tonight on "nightline," sea world slapped. it was a case of bullying that fire and he dunked his head in a michael brewer lived through the tonight he shares his story of the controversy surrounding the building of an islamic center

mcfadden and bill weir in new this is "nightline," august 23, 2010. good evening. i'm terry moran. we're going to begin tonight with a closer look at a shocking incident where a human relationship with a wild animal went horribly wrong in february at seaworld. a killer whale nicknamed tillie attacked his trainer in front of horrified spectators. today the ruts of a six-month investigation cited the park for a, quote, willful violation of workplace safety, an accusation that is backed up by similar charges from a whistleblower. yunji de nies has our story. >> reporter: with 17 years at seaworld, dawn brancheau knew what she was doing and loved

every minute of it. >> she talked about it her whole life. she knew she wanted to work with the animals. seaworld was her dream. >> reporter: the 40-year-old was living that dream in this home video shot moments before her death. she playfully feeds tillicum treats. but just minutes later, the six-ton whale would grab hold of her ponytail and drag her to her death. >> jumped up and grabbed the trainer by the waist and started shaking her violently. and her shoe, left her shoe floating. >> reporter: seaworld's policy was not to allow trainers in the water with this whale because of its violent past. in 1991, before coming to orlando, tillcum drowned another trainer at a park in canada. >> the whale grabbed her back foot and pulled her under. >> reporter: immediately there were questions about this images, that's brancheau lying in a pool of water side by side with a 22-foot-long whale. government investigators have spent the last six months trying

to figure out what went wrong. today they slapped seaworld with a $75,000 fine saying that while the park recognized the inherent risk of allowing trainers to interact with potentially dangerous animals, nonetheless, it required its employees to work within the pool walls, on ledges and on shelves, where they were subject to dangerous behavior by the animals. it's a claim echoed by linda simon today on "good morning america." the park's former director of health and safety was on the scene when brancheau died. >> i felt the team members were being placed in danger. when they finally got tillicum in the medical pool and lifted him up, team members were permitted to go into the pool to take dawn out of his mouth while he was still thrashing about. >> reporter: seaworld dismissed her claim saying she was recently fired for poor performance and was using the threat of negative publicity to

seek a sizable monetary payment from seaworld in exchange for not going public. the company found osha's charges unsupported or unfounded by precedent. they say their trainers are among the most skilled, trained and committed zoological professional in the world today. back in february, we met the man who brought tillicum to orlando and trained brandeau. today, he maintains sayworld did nothing wrong. >> dawn, for a split second, made a critical error. she allowed her ponytail to drift into the water in front of the killer whale's mouth. and he grab heard by the ponytail and pulled her in the pool. who are you going to blame? are you going to blame the whale? is seaworld supposed to think of every single issue on how to keep people safe? these are things that happen. now, if seaworld wasn't going to learn anything from this -- but i know that's not the case -- then they would be at fault. but they are going to learn from it.

>> reporter: but another former trainer who worked with both tillicum and brancheau thinks otherwise. >> do you think that seaworld is responsible for dawn brancheau's death? >> this is about a calculated risk for them. there's a cumulative death and injury record. seaworld took the risk, the benefits were deemed do outweigh the risk, and they chose to continue putting trainers in front of animals like tillicum then others will lose their lives. unfortunately, someone like dawn loses their life. in my thinking, i don't see how seaworld is not cull table in this tragic event. >> why do you think that seaworld is willing to take that risk? >> first of all, being a killer whale train he, everybody wants to be a trainer. trainers are basically disposable items. there's a long line of people behind you to replace you. seaworld knows that putting people in the water sells tickets. this is all about a money making endeavor.

this is seaworld's nike swoosh. this is what seaworld does, this is how they sell tickets at the gate. so for seaworld, they know that there's a serious risk of injury or death, but they make a heck of a lot of money taking that risk and the benefit is that it pays handsomely. >> reporter: seaworld has not allowed trainers back into the water with any killer whale since the attack. he says that whales and the trainers depend on that interaction. >> we've been able to develop these great relationships with them where they work with the trainers, and it's a symbiotic, you know, relationship. the trainers can get in the water with them and do all these amazing behaviors. and we need to continue to learn more about that. >> if trainers are allowed back in the water with the killer whales at seaworld parks, there will be other injuries and/or deaths. >> reporter: osha has given seaworld 15 days to pay up.

seaworld is challenging the fine. for now the show and the fight goes on. i'm yunji de nies for "nightline" in washington. >> the risks and responsibilities of working with wild animals our thanks to yunji de nies for that. when we come back, this 15-year-old was set on fire by other teens and left to die. we're going to tell you the story about his resilience and hey, smart, we could stay here for the conference. i'm a member of this hotel's loyalty program. well, how far away is it? okay, we take a train 40 miles to a dude ranch where we pick up a couple of horses that we ride to a nearby river. then we canoe upstream to a helicopter that takes us to the conference. or we could book with hotels.com and stay closer. see, with welcomerewards, no matter where you accumulate 10 nights, you get a free one. huh. smarter. [ male announcer ] accumulate 10 nights and get a night free.

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it w it was the bullying story that transfixed and horrified parents across the nation, when 15-year-old michael brewer was doused with rubbing alcohol by three classmates, set a blaze and left for dead. his is a remarkable story of survival and courage. one that he and his mother only now can recount in detail. and juju chang has the report. >> a little boy just caught on fire and he dunked his head in a swimming pool. >> reporter: this is a 911 call capturing a heinous act. last october, just one day after his 15th birthday, michael brewer is doused with rubbing alcohol, set on fire, and left to die. >> sweetie, how did this happen? >> somebody put stuff on me. >> reporter: it started with a group of bullies. michael says former friends. who hassled him for 40 bucks they claim he owed them for a video game. >> they said, come over here, nobody is going to hit you. then somebody poured something

on me and lit me on fire. >> reporter: michael jumps into a nearby pool in a frantic instinctive attempt to put out the flames. >> i saw the kid throw something at the other kid and next thing the kid was on fire. >> reporter: but his long and painful fight to stay alive is just beginning. within 12 minutes, he's medevaced to the trauma center. 65% of his body was covered by second and third degree burns. >> it's a devastating injury where you can't breathe for yourself. you can't support your own blood pressure. you can't move. >> they didn't really tell me how bad it was. they kept it from me. >> reporter: his is a remarkable story of survival and courage, one that he and his family only now can recount in detail. >> i had a hole like that big. >> reporter: michael can't even remember what happened those first few weeks as he lay in a coma, medically induced, in

part, to keep him from feeling the unspeakable pain. >> nothing could completely get rid of the pain. they had him on propofol, i believe that's what it's called, the same medication michael jackson was on. >> reporter: which is used for surgery? >> yes. >> reporter: at first, michael's family held vigil day and night. his mom valerie refusing to leave his bedside. >> we almost lost him several times. his kidneys started to fail. he had a problem with his heart. >> 15-year-old michael brewer. >> who was burned by a group of classmates. >> three of his alleged attackers are behind bars charged as adults. >> reporter: for week, as michael's life hangs in the balance, he becomes a national symbol for the evils of bullying. spontaneous acts of kindness start pouring in. car washes. bake sales. celebrity events. totaling more than $300,000. as the seventh grader endures massive surgeries, grafting healthy skin from the front of his legs to cover the burns, his sheer determination helps him

not only to recover but to thrive. >> nice. >> reporter: against all odd, after ten long months, this is michael now. >> it stretches out the cords. >> reporter: baseball is therapy. >> okay, handsome, there you go. >> reporter: all those donations bought a new house in michael's name. away from the old neighborhood bullies. we caught up with him on this first day of school. >> it was fun, i like this school. >> reporter: how did the kids treat you? >> pretty good. nice. not mean. >> reporter: his face is flawless. even his buzz cut is a triumph. >> when he was burnt, the back of his head, he had no hair all the way up to here. and the fire had damaged his ears. we thought he was going to lose one of his ears. >> reporter: but they're beautiful, your ears, now. >> they are. >> reporter: it took months of grueling physical therapy to get to this point. >> after we got out of the

hospital, we stayed at the ronald mcdonald house and he got to see himself in the mirror for the first time. he cried. he said, "mom, i'm a monster." and it's that point in time, he still has open wounds. and i explained to him, i said, michael, i know it looks really, really bad right now, but it will get better. >> reporter: michael says the worst part of his recovery was an excruciating, hour-long daily ritual. >> what was the hard part for you? >> showers. >> reporter: i heard you called it torture time. how come? >> it stung really bad. >> reporter: stung? it was painful? >> yeah, the open wounds, the water touched it, burned -- >> reporter: and it would be painful? how do you describe that kind of pain? >> agony. >> reporter: you're getting teary just thinking about it? >> yeah, oh, it's incredible, torture hour. >> reporter: it was an hour, every day? >> every day. you could hear him screaming all

the way down the hallway. i would put him to bed and then i would go outside and cry. every day. it was incredible. >> reporter: valerie says the long road back was paved by the prayers and outreach of countless people. >> in order for me to keep a paycheck, to keep our health insurance for michael, my co-workers and the management donated their vacation time to me, so i can keep getting paid and getting insurance for michael. >> reporter: and sit by his bedside? >> sit by his bedside, yes. >> reporter: the physical scars may be fading be with the trial set to start in awe few week, the emotional scars are resurfacing. i heard you're having nightmares a little bit? >> well, i don't know about them. >> reporter: you don't? >> i know about them. we hear him. he screams out in the middle of the night. i have to go down and check on him. he sleeps through it.

>> when i wake up, i don't remember anything about it. >> reporter: middle of the board? >> push off. >> reporter: michael is moving on, resilient, grateful, but he still suffered from post-traumatic stress. >> our house came with a gas stove. and he can't be anywhere near the gas stove. if he controls it, he's okay. but the first time i lit the stove and he was standing there by me, it startled him and he had a flashback. >> reporter: his voice may be weak, but it's packed with moral authority and he wants to speak out against bullying. >> 'cause i felt what it feels like to get burned, bullied. picked on. so i want that to stop to everybody, every kid in school. >> reporter: you want that to end? >> yeah. >> we can't forget what happened to him.

we can't forget what happened to other children. and we have got to take a stand. you see something on side of the street, kids beating up somebody, don't be afraid to step in anymore. >> reporter: your mom was quoted as saying that you're her hero because she watched you go through so much pain, but you didn't complain and you didn't have anger. what do you think when you hear that? >> i feel happy. >> reporter: because? >> i have a loving family. >> reporter: i'm juju chang for "nightline" in florida. >> the three teenagers accused of participating in that attack have been charged as adults. with second-degree attempted murder. each faces a maximum of 30 years in prison. all have pleaded not guilty. good luck to michael and his mother. and when we come back, we're

going to take a look at the man at the center of the controversy over the proposed islamic cultural center near ground zero. if you were to stand at a road and the cars are whipping by, and all you can do is take a snapshot of the way the road looked 5 minutes ago, how would you know when to cross the road? 9 out of 10 organizations still make decisions this way every day... using out-of-date information. the organizations that are most competitive are going to be the ones that can make sense of what they learn as fast they learn it. that's what i'm working on. i'm an ibmer. let's build a smarter planet. i can take one airline out... and another home.

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an eloquent voice in coexistence of peace. sharyn alfonsi. >> reporter: he is the man at the center of the storm, i ma'am feisal abdul rauf. it is his dream project and now a public relations nightmare. but who is the imam? over the last few weeks, critics have leveled accusation he's a supporter of militant islam, that he's radical, even dangerous. is he? we combed over what's available right now of his speeches, books and interviews to see if we could find answers. accusation number one -- the imam is a radical muslim. he talked very candidly about his muslim beliefs to barbara walters in 2006 for her special on heaven. >> do only muslims go to heaven? >> the fundamental thing is you must accept god.

you have to believe that there's a creator. the jews, the christian, whoever believes in god and does good, will be saved. >> do you believe that a suicide bomber goes to heaven? >> one of the things that we are taught is never to say somebody will go to hell or somebody will go to heaven. it is up to god to decide. >> reporter: in fact, the imam has been praised for being a moderate, enlisted by the fbi to help train agents about islam. and this week, is on a state-sponsored speaking tour through the mideast to try to bridge the gap between muslims in the west. jeffrey goldberg is a national correspondent for "the atlantic" and has covered the imam extensively. >> he has actually walked the walk. he goes to churches. he goes to synagogues. he talks about the commonalties. he condemns terrorism. fundamentalism. in all forms. including islamic

fundamentalism. i've seen this. >> reporter: still, some don't buy it. they say the imam is a sympathi sympathizer, pointing to this interview with "60 minutes. ". >> i wouldn't say the united states deserved what happened but the united states policies were an accessory to the crime that happened. >> reporter: his wife came to his defense on abc's "this week." >> it was a longer interview. and in the longer interview, he talked about the cia support specifically to osama bin laden and the taliban. >> reporter: in fact be a spokesman for the imam reiterated that, telling us the comments were, quote, taken out of context. he went on to describe the mistakes the cia made in the 1980s by financing osama bin laden and strengthening the taliban. and what about claims that the imam sympathizes with hamas? asked if the state department was correct to designate hamas a terrorist organization, critics say he seemed to waver. >> i do not want to be placed in

a position where i am the target of one side or the other. the targeting of civilians is wrong. >> reporter: opponents have also accused the imam or his father to having ties to the muslim brotherho brotherhood. bleach believed to be one of the key infli influences of hamas. he called that ridiculous. pointing out the eulogy given for daniel pearl. declaring, i am a jew. >> a muslim brother would not get up in a synagogue on the upper west side of manhattan and say to an audience filled with jews, i am a jew. if you believe that, you'll believe anything. >> reporter: still, critics say the imam is clearly out of touch. >> i don't think he realizes the storm of controversy and hatred and debate that he would arouse by his action and that shows a certain disconnect with american

society today. >> he thought he was doing something to advance the cause of peace and interfaith brotherhood and, instead, he's walked into something -- he's clearly in over his head. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm sharyn alfonsi in new york. >> the man in the middle of that controversy. thanks to sharyn alfonsi for that. when we come back, we'll shift gears a little bit. tiger woods divorce is final. but first, here's jimmy kimmel. >> tonight, christina applegate, comedian shawn maust and hugh hefner is here to invite us all to move in with him in the mansion. to move in with him in the mansihow would i make school a beer place? field trips to the zoo! more basketballs. soccer balls. and a museum! [ growls ] more basketballs. soccer balls! more books. yeah. like just a ton of books. [ girl ] and boo about soft this.

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