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American Morning
Missouri Kidnapping; Wintry Blast: Ice Storms Hit Midwest; Saddam Hussein's Co-Defendants Hanged
Aired January 15, 2007 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: We are coming up on the top of the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN weather center.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Alina.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Break in the case. How cops closed in on the alleged kidnapper of two boys in Missouri. And new clues emerge online about Shawn Hornbeck's time in captivity.
CHO: Deadly storm. A sprawling winter storm rolling east this morning. Snow, ice and freezing rain from Texas to New England.
O'BRIEN: Out of the blue. A camper rescued in New Mexico after two -- two weeks after the search for her was called off and about six weeks after she went into the wilderness.
CHO: And the words of a dream on the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. See his most famous speech written in his own hand.
Those stories and much more ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you, Monday, January 15th.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHO: And I'm Alina Cho, in for Soledad this morning.
Thanks for joining us.
O'BRIEN: We get started in Missouri this morning. Fifteen-year- old Shawn Hornbeck, missing more than three years, found with 13-year- old Ben Ownby, missing for four days, talking to police over the weekend about their kidnapping ordeal.
Forty-one-year-old pizza parlor Michael Devlin is in jail, arrested for kidnapping, likely to face other charges. Police who arrested him knew him from the pizza shop where he was the manager.
CNN's Sean Callebs is in Kirkwood, Missouri, with the latest.
Good morning, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Indeed, we're right across from the police department. If you walk out that front door, you can actually see that pizza parlor. It is that close.
We know that investigators spent part of the weekend talking with the families of Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck. What is difficult for people in this bedroom community of St. Louis is now realizing that for four years, Shawn was held here right under their very noses, and apparently much of that time had the freedom to come and go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (voice over): For more than four years authorities say young Shawn Hornbeck lived here, held captive by a 41-year-old Michael Devlin, a hulking 300-pound pizza parlor manager. The living arrangement apparently raised no red flags among neighbors. Many thought perhaps a single father raising an active 15-year-old.
HARRY RICHARD, NEIGHBOR: He just seemed to me just like an average, euphoric child, you know, as young kids are, you know, just going back and forth with, you know, their guardian or parent or relative, or whoever, and he didn't seem to display any type of social dysfunctions.
CALLEBS: Experts on abducted children say the same coping mechanism that fooled neighbors could have kept Shawn alive all these years, the ability to adapt.
JEFFREY LIEBERMAN, CHAIRMAN OF PSYCHIATRY, COLUMBIA MEDICAL CENTER: The initial dynamic which defines the response is one of fear -- "I have to figure out a way to get through this and survive." But after that, the captive begins to interact with the captor and see their human qualities.
CALLEBS: And it is that peek through a warped lens that may hold part of the answer to the most pressing question. Shawn wasn't going to school. Neighbors say it appear he came and went freely. So why didn't he just walk away?
CRAIG AKERS, SHAWN HORNBECK'S STEPFATHER: It's been like a dream.
CALLEBS: Shawn stood silently at his only public appearance since his ordeal ended. There will be plenty of time to fill in all the blanks as he begins to put his life back together. His family thrilled to be reunited with the shaggy-haired boy and seemingly heartsick he was held so close to home for so long.
AKERS: It just boggles my mind that someone thinks that they can get away with it. And obviously they do. I mean, this has been going on for four years, and he's been right here under our nose the whole time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: Amazing.
That was Craig Akers, Shawn's stepfather, speaking at a news conference this weekend that was really characterized by such high emotion, even euphoria. But now comes the very sobering part, trying to ease Shawn back into his home environment.
And Miles, if there is hint of good news in all of this, the people who study child abduction say children are resilient and quite can get through an ordeal like Shawn had to go through -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Sean Callebs in Kirkwood, Missouri.
Thank you.
We're going to have much more on this story. 8:40 Eastern Time, John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted," will have some advice for keeping your kids safe.
An improbable story of survival this morning. Carolyn Dorn, missing in the New Mexico wilderness nearly six weeks, found alive but weak by two brothers on a hike.
Dorn went into the remote Gila National Forest December 6th. Five days into her two-week trek, the weather turned, it was colder, heavy rain. The river rose and the temperatures were not right. She was trapped.
Searchers called off the search for her two weeks ago, finding no clues to her disappearance. On Friday, brothers Albert and Peter Kottke happened upon Dorn. Earlier we spoke with the Kottke brothers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER KOTTKE, FOUND LOST CAMPER: About a mile into the hike, we heard what sounded like either an animal or person calling from the north bank. It kind of sounded like "Eww, eww." And so we stopped, we looked around. And we heard the call again, and we noticed someone kind of stumble out into a clearing and start waving at us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: She was too weak to walk, and so they left her with some food and water and a book. They hiked 20 miles to get help. The New Mexico National Guard moved in last night and rescued her. She's doing OK -- Alina.
CHO: Incredible story.
Severe weather now, and an unrelenting winter storm bringing snow, ice and misery to much of the country. Twenty-one people are dead across four states, and hundreds of thousands are without power, with more ice, snow and freezing rain expected today from Texas to New England.
CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf live for us in St. Louis.
Hey, Reynolds. Good morning.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning to you, Alina.
And we're right here in St. Louis. We've experienced just a tiny, tiny bit, a tiny segment of a tremendous storm system, as you mentioned, that just overwhelmed a good part of the country. It stretched all the way from the Great Lakes to parts of the Southern Plains. And it meant a lot of different 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 20 and 30 miles an hour, but impossible to stop. It's a solid sheet of ice. It's the worst I've seen it 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
WOLF: Toppled trees and frozen lines are also keeping hundreds of thousands of Missourians in the dark. Governor Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard. But for those without electricity and freezing temperatures expected until midweek, it may be a struggle to stay warm and a race to get power up and running.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Now, with the ice gone -- and the ice is gone from St. Louis, the roads are in better shape, planes are taking off, no issues there. But still, even with that moisture out of the picture, we now have the wind picking up and the temperatures beginning to drop, which will make it very tough for those people without power trying to stay warm. Making it very tough for those people trying to put those lines up and get these lights back on in these neighborhoods.
Let's send it back to you.
CHO: All right. Well, keep your coat on. Thank you very much.
Reynolds Wolf, live for us in St. Louis.
Severe weather expert Chad Myers is at the CNN weather center with more on the storms today.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
MYERS: Good morning, Alina. (WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: More executions and more promises topping what's new this morning in the war in Iraq. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and General George Casey speaking about how to implement the president's new strategy for Iraq. Casey says there are no guarantees for quick success.
Also, Saddam Hussein's co-defendants hanged this morning. His half-brother who led Hussein's secret police and Hussein's chief judge going to the gallows. Their executions, like Hussein's, not without problems.
And Defense Secretary Robert Gates is assuring NATO allies in Brussels that the plan to send troops to Iraq will not weaken the American commitment in Afghanistan.
CNN's Arwa Damon is in Baghdad for more on the reaction and the word of the executions of two of Saddam's henchmen.
Arwa, hello.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
And according to the deputy governor of Salah ad Din province, the bodies of Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam Hussein's half brother, and the former chief of intelligence here greatly feared throughout Iraq, and Awad al-Bandar, the former chief judge of the revolutionary court have arrived in Tikrit. Both executed by the Iraqi government at 3:00 this morning.
The Iraqi government itself was quick to hold a press conference, held both in English and in Arabic. This main purpose was to emphasize that, unlike the execution of Saddam Hussein, the execution of his two co-defendants was conducted with dignity and with respect. But the Iraqi government essentially clamping down on making any statements. In fact, also saying that they may not be releasing video that was shot by a government camera.
All of this in an effort to try to stave off any sort of controversy that might be arriving from those executions. We all do, of course, remember the outrage that followed the execution of Saddam Hussein.
Meanwhile, as you just mentioned, a press conference just came to an end here, held by General George Casey, the top U.S. military commander here in Iraq, and U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. In that, the two outlined some of the strategies, the joint strategies of both Iraqi and U.S. efforts to try to secure Baghdad. But there are certain points that the United States is looking for from the Iraqi government.
First and foremost, perhaps top on that list, is a promise by the Iraqi government that military forces here will be able to operate freely, that there will be no political interference. Put simply, that means that if U.S. and Iraqi forces go out and make certain arrests, the Iraqi government will not be pressuring those individuals to be released.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: This is a defining moment. We're in a new phase.
While some question the Iraqis' resolve to rise to the occasion and take the hard, necessary steps to break the cycle of sectarian violence that's tearing Baghdad apart, I'm encouraged by what I have seen in recent weeks. And I'm confident that the Iraqi leaders understand the gravity of the moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAMON: Both of them also saying that they expect this to be a long process, that this would be a plan that we would be seeing gradually unfold -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Arwa Damon in Baghdad.
Thank you.
President Bush has said he's made the decision and it's not the job of Congress to stop the surge in troops. Coming up, we'll talk to Congressman Charlie Rangel about that and his proposal to bring back the draft. That's at 30 minutes past the hour -- Alina.
CHO: Happening this morning, new pictures of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meeting this morning in Egypt with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. There's also news of a three-way peace summit, the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinians, in the next few weeks.
Iran apparently going ahead with plans to install 3,000 atomic centrifuges that can make both nuclear weapons or nuclear fuel. Iran says it's making fuel.
And in health news, a possible breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer's Disease. Researchers have found a gene called SORL-1. It can apparently raise the risk of the most common form of Alzheimer's. They hope this discovery can lead to new treatments. An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Coming up, a happy ending for the two boys kidnapped in Missouri. We'll talk to a lead investigator in the case.
And John Walsh, the host of "America's Most Wanted," will give you tips on how to keep your kids safe.
And his dream inspired and changed the nation. The words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. go on display today.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) O'BRIEN: It's about quarter past the hour. If you're heading out the door, let's get a quick check of the traveler's forecast. Chad Myers with that.
Hello, Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Miles.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: Authorities in Missouri are investigating the man suspected of abducting two young boys who were found in his home. Forty-one- year-old Michael Devlin is accused of kidnapping 13-year-old Ben Ownby, who disappeared last week, and 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck, who vanished more than four years ago.
Washington County sheriff Kevin Schroeder has worked on the Hornbeck case almost from the beginning. He joins us now from Kirkwood, Missouri.
Sheriff, thank you for joining us.
I understand you spoke with one of the boys and family of the other boy. How is everyone doing this morning?
SHERIFF KEVIN SCHROEDER, WASHINGTON COUNTY, MISSOURI: Everyone is doing very well. I have spoken with Shawn and his family every day since his recovery. Even spoke with him last night, as a matter of fact.
CHO: What did he tell you?
SCHROEDER: Basically, he's been very busy trying to reunite with his family and friends, getting caught up on events that have happened since his disappearance. And basically, has just been communication as a friend, instead of an official type visit.
CHO: I under the suspect, Michael Devlin, will be arraigned this week, charged already with one count of kidnapping.
What kind of other charges can be expect?
SCHROEDER: Any number of charges can be expected. Once we get into the investigation with Shawn and start getting some of the specific details from him, we'll be able to formulate our report and present that to the prosecuting attorney for any number of charges that could stem from this.
CHO: I think a lot of people are concerned this morning about the young boys, obviously, wondering if they were abused. What can you tell us about that?
SCHROEDER: Basically, at this point, we can't really tell you that much. Our primary focus now in Washington County, we've got a luxury that we normally don't have. Normally when a suspect's apprehended, we have a 24-hour window in which to file charges. That's already been done. So we don't really have a 24-hour window anymore. So at this point we're kind of in the driver's seat. We can sit back, we can formulate our plan, and just go through the case methodically to make sure that all of our questions are answered.
CHO: A couple of questions about Michael Devlin, the suspect. He was in the community a long time, had family there, worked at the same pizzeria for 25 years. Didn't really have a criminal record to speak off, other than maybe a traffic violation.
Are you surprised that this may be the man behind the kidnappings?
SCHROEDER: At this point, I'm really not surprised about anything. I mean, when I started my law enforcement career 21 years ago, there was a question that was posed to me, "What does a murderer look like?" And you don't really know.
I mean, there's no stereotype, there's no certain way that anybody should look. So, I mean, it's...
CHO: Sheriff, one question I do want to get in is, you know, this -- Shawn Hornbeck, at least for four years, more than four years, was really hiding in plain sight. And I know you've been on this case since the beginning.
How frustrating is it to you that he was just right under your nose?
SCHROEDER: It's very -- it's very frustrating. I mean -- but we live in a society now that more and more people don't want to -- don't want to get involved. And a lot of people think that things that they know or things that they've seen are insignificant, or they talk themselves out of what they believe to be true. So...
CHO: All right. Well, maybe more people will listen up and get involved if they suspect something.
Thank you so much.
Sheriff Kevin Schroeder, from Washington County, Missouri.
Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
SCHROEDER You're very welcome.
CHO: Miles.
O'BRIEN: Coming up on this Martin Luther King holiday, the public gets its first chance to see Dr. King's private papers, the words that changed a nation.
Plus, frigid winter weather taking a toll on California farms. How it will affect what you can find in the produce aisle and how much you'll pay ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Had he lived to see this day, his birthday, Martin Luther King, Jr. would have turned 78 years old. Today we remember and honor his life with a national holiday. And this year, for the first time ever, the public is getting an up-close look at his private papers.
CNN's T.J. Holmes has more. He's at the King Center in Atlanta.
Good morning, T.J.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.
Kind of a dreary morning here in Atlanta, but that's not going to put a damper on a lot of folks' spirits. They're here to certainly celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King.
This is one of those rare years where the birthday and the holiday actually fall on the same day. So there's a lot to remember, a lot to celebrate today. And a lot as well in town to be excited about.
You mentioned those papers and documents. These are fascinating things that really just give you goose bumps reading about some of those personal notes and whatnot from Dr. Martin Luther King, giving -- giving us really a different insight into the man himself, the mission, and, of course, different insight into that dream, which many will certainly tell you lives on today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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 at her series, "Words That Changed a Nation."
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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 services, carrying on the dream 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: So, again, folks starting to gather here. A commemorative service starts at 10:00 a.m. They have another area for an overflow. A lot of the public hoping to get in and be a part of this day today.
Back to you -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: T.J. Holmes in Atlanta.
Thank you -- Alina.
CHO: Cold weather causing big problems for fruit growers in California. Twenty-six minutes after the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
You know, we've been paying attention to the middle of the country so much, didn't realize California is so cold.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, the weather has sort of just been messing up folks all over the country. Unless you're running a ski resort in the Rockies, in which case you're doing fantastically, if you're growing avocados or oranges, any kind of citrus fruit in California, it's been so cold that this is a big problem.
Avocados, by the way, can't freeze at all. So the cold weather has really affected the avocado crops. But with citrus, what it does is it freezes up. It sort of bursts the juice inside, so it dries up the fruit.
Now, it can handle a little bit of cold weather, but there's been a little more cold weather that it can handle. So it won't be clear for another 10 days to two weeks whether they're just going to have to get rid of this entire crop or not.
Back in 1998 there was a bad crop because of cold weather. It cost about $700 million to the industry. And people who are looking at it now are comparing it to then.
So we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to the citrus industry in Florida (sic). There's also the issue of grapes, where grapes are freezing in some places.
O'BRIEN: You meant California, right?
VELSHI: Yes. I'm sorry, I meant California. Thank you for correcting that. There are places where they make ice wine where it hasn't been cold enough to make the ice wine. And there are places where they make regular wine where it's been so cold that they're able to turn the regular wine into ice wine, which can be very profitable sometimes.
O'BRIEN: What is this ice wine, anyway?
CHO: Yes.
VELSHI: Ice wine is a dessert wine. It's a very sweet, sweet dessert wine. It's made with -- the grapes have to freeze for, I think, three days or something like that.
O'BRIEN: I see.
VELSHI: Those places aren't getting it. So it's -- I mean, this weather, come spring, when we look back at whether it's agriculture or sports or skiing to see what this winter has done, is going to be an interesting story, not to mention oil prices.
CHO: All right, Ali. Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Ali.
VELSHI: Have a good one.
O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, what will Democrats in Congress do about the president's Iraq troop surge? We'll ask New York congressman Charlie Rangel about that. He's pushing for a return to the draft, among other things.
And an emotional family reunion in Missouri, to say the least. Two boys home again after being kidnapped, one of them for years. We'll talk to the host of "America's Most Wanted" about ways to keep your kids safe.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Two of the president's point men in Iraq, two men at the top, briefing reporters, have been this morning, buttressing the president's push to send 21,000-plus new troops to Iraq to try to shore up that country and bring some order to what is a chaotic situation.
Meanwhile, in Congress, lots of talk about perhaps a nonbinding resolution expressing displeasure with the president's -- as the Democrats have put it -- escalation of the war.
New York Congressmen Charles Rangel, just sworn in as the new chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, joining us now. Congressman Rangel, good to have you with us on the program this morning.
REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: Good morning.
M. O'BRIEN: Did you see the president on "60 Minutes" last night?
RANGEL: I did. I was embarrassed for him really.
M. O'BRIEN: Really?
Well, I'll tell you what, let's -- for those who didn't see it, let's share an excerpt and then we can talk about it. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Do you believe as commander in chief you have the authority to put troops in there no matter what the Congress want to do?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE THE UNITED STATES: In this situation I do, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: He went to say, at this point, he's made the decision. Congress really doesn't -- it's not Congress's job. Is that the part that you were embarrassed about?
RANGEL: No, no, no. How awkward it is, it should be for him, to say, I accept the blame, I made all the mistakes. Trust me, these are not new troops. These are 21,000 young men and women in the Reserve, in the National Guard, in the volunteers that have been there two, three, four times. America's not making any sacrifice. The president, the Pentagon, no one is. And to send these guys back the third, fourth and fifth time, it is tragic.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about what Congress can or should do. There's talk about this non-binding resolution. You were asked about the possibility of cutting funding off. And you said, I don't want to be put in position as the guy who took the rifles away.
RANGEL: Don't you worry about -- the one thing that we have now that we never had before is oversight. The president has had a free ride with a Republican House and Republican Senate. No president can conduct the war without the support of the people of the United States of America. Sixty-two percent have already said, no go. After we start asking the president to explain what is a surge, how many casualties are we going to have, how long is it going to take, you can believe me, we've got to change this whole atmosphere. No, no one wants to undercut the troops, but there's ways to put conditions on the funds, and we do have control over the purse strings.
M. O'BRIEN: What circumstances would you vote to cut funding in any way, shape or form? RANGEL: When the American people say enough is enough, but we have to make...
M. O'BRIEN: Haven't they said that, though? Only 16 percent support the surge. You saw what happened in November.
RANGEL: I know, but I'll bet you one thing -- 100 percent want to make certain that you don't hurt those dedicated men and women that are there. And we want to make certain that they're isolated from any negative impact from what we do fiscally in the Congress.
M. O'BRIEN: A lot of Democrats are getting attacked interestingly from the left on this. Listen to this. This comes from John Kass, an op-ed piece in "The Chicago Tribune" yesterday: "A non- binding resolution doesn't do much of anything but allow politicians to posture without much risk. Many of expected Democrats were so energetic that they'd change things immediately. Apparently we were mistaken."
What do you say to Mr. Kass?
RANGEL: Well, I say one thing, that I am disappointed that we haven't done more. But there is no question that the American people are going to make certain that we protect those troops first and that we reverse ourselves there with some diplomatic initiatives in that area, and maybe regain some of the friends.
What surprises me is how the president, with all of the friends he has in Saudi Arabia, Egyptians running in and out of the Crawford Ranch, and the Jordanians, crown princes, and kings and presidents, when it comes the time to go there to bring some peace in that region that for thousands of years have had crisis, our friends are never but never there. Who's there but our troops who's been there three and four years, time and time again. And the president just said, I made a mistake, but he's sending them back again.
M. O'BRIEN: You've been pushing -- one of your proposals that you've gotten a lot of play on is this notion of bringing back the draft. How would that -- in this situation, this war is done in that respect. The draft is not going to change the state of play. But for the next war, how would that change...
RANGEL: Forget the next war. Let's talk about this one. We don't have 21,000 new troops. Everyone says he's sending new troops. He's sending old troops over there. You never heard the president of the United States make an appeal to the patriotism of young men and women, including people of his family and my family, to get there and enlist. Why? Because they have really decided that only people from areas of high unemployment want -- are patriotic and therefore want to volunteer. That is immoral and it's wrong.
M. O'BRIEN: I've bet you heard from constituents on this one, though. They're not very happy with that notion, are they?
RANGEL: Get out of here. I've spoken at Princeton. I've spoken at Harvard. I've spoken at Columbia. I've spoken at NYU. M. O'BRIEN: Yes, but what in Harlem, in the upper west side. What's going on there? What are they saying there?
RANGEL: They say that people like Rangel who didn't have a job in 1948, sure, they would join the service and take advantage of the G.I. bill. But in this great Republic, you shouldn't have to be in harm's way to get a decent education or to get a check, and they understand it.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Congressman Charles Rangel.
I'd like to talk to you about taxes? We'll save that for next time.
RANGEL: OK.
M. O'BRIEN: You going to raise them?
RANGEL: No, indeed. You're in your mother's arms.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Congressman Rangel -- Alina.
CHO: We like to hear that.
All right, coming up on the program, more on those missing boys in Missouri, safely reunited with their families. John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted" offers some tips how to keep your kids safe from kidnappers.
Plus, the truth behind Hollywood's obsession with true stories, many of them nominated for Golden Globes tonight.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
CHO: Some heartwarming news this morning. Fifteen-year-old Shawn Hornbeck and 13-year-old Ben Ownby are safe at home with their families. Forty-one-year-old Michael Devlin is accused of abducting the two Missouri teens. People who know Devlin were stunned by the news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PROSPERI, OWNER, IM'S PIZZA: It wasn't just me that he fooled -- he fooled his family. He fooled police officers that come in and out of my restaurant every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Devlin is now in custody facing kidnapping charges. About a quarter-of-a-million children are kidnapped each year. But only a fraction are taken by strangers. John Walsh is the host of the popular TV show "America's Most Wanted."
John, good morning.
I want to get to tips for kids and parents in a moment, but first I want to know, how were these people able to hide in plain sight for so long?
JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Well, I think the media is doing more damage to Shawn Hornbeck than anybody can realize by keep speculating why he didn't try to escape for four years and why he was hiding in plain sight.
Predators, and child molesters and kidnappers are cunning people. They take these children to exploit them.
Now I looked at the poster of Shawn Hornbeck four years ago. He was 4'7 inches tall and weighed 90 pounds. Michael Devlin is 300 pounds. So when he kidnapped this boy he probably broke him down psychologically. And Shawn Hornbeck did what he had to do to survive. It happens to prisoners of war. It happens to women that are raped and held hostage by their rapist for days, or hours or whatever.
And I think people have got to let these boys get on with their life and stop speculating about it and start talking to their kids about the potential dangers that are out there.
CHO: As you well know, it's called Stockholm Syndrome. We heard about it most recently with Elizabeth Smart.
I'm wondering, how unusual is it for a man with no criminal record, basically just had a traffic violation, was in the community for a long time -- I mean, does this guy really fit the profile of a kidnapper?
WALSH: What is the profile? I've been hunting fugitives for years, for 20 years on "America's Most Wanted." And we've caught hundreds of sex offenders. You watch "Dateline" on NBC and you see 20, 30 guys who come to a house to have sex with a 12-year-old child, and everybody's amazed that they're a rabbi, or a priest, or that they're a schoolteacher. These people are cunning. Anybody can be a pedophile. It's very hard to tell who a pedophile is, just have to be street smart, and talk to your children and educate them that it can be anybody.
CHO: That's right. So let's talk a little bit about that, because obviously, you don't want to scare your children. So what can you tell them, and what kind of tips can you give them, and some tips for parents as well?
WALSH: I don't think -- this is 2007. I don't think it's about scaring our kids anymore. I think that's a tired old phrase that people use. I think it's about educating our kids what's out there. We always tell kids, adults don't need help from children. So if you're on your way home from school, somebody approaches you, you don't go near the car, you let them get their directions from another adult.
But I don't think these boys had a chance. There's predators that you really can't stop. When it's a 300-pound man and he grabs a 4'7, 90-pound boy, these are the predators you can't stop, and that's when these kids kick into survival mode, and that's when they do what they have to do to survive. We should be talking about the healing of these boys.
And the Smart family, Ed Smart and Lois Smart, did a wonderful thing with Elizabeth. They kept her out of media. They never asked what happened to her during that time. And she's a wonderful, wonderful young lady at college now.
We need to let these families heal, but we need to talk to our kids.
CHO: What should parents tell their kids? What kinds of real tips, besides always be with a buddy, scream, that kind of thing? I read somewhere carry a whistle maybe, a child should do that, and some other tips, know your name, address, phone number, all that kind of stuff. What else can parents tell their kids?
WALSH: Well, I think parents can do a lot more. You know, there's this new phenomenon of bus surfers. These are pedophiles like this alleged kidnapper who follow school buses, particularly in rural areas where they think people are not so street smart, not sophisticated, and there's not a great concentration of law enforcement. They're stretched thin, and the wait for the kid who's the long walk home to school. And I think parents should be very vigilant and talk to their kids about that. And I say, don't take the crap shoot. If you're child's a small child, if you can help it, don't make that child make that long walk from the school bus stop home. It's insane.
CHO: Hold their hand. That's right. John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted," thanks so much for being with us this morning.
WALSH: Thank you.
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CNN "NEWSROOM" just moments away. Tony Harris is at the CNN Center with a look ahead.
Good morning, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And, Miles, good morning to you.
We have got these stories on the "NEWSROOM" rundown for you this morning. Left alone for hours, cell phone and Internet access, but Shawn Hornbeck never escaped. Missouri police looking into the boy's four-year kidnapping.
Major power outages, big traffic troubles, ice and snow from Texas to Maine this morning. Private letters, personal notes. The writings of Martin Luther King Jr. We talk with the woman who helps care for this historic treasure. Today the day dedicated to King's civil rights legacy. Heidi Collins joins me in the "NEWSROOM." We get started in just a minute here on CNN -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Tony. See you then.
Coming up, grab some popcorn, the prelude to the Oscars airs tonight. We'll take a look at some of the Golden Globe nominated films and pick up on a theme you may not have noticed among the nominees.
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M. O'BRIEN: Hollywood loves a good story. Of course this year it loves a true story. The Golden Globe Awards are handed out tonight, and many of the nominated films are adapted from real life.
CNN's Sibila Vargas has more for us on that. She is live up early. It's 43 degrees there in Hollywood.
Sibila, thank you for doing this for us.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you for having me. It is freezing out here. But you know, it should warm up any time now, hopefully.
The stars will be coming down this red carpet, and they're going to look absolutely beautiful. But with this weather, I don't know if they're going to be wearing jackets or not. But let's get to this story.
You know, we've heard the saying that truth is stranger than fiction. But at this year's Golden Globes, playing truth can be better than fiction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I doubt there is anyone who knows the British people more than I do, Mr. Blair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: From her majesty Queen Elizabeth to a Hollis stockbroker named Chris Gardener, children's book author Beatrix Potter to African dictator Idi Amin, many of this year's globe nominees seem to follow a popular trend taking place in Hollywood -- nonfiction roles leading to Hollywood gold.
MIKE FLEEMAN, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: If an actor plays a real person, We can look at their performance, then we can look at the real person and say, OK, that was good acting.
VARGAS: In recent years, Charlize Theron, Jamie Foxx, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon have all won Golden Globes and Academy Awards for playing real people.
"People" magazine's Mike Fleeman says Hollywood's obsession with true stories is based more on fear than lack of creativity.
FLEEMAN: I don't think Hollywood has ran out of good ideas. There's plenty of people with good ideas. Hollywood is running low on courage to present good ideas to the audiences.
VARGAS: Fleeman says studios focused on selling movie tickets have tuned to sequels, remakes and biopics to play it safe.
FLEEMAN: They feel in Hollywood that audiences want to see something a little more familiar, a little less difficult to grasp.
VARGAS: For the stars, however, what's safe at the box office is often risky for them.
HELEN MIRREN, ACTRESS: It's such a dangerous thing to go into. If we made a misstep, not only would it have been humiliating and upsetting, but I think also one would have felt that we betrayed the real people.
FORREST WHITAKER, LEAD ACTOR NOMINEE/DRAMA: I researched it really hard. I really looked deep inside of it. I tried to understand not just, you know, the history, the man, the language into finding the spirit of this guy. So yes, it was a big journey for me.
VARGAS: For Whitaker and Mirren, the risk is expected to pay off. They are both favorites to win in their category.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS: Two incredible performances.
And you know, these roles are really becoming very competitive and hard to get. They're very challenging, but if you nail them boy, can they pay off, as we see today.
Miles, back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: I want to see if you can do the royal wave. Can you do it, you know, the queen wave?
VARGAS: Which one?
M. O'BRIEN: The royal wave, the queen wave.
VARGAS: I think it's something like this. I'm not sure.
M. O'BRIEN: With the accent.
VARGAS: I got the accent, yes. I can do that. I can do the accent for you, just not the wave.
M. O'BRIEN: A cockney queen. All right, Sibila. Once again, thank you for setting the alarm clock early. CHO: Well done with the accent. Oh, my goodness.
M. O'BRIEN: Very nice, yes.
CHO: Here's a quick look at what "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.
HARRIS: See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM": Questions today about a four-year kidnapping ordeal. We explore the case of Missouri teen Shawn Hornbeck.
Ice storm, no electricity today and thousands of homes across the U.S. heartland. California's citrus crop threatened by a cold snap.
Rescue: A camper missing in the New Mexico wilderness for weeks, found alive.
You're in the "NEWSROOM," 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.
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