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Swimmer Bitten by Great White Shark; Beaten Teen Under House Arrest; Pregnant Wife of U.S. Marine Still Missing; Boehner Defends Suing President; L.A. Clippers Ownership Fight; Pope To Meet With Sex Abuse Victims

Aired July 06, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And on the Pacific Coast as a swimmer comes face to face with a great white shark. The peaceful Saturday morning quickly turned to chaos and it was all caught on video.

Melissa McBride with our affiliate KABC has the story on Manhattan Beach, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA MCBRIDE, KABC REPORTER: The reaction from the pier moments after a swimmer is bitten by a shark struggling to get free from a fisherman's line 200 yards from the pier.

JEFF GARNEVICUS, WITNESS: And I heard some screaming curls that was like nothing I heard before.

MCBRIDE: Jeff Garnevicus was surfing near the pier and paddled over to help. The swimmer was with a group of long distance swimmers trying to help their friend.

GARNEVICUS: The paddleboard happened to get to him before I did. He had a bigger board than I did. And started to yank him up as everybody tried to get him on the paddleboard. That's when we noticed the big gauge out of his side.

MCBRIDE: L.A. County lifeguards says the 40-year-old swimmer has moderate injuries from the teeth of a six to seven-foot long juvenile great white.

CAPT. TRACY LIZLOTTE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY LIFEGUARD: When I saw the injury it wasn't a full sized bite. It was -- it was in the torso just under the arm.

MCBRIDE: The great whites are common in the waters off Manhattan Beach. Eric Martin who works at the Round House Aquarium on the pier says that this may have been what's known as a response bite.

ERIC MARTIN, MARINE BIOLOGIST: It's where the shark is hooked in a lip and he's trying to shake the hook. His mouth is opening and closing, opening and closing, shaking his head. And when he's doing that, of course, he's -- you know, his teeth are coming out. And we think the swimmer just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow. I'll say. Thanks so much to Melissa McBride for that report from our affiliate KABC.

And a photographer who happened to be on the beach snapped this shot of Steven Robles being rushed to shore. In fact, Stephen -- well, we have the picture? No.

All right. Well, Steven actually joins me on the phone right now. I understand you're at home from the hospital. How are you feeling?

STEVEN ROBLES, BITTEN BY SHARK: I'm still feeling pretty shaken up right now. And I'm recovering. It was pretty scary what happened out there.

WHITFIELD: Gosh, no doubt very scary.

ROBLES: I saw the shark surfacing at the bottom of the ocean coming up to the top of the water. I saw it coming real close to me and then it turned at a very sharp left turn and lunged right at my chest. And I saw this shark eye-to-eye, staring at me as it was crunching into my chest. And just out of instinct, I took my right hand and grabbed its nose and tried to pry it off of my chest and once it released itself, it disappeared immediately. It didn't come back.

But at that time I knew I was bit. I could feel the thrashing of the shark. His whole body just on my chest. Just thrashing, trying to bite into me. And once he released himself, I was fortunate enough. I was swimming with a group of 14 of us swimming pier to pier going from Manhattan -- Hermosa to Manhattan Pier. We do this every Saturday morning.

Three of the swimmers were right behind me, about five stretch behind me and they heard me screaming at the top of my lungs saying I got bit. I got bit by a shark. And I was in a complete state of panic. Then they started keeping me up on top of the water and they said help and get to shore. Eventually a paddler showed up and they got me on to shore and at that point the lifeguards and everyone was there, paramedics and a whole crowd of people were observing while it's going on.

WHITFIELD: Incredible, Steven. I mean, you were unlucky to have been bitten but at the same time very lucky that maybe it was indeed this responsive bite, that it was really took a bite out of you by mistake if you listen to some of the other interviews in that piece. That you are an experienced swimmer. A distance swimmer. You swim from pier to pier every Saturday morning with your colleagues there.

Along the way, has it always been a concern or fear or even a possibility that whether it be great whites or other shark activity as something you as a swimmer would encounter there?

ROBLES: I knew that there were great white -- baby great white sharks congregating in the north end of Manhattan Beach and that did not bothered anybody but what happened is a fisherman was up on the pier. Swimming for sharks. Yes, he was trying to catch a great white next to a bunch of swimmers.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Is that legal?

ROBLES: He had that shark on his fishing line for 40 minutes until he released it. And once he released it, that shark was agitated and it swam near me and I was what he decided to take his aggression out on.

WHITFIELD: So, Steven, how did you know --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Sorry to interrupt you. But Steven, how did you know what to do? I mean to have the wherewithal to grab its nose, to punch it. I've heard other shark experts say sometimes you try to punch the shark in the nose or poke him in the eye. But then when you're, you know, staring face to face at these jaws, it seems like that would be tough to remember to do that. How did you have that instinct to do that?

ROBLES: It was just a natural reflex action. I just -- I felt the shark biting into me and I was, like, oh my god. This is it. Oh, my god. I'm going to die. This is it. This is it. And I just -- I said, no, I'm going to get this thing off of me. I grabbed its nose. And fortunately it let go. I mean, he could have gone where he just kept biting down and took me under water and that's it.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Steven, lucky man. Do you have stitches? You know, what's your injury like? Describe it for me.

ROBLES: Right now I was fortunate enough where the shark just bit the first layer of my skin and the soft tissue around the lining of your skin.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

ROBLES: It didn't go into the organs or the rib cage or anything. It didn't puncture down in that level. So I got lucky.

WHITFIELD: You sure did. Steven Robles, glad you got lucky. Thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.

And something tells me because you're such an experienced distance swimmer, you are still going to get back in the water, aren't you?

ROBLES: Not right now. I hope I do some day.

WHITFIELD: One day.

ROBLES: It's off the table right now.

WHITFIELD: Right. All right. Well, heal well. We wish you the best. Thanks so much for your time, Steven. Appreciate it. ROBLES: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Wow. What a close call. What an incredible survival story there.

So if you feel in general like shark stories and sightings are becoming more common, you actually might be right. A new study by the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration found that great white shark populations have increased 42 percent in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and there may even be a breeding ground for baby great whites off the New York coast.

A separate study found the number of great whites off California coast is also increasing. 2400 great white sharks were counted recently, which officials say means the species is not in danger of going extinct as some had feared.

And speaking of fear, it's probably "Jaws" that triggers the most great white memories for a lot of people so just to keep you awake at night here are a few more numbers. There were 47 unprovoked shark attacks in 2013. And most of them were in Florida.

And then coming up later on this hour, we're going to talk to a shark expert who collects data on all of these attacks and helping us to understand, you know, the commonalties or not of certain attacks or bites.

All right. Now to Israel where a teenager from Florida who says he was beaten by Israeli security forces has been released from jail. The beating was caught on video and has sparked outrage around the world. Fifteen-year-old Palestinian American Tariq Abu Khdeir appeared in court in Jerusalem today and was put under house arrest. Kadeir is the cousin of another teen who was kidnapped and killed last week. Several Israeli Jewish suspects were arrested today in connection with that killing.

CNN's Ben Wedeman spoke with this teen and I do want to caution you, some of the images in this report are very graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sporting two black eyes and a swollen lip, 15-year-old Tariq Abu Khdeir leaves Jerusalem's magistrate court free on bail.

(On camera): So how do you feel now that you're out?

TARIQ ABU KHDEIR, BEATEN 15-YEAR-OLD: I feel way better.

WEDEMAN: Way better?

(Voice-over): Images caught on cell phone Thursday evening shows Israeli policeman punching and kicking the Tampa, Florida, native on the ground, his hands bound behind his back. His parents say he was taking part but not throwing rocks in protest sparked by the discovery of the burned body of his cousin, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, widely believed to have been killed by Israeli extremists in revenge for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank last month.

Israeli Police continue to investigate Tariq's involvement in the protests. He remains under house arrest for nine days not in the family home but rather in a relative's home in an adjacent neighborhood of Beit Hanina.

(On camera): What do you think of the decision of the court?

SUHA ABU KHDEIR, TARIQ'S MOTHER: I'm not really happy. Because he's -- he hasn't been charged with anything.

WEDEMAN: Has he been accused?

S. KHDEIR: And he hasn't been accused with anything. Not charged with anything. And they have him on house arrest out of his own home and plus he's -- they're making us pay a fine. It was 10,000 Shekels and it went 3,000 Shekels. Yes, I am going to --

WEDEMAN: You'll pursue charges against the police who beat him?

S. KHDEIR: Yes. Yes, we will. Definitely.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): The Israeli Justice Ministry has launched a probe into the incident. Tariq's father, Salam, has scant faith in the process.

(On camera): Are you confident that the investigation will be fair?

SALAM EDDEIME ABU KHDEIR, TARIQ'S FATHER: With history, no.

WEDEMAN: As that investigation moves forward, the police have arrested several Israeli Jews for questioning in connection with the abduction and murder of Mohammad Abu Khdeir, indicating it may well have been a politically motivated revenge killing more fuel for the fire.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Ben.

Meantime, the U.S. State Department says an official from the U.S. consulate general visited the teen when he was in custody. A State Department spokesman says, quote, "We are profoundly troubled by reports that he was severely beaten while in police custody and strongly condemn any excessive use of force. We are calling for a speedy transparent and credible investigation and full accountability for any excessive use of force."

All right. Still to come, it was eight days ago Erin Corwin was on her way to a nearby park. The pregnant wife of a U.S. Marine hasn't been seen since. We'll have the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: It has been eight days since Erin Corwin, the pregnant wife of a U.S. Marine, went missing. She was on her way to a nearby national park in southern California and hasn't been seen since.

Nick Valencia has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LORE HEAVILIN, MOTHER OF MISSING WOMAN: She's a little on the timid side. Maybe a little bit on the naive side. But once she got to know you, you had a friend.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Loving words from a mother. Her only wish now is for her 19-year-old daughter to come home.

HEAVILIN: The last conversation we had was a week ago Friday. And we probably talked for at least an hour. Just about my trip coming out here, we were going to go to SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo and she was, like, if you knew how much of an animal lover she is, you would know how excited she was about that trip.

VALENCIA: But the next morning Erin Corwin vanished without a trace. She had been scoping out locations in California's Joshua Tree National Park to take photographs when she went missing. Her husband, who is in the U.S. Marine Corps, reported her disappearance the following day.

For more than a week from the air and by foot, search teams continue to look for Corwin. Police say her disappearance is suspicious with homicide investigators taking the lead in this case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know that she is out there. It's just a matter of us trying to figure out exactly where. We are also looking at it as a potential criminal investigation so we don't want to destroy any evidence that we may be able to recover.

VALENCIA: Earlier this week police did find Erin's car in 29 Palms near the military base where her husband is stationed. He's not been charged and no other clues have surfaced.

As for Corwin's mother, she doesn't believe her son-in-law could be linked to any potential foul play.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In cases like this, you start inside and you work your way out.

HEAVILIN: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you or have you ever been suspicious that he may be tied to her disappearance?

HEAVILIN: Absolutely not.

VALENCIA: And in the days since her daughter vanished, she learned she's going to be a new grandmother. Erin is pregnant. HEAVILIN: I mean, it just doesn't seem real. I'm cooking in her

kitchen and she's not there right now. Her ring tone on my phone is a horse, neighing and galloping and I would give anything to hear that ring tone. Anything right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Valencia joining us live now. So what are investigators willing to say at this point?

VALENCIA: Well, they're not telling the mom a lot right now. Plausible deniability. They haven't ruled anything out. Son-in-law may be part of that investigation. We just don't know. I asked the mom on that. You could hear her say that she absolutely not. There's no way that he had anything to do with this. But he did take a day before he reported her disappearance to call police.

I asked the mom why would he take so long? You know, if my girlfriend was missing, I'd call her friends or family and call everybody right away. She told me that he believed that she was spending the night at a ranch somewhere else. That's why it took him so long. She really didn't give much clarity to why she thought he waited so long.

WHITFIELD: And investigators are not commenting on his version or his story being told to authorities?

VALENCIA: No. They're not saying anything. But the family has put out a Facebook page to try to get more information about the 19-year- old's disappearance. The investigation has ramped up in the last couple of days and it's focused right there around her home in 29 Palms -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Valencia, keep us posted. Thanks so much.

VALENCIA: You got it.

WHITFIELD: All right. U.S. speaker of the House, John Boehner, says he is going to sue President Barack Obama. And in an exclusive op-ed written for CNN, he explains why.

Still to come, we'll look at why Boehner says he needs to sue.

Plus our Sally Kohn has just posted her response as well. We'll dissect some of the Washington infighting in just two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Members of Congress return to Washington tomorrow after their Fourth of July holiday break and House Speaker John Boehner wants them to sue President Obama. The president has already called the idea a stunt but today in an exclusive opinion article on CNN.com, the speaker was firm writing this.

Quote, "The president has circumvented the American people and their elected representatives through executive action changing and creating his own laws and excusing himself from enforcing statutes he is sworn to uphold. At times even boasting about his willingness to do it as if daring the American people to stop him.

"That's why later this month we will bring legislation to the House floor that would authorize the House of Representatives to file suit in an effort to compel President Obama to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our country." End quote.

That's from House Speaker John Boehner in a CNN.com op-ed.

All right. Let's bring in our political panel. Sally Kohn, a CNN political commentator who leans left, and Lenny McAllister is a conservative radio talk show host.

Welcome to both of you.

(LAUGHTER)

SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Glad to be here, Fred.

LENNY MCALLISTER, SENIOR COMMENTATOR, POLITIC365.COM: Good afternoon, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So first, before I unleash the two of you, Sally, you actually wrote a rebuttal on CNN.com to the speaker and in part you write, quote, "With all due respect, Speaker Boehner, it's as though the fog of extreme partisanship that has colored your dealings with President Obama since day one has suddenly turned into a full-on fever of irrationality. Think about this for just a second.

"House Republicans are using taxpayer dollars to fund a lawsuit against a president who has literally done not only what every president before him has done but has done it less often and is doing so now only because House Republicans repeatedly refused to even vote on legislation let alone pass anything."

Whoa. I can -- I can just see the smoke and the fire coming off your fingertips as you -- as you were writing this.

So, Sally, you are so fired up about this, comparing the president's 182 executive orders to his predecessors which on average are more than 200 of executive orders that are used. What's with this "Dear John" letter so to speak?

(LAUGHTER)

KOHN: Well, you know, look, anyone who doesn't think that this lawsuit funded with taxpayer dollars is anything other than a desperate and partisan political stunt just isn't paying attention. Basically, look, since President Obama took office, house Republicans have said from day one, we're not going to pass any laws. We're not going to do anything to -- to work with this president for the good of the country. We're not going to compromise at all.

All we're going to do is try and throw up roadblocks, and look, the president and the Democrats continue to do well electorally. And so Republicans are just going to keep stonewalling, keep causing problems and frankly -- making the American people and our democracy suffer. This is unprecedented, it's sick, and it's sad.

WHITFIELD: So Lenny, your response. She says it's unprecedented, sick and sad, calling it a partisan stunt. What do you say?

MCALLISTER: I would not have sued the president in this capacity. But Speaker Boehner has a point. I think people tend to forget that. One of the few times that President Obama openly tried to work with Republicans was after the Tea Party took over in 2010 during the lame duck session and guess what happened? We got stuff done. We got legislation passed including "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" being repealed, including the START treaty going through with over 67 senators passing it. As well as an extension of tax cuts that President Obama turned around and immediately railed against no more than two months after he signed it into law.

So this back and forth is a bipartisan phenomenon that is unfortunate on both sides. Now in regards to the lawsuit, there's a point to it. I don't know if I would have necessarily pushed this agenda. But when you have President Obama pushing his healthcare legislation and then only enforcing the parts that he wants to enforce while holding it -- and holding other people accountable on other aspects of it, yes, there is a point of frustration that should be addressed. With a lawsuit maybe not, but should it be addressed? Is there a problem? Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: So --

KOHN: But that's what presidents do. That's what presidents have done time in memoriam. That is their constitutional duty.

MCALLISTER: It's not their constitutional duty, Sally.

KOHN: And not only -- to not only -- they not only have executive authority but they have constitutional duty as sanctioned by the Supreme Court to determine the prioritization and implementation of laws. That's what presidents do. Period.

MCALLISTER: Sally, however, at the same exact -- at the same exact time, you also have a Supreme Court that seems to repeatedly slap this president on the hand and say, you are overreaching. You are overreaching.

KOHN: As it has done --

MCALLISTER: We have seen some decisions come back in unanimous fashion --

KOHN: Well, so that's interesting. So Lenny --

MCALLISTER: -- that says Mr. President, you're going a little too far.

KOHN: Lenny, so first of all that -- look, so that's interesting. So first of all the Supreme Court has also slapped down Congress and presidents for time in memoriam. That's how our three branches work.

MCALLISTER: I concur.

KOHN: But it is generally not the job of Congress to determine the constitutionality of the actions of the president. That is the job of the Supreme Court. I mean, look, this is just --

(CROSSTALK)

MCALLISTER: Which is why they're going to --

KOHN: Again --

MCALLISTER: Which is why they're going to file a lawsuit to let the Supreme Court decide this.

KOHN: And I bet you a hundred bucks they don't even get past the trial level because they don't have standing. Look, this is such puppet theatrics. Again, every president ever has done this. This is what presidents do. This is how executive authority. We want to talk about the abuse of it, let's talk about George W. Bush. Dick Cheney said that he actually thinks the executive authority of the president should be unchallenged. Unchallenged. Right?

MCALLISTER: Which was wrong as well.

KOHN: This president is operating within the law --

MCALLISTER: Which was absolutely wrong as well.

KOHN: -- but Republicans just don't like it. And because they can't defeat him electorally --

MCALLISTER: Sally, he's not operating with the law of Obamacare.

KOHN: -- they just throw tantrums. They are throwing a tantrum. That's what this is.

MCALLISTER: Sally, even with -- in regards to Obamacare, he's not operating within the law. Now I did concede at the initial point I probably wouldn't have gone down this path. But do they have a point in regards to bringing up this frustration with this president picking and choosing the way he wants to interpret law moving forward, absolutely.

There's a point to this. Maybe not a lawsuit but the Republicans do have a point in regards to how this president has enacted his presidential authority over the years.

(CROSSTALK)

KOHN: Again, but Lenny --

WHITFIELD: So Lenny --

KOHN: That disregards history from the time of the founding of our country.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So I wonder, Lenny --

MCALLISTER: It doesn't mean that other presidents haven't made the same mistake. Now I want to be clear about that, Sally and Fred. It doesn't mean that the other -- 43 presidents have not made the same exact mistake. Bush has.

KOHN: This is just a (INAUDIBLE).

MCALLISTER: FDR tried to pack the courts. Pardon me?

KOHN: This is just the one-way suit?

MCALLISTER: People had a fit about FDR packing the courts in the '30s for example. Now part of the reason why you would pull a political stunt like this if you want to call it a political stunt is because you're trying to rally a base in a midterm election. You have Twitter, social media out there and you know that you can rally a base in way that you could not do 10 or 20 years ago.

WHITFIELD: Is this what's happening here? Is that what this lawsuit will help propel, Lenny?

MCALLISTER: I think it will rally the base. Again, is this something that I would have done politically? Probably not. Do I see why they did it politically? I absolutely do. And I know what effect this is going to have. This is from the same type of complaints that people in the Republican base have had about this president for quite some time and it did rally the troops in 2010. So this is in some regard, Sally, is not a surprise for 2014.

WHITFIELD: So then, Sally, is this a --

KOHN: So -- yes.

WHITFIELD: Can this really be advantageous whether it'd be for Republicans or can it potentially, you know, shoot the Republicans in the foot or even, you know, Speaker Boehner in the foot by even pursuing a lawsuit especially if it doesn't -- if it's not able to move forward?

KOHN: Right. Well, you know, this is -- this is sort of the massive conundrum of the modern Republican Party, right? They're doing things. Not just this obstructionism in Congress which the American people roundly reject. Right? But there are also the things they are trying to pass. The -- you know, what are we on, the 58th attempt to repeal Obamacare, all of the anti-choice laws that are trying to restrict the freedoms of women. All of these things are making the Republicans even less popular with the American people, going into the midterm elections and beyond, their only strategy it seems is to be is to try and sort of further rally the very tiny, but fervent base of Republicans because they know they can't win the mainstream of America -- WHITFIELD: And then final word on that Lenny, is that your concerned

that instead of this hurting the president if that is what, you know, the objective is here that instead it really hurts the party, the base?

MCALLISTER: That's the risk that they're taking. It's amazing how Democrats and liberals look for bipartisanship that was not there in 2009 when President Obama told the Republicans I won, deal with it. There was no compromise with the Republicans in 2009 or 2010 when Obamacare was being put into place with negotiations with Democrats and all of the political capital from this president was spent in two years.

WHITFIELD: We will end it there. Lenny McAllister, Sally Kohn, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

MCALLISTER: God bless you ladies very much.

WHITFIELD: All right, a swimmer is counting his lucky stars. You saw some of the tape earlier in the show and even heard the point of view from the swimmer being chomped down by a great white. Next, a shark expert tells us how he's classifying this kind of bite and what you should do if you ever get that close to a great white.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A swimmer is recovering today after a great white bit him off the coast of California. Steven Robles was swimming a group of people, something he does all the time he says every Saturday morning. And then apparently, he encountered a shark that was trying to get free from a fishing line and here's what Steven told me just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN ROBLES, BITTEN BY SHARK (via telephone): I saw this fish, the shark surfacing at the bottom of the ocean coming up to the top of the water. I saw it coming real close to me and then it turned at a very sharp left turn and lunged right at my chest. I felt the shark biting into me and then I was, like, my God. This is it. I'm going to die. This is really it and I just said, no, I'm going to get this thing off of me. I grabbed its nose and fortunately it let go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: He was amazing. I'm joined now by George Burgess, the director of the Florida Program for Shark Research. He gathers data on shark attacks from around the world. George, good to see you.

GEORGE BURGESS, DIRECTOR, FLORIDA PROGRAM FOR SHARK RESEARCH: Hi, Fred. How are you doing today? I promise you I won't walk off the set.

WHITFIELD: I'm sorry, say that again?

BURGESS: I promise I won't walk off the set. WHITFIELD: Thank you for that. We'll try to keep it nice and amicable. I appreciate that. No shark bites for me from you. George, you know, this man, Steven is amazing. He says he fought off the shark and he really seemed to take it in stride because he said he thinks that shark was in the area because someone was trying to attract sharks so he got caught in the middle of it. There were others who say this was probably a responsive bite. Is that how you see it?

BURGESS: That's it exactly. This isn't what we normally would be talking about as a shark attack. This is a provoked incident in which in this case the fisherman was there and the shark was fighting for its life simply lashed out at a nearby human.

WHITFIELD: My gosh, we think great whites and people think jaws and they think that these sharks are just kind of touring along the coast and there to disrupt our beach going experience. How unusual is this kind of encounter or how common is it becoming these days?

BURGESS: Well, of course this particular kind of encounter is one of a kind. I never heard of anything like this in all of the 5,000 some cases we have in the international shark attack file. But the encounters between humans and sharks, that is finding each other in the water whether there's a negative result or not are simply increasing and will continue to increase because human populations are rising and never seem to stop.

And of course aquatic recreation is high on our list of activities and in the case of white sharks, populations are on the rise both in the Pacific and Atlantic coast now and so one would expect more encounters one way or the other between the two groups.

WHITFIELD: My gosh, OK, so Steven, in his case, they believe this was a juvenile great white about seven feet long. His instinct was to grab the shark in the face as he was face to face with it and punch it in the nose. Any advice for the majority of us out there if we come into contact with a shark like he did, what do we do? Is that the right thing to do?

BURGESS: He did the right thing. Of course, when a shark does bite, we want to be as aggressive as possible. They understand strength and the nose is a sensitive area on a shark. If you can pop it on the nose, it will get its attention. We need to be very careful because just south of the nose is the mouth and if you miss a little bit, you're going to stick your hand right in the mouth.

WHITFIELD: My gosh, all right. Let's hope none of us have that kind of encounter. But George, thanks for the advice. Appreciate it. Most of all, thanks for staying exactly where you are right there.

BURGESS: You know, you do a good job. I don't think we have to worry about that.

WHITFIELD: You're nice. You're very kind. Thanks so much. George Burgess, appreciate it. Coming up next, what prosecutors are saying about the secret life of a dad accused of leaving his toddler to die in a hot car. Hear what our legal ladies are saying coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK SKIRMEN: Hi, I'm Mark Skirmen.

MARK MORAN: And I'm Mark Moran.

SKIRMEN: And we have a book series where we travel around the country to seek out weird places. Today, we're in Luna Park.

MORAN: The mad genius behind it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a dilapidated hunting cabin. It was kind of shabby, but it was on a beautiful piece of property. And as soon as I laid eyes on the house, I knew that this would be the place I would spend the rest of my life. Twenty five years later, this is what happened. I have so much stuff, and so many raw materials, bread tabs, wooden yard sticks, license plates, bowling balls, musical instruments, machinery from the 19th Century.

Old skeletons, yes. This is the ballroom which serves as a ding hall. Here we have what looks like a bookshelf, but in reality this is my bed. This is my luxurious bathroom. This was a five-year project and there are nearly one million broken shards in the walls.

SKIRMEN: You counted the shards?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I counted every single one. This is actually where I spend most of my time in my work shop. All the objects on the house inside and out, all of that is produced here on the premises.

SKIRMEN: Farewell from Luna Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Donald sterling wants to make a federal case out of his estranged wife, Shelly's efforts to sell the Clippers. The trial over ownership rights is set to begin tomorrow in probate court. But Donald Sterling's lawyers filed a motion late last week trying to get the case moved to federal court. They say his medical privacy rights have been violated by the release of his medical records.

Shelly Sterling negotiated a deal in May to sell the Clippers to billionaire, Steve Ballmer, for $2 billion after two doctors declared Donald Sterling mentally incapacitated after racist remarks to a girlfriend were made public and the NBA moved to get rid of him as the team owner.

OK. Lots to talk about. I hope you were following me on all of that. I'm joined by two legal eagles, Judge Glenda Hatchet from "The Judge Hatchet" TV show, and Mo Ivory, an attorney and radio personality. All right, Ladies, good to see both of you. A lot to tackle here.

So Shelly Sterling's lawyer calls this latest legal maneuver a desperate act by a desperate man. He goes on to say, quote, "The latest bad faith maneuver on the eve of his reckoning is a cowardly ploy to do just one thing, kill a record setting $2 billion sale of the Clippers." So Judge, does he have a good point? Is this simply a stalling tactic?

GLENDA HATCHET, THE "JUDGE HATCHETT" SHOW: It is. To try to move from probate court over to federal court is complicated. But bottom line, Fred, at the end of the day the probate court has jurisdiction over his incapacity whether he is mentally able to deal with this whole sale, which is why Shelly ran out and got not one, but two experts to declare that he has mental incapacities and is unable to be in a situation.

So she stepped in to deal with the trust, to try to get this sale resolved and of course, the perspective buyers coming in and saying this is crazy. He's weighing in. So tomorrow will be very interesting in this hearing.

WHITFIELD: Is it likely that there will be a ruling coming out of either court as early as tomorrow, Mo?

MO IVORY, ATTORNEY: No, I don't think so. I don't think so. I think they're going to have to --

WHITFIELD: This is going to take time?

IVORY: Yes, and it's exactly what Donald Sterling wants to happen, right. His own objective is to make this as difficult as possible and stretch it out as long as possible. I think we talked about this in another segment months ago. Donald Sterling wants to interrupt this process. Shelly has given him some tools to work with. The two doctors were not his own doctors. He did not consent to his medical records being released. He doesn't have no case at all.

WHITFIELD: So that is at legal issue right there.

IVORY: It's absolutely a legal issue.

HATCHETT: That's why he's going to say the privacy -- his privacy has been violated and that's why he wants to get into federal court. He wants to say I didn't give anybody permission to release --

WHITFIELD: He's at the advantage right now?

HATCHETT: He is. He's the one who has investigators. He needs as much time --

WHITFIELD: Looking into the other NBA owners?

HATCHETT: Right. To look into other owners. He has to buy time.

WHITFIELD: Now let's shift gears quite a bit and talk about another case, very shocking in Georgia. Details being released against Justin Ross Harris, the Georgia man charged with felony murder in the death of his son. The toddler was left in a hot car for seven hours last month in what Harris claims was a tragic mistake. Prosecutors say Harris led a double life. They allege he sent explicit photos and texts to women who do not include his wife on the day some of which were on the day his son was dying in the car and Harris also did internet searches on living child free.

So at this hearing on Thursday, the judge ruled that Harris will indeed strand trial. So Mo, the prosecution laid out a lot during the probable cause hearing, but the investigation still continues, doesn't it? Because there may be other charges to follow.

IVORY: I think the charge is coming very soon against his wife. It is -- things are opening up that we just didn't know before. Her reaction -- did you see her face when she realized he was sexting while their child was dying in the car? All these things put together makes it seem like it was a conspiracy to get rid of the child and to free their lives up of having this child in their life and her reaction is not normal the way she reacted to hearing that her child did not show up at day care. What parent would first think that he would have been left in the car?

WHITFIELD: That's not evidence that's admissible. That's not something that -- against her it could be if she's arrested.

HATCHET: And the lead also say and remind all of us that the hearing, the probable cause hearing is just that. It's a very low threshold. People say, Judge, they didn't --

WHITFIELD: Prosecutor may have been holding back?

HATCHET: Absolutely. They don't have to put all their cards on the table. They have to have enough to go forward so we're going to see more in this case is what I predict. Other things is people say they didn't prove the case. They don't have to prove the case.

WHITFIELD: This was not trial.

HATCHET: This is not trial.

WHITFIELD: We did hear from the defense attorney who challenged whether it was relevant to bring up the sexting and whether there was this other life. The judge said it was relevant.

IVORY: He had to object.

HATCHET: He wouldn't be a good attorney if he didn't object. He has to perfect the record. He has to object to these things now.

WHITFIELD: Even though the defense attorney knows that there is relevance because it may speak to motivation.

IVORY: Sure. And what his mind frame was.

HATCHET: You take a shot at it. You say it's not relevant. Maybe you might get lucky and maybe not, which is not likely. He has to be able to say that this doesn't prove anything to his intent and so all of these pieces -- this is a circumstantial case. All of this evidence short of him confessing, they have to weave pieces together.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Judge, Mo. Good to see both of you. Appreciate it, Ladies.

The Pope will meet this week with several victims of the Catholic sex abuse scandal. Why other victims say he should actually do more than that. A live report coming up.

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WHITFIELD: Pope Francis will meet this week with sex abuse victims who say they were abused by clergy in the Catholic Church. It's a problem he has talked about quite a bit, but this is the first time that he'll actually meet with victims face to face as Pope.

CNN international editor, Azadeh Ansari, is joining me right now. Vatican officials are trying to keep this meeting quiet. However, there's a prelude to it, which is the announcement that it's going to happen, but how private a moment might this be?

AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: They're trying as hard as they can to remain tight lipped. We don't have specifics when it comes to nature of what will be discussed and conversations that will take place. We do know that Pope Francis is planning on meeting with six of the sex abuse victims from Britain, Ireland and Germany. It will take place at his private residence near St. Peters Basilica and the meeting will be followed by a private mass, which will ensue after that.

WHITFIELD: Why does this Pope feel that now is the time or this is important for him to help facilitate?

ANSARI: This is the million dollar question, Fred and the biggest point of contention because even though the Pope has received much international acclaim for some of his other social and political agendas that he's moved forward, he's still plagued with this. He's still plagued with sex abuse scandals and the fact that he's making this first step is a big move. However, his critics are saying, look, it's too late. You haven't addressed this since you took office in February of last year. They still don't know what is going to come of this meeting.

WHITFIELD: And the criticism, is that also, I guess, criticism that envelops the same kind of criticism that, you know, Pope Benedict received, which was he didn't do enough so maybe expectations were higher for Pope Francis in a quicker way so folks are saying, you know, it's been too long. What's the specificity of the criticism?

ANSARI: One person can't cure all problems in a problem over a decade now that they've known about. The thing is that the U.S. -- there's a U.S. led group that is really taking the lead here for the survivors and they have come out and they say this could just be a public relations stunt and a measure to make good faith, but everybody is waiting to see what actions and that's the key, actions will come of this meeting.

WHITFIELD: So a lot of people are looking at this is really a hopeful.

ANSARI: It really is.

WHITFIELD: Hopeful moment possibly.

ANSARI: It's not going to be the solution that everyone might be looking for, but again it's opening up that dialogue and having that conversation.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

All right, still to come, it was billed as a potential classic. A battle of two tennis giants, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Why today's men final at Wimbledon did not disappoint. It was a nail biter.

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WHITFIELD: All right, coming up in the next hour, an American teen has been released from jail in Israel. He's accusing Israeli security forces of beating him. We're live at the White House with reaction.

A battle of tennis titans today in the men's final at Wimbledon, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. This was an epic match. Federer showing heart coming back to win the fourth set, but it was Djokovic who prevailed in five sets. It was his second Wimbledon title and seventh grand slam win. He'll be ranked number one in the world when rankings come out tomorrow. Congrats.

Last year, Andy Murray became the first Brit to win Wimbledon in more than 70 years now he's winning favors on a grassroots level by investing in his own town. Christina McFarland has the story in this edition of "Open Court."

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CHRISTINE MCFARLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One year after becoming the first Britain over seven decades to win the Wimbledon men's singles title, Andy Murray finally had a chance to go home to Scotland to share success to people to whom it means most. The 2013 Wimbledon champion is investing in his hometown community having purchased the Cromnick's hour transforming it into a luxury 15-suite five-star travel destination.

ANDY MURRAY, 2013 WIMBLEDON CHAMPION: I was staying in this room a year ago and there were bats in the roof. It's changed a bit since then. I came here from my brother's wedding. And about six months, a year later, we were told the hotel was going out of business and the property was for sale and it's five minutes from my house. And I thought it would be a nice thing to do.

MCFARLANE: How involved have you been in the revamp and what role has your family played as well? MURRAY: I have seen a lot of interiors. I've looked over a lot of

them with my girlfriend who has been back and forth here. My mom has been up here quite a lot. And, you know, lot of my family live around here so they've also been coming up more to sort of look at it and be nosey.

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