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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Meeting with Germany's Foreign Minister; The New, Simplified CPR

Aired November 29, 2005 - 11:34   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Two more Americans have been killed in Iraq this morning. The military says two soldiers were killed when their patrol struck a roadside bomb north of the capital. The soldiers were assigned to Task Force Baghdad. Their deaths bring the number of U.S. forces killed in Iraq to 2,111. There's been another apparent kidnapping in Iraq. This time, a German woman and her driver, Chancellor Angela Merkel, announced today that the two went missing on Friday.
Still no word on four Western aid workers abducted over the weekend. An American, two Canadians and a Britain disappeared Saturday in Baghdad. The group, Christian Peacemaker Team, says on its Web site that all four are affiliated with it. The British Foreign Office in London identifies the British citizen as Norman Kimber. No names yet on the other three.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is meeting today with Germany's foreign minister. One topic could be reports of secret CIA prisons in Europe, still unconfirmed. The mere notion is enough to rankle many on the continent.

National security correspondent David Ensor joins me now in Washington this morning with more. Hi, David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATL. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony.

Well, as you say, this is becoming quite an issue in Europe, something of an issue here, too, with Senator John McCain proposing language that would make uniform the rules about how you can interrogate prisoners, and he, of course, speaks with some authority having been tortured himself in Vietnam.

But the issue in Europe is really hot now. Papers all around the country, all around the continent, looking into whether or not CIA planes may have landed in their country, whether or not prisoners being held by the CIA, Al Qaeda prisoners, may be being held there now and being interrogated.

And the question is, this has always been called a debate about torture. What U.S. intelligence officials will say is that is not what is done.

In fact, this morning, in an interview with ABC News, Porter Goss, the CIA director, said, quote, "What we do does not come close to torture." What he -- what other officials who don't want to be named publicly say, is that what they do is what they might call stress techniques, or harsh interrogation techniques, where someone like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, or one of the other top leaders of Al Qaeda, who's a prisoner in CIA hands, will be pressed hard. His life will be made quite uncomfortable in order to try and save lives.

One of the more extreme techniques that has been publicly said to have been used, something called water boarding, where the suspect, and this is said to have been done to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, is made to feel that he may be drowning, although he is not.

Now U.S. intelligence officials insist that the kinds of fairly harsh interrogation techniques they have used against some of these prisoners have saved American lives. They have stopped terrorism.

So the question is, whether they should be stopped now, and obviously it's a hot topic in Europe. With Condoleezza Rice meeting this morning with the German foreign minister, Mr. Steinmyer, it's quite possible that the foreign minister will want to bring it up with her, although this is their first meeting since he became the foreign minister. This is the new government of Angela Merkel that he represents. Rice will be hoping that German policy will move at a slightly more conservative and perhaps pro-American direction, and obviously she'll be probing to see what the plans are for the New York government.

HARRIS: Boy, sounds like a lot to talk about.

CNN's national security correspondent David Ensor for us. David, thank you.

Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California says he's sorry he accepted bribes and he's resigning. Yesterday in San Diego, the Republican lawmaker plead guilty to taking more than $2 million in a criminal conspiracy involving at least three defense contractors. The admission comes after months of denials. Prosecutors say he used his position as a member of a House Appropriations Subcommittee to secure defense contracts for those who bribed him.

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REP. RANDY CUNNINGHAM (R), FMR. U.S. CAL. REP.: I was not strong enough to face the truth. So I misled my family, friends, staff, colleagues, the public, and even myself. For all of this, I am deeply sorry.

The truth is, I broke the law, concealed my conduct, and disgraced my office. I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, and most importantly, the trust of my friends and my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Quite a moment. The Vietnam War hero and fighter pilot could get up to 10 years in prison at his sentencing scheduled in February. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has two weeks to set a date for a special election to fill his seat.

Still to come, if you had to do CPR on someone in need, would you know how to do it the right way? New guidelines on saving lives. We'll Demonstrate. They'll demonstrate. That's next.

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HARRIS: This next story could save a life, maybe a loved one's, maybe yours. The American Heart Association has issued new simpler guidelines for giving CPR to people suffering cardiac arrest.

Here are some heart-stopping statistics to consider. More than 300,000 Americans die each year of cardiac arrest. Ninety-five percent of cardiac arrest victims die before they get to the hospital.

Joining me now -- wow -- joining me now to explain the new guidelines and actually show us the new procedure in action, Allen McCullough of the American Heart Association and Steven Folden (ph) of the Fayette County Fire and Emergency Services here in metro Atlanta. Good to see you both. Allen and Steven, thanks for being here.

And Allen, let's start with you. This sounds like a get back to basics approach to CPR. Is it?

ALLEN MCCULLOUGH, AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION: That's very much what it is. The American Heart Association guidelines -- that were released yesterday were the most recent data that we've looked at over the last three years -- all point to fact that what seems to save more lives is effective compressions and an increased emphasis in how fast we're giving compressions and also how quickly we're able to get CPR started.

HARRIS: So, are we talking about a new ratio of chest compressions?

MCCULLOUGH: Exactly.

HARRIS: OK.

MCCULLOUGH: In previous guidelines, we used both 15 compressions and two ventilations, sometimes five compressions to one ventilation. But with the new guidelines, the recommendations are 30 compressions to two ventilations. And that's for all age groups. For adults, for children, as well as infants.

HARRIS: So Allen, have we been doing it improperly, incorrectly? Or is this just a more effective way to perform CPR?

MCCULLOUGH: This is a much more effective way. Again, based on the research and the data that's been reviewed, we believe this is going to be the most effective way to save lives.

HARRIS: OK. I don't want to run out of time before we actually see the demonstration. And Steven, you're going to show this to us?

STEVEN FOLDEN (ph), FAYETTE CO. FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES: Yes, sir.

HARRIS: And Allen, you're going to talk us through this as Steven demonstrates? OK.

FOLDEN: Sir, sir, are you OK? Are you OK? He's not responding. You, call 911, get an automated external defibrillator. Open the airway, look, listen and feel for normal breathing. There is none. Ten seconds.

HARRIS: Wow.

MCCULLOUGH: We want to make sure we give effective breaths at over one second with a good chest rise. And now he'll begin compressions with a ratio of 30 compressions to two ventilations. The goal is now to give about 30 compressions in about 22 seconds.

HARRIS: Wow, OK.

MCCULLOUGH: And we'll do five cycles of that before we stop and re-assess the patient.

HARRIS: No, any exceptions to the new guidelines?

MCCULLOUGH: There will be.

HARRIS: Children or?

MCCULLOUGH: Well, we'll use 30 compressions to two ventilations in adults, infants and children. The only exception would be in newborn.s. And we do newborn resuscitation where we'll do three compressions to one ventilation. That will continue.

HARRIS: That's interesting. OK. And now this device that you also have here -- Steven, just keep working it out for us, because that's a good visual for us. This is the AED and this is piece of equipment, I guess, is just marvelous and has done a wonderful job in saving lives.

MCCULLOUGH: It surely has, Tony. One of our goals is to make sure that we get AEDs in target routes...

HARRIS: And they are.

MCCULLOUGH: Schools, churches, businesses, sports facilities. Any place where there's a large number of people. Most of our data, particularly in airports, are very (INAUDIBLE) that AEDs make a difference.

HARRIS: And AED stands for?

MCCULLOUGH: Automated external defibrillators.

HARRIS: Now, what's the procedure -- when you have this available to you do you still do the procedure, perform this procedure that we see Steve performing, and then go to the AED? Or is the AED first?

MCCULLOUGH: Typically, when the person goes down, you'll begin with CPR. As soon as an AED is available, then we'll stop CPR, we'll apply the electrodes and then let the machine determine if the patient's in (INAUDIBLE).

HARRIS: Here's the thing. It seems to me, you have a huge public awareness campaign ahead of you. You're talking about getting this information to 911 operators, to paramedics, the general public. Is there something planned to get the word out?

MCCULLOUGH: Exactly. The Emergency Cardiovascular Care Community for Georgia, the Heart Association, will be meeting this weekend to put together a plan. Our goal is to be able to have the programs rolling out sometime after the first of the year.

HARRIS: OK, and Steven, stop for just a second. We're going to totally reset this again? How do you start this procedure? One more time. You were going through self-checks and some commands for yourself. How do you start this process?

FOLDEN: Exactly. The first thing you do is determine unresponsiveness. We do that with a shake and a shout. Sir, sir, or ma'am, ma'am, are you OK? Are you OK? If they don't respond, if they don't attempt to move or cough, we send someone to get help. Call 911, bring an automated external defibrillator if one is available.

At that point, we're going to open the airway. We're going to look, listen and feel. We're looking for breathing across the chest, we're listening to sounds of normal respiration. We're feeling for sounds of normal breathing against our sheet.

A lot of times in sudden cardiac arrest, people have gasping respirations which are not adequate. So we say look for signs of normal respirations. If no signs of normal respiration, give two breaths, come straight down, start your compressions.

HARRIS: And you start the compressions. Boy, this is -- when you think about the fact that so many people have heart attacks and die in their homes before they even get to the hospital, this is really life-saving information, isn't it, Allen?

MCCULLOUGH: Tony, it certainly is. Our goal is to now, with this new guidelines, produce a CPR course that's going to be easier to learn, easier to remember and easier to perform. And the goal is to save lives.

HARRIS: That's great news. That's a great demonstration. Thank you both. Allen and Steven, thanks for your time. Thanks for coming in. We appreciate it.

To get your "Daily Dose" of health news, logon to our Web site and you'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address, CNN.com/health. Is a buyers' or sellers' market? After the break, we bring you the latest housing numbers and what it says about our economy. We're live from Wall Street. That's next. Stay with us.

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(MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: If you aren't one, you probably know one, postal procrastinators. They shop and they shop and they shop, but can't seem to get the gift to you in time for the holiday. If that's you, the Postal Service wants you to shape up this season. To get that gift there for Christmas, mail it by December 14th, December 14th for parcel post, or December 19th for priority. Express mail can go as late as the 23rd, and be extra nice to your mail carrier on December 21st. That's said to be one of their busiest delivery day of the year, involving more than 900 million pieces of mail.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta, in today for Daryn Kagan. International news is up next. Stay tuned for "YOUR WORLD TODAY" with Jim Clancy and Rosemary Church in for Zain Verjee. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" after a quick break.

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