunday's referendum. Just ahead, we will see why so many people say they are not really sure what they're voting on.

ALLEN: Also ahead, passengers plucked from the sea after a ferry capsizes in the Philippines. The survivor describes what it was like.

HOWELL: And the Democratic race for the White House is heating up as Bernie Sanders gains momentum on the campaign trail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:15]

ALLEN: We've got our eye on Greece, of course, major rallies are planned today in Athens, for and against Sunday's bailout referendum. Long lines of people here are queuing up again today to withdraw money. The banks are closed and there are strict limits on how much money people can get from cash machines.

Greeks are scheduled to vote whether to accept another bailout deal from European creditors. Greece's finance minister has some harsh words of his own for the country's European creditors.

HOWELL: That's right. He spoke with CNN's Richard Quest. Here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YANIS VAROUFAKIS, GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: Think of what is going on in the last five months as an investment into achieving an agreement that is mutually beneficial for everyone. Why is the Greek economy stagnating so badly in the last few months? Why are the banks closed?

It is because the Euro group has decided to blackmail our government into extending and (inaudible) further like the previous governments were and we're not going to do it.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": And the euro group will say, the banks are closed. The Greek economy is in the situation it's in because the government in Athens is in incompetent or inexperienced or maybe both.

VAROUFAKIS: Richard, the reason why we were elected is because the Euro group of (inaudible) has failed miserably. The institutions have imposed a program of fiscal consolidation that will go down in global economic history as the greatest failure ever.

This is why I'm sitting in this office now. So perhaps all sides should take a step back and reconsider their own contribution to the last five years of this disaster and maybe they should take very seriously the very simple proposition that it is time to stop extending this crisis into the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Richard Quest.

HOWELL: He puts the questions there. He does the job. There is a lot of uncertainty with all of this. So let's take a look new at how the world financial markets are reacting to the latest news from Greece.

ALLEN: Nina Dos Santos in in London for us as European exchanges opened just a few minutes ago. Nina, it has been a wild week to say the least on the markets. How are they reacting on the last trading session before Greece's referendum?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. As you can see, there is nervousness on a number of these markets. Tough talk from Richard but equally tough rhetoric coming from the finance minister of Greece, and yet again a lot of this ramping up really hasn't helped these markets over the course of the last week or so.

It is surprisingly resilient over the last two trading sessions when it seemed as they Greece was willing it make compromise, but as we knew, there was always a little bit more to it than that. And this is why I want to show you the monthly pattern in Germany.

Because remember that the two key markets in France and Germany, their leaders will have a huge say in what goes on if the Euro group, which is the Eurozone finance ministers finally agree to come to some kind of deal with Greece over the next few days after that referendum.

Look how the picture is. Each peak goes to show how people got very, very optimistic that we might have a deal and then yet again things degenerated into the battle of wills, if you like.

And so these markets, also I want to point out that single currency itself has been surprisingly resilient. This is a message that Angela Merkel, the German chancellor has been very keen to stress here.

Europe is not in the same predicament as it was five years ago when Greece got its original chunk of bailout money. And the euro versus the dollar, as you can see, currently holding up at the moment. If you are trading in dollars, it buys you about 90 euro cents.

When it comes to the euro versus the dollar, we are talking about a level of 1.10 to 1.11. So it's not looking too bad for the currency and also the markets albeit the nervousness going into that referendum weekend.

ALLEN: All right, and Nina, now even the IMF says Greece will need even more money than people thought and it is a number that is, of course, staggering.

DOS SANTOS: It is a number that is around 50 billion euros, which is almost twice as much, Natalie, as the amount that the Greeks originally requested when they made the surprise request over the last few days the third bailout chunk of money.

Irrespective of the fact that the second bailout is actually now expired and that they have run out of money. They are saying they need around about 29 billion to 30 billion euros. The IMF says guys you need more than that.

Here is the caveat. Remember that Greece defaulted in the IMF payment about $1.5 billion earlier this week. The IMF certainly will probably not let Greece off the hook for that because it sets a very dangerous precedent.

[03:25:03] But the IMF at the same time is sending a very mixed signals here because the IMF is saying, we agree with part of the Greek government's rhetoric that yes this country doesn't have a hope of paying back its mountain of debt.

But it is unlikely many economists say that the IMF will allow Greece off the hook for its debt will rely on European partners like the ECB, which is half billion of its own to try and find the money for that debt relief for Greece. But again, the referendum is the big thing this weekend for these markets. ALLEN: All right, and we will of course be watching it and covering it. Thanks you so much, Nina Dos Santos for us there in London. Thank you, Nina -- George.

HOWELL: So even with the push from the government, a push to vote no. Greeks remain divided on how they will vote on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am in Europe. I want to stay in Europe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that there is no solution within the Eurozone and within this European Union. I'm sure about this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully next time, we will vote yes because we want to remain in the European Union.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I would say no because I'm here and I cannot leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are trying to play the future of Greece in cards. We do not want to have our future played in cards.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No, no. I want to believe that we will go even in the last minute they will think of that and they will vote for a yes because the majority of the people believe in Europe and the Eurozone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a government and we want this Greek government to make the decision, not the people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only future for my country, for me, my family, my children, my grandchildren, is to cooperate with the other Europeans and go ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: The vote is very much divided there, but you know, Greeks have a very important decision to make.

ALLEN: Yes, they do an then who knows what happens after that.

HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We are learning more details of exactly what went on in a New York prison before two inmates escaped. But this is not the only prison in the U.S. to see its share of drama.

ALLEN: Yes. Wait until you hear about another prison in Baltimore. My goodness, what went on there?

Plus, how about this one? A flurry of shark attacks on the U.S. east coast. We hear from a survivor hailed as a hero for warning others before he was mauled.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:31:02]

HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Good to have you with us. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. Thanks for joining us. Here are our top stories.

HOWELL: Union flags across U.K. have been lowered in honor of the 30 British citizens who were murdered during a terror attack in Tunisia one week ago. Their bodies will continue to be repatriated in the coming days, at noon local time. The national will observe a moment of silence.

ALLEN: A British airbase used by the American Air Force has cancelled a big 4th of July celebration for today and tomorrow. U.S. Air Force officials saying there wasn't a specific threat against the festival. They say their decision was based on the current local threat assessments.

HOWELL: Colombia's government is offering $38,000 reward for information after two blasts in downtown Bogota. The explosions happened outside the offices of a pension fund management company. The defense minister said it is without question, terrorism. At least eight people were wounded.

ALLEN: Divers have found more bodies one day after a ferry capsized off the Central Philippines. Minutes after leaving port, the boat flipped over, killing at least 42 people. Most of the passengers and crew on board were rescued. David Santos with CNN Philippines reports on those still missing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): It is still ongoing for remaining passengers from the sunken ferry here in Ormoc City throughout Thursday morning local time. There are about a dozen people still believed to be missing.

Now the subjects of the ongoing search operation, 16 crew members, including the boat captain, have been accounted for. We've been told that they are now under the custody of the local police perhaps a spark of the initial investigation on the incident.

However, they have not been allowed to speak it journalists. Now more than 100 passengers survived are also recuperating in local hospital. Many of the passengers panic when the boat tilted to one side when it was maneuvering on the rough waves while leaving the Ormoc port.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: This is terrible what happened there. David Santos also pointing out that search is still ongoing, but now let's hear a survivor describe what it was like exactly when that boat tipped over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were out on the ferry and it was really sudden. Sudden tragedy and we were by the stairs when the ferry was sudden backing up and then turning and I heard a thug on the back of the boat and then maybe that thug is the one who is making the shifting of the cargo to the right because the ship went to kind of listing or tilting to the right of the cargo. So the boat came out kind of tilting and it was sudden that everyone was in the water.

I went to the water. I was separated with my husband because I have a life jacket. The crew of the boat gave us life jackets while the boat was already moving. It was very tragic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: We are told that ten survivors are in the hospital. They are under observation, but none of them were in critical condition.

[03:35:06] ALLEN: Another candidate has thrown his hat into the ring in the 2016 U.S. presidential race. There are a lot of hats in the ring.

HOWELL: A lot of hats. Is there enough room?

ALLEN: Former Virginia senator, there he is, Jim Webb, announced his campaign Thursday, becoming the fifth Democrat to join the contest.

HOWELL: And Bernie Sanders is gaining ground in the party's presidential race for the White House. The self-described independent socialist has raised $15 million from about 250,000 individual donors.

ALLEN: It was a full house for Sanders in Madison, Wisconsin, although he is surging in the polls, Sanders has a long road ahead on the campaign trail as we learn from CNN's Brianna Keilar.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton is raising big money, but Bernie Sanders is raising the roof.

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In case you haven't noticed, a lot of people here.

KEILAR: Almost 10,000 people flocking to his event in the liberal strong hold of Madison, Wisconsin.

SANDERS: Tonight, we have more people at a meeting for a candidate for president of the United States than any other candidate has had in 2016.

KEILAR: Sanders straight talking populism making the self-described socialist, the progressive alternative to Hillary Clinton.

BETHANY RAGAINS, SANDERS SUPPORTER: I feel closer to Bernie Sanders than any other candidate before. He fits to well with my philosophy and morals. KEILAR: The big crowds designed to challenge the fundraising juggernaut of Clinton, whose events have mostly been staged managed roundtables and smaller speeches.

Enthusiasm for Sanders is helping showing in states that drive the nomination process. In Iowa, Sanders jumps from 5 percent support in February to 15 in May all the way to a respectable 33 percent shrinking Clinton's lead by 26 points.

And in New Hampshire, the wild-haired 73-year-old senator from neighboring Vermont has closed the gap to just 8 points in the latest CNN/ORC poll. His insurgent campaign is bringing comparisons to fellow Vermonter, Howard Dean's 2004 campaign effort.

But Like Dean, Sanders still faces long odds. Clinton crushes him in national polls by more than 40 points and her campaign just announced a record-breaking $45 million fundraising haul for her first quarter in the race to Sanders $15 million.

SANDERS: They may have the money, but we have the people and when the people stand together, we can win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: We are getting more details now about the two escaped inmates from a prison in New York. Richard Matt was killed by border patrol agents after pointing a shotgun their way and his accomplice, David Sweat, is alive and filling police in on details of their escape and their life in prison which at times seems a little more like a soap opera than a script.

ALLEN: Absolutely. But this isn't the only times inmates have pushed the boundaries. Wait until you hear what's going on at a prison in Baltimore. Here is CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before a sweeping investigation into the Baltimore City Detention Center, the inmates seem to be running the place. A deadly gang called the Black Guerrilla Family, bringing drugs into the jail, all at the direction of their leader, inmate, Tavone White.

IAN DUNCAN, "THE BALTIMORE SUN": Tavone White was wiretapped as part of the investigation and there is a quote that stood out saying, this is my jail. Something along the lines of, you know, his word, is law.

KAYE: So how was White and his gay able to gain such a strangle hold on the entire system? Largely through seducing its female correctional officers into sexual relationships. According to the government, White even fathered five children with four different officers all while behind bars.

DUNCAN: The sexual dynamic of the corruption was really important and what the FBI thinks is this that was a way to establish power over the women and build the relationships to strengthen these bonds. They really had a play book of using sex to ensure their dominance.

KAYE: This is one of those guards according to the government. Tiffany Linder, seen here eight months into her pregnancy, got into an argument with another guard, who was also pregnant with White's baby.

According to court documents, she said, did he tell you we was having a son? Do you know about our baby? The other pregnant guard responded, don't give a (inaudible) about that baby. That's y'all baby, not mine. We having one too. So what? Two of the pregnant guards allegedly even got tattoos of Tavon's name.

(on camera): Up until this scandal broke wide open back in 2013, 75 percent of the jail's 650 corrections officers were women.

[03:40:05] According to one inmate, who was a witness for the government, up to three quarters of those female guards were involved in quote "contraband smuggling and/or having sexual relationships with inmates."

(voice-over): That all began to unravel when the FBI and other law enforcement began to investigate.

DUNCAN: They were able to tap the contraband cell phones that gang members were using to build up a picture of the network who was connected to who, who Tavone White had control over and build their case that way.

KAYE: The head of Maryland's Correction Department accepted responsibility when charges were first brought and said people will be held accountable according to the "Washington Post." More than 40 people charged with racketeering related charges including Tavone White.

He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and this past February was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Twenty four correctional officers were also found guilty including Tiffany Linder and three other women who allegedly were impregnated by White. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. There is a predator in the water headed into the U.S. holiday weekend. We are talking about shark attacks.

ALLEN: Aren't you Mr. Sunshine?

HOWELL: Well, yes.

ALLEN: In short, we will hear it from one man who made it out live. Be careful out there, folks.

HOWELL: I think I would stay out of the water.

ALLEN: Also ahead here, a solar powered plane trying to fly around the world is getting closer to its most grueling part of the trip. We will hear from the pilot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Well, sharks are migrating off the Atlantic coast and the swimmers are finding that out, aren't they? They are going close into the shore. Parts of the U.S. east coast seemed to be swimming with sharks right now, and that's because there are.

[03:45:08] HOWELL: That's right. People were kind of finding out the hard way. There have been 10 attacks in the Carolinas alone this summer and it has beach-goers on alert especially heading into the holiday weekend.

ALLEN: Look at all those attacks. Patrick Thornton seen here suffering wound to his leg and back last week, but he is being called a hero for warning others, fighting off the shark and pulling his son to safety. He told his incredible story to CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK THORNTON, SHARK ATTACK SURVIVOR: You know, when the rip curl after wave comes down and it is like white caps.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": Right.

THORNTON: That's kind of the way -- the shark must have been in that because when the wave crashed down, I stood with my back towards the wave and as the -- as the surf, if you will, was getting pulled back into the ocean, that's when the shark bit me.

COOPER: Wow, so it was actually in the wave.

THORNTON: It actually must have come in the wave because I didn't see anything. That's when it started it pull. I thought it was odd because it was a big pull. The last thing in my mind I thought there was a shark there, but I really noticed the shark when it actually came around my back and then it started -- it actually came around and I saw its fin.

COOPER: I got to ask, that is probably everybody's nightmare seeing a fin in the water coming toward them. What went through your mind when you saw that fin?

THORNTON: Well, it happened so fast, the very first thought I had was, I got to get Jack out of here. Number two, my niece and nephew were also in the ocean. I just started -- I just started shouting shark, shark, everyone out of the water. At the same time I'm punching the shark. Trying to get the shark away from me and then went over to, obviously grab my son.

COOPER: I assume Jack heard you shouting, shark. I don't know if he saw the fin as well. Was he in shock? Did he know what was going on?

THORNTON: He just looked at me, our eyes met, and he knew by looking at my eyes that I was serious and he needed to listen and we need to get out as soon as possible. COOPER: You have no doubt that it was the same shark that bit you each time?

THORNTON: I never saw, but the folks on the beach at the time said there were two or three sharks that came up afterwards. So I believe it was the same shark, but it could have been -- it could have been a different shark because by the time I got out of the ocean there were two or three sharks swimming in the same area.

If I would have been in the ocean for another, you know, few minutes, the other sharks showed up pretty quickly, I don't know if I would have made it out alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: But thankfully he did. What a scary situation. He got everybody out, though.

ALLEN: Usually, you know, they are looking for food. They see a flash in the waves and it is people. It is unfortunate. So we're glad he will be OK.

Oppressive summer heat is gripping much of Western Europe. Karen Maginnis has the story for us from the weather center.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and it doesn't look like much in the way of relief coming up over the next few day if anything. The areas that are already entrenched in this heat are still going to see temperatures 5 to 10 degrees above where they should be for this time of year.

We take look at Paris. The average high temperature for this time of year, 23 degrees, but if you look all the way from Friday's high temperature to next Thursday, we're expecting mid 30s and then maybe a little bit of a break by about midweek.

But still running about 4 degrees above where it should be for this time of year. And London, temperatures will probably peak about Friday and going into Saturday. And then we see them level off a little bit. More close to normal levels as we go into the next five days.

This Paris heat wave, take a look at this on Wednesday, 39.7 degrees and that was just a few degrees behind what we saw maximum temperature all time texture setback in 1947. And Berlin is going to be seeringly high as well.

How do the animals in the zoo cool off? Look at this, some unique ways, this is very cute, some seals, baby seal. They feed them frozen stuff. Yes. And it's a little tricky. They put everything in the ice and then they have to wiggle it out somehow. But this was the awe moment I was telling you about.

ALLEN: We're like the grim people. You're the awe people.

HOWELL: Thank you, Karen. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. A Hollywood celebrity is picking a fight over vaccination. Jim Carrey's anti-immunization campaign may have backfired.

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[03:53:52]

HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. This week, the governor of California signed a controversial new law requiring all school children to get vaccines even if the child's family has a personal or religious objection.

ALLEN: Several celebrities tweeted their opposition to the move, perhaps most vocally, actor, Jim Carrey. He called Governor Jerry Grown a corporate fascist and also tweeted, "They say mercury in fish is dangerous, but forcing all of our children to be injected with mercury and thimerosol is no risk. Make sense? That's what he tweeted.

HOWELL: That's right. Carrey is referring to that substance that some vaccine opponents call toxic. They claim that it can trigger autism. But a leading expert from America's National Institute of Health refutes that. He told CNN that thimerosol is not in most vaccines and that if it was, it's not dangerous, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: The thing that gets always misconstrued is that Thimerosol, which does not cause any difficulty, the mercury and Thimerosol is ethel mercury, which is very different from the methyl mercury in fish, which when you get an accumulation of it when fish are contaminated can be a problem. It is an entirely different type of mercury. That's the misconception that's out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:55:12] ALLEN: Jim Carrey also posted tweets showing crying children supposedly suffering from autism. One of them featured a picture of Alex Eckles and said a trillion dollars buys a lot of opinions. Will it buy you? Toxin free vaccines, a reasonable request.

HOWELL: A lot of people are interested in what he is talking about here but turns out that Carrey used the boy's photo without permission which made his parents very upset especially because they say his autism stems from a genetic disorder and has nothing to do with vaccines.

They put out a statement in part saying in part, quote, "We feel Mr. Carrey was irresponsible in using our son's image to further his agenda and feel he should issue an apology for using our son's image without permission. Mr. Carrey's image was used this way, legal action would almost certainly be taken." ALLEN: Carrey has now apologized to the family and others for posting pictures of their children without permission. He says he didn't mean to cause him distress.

Slowly but surely a plane powered by sunlight alone is on the verge of creating more history in the Pacific. The Solar Impulse is closing in on Hawaii on its grueling and somewhat dangerous flight from Japan, the plane is attempting to circle will globe on solar power.

HOWELL: That right. The pilot has been at the controls now for more than four days straight setting a world record. And remember this, this is all done without a drop of fuel. Earlier he told CNN how he stays focused in such testing circumstances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRE BORSCHBERG, PILOT, SOLAR IMPULSE: Of course keep the body little bit in good condition, but the mind-set, right attitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: I think that's the coolest story. You know, more power to him.

ALLEN: No pun intended.

HOWELL: Sun power. We thank you for watching. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. "EARLY START" is coming up for viewers in the U.S. and for viewers elsewhere, stay with us for CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for watching.

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