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Wounded CBS Reporter Transferred to Germany; Details Emerging from Haditha Killings; Scientists Keep Watch on Active Volcanoes; Goldman Sachs CEO Tapped for New Treasury Secretary

Aired May 30, 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 at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Responsive, but critical. That's the update. Now the initial moments captured on tape after the blast that injured a correspondent and killed her crew.

Haunted by Haditha. What really went down the day those Iraqi civilians died?

And ready to blow: could this region's latest quake cause a simmering volcano to erupt? You're watching LIVE FROM.

Critical care, first in Iraq, now in Germany. CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier and one of the soldiers wounded alongside her have been transferred to the U.S. military's largest overseas hospital. Their families are on their way. CNN's Chris Burns brings us the latest now from Landstuhl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After doctors fought to save her life in Iraq, Kimberly Dozier is now at Landstuhl Medical Center here in Germany, before she's transferred back to the states.

On her flight over here, doctors noticed some positive signs. She wiggled her toes. She opened her eyes and acknowledged the presence of at least one person. So doctors see that as a positive sign, for her having suffered severe head wounds, shrapnel to the head. She underwent two operations in Iraq to remove that shrapnel.

But she also has a lot of serious injuries to her legs. Doctors will be looking to make sure that she is stabilized over the next few days before she is allowed to go back to the states. Her family is to arrive early tomorrow, Wednesday morning, to see her and to visit and to talk with doctors about her condition.

The accounts coming from Iraq are quite remarkable. There are doctors and medics who talked about how they did fight to save her life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. TIFFANY FUSCO, U.S. MILITARY HOSPITAL, BAGHDAD: Her blood pressure dropped to a point where we could barely see what it was anymore. We could barely assess it. Basically it means that she was going down and she did pretty hard. But we were able to get her back by giving her fluids and medications.

LT. COL. BOB MAZUR, U.S. MILITARY HOSPITAL, BAGHDAD: At one point, she -- her pulse stopped. She didn't have a heartbeat. She was as sick as you get.

The fact that she's alive, of course, is great, it's a miracle pretty much. She's lucky to get to the 10th CASH. She's lucky the 10th CASH is here.

MAJOR SAM MEHTA, U.S. MILITARY HOSPITAL, BAGHDAD: If this would have happened back home in the states, she would have probably died.

I think for me, Memorial Day will never be the same. While I do remember those who have died for our country in past wars and previous conflicts, for me this will also be a day that I remember as the memory of people who have lived, because we are a team, saved the life, I believe, of seven soldiers and Ms. Dozier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: The commander here at Landstuhl Medical Center says that Kimberly Dozier is still alive thanks to the protection she was wearing. She had on a Kevlar vest and helmet. He says thanks to that, Kimberly Dozier survived.

Chris Burns, CNN, Landstuhl Medical Center.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Landstuhl makes headlines when it treats high-profile casualties. But Kimberly Dozier will be one of hundreds of surgical patients treated there this week alone.

The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is the largest American hospital outside the U.S. It opened to patients in 1953 and now treats casualties of U.S. military operations in Europe, Southwest Asia and the Middle East. The staff is half army personnel, 15 percent Air Force and 35 percent civilian.

Unarmed Iraqis, men, women and children, not combatants, not insurgents, just possibly the victims of a Marine massacre. A Pentagon investigation is under way, and the Senate Armed Services Committee plans hearings.

Kathleen Koch is live from the Pentagon.

Kathleen, the Haditha killings happened last November. But joint chiefs chairman General Peter Pace says the investigations didn't begin until recently. What happened?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, after virtually every incident in which coalition forces kill an Iraqi civilian, there is a claim -- and it does generally turn out to be erroneous -- that that killing was deliberate. So initially, the Pentagon believed this was simply another one of those incidents.

However, it was in February that the Pentagon was confronted with this evidence from "TIME" magazine, some of it actually provided to them by the Hammurabi human rights organization, this very compelling evidence that made them then open up this investigation.

And it's taking awhile, they say, because they're having to interview witnesses, interview survivors, interview the Marines involved, collect forensic evidence, as at any site of a potential crime, bullet holes, lots and lots to be examined. So they say this isn't going to be concluded overnight, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So exactly how many Marines might be involved? And there's been talk about pictures circulating, possibly from a cell phone and elsewhere. Do we know if anybody has seen those pictures?

KOCH: Don't know exactly who took those pictures, if they exist, who's seen them. Sources do tell CNN that between four and eight Marines were involved in the original incident, they from the Kilo Company, and that there were also Marines, not with that company, who were aware, at least, of the aftermath, because they were brought in to basically clear the bodies and to document what had happened.

The sources do tell CNN that the investigation into what these Marines may or may not have done is substantially complete and that charges, indeed, possibly even murder charges, could be filed as soon as next month.

PHILLIPS: Something else that came across the news today. We're hearing that more U.S. troops are heading to the troubled Anbar Province. What can you tell us about that?

KOCH: Well, basically, the Pentagon believes they need more boots on the ground there, Kyra. They're bringing in some 1,500 troops from Kuwait. These are troops that are held in reserve there to be moved to any hot spot in Iraq at a moment's notice. So they're bringing two battalions from the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division.

And they follow some 750 forces from that same brigade that had already been moved to Baghdad, and that was in March. They're still in country. We're told that this deployment of 1,500 troops, this is temporary, but the Pentagon won't say when they'll be pulled back out.

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch, live from the Pentagon. Thanks, Kathleen.

KOCH: You bet.

PHILLIPS: One of the Marines who documented events in Haditha the very day they occurred was Lance Corporal Ryan Briones. Briones told "The Los Angeles Times" he took pictures of at least 15 bodies. Briones' mother says that he's now suffering from post-traumatic stress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SUSIE BRIONES, RYAN BRIONES' MOTHERS: It was horrific. It was a terrible scene. The biggest thing that keeps to his mind is the children. He had to carry, since he was part of the cleanup crew, is carry that little girl's body and her -- her head was blown off or something that her brain splattered on his boots. And that's what affects Ryan the most.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many bodies did he tell you he saw?

BRIONES: Twenty-three. Around 23, 24, 23 is what I remember.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were any of them alive?

BRIONES: No, they were all dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Brian Briones says that he was a good friend of Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, the Marine whose death in a roadside bombing is suspected of touching off the reprisal attacks on civilians.

Well, the breaks went out, the truck crashed, the driver did all he could to avoid people. The U.S. military in Afghanistan looking back on yesterday's crash of a cargo truck into a row of parked cars and pedestrians in Kabul. What followed was a day of bloody rioting, Kabul's worst since the fall of the Taliban.

A spokesperson for coalition troops says the driver, after realizing his brakes failed, deliberately aimed for parked cars, hoping they would help stop. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, is in Kabul. We'll hear from her in the next hour of LIVE FROM.

Snow days are over at the U.S. treasury, or soon will be. After more than a year of rumors and speculation, Treasury Secretary John Snow has resigned. And the president went to Wall Street to replace him. Henry Paulson, CEO of Goldman Sachs, and he brings with him, in the words Mr. Bush, a lifetime of business experience. His nomination has to be confirmed by the Senate now.

Taking pains in Indonesia. Cleaning up from Saturday's earthquake while the death toll climbs. The latest from the disaster zone coming up.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Enormous progress, colossal need. Some of the most -- first significant aid has gotten into parts of Indonesia devastated by Saturday's earthquake.

More than 5,700 people are dead, and tens of thousands of people are homeless. That aid includes two U.S. cargo planes carrying heavy lifting machinery, about 20 Marines and a portable field hospital. Joining Indonesian rescuers are teams from Malaysia, China, and Japan. Log on to CNN.com for up to the minute information on the Indonesia earthquake and find out how you can help the victims of this tragedy.

Mt. Saint Helens huffing and puffing again. The Washington state volcano spewed smoke and ash about 20,000 feet into the air yesterday. It happened after a small earthquake shook the mountain. Scientists also report a large rock fall from the volcano's growing lava dome.

That's just one of the earth's volcanic hot spots. Back in Indonesia, scientists are keeping a close eye -- or close watch, rather, after the earthquake there.

Here's CNN's meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): In the aftermath of an earthquake that killed thousands, they're waiting for the other shoe to drop. Just 30 miles from the center of the quake is Mount Merapi, said to be the most dangerous of Indonesia's 130 active volcanoes.

A month's worth of small eruptions and rumblings have Merapi's neighbors on alert. The Indonesian government has a ring of eight seismographs around the mountains to provide early warning.

Villagers on the volcano's slopes face a special threat, made worse by rainy weather on the island of Java. A muddy mix of rock and volcanic ash called a lahar can slide down the mountainside with little or no warning.

Lahars caused this damage after Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1992.

Volcano watchers in the U.S. have done double duty recently. Alaska's Augustine volcano has spewed ash since January. Scientists keep an eye on the volcano not just through seismic readings but also with web cams.

And in Washington state, Mt. Saint Helens is in its third year of rumbling. Small quakes beneath the mountains are an everyday occurrence. The area around the volcano has been on orange alert since 2004.

And recently, a pillar of lava rock has pushed up some 300 feet from the floor of Mt. Saint Helens' crater. It's growing by about four or five feet per day. But with scientists monitoring the mountain 24/7, Mt. Saint Helens' area neighbors should have ample warning if the volcano stages a repeat of its massive eruption 26 years ago.

Jacqui Jeras, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Joining me on the phone with his seismic insights, John Pallister of the U.S. Geological Survey. He's in Vancouver, Washington.

John, I understand you were just in Indonesia, visiting the scientists who monitor that active volcano. What did you learn?

JOHN PALLISTER, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: That's correct, Kyra. We returned a couple of weeks ago. And we've had one scientist still remaining there over the last week since we left.

I think what we really learned, in this case, we were going to Merapi at the request of the disaster assistance, USAID and our colleagues at the Merapi volcano observatory. And they're really the experts on this volcano. We were there just to provide background instrumentation and tools they didn't have.

But I think overall what we learned is that this volcano, like Mt. Saint Helens, is growing a lava dome. And unlike Mt. Saint Helens, it is collapsing to produce pyroclastic flows. Now, these are very rapid-moving, potentially lethal, very hot incandescent flows that come down off the volcano, and down into the drainages surrounding it.

So our colleagues at MVO have done a good job of issuing warnings. They're at their highest alert stage, and people have been evacuated. Then, of course, the situation has been made even more difficult by the recent, very tragic earthquake.

PHILLIPS: And you know, how worried are you about the impact of the earthquake on this volcano? And I understand, too -- you mentioned the Mount Merapi observatory is on high alert right now.

PALLISTER: That's correct. They've actually been on alert -- for the last week or two weeks, I guess, now. And that's because the pyroclastic flows have been coming off the volcano, but fortunately they haven't gotten so far beyond about four kilometers off the volcano.

As to the relationship between earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, that's actually an area of active research in the seismological community worldwide. Over the last decade or so, we have learned that there can be relationships between large regional earthquakes and unrest at volcanoes.

However, these tend to be -- for example, the Alaska earthquakes set off some very small micro earthquakes under Yellowstone a few years ago. However, in looking at many, many earthquakes close to volcanoes like that in Indonesia, we've learned that there's very rarely a direct correlation between earthquake and eruption.

So -- and, in fact, this volcano, from what our colleagues at MVO, the Merapi volcano observatory, are telling us, it is continuing along the path that it has been going along for the past month or so and continuing to produce pyroclastic flows. So there's still very much a hazard in that area from pyroclastic flows from the volcano, independent of the earthquake.

PHILLIPS: Now, there was a small earthquake at Mt. Saint Helens this morning. How serious was that? And, also, is this sort of a sign of things to come?

PALLISTER: Right. Now that's a very good question. At Mt. Saint Helens, the earthquake yesterday about 9 a.m. was magnitude 3.1 as reported by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. And that is one of a series of magnitude 2.6, 2.7, 2.9 earthquakes over the past month or so.

What some of these earthquakes record is simply the collapse of the lava dome itself. So this lava dome, as you reported earlier, has grown to about a meter's height -- I'm sorry, 100 meters' height and then it collapses away. That shakes the ground and produces an earthquake.

But there have also been separate earthquakes without these rock falls or collapses of lava domes. So indeed, something is going on underneath the volcano. It's a continuation of the last two years, in fact, of magna extrusion at St. Helens. And we expect that to continue, collapses to continue.

But again, unlike Merapi, the St. Helens' lava dome is growing in a fairly flat area up in the crater and it is not producing the kinds of very destructive pyroclastic flows as in Java in Indonesia. And in the case of St. Helens, as well, the major concern we have there is the production of ash clouds, which can have serious impacts for aircraft safety.

PHILLIPS: Volcanologist John Pallister. Pretty fascinating stuff. John, thanks a lot for your insight today.

PALLISTER: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: A doctor/patient relationship rises to a whole new a whole new level. Coming up, a surgeon taps his own vein to give the gift of life to his patient.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Talk about giving your all. Pediatric heart surgeon Samuel Weinstein was on a medical mission in El Salvador earlier this month. Well, he was operating on an 8-year-old boy. That child needed blood. He was B negative, a rare type, and the blood bank was out. Do Doctor Weinstein, fearing the boy would bleed to death, interrupted the surgery to donate his own blood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SAMUEL WEINSTEIN, SURGEON AND BLOOD DONOR: We didn't have access to any of the medicines we could use in the United States. The resources are very limited in that location. We just needed the blood. We realized that he had a rare blood type, and we were looking for donors who might be able to give. The only one available who had his same blood type was myself. It wasn't even a question about what would happen: I scrubbed out, gave a unit of blood, scrubbed back in. Dr. Michener and I finished the operation. The child did beautifully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The Red Cross says that only about two percent of the population has that B negative blood.

Visiting day for a pro athlete on the disabled list. Barbaro welcomed jockey Edgar Prado to the Pennsylvania animal hospital where the Kentucky Derby winner is recuperating. It was their first time together since this picture was taken.

Barbaro broke its leg at the outset of the Preakness, 10 days ago. Two weeks before that, Prado rode Barbaro to victory at Churchill Downs. The thoroughbred's surgeon says that his chances of recovering are improving far better than he could have hoped.

Now that President Bush has chosen Henry Paulson to replace John Snow as treasury secretary, who is Paulson, and what can Wall Street expect from him? Susan Lisovicz, live from the New York Stock Exchange, has all the details.

My guess is Susan has probably met him, interviewed him, or somehow has a connection to him.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and Goldman Sachs, certainly, Kyra, is very well known in previous White Houses as well. And, of course, he's well known here on Wall Street. You know, Henry Paulson, heading Goldman Sachs, it's right down the road from where I sit right now.

It is seen as a change of direction, Kyra, for the office of treasury secretary. Before heading the department, of course, John Snow ran a big company, CSX, the railroad company. The previous secretary, Paul O'Neill, headed the aluminum producer Alcoa.

Paulson coming from Wall Street, instead. He was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs' Chicago office before moving to New York and eventually becoming the firm's chairman and chief executive. His selection is seen as more along the lines of another former Goldman executive, Robert Rubin, President Clinton's highly respected and long-serving treasury secretary, and one who was considered to have real influence in the White House, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Will Paulson have as much influence over policy decisions as Rubin did?

LISOVICZ: That's the real question, Kyra, because there's been a real disconnect with this White House and previous administrations, even compared to President Bush's father, where treasury secretary -- the treasury secretary was James Baker III. When announcing the nomination this morning, President Bush said -- this President Bush said Paulson would be the leading force on his economic team, as well as the chief spokesman for his economic policies. Over the first six years of the administration, the White House has largely taken over economic policymaking and relegated the treasury secretary to basically a salesman for those policies.

In fact, "The New York Times" reported over the weekend that Paulson was not interested in the job because of the limited role that Snow and O'Neill had in shaping the administration's policy.

PHILLIPS: We've been hearing rumors for months that John Snow was on his way out. Was the White House dissatisfied with the job that he was doing?

LISOVICZ: You know, John Snow was considered to be a very valiant cheerleader. Having said that, that's not exactly come -- you expect more from the role of treasury secretary.

One complaint about John Snow had to do with his lack of success in selling the administration's policies. The White House wants to emphasize low unemployment and solid economic growth, and it believes a Wall Street executive with Paulson's name and credibility could better make that case than Snow.

Paulson, of course, is leaving Goldman Sachs while the firm is riding high. His compensation reflects that. He made more than $38 million in 2005, mostly in stock.

The pay for the job of treasury secretary, on the other hand is $175,700 a year, less than what Paulson would earn in two days and just a bit more than what Goldman paid to provide him with a car and driver last year. And Kyra, of course, Wall Street rewards its executives handsomely.

PHILLIPS: Isn't that the truth? Wall Street reacting to the nomination?

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: You get -- you develop coping strategies. You develop a little cocoon, a place you feel safe. We have an area in our hotel where we feel safe. We have procedures. We limit our risks. I still go out and report the story. But I do it in a way that gives minimum danger to me and to the team of people I'm working with. We're still trying to get the story out. I think if we pull out that would be a cop out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Critically wounded, but responsive and likely to survive. That's the latest update on CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier, who you just heard from a CNN clip in 2004. The same roadside bomb that almost killed Dozier yesterday did kill two colleagues, a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi contractor. Dozier is being treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

One of the first medics to treat Dozier and the wounded soldiers who came in with her credits his team with saving their lives. All were rushed to a military hospital in Baghdad where CNN happened to be shooting a documentary. Here's what some of the medical staff had to say right after they stabilized the CBS reporter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. TIFFANY FUSCO, U.S. MILITARY HOSPITAL, BAGHDAD: Her blood pressure dropped to a point where we could barely see what it was anymore. We could barely assess it. Basically, it means that she was going down, and she did pretty hard. But we were able to get her back by giving her fluids and medications.

LT. BOB MAZUR, U.S. MILITARY HOSPITAL, BAGHDAD: At one point, her pulse stopped. She didn't have a heartbeat. She was as sick as you get. The fact she's alive of course is great. It's a miracle pretty much. She's lucky to get to the 10th Cache. She's lucky the 10th Cache is here.

MJR. SAM MEHTA, U.S. MILITARY HOSPITAL, BAGHDAD: If this severe trauma would have happened back home in the state, she would have probably died. I think for me Memorial Day will never be the same. While I do remember those who have died for our country in past wars and previous conflicts, for me this will also be a day that I remember as memory of people who have lived, because we are a team, saved the life of seven soldiers and Miss Dozier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Dozier underwent two operations in Iraq before being transferred to Germany. We're going to hear more from the nurses who treated Dozier in Baghdad at the top of the hour.

Just who killed at least 24 Iraqi civilians last fall in Haditha? The Pentagon is investigating whether U.S. marines were out for blood after the bombing death of one of their buddies. Sources telling CNN, senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre, that murder and cover-up could be among the potential charges. The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee plans on holding hearings. A Congress committee plans on holding hearings.

Most people just drop by the White House for dinner, right? Well, the king of Jordan, on the other hand, can. King Abdullah, on a private and unannounced visit, asked President Bush yesterday to keep pushing Israel-Palestinian peace efforts. As NBC says, the king also warned of a humanitarian crisis in Palestinian-controlled areas. Earlier yesterday, Abdullah met with Vice President Cheney in Wyoming.

More personnel moves at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. What else is going on at the White House today? Ed Henry joins us now.

Ed, what are the headlines out of the White House?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Kyra.

As you noted, a new treasury secretary. After months of speculation, John Snow is finally out. Henry Paulson, the chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs is in. A lot of Republicans frustrated this White House has not gotten credit for a good economy. They wanted to see a new face, so it's Henry Paulson. But I can tell you, just a few moments ago, the White House Press Secretary Tony Snow getting a lot of tough questions about the timing of all this, because if you backtrack a little bit, last Thursday, May 25th, the president appeared before the nation with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, at that big press conference in primetime. And the president was asked directly, have you gotten any indication he intends, John Snow, intends to leave his job soon. The president said no, and he added, quote, he has not talked to me about resignation, and by the way, he's doing to a fine job.

But what we've jut learned today is that the president did not mention that five days before that press conference, five days before, May 20th, he had already offered the treasury secretary job to Henry Paulson. And on May 21st, Paulson had accepted Tony Snow -- no relation to John Snow -- Tony Snow was pressed on that point a few moments ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: Well, it's -- no, he's not talked to me about resignation. That does not mean there were not other discussions. It was artfully worded.

But on the other hand, the one thing you do not want to do in a situation like this is to start speculating about changes before the changes are ready to be made. Those do have impacts on markets, so you have to be responsible and cautious in the way you deal with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So it was not a misleading statement, it was an artfully worded statement by the president, Tony Snow adding and explaining not all the background checks had been done. Obviously the clearances have to be done and whatnot in that time gap there, about four or five days. Not all of it had been finished. This is a position that has to be confirmed by the Senate. But clearly, the president was asked in a very general way whether or not Snow was going to be leaving, and some questions being asked about the answer that what we got then -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Ed, how about a little treasury secretary 101? How involved will he be in shaping policy and anything else you can tell us?

HENRY: That's the big question, because we had been hearing that Henry Paulson and other Wall Street executives for weeks, maybe even months now, had been really declining the offers to come forward and take this job, because they felt like it had lost a lot of prestige. Instead of shaping policy, treasury secretary's become a salesman in chief. And a small circle of White House advisers had really been shaping the policy. And people like Paulson didn't want to just go out there and sell it; they wanted actually an seat at the table.

I'm told by a Republican close to the process that the White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton had really been lobbying and finally convinced Paulson that, in fact, he would have a prominent role. And the president himself today said that he would be principal adviser on economic policy. So clearly Paulson felt it was time to take the job -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: White House correspondent Ed Henry. Thanks, Ed.

HENRY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, the Black Eyed Peas giving a shoutout to Soweto. Straight ahead, the free concert meant to inspire.

You're watching CNN. The most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And we're getting some live pictures in now from First Presbyterian Church in Houston. Memorial services under way for Former Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Bentsen, who was also a Democratic candidate for vice president in 1988, died last Tuesday. He was 85. More than 60 honorary pallbearers, including Michael Dukakis, the man who chose Bentsen as his runningmate. Also on hand, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, Ladybird Johnson and former President Bush. Former President Bill Clinton right now named Bentsen as his first treasury secretary back in 1993. He's delivering the eulogy.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: ... connection and achievement. And when you come to the end of a person's life, all that is left is what we hold in our hearts of him, and his soul now in the arms of god. For Lloyd Bentsen, it was quite a life. Our hearts are heavy and the Lord's carrying quite a load. And how blessed we are that it turned out just that way.

PHILLIPS: You can always go to CNN.com/pipeline to watch the rest of that service. Remembering Lloyd Bentsen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's number 22?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-two.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: It was a pretty cool trade-off for Micah Livingston (ph). She's one of 13 high school students in Albuquerque, New Mexico,with perfect attendance this year. Rather than a certificate, each student got a ping pong ball with a number. Because Micah (ph) had the winning number, she got to pick from one of three used cars donated by a local dealership. Well, her big question, which one gets the best gas mileage? Smart young woman.

They've got a couple of Grammys, he's got a Nobel Peace Prize. You'll have to forgive Nelson Mandela if he thinks the Black Eyed Peas are a vegetable. The hip hop supergroup spent a few moments with the former South African president in Johannesburg. Mandela, going strong at 87, admits he's not hip to Will.I.Am and Fergie, but he played along anyway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NELSON MANDELA, FMR. SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: It's a great honor. They are a famous group. And for them to meet an old man like myself, it's a wonderful custom, because (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We love that Nelson Mandela. Well, through their Pea Pod Foundation, the Black Eyed Peas gave a free concert for South Africa's poor.

CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Bruno Majola and guitarist Fistos Kakweve (ph) are aspiring musicians, but they hit their musical stride in one of the more unlikely places: prison.

BRUNO MAJOLA, ASPIRING MUSICIAN: See, I was involved in gangsterism, and we were like terrorizing, you know, robbing people, you know, stuff like that, stealing

VAN MARSH: Bruno just finished a six-year sentence. He says music keeps him on a straight path.

MAJOLA: I just need to take my pen and paper and write maybe. That's what keeps me going actually. So it like distances me from doing bad things.

VAN MARSH: One of Bruno's musical idols, the American group the Black Eyed Peas. And like Bruno, members of the Peas came from rough backgrounds.

(on camera): This is a return trip to South Africa for the Black Eyed Peas. They performed here a few years ago but said that they were surprised to see so few black in the audience.

WILL.I.AM, THE BLACK EYED PEAS: Not that I have -- not that I have a thing about performing in front of white people. I love Switzerland. I didn't think I was going to come to Switzerland in Africa.

VAN MARSH (voice over): So this time the band made it a point to meet fans in impoverished Soweto township, where they handed out tickets to their free concert in Johannesburg. The Peas' aim was to bring South Africans together through music.

FERGIE, THE BLACK EYED PEAS: It would be selfish of us to see all this and not do anything about it, to see the dichotomy of, you know, the richest of the rich living next to the poorest of the poor, and the poorest of the poor not being able to come see our shows.

VAN MARSH: For Bruno, it was a rare chance too meet one of his musical inspirations.

MAJOLA: For me being here actually with them, it really showed me that maybe some other time I'll be there overseas, maybe like them, doing same thing like Black Eyed Peas here.

VAN MARSH: The concert didn't disappoint fans, black and white, as well as a self-described reformed convict-turned-musician, who until recently could only watch the Black Eyed Peas from a prison TV.

Alphonso Van Marsh, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So gator grabs your dog, what you going to do? Well, that's not a rhetorical question for this man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It had my dog like this, and I was hitting the gator on top of the head.

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PHILLIPS: Coming up,what it took to save his dog from a gator's grip. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So, you ever wonder how many alligators are in Florida? The state's educated guess is more than a million. Educated because the state sends people out to count gators every year. Guess, because gator don't much take to census-takers. That number is a surprise, since there's much less wetland than there used to be and the species was close to being extinct just 40 years ago. Tight federal rules on alligator products and limits on hunting are credited for that increase.

How far would you go to protect your puppy? Well, a Florida man went straight into the jaws of a hungry alligator.

Nicole Linsalata of CNN affiliate WSVN has details on the risky rescue. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL RUBIN, DOG'S OWNER: She was dead -- she was not breathing.

NICOLE LINSALATA, WSVN REPORTER (voice-over): But 6-month-old Jasmine has only a cut on her jaw and slight injury to her eye to show for her battle with a gator. Monday night, a gator swims in a pond on the edge of the Coral Springs neighborhood where ten hours earlier, Jasmine's owner Mike Rubin took her out for a run.

M. RUBIN: She went ahead of me, and down the embankment. And within ten seconds after that, I heard a big yelp from her and I assumed the gator grabbed her.

LINSALATA: Rubin jumped in, chest deep in water and muck.

M. RUBIN: It had my dog like this. And I was hitting the gator on the top of the head. I don't think I did that more than three, four times, and wasn't getting anywhere. And I tried to pry its mouth off. It was crazy. I just gave him one big yank and I got the -- the dog came loose. And I just came -- push -- scurried right up onto the bank. And thank God the gator didn't -- at that point I think he decided we were too much of a hassle.

LINSALATA: Rubin said he'd heard all about the recent gator attacks, three women killed in separate incidents around the state. He wanted to keep Jasmine close, but couldn't stop the golden retriever's love of water. Covered with mud, he raced Jasmine home.

NOREEN RUBIN, DOG OWNER'S WIFE: We just drove as fast as we could to the vet. And you know, we're just thankful so much that we have -- that I have a dog and husband tonight.

M. RUBIN: I'd probably do it again. You love your animals. You love your -- you know, you just react.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, Jasmine was treated for cuts and puncture wounds at an animal hospital.

If you're heading down Interstate 95 near Titusville, Florida, drive carefully. The highway's reopened, but there's still a lot of smoke from a nearby brushfire. Firefighters have been working it since Sunday. They believe it was sparked by lightning.

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PHILLIPS: All right, Dave. Thanks so much.

Straight ahead, red light runners beware.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a yellow MG with a black convertible top.

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PHILLIPS: A crafty ploy to curb traffic crimes. Straight ahead on LIVE FROM. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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OFC. DAVID OXLEY, WEST PALM BEACH POLICE: Whoo! Windy. About blew my hat off.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): OK, so he looks a little disheveled.

OXLEY: Ah, that's good.

CANDIOTTI: And before you get queasy, relax. The liquid in that bottle is only iced tea.

OXLEY: They look me at like this poor person should be somewhere instead of in the middle of this road here.

CANDIOTTI: Police Officer David Oxley is a traffic cop decoy, posing as an eccentric homeless man. See that light turning red? Oxley's a spotter calling out red light runners.

OXLEY: Eastbound, the Red Toyota in the center and the white utility truck.

CANDIOTTI: Waiting in the wings, a score of friendly, but no- nonsense motorcycle cops ready to pull over suspected offenders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reason you're being stopped is for running that red light back there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honestly, I thought I had it beat.

CANDIOTTI: The West Palm Beach Florida Police are using this unusual ploy because they say it catches more drivers allegedly in the act.

OXLEY: You're a good girl. You stopped at that light. That's what I'm trying to tell everybody, stop at the light.

Busy, busy day out here today!

Blue Bug southbound, Congress. It's in the inside lane.

CANDIOTTI: In just over an hour, Oxley nailed about 75 motorists, including a school bus driver.

OXLEY: It's a yellow MG with a black convertible top. CANDIOTTI: The driver of this car calmly takes his medicine, and so did others.

(on camera): What do you think about how they're doing this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's fine.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Often that's followed by an explanation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you watch this intersection on a normal day, traffic is usually so poor through here that usually you can't clear the intersection in time.

CANDIOTTI: For the record, that argument usually doesn't work in court.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, often, many vehicles in the flow of traffic are also in violation, but we can only get one at a time.

CANDIOTTI: Oxley's inside joke, posting the amount of a fine on a panhandling sign, $183.50.

OXLEY: Get off those phones! You're not paying attention, people.

We like to think that we're educating the people out here, and that's what our main mission is to do out here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe next time when those people are approaching an intersection and thinking about running a red light, maybe they'll look around real quick to see if they see a homeless person, and say, oh, maybe it's him again.

CANDIOTTI: Or a construction worker, and even a streetwalker.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And Susan Candiotti's report first aired on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." You can watch it every weekday beginning at 6:00 Eastern.

Did U.S. troops slaughter innocent Iraqis in Haditha? A search for answers underway. The second hour of LIVE FROM starts right now.

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