Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Sandra Day O'Connor Resigns; Shark Attacks Tourist Off Boca Grande, Florida; Missing in Afghanistan; Human Remains Found in Mexico

Aired July 01, 2005 - 13:59   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: ... wanted the public generally to see and respect the fact that in positions of power and authority that women are well represented, that it is not an all-male governance, as it once was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The first woman Supreme Court justice says she's retiring. What does her vacancy mean for the court and the political battle over her replacement?

Search and rescue in the Afghan mountains. Prayers and patience in the search for missing American forces. We're live from the Pentagon.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

It's a lifetime appointment, but retirement is allowed. And that's where Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is heading 24 years after going where no woman had gone before. It's been 24 years of monumental decisions, many of them decided by the moderate conservative from Arizona, playing tie-breaker on a divided bench.

Our coverage this hour begins with CNN's Joe Johns at the highest court in the land.

Hi, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

A historic day here at the United States Supreme Court. Sandra Day O'Connor, 75 years old, as you said, the first woman Supreme Court justice, joined the court in 1981.

The announcement coming today in the form of a letter to the president of the United States. A very short letter, in fact. Only three sentences long.

It reads, "This is to inform you of my decision to retire from my position as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States effective upon the nomination and confirmation of my successor. It has been a great privilege, indeed, to have served as a member of the court for 24 terms. I will leave it with enormous respect for the integrity of the court and its role under our constitutional structure."

The president, of course, speaking on the phone today very briefly with Justice O'Connor before going out also to speak with reporters about the Supreme Court justice.

Also today, we've had a great deal of reaction here on Capitol Hill, particularly from and among Democrats in the United States Senate, Democrats who may have something to do with the confirmation of the next Supreme Court justice. Among them, Senator Edward Kennedy, the liberal of Massachusetts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Today, President Bush is faced with a decision that affects each and every American and has the potential to impact every facet of constitutional law and the freedoms this country was founded upon. I urge President Bush to consult with United States Senate on his nominee to the nation's highest court and to nominate someone whose record is consistent with the ideals and freedoms of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So the battle here of course only beginning. The president has made it clear he will not name a successor to Sandra Day O'Connor until after he returns from his upcoming trip to Europe.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right. Joe Johns, live there from the Supreme Court. Thank you.

And if you heard President Bush's remarks today live on CNN, you heard the words "timely," "dignified" and "fair," thinly veiled words of warning to Senate Democrats and anybody else planning to make a federal case out of his first Supreme Court nomination.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House.

A lot of pressure on a lot of people -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, but President Bush himself said that this is a day to honor the contributions of Justice Day O'Connor. Already, of course, though, the process to find a potential replacement has been well under way for quite some time here at the White House.

Earlier today in the Rose Garden, President Bush said that he takes the responsibility for nominating a successor seriously, that he will choose something who will faithfully interpret the Constitution. And President Bush also acknowledged what is expected to be an intense fight to get any nominee he puts forward confirmed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The nation deserves and I well select a Supreme Court justice that Americans can be proud of. The nation also deserves a dignified process of confirmation in the United States Senate characterized by fair treatment, a fair hearing and a fair vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: As for how things unfolded, President Bush actually spoke with Justice O'Connor just after 10:15 this morning in what's being described as an emotional call. Aides say that he told her that she was one of the great Americans, that he wished he could hug her and that "For an old ranching girl, you turned out pretty good."

Now, the White House knew there was a letter coming from the Supreme Court since about noon yesterday, but hey did not find out it had to do with Justice O'Connor until this morning. The president, after his phone call, met with his advisers, including Vice President Cheney, White House counsel Harriet Miers, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, among others.

And as Joe mentioned, White House Secretary Scott McClellan said there will not be a decision on a nominee before the president returns from the G8 summit next week in Scotland. McClellan says that the president will be "doing some homework," reviewing materials this weekend while he's at Camp David. Also, en route to and during the G8 Summit. The White House also saying that the president has not interviewed any potential candidates, that he has not given any serious consideration to any nominees -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Elaine, did you say the president called her an old ranching girl?

QUIJANO: The quote that we were giving was that, "For an old ranching girl, you turned out pretty good." And White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan noting that she's from El Paso and that the president, as well as the first lady, Scott mentioned, very much hold Justice O'Connor in very high regard.

PHILLIPS: No doubt. They all love to -- to love horses. Let's not forget she's inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, too, Elaine. Let's keep that one on our list.

All right. Elaine Quijano, live from the White House. Thank you.

Well, she sided with the left on abortion rights and Ten Commandments, on the right with affirmative action and Bush verses Gore, but always with her own sense of justice and constitutionality, regardless of politics or peer pressure. Summing up the legacy there for Sandra Day O'Connor isn't easy. Lucky for us, CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin is on the case.

And Jeff, you got to meet her and spend some time with her, right? JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: I did. And, you know, she was a larger-than-life figure. She was really a very charismatic person.

She was funny, she was outgoing. She made people feel at ease. Everyone who met Sandra Day O'Connor was, of course, immediately intimidated by her aura, by her accomplishments. But she was very easy to talk to, very different, in fact, from the other woman on the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Gingsburg, who's a much more shy, retiring, scholarly type.

You know, Sandra Day O'Connor used to be a state senator. She's a pol, and she still has the charm of a pol. And it was very memorable for any of us who were privileged to meet her.

PHILLIPS: So did you have a chance to sit in the courtroom and listen to her? And if so, what do you remember? And do you remember the case?

TOOBIN: I saw her many times in the Supreme Court argue, and one of the interesting things about Sandra Day O'Connor at oral argument is she almost always came to court prepared with a question. She worked with her law clerks to have a question for the lawyers. And unlike some of the justices, you could almost always tell how she was going to vote by the kinds of questions she asked at oral argument.

And there was one funny thing about -- about the way she spoke in oral argument, is she would often say something like, "Well, goodness gracious." Or "For pity's sake." And you knew if you got that...

PHILLIPS: You were in trouble.

TOOBIN: ... which would -- you were in trouble. And it was actually -- in Bush v. Gore, she asked some questions of David Boies, who was representing Al Gore.

And she said, you know, "For Pete's sake, do you expect these recounts for go on forever?" And it was a clear signal of how she was going to vote. And she, in fact, voted that way to end the recount.

PHILLIPS: So, while practicing law, in your career, can you think of a time that maybe you thought of how she handled something, or did she inspire you anyway? Obviously she was very classy and dignified. That is for sure.

TOOBIN: Well, she was. And I think, you know, what I will think about with Sandra Day O'Connor is not so much sort of a legal philosophy that she had, but she had a tremendous instinct for the political center in America.

You know, she was someone who sort of knew where the public was. I think she felt that the public was kind of sick of the recounts, and she wanted to end Bush v. Gore.

I think she felt that, you know, abortion, you know, shouldn't be available everywhere all the time for anyone who wanted it, but she thought that the right to choose was something that should be preserved for American women.

She thought -- you know, she didn't like the idea of racial quotas or racial -- you know, racial preferences, but she thought affirmative action had served a valid purpose. And so she preserved somewhat of a right to it.

It's not a single overarching philosophy, like some justices have, but she had tremendous political instincts. And I think that was reflected in her decisions.

PHILLIPS: And you talked about racial tensions. And, I mean, here is a woman that graduated top of her class, came out of Stanford Law School, and experienced discrimination firsthand trying to get that first job as a lawyer. They wanted to hire her as a secretary, right?

TOOBIN: She was hired as a legal secretary. Isn't that amazing, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Unbelievable.

TOOBIN: I mean, she could not get any job as a lawyer. She graduated third in her class from Stanford Law School. As many people know, the person who graduated first in that class was William Rehnquist.

PHILLIPS: Rehnquist.

TOOBIN: And she couldn't get a job for years. I mean, not for years. She eventually got a job. And when she moved to Arizona, she became an assistant attorney general, in part because the government hired women lawyers before private lawyers did. And she, of course, did fabulously well.

PHILLIPS: Why is that? That's interesting.

TOOBIN: Well, I think the line you always heard from private lawyers was, well -- you know, "We have no objection to hiring women lawyers, but our clients wouldn't stand for it." So -- you know, and so that's the way lawyers sort of explained that -- explained away their discrimination against women.

You know, government lawyers didn't have that out. And so -- and it's not just here in Arizona, but all over the country. Government lawyers were -- women were among the first government lawyers.

And she was so good and so charismatic that that's how she got into politics. She wound up running for state senator, she was the majority leader of the Arizona State Senate. And then Governor Bruce Babbitt, a Democrat, later secretary of Interior under President Clinton, appointed her to the federal bench -- sorry, to the state appeals court. And some people think the reason he appointed her to the bench was because he was afraid that she was going to run against him.

PHILLIPS: She'd probably beat him. TOOBIN: And he's joked about that. So he -- I think they both -- it wound up being a good decision for both of them, I think.

PHILLIPS: Great stuff. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you so much.

TOOBIN: OK, Kyra. See you.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Well, log on to cnn.com/supremecourt to read an in-depth profile of Sandra Day O'Connor and view highlights of her life and career. Also find out how the confirmation process for the next justice works. And as the White House and Congress prepare for the anticipated political battle over President Bush's nominee, view a gallery of the people who have been publicly mentioned as possible candidates.

Well, straight ahead, a gruesome discovery outside a Mexican border town known for violence and lawlessness. We're going to talk with a formal FBI investigator. He actually ruled this -- or worked over this region, and he's going to talk about what's been found and how it has ties to Americans missing south of the border.

Also, a California military base is mourning after a horrible chopper crash in Afghanistan. We're going to have details on what happened straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Video just in to CNN via our affiliate WBBH and also WZVN. Another shark attack in Florida, number three since Saturday.

It occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in chest-deep water off Boca Grande. The victim seen here is identified as an 19-year-old Australian tourist. He was airlifted out, as you can see.

No word about his condition right now. All we know is that the 19-year-old was bitten.

OK. I'm now being told his condition is good. That just coming into us.

The 19-year-old young man was bitten by the shark while he was swimming in the Boca Grande Pass, we're told. The Lee County Sheriff's Department said the teen was bitten in the right foot, and then the bite went all the way to the bone. But the stress of his injuries, we're told, are not life-threatening.

Now we're hearing condition good. You're seeing him airlifted in here via this new video that we just received from two of our affiliates. We appreciate that.

He was swimming in chest-deep water on the south side of the island, we're told, in water that was pretty murky due to the recent heavy rain. And as you know, this was the third shark attack we've been talking about in Florida in just the past month. You'll remember we talked about the 16-year-old boy a couple days ago that lost his leg while swimming out also in the Gulf. And over the past weekend, last weekend, a 14-year-old girl who lost her life after being bitten by a bull shark.

Now the third attack we are seeing and hearing about, this time in Boca Grande -- Boca Grande, rather, Florida. But this individual a tourist, 19-year-old tourist, told to be in good condition after a minor bite, and airlifted there to Lee Memorial Hospital.

All right. Moving on to other stories.

Of course we've been talking about missing in Afghanistan. The U.S. military says it's using every available asset to find U.S. Special Forces unaccounted for since Tuesday. That's when that helicopter crashed and killed everybody onboard. But the fate of the team on the ground still remains a mystery.

CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now with the details on that search.

And maybe, Jamie, you can clarify. There has been a lot of confusion about those on board and what those were doing on the ground and how both are related.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, a U.S. military search team has got a little break in the weather today. Some of the rain and clouds moved out. But still, by nightfall, they had found no sign of the U.S. special operations reconnaissance team that was on the ground in those rugged mountains in eastern Afghanistan.

Of course this situation really began on Tuesday, when the team on the ground who had encountered some enemy fighters called in for reinforcements. A helicopter was sent in, essentially to extract them with a SEAL team onboard. That helicopter apparently shot down and went into a mountainside.

All 16 of those U.S. military personnel were killed, including the eight men and SEAL team. And now the fate of the team on the ground is unknown.

The Pentagon is being very tight-lipped about the precise number of troops on the ground that it's lost count of, saying that that could happen, the rescue operation, which continues. And as you said, the U.S. military says it's using all available assets to look for them.

Presumably, that would include unmanned spy planes with infrared imaging equipment. One of those spy planes, a Predator spy drone, crashed the day after. It was on a mission looking for the troops as well.

Now, of course, these are some of the best trained troops that the U.S. military has. If anyone can sustain themselves on the ground, even if they're out of communication for an indefinite amount of time, certainly U.S. Special Operations Forces have the capability to do that.

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed that a U.S. serviceman was captured in the region, but the U.S. military says it has no evidence that would support that, nor any evidence than any of the people have been killed on the ground. So at this point, they're still missing, whereabouts not certain, and an active search remains under way -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jamie McIntyre, live from the Pentagon. Thank you so much.

Well, we're learning a lot more about the 16 U.S. troops that were killed in that helicopter crash. Half of them were soldiers based in Georgia and Kentucky, and half were Navy SEALs assigned to units in Virginia and California.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is at the naval base in Coronado, just over the bridge there from San Diego, California.

Ted, what do you know?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, not much from officials here. The Navy not saying much in terms of detail.

We do know that some Navy SEALs that were lost on Tuesday were here, based here in Coronado. Others were based in Virginia.

This morning, the flag inside the main gate here at the base is flying at half staff. Clearly, emblematic of the feeling one would expect not only inside the gates here, but within this tight-knit community.

The SEAL community very tight-knit as well. There are two bases -- two units that are based in Virginia. The other two are based out here in Coronado.

There are just about 2,000 in total Navy SEALs, because it is very difficult to become a Navy SEAL. Only a relatively small percentage of those who want to be SEALs actually go on to be SEALs because of the rigorous training that one needs to go through and needs to pass.

It is stuff of legends what they go through, including hell week, which is known as -- is five-and-a-half days with just the minimum of -- a maximum of four hours' sleep during that training period. It lasts six months.

What sets Navy SEALs apart from other Special Forces around the world is the amphibious training that they undergo. They work out of water, and they can swim for miles, each one of these elite fighters.

And the loss is surely significant here, not only within the SEAL community, but as I said, the community of Coronado is as proud of the SEALs as in the Navy, and one would expect that over this 4th of July weekend those lost on Tuesday will be on the minds of those here in the community of Coronado, Virginia and around the country -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: All right. Ted Rowlands live from Coronado, California, with the latest there on those SEALs that lost their lives in that helicopter crash. We'll continue to develop developments, if indeed anybody that was on the ground, part of that operation, is recovered.

Well, the race is on in Arizona to stop wildfires. They're getting bigger and they're threatening homes. We'll have details ahead.

And Iran's president-elect. Was the election rigged?

And former American hostages say he was one of their captors. Two accusations that we're following.

And just ahead on LIVE FROM, we're going to talk about the new president with the head of an Iranian television network based in the United States that says he deals with censorship all the time from that country.

Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News "Across America" now.

In Georgia, a man accused of a chilling crime made his first court appearance today. He's charged with kidnapping, molesting and killing a 4-year-old girl. Her body was found Sunday. Police captured the suspect yesterday after an intense manhunt.

A disturbing discovery near a Mexican border town. "The Houston Chronicle" reports that police have found charred remains at a ranch outside Nuevo Laredo.

Well, the remains were reportedly found in gasoline drums. And police are conducting tests to see if bones and traces of blood are human.

Police searched the ranch after rescuing 44 kidnapped victims at two safe houses in Nuevo Laredo earlier this week. "The Dallas Morning News" reports a suspect in those kidnappings told investigators that captives were executed at the ranch. That ranch is located near a town where violent drug gangs are terrorizing local residents and unnerving U.S. citizens who live just across the border in Laredo, Texas.

Former FBI special agent Don Clark joins us now from Houston with some insight into this story.

Now, this was your region when you were active FBI, right, Don?

DON CLARK, FMR. FBI SPECIAL AGENT: That's true, Kyra. I had San Antonio, and San Antonio covers that territory.

PHILLIPS: And what kind of problems did you deal with within Nuevo Laredo?

CLARK: Well, you know, the same problems that they're dealing with today. This is not new, Kyra. It's a humongous problem that's going on down there, and many people will say that's because of drug cartels and it's because of human trafficking that's going on.

Some even say -- in fact, I talked to the head of the FBI down there now who has my old position, and he says NAFTA -- albeit he supports it, and I do, too -- has made it so -- so much of a great area down there, and it's been a productive area, that kidnappings have taken police. But it's not just that. What it really is, is corruption in the police department, and that's part of the big problem.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about the police force within Mexico, specifically there in Nuevo Laredo. And also, I was reading about this special federal unit in Mexico that handles kidnapping and organized crime and tries to deal with the drug running.

I mean, we've heard so much about the corruption within the police force in Mexico. Is that still an issue?

CLARK: It is very much an issue, Kyra. The police force is definitely corrupt.

The government has seen that. They have seen the police involved in these activities. They've seen police taking hostages. They have evidence of police killing people down there.

So it is very much a corrupt police department. And not only that. Every time they rotate it out, after a short period of time the new policemen who take over begin to do the same type of corrupt activities that the old ones do. So it is very much a corruption issue down there.

PHILLIPS: So now they're talking about these dead bodies, these remains. You know, are they the drug runners, are these people that -- are they people that aren't paying up? Are they police officers that said, hey, I'm going to tell about what you're doing? I mean, who are these individuals that are getting killed?

CLARK: Kyra, it's all of the above. It's some of the drug runners, it's certainly some of the police officers who don't cooperate with the others that's going on. And it's also -- there are groups down there that -- former military people that actually work for these cartels. And what they are is the enforcers. And they really go out to send a message that, if you don't cooperate with us, or if you stand in our way, then this is what's going to happen to you.

PHILLIPS: And, of course, the State Department coming out with warnings, saying, don't even think about going down there because you never know what will happen to you. What's it going to take to clean this up?

I mean, Don, this was an issue that you were dealing with years back. I remember growing up in California, even as a kid I heard about things in Tijuana. I mean, does this need to go all the way to Vicente Fox and he's got to make this a priority? I mean, where does it need to start, and how does it need to funnel down?

CLARK: Well, you said it. It's got to start at the top. And it's got to work its way all the way down.

They are trying -- and I must give them credit. There are some steps that they're taking to try and put as honest people as they can in these positions. But they've got to make sure that the entire system is sort of cleansed.

PHILLIPS: Now you brought up an interesting point. You're saying that the cops aren't only involved in dealing with these drugs, dealing the drugs, dealing with the runners, but they're taking the drugs?

CLARK: Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's evidence down there where they've tested as many as 300 people. And they've listed that some tested positive, but others refused to take the test. And so they were automatically terminated.

So if they refused to take the test, I'm not suggesting that they're guilty, but there's a strong hint as to why a law enforcement person wouldn't take a drug test. So you've got them taking the drugs, and then you've got them enforcing the drugs. And you've got people stealing the money, and you've got them doing every type of criminal activity and supporting those cartels, Kyra. And until that stops, and until Vicente Fox puts the resources in place to make that stop, we're going to still be faced with this problem.

PHILLIPS: We'll follow the story. We'll find out if, indeed, those remains include Americans also. Former FBI special agent Don Clark. Thank you so much, Don.

CLARK: Always a pleasure, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Stepping away from the High Court, we're going to look back at one of the more memorable one-on-ones with retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Plus, questions arise about Iran's president-elect, from his past to the road he took to win the election. We're going to take a closer look at how one Iranian network says their news is censored.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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