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Girl, 6, Killed in Bear Attack; Couple Charged for Faking Sextuplets; Refugee Camps Growing in Iraq; Oklahoma Girl, 10, Missing; Grand Jury Considers Perjury Charges on Barry Bonds
Aired April 14, 2006 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips.
A freak attack turns a family camping trip into a nightmare in Tennessee's Cherokee National Forest. A black bear grabs a 2-year-old boy. His mother fights back and wrestles him away, but amid the ruckus, the woman's 6-year-old daughter runs off, and the bear follows.
Jessica Morris reports from WTVC, our affiliate in Chattanooga.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA MORRIS, WTVC REPORTER (voice-over): Park ranger Monte Williams says a mother and her two children faced off with the black bear at Benton Falls. When some campers saw the trouble, they called for help and carried the mom and her 2-year-old boy to safety.
Her other child, a 6-year-old girl, ran off. Polk County Search and Rescue later found the child, about 100 yards from the falls, dead. They also spotted the bear and shot it, but it escaped into the woods.
Wildlife workers say they are surprised by this attack.
MONTE WILLIAMS, FOREST RANGER: It's a pretty rare thing, black bears usually don't attack people. I can't think of any time other than, you know, this really rare circumstances.
ANDY GASTON, WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST: The last time I can remember any instance like this was in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in the late 1990s. Bears are very -- black bears are very common on the Cherokee National Forest. It's not unusual to have contact with them on an almost weekly basis from our visitors.
MORRIS: But he says black bears usually don't attack. Now forest rangers are asking campers to leave the area until TWRA officers hunt down the predator.
WILLIAMS: Once something like this has happened there, they will put the bear down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well that hunt is now under way. The boy and his mother, meanwhile, reported in critical condition at a nearby hospital but are expected to recover. We hope to hear more information from the hospital live this hour.
Also later on LIVE FROM, a wildlife employee involved with the investigation and the hunt for that bear joins with us more on the attack and how to stay safe in the woods.
Let's get straight to Carol Lin with a developing story. She's monitoring it in the newsroom.
Hi, Carol.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, Kyra.
Remember that couple who was accused of lying about having sextuplets? Well, we just learned that they are both facing felony counts of stealing by deceit. Sarah and Kris Everson are in a lot of trouble.
They apparently said that they were going to have these six babies, and they set up a web site and, according to police, they may have gained as much as $4,000 from this alleged deceit.
Kyra, apparently Sarah was saying that her husband didn't even know that she wasn't pregnant until sometime in early March, which is when they started these appeals. They came out with these little T- shirts. These little onesies saying these are the ones that belonged to the babies, but the babies never came out publicly.
And that towards the end, she started overeating, according to police, to subsidize her ruse and say that she gained, something like 40 pounds.
Kyra, I gained 40 pounds with one baby. So I think if I had six, I'd be gaining a whole lot more than that.
PHILLIPS: And you would think the husband would know that something wasn't right here.
You know what's interesting, too, we've all been looking at this as journalists. And I know some of the editors in the papers have felt pretty bad that they didn't investigate this more...
LIN: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... just to verify that, indeed, she was pregnant. Because sextuplets, I mean that's definitely a news story if you think it's true.
LIN: You bet. And a lot of people were very sympathetic, because they didn't have a lot of money and they wanted to help out. So hopefully, all that money is going to be returned, and $4,000, that could be an early figure because they also got gifts, as well.
PHILLIPS: All right. Carol Lin, thanks so much.
Mosques are once again targets on the day of prayers in Iraq. At least four people are dead after two bombings at a Sunni mosque in Baqubah, just north of Baghdad. Six others are hurt. It's one more example of the type of violence that's threatening to divide Iraq, literally based on sect or religion.
CNN's Aneesh Raman joins me now live from Baghdad -- Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, good afternoon. A disturbing new trend in Iraq to tell you about. Their numbers are growing every day: Iraqis that are being displaced from their neighborhoods for fear of their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN (voice-over): These are the faces of refugees in their own land. Iraqis who fled their homes, threatened with death because they were Shia or Sunni, now living in tent cities. Their numbers are exploding. Iraq's government says there are now 65,000 displaced Iraqis countrywide. Only two weeks ago, it was half that number.
DR. SAID HAKKI, DIRECTOR, IRAQI RED CRESCENT: The numbers start becoming some form -- some way alarming sometimes at this 22nd of March when we made our first assessment. And then we were doing it every, like three or four days. We're beginning to see a serious trend.
RAMAN: The head of Iraq's humanitarian group called Red Crescent, Dr. Said Hakki, is the man managing the relief effort. It was always his worst fear: camps splitting Sunni and Shia apart. And at the end of February, it became a reality.
After a bombing destroyed a sacred Shia shrine, Iraq spiraled towards civil war, and in returning from that brink, has seen formally mixed neighborhoods stripped of residents: Shia fleeing Sunni areas, Sunni fleeing Shia areas, left with nothing but despair.
In Baghdad, Shia are still arriving at this camp. They show us a letter that threatened them death if they did not leave their homes. In Fallujah at this camp for displaced Sunnis, the men are largely missing, some taken away and presumed dead, others disappeared before their families fled.
"Armed men came to our house, all with masks on," she says. They knocked on our door and they took her husband. And they handcuffed him and they had a knife to his back. She's now on her own with her children and no support.
Dr. Said is now working overtime to equip these camps with proper facilities to provide for the growing numbers and to prepare for what could be soon be the country's biggest problem: helping those who had little and are now left with nothing.
HAKKI: They left their schools, their work and they all a sudden move to a foreign neighborhood. And they're living in a camp instead of a house.
RAMAN (on camera): And they don't know when they'll leave?
HAKKI: They don't know how long they're going to stay in these camps, yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN: And Kyra, the biggest and most immediate concern at these camps is security. Initially, security was being provided by local militias. Iraq's government hopes to soon centralize that with Iraqi security forces -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: How long will these refugees have to stay there?
RAMAN: Well, I asked that of Dr. Said. He simply said, "Your guess is as good as mine."
The government is hoping to reverse this trend to get these people back in their homes. But there is no end in sight in terms of the numbers. They keep rising. And the only way to get these people to go home is to decrease the sectarian tensions, increase the confidence in Iraqi security forces. And those, of course, are the two issues that have been perennial in Iraq for three years now -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Is it possible they might just lose everything, including their homes, and not even be able to go back to them?
RAMAN: And the people who are in these camps, they don't know how long they're going to be there. In fact, the government is really trying to set up these camps so they can stay there for months. Giving latrines, giving hygienic sort of living conditions.
We're entering into the summer, extremely hot conditions. They're worried about disease perhaps breaking out at these camps as the numbers keep increasing.
So at one level the government trying to make sure there are sanitary conditions for people to stay for months. At other level, they're trying to figure out a way to stem the tide of those coming to these camps and get those in them to start going back home.
But these people are afraid for their lives. They've been told if they stay they will be killed. So they go to these camps.
PHILLIPS: Aneesh Raman, we appreciate you covering the story. Thank you.
Deadly but even more audacious. A pair of explosions today outside the main mosque in New Delhi, India. They came about 10 minutes apart as the faithful gathered for Friday prayers. Thirteen people are hurt. The mosque is not badly damaged.
Ten years old, red hair, freckles and missing now more than 48 hours. She's an Oklahoma girl whom the FBI, among many others, would dearly love to help and need your help. CNN's Ed Lavandera is now in Purcell, Oklahoma.
What do police know so far, Ed? ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're trying to piece together this situation involving 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin, who as you mentioned, went missing Wednesday afternoon, was last seen at a library here in Purcell, Oklahoma, which is about 45 miles south of Oklahoma City.
But it took almost 24 hours to issue the Amber Alert here in Oklahoma because the police chief here in Purcell says they had some trouble getting information that would have help helped Rose Bolin from her friends. Friends who, they believe, might have seen what happened to her Wednesday afternoon.
The FBI is here, as well.
What we've been to piece together so far, and it's very early. And authorities here are also being very cagey in the amount of information that is being released. But the important information is what they want to get out is the information on a possible suspect that they're looking for. We just got a drawing of what they -- they believe this person to look like.
But this person is believed to be in his early 20s, a white male, very thin, clean cut, an earring in his left car (sic). The other information they want to get out there as quickly as possible, as well, is that they are looking for a dark blue late model Chevy Tahoe with tinted windows and a large logo on the back window that reads, "Fox." Authorities here believe that there might be some sort of reference to a racing team or a racing organization of some sort.
It has Texas plates. Unfortunately, they don't have a full description of what the license plate number might be, but it's a dark blue Chevy Tahoe with Texas plates. And they also believe that there is damage to the passenger side of the car that -- with a green neon paint. So that is one the important things they want to get out there.
There is some possibility and some suspicion early on that perhaps Rose Bolin might have been communicating with this person over the Internet, through e-mail. Investigators say they are looking into -- through a variety of technical aspects of this investigation. They wouldn't get into it beyond that when we asked if they were analyzing computers at home or at the library.
But so far, the Amber Alert only issued in the state of Texas for young Rose Bolin, who has been missing since Wednesday afternoon -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, you'll have to forgive me because I'm looking at the graphic that says Jamie Bolin, but you're saying Rose Bolin. Her name is Rose?
LAVANDERA: I'm sorry Jamie Rose Bolin.
PHILLIPS: Jamie Rose Bolin.
LAVANDERA: We're told here that she goes by Rose Bolin. She prefers that.
PHILLIPS: Sorry about that. I misunderstood that. OK, so Jamie Rose Bolin. And you're saying that there is a national Amber Alert?
LAVANDERA: Right now the Amber Alert is issued only in the state of Oklahoma.
PHILLIPS: Why not national?
LAVANDERA: Authorities here had asked the state of Texas to release an Amber Alert, as well, but we have just spoken with officials in Austin, Texas, who say the reason they haven't issued an Amber Alert in this case is because it didn't meet their criteria for this Amber Alert.
And specifically what they mentioned is they didn't have a suspect name. They only had a partial license plate, which was then believed to be accurate. And not enough of what I believe to be credible witnesses to justify the Amber Alert.
And the other final point they also make is they have to have evidence that this person was taken unwillingly, which raises the suspicion here in Oklahoma as to whether or not Jamie Rose Bolin willingly went with this person. And kind of getting back to this whole idea of whether or not she was communicating with this possible suspect over the Internet.
Of course, all this is what they're looking into right now. They have about 100 FBI personnel who are working this case in Oklahoma right now. And they say that there's hundreds of leads coming in on this story as we speak.
PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera, thanks so much.
Straight ahead, he's a star slugger and a record-chaser but is Barry Bonds also a perjurer? Prosecutors may be building a case. LIVE FROM investigates right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It's not what you do; it's what you say. The nation's courthouses are full of defendants who are in trouble, not for some alleged misdeed but for what they allegedly said or did in the aftermath.
With that in mind, CNN has learned a grand jury is considering whether to indict big league baseball slugger Barry Bonds on a perjury charge. At issue? Bonds' testimony in 2003, in connection with the steroids investigation.
CNN's Ted Rowlands has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On December 4, 2003, Barry Bonds testified in front a federal grand jury in San Francisco. Prosecutors asked the baseball superstar whether he had used steroids.
MICHAEL RAINS, BARRY BONDS' ATTORNEY: Barry testified truthfully to the grand jury. Barry Bonds is clean.
ROWLANDS: But it now appears federal prosecutors are pursuing case of perjury against Barry Bonds. Multiple sources tell CNN that, for more than a month, a different federal grand jury has been hearing testimony over whether Bonds lied when he testified in 2003.
If the grand jury indicts Barry Bonds, an eventual trial could land him in jail.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This is extremely bad news for Barry Bonds, because a federal prosecutor doesn't start looking into perjury unless he has a pretty good idea that he's going to find perjury at the end of the day.
ROWLANDS: Barry Bonds was one of several athletes forced to testify in 2003, as part of the BALCO case, which centered around a San Francisco-area lab. Its founder, Victor Conte, and Greg Anderson, a longtime friend of Barry Bonds.
Conte eventually spent four months in jail after pleading guilty to distributing illegal steroids. Anderson was sentenced to three months on the same charges.
At the time, Bonds and the other athletes were given immunity from the federal prosecutors. The deal, which is common, was simple: tell the truth and nothing will happen. Lie, and we can come after you for perjury.
Barry Bonds' attorney, Michael Rains, has long maintained that the federal government has it in for his client.
RAINS: We think this has always been the case of "The Barry Bonds Show". It hasn't been U.S. vs. Conte, U.S. vs. Anderson. It's been U.S. vs. Bonds.
ROWLANDS: At this press conference in December of 2004, Rains accused prosecutors of intentionally trying to set up Bonds in front of the grand jury so they could later pursue a perjury case against a famous baseball player.
RAINS: Look no further than Martha Stewart. The trap is perjury. The trap is, as they did with Martha, you get them in there. You offer them immunity. Then you ask them the questions, and then you get them for 18USC 1001, lying to federal officers, exactly what they got Martha for. That's the trap. And that was the trap that was being brought.
TOOBIN: Prosecutors are supposed to go after big fish. It's those kind of prosecutions that tell everyone that it's not OK to lie to prosecutors or to the grand jury.
ROWLANDS (on camera): Saying because the grand jury process is secretive, a representative from the United States attorney's office in San Francisco, refused to comment on whether or not a grand jury is hearing testimony against Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds' lawyers, reached by telephone, said that they are unaware of any grand jury that has been convened.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Major League Baseball and the baseball players union both refused to comment on CNN's report.
The "San Francisco Chronicle" reports today that Bonds' doctor has been subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury.
Straight ahead, Good Friday with the Graham family. At 87, Billy Graham may be slowing down, but a new generation is keeping the faith and then some. I'll talk with Ann Graham live when LIVE FROM returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Delta's frequent flyers can breathe a little easier for now. The airline has avoided a strike by reaching a tentative deal with its pilots' union.
Susan Lisovicz joins us live now from the New York Stock Exchange with the latest.
And Susan, this has been the talk of this bureau, because as you know, Delta is in Atlanta, Georgia. We all fly Delta, and we're all flying within this week.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know it well. I used to live and fly quite frequently out of Atlanta, and Delta is it. It's very important, not only to the folks of Atlanta, but of course one the nation's busiest airports. And this holiday weekend.
So we have good news to tell you. Delta and its pilots union have reached a tentative deal on long-term pay and benefit cuts, and it was right down to the wire, just ahead of a deadline tomorrow which could have allowed Delta to dump its union contracts.
That, in turn, would have likely triggered a union strike, and that could have, very likely, according to lots of analysts, forced the airline to shut down completely. It's already operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
No terms so far released. The agreement still needs to be approved by bankruptcy court and ratified by the union. The union seems to be in no rush to do that, but the tentative agreement is good news. The airline says it desperately needs concessions from pilots to compete with low cost carriers. The pilots have already been through a big round of cuts. They say they have sacrificed enough -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So what does this mean for passengers, then? If we are flying, we're OK? LISOVICZ: Yes, it means that everybody in the bureau can probably get out. I'm talking, you know, there might be weather delays, there might be traffic delays, but according to executives at Delta, passengers can continue to book on Delta, with confidence that obviously eases the uncertainty connected with this busy holiday weekend. No disruption of service that we know of so far.
Whether Delta can successfully emerge next year from bankruptcy is another story. But it looks like, long-term, Delta has dodged another bullet -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, another story that you've been following all week. It's more bad news for Bausch & Lomb.
LISOVICZ: That's right, I mean what we told you about three days ago, Kyra, was that Bausch & Lomb was voluntarily stopping the shipment of a particular contact lens solution, ReNu with moisture lock, that may be linked to a rare fungal eye infection.
Now the company is going a step further, asking retailers to pull all of this product off the shelves. And that, you know, is something that a lot of big retailers have already done, Wal-Mart, Walgreen's and Rite-Aid -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Susan, thanks. We'll get back to you. I know that you heard this, too. We've got some developing news.
We want to take you straight live now to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the Erlanger Medical Center. Doctors right now talking about the condition of that mother and 2-year-old son that were critically injured by that black bear that killed, also, this mother's young daughter over the past couple of days.
Let's listen in.
DR. GREG TALBOTT, ERLANGER MEDICAL CENTER: I have a report that the little boy who was injured in the bear attack yesterday is doing quite well today. He's in stable condition.
When he arrived here, he had sustained numerous puncture wounds, and one of those puncture woods had entered the skull. He went into surgery last night for repair of that wound and then was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit in the early hours of this morning.
Today he is irritable and a little bit uncooperative, like you might expect a 2-year-old to be, but he is just in wonderful condition. He's a remarkable little boy. He's in, I think as good a spirits as I think can possibly be at this time.
He still has some issues that we'll be following in the next day or two, including close observation of his neurological status in the intensive care unit due to the head injury. And he's also be on antibiotics for prophylaxis against infection.
And so I guess from my standpoint, he's doing as well or better than can be expected, and I'm extremely happy that his wounds weren't more serious.
DR. VINCENTE MEJIA, ERLANGER MEDICAL CENTER: I'd like to thank everybody for this opportunity. I'd like to report that the mother is doing well also. She came in yesterday, awake and alert. But she had multiple puncture wounds to the neck. And multiple severe soft tissue injuries to the extremities and -- upper extremities and lower extremities.
We took her to surgery yesterday to explore her neck. And she had a significant injury to the vessels that take the blood to the brain, the arterial arteries. We were looking to be able to control the bleeding. And she doesn't have any neurological deficit.
This morning she's doing well. She's awake, alert. She's in good condition. Her vital signs are stable. She is still facing significant -- future operations for her self-tissue injuries, upper extremities and lower extremities. But other than that, she's doing well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any questions for the doctor?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will the little boy, will he make a full recovery?
TALBOTT: We anticipate he'll make a full recovery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you surprised at how well both of these patients are doing, considering the number of (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
TALBOTT: Was that addressed to me or Dr. Mejia?
MEJIA: Well, actually, yes, because the significance of the injuries that both patients had, we don't have the opportunity to see that many bear attacks. That's something that we don't see every day. And the mortality for penetrating injuries to the neck is extremely high. In fact, about the range to 10-15 percent. So surprisingly, they're doing quite well. So...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the little boy, the injuries of the skull. Can that affect his motor skills things like that?
TALBOTT: It would obviously be a concern for anyone with a head injury, a penetrating head injury. The good news is this was a relatively small injury. It was easily taken care of in surgery. And our neurosurgeon anticipate he won't have any residual long-term effect from that. So again, with good fortune, I believe that he'll make a complete recovery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to his skull again -- any part of his skull? I don't know, maybe you can explain that and explain what kind of surgery you gave him?
TALBOTT: Right. The first clarification is I didn't do the surgery. I'm not a neurosurgeon.
The wound to the skull was most likely a puncture wound. We speculate probably from a tooth that depressed the skull into -- the bone of the skull onto the surface of the brain, disrupted the covering the brain, actually bruised a little bit of the brain beneath that.
While no brain injury is ever minor, this was easily taken care of in surgery. And the neurosurgeons were quite comfortable this morning with his progress and feel like he'll make an excellent recovery. That's the best I think I can explain it for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So far as the wound is concerned, you said your future operations, such as, what?
MEJIA: Well, she's going to have to go back to the O.R. for multiple washouts. These are very complicated (ph) wounds. So we still have to debrief (ph) those wounds and clean them up. And there is some loss of skin. So she's going to have to have skin grafting, And so she's looking at several trips to the O.R.
Yes. I mean, just to get them out of that scene in a prompt manner, and transporting the patients in adequate fashion with (INAUDIBLE) precautions, started IV fluids and blood transfusions helped the prognosis of the patient. That's always big a applause in these type of injuries. So they played a big role. Our pre-hospital care and the people who helped them out in that situation. I think those are one the big heroes in this story. We just take care of the patients that come here. But to get into the hospital, to a level-one trauma center, I think half is of the battle.
QUESTION: Is this is first time either one of you have seen a bear attack?
TALBOTT: Oh, yes.
MEJIA: Yes.
TALBOTT: Yes.
QUESTION: How would you describe, and I don't know if you can, the emotional state of either one when they were brought in?
MEJIA: I think in (INAUDIBLE), I took care of the mother, and she was very calm. I think she was emotionally in shock. I think at the point, it is too soon to comprehend what went on. And it'll be, you know, difficult as time goes by, and when they realize this severity of the...
QUESTION: How long do you expect them to stay in the hospital?
MEJIA: That's unpredictable. It's difficult to say to -- because it they don't (INAUDIBLE) they could be out of the hospital in a week, but at this point, it's unpredictable.
TALBOTT: I'd say it's similar for the child. To a large degree, it's going to depend on the next, I don't know, one to three days. And if we have infectious issues we need to work with. As Dr. Mejia mentioned, these are contaminated wounds, because they occurred in the outdoors, and due to an animal bite. And so that's part of the reason that we need to monitor them closely.
So to a large degree, I think from my standpoint from the child, it will depend upon his response to antibiotics, and if he develops any additional infection.
Well, obviously he's a young child. When he came, I think he was appropriate for age. He was alert when he arrived here, but anxious about the medical care environment, obviously frightened. And today, somewhat irritable, and he's just, you know, gotten out of the operating room and he's on some pain medication, and so I would say he's doing about as well as you can expect. Again, taking into account the age of the child. He may not be able to comprehend well exactly what's happened to him at this point.
QUESTION: How many puncture wounds exactly did he have?
TALBOTT: I can't -- I don't really know.
It's hard to say really. I wasn't there when he reached in the operating room. But there was one significant one that passed through the skull. And multiple ones around that sight. Other than on his head, there weren't really any injuries on the child.
QUESTION: What about the mom?
MEJIA: Mom, she had at least eight puncture wounds to the neck, and two of those were significant, in the way that they went through the soft tissue into the spine. So there was compromise of the spine, (INAUDIBLE) structure of the neck. So far as that, she had multiple injuries in the upper extremities and lower extremities, and it's hard to count, you know, because it's such a severe soft tissue damage. So as far, you know, how many, it's hard to count.
Yes, right now, she -- this morning, she was moving all four extremities, So There's no paralysis. And when we (INAUDIBLE) the neck, didn't see any gross nerve injuries. We are going to get an MRI to the spine, and we have consulted a spine specialist to follow the patient. But far as gross paralysis, there is not none at this point.
PHILLIPS: Well, good news there, from the medical center, Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee Dr. Vincente and Dr. Talbott giving the condition of that 2-year-old boy and his mother that were attacked by that black bear when they were in a pool just below a waterfall in the Cherokee National Forest.
If you are not familiar with the area, it's within the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. It's a A very popular place to vacation. Right now, the search is on for that black bear. It had killed actually that mother's daughter, the 6-year-old girl instantly, and then went after the mother, and the little boy, and even other people that were around that area, that tried to beat it off with sticks and chase it away. They finally did. That bear took the life of that little girl, that 6-year-old girl. But the good news is the mom and the 2-year-old boy both in stable condition. A number of puncture wounds, but as you could hear from the doctors there, they are doing well at this point, and the search is on, still for that bear.
Later on, on LIVE FROM, a wildlife employee involved with that hunt is going to join us live.
And this just in to CNN, in addition to following that, we're getting a story -- or you may have seen the story. It's been all over the news. We've been talking about it. And that is this support, or this lack of support for Donald Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense. It's been building and building, and now a number, even more generals, retired generals are calling for his resignation. It's been the lead story in a number of the newspapers. We've been talking about it here on CNN, trying actually to get a number of interviews from these generals that are speaking out against the secretary of defense.
But we're just getting word that the president has issued a pretty strong statement in support of the defense secretary. I'm going to be able to read directly from this statement now. It says, "Earlier today, I spoke with Don Rumsfeld about ongoing military operations in the global war on terror. I reiterated my strong support for his leadership during this historic and challenging time for our nation." The president goes on and says, "I have seen firsthand how Don relies upon our military commanders in the field and at the Pentagon to make decisions about how best to complete these missions. Secretary Rumsfeld's energetic and city leadership is exactly what is needed at this critical period. He has my full support and deepest appreciation."
What's interesting, as there has been criticism throughout this entire operation in Iraq, but what is so significant here is this unusual outcry by a number of generals, something you don't usually see, you rarely ever see.
I want to bring in White House correspondent Ed Henry to talk more about this.
Ed, we were talking about this earlier on that -- I can't even remember the last time, or the last war -- we've been researching this -- that a general has actually come forward, active or retired, and really made such a strong public statement about a defense secretary.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: There have been some other retired generals that have slowly come out, not as quickly as the ones that have been critics of this administration. But now, pretty remarkable to have the president himself put out a statement. It's not just from the press secretary. It's not from other officials. It's from the president himself. And obviously, as you know, he's already at Camp David for the holiday weekend.
We were expecting some other news, which is the tax returns for Mr. and Mrs. Bush, that actually just came out in the last moment as well, and we can talk about that. But to put out this statement, basically having the president himself from Camp David saying that he spoke this morning with Secretary Rumsfeld, and having to give this full vote of -- full confidence to the secretary, obviously shows the perilous situation that Secretary Rumsfeld is in right now -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ed, what's interesting is the president has been taking on a number of these speeches and talking about Iraq war. I think there was a period of two weeks, right, where he was giving speeches all across the U.S. trying to gather support for this war in Iraq. And that's when we started to see little by little these generals coming forward.
But now, I mean, this is becoming a headline and a lead story because of the number of generals that are going public.
HENRY: That's right. And again, that is exactly why I think when you flip it around, it's not just retired generals coming out. Who's really coming forward and stepping up to defend the defense secretary? It's been fairly quiet from Republican leaders on Capitol Hill for example. We have not seen statements coming out from very senior Republicans saying, you know, stop this, the defense secretary still has our full support, and that's why it is quite noteworthy that had had to be the commander in chief himself, who has now had to step forward and say that he still supports his defense secretary.
You know, it's interesting, today is the first day, officially for Josh Bolten to come in as the White House chief of staff. Andy Card's last day was yesterday, after five and a half years.
A lot of speculation still about the potential -- and I stress potential -- for any staff changes, any potential cabinet changes. Certainly, Secretary Rumsfeld would be on that list potentially. We've heard for months and months about the potential of the Treasury Secretary John Snow and his future. But I want to note that on Monday, Treasury Secretary Snow will be doing a series of events tied around tax day, since the Treasury Department oversees the Internal Revenue Service.
But the point is, there's a lot of confusion right now and uncertainty at the White House about whether or not there will be staff changes, about whether or not there will be cabinet changes. But I think we're getting a very clear direct message from the commander in chief. He's sticking with Don Rumsfeld, despite the criticism.
And it's also interesting that we have not seen the president put out a statement like this about the treasury secretary. So we'll see whether, in coming days, whether there's any difference there in the support. But this is unequivocal in saying that president is still behind this defense secretary -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, Ed, let's talk for a minute about this statement coming from the president. Like you said, it's not coming from Scott McClellan or anybody else there at the White House. It's coming from the president himself. If we look at all the changes within let's say the past year, and the individual sum did mention that are no longer with the president -- most recently his chief of staff -- he never came forward and ever issued a statement directly about any of those individuals that we saw go within the past 12 months or so, right?
HENRY: We haven't quite seen it in this way. I mean, you know, a couple of weeks back, the president was asked, following a meeting with Treasury Secretary Snow -- and Secretary Snow was still sitting there as the president was asked after a health care meeting, as I recall, about potential changes. And he did mention some support for Secretary Snow, but it was not full-throated in the eyes of a lot of observers. And there were a lot of question marks about it.
I think perhaps one difference, of course, would be the fact that the defense secretary is executing the war on terror. And that is obviously such a serious international matter. We've seen this week, this is not just about the war in Iraq. It's about potential war in Iran. This "New Yorker" piece coming out just last weekend, suggesting that this White House is considering nuclear strikes to deal with Iran. The president has called that wild speculation.
But the defense secretary is in such a critical post. All of these cabinet posts are important, but the defense secretary, at a time of war, of course, is such an important position. And the president, commander in chief, deciding he needs to give him a public vote of confidence. Because as you've noted, so many retired generals coming out and saying that he has to go. It was time, I guess, the president felt, that he needed to step forward and finally come to his defense -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: White House correspondent Ed Henry, we'll keep following it throughout the next couple of hours. Thanks, Ed.
HENRY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: More now on the officer's breaking ranks with Rumsfeld. Here's a "Fact Check" on those generals.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): Of the six generals saying that Rumsfeld should go, all are retired, but three commanded troops under Rumsfeld's leadership in Iraq.
They are Major General Paul Eaton, U.S. Army. Eaton commanded the training of Iraqi security forces in 2003 and 2004. He calls Rumsfeld incompetent.
Major General John Baptiste is the commander the First Infantry Division in Iraq.
And Major General Charles Swannack commanded the Army's 82nd Airborne, also in Iraq. Swannack is one of the two retired generals who called for Rumsfeld's resignation on Thursday.
The other is Major General John Riggs, former director of the Army's Objective Task Force. Perhaps the best known officer who has publicly parted with Rumsfeld is retired four-star General Anthony Zinni, the former head of the U.S. Central Command. Zinni blames Rumsfeld for lacking a plan for Iraq. He's also pushing a book.
The final public critic, Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold, the former director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Newbold goes as far as to say the Iraq war was unnecessary.
The White House response to the chorus of discontent? "Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a very fine job."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Good Friday with the Graham family. At 87, Billy Graham may be slowing down, but a new generation is keeping the faith and then some. I'm going to talk with Anne Graham when LIVE FROM returns.
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PHILLIPS: He's been called the nation's pastor. Billy Graham has brought the good news to more than 200 million people all over world, but God isn't the only spiritual force that's guided Graham's life, faith and family. The reverend's other inspiration, its patron and guardian angel, is Ruth Graham his wife.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUTH GRAHAM, DAUGHTER OF BILLY GRAHAM: "Dear God, I prayed, all unafraid, as we're inclined to do, I do not need a handsome man, but let him be like you."
PHILLIPS: The desires of a teenaged girl, growing up in rural China. Ruth Graham's daughter, her namesake, reads a poem her mother wrote.
GRAHAM: "And let his face have character, a ruggedness of soul. And let his whole life show, dear God, a singleness of goal."
PHILLIPS: Little did 13-year-old Ruth know, just a few years later, she would meet that man of her girlhood dreams, a young man she would help become the most famous evangelists of the 20th century.
GRAHAM: She's been his closest adviser and confidante.
ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ, DAUGHTER: And she's an incredible woman. You wouldn't have Billy Graham without Ruth Graham. And I know that. He knows that, too.
PHILLIPS: The daughter of medical missionaries, Ruth McCue Bell was born in China in 1920.
GRAHAM: And it was a very happy childhood, although outside the walls were bandits and warlords and overhead were Japanese bombers flying. PHILLIPS: China and Japan were at war. Ruth dreamed of becoming a missionary in Tibet, but her parents said she was going to college. So dressed in hand-me-downs and size 7 saddle shoes, Ruth headed to Wheaton College in Illinois. That's where she met and later married Billy Graham.
WILLIAM MARTIN, GRAHAM BIOGRAPHER: Their courtship was humorous, in a way. He would ask her for a date, then not be in contact with her for six weeks, ask her again and wonder, was he asking her -- was he pressing her too much. And then finally, she dated some other people. And he said you're going to date only me or everybody but me. So she -- OK, we'll do that.
PHILLIPS: Trading Tibet for the mountains of North Carolina, Ruth was not your typical preacher's wife. She had no problem speaking her mind, even in front the president of the United States.
GRAHAM: And Mr. Johnson was asking him for advice, some sort of political advice, and my mother kicked him under the table. And my daddy, being my father, said, why you'd you kick me under the table? And Mr. Johnson looked at daddy and said, Billy, she's right. You stick to preaching, and I'll stick to politics.
PHILLIPS: Billy not only felt her influence, but so did her five rambunctious children, Gigi and Ruth, nicknamed "Bunny," Franklin and Ned.
ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ, DAUGHTER: There was lots of love, and we had lots of fun. There was lots of fighting because all of their five children, all of us very strong-willed. Franklin was sort the catalyst. Franklin and my older sister Gigi were probably the catalyst for a lot of the fighting.
PHILLIPS: Ruth did whatever it took to keep her kids in line.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM, SON: I was misbehaving. I was picking on my sisters. I was in the backseat of the car. She had warned me once to quit picking on my sisters, and I continued. And then she pulled the car over, and grabbed me by my neck, and jerked me out of the car and opened up the trunk and put me in the trunk and closed the trunk, and away we went to town. So my mother -- always -- she was a disciplinarian. If she told us to do something, we had better do it.
PHILLIPS: While Ruth was home raising the children, Billy was on the road, often months at a time. And his success meant sacrifice.
GRAHAM: He really tried to stay in touch with us and be the kind of father that he wanted to be. He has said that he's frustrated that he wasn't home with us when we were little.
WILLIAM MARTIN, GRAHAM BIOGRAPHER: Ruth, she got lonely of course. And at different points she would sleep with his sports coat just to have the sense that he was near. But she has said, I would rather have Billy Graham 50 percent of the time than any other man a 100 percent the time. PHILLIPS: While Billy lived out his faith for his children, largely from afar, Ruth lived out her faith in front of her kids every day.
LOTZ: It wasn't just something that was acted out on a platform or in a pulpit. And I would catch my moth or her knees in prayer.
PHILLIPS: I have wonderful letters from my father. And we heard of lives being changed.
REV. BILLY GRAHAM: And if you're willing to make the kind a commitment I've talked about tonight, you're willing to come openly in front of everybody.
LOTZ: Wonderful stories, what was going on. So he kept us in the loop, as it were.
PHILLIPS (on camera): Did you ever realize your dad was famous?
GRAHAM: I did not. It wasn't until I was older that I realized my father was famous. My parents made very sure that we stayed grounded.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): A discipline that came from Ruth and Billy's commitment, not just to their kids, but to each other.
GRAHAM: There is a light in my mother's eyes when she looks at him, and there's a light in her eyes when he look at her.
PHILLIPS (on camera): Your mom and dad still madly in love?
GRAHAM: Very much so. Very much so. And it is so cute when you're with them now. He will sort of toddle over to her, and lean into her to kiss her, and of course you're afraid he's going to fall. But she's watching her movie, and she's sitting in a chair, and he will lay across her bed and hold her hand while they're watching the movie. They look at each other with such love and tenderness, and it's very sweet, and he says that this is the best time of their lives.
REV. BILLY GRAHAM: I love her more now and we have more romance now than we did when we were young.
PHILLIPS: A romance Ruth Graham put in a poem and a prayer more than 70 years ago.
GRAHAM: And he comes, as he will come, with quiet eyes aglow, I'll understand that he's the man I prayed for long ago. And her prayer was answered. You know my father is strong, and straight and focused, and the Lord answered that 13-year-old's prayer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, Billy Graham has retired from his crusades but he still makes occasional appearance like this one in Atlanta yesterday. He's struggling with Parkinson's Disease. He's survived prostate cancer and he uses a walker now, but that never stops him or his kids.
And Graham Lotz, also a minister, has a new book called "I Saw the Lord, A Wake-Up Call for the Heart." She joins me live now from Raleigh, North Carolina. I would have loved to have spent time with your mother. I tell you what, Anne, you are such a lucky girl.
LOTZ: You know, I'm a blessed girl. I still love to spend time with my mother. She sits up in that room and has the fire going on the hearth, and it just is a blessing, Kyra. I enjoy talking with her. I enjoy looking at her. I just enjoy being in her presence.
PHILLIPS: Well, she's really -- and she did such a great job with all of you and just spending time with you and talking so much about what is right in life and discipline and being God-fearing. No doubt she's inspired you. I mean, obviously, your dad has been an inspiration but she's really inspired you to be an author and a minister and an upright woman, hasn't she?
LOTZ: You know, think as I look back on it, my mother probably influenced me more even than my father because I'm a woman. And probably a hundred times a day, I do something and instinctively think how would my mother have done this? Or what would she say? And so even though she's not with me 24 hours a day in person, she's in my spirit.
And I'm so thankful that my mother is a woman of strong faith and strong character and lots of fun. You know, her eyes do sparkle. She's full of zest. She loves life. When I ask her how can she stand to just sit in that chair at home -- and she can't read anymore because she has macular degeneration. She can't walk because of her arthritis.
And I say mother how you can stand to sit in this chair? And she says, Anne, I have so many memories to enjoy and so much to look forward to, and I'm so thankful that I have a mother like that, who sets an example, in private, in public, of what it means to have faith in Jesus, live that and live your experience.
PHILLIPS: "I Saw the Lord," your new book, did you think of her? Are you thinking of her when you read it, when you wrote it?
LOTZ: You know, I did. In fact, I put that at the very beginning, because I longed to see my mother, and I have seen her, you know, many, many times. But then I go for a period and I'll talk to her on the phone. And I'll think about her. But it's just not same as going up.
So last week, for instance, I went up to give and -- just to give her a hug, just to have a meal her, just to look at her face, and touch her hands and I long it see her because I love her. And so, in a sense, the same thing is true in my relationship with Jesus.
I long to see him because I love him and I can talk to him in prayer and, you know, I can hear from him as I read my Bible, but I want to see him face-to-face. And this book I've written is my experience, just a fresh experience of seeing him. But, Kyra, if I could just digress for a moment, I was thinking today is Good Friday. And it was 50 years ago today that I first saw the Lord. And I was raised, as you've pointed now, in a Christian home. I'd known about Jesus but I was watching Cecil B. DeMille's film "King of Kings" on television.
It was a portrayal of the life of Christ, and my eyes were opened and I saw that Jesus was more than just a good man or a great prophet, but that he is the son of God. And he went to the cross as a sacrifice for my sin. And so I thanked him by telling him was sorry for my sin, asking him to forgive me, to come into my life.
And I believe it was that moment when I was 7 or 8 years old on a Good Friday about 50 years ago, that Jesus forgave me of my sin, came into my heart, and I was born again into God's family. And I just thank God for a mother and father and grandparents who laid that foundation, so that I would make that decision very early in life.
So when I celebrate Good Friday today, and Easter weekend, it's with real meaning. It's not about chickens and bunnies and going to church in a new outfit. You know, it's about the death and the resurrection of Jesus and having my eyes opened to see him in a fresh way.
PHILLIPS: Anne Graham Lotz. Just always a pleasure to talk to you. I couldn't think of a more perfect Friday before Easter. Thanks, Anne.
LOTZ: Thanks, Kyra. God bless you.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
Straight ahead, incredible pain, unimaginable loss, and grace beyond years. Coming up on LIVE FROM, a young girl confronts the man who shattered her world. Wait till you see how she reacted. The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you.
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