Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Xtreme Measures; Dolphin Drama; BTK Suspect in Court; BTK Crime Scenes; 'InStyle' With Heidi Klum

Aired May 04, 2005 - 05:30   ET

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

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. troops will be able to get the anthrax vaccine again, but only if they want it. The military will resume giving the vaccine to volunteers as soon as this week. A judge put the shots on hold in October, finding fault with the way the government OK'd the vaccine. Before that, hundreds of people were kicked out of the military for refusing the shots out of safety fears. The judge later said the military could start giving the vaccine again. He set a new law allowing for the emergency use of unapproved drugs.
Let's see now where Americans stand on the war in Iraq. In the latest CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup Poll, 41 percent of people asked say the war in Iraq was worth fighting. That's a 7-point change since February.

When asked how things are going for the U.S. in Iraq, just 42 percent of people asked said things were going well. That's down 10 points since March. Fifty-six percent of people say things are going badly for Americans in Iraq. The current poll shows support for the Iraq War at its lowest level since the United States launched the invasion in 2003.

Think you know something about safe driving. An unusual Driver's Ed course in North Carolina has some real twists and turns. You can call them Xtreme Measures.

From Charlotte now, here's our Sharon Collins.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHARON COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Elizabeth Graper is leaving school early. It's one of those red-letter days on any teenager's calendar, Elizabeth is on her way to take her driving test. She hopes to get her license today.

ELIZABETH GRAPER, TEEN DRIVER: A little nervous, but a lot of my friends have already done it.

COLLINS: Elizabeth took Driver's Ed at her high school, and she spent time driving with her mom at her side.

SHARON GRAPER, ELIZABETH GRAPER'S MOTHER: Lizzie (ph), you need to pay attention, honey.

E. GRAPER: It's 25.

S. GRAPER: Yes, and how fast are you going?

E. GRAPER: Forty.

COLLINS: But Elizabeth also did a little something extra, something that would ordinarily horrify any parent.

E. GRAPER: That's what you do!

COLLINS: It's called Xtreme Measures, a new breed of driving schools springing up around the country. Today's class is held at a racetrack in Charlotte, North Carolina. Carl Kircher started Xtreme Measures six years ago after an accident that still haunts him today.

CARL KIRCHER, XTREME MEASURES: One of my older daughter's best friends got killed. She got two wheels off the side of the road, over-corrected, hit a tree. And I knew right then that there had to be something that I could do that was going to help you guys get through it.

Get the car to slide. Get it to slide. Get it to slide.

COLLINS: Kircher has worked around auto racing all of his life. His classes apply lessons learned on the racetrack to emergencies encountered in everyday driving situations.

KIRCHER: You can't just take your child in a parking lot and show them defensive maneuvers, car control maneuvers, as they did when I grew up. You can't do that anymore. So we provide them a place to learn how to do that at our expense in an oops-free environment so that they can learn what we've learned over 30 years of driving.

COLLINS: The teens practice recovering from skids, handling the car when it runs off the road and avoiding obstacles. Kircher's course is not a replacement for the basics of Driver's Ed, but it does teach students skills they would not learn in a typical Driver's Ed course.

S. GRAPER: I felt like I wanted Elizabeth to have some experience in extreme conditions so that she would know what to do if she was in that circumstance.

COLLINS: After a day of driving on the Xtreme course, Elizabeth felt pretty good about what she'd learned.

(on camera): So you think you got it down?

E. GRAPER: Yes.

COLLINS (voice-over): But would it help her get a license? After her driving test, she feels pretty confident.

S. GRAPER: How did you do?

E. GRAPER: I think I did OK.

S. GRAPER: Did you? Well, good. COLLINS: But the news is disappointing.

E. GRAPER: I didn't get it.

COLLINS: Twice Elizabeth turned into the wrong lane, a relatively minor mistake, but one that could easily cause an accident. And a reminder of how even the best-prepared teenager won't always make the right call.

Sharon Collins, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Another teen's story to tell you about. A Colorado woman, Marsha Barber, who is legally blind, is suing the state. Her daughter, Julie (ph), has a learner's permit, but can't drive her mom because, naturally, mom being blind, she doesn't have a license. An adult licensed driver must be in the car. Marsha Barber has sole custody of her daughter. She says she needs her daughter to drive her. The state attorney general says he's sympathetic, but he can not disregard state law.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, the suspected BTK killer enters a not guilty plea. What legal moves are ahead for Dennis Rader? We'll take a look.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now for a follow-up on a story we've been keeping an eye on for several weeks, volunteers in Key Largo, Florida have said goodbye to a group of dolphins they nursed back to health. Their release comes two months after as many as 80 dolphins stranded themselves in the Florida Keys.

CNN's John Zarrella takes a look at the long journey back to the ocean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BANICK, WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST: Fantastic. All right. Good girl.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The dolphins needed her help. That was reason enough to be here.

BANICK: Hey guys that are here for the 12:00 shift, if you guys can come down here real quick and get some instructions and then finish suiting up, that'd be great.

ZARRELLA: More than two dozen roughtooth dolphins required around-the-clock care.

BANICK: This is going to be my team right here. My name is Kate.

ZARRELLA: For 25-year-old Kate Banick, and the others who came to save the dolphins, this was the most challenging, demanding part of the work. The animals, in a penned off area of a rehabilitation facility, had to be hand fed three times a day. Members of Banick's team held their mouths open with pieces of cloth as she fed them dead herring.

BANICK: That's not natural for them. These guys eat live fish. Today we made the first critical steps in getting them to eat dead fish and to eat them out of our hands.

ZARRELLA: Banick, a wildlife biologist, came here with a whole lot of determination. She would need every bit of it.

The locals said it was the largest mass stranding they had ever seen. In early March, an estimated 80 dolphins struggled to survive in the chilly shallows off Marathon in the Florida Keys. Some made it back to deep water, many died. Most of the survivors were loaded carefully on a truck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, lift.

ZARRELLA: In a supermarket semi, 26 who couldn't make it out to sea themselves were taken to the Marine Mammal Conservancy Rehabilitation Facility in Key Largo. It was their only chance at survival.

BANICK: Every one of these guys is kind of a free chance. If we hadn't stepped in at all, no one had stepped in, these guys all, probably 100 percent would have died on those tours (ph).

ZARRELLA (on camera): Two of the dolphins, the critical care patients and one underweight baby, are kept here in this tank where they get constant care. Katie (ph) and Vickie (ph) are literally keeping the dolphins afloat.

(voice-over): The volunteers are in the pool 24/7 holding the animals and keeping their blow holes out of the water so they can breathe. A veterinarian injects the dolphins with Vitamin E to help with muscle cramping. These mammals are unable to eat on their own. Kate Banick uses a feeding tube to get them the nutrition they need.

BANICK: Lift the tube, and get all their good stuff in her belly so she feels better.

ZARRELLA: As the weeks roll by, the survivors are becoming stronger, more aggressive during feedings.

Red 363, the animals are identified by numbers, accidentally gets both the fish and Lloyd Brown's (ph) hand. It's not serious.

The pace here is all at once grueling, rewarding and disturbing. Now more than one month into the rehabilitation effort, only 12 of the original 26 are still alive. BANICK: And it is saddening when you lose one. It's definitely something you're not looking forward to. But there's really no time to dwell on that because there's so much hope in the future for the rest of them.

ZARRELLA: Banick wonders has the care, the medication been right? There's not much hard science on how to save a dolphin, it's learn as you go.

(on camera): So there could be a couple that are pregnant?

BANICK: There could be. Actually, one of the ones in the tank we're looking at we're suspecting, but we can't tell.

ZARRELLA: Really?

BANICK: She's pretty wide, but I mean she could just be a big girl.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): This is a marathon, not a sprint, likely to last weeks, not days. Another sunset, Banick is going on her 30th straight hour. She's seen two since she last slept. Another group of volunteers mans the fence perimeter, shivering in wetsuits beneath a sliver of moonlight. As long as there is hope, they will be here.

John Zarrella, CNN, Key Largo, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: With the seven dolphins heading back out into the ocean, that leaves five still being cared for. And there's no timetable yet for their release.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, an incredible story of a firefighter whose recovery has taken a very positive turn.

And it's almost swimsuit season. We'll tell you what Heidi will be wearing on the beach this summer. You won't want to miss this.

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

In the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, a deadly suicide bombing. Happened just about four hours ago. At least 47 people have been killed, more than 100 injured. The bomber blew himself up while standing in a crowd of Kurdish police recruits.

The prosecution in the Michael Jackson case is near an end. The last scheduled witness will take the stand today. We could also see the first defense witnesses take the stand.

In money news, Amazon.com has teamed up with Internet wine retailer Wine.com. Amazon will direct consumers to the Web site, which has the technology to deal with various state regulations.

In culture, he was Chairman of the Board, a magnet (ph) for the Mafia. An unauthorized biography of Frank Sinatra alleges he had close ties to organized crime. An excerpt is in "Vanity Fair" magazine. What, these are new allegations?

In sports, the Washington Wizards play the Chicago Bulls tonight in game five of their playoff series but without Kwame Brown. The Wizards have suspended the former Georgia high school star. Too many problems with him, Chad, they decided to part ways. He was drafted by Michael Jordan when Michael Jordan was leading the team there in Washington.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Suspended or part ways, you had both of those in there. I mean what does that...

COSTELLO: Part ways.

MYERS: Part ways.

COSTELLO: He's going to be off the team.

MYERS: I see. That's a little more significant there.

Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad.

That's a look at the latest headlines for you this morning.

The man suspected of being the infamous BTK killer says he is not guilty. Dennis Rader's plea was read by the judge who then set June 27 as the trial date, but already prosecutors say the summer trial is unlikely.

Joining me to talk about the case is legal analyst Kendall Coffey.

Good morning -- Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So was there a reason that Dennis Rader decided not to say himself he was not guilty in court, instead he had the judge say it?

COFFEY: Well it's inexplicable. It may be that he is trying to struggle with what he wants to do in this case. But when the defense lawyers tell the judge to basically establish the plea, the judge is not going to do anything but say not guilty. That preserves everybody's rights, for the time being, and it goes forward.

COSTELLO: Prosecutors have come out this morning saying no plea deal. I mean is that the strategy that the defense is looking for?

COFFEY: Well there couldn't be a plea deal here. First of all, at worst he's going to be facing life in prison. And for 10 murders over this incredible period of time, terrorizing the community, there is no prosecutor in America who would agree to anything less than what is already a life sentence, as opposed to even a death sentence, being on the table.

COSTELLO: Well it's interesting that prosecutors would even come out and say that.

COFFEY: Well they want to make the strongest message possible to the victims' families, of which there are many.

COSTELLO: Yes, there are many. You know there are something like 267 witnesses for the prosecution. That's a lot of witnesses.

COFFEY: Well, because there are 10 homicides involved and it stretches over a 31-year period, this case has some extraordinary challenges. Carol, this is going to be using DNA going back to the 1970s, at which time DNA testing, as we know it today, didn't even exist.

In fact, the way that ultimately the BTK killer was trapped, through tracking back a computer disk, is another example of technology that wasn't even around in the 1970s when his killings began. So this case has some extraordinary challenges in terms of the forensics and the evidence and the presentation of the prosecution's case.

COSTELLO: What about that old fashioned defense mechanism like insanity or mental incapacity? Will he take that route?

COFFEY: You know that is perhaps one of the most underachieving defenses of all in criminal justice, especially in Kansas, which has a very limited defense of insanity. He may try it. It's not possibly going to go anywhere.

The biggest issue for now, other than getting this case ready for what is going to be a long and difficult trial, is do they keep it in the Wichita area or do they transfer the venue out of there? Because the one thing that could cause you to go through a long trial like this and then have it reversed by an appeals court is a question of venue and whether there's just too much emotion, too much knowledge, too much strong feeling in that community to give Dennis Rader a fair trial.

COSTELLO: There is strong emotion in that community.

Kendall Coffey, thank you for joining us this morning.

COFFEY: Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Talking about the strong emotion in that community, CNN's Jonathan Freed takes us to the scene of some of the BTK killer's crimes. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When word went around Wichita that police arrested a suspect in the BTK serial killings, aside from the victims' families and investigators, no one was more relieved than the people now living at the city's most infamous addresses. 1311 South Hydraulic, where Shirley Vian was murdered on March 17, 1977, Diane Boyle calls it home today.

DIANE BOYLE, OWNS HOME BTK STRANGLER TARGETED: So everything we have got in here is kind of a mess. But this is the room where it happened.

FREED: What happened was Shirley Vian's 5-year-old son answered the door that March day and let in a stranger. Police say it was BTK, who locked all the children in the bathroom and then tied up and strangled Vian.

(on camera): Do you feel anything from the room or when you're in the room, or is it just ancient history?

BOYLE: No, I feel it's kind of a cold room to me as far as compared to the rest of my house.

FREED (voice-over): Boyle says she didn't know three years ago that she was buying a house with a dark history. A neighbor told her, after she'd moved in.

BOYLE: And I realized that there was a killing, a BTK killing in the neighborhood, and I figured it was down the street or up the street. And she looked at me and she says, Diane, she says, it's your house.

FREED (on camera): What did you think?

BOYLE: I was in shock.

FREED: Did it change the way you felt about the house?

BOYLE: I love the house, but it had that eerie feeling.

FREED (voice-over): And from that point on, Boyle couldn't help worrying the killer would return one day.

BOYLE: He knows the layout of the house, he knows where the house is at, he might show up.

FREED: While BTK never came back, Boyle still had plenty of uninvited visitors.

BOYLE: There isn't anything like sitting on the front porch and finding somebody coming down the street, and they come to a complete stop and they're pointing at you.

FREED: These days, the curious are also driving by other BTK crime scenes. (on camera): Some of the murders happened in this room here?

GREG LIETZ, OWNS HOME BTK STRANGLER TARGETED: Yes, the two people were in there.

FREED (voice-over): Greg Lietz lives at 803 North Edgemoor, where Joseph Otero, his wife, Julie, and two of their children were killed on January 15, 1974. They are BTK's first known victims, strangled in a main floor bedroom and in the basement.

Lietz shows us where the killer cut the phone line before going inside, his sinister trademark.

LIETZ: See where the electric meter is? About that height...

FREED: Lietz is determined to stay positive, despite his home's violent past.

LIETZ: Home, like I say, is heaven, if you make it. It's not what happened there before; it's what's happening there now.

FREED: Both Lietz and Boyle are encouraged by the arrest of Dennis Rader, but say the prosecution still has to make the case stick.

BOYLE: I feel a little bit better that they have somebody, but I'm still not going to let my guard down by keeping my doors unlocked.

FREED: She is anxious for the community to move on.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, Wichita, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, all the gadgets you need to make your summer travel fun. That's ahead in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In "Entertainment Headlines" for you this morning, funnyman Will Ferrell is returning to his comic roots. Ferrell will host "Saturday Night Live" May 14. He's got two new movies to promote, suburban soccer comedy "Kicking and Screaming" and "Bewitched," the remake of the 1960's TV show that also stars Nicole Kidman.

Comedy Central is building its late night lineup. "Daily Show" correspondent Stephen Colbert is getting his own show, "The Colbert Report." Just one of three new late night shows Comedy Central hopes will build its core audience of young men, and Stephen Colbert will spoof Cable News.

Ray Charles' life made a hit movie, now it's going to hit Broadway. A team of Broadway producers has acquired the rights to the project from the Ray Charles Estate. Producers say the stage show will be different from the hit movie and will showcase more of Charles'music.

With Memorial Day weekend right around the corner, we know you are looking for that perfect swimsuit. And if you can't do the teeny weenie bikini thing, you're in luck. "InStyle" magazine's Toby Tucker takes us to the beach with Heidi Klum.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOBY TUCKER, "INSTYLE" MAGAZINE: We shot Heidi in a lot of one- piece bathing suits. And she said she discovered that one pieces could actually be sexy when she was shot for the cover of "Sports Illustrated" in a one piece. She said it was one of the sexiest pictures she's ever taken.

She was a little self-conscious about her tummy, because she had just given birth about seven months before. But she says the one piece really kind of evened her out, especially this watercolor piece.

Watercolors for swimsuits are a beautiful choice. They come from greens to blue. This Joe DeMare (ph) is an absolutely stunning, really deep teal blue. It's got that wonderful keyhole detail in the top. It's about $192, which is kind of expensive, but well worth it for a suit that's this well made.

Florals are everywhere in the swimsuit world. They've always been there. Usually it's kind of a Hawaiian tropical floral. And Heidi loved wearing this one piece by Burberry. It was actually straight off the runway. And she said it really made her feel like she wanted to go on a tropical vacation.

Guess is making this beautiful, teeny weenie bikini. If you're up for it, this is the floral bikini for you to get. It's around $90, and it's got these really cute tie sides.

For the Bohemian look, we put Heidi in this absolutely gorgeous Gucci wrap bathing suit. It took us a little while to figure out how this thing worked. The bottom and then you wrap and wrap and wrap around the body. And the end result is this gorgeous Bohemian glowy (ph), bright pink beautiful bathing suit that she loved.

Malia Mills gets Bohemian swimwear right. This bathing suit, you can get the top and the bottom for about $90 each, and it's well worth it. The best thing about this swimwear is you can buy different sizes tops and bottoms. You're not stuck buying one size top and bottom.

A wonderful trend in swimwear is this earthy trend. It really means colors. You're looking at deep browns, wonderful sands, colors you find in nature, basically. Heidi was wearing this great Calvin Klein suit. It was a one piece with a twisted top. She absolutely loved it. She said she felt very skinny in this suit. So we liked hearing that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 4, 2005 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. troops will be able to get the anthrax vaccine again, but only if they want it. The military will resume giving the vaccine to volunteers as soon as this week. A judge put the shots on hold in October, finding fault with the way the government OK'd the vaccine. Before that, hundreds of people were kicked out of the military for refusing the shots out of safety fears. The judge later said the military could start giving the vaccine again. He set a new law allowing for the emergency use of unapproved drugs.
Let's see now where Americans stand on the war in Iraq. In the latest CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup Poll, 41 percent of people asked say the war in Iraq was worth fighting. That's a 7-point change since February.

When asked how things are going for the U.S. in Iraq, just 42 percent of people asked said things were going well. That's down 10 points since March. Fifty-six percent of people say things are going badly for Americans in Iraq. The current poll shows support for the Iraq War at its lowest level since the United States launched the invasion in 2003.

Think you know something about safe driving. An unusual Driver's Ed course in North Carolina has some real twists and turns. You can call them Xtreme Measures.

From Charlotte now, here's our Sharon Collins.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHARON COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Elizabeth Graper is leaving school early. It's one of those red-letter days on any teenager's calendar, Elizabeth is on her way to take her driving test. She hopes to get her license today.

ELIZABETH GRAPER, TEEN DRIVER: A little nervous, but a lot of my friends have already done it.

COLLINS: Elizabeth took Driver's Ed at her high school, and she spent time driving with her mom at her side.

SHARON GRAPER, ELIZABETH GRAPER'S MOTHER: Lizzie (ph), you need to pay attention, honey.

E. GRAPER: It's 25.

S. GRAPER: Yes, and how fast are you going?

E. GRAPER: Forty.

COLLINS: But Elizabeth also did a little something extra, something that would ordinarily horrify any parent.

E. GRAPER: That's what you do!

COLLINS: It's called Xtreme Measures, a new breed of driving schools springing up around the country. Today's class is held at a racetrack in Charlotte, North Carolina. Carl Kircher started Xtreme Measures six years ago after an accident that still haunts him today.

CARL KIRCHER, XTREME MEASURES: One of my older daughter's best friends got killed. She got two wheels off the side of the road, over-corrected, hit a tree. And I knew right then that there had to be something that I could do that was going to help you guys get through it.

Get the car to slide. Get it to slide. Get it to slide.

COLLINS: Kircher has worked around auto racing all of his life. His classes apply lessons learned on the racetrack to emergencies encountered in everyday driving situations.

KIRCHER: You can't just take your child in a parking lot and show them defensive maneuvers, car control maneuvers, as they did when I grew up. You can't do that anymore. So we provide them a place to learn how to do that at our expense in an oops-free environment so that they can learn what we've learned over 30 years of driving.

COLLINS: The teens practice recovering from skids, handling the car when it runs off the road and avoiding obstacles. Kircher's course is not a replacement for the basics of Driver's Ed, but it does teach students skills they would not learn in a typical Driver's Ed course.

S. GRAPER: I felt like I wanted Elizabeth to have some experience in extreme conditions so that she would know what to do if she was in that circumstance.

COLLINS: After a day of driving on the Xtreme course, Elizabeth felt pretty good about what she'd learned.

(on camera): So you think you got it down?

E. GRAPER: Yes.

COLLINS (voice-over): But would it help her get a license? After her driving test, she feels pretty confident.

S. GRAPER: How did you do?

E. GRAPER: I think I did OK.

S. GRAPER: Did you? Well, good. COLLINS: But the news is disappointing.

E. GRAPER: I didn't get it.

COLLINS: Twice Elizabeth turned into the wrong lane, a relatively minor mistake, but one that could easily cause an accident. And a reminder of how even the best-prepared teenager won't always make the right call.

Sharon Collins, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Another teen's story to tell you about. A Colorado woman, Marsha Barber, who is legally blind, is suing the state. Her daughter, Julie (ph), has a learner's permit, but can't drive her mom because, naturally, mom being blind, she doesn't have a license. An adult licensed driver must be in the car. Marsha Barber has sole custody of her daughter. She says she needs her daughter to drive her. The state attorney general says he's sympathetic, but he can not disregard state law.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, the suspected BTK killer enters a not guilty plea. What legal moves are ahead for Dennis Rader? We'll take a look.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now for a follow-up on a story we've been keeping an eye on for several weeks, volunteers in Key Largo, Florida have said goodbye to a group of dolphins they nursed back to health. Their release comes two months after as many as 80 dolphins stranded themselves in the Florida Keys.

CNN's John Zarrella takes a look at the long journey back to the ocean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BANICK, WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST: Fantastic. All right. Good girl.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The dolphins needed her help. That was reason enough to be here.

BANICK: Hey guys that are here for the 12:00 shift, if you guys can come down here real quick and get some instructions and then finish suiting up, that'd be great.

ZARRELLA: More than two dozen roughtooth dolphins required around-the-clock care.

BANICK: This is going to be my team right here. My name is Kate.

ZARRELLA: For 25-year-old Kate Banick, and the others who came to save the dolphins, this was the most challenging, demanding part of the work. The animals, in a penned off area of a rehabilitation facility, had to be hand fed three times a day. Members of Banick's team held their mouths open with pieces of cloth as she fed them dead herring.

BANICK: That's not natural for them. These guys eat live fish. Today we made the first critical steps in getting them to eat dead fish and to eat them out of our hands.

ZARRELLA: Banick, a wildlife biologist, came here with a whole lot of determination. She would need every bit of it.

The locals said it was the largest mass stranding they had ever seen. In early March, an estimated 80 dolphins struggled to survive in the chilly shallows off Marathon in the Florida Keys. Some made it back to deep water, many died. Most of the survivors were loaded carefully on a truck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, lift.

ZARRELLA: In a supermarket semi, 26 who couldn't make it out to sea themselves were taken to the Marine Mammal Conservancy Rehabilitation Facility in Key Largo. It was their only chance at survival.

BANICK: Every one of these guys is kind of a free chance. If we hadn't stepped in at all, no one had stepped in, these guys all, probably 100 percent would have died on those tours (ph).

ZARRELLA (on camera): Two of the dolphins, the critical care patients and one underweight baby, are kept here in this tank where they get constant care. Katie (ph) and Vickie (ph) are literally keeping the dolphins afloat.

(voice-over): The volunteers are in the pool 24/7 holding the animals and keeping their blow holes out of the water so they can breathe. A veterinarian injects the dolphins with Vitamin E to help with muscle cramping. These mammals are unable to eat on their own. Kate Banick uses a feeding tube to get them the nutrition they need.

BANICK: Lift the tube, and get all their good stuff in her belly so she feels better.

ZARRELLA: As the weeks roll by, the survivors are becoming stronger, more aggressive during feedings.

Red 363, the animals are identified by numbers, accidentally gets both the fish and Lloyd Brown's (ph) hand. It's not serious.

The pace here is all at once grueling, rewarding and disturbing. Now more than one month into the rehabilitation effort, only 12 of the original 26 are still alive. BANICK: And it is saddening when you lose one. It's definitely something you're not looking forward to. But there's really no time to dwell on that because there's so much hope in the future for the rest of them.

ZARRELLA: Banick wonders has the care, the medication been right? There's not much hard science on how to save a dolphin, it's learn as you go.

(on camera): So there could be a couple that are pregnant?

BANICK: There could be. Actually, one of the ones in the tank we're looking at we're suspecting, but we can't tell.

ZARRELLA: Really?

BANICK: She's pretty wide, but I mean she could just be a big girl.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): This is a marathon, not a sprint, likely to last weeks, not days. Another sunset, Banick is going on her 30th straight hour. She's seen two since she last slept. Another group of volunteers mans the fence perimeter, shivering in wetsuits beneath a sliver of moonlight. As long as there is hope, they will be here.

John Zarrella, CNN, Key Largo, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: With the seven dolphins heading back out into the ocean, that leaves five still being cared for. And there's no timetable yet for their release.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, an incredible story of a firefighter whose recovery has taken a very positive turn.

And it's almost swimsuit season. We'll tell you what Heidi will be wearing on the beach this summer. You won't want to miss this.

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

In the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, a deadly suicide bombing. Happened just about four hours ago. At least 47 people have been killed, more than 100 injured. The bomber blew himself up while standing in a crowd of Kurdish police recruits.

The prosecution in the Michael Jackson case is near an end. The last scheduled witness will take the stand today. We could also see the first defense witnesses take the stand.

In money news, Amazon.com has teamed up with Internet wine retailer Wine.com. Amazon will direct consumers to the Web site, which has the technology to deal with various state regulations.

In culture, he was Chairman of the Board, a magnet (ph) for the Mafia. An unauthorized biography of Frank Sinatra alleges he had close ties to organized crime. An excerpt is in "Vanity Fair" magazine. What, these are new allegations?

In sports, the Washington Wizards play the Chicago Bulls tonight in game five of their playoff series but without Kwame Brown. The Wizards have suspended the former Georgia high school star. Too many problems with him, Chad, they decided to part ways. He was drafted by Michael Jordan when Michael Jordan was leading the team there in Washington.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Suspended or part ways, you had both of those in there. I mean what does that...

COSTELLO: Part ways.

MYERS: Part ways.

COSTELLO: He's going to be off the team.

MYERS: I see. That's a little more significant there.

Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad.

That's a look at the latest headlines for you this morning.

The man suspected of being the infamous BTK killer says he is not guilty. Dennis Rader's plea was read by the judge who then set June 27 as the trial date, but already prosecutors say the summer trial is unlikely.

Joining me to talk about the case is legal analyst Kendall Coffey.

Good morning -- Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So was there a reason that Dennis Rader decided not to say himself he was not guilty in court, instead he had the judge say it?

COFFEY: Well it's inexplicable. It may be that he is trying to struggle with what he wants to do in this case. But when the defense lawyers tell the judge to basically establish the plea, the judge is not going to do anything but say not guilty. That preserves everybody's rights, for the time being, and it goes forward.

COSTELLO: Prosecutors have come out this morning saying no plea deal. I mean is that the strategy that the defense is looking for?

COFFEY: Well there couldn't be a plea deal here. First of all, at worst he's going to be facing life in prison. And for 10 murders over this incredible period of time, terrorizing the community, there is no prosecutor in America who would agree to anything less than what is already a life sentence, as opposed to even a death sentence, being on the table.

COSTELLO: Well it's interesting that prosecutors would even come out and say that.

COFFEY: Well they want to make the strongest message possible to the victims' families, of which there are many.

COSTELLO: Yes, there are many. You know there are something like 267 witnesses for the prosecution. That's a lot of witnesses.

COFFEY: Well, because there are 10 homicides involved and it stretches over a 31-year period, this case has some extraordinary challenges. Carol, this is going to be using DNA going back to the 1970s, at which time DNA testing, as we know it today, didn't even exist.

In fact, the way that ultimately the BTK killer was trapped, through tracking back a computer disk, is another example of technology that wasn't even around in the 1970s when his killings began. So this case has some extraordinary challenges in terms of the forensics and the evidence and the presentation of the prosecution's case.

COSTELLO: What about that old fashioned defense mechanism like insanity or mental incapacity? Will he take that route?

COFFEY: You know that is perhaps one of the most underachieving defenses of all in criminal justice, especially in Kansas, which has a very limited defense of insanity. He may try it. It's not possibly going to go anywhere.

The biggest issue for now, other than getting this case ready for what is going to be a long and difficult trial, is do they keep it in the Wichita area or do they transfer the venue out of there? Because the one thing that could cause you to go through a long trial like this and then have it reversed by an appeals court is a question of venue and whether there's just too much emotion, too much knowledge, too much strong feeling in that community to give Dennis Rader a fair trial.

COSTELLO: There is strong emotion in that community.

Kendall Coffey, thank you for joining us this morning.

COFFEY: Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Talking about the strong emotion in that community, CNN's Jonathan Freed takes us to the scene of some of the BTK killer's crimes. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When word went around Wichita that police arrested a suspect in the BTK serial killings, aside from the victims' families and investigators, no one was more relieved than the people now living at the city's most infamous addresses. 1311 South Hydraulic, where Shirley Vian was murdered on March 17, 1977, Diane Boyle calls it home today.

DIANE BOYLE, OWNS HOME BTK STRANGLER TARGETED: So everything we have got in here is kind of a mess. But this is the room where it happened.

FREED: What happened was Shirley Vian's 5-year-old son answered the door that March day and let in a stranger. Police say it was BTK, who locked all the children in the bathroom and then tied up and strangled Vian.

(on camera): Do you feel anything from the room or when you're in the room, or is it just ancient history?

BOYLE: No, I feel it's kind of a cold room to me as far as compared to the rest of my house.

FREED (voice-over): Boyle says she didn't know three years ago that she was buying a house with a dark history. A neighbor told her, after she'd moved in.

BOYLE: And I realized that there was a killing, a BTK killing in the neighborhood, and I figured it was down the street or up the street. And she looked at me and she says, Diane, she says, it's your house.

FREED (on camera): What did you think?

BOYLE: I was in shock.

FREED: Did it change the way you felt about the house?

BOYLE: I love the house, but it had that eerie feeling.

FREED (voice-over): And from that point on, Boyle couldn't help worrying the killer would return one day.

BOYLE: He knows the layout of the house, he knows where the house is at, he might show up.

FREED: While BTK never came back, Boyle still had plenty of uninvited visitors.

BOYLE: There isn't anything like sitting on the front porch and finding somebody coming down the street, and they come to a complete stop and they're pointing at you.

FREED: These days, the curious are also driving by other BTK crime scenes. (on camera): Some of the murders happened in this room here?

GREG LIETZ, OWNS HOME BTK STRANGLER TARGETED: Yes, the two people were in there.

FREED (voice-over): Greg Lietz lives at 803 North Edgemoor, where Joseph Otero, his wife, Julie, and two of their children were killed on January 15, 1974. They are BTK's first known victims, strangled in a main floor bedroom and in the basement.

Lietz shows us where the killer cut the phone line before going inside, his sinister trademark.

LIETZ: See where the electric meter is? About that height...

FREED: Lietz is determined to stay positive, despite his home's violent past.

LIETZ: Home, like I say, is heaven, if you make it. It's not what happened there before; it's what's happening there now.

FREED: Both Lietz and Boyle are encouraged by the arrest of Dennis Rader, but say the prosecution still has to make the case stick.

BOYLE: I feel a little bit better that they have somebody, but I'm still not going to let my guard down by keeping my doors unlocked.

FREED: She is anxious for the community to move on.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, Wichita, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, all the gadgets you need to make your summer travel fun. That's ahead in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In "Entertainment Headlines" for you this morning, funnyman Will Ferrell is returning to his comic roots. Ferrell will host "Saturday Night Live" May 14. He's got two new movies to promote, suburban soccer comedy "Kicking and Screaming" and "Bewitched," the remake of the 1960's TV show that also stars Nicole Kidman.

Comedy Central is building its late night lineup. "Daily Show" correspondent Stephen Colbert is getting his own show, "The Colbert Report." Just one of three new late night shows Comedy Central hopes will build its core audience of young men, and Stephen Colbert will spoof Cable News.

Ray Charles' life made a hit movie, now it's going to hit Broadway. A team of Broadway producers has acquired the rights to the project from the Ray Charles Estate. Producers say the stage show will be different from the hit movie and will showcase more of Charles'music.

With Memorial Day weekend right around the corner, we know you are looking for that perfect swimsuit. And if you can't do the teeny weenie bikini thing, you're in luck. "InStyle" magazine's Toby Tucker takes us to the beach with Heidi Klum.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOBY TUCKER, "INSTYLE" MAGAZINE: We shot Heidi in a lot of one- piece bathing suits. And she said she discovered that one pieces could actually be sexy when she was shot for the cover of "Sports Illustrated" in a one piece. She said it was one of the sexiest pictures she's ever taken.

She was a little self-conscious about her tummy, because she had just given birth about seven months before. But she says the one piece really kind of evened her out, especially this watercolor piece.

Watercolors for swimsuits are a beautiful choice. They come from greens to blue. This Joe DeMare (ph) is an absolutely stunning, really deep teal blue. It's got that wonderful keyhole detail in the top. It's about $192, which is kind of expensive, but well worth it for a suit that's this well made.

Florals are everywhere in the swimsuit world. They've always been there. Usually it's kind of a Hawaiian tropical floral. And Heidi loved wearing this one piece by Burberry. It was actually straight off the runway. And she said it really made her feel like she wanted to go on a tropical vacation.

Guess is making this beautiful, teeny weenie bikini. If you're up for it, this is the floral bikini for you to get. It's around $90, and it's got these really cute tie sides.

For the Bohemian look, we put Heidi in this absolutely gorgeous Gucci wrap bathing suit. It took us a little while to figure out how this thing worked. The bottom and then you wrap and wrap and wrap around the body. And the end result is this gorgeous Bohemian glowy (ph), bright pink beautiful bathing suit that she loved.

Malia Mills gets Bohemian swimwear right. This bathing suit, you can get the top and the bottom for about $90 each, and it's well worth it. The best thing about this swimwear is you can buy different sizes tops and bottoms. You're not stuck buying one size top and bottom.

A wonderful trend in swimwear is this earthy trend. It really means colors. You're looking at deep browns, wonderful sands, colors you find in nature, basically. Heidi was wearing this great Calvin Klein suit. It was a one piece with a twisted top. She absolutely loved it. She said she felt very skinny in this suit. So we liked hearing that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com