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Congress Calls on Bush for Exit Strategy; Boy Recovering after Shark Attack; Surfer Shares Story of Attempted Rescue of Shark Attack Victim

Aired June 28, 2005 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: President Bush goes prime time. With sinking polls at home and rising violence in Iraq, we're live from the White House.
Shark attacks in Florida. A young man loses his leg and survives. This hour, what you need to know before you bolt to the beach.

Fast track for Pope John Paul II. When can we call him saint? The Vatican discussing the decision right now. We're live from Rome.

From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

A year of instability, a year of insecurity, a year of uncertainty. A year of sovereignty for post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. And today marks the first anniversary of the handover of power from American administrators to Iraqi officials.

President Bush plans to reflect and look ahead in a televised speech this evening at Ft. Brag, North Carolina. He'll make the case for staying the course at a time when public support for the U.S. mission is among the casualties of relentless insurgent attacks.

A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll of more than 1,000 adults finds the majority of Americans, 53 percent, say it was a mistake to send U.S. troops to the first place in Iraq. Forty-six percent say it was not.

Sixty-one percent think the president does not have a clear plan for the war. Thirty-seven percent think he does. In January, respondents were almost evenly split.

Those numbers aren't lost on lawmakers, some of whom in both parties are calling for U.S. troops to come home by the end of the year. CNN's Joe Johns is on Capitol Hill now with more information -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the president taking his case to the public on Iraq once again with, as you mentioned, polls showing more than half of respondents disapproving of the president's handling of Iraq. The administration making the case over the last 24 hours and into tonight that the U.S. needs to stay on course in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a time of testing. It is a critical moment in Iraq. The terrorists are seeking to shake our will and weaken our resolve. They know that they cannot win unless we abandon the mission before it is complete.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Democrats have spent the day on message. That message is the United States strategy in Iraq is not working.

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts put out an op-ed in "The New York Times" today. In part that says, "The administration must immediately draw up a detailed plan with clear milestones and deadlines for the transfer of military and police responsibilities to Iraqis after the December elections. If Mr. Bush fails to take these steps, we will stumble along, our troops at greater risk, casualties rising, costs rising, the patience of the American people wearing thin and the specter of a quagmire staring us in the face."

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi also spoke out earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: It's important for the president to tell the American people to give them a strategy for success. We simply haven't had that.

As I have said, the president wanted to go into Iraq in the worst possible way, and he did. The fact is it's time for us now to have, as Congress has called for, a strategy for success, a plan for the Iraq-itizing of this effort, to turn the security over to the Iraqi military, to do it in a way that makes America safer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: No clear indication that the administration is planning to make any actual news with tonight's speech. However, if the administration manages to boost morale, it may very well have served its purpose -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Joe Johns. We'll talk about it more throughout the day, of course. And CNN's coverage of the president's address begins with a special edition of "ANDERSON COOPER 360" at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 Pacific. After the speech, get reaction on "LARRY KING LIVE" at 9 Eastern, 6 Pacific, right here on CNN.

Now to Rome, where one small step for a late pope represents a giant leap for the Roman Catholic Church. The small step is an ornate ceremony, officially beginning the Vatican's investigation into sainthood for John Paul II. The giant leap is the speed with which John Paul's cause is being taken up, not even three months after his death.

We get the details now from CNN's Alessio Vinci. Alessio, tell us what's going on right now within this ceremony. ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

What you're looking at here is live pictures from the St. John Lateran Cathedral in Rome. It is officially a formal ceremony opening, if you want, the proceeding of the formal beatification process and eventual saint-ification, canonization of John Paul II.

All the players involved in his cause are participating, including of course, the postulator, who is the principle advocate of the cause, as well as the promoter of justice, who was known once as the devil's advocate. And he is the one, if you want, whose job is to poke holes, if you want, in the whole case of John Paul II. And of course, the judges as well. Themselves eventually will have to come up with a decision to validate the whole case.

All of them are now praying. And later on this evening here at the cathedral will take an oath in Latin, vowing to maintain the whole process a secret and to work honestly and objectively, of course, not taking any kind of bribes or any kind of presents to make -- that could influence their decision one way or the other.

And in fact, this is, if you want, the last open public ceremony before the whole procedures moves behind closed doors -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now Alessio, just to give a sense of the importance of sainthood for those that are not Catholic, explain to our viewers the beatification process, which is what would come first, and then of course canonization, when Pope John Paul II would be deemed a saint.

Explain the importance of this and why this process is so important with regard to those who want to sort of keep the life -- or keep John Paul alive with regard to looking for miracles and prayer.

VINCI: Well, yes. I could try to be short. It's a long procedure, if you want, a three-step procedure.

First and foremost -- and this will happen, if you want, after the ceremony ends, is that the postulator and all the people involved in -- in this cause will have to come out with all sorts of documents and interview a lot of people and try to establish, first and foremost, if indeed, John Paul II lived a life of exemplary holiness.

After that, of course, the postulator and the people working with him will have to establish whether or not a miracle can be attributed to John Paul II. But what is important is, of course, that this miracle must take place after the death of the person, in this case, John Paul II, after April 2. The reasoning is because it has to prove, if you want, that this man is already in heaven and can intercede with God. And therefore, it is important that this miracle can be actually attributed to the person whose life has been analyzed after he is dead.

There's a lot of miracles that were attributed to the pope when he was alive. The most famous case was a young boy in Mexico who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and, after meeting the pope in 1990, he miraculously healed. That would not be analyzed, because, of course, the pope was alive then. So new miracles will have to be -- will have to be established.

And usually modern miracles, if you want, are taken in the form of a healing. And therefore, the Vatican must establish that this healing be must be complete, instant and lasting, of course, and that no scientific explanation can be made.

All this process will take place in the coming weeks and months and perhaps years. After which, of course, the whole case goes to the Vatican to the congregation for the cause of saints. There, they will analyze the whole papers (ph), including, of course, the alleged miracle, and at that point then it would be up to the pope to decide whether or not, of course, this man is worthy to be beatified. That would be first step.

Then in order to become a saint, there has to be a second miracle attributed to the person, and the whole process of very fine (ph) pretty much remains the same.

The importance of faith, of course, is because the saint is a role model, if you want, for the church, and eventually, once he becomes a saint, he will be allowed for the people around the world to venerate him as a saint, if you want, and to use him as a role model, which opens up a whole question, for example, if you want, Kyra, is whether or not is it really worth it to have a pope to become saints when the pope is already considered a venerable person, if you want, or at least the highest moral authority of the Catholic Church here on earth.

PHILLIPS: Alessio Vinci, live from Rome, we'll continue to follow that ceremony and, of course, bring all the latest developments as I guess Pope John Paul, on the fastest track since Mother Teresa. And she still has not been deemed a saint yet. Alessio, thank you.

This just in to CNN. A jury weighing the fate of HealthSouth corporation founder and former chief executive officer Richard Scrushy has finally reached a verdict. And that verdict is not guilty.

We remember Scrushy, 52, was accused of directing almost $3 billion in an accounting scam from 1996 to 2002 at his health care company that he founded, in a bid to inflate its stock price and enrich himself.

He had faced multiple counts of mail and wire fraud, money laundering and other charges in connection with this fraud, but according to a federal jury in Alabama, we're just getting word that he has been acquitted since being fired from HealthSouth, as its CEO. Richard Scrushy cleared of conspiracy and corporate fraud charges.

Well, rain is helping keep the crowds down on the snow white coast of the Florida Panhandle. But at least officially the Gulf County beaches are back in business. They reopened roughly 24 hours after a Tennessee teen was mauled by a shark while fishing on a sandbar with his brother.

Craig Adam Hutto lost his right leg and a lot of blood, but he's expected to pull through. CNN's Adaora Udoji is in Cape San Blas with an update now -- Adaora.

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra.

You're right, it's a rainy day here in the Florida Panhandle. We're standing at the beach at Cape San Blas, as you said, the exact place where that attack happened yesterday. The doctors today saying the -- his prognosis is excellent, this after his right leg was amputated. And he also suffered serious injuries to his hands, as doctors saying that he was pushing the shark away as he was being attacked.

But they say he's young and healthy. They expect that he will recover well. And he does actually have several people to thank for that.

As you said, he was fishing with his brother about 60 yards off the shore. They were using some shrimp as bait to catch those fish. Out of nowhere -- no one on the beach saw the shark. He was attacked. The brother started screaming. People on the shore heard those screams.

It was a bit of chaos here. People were running ashore. He was pulled by his brother and a bystander, who waded out into the water and pulled him onto the beach.

And as the situation would unfold, there was actually a nurse, a woman, 17-year veteran nurse, as well as a firefighter, who was very experienced in first responder events. And so they immediately started giving him medical care at the scene. Sixteen minutes they worked on him as they awaited for emergency crews to get here.

He was actually conscious. He was asking for water. People on the beach say everyone pitched in. They were getting ice and towels. But as I say, he was taken then to the hospital, two-hour operation where his leg was amputated. And as I said, doctors are very optimistic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GLENN SUMMERS, BAY MEDICAL CENTER: Probably in the hospital here a matter of weeks. That will be somewhat up in the air because their family is from out of town, so if we can get him to a center that's closer to their home, that's better for everybody. And then it will be a period of some months before he can really start aggressive rehab and try to get on with a normal life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UDOJI: The beach was closed. It is now reopened. We've seen a few people along the beach, most of them sitting up on the banks. Only a handful getting into the water -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Adaora Udoji, thank you so much. We'll continue to check in with you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, you're going to the beach this summer. What can you do to prevent a shark attack? An expert shares advice.

Ahead on LIVE FROM, insurgent attacks, the upcoming trial of Saddam Hussein and, in parts of Iraq, normal life. What's done and undone one year after handing control back to Iraq.

Later on LIVE FROM...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You take the role of a thug or a police officer.

PHILLIPS: ... a violent game prompting an aggressive move to ban it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this video game is just -- it's an abomination.

PHILLIPS: Why some politicians and child experts are worried about "25 to Life."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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PHILLIPS: Live pictures now from Cape San Blas, Florida, known as one of America's most beautiful beach areas. It's also the site of yesterday's shark attack, the second attack in two days along Florida's Gulf Coast.

Well, in just a minute we're going to take you to Pensacola to talk with shark expert Erich Ritter on what the actual risks are and what beach goers can do to cut the risk of a shark attack.

But first we're going to return to Miramar Beach, Florida, the scene of Saturday's brutal and fatal shark attack. CNN's Drew Griffin talked with the man who fought off a bull shark in mid-assault, desperately trying to save a young girl's life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saturday, June 25, a sparkling day on the Florida Panhandle's Emerald Coast. And two teenage girls, one of them 14-year-old Jaime Daigle of Gonzales, Louisiana, were floating on their boogie boards, far beyond the beach- hugging crowds.

(on camera) In fact, the girls were extremely far out into the water. Eyewitnesses say those two girls on boogie boards were out here past the second sand bar, a good 200 yards from the beach. (voice-over) Local surfer Tim Dicus was catching waves on the other side of the second sandbar and took notice when the girls passed him.

TIM DICUS, SURFER: Well, when the girls went out too far, that was -- it disturbed me. So I keep an eye on anybody that goes out any further than I do.

GRIFFIN: Dicus was concerned about sharks. Although attacks are rare, sightings occur almost every day. Mostly they are species not harmful to man. But tiger sharks and aggressive and persistent bull sharks can be found here, close to shore, feeding on the gulf's plentiful schools of bait shrimp (ph).

Still, it was a gorgeous day, says Dicus, nothing unusual until he saw the shadow of a shark, a fin, then a scream.

(on camera) The scream. You knew what that scream meant?

DICUS: Yes, pretty much. Yes. As soon as I turned around and saw the situation, I knew pretty much what had happened.

GRIFFIN: And your decision...

DICUS: Was to go get the girl.

GRIFFIN: Go right into the...

DICUS: Go get the girl.

GRIFFIN: Right into the blood pool.

DICUS: Yes. So I went in and got her.

GRIFFIN: No hesitation?

DICUS: Not a bit. And I'd do it again right now.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Jaime Daigle had been attacked. Her friend was already rushing to shore, but Dicus turned towards the shark and paddled his nine-foot surfboard directly into a growing pool of blood.

DICUS: She was floating face down. And that's why I had to go in right then, because she was going to drown if I didn't get her face out of the water. So I shot into the blood pool, when I finally figured out which end of the shark was pointing, where he was pointing.

And as I grabbed her, like I said, he'd swung around and tried to make another pass at her, but he got confused when he saw my surfboard. So he broke off that attack without me having to do anything except grab the girl and put her up on the board.

GRIFFIN: Dicus thought it was over. Sharks rarely strike humans, and when they do, it's mostly after mistaking them for something else. But this attack, says Dicus, was different.

DICUS: I hit him. He'd break off the attack, come back around, try another attack. I'd hit him. He'd break off the attack, come back around. Happened maybe half-a-dozen times or so.

GRIFFIN: The shark was no longer attacking, he says, but continuing to pursue Jaime, something local authorities say is very odd, since sharks usually bite humans and then go away.

After several more terrorizing strokes, Dicus had reached others who had come out to help. Jaime Daigle was being lifted off his board onto a raft. That is when Dicus saw the wound, her left leg nearly torn off.

(on camera) And your feeling is that was several bites?

DICUS: By the size of the shark, I'd say yes, it had to have been several bites. His mouth wasn't big enough to do that all in one bite.

JIM PITMAN, WALTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: It was pretty bad wounds.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Walton County Deputy Jim Pitman arrived just as the girl was being put in an ambulance and says he knew almost immediately she wouldn't make it.

Pitman says there was nothing anyone could do. In fact, he says the surfer Tim Dicus had done more than anyone could ever ask.

PITMAN: He's, you know, a hero is all I can say. There is no telling, you know, what would have happened with the girl, if we could have ever recovered her, you know, had he not been there, you know, when he was there.

GRIFFIN: Tim Dicus' only regret is that, despite his efforts, Jaime Daigle didn't survive.

DICUS: I can't change what happened. I hoped I could do more. I was hoping she was going to make it.

GRIFFIN: Dicus says he will return to the water, and soon. This is the first-ever shark attack in Walton County history, and he doesn't ever expect to see one again.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Miramar Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Shark experts say that these two attacks aren't a trend. They're just coincidence. And we could spend hours telling you all the things that are more likely to kill you, but that's scant comfort to beach goers who will crowd the Florida Panhandle this Fourth of July weekend.

So we want to talk about being shark savvy with shark expert Erich Ritter. He joins us from Pensacola, Florida.

Erich, thanks for being with us.

ERICH RITTER, SHARK EXPERT: How are you doing?

PHILLIPS: Now first of all, you're not only a shark expert, but you've been bitten by a shark, a bull shark. Is that what led you to be an expert, or did this happen to you while you were being a researcher and expert?

RITTER: I mean, we recreate shark accidents scenarios, my specialty, shark-human interactions. So everything we preach and teach has been tested by us. So when we say do not swim away, we have tested that with fully grown bull sharks, with white sharks.

But during one documentary, we tried to do one of my spotters didn't do his job and I got bitten.

PHILLIPS: So what did do you? I mean, here you -- here you are giving advice to people on what to do. What did you do when the shark came after you? And I know we've got a shot of what happened to your calf. Tell me how you reacted, and do you think you made all the right moves?

RITTER: I got bitten twice. The first spot I did not move, because that's where you should not move. But when I realized the animal was serious -- he was in stress. And then I tried to move my leg away from her towards the surface, because I was standing in hip- deep water and that forced her to open her mouth, but in the process she took my calf.

PHILLIPS: Now was that a good idea when this one surfer came out to try and rescue the young Daigle girl, when he started smacking at the shark and trying to push it away?

RITTER: It was definitely something everyone was doing. I mean it's safe for a person to go in and try to rescue victim, because these sharks are focused on a victim if they do a repeat bite. So Mr. Dicus was safe all the way out, all the way in.

PHILLIPS: That's good to know, because if it happens again, it's good to know it's OK after they're in after there and try to save the victim...

RITTER: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: ... without worrying about yourself.

We put together some interesting graphics, Erich. If you don't mind, I want to ask you about a couple things specifically about how to be shark savvy.

And here's, you know, some basics. Don't go out too far; avoid areas between sandbars or with steep drop-offs. Avoid excess splashing, erratic motion. And then No. 2, the second graphic, don't go in with open wounds, avoid areas where people are fishing, and avoid areas where you see diving sea birds. First of all, with regard to open wounds, I mean, are we talking simple scratches or what type of open wounds are a threat?

RITTER: There is always the myth that human blood can attract sharks, and that has never been proven. So if you have an open wound or menstrual bleeding, I would not consider that this can actually attack a shark.

PHILLIPS: Well, avoiding areas where people are fishing. I guess that proves true. This young man yesterday, right, he was using shrimp and he was fishing?

RITTER: Definitely. When a fish is hooked, they start to struggle. And this creates frequencies between 400 and 800 Hz. Unfortunately, that's the same sound that we humans create when we splash. So anything that a shark recognizes should be avoided, and definitely hooking a fish should be avoided when they're close by or actually, in this case, stood in the water.

PHILLIPS: Well, here's where I learned a couple of things. Our third graphic talks about avoiding jewelry and shiny, sparkly fabrics. We know a lot of bathing suits have sparkly fabrics. Sharks are attracted to bright colors, especially yellow. That's interesting. And sharks see contrast particularly well. Would you say these are all correct?

RITTER: No, definitely not correct.

PHILLIPS: OK. Correct us.

RITTER: This -- it goes back to the yum yum yellow. We always have to ask yourself if a color should have a meaning, what would it mean in his world or in her world? Shiny objects, the same way. Shiny objects, they help attract, for example, barracudas.

But all these color ideas have never been thoroughly tested to the point -- because this or that. We started actually working on some of these ideas, and contrast, yes. Contrast actually has an effect on certain species, in this case on bull sharks, but other colors definitely do not have an effect that is promoted.

PHILLIPS: All right. And finally, thank you for those points. Tomorrow I know you're going out to scan the waters to see what the situation is like, if there are more sharks out there. Can you give us any reason to why this is going on, Erich, why we've seen two attacks, separate areas? But why is it happening?

RITTER: Actually, I don't really have an answer for this yet. But very often, weather can be a part of it. You can have big currents coming in, weather change, temperature change. And then you bring in a lot of bait fish, and of course, at every food chain at the end are big predators, and these are bull sharks.

So it's nothing unusual right now. But, yes, we have to monitor and see how this develops.

PHILLIPS: Erich Ritter, we'll be talking again soon with the Shark Research Institute. Thanks for your time today.

RITTER: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Speaking of summer hazards, check this out. That's our favorite video before every Fourth of July. But there is a message behind the mayhem. We'll have it for you coming up.

And this man was in the hospital waiting for a heart transplant. Then he was told he didn't need one. He calls it a miracle.

And, oh, baby -- a really big bundle of joy. We're delivering her right after the break.

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PHILLIPS: Well, a truly big baby tops our news across America. Meet Delaney Jessica Buzzell, who made her debut at 13 pounds 12 ounces. And get this -- she was three weeks early. Nothing new for this Wisconsin family, though. Delaney's older sister Cameron weighed nearly 12 pounds when she was born. Sister Alexis, 10 1/2. As for Mom, she says three daughters, that's it!

Calls to clean up their act. Entertainer Paula Abdul, recently of "American Idol" fame, wants nail salons to practice better hygiene. This comes after her year-long battle with nail fungus, which she says resulted from an unsanitary manicure.

Fireworks on the fourth, a tradition for many, a danger for some. The government's once again urging you to use caution and common sense as you celebrate Independence Day.

More LIVE FROM right after this.

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