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Wintry Storm Blasts Country; Missing Boys Found; Hiker Found after Weeks in Woods; Martin Luther King Remembered; Gitmo Commander Discusses Policies

Aired January 15, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CO-HOST: And I'm Don Lemon.

A path of destruction, more than 30 people are dead, thousands more without power, and it's not over yet. Who's still in the severe weather path?

PHILLIPS: Missing boys found. What happened to Shawn Hornbeck, four years in captivity? What will happen to the man suspected of his kidnapping?

LEMON: And she survived the wilderness. Missing for five weeks. The miraculous story of Carolyn Dorn. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: America's heartland on ice. Take a look. It's like this for Texas through Missouri: roads, trees, power lines all caked in ice. Already, President Bush has declared a federal disaster in Oklahoma.

Utility crews are trying to restore power to 122,000 people there, nearly three times that many in Missouri. The storm, which blew in Friday, is blamed for at least 36 deaths in six states, including New York and Maine, which are now getting slammed.

Let's bring in CNN's Reynolds Wolf, who's trying to defrost in St. Louis.

Hey, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Actually, good words. No question, it's actually been getting colder here over the last couple of hours. But thankfully, the moisture is gone.

In St. Louis the big deal has been splintered trees, mainly from just the frigid conditions, all the ice. The ice at the time being is gone, but again they're dealing with right now power outages that are still widespread. Nearly 300,000 people across the state of Missouri without power.

Now, the storm system was a whopper; it was huge. It stretched from the Great Lakes clear down to close to the Gulf of Mexico, well over 1,000 miles. And this storm, again, meant a lot of things to millions of people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF (voice-over): In Texas, strong storms produced heavy rains, flash flooding and even ice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's easy to go to 20 and 30 miles an hour, but it's impossible to stop. It's a solid sheet of ice. It's the worst I've seen here in a long time. It's a lot different than snow.

WOLF: People in Oklahoma learned that lesson the hard way. Portions of I-35 and I-44 were coated with the icy, slick glaze, resulting in hundreds of accidents, spinouts and several fatalities.

Property damage downed power lines, and splintered trees were common. Power outages across the Sooner State numbered in the tens of thousands, and in Missouri it wasn't much better. Toppled trees and frozen lines are also keeping hundreds of thousands of Missourians in the dark.

Governor Matt Blount declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard. But for those without electricity, and freezing temperatures expected until mid-week, it may be a struggle to stay warm and a race to get power up and running.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF: And what's interesting is that the real struggle that people with the power companies are going to have, not just restoring the power itself but trying to work around so many of these trees that have been damaged in the St. Louis area and across parts of the Midwest and into the Central Plains.

Now one big question that people all ask, is what caused these trees to break? Well, the thing is, ice is so heavy, for example, a tree that's, like, say 30, 40 feet tall can hold up to three, even four tons of ice. So a tall tree with a lot -- great deal of ice, imagine this being a tall tree, can snap easily. That's basically what you're seeing right behind me. Some of these big oaks are shattered by the ice.

Again, certainly some rough times. People are -- they're frustrated with the power outages, but it's something they've come to accept when these storms roll on through.

PHILLIPS: You said it's getting colder. What's it going to be like tonight? Is it just going to get worse?

WOLF: Well, that's a great question. There's some good things that have been going on with the forecast and some bad things.

About 12 to 24 hours ago this branch would have been covered ice. It was. But last night we actually had temperature above the freezing point, which actually helped rid us of the ice. The roadways are great; the trees are ice free for the time being. And that's good that the moisture is gone. The problem is, Kyra, if they were going to have temperatures that are going to drop significantly over the next couple of days, well above -- actually well below the freezing point. So you have many people that are without power that are struggling to stay warm.

At the same time, with trees that maybe haven't been toppled yet but have been weakened by the ice, we're expecting a great deal of wind tonight out of the north and northwest that could range anywhere from 15 to 25 miles an hour, some gusts possibly up to 35.

And with those gusts, you could have those weakened trees. Branches that are a little splintered could push on over, hitting more power lines, which means more power outages. Very frustrating.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep tracking it. Reynolds Wolf, thanks.

LEMON: And Bonnie Schneider is in our weather center, severe weather center, watching what's left of this nasty winter storm.

Any encouraging words, Bonnie? We certainly hope so.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Yes. That is a big change. Bonnie Schneider, thank you so much for that.

One boy missing four days, another four years. A search for one leads to the other in Missouri. They were snatched off the street but hidden in plain sight not far from their homes. Now police, neighbors and family are scratching their heads and searching for clues.

The victims, the suspect, the families, the questions. CNN's Chris Lawrence is following it all in Kirkwood, Missouri.

Hello, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Don.

The investigators right now are saying that they have talked to Shawn Hornbeck, and I spoke with the sheriff who has spoken to him face to face. He said on the surface, Shawn seems happy, but he could tell there is something deep down that may take time to bring out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF KEVIN SCHROEDER, WASHINGTON COUNTY, MISSOURI: Shawn's kind of in a whirlwind. I don't think he really knows how to feel, although he is elated to be home. He's very happy to be at home reminiscing with friends, family, getting caught up, seeing new family members that have been born since his disappearance.

But as far as all of the attention, I think it -- I think it actually frightens him. He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know what to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: Shawn didn't go to school during the last four years, but he did go out and he did have friends. At one point one of those friends said, "Hey, you look kind of like the guy -- the boy who's missing," but apparently Shawn just brushed it off.

It's one of the things that investigators will be looking at as they try to piece together how he was able to go undetected for so long.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): From the few people who knew Michael Devlin, answers are emerging to the question, who is this alleged kidnapper?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very kind of soft spoken, low key.

LAWRENCE: And how could Devlin do what he's accused of: hiding two boys in plain sight, an hour's drive from their families?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was never mention of any children at all.

LAWRENCE: Investigators have filed a first-degree kidnapping charge against Devlin, with possibly more to come.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's behind bars. He's not going any place. And now we have a little bit of the luxury of time to really pull this case together.

LAWRENCE: The case turned Thursday on a lucky break. Police working an unrelated case spotted a white pickup outside Devlin's apartment. It matched one described in last week's kidnapping of Ben Ownby.

The officers who discovered the boys inside his apartment say initially Devlin was happy and respectful to police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the questions began to get more specific, that's when the attitude changed. As the attitude changed, it, you know, was like 180-degree difference, and it threw a lot of red flags up for us.

LAWRENCE: The middle-aged, heavy set man grew up in Missouri. He has a lot of family still in the area.

One of his brothers worked at the same pizza place Devlin now manages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I talked to Jamie, and they're not -- I mean, they're holding up, but they're not doing well. You know, Jamie's response is, you know, a one word response. He said, "Mike, he's my brother. It's our family. We're lost."

(END VIDEOTAPE) LAWRENCE: Michael Devlin is being held on $1 million bond, and he's expected to be arraigned in the next few days -- Don.

LEMON: And Chris, just before you went to your story you talked about some of the tools investigators will be using in this. We understand that he Internet is possibly playing a part in the investigation? Can you tell us about that?

LAWRENCE: Yes. Well I checked out Shawn's Yahoo! Profile and, although it is a profile for Shawn, a teenage boy, the actual e-mail address on there is at mdevlin.

CNN has also learned that back on December 1, 2005, there were two postings posted to ShawnHornbeck.com, and those were posted under the name Shawn Devlin. We don't know if it was Shawn or Michael Devlin, or perhaps neither.

But the first posting asked the family, "How long do you plan to look for your son?" The second posting later that same day said, "I'm sorry for that first posting," but in bad English it said, "I write poems, and I'd like to write a poem in honor of Shawn Hornbeck. I can understand if you don't want me to."

Again we don't know if it was Shawn, Michael, or perhaps someone else. But again, it's one of the things that investigators will be taking a closer look at.

LEMON: Yes, Chris, certainly a lot of questions to be answered in these cases. Thank you so much for that.

And make sure you stay with CNN throughout the day as we keep the spotlight on America's missing children.

And tonight CNN primetime shines that light even brighter. At 8 p.m. Eastern, Paula Zahn, she'll take a look at the role race plays in the media coverage of missing children cases.

At 9, Larry King sits down with the officers who found Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, as well as the attorney for the alleged kidnapper, Michael Devlin.

Then at 10 p.m., Anderson Cooper takes an in-depth look at the Missouri miracle.

PHILLIPS: Call it a real-life version of "Survivor": a woman who spent five weeks stranded in New Mexico's Gila National Forest is recovering at a hospital bed.

Carolyn Dorns set out on a solo camping trip at the beginning of December. She became trapped by a rising river five day into her journey. Last week two brothers hiking in the area discovered Dorns, but she was too weak to leave with them.

One of the men told CNN's Miles O'Brien exactly what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERT KOTTKE, FOUND MISSING CAMPER: We talked to her and she said she had survived three weeks without food. So we prepared her to survive a couple more days. We gave her some more food to eat. We stocked her firewood, which was empty, because she had sort of picked over a small area of land. Restocked her water, gave her a book to read, which she was really thankful for.

And when we left, she gave us a good handshake. She was moving about. She was smiling. And so we felt really positive when we left that she would be able to hang out for a couple more days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The brothers hiked for the next day and a half to get help.

A New Mexico National Guard helicopter crew finally rescued the weak and dehydrated woman Sunday. Rescuers say it's a miracle that she came out alive.

Let's get straight to Betty Nguyen, working news now in the NEWSROOM. A train accident in Kentucky.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. In Ervin, Kentucky, to be exact. This is in central Kentucky, about three or four miles southeast of Lexington. Trying to get some video in. But here's an idea of exactly where this train accident occurred.

A train collided with several train cars is what we understand from the Kentucky state police, and because of that collision, an explosion occurred and then a large plume of smoke. Now because of that smoke, authorities have asked those in the northern portions of the Estill County to evacuate the area.

So far the Associated Press says there have been no injuries reported, but, again, a train has collided with several cars. Don't know how that exactly occurred, if they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But at this point we understand from the Associated Press that there are no injuries.

But that being said, Kyra, evacuations are in order, because of the large plume of smoke that occurred, because of that collision which caused an explosion.

We'll stay on top of it.

PHILLIPS: All right, Betty, thanks.

Also, spectacular and frightening at the same time, an early morning fire at an oil refinery in California. At times flames shot as high as 50 feet into the air. That blaze broke out at Chevron's Richmond refinery just north of Oakland.

It started about 5:30 local time and was serious enough for officials to order residents to stay inside and evacuate toll booth workers on the San Rafael Bridge.

Firefighters -- firefighters, rather, were able to get that fire under control after a couple of hours.

LEMON: Well, his dream became our dream. Our dream, the nation pauses to remember the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Tributes and remembrances.

PHILLIPS: A grim report from the gallows as two of Saddam Hussein's associates meet a brutal end in Baghdad. More on the hangings and Iraqi efforts to avoid a post-execution spectacle, straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: In charge but not out of touch. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the commanding officer at Guantanamo Bay talks about going to great lengths to see for himself what it's like to be a prisoner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Remembering the dreamer and his dream. Today a nation honors Dr. Martin Luther Jr., civil rights leader, minister, Nobel Peace Prize winner, a man whose tireless efforts and sacrifice helped change a nation. Many of those tributes taking place in his hometown of Atlanta.

Our own T.J. Holmes is at the King Center right near Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Hey, T.J.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: OK, good afternoon there, kind lady. It is certainly a beautiful, spring day, is what it turned to here on this MLK Day.

Earlier today, down here at the national historic site when the commemorative service was about to get going, kind of some rain kind of dampened the parade for a little bit.

Crowds were a little smaller than certainly people had seen in years past. But now the sun's out; the weather is gorgeous. And certainly, more and more people are here.

You're taking a look now at some of the -- some of that service that happened at 10 a.m. this morning. A lot of singing, a lot of celebration and not -- note really sadness. Again a commemorative service, more of a celebration.

Now, this service you're looking at that happened at 10 at the Ebenezer Church, the historic church, was mainly for the family, friends, VIPs, dignitaries and what not.

But there was also another service at the new Ebenezer Church, which is right across the street. It was set up, big screens that members of the public could go in and see that, as well.

Now, one person certainly missing today and missing for the first time from the King national holiday, Coretta Scott King. This is the first year without her. Of course, she died last year. So a new sadness that comes along with the day this year.

But there's also a new hope and a new excitement this year, because of the new exhibit that's opening here in Atlanta that features the personal papers, the private writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And it gives a whole new insight, a fascinating look at Dr. King, his mindset, his mission and the dream like we've never seen before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: I have a dream.

HOLMES (voice-over): From his most famous speech at the march on Washington to his first sermon in Montgomery, Alabama, today the nation gets a chance to see Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through his own words.

More than 600 personal documents go on display at the Atlanta History Center. CNN's Soledad O'Brien gave us a sneak peek in her series "Words That Changed a Nation."

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": This is the actual sermon, written on four pages, back and front, of lined notebook paper, in Dr. King's own handwriting. It's preserved here at the library for Morehouse College, the start of what is literally a treasure of Dr. King's thinking at the critical moments in civil rights history.

HOLMES: After the exhibition, the papers will be preserved at Morehouse, Dr. King's alma mater, until a new museum for civil rights is completed.

Today is also a poignant holiday, the first without Coretta Scott King, who died last January. Today at Ebenezer Baptist Church their family will celebrate their lives in a commemorative service, carrying on the dreams spelled out in their father's speeches that inspired and changed a nation.

KING: Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And the crowd you see kind of behind me now after the commemorative service wrapped up, people filed out. They're kind of hanging out on the streets.

Again a celebration, really, here today, and a lot of these folks are going to pile in to buses to take them to another location in downtown -- downtown Atlanta. At that point a march will start, and they'll march back down to this area, where there will be a rally down here. So still -- still a full day of, really, events to come. And, again, the message today, Kyra, a lot people, of course, are off work, out of school and whatnot. But it's a day on for service and not a day off.

PHILLIPS: And T.J., just to sort of let folks know exactly where you are. We're lucky. We live in Atlanta. We can go to Sweet Auburn (ph)...

HOLMES: Yes.

PHILLIPS: ... any time we want and actually sit in the church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached. It remains the same. You can listen to his sermons as you sit in the pews, and you can walk down the street and see his house.

HOLMES: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: I mean, it's -- kind of describe what a neat area this is and how authentic it is.

HOLMES: And absolutely, somewhat you described that church just like it was. Not much has been touched in there. Anybody can go in there.

And people have mapped out their course today. You just have access to everything, and you don't even realize the history you're walking by sometimes when you're walking down the street. You almost -- you do need to pay attention to where you are, or you will miss something.

Everything down here you see, you touch, it's historic, a part of this man, a part of this legacy. We're standing here right across from the reflective pool and the crypt of Dr. Martin Luther King, which is also the crypt of Coretta Scott King.

So it's been a quiet day of reflection down here. And one of the sweetest moments I saw was a group of little kids, looked like they were 3, 4, 5 years old, were brought down here with their parents. And they sang "Happy Birthday" to Dr. Martin Luther King. They had cupcakes, had a little birthday party.

And of course, Dr. King worked so much for black people, but this group I saw was a group of little white kids with their parents. It was one of the sweetest moments I've seen today.

So really, a nice, quiet day of reflection. And certainly, so glad that the weather worked out. Just a beautiful day down here -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And it's pretty amazing just to cruise through there and go through the various museums.

T.J., thanks.

HOLMES: Yes. LEMON: We're going to get you back to Irvine, Kentucky, and our Betty Nguyen is going to do that for you. She's working details on a breaking story in the NEWSROOM.

What do you know, Betty?

NGUYEN: Yes, we are getting some new information. This according to the Associated Press, from Irvine, Kentucky.

Now state police say that it was four railroad cars that somehow broke loose today and rolled into a standing engine. Now that caused this explosion and fire.

No injuries are reported, but earlier we did mention that authorities were asking folks in the area to evacuate. Well, that has since changed. They are now asking folks to stay indoors and put towels under the doors to prevent smoke from the fire from entering their homes, and here is why.

Officials believe butyl acetate is burning at that scene, which is about 34 miles southwest of Lexington. Just did a quick search here. Butyl acetate is commonly used as a solvent in the production of lacquer. So this is very flammable. And because of the fumes from this, authorities are asking folks in northern Estill County to -- don't evacuate anymore, but instead, stay inside, put towels and different things underneath your door to make sure that those fumes don't come inside your home.

But again, the good news, Don, is that no one was injured. The question now is, how did four railroad cars break loose and plow into a standing engine? That's something we're going to be following.

LEMON: Yes. How did that happen?

So a stay in place order, right? Because this stuff could be possibly hazardous.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

LEMON: That's the word. OK. Betty, Nguyen, thank you so much for that.

In charge, but not out of touch. Up next in the NEWSROOM, the commanding officer at Guantanamo Bay talks about going to great lengths to see for himself what it's like to be a prisoner.

And following Saddam Hussein's final footsteps, two of his top aides hang today in Iraq. Their execution, ahead, straight in the CNN newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A gruesome scene today in the execution room where Saddam Hussein was hanged. Hussein's half brother, seen on the left, and another former regime official were put to death. There was no repeat of the chaos that occurred when the former Iraqi leader was hanged, but the head of his half brother was -- was severed by the noose and fell to the ground with the body.

The two hanged today were convicted of taking part in the revenge killings of 148 Iraqi Shiites in 1982.

PHILLIPS: The new head of the United Nations wants the prison to close. Protesters were at its gates last week. We're talking about the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The first detainees captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan began arriving there five years ago this month. They were classified at enemy combatants. The detention facility has drawn protests and calls for its closure ever since.

Recently, I sat down with its commander in a rare on-camera interview. I asked Admiral Harry Harris how prisoners there' are treated, specifically prisoners who are force fed after long hunger strikes. I learned quickly he is in charge but not out of touch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I was talking to some other officers that work side-by-side with you. And from what I understand, you actually wanted to go through the feeding tube process yourself to indeed test it, to see if you felt that it was torture. Why did you do this?

ADMIRAL HARRY HARRIS, GUANTANAMO COMMANDER: Well, I didn't want to test it, per se. But I knew that I was going to be asked that question a lot after I got to Guantanamo. So I felt that I should go through the procedure, so that I could say, truthfully, whether it was painful or not, whether it's tortuous or not.

You know, some of the horror stories that I'd heard, that I had read and seen in media reports concerning the feeding procedure made me think that, you know -- it made any reader or listener think there was some kind of barbaric thing that was going on.

So I asked the doctors to give me the same procedure in the same way that our detainees have, and so they, in fact, did that.

I can sit here before you, Ms. Phillips, on television, just as I can sit anywhere else, and stand -- or stand in front of anyone else and say truthfully that it is not a painful procedure. There is nothing tortuous about it.

It is done with extreme care and concern for the detainee, and it's done in a manner that is consistent with involuntary feeding practices that occur in the United States and major hospitals every day.

PHILLIPS: Do you struggle ethically with your job?

HARRIS: Oh, no. Absolutely not. I don't struggle ethically with what we do at all, because I believe completely and firmly that what we are doing is ethically correct. It is necessary in a global war on terror, and it is an important function that we do, keeping terrorists off the battlefield.

PHILLIPS: Now, last September there were some high-profile detainees, such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind 9/11. He was transferred to Gitmo. Have you gained any beneficial intelligence from any of him or any of the other high-value detainees?

HARRIS: Ms. Phillips, I'm not going to talk about what we get or what we do with the high-value detainees.

PHILLIPS: But isn't the point to get good intelligence and keep terrorists off the street?

HARRIS: Well, I mean, it's -- we have a two-prong mission set in that regard. Our first and foremost mission is one of detention. It's the safe and humane care and custody of detained enemy combatants.

Our second mission is strategic intelligence gathering. And our third mission is, we support war crimes and other investigations. The commission's process, the trial process, if you will, the tribunal process, which should get under way this year, is not a process that JTF Gitmo is responsible for. We are responsible for detention and interrogation. The tribunal process is a different process owned by a different entity, and we support them by gets the detainee to the tribunals, some security aspects and that sort of thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: I also asked the Admiral Harris about a specific case. The brother of a detainee claims he's being systematically driven crazy by isolation and torture. We're going to have the admiral's response to that tomorrow right here on the CNN NEWSROOM.

Again I'm Kyra Phillips live at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. Not just one, but two missing boys found, thanks to Missouri police officers who trusted their gut instincts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The attitude changed, it was like a 180- degree difference, and threw a lot of red flags up for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: It's the story we're all talking about today. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Bottom of the hour, we have developing news happening. Let's go to Betty Nguyen in the CNN NEWSROOM for all the late-breaking details.

What do you know, Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, John, we're still following that train accident out Irvine, Kentucky, which is about 34 miles southeast of Lexington. Here's a map of the area. But what you want to see is the video coming out of this explosion that occurred because of this train accident.

What we know so far, according to the Associated Press and other sources, that four railroad cars broke loose today, they rolled in to a standing engine, and that caused the explosion, the fire and the smoke that you're seeing right there.

Now, because of that thick, black smoke just billowing in to the air, nearby residents were asked to evacuate first, but then authorities changed their mind, and said don't evacuate, stay inside, put towels underneath your doors and by your windows so that the fumes from this smoke do not enter your home. And here is why -- officials believe butyl acetate is what is burning at that scene, what is causing the smoke that we see in the fire there. Butyl acetate is commonly used as a solvent in the production of lacquers and other products. So it's something that is highly flammable, and is obviously not a good thing if inhaled.

So authorities have decided, do not leave the area, those living nearby. Instead stay inside and put towels under your doors to prevent the smoke from this fire from entering the homes.

I do want to tell you, Don, the good news in all of this, is despite the explosion, despite the fire, despite the fumes, there have been no injuries reported. So we'll stay on top of it.

LEMON: That is good news, and we will keep checking back with you. Thank you, Betty Nguyen, in the NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: Sure.

LEMON: A four-day search solves a four-year mystery. Revisiting our top story today, two Missouri boys back home with their families. Now their alleged kidnapper behind bars. One boy vanished last Monday, and the other in late 2002, but both were hidden in plain sight.

CNN's Rick Sanchez has the stunning details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice over): Last Monday, Ben Ownby, a seventh grader from Beaufort, Missouri, vanishes after getting off a school bus near his home.

DORIS OWNBY, BEN OWNBY'S MOTHER: We want people to know that we just want Ben back.

SANCHEZ: There was a clue left though with this kidnapping. A fellow student describes a beat-up white Nissan truck. Days after Ben's disappearance, police visit an apartment complex in a St. Louis suburb to serve a warrant in an unrelated case. They notice, though, a vehicle matching the truck's description.

They believe it belongs to 41-year-old Michael Devlin, an employee at a local pizza parlor and funeral home. Authorities interview Devlin. And when they search his apartment...

SHERIFF GARY TOELKE, FRANKLIN COUNTY, MISSOURI: We did locate Ben this afternoon in the city of Kirkwood, and we have also located Shawn Hornbeck, who was at the same residence.

SANCHEZ: Wait a second. Let's back up.

Shawn Hornbeck, who is Shawn Hornbeck? Back up more than four years and you'll find out. Forty-eight miles away, in fact, October 6, 2002, 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck disappears while riding his bike to a friend's house.

PAM AKERS, SHAWN HORNBECK'S MOTHER: This is totally out of the ordinary for him. He's never been late, he's scared of the dark. That's why when he didn't come home last night I knew it wasn't right.

SANCHEZ: In the months that follow, Shawn's stepfather quits his job to devote himself full time to a foundation set up in Shawn's name, seeking to help other parents of missing children. Pam and Craig Akers never stopped hoping that they will somehow find Shawn alive.

CRAIG AKERS, SHAWN HORNBECK'S STEPFATHER: Hope keeps you going. Hope keeps you alive. Hope gets you up in the morning. You know, I've always thought that once you lose hope, it's over.

SANCHEZ: The Shawn Hornbeck trail seems to go away and stays ice cold.

Fast forward to Friday, this past Friday. Shawn Hornbeck, now 15 years old, he's discovered in the same apartment with Ben Ownby.

Back to Michael Devlin. He's arrested, charged with one count of first-degree kidnapping. Prosecutors say more charges are likely.

The boys' families naturally are overjoyed at the return of their sons and credit those who helped in the search. Pam and Craig Akers vow to continue their work for other missing children.

C. AKERS: Just because we've recovered our own son doesn't mean that our work is done. And I don't think that work will ever be done. But once again, just -- we're just so thankful for everyone, for everything that's been done.

PHILLIPS: Rick Sanchez, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Perhaps no one is more surprised by this case than two Kirkwood, Missouri police officers. They knew suspect Michael Devlin. They ate at the pizza place where he worked, and their casual chat with him led to something much more.

Here's what they told our affiliate KMOV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFC. CHRIS NELSON, KIRKWOOD POLICE DEPT.: So we started talking to him. And I actually one time in the past arrested him for an unrelated traffic warrant or something like that, so I had kind of a rapport with him. So we started out just a casual conversation, Officer Wagster did, and when we started getting more into the investigation a little bit, his whole demeanor changed, went from a casual conversation, 180 degrees from that. And we both started talking to him, and weren't getting anywhere with it.

QUESTION: Did you guys ask him if you could search his apartment that point?

NELSON: The specifics of the conversation we can't really get in to. But common sense you know, that would be along those lines of the questions that we would ask him.

QUESTION: When did you make the connection, hey, look, did you ever see Ben and Shawn? By way, as you were standing there, tell me about that, when you first saw those boys.

NELSON: Well, no, no no. We saw -- you could see in the apartment. We didn't see both of them. You could see in the apartment through the blinds. There was an older teenaged child, you know, dark hair, wearing a hat, sitting a at a computer in the kitchen playing a game. And based on the information we had got during the canvas, it wasn't out of the ordinary, because somebody told us that the owner of the house right there, Mr. Devlin, had either a teenage son or a teenage relative living with him. So that didn't set off any red flags.

QUESTION: So when you -- let's move here. I'm beating the clock here. When did you actually say, hey, look, make the connection.

OFC. GARY WAGSTER, KIRKWOOD POLICE DEPT.: As we were talking to Mr. Devlin, it was very happy go lucky -- hi, how you doing. It's good to see you. I respect you guys and what you're doing. As the questions began to get more specific, that's when the a attitude changed. And as the attitude changed, it was like 180-degree difference, and threw a lot of red flags up for us, and so.

QUESTION: So you call your superiors, they get the task force, Franklin County, the FBI, everybody gets over there. At that point, did you know it was Ben and Shawn, or did they have to take over the investigation? Tell me about that.

NELSON: Yes, they took over the investigation. After we had talked to Mr. Devlin, got as far as we could with him, based on the information we had. So we had to turn over to somebody else with more information and more knowledge of the case. QUESTION: Did you have a hunch this could be the suspect, this could be these two missing boys?

NELSON: It was enough for us to want to call the FBI.

WAGSTER: We had definite hunch; definitely something was not right. Had an uneasy feeling, and as for one of us to have that, that's one thing. But for both of us to have it as much as we work together, we knew that there was something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And stay with CNN throughout the day as we keep the spotlight on America's missing children. And tonight, CNN primetime shines that light even brighter, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, "PAULA ZAHN" will look the at the role race plays in the media coverage of missing children cases. At 9:00, Larry King sits down with the officers who found Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, as well as the attorney of the alleged kidnapper, Michael Devlin.

Then at 10:00, Anderson Cooper takes an in-depth look at the Missouri miracle.

LEMON: Oh, boy. Here we go again. Frozen solid and blowing sideways. So much for the great outdoors in much of the Midwest today. When and where will it end? Well, we've got your forecast straight ahead. And we want to see your reports. We want to hear from you. Go to CNN.com/ireports and send your photos or your videos. The NEWSROOM will be right back.

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LEMON: And what a mess across a big part of the country, huh?

PHILLIPS: That's right. Bonnie Schneider following all the severe weather -- Bonnie.

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PHILLIPS: Thanks, Bonnie.

A king, a queen and a girl with a dream: they're all going for the gold tonight in Hollywood. A red carpet preview of the Golden Globe Awards straight ahead in THE CNN NEWSROOM.

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LEMON: What will they wear? Who will they bring? And what will they take home? Hollywood's A list will be out in force tonight for the 64th annual Golden Globes. And CNN's Sibila Vargas joins us now live from Beverly Hill with a preview. Sibila, you're going to be there, right?

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I am certainly going to be here as they start walking down the red carpet. I'm so lucky. You know, somebody has to do it, though, Don. I mean, it has to be me.

Clint Eastwood, Leo DiCaprio, Kate Blanchett: the list goes on. I haven't even mentioned TV yet. But who will take home the Golden Globe?

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(SINGING)

VARGAS (voice-over): From Dreamgirls to dream boats, there will be plenty of glamour at this year's Golden Globes. But when the star dust is settled, who will go home with the gold?

KATE BLANCHETT, ACTRESS: You don't think I tried.

VARGAS: In the race for best motion picture drama, some say its down to two contenders.

MICHAEL FLEEMAN, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: I think Babel has the inside track. I think that might edge out the Departed, although the Departed could probably sneak in.

VARGAS: The multilingual Babel comes into the Globes with a leading seven nominations. The Departed is right behind with six.

The Globes has a separate best picture category for musical or comedy with The Devil Wears Prada and Borat in contention. But there's no question about the favorite.

FLEEMAN: Dreamgirls is a slam dunk. This is going to be the year of Dreamgirls.

VARGAS: The best foreign language film category normally might not generate intense interest, but this year is a little different.

FLEEMAN: We have two foreign language movies made by American directors, Apocalypto by Mel Gibson Letters From Iwo Jima by Clint Eastwood, not directors you usually associate with foreign films.

VARGAS: Eastwood made Globes histories by picking up two directing nominations one for Letters From Iwo Jima the other for Flags of our Fathers.

Leonardo DiCaprio pulled a double of his own, earning best actor drama nominations for Blood Diamond and The Departed. But competing against himself could leave the door open to Forrest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland.

FLEEMAN: I think Leo is going to cancel out Leo, Forrest Whitaker is going to come away with the Globe.

VARGAS: For best actress drama, expect the star of the Queen to be crowned.

FLEEMAN: This will be a Helen Mirren year. VARGAS: The news could be nice for Borat star Sasha Baron Cohen in the best actor in a comedy or musical category. As for actress in a musical or comedy where Prada's Meryl Streep and Dreamgirl Beyonce are in the running, it's a toss-up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: When it comes to the teeny category, the Hollywood foreign press likes to recognize those new shows. So don't be surprised to see Heroes big news from Heroes and also Ugly Betty which may be sitting pretty. Also, Don, make sure that Kyra sends me an e- mail with the question she wants for Patrick Dempsey.

LEMON: I'm sure she will. She'll probably get you right on the BlackBerry just after you're done.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I will.

VARGAS: All right.

PHILLIPS: Send me a picture.

VARGAS: I'm here for you, girl.

PHILLIPS: I love it. Tell him I love him, Sibila.

LEMON: Hook a sister up, will you? Thanks, Sibila.

PHILLIPS: Well straight ahead, desperately seeking motherhood? A radical new transplant could offer hope. Details straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

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PHILLIPS: Well, it could give some women new hope for bearing their own children and could men be next? A New York hospital is taking steps to offer the nation's first womb transplant. That's raising all sorts of medical and ethical questions. CNN medical correspondent Judy Fortin here with a closer look.

JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well depending on who you talk to, Kyra, this could be the next big breakthrough in women's reproductive health or it could be offering false hope to women who desperately want a child.

Now a team of New York doctors is already looking at screening women for a possible uterine transplant. These are doctors at the New York Downtown Hospital. These would be women who are left barren because of cancer, pregnancy complications, injuries or other problems. The group claims that it has successfully harvested eight uteri from non-living human donors. These are cadavers. None were actually transplanted though, but the doctors have completed the surgery in animals. And this is the picture that you're looking at right here on a monkey. And the next thing Kyra is to try an animal pregnancy.

PHILLIPS: So has any human ever had this type of transplant?

FORTIN: Well there actually was a transplant operation back in 2000. The woman was a 26-year-old woman from Saudi Arabia who had had a hysterectomy. There were problems with the case. It never resulted in any pregnancy and the uterus actually to be removed three months later due to complications. As you can imagine, it was pretty controversial back then.

PHILLIPS: Well, there's a lot of ethical discussions about this right now.

FORTIN: And there actually are. Experts are wondering if women actually need to have this kind of operation. After all, it's not needed to sustain a woman's life.

Now I spoke with a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania who's familiar with the research and he made a couple of important points. First off, he questions whether doctors are ready to make the jump from performing the surgery in animals to humans. After all, they haven't been able to produce a pregnancy in animals. He asks, where will the organs come from? Will donors need to explicitly give consent for their uterus to be harvested at death? And will this has a negative impact on organ donation?

He also wonders, if you give birth with someone else's uterus, what rights do the family members of the donor have to the offspring? He can imagine a scenario where that question might be asked. And most importantly, this is a risky procedure involving anti-rejection drugs. He wonders, how do you know any child would be healthy?

PHILLIPS: Wow. My guess, even despite all that, a lot of women have probably showed interest, wanting to do this.

FORTIN: And apparently these New York doctors say that about 100 women are already being screened so far. The ethicist that we spoke to said some women are so intent on having a child, he doesn't anticipate a shortage of volunteers. He says he wouldn't be surprised if he saw the first uterine transplant in the U.S. in about a year.

PHILLIPS: Wow. We'll definitely track it. Thanks. Judy. Pretty interesting stuff.

LEMON: Well his dream became our dream. The nation pauses to remember the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., tributes and remembrances ahead in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: And never give up, never lose hope and never stop searching. A message from the two Missouri families whose boys are now back home. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children takes that message to heart. We're going to take you there, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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