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Update on Baby Grace Case; Cleaning Up Malibu

Aired November 26, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities have found the boy's uncle, and he's on his way to Arizona to pick him up now. The boy's father died two months ago. The immigrant was returned to Mexico.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Welcome to the NEWSROOM. You will stay informed all day long right here. Here is what's on the rundown. Galveston police update us on the Baby Grace case very shortly. Is the body found floating in a plastic storage container Riley Ann Sawyers'?

Welcome to cyber Monday, everybody. A big online shopping day. Gerri Willis with how to point and click without running up big debt.

Who would put pepper spray in Miss Puerto Rico's makeup and gown itching for a crown on this Monday, November 26th. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A mystery apparently solved, but a tragedy no less painful. Police in Texas tentatively identify the toddler known as Baby Grace. This is a police sketch of here. It was made after a fisherman found her body washed up in Galveston Bay. Police believe she is 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers of Texas. They are waiting DNA tests to confirm that. It could take some time as well. Now under arrest, her mother and her mother's boyfriend. They had never reported her missing and told family members Riley had been taken by social workers. Identifying Baby Grace, DNA tests could confirm the worst fears for Riley Ann Sawyers' birth father and grandparents. They are in Ohio bracing for that phone call. Reporter Jen Picciano spoke with them. She's with CNN affiliate WOIO in Cleveland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT SAWYERS, FATHER OF RILEY SAWYERS: I damn near broke down in tears the first time I saw that picture.

JEN PICCIANO, WOIO: Robert describes his daughter Riley as playful and spunky.

SAWYERS: Never met a little girl with as much energy and spunk.

PICCIANO: But is she a victim of violence as well? Riley's grandmother, Sheryl, says the facts add up.

SHERYL SAWYERS, GRANDMOTHER OF RILEY SAWYERS: The facts fit between 2 and 3 years old, and my granddaughter will be 3 March 11th.

PICCIANO: But the baby's mother Kim's story sure doesn't. SAWYERS: She told him that in July somebody posing as a social worker came to their house in spring and demanded that she turn over Riley to them, that they were from Ohio, and supposedly they knocked her down.

PICCIANO: Sheryl Sawyers says Riley's mother moved with the baby to Texas to be with a man she met on the internet.

SAWYERS: I have no idea where she is. Up until that point I just thought she was with her mother.

PICCIANO: The family tried several ways to reach the mother and bring Riley back, but after seeing the sketch, they fear the worse.

SAWYERS: They know where she is, and she is, either number one, they're hiding her or they know that she is Baby Grace.

PICCIANO: As he anxiously waits for word, Robert longs for the day when Riley gets to play with his 3-month-old son, Braden.

SAWYERS: We keep on telling him. You're going to meet your big sister soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Sheriff's investigators and the FBI are expected to release more information coming up next hour. A news conference set for 11:00 eastern. We'll take you there just as soon as it gets under way.

Also developing this hour, a tour bus crosses the line and plows into oncoming traffic. Three people are dead. Dozens others are injured. It happened last night in northeast Arkansas. Police say the bus was on I-40 headed to Dallas. They say the driver crossed the median and veered into eastbound traffic. The bus slammed into a pickup truck killing the truck driver. Then the bus was broadsided by a semi. A police dispatcher says about a dozen passengers had to be pulled out of the bus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it was bad. People caught in between the seats.

COLLINS: Dozens of passengers were rushed to nearby hospitals.

Cleaning up Malibu this morning. Those fast-moving weekend wildfires burned seven square miles and destroyed 53 homes, many of them worth millions of dollars. CNN's Dan Simon is in Malibu for us this morning. Dan, what's the latest?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, once again we are reminded at how random these wildfires can be. The good news at this point we're at 90% containment. This fire is supposed to be contained sometime today, but in terms of just how random it is, take a look. This home totally gone. The home behind it totally leveled, but look diagonal to us. This house is perfectly intact. Firefighters here have been trying to, I guess, douse all the hotspots they see. This home where we are, we're standing in the driveway. You can see some smoke still rising here. Fire crews have been working on this house just a bit earlier, and joining us here is Captain Conrad Quintanna with the Ventura County Fire Department. I guess you've been up what how long now?

CAPT. CONRAD QUINTANNA, VENTURA COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: 48 hours. We caught some cat naps, but we've been up since Saturday morning at 4:30.

SIMON: Your engine company was among -- you were the first ones to arrive on the scene basically. Give us a sense of what it was like. I know it was really windy, embers flying everywhere. What was it like?

QUINTANNA: That was pretty much what it was like. High winds. We had a wall of flame coming down at us. We were staged up in the canyon. We got about a mile up and we were met by a wall of flame coming down. The result was that we had to kind of back out of the canyon. We had no way to get into a safe spot and deploy and be able to protect structures in there.

SIMON: This was the first wildfire to hit Malibu in 15 years. 53 homes went up rather quickly, but we're at 90% containment. Obviously the winds died down, but really there were a lot of resources here to get this fire under control pretty quickly.

QUINTANNA: There is a lot of resources. The wind dying down was a big factor. It's more of a fuel-driven fire now, not a wind-driven fire. And, of course, preplanning, they had a lot of resources staged throughout southern California because they had predicted this wind event, and more resources means we can get here quicker and hopefully prevent more damage like this.

SIMON: Thanks very much, captain. Yes that's right. They knew there was going to be a lot of wind so there was a predeployment out here. We had about 1700 firefighters here in advance in anticipation of these Santa Ana winds kicking up, Heidi. And that's really what enabled firefighters to get the upper hand on this blaze quickly.

COLLINS: Yes, boy, well that's some good news there certainly. All right. CNN's Dan Simon coming to us from Malibu this morning. Thank you, Dan.

And you are helping us tell the Malibu fire story with your I- reports. Take a look at some of these. Julie Ellerton is a resident of Malibu. She took this picture of a chopper refilling its water bucket for another go at the fires. They call those the bambi buckets there. Another one, this one in L.A. County; a fire chopper also collecting water to pour on the fires. Julie says being to close to the choppers felt like a war zone. And this one powerful. Julie took this from the beach just south of Malibu. There you go. You can see the massive smoke cloud blowing out over the pacific. Wow. Looks like a volcano.

Will the Santa Ana winds pick up? Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is with us now to take look at those weather conditions out west. Hi there again, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi Heidi. What a difference a day makes from Saturday to Sunday. You know, those winds just almost cut off altogether and it's been good today as well. But things could be changing. We're going to zoom in here on Google Earth and show you where all the heat signatures are and where the fire has been really contained, too. There you can see Malibu itself, and there you can see where the fires have been burning. 75% contained now. So that's good news.

You just showed us some I-reports. We have another great one we want to show, and what really helped firefighters with this effort has been the number of air assaults that they've been able to do from DC- 10s to helicopters, and there you can see one of the helicopters dipping its bucket down into Malibu lake there. That's from Gerrit Schroder. Thanks so much for sending these pictures in. It just made me say wow, by the way, that other one you showed with the smoke plumes. Incredible the number of I-reports we've been getting and helping us to tell this weather story.

Now what can we expect here? Today has been really good overall. I'll take you into our weather map here and show you some moisture that's been trying to make its way into the southwest. We have what we call an upper level feature way out there in the pacific, and it's been bringing in some moisture and some cloudiness, mostly in the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere, at the surface that. Means right down near the earth it's still been so dry with extremely low relative humidities, so none of those rain showers trying to get started ever reach the ground.

Here you can see the winds in the Malibu Hills area. Still offshore, which means it's still a dry wind, but they have been really pretty calm overall and that's been helping the efforts. But by tomorrow north of the fire areas we have a critical fire danger area. This includes the San Francisco bay area. The relative humidity will be very low along with wind gusts 40 to 50 miles per hour, and we think by Wednesday those strong Santa Ana winds are going to move southward and back over southern California, including over the Malibu fire zone. So hopefully we can get that contained in the next day or so.

COLLINS: Certainly hopefully. It's been a long time the last time around though.

JERAS: Yeah, it did.

COLLINS: All right. Jacqui Jeras, we'll check in a little later. Thank you.

Stick around for this action, Jacqui, because, wow, that is a big tree. You are looking at the U.S. capitol tree being brought in from the fine folks of Vermont. Look at that thing. Talking about 55 feet, 4,000 pounds, and it is a balsam fir coming from the Green Mountain National Forest, which is pretty cool because they are celebrating their 75th anniversary there. It's the fourth time or excuse me, the fifth time that the people of Vermont have supplied the tree for the capitol there. Look at that. It's still going. Looks like a train almost. You think you have a lot of ornaments on your tree or maybe if you have begun decorating your house? 4,500 ornaments are going to go on that thing. Pretty amazing, huh? All right.

Meanwhile, setting a time table for Pakistan. Now, President Musharraf announcing just a short time ago he will step down as military chief on Thursday, and then he will take the oath of office to start a third term as president. Musharraf put an emergency decree in place earlier this month. Opposition to that decree brought another former prime minister out of exile. Now Sheriff planned to run in the parliamentary elections next month, but could boycott that vote. He plans to meet with other opposition leaders in the next few days and that may include the other former exiled Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto.

Senate republicans losing a big hitter. Sources tell CNN Senator Trent Lott intends to resign by the end of the year. Lott is the republican whip. That's the number two leadership position for the Senate. Sources are not saying what the senator from Mississippi will do, only that he will enter the private sector. Lott was just elected to a fourth term last year. He's the first person to serve as with the house and the Senate.

Want the most up to the minute political news anywhere available? CNNpolitics.com is your one stop shop. Get behind the scenes details from CNN's best political team on television. See why it's the internet's premiere destination for political news, CNNpolitics.com.

Another bad batch of beef to tell you about this morning. American Foods Group in Wisconsin is recalling 96,000 pounds of bulk ground beef. It ends up in those shrink wrapped packages you see in grocery store meat departments. Two people got sick possibly from the e. Coli bacteria. The beef was sold to stores and distributors across seven states; Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The two people who got sick were in Illinois. Some of the meat may already be past the sell by date but it could still be in your freezer.

He's running to remember 48 fallen soldiers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got rather emotional. We got freedom to do what we want, and it's because of these guys.

COLLINS: Marathon man, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. A pint-sized kid, now a full-fledged hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom was mumbling

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Had he not heard his mom mumbling or moaning, she may not have woke up in the morning.

COLLINS: A 6-year-old's quick thinking saves the day. Tell you the story, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Got some breaking news to tell you about this morning out of Miami. A NFL player shot in his home. T.J. Holmes is in the NEWSROOM now and has been looking at this story. Hey there T.J.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Heidi. This is a pro bowler we're talking about here. Sean Taylor is his name. He's a free safety for the Washington Redskins. What you're seeing here is a live picture in the Miami area outside of his home where he was shot we understand at some kind situation. There's his picture there. He was shot at his residence there in Miami. He does play for the Redskins, but he's from the Miami area and was pretty much an all- star at the University of Miami where he played college ball, but that's the home, the residence. We don't know what exactly the situation was. We do understand, however, it does not appear his injury is life threatening. Shot in the leg, lost a lot of blood. Right now don't know exactly what his condition was. But not being said it's a life-threatening situation and right now he's in some kind of a critical condition. He is right now being treated at a hospital there in the area. His team, the Washington Redskins, have put out a brief statement saying that they are aware of what happened to him and he is being treated in the hospital. The circumstances we do not know just yet. Taylor has been out the last couple weeks with the team because of a knee injury. The team played just yesterday in Tampa Bay. A loss there to Tampa, but still he has not been playing the past two weeks, but with that home, has been shot in the leg. Sean Taylor, he was the fifth overall pick of the Redskins about four years ago. This was a superstar coming out of college. The fifth over all pick in the first round. This is a guy who is enjoying some great success in the NFL. His first pro bowl he got last year. This is his fourth year in the league. We'll try to find out more circumstances around the situation in which he got shot in his own home in the Miami area. Heidi.

COLLINS: Want to know a little more about how this all happened and why. All right. T.J., we know you'll be working it. Thank you.

A soldier goes the extra mile to honor his fallen buddies, and he's not alone. The story from Audra Schroeder. She's with Seattle affiliate KIRO.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AUDRA SCHROEDER, KIRO: Thousands of people hit the ground running in the University of Washington Medical Center Marathon. Each person running to are a different reason. David Hardt had 48 reasons.

SPEC. DAVID HARDT, MARATHON RUNNER: The guys gone. This guy is gone and I'm breathing, and there's a lot of families that are hurting.

SCHROEDER: The 31-year-old army specialist ran the 26.2 miles with a t-shirt bearings the names of 48 solders from his unit who were killed in Iraq. They were with specialist Hardt every step of the way.

HARDT: I got rather emotional. I don't know.

SCHROEDER: Hardt got the idea for a remembrance run during his second deployment. He enlisted the help of other soldiers, and they trained in Iraq running 40 to 80 miles a week making a promise to finish and never to forget.

SGT. 1ST CLASS TEDDY CRAIG, MARATHON RUNNER: Obviously I'm always going to think about the guys and our time over there and the people. It's a privilege to wear the same uniform they are every day.

SCHROEDER: Specialist Hardt said he was proud to bring his 48 comrades across the finish line saying it was a small gesture to honor their ultimate sacrifice.

HARDT: We have to remember these guys. Every single day we wake up we have freedom to do what we want, and it's because of these guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: David Hardt finished in the first third of the field in the marathon. Quite an accomplishment, but he already has his medal. A purple heart earned during his service in Iraq.

Dreaming of a white Christmas, but dreading the January plunge into the red? Understandable. Gerri Willis is going to show you how to avoid debt this holiday season.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A beauty queen's gown doused in pepper spray. Her makeup spiked. Trouble under the tiara, ahead. We'll tell you the story.

Meanwhile, we're going to take a look at the big board now. To the positive side of things, about 24 points or so above that 13,000 number. We like to see that. And the NASDAQ as well. I think it's up ten points I'm being told. So two positives. That's a good thing. We will check in with Susan Lisovicz a little bit later on with all of our business stories.

Holiday gift giving, December joy can turn gloomy when the bills start arriving in January. That is for sure. Here now with tips on how to debt-proof your holiday, CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis. Good morning to you, Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Happy Monday, Heidi. Most folks, they don't plan at all for the holiday. Almost three in five won't plan a holiday budget this year. Don't fall into the trap. First you'll need to figure out how much you should spend on gifts. You know, make sure you can pay off your bills from the holidays in one to two months. Some financial planners even recommend you don't spend more than 1.5% of your annual income on gifts. Figure out all your expenses, too, like decorations, holiday meals, and check out this web site, christmasorganizer.com. On this site, you can download holiday planner forms, gift lists, calendars. It's a little extra help if you need it.

COLLINS: I think that's a great idea. What about thinking outside of the box a little bit?

WILLIS: Who needs another sweater or crock pot? You may also want to give your friends and family the gift of experience. Maybe you want to send your in-laws up in a hot air balloon. I've done that.

COLLINS: How cool. The parents, not the in-laws.

WILLIS: You can let dad feel like James Bond with the 007 experience package. Maybe that might be good for Tony when he gets back. You can take part in high-speed chases, go offroading, and fight the bad guys. Check out experiencedays.com and signaturedays.com. You can also give a donation to the charity in the name of your friend or relative. Check out charitynavigator.org. What do you think about that for Tony?

COLLINS: About the James Bond thing?

WILLIS: Yeah.

COLLINS: I can see him doing that. Remember to compare prices. Even though sometimes we feel like our parents when we're looking around at stuff, it's really important. I saw some huge disparity between different stores just the other day when I went out.

WILLIS: You know, why pay more, right? When you're shopping online, it's really easy to compare, plus you won't be tempted to buy those impulse purchases at the store. Do some comparison shopping at shopping.com, bizrate.com. If you decide to shop online you can often get free, free shipping.

COLLINS: Yeah. Very good. Like today, right?

WILLIS: Right.

COLLINS: That's the big thing with today shopping online. What about getting the best reward card?

WILLIS: If you don't carry a credit card balance for month to month and you have a good credit score, getting a rewards card might be a good idea. But get the details. You might only be able to use your card with specific merchants, plus some cards are tiered, the more you spend the more you earn. Here's some favorites from cardratings.com, Discover's more card and blue cash from American Express are some favorites. You can check out the terms of these cards and many others at cardratings.com. And if you have a question, send it to us at toptips@CNN.com. We love hearing from you.

COLLINS: Yes we do. All right. Gerri, thank you. We'll see you very soon.

WILLIS: My pleasure. COLLINS: Following breaking news out of Miami where an NFL player has been shot in his home. The latest information is coming into the CNN NEWSROOM and we'll get it to you right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A pint-sized kid, now a full-pledged hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom was mumbling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Had he not heard his mom mumbling or moaning, you know, she may not have woke up in the morning.

COLLINS: A 6-year-old's quick thinking saves the day. The story, just ahead.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris has the day off. Went to get directly to some breaking news out of Miami. An NFL player shot at his home. Sean Taylor with the Washington Redskins.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, if folks don't know, this is a Pro Bowl-caliber player shot at his home. This is a video you're seeing outside of his home in the Miami area. Yes, in fact, he plays for the Redskins, but he's from the Miami and was a star for the Miami Hurricanes there in college. There's a picture of him there. He enjoyed his first Pro Bowl season last year, led his team in tackles.

But we don't know the circumstances surrounding what happened exactly at his home, and he ended up shot. Now affiliates are reporting that in fact this was a burglary that was going on at his home in which he was shot. Other reports on the Internet, as well as affiliates, saying that he is currently fighting for his life at a hospital where he underwent surgery.

The Washington Redskins put out a statement earlier, only acknowledging that they were aware of the situation, and that, in fact, yes, he was being treated at a hospital.

But Sean Taylor, number 21, in his fourth year in the league, was the fifth overall pick, first round, fifth overall pick in 2004, and enjoyed a Pro Bowl last year. So this is a bigtime NFL player, a bigtime talent for the Washington Redskins. He has, in fact, been out the last two games because of a knee injury, but still enjoying a another stellar season with the Washington Redskins. There he is, number 21. But in fact shot this morning around 2:00 a.m. according to affiliates after a burglary attempt at his home. Shot in the leg. We're keeping an eye on the situation, trying to get more on his status, haven't gotten any real clear official information about the condition he is in, but in fact being treated at a hospital there in Miami.

We are on this situation, Heidi. We'll bring you the latest information as soon as we get our hands on it.

COLLINS: OK, Great. T.J., let us know. Thank you. (NEWSBREAK)

COLLINS: New talks set for today in the three-week-old writers strike. Writers getting support from the stars, but could that lead to a deal?

CNN entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson is in Studio City, California for us this morning.

Hi there, Brooke.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi.

Well, this is really the first glimmer of hope for these writers who have been on strike for three weeks. Today actually marks the fourth week of picketing. Representatives from the Writers Guild and the Producers Alliance are headed back to the bargaining table today for the very first time since talks broke down on November 4th. The meeting will be held at an undisclosed location.

Now, a press blackout has been implemented. So the plan is that no statements will be issued during these current negotiations. So details could be few and far between, but here we are at the CBS production facility, production studios in Studio City, California. This is one of nine locations throughout Los Angeles where the writers are picketing. They were here at 6:00 a.m. to raise their picket signs. The early start time is so that they can be a presence for the Teamsters, so that they, indeed, can also honor the picket lines. And the mood here is upbeat. I was talking to these writers on strike, and they said, you know, it's great to be striking while there are talks going on. We have something to hope for, and they're even cracking jokes. A couple of them told me it's about time they got a little bit of exercise, that they're used to sitting behind a desk and working at a computer and writing those scripts.

But it's not all easy. Two of them told me they had just signed a deal to work on a movie two days before this strike began, so the timing was really unfortunate for them, but they knew they had no other decision. They had to be here in solidarity with the Writers Guild and stand firm in what they believe in, and that is new media, expanded compensation. They want more money for their work, TV and films distributed on the Internet, on MP3 players, on cell phones, and the Producers Alliance has said new media is too new. We can't really dictate at this point what the compensation should be. So there has been a deadlock for months actually over this. The talks really began in earnest back in July.

And we're hearing rumblings there could be a resolution, Heidi, before Christmas, but if that doesn't happen, expect this thing to last about four or five months, which could be crippling for the entire entertainment industry.

COLLINS: Yes, boy, I would say so. All right. CNN's Brooke Anderson is watching that situation for us out of Studio City, California.

Brooke, thank you.

Also want to get a look at this now. We showed you a few minutes ago the Capitol tree. Well, now we are looking at the White House tree, right, guys? White House tree? It says Capitol tree, but I think it's the White House tree. We've got some new video in for you. This is a 20-foot tall 24-year-old tree at Mistletoe meadows. That's a farm in Laurel Springs, North Carolina. It even had a bird's nest in it that they brought along apparently. A sign of luck, you know. Valued around $1,500. As I said -- I think I said -- 2000 pounds. It's a frazier fir, and it will be presented to first lady Laura Bush. They're going to put it up in the Blue Room. So beautiful to see that decorated I bet at some point a little bit later on.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Middle East peace elusive. President Bush now trying to move the process along with a summit this week.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is following this story. She joins us now from the White House.

Good morning to you, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

And yes, President Bush will be meeting in the Oval Office with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in less than a half hour. Then about hours later he'll be meeting also in the Oval Office with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A very busy day for these leaders.

And the White House to a certain extent downplaying expectations. They are calling this not a negotiation, not even a peace process, but a peace effort, and a time to launch negotiations between these two countries.

Now, the White House is saying they are certainly optimistic. It was last week that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that they believed they could actually come up with an agreement between these two countries before the president leaves office.

But certainly despite the presence of the two leaders here today, and the attendance of so many nations in the Arab League at the formal conference tomorrow in Annapolis. Clearly Hamas has decided not to come. Syria has come only reluctantly. So the White House knows there's a lot at stake and the odds are high against this, but they want to give it a shot -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, Kathleen, if you can, tell us a little bit about this at this teleconference that the president had a little bit earlier this morning, too.

KOCH: That was a video conference that the president had with the Iraqi leader, Nuri al-Maliki, and basically what they're doing is they're starting to come up with an agreement between the two countries of how our relationship will proceed in the future. Press Secretary Dana Perino said basically the message is, that as Iraq is increasingly able to stand on its own, it won't have to stand alone. We were peppering the Iraq war czar, Douglass Smoot with questions, does this mean we will have a permanent U.S. military presence in Iraq? How big will it be? How long will they be here?

And, he simply said it is too soon to tell, that that is the sort of thing that will be decided in this agreement that is only in its very rough stages. The U.S. hasn't even selected those who will negotiate on its behalf with Iraq. Heidi?

COLLINS: Also private meetings with Al Gore? What's that about?

KOCH: The president this afternoon, as if he doesn't have enough on his table today, has invited Nobel Prize Laureates though, to come to the White House. Among them is former Vice President Al Gore. Before the president meets with all the honorees, he is going to have a private meeting in the Oval Office with Al Gore.

There will be no pictures of that, but certainly many of us would like to be a fly on the wall. This will be their first opportunity to meet privately one on one since the 2000 elections. It should be quite an interesting conversation to say the least.

COLLINS: If only we could be flies on the wall. All right, CNN's Kathleen Koch at the White House this morning. Thank you, Kathleen.

What's that on your computer? Hitting the online sales at work. We'll tell you about it in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to get you back to that story that we've been following out of Miami now. Some breaking news on a Washington Redskins player who was shot at his home. T.J. Holmes is working the story for us now in the newsroom with a little but more detail here. I know we don't know exactly what happened, because it's so early in the game, but what do we know at this point, T.J.?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know that one Sean Taylor, the pro bowl safety for the Washington Redskins, there he is, has in fact been shot at his home. The reports are this was in fact a burglary at his home. Happened around 2:00 in the morning. In fact, he was shot in the leg. We are not getting exact information about his condition right now. But, according to the team he is being treated at a hospital.

There are reports out there from local affiliates and also on the internet that in fact, he is fighting for his life and is in pretty bad shape at the hospital. However, according to the Associated Press, official word from the hospital is -- from a spokesperson is that the family is requesting that no information about his condition be let out.

Now, Sean Taylor a young man, he's in his fourth year in the league, was a star at the University of Miami. He was a Hurricane, and four years ago he was drafted in fact, by the Washington Redskins, the fifth overall pick in the first round. This is a being-time player and a big-time talent, who in fact led the team -- the Washington Redskins in tackles last year and went to his first pro bowl last year.

So in fact, he is a pro bowl star for the Washington Redskins. He has been out the past two weeks, however with a knee injury. Did not play with the team yesterday, which in fact, did play in Florida -- Tampa Bay, did play there. He lives in Miami, his home there, even though he does play for the Washington Redskins, he is from the Miami area. And again, like I mentioned played for the Miami Hurricanes in college.

But right now we know that he is in the hospital. Not sure of his condition after being shot at his home overnight. We're keeping an eye on this trying to get as much as we can about his condition. Heidi, as we can we'll keep feeding it to you.

COLLINS: Okay, very good. T.J., thank you.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: Want to tell you about this story now. It's a mystery that's apparently solved, but of course a tragedy that is no less painful. Police believe they have identified a dead toddler known as baby grace. CNN's Sean Callebs has been following the story. He joins us now live from Spring, Texas. Good morning to you, Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. We are in Spring, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston. In a news conference that is scheduled to take place not terribly long from now, in Galveston, about an hour and a half from now. Let me try and connect the dots, it is a somewhat convoluted story. The authorities in Galveston are telling us they believe that Baby Grace is 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers.

Now, the little girl lived here with her biological mother and a man, that the mother met online earlier this year. And, apparently moved down from Ohio to be with this individual. Royce Zeigler. Well, Galveston authorities have arrested Royce Zeigler, who is 24, as well as the little girl's mother, Kimberly Trenor. They have been charged with injury to a child as well as tampering with evidence.

Now, the girl -- the little chide was actually born up in Mentor, Ohio, and lived with the child's biological father for some time, but moved down here about five months ago. We talked to some neighbors here in this area, they were living at this house 6811. And what we're told is basically this was a couple that stayed behind the wall. They didn't come out much, they didn't talk to people.

Neighbors did see the little girl right when the couple moved in here, about five months ago, but they said they hadn't seen her in some time. In fact, a couple neighbors I spoke with said just the other day they were asking each other, boy, I wonder where that little girl is? Well, we know that authorities have taken DNA evidence from the biological father up in Ohio, and also apparently tried or have taken biological -- the DNA evidence from Kimberly Trenor, the mother, but we don't know the results of that, and we may not know for a couple weeks. Still, the authorities are convinced that Baby Grace is, indeed, 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers. We expect the news conference to clear up a lot of questions everybody has, Heidi, coming up at the top of the hour.

COLLINS: Very good. We will be awaiting that news conference. Sean Callebs, thanks so much. We will see you again shortly.

A judge's ruling releases a convicted killer. It's now an issue in the Republican presidential campaign.

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COLLINS: A quick-thinking 6-year-old calls for help and saves his mother's life. The story from Michelle McClintock of WIVB.

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MICHELLE MCCLINTOCK, WIVP CORRESPONDENT: It was 1:30 in the morning and 6-year-old Connor noticed something different about his mother as he climbed into bed with her.

MCCLINTOCK: That's because his mother, Wendy, was in a diabetic shock and she says her blood pressure was so high that she black out. So little Connor called his dad.

KEITH PELKEY: He sound a little scared, and he asked me to come over. He was like, daddy I need you to come over. I'm like, why? He's like, mommy's sick. Mommy doesn't feel well.

MCCLINTOCK: So, Keith headed right over but told Connor to do one thing, call 911. The 911 call came in here to the town of Hamburg police department where dispatchers were able to get vital information from Connor to help rescuers answer that call. Assistant Fire Chief Ron Klimowicz answered the page first since he lives right down the road from Wendy's house.

ASST. CHIEF RON KLIMOWICZ: Both sides of the duplex were dark. So, I turned my light-belt (ph), turned the spotlight on, as I grabbed my gear and made my way towards the front door.

MCCLINTOCK: Only when Connor saw his emergency lights on did he answer the front door. Connor led Ron and other first responders to his mother while he looked after his baby sister, Stella.

I don't remember anything until probably when the ambulance -- the EMTs came upstairs and then I was in and out.

MCCLINTOCK: Rescuers say the situation could have had a tragic outcome.

KLIMOWICZ: Had he not heard his mom mumbling or moaning, she may not have woke up in the morning.

MCCLINTOCK: His parents say in his six short years, Connor has spent a lot of time at fire departments. His father is a volunteer firefighter as well.

PELKEY: I'm beaming right now, actually. He's a very special little kid, and I'm a very, very proud father right now.

MCCLINTOCK: Knowing that his son knew exactly what to do in an emergency. Michelle McClintock, News 4 at 6:00.

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COLLINS: A beauty pageant turns pretty ugly. Miss Puerto Rico, Ingrid Rivera, says someone tried to sabotage her. They doused her gowns with pepper spray and spiked her makeup. Rivera broke out in hives and her face swelled, but she had the ultimate composure snagging a title anyway. She heads now to the Miss Universe competition.

I want to tell you more about this story we have been following here for quite a while now. An NFL player gunned down at his home; said to be fighting for his life. We'll have the latest.

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