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Runaway Bride; Lynndie England Pleads Guilty; North Korea Missile Test

Aired May 02, 2005 - 14:00   ET

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

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Will the runaway bride face any criminal charges? Within the last hour, police in Duluth, Georgia, announce that they are still trying to decide. What do you think should happen? We're live on the story and taking your e-mails this hour.
Saving lives at sea. Almost 100 people plucked from the water miles from shore. The Navy captain who headed it up takes us inside the rescue.

Answering the call of his trainers and U.S. Air Force, an elderly veteran of 9/11 puts off retirement to help national security.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Philips. Miles is on assignment. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

It was a mystery, a sensation, finally a hoax. But was it a crime? A Georgia woman's disappearance days before her lavish wedding and her brief and shaky claim she had been kidnapped when she surfaced in New Mexico could yet result in criminal charges.

CNN's Charles Molineaux is still on the case of the runaway bride in Duluth, just up the interstate from Atlanta.

What do you know, Charles?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, as we just saw a few minutes ago, the police here in Duluth, Georgia, as well as the FBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the district attorney, are all putting their heads together still this afternoon, plotting out what they are going to do next, and whether there will in fact be any criminal charges against this runaway bride, establishing what the law says and how it is they're going to move forward. Of course this is still, as we have been saying, at the heart of it just a case of somebody who, well, got cold feet and took off, but then set off a wild search and frantic few days that involved the whole community.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOLINEAUX (voice-over): At about the same time Jennifer Wilbanks had been scheduled to walk up the aisle, she was hustling through an airport, halfway across the country, covered in a blanket instead of a veil. Her disappearance Tuesday triggered a search by police and volunteers in her home town of Duluth, Georgia.

Early Saturday, Wilbanks' family and her anxious fiance, John Mason, cheered at the news she had turned up safe with an incredible story. From this Albuquerque 7-Eleven, she called 911.

JENNIFER WILBANKS: I was kidnapped earlier this week and I'm here now.

MOLINEAUX: Within hours, celebration turned into shock when police announced she made the kidnapping up and had taken off to Las Vegas and then Albuquerque by bus.

CHIEF RAY SCHULTZ, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, POLICE: Agents and detectives learned that Ms. Wilbanks had become scared and concerned about her pending marriage and decided that she needed some time alone.

MIKE SATTERFIELD, WILBANKS' UNCLE: It has been determined that Jennifer has some issues the family was not aware of.

MOLINEAUX: Wilbanks' mortified family lapsed into silence. Some neighbors were furious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very angry with her for doing that to her family and to the city of Duluth.

MOLINEAUX: And a source who has been briefed on the investigation tells CNN this may have been planned, that Wilbanks bought her bus ticket several days in advance, prearranged transportation to the bus station, and cut her hair to avoid being recognized. On Sunday, the congregation of the couple's church prayed for them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously she was going through a lot of things that none of us knew about. And you -- there's a lot of people around her, and nobody saw that.

CHARLIE HALL, PARISHIONER: I'm happy that she's doing OK and the family can just work out what they need to. And it will be all right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MOLINEAUX: Well, one big part of the bottom line in this case may actually be the bottom line. The city of Duluth is still adding up the cost of that huge search for the missing runaway bride. The clerk is still working on the numbers and crunching the figures out, but the mayor says, by her best guesstimates, the figures run around $100,000 -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Charles Molineaux, thank you so much.

And if you were the prosecutor looking at the Jennifer Wilbanks' case, what would you do? Email us. Our address is livefrom@cnn.com. Tonight at 10:00 Eastern, "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN" goes beyond the headlines and takes an in-depth look at the twists and turns of the runaway bride case, plus other high-profile hoaxes.

A military jury will decide what Lynndie England deserves for admittedly mistreating Iraqi detainees. Just over a year after the petite private 1st class turned up in revolting photographs from Abu Ghraib prison, she pleaded guilty to seven of the nine counts against her.

CNN's Susan Candiotti has the story now from Fort Hood, Texas -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

Lynndie England is now back in court while a judge continues to ask her questions to make sure she understands her guilty plea. That includes seven counts of conspiracy, abuse, and performing an indecent act, all of these having to do with photographs. One in particular where she poses before a row of naked detainees, mocking them as they are performing a sex act.

Now, at one point the judge asked her if she understood what she was doing when her then ex-boyfriend, Charles Graner, told her to hold a detainee by a dog leash. And she told the judge, "Well, I know he used to be a civilian prison guard, so I figured he knew what he was doing." All of this in hopes of her getting a lighter sentence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PFC LYNNDIE ENGLAND, U.S. ARMY: You think you're taking the right road, and it ends up being the wrong one. So...

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Lynndie England, now a young unwed mother after an affair at Abu Ghraib prison, wants to make a deal to avoid years behind bars herself. She was once called the poster child of the Iraqi prison scandal. Now the Army reservist from rural West Virginia is prepared to plead guilty, perhaps as early as today, in exchange for a shorter sentence.

England was a clerk, not a guard, at Abu Ghraib, and says she posed for the now infamous photos because her boyfriend, guard Charles Graner, asked her to do so. England talked about the photos in a Dutch television documentary.

In this one, seen holding a leash around a prisoner's neck, her defense? She was trying to help move him to another cell.

ENGLAND: It was a whole intimidation and tactic, you know? It was a mind game.

CANDIOTTI: And this photo, smiling, thumbs up, standing behind the notorious naked human pyramid.

ENGLAND: I thought it was odd, kind of weird. But it was kind of like, if everyone else is doing it, if they thought it was wrong then they would have stopped it.

CANDIOTTI: In her guilty plea, England admitted involvement in four incidents of prisoner abuse, including the naked pyramid, two counts of conspiracy, and one of sexual indecency. Her plea could carry a maximum sentence of 11 years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: And after the judge finishes questioning England, it is then up to him to accept or reject her guilty plea.

Now, there are signs that she seems to have worked out a cap during her plea deal in terms of putting a ceiling on the amount of time she would have to serve. Regardless, a jury will be seated tomorrow on Tuesday, and ultimately they will come back with a sentence. If it's lighter than the one she worked out, that could work in her favor -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Susan Candiotti, thank you so much.

Well, the Iraqi capital is reeling from another day of deadly violence. Four car bombs went off across Baghdad. The most deadly struck an upscale shopping district.

Nine civilians were killed, 12 were wounded in that attack. Dozens have been killed in a wave of attacks since Thursday when a partial new cabinet was announced.

CNN "Security Watch" begins with tensions building on the Korean peninsula. The White House says that North Korea test-fired a short range missile on Sunday. It splashed harmlessly into the sea. But CNN senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy sees a ripple effect around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CHINOY, CNN SR. ASIA CORRESPONDENT (voice over): So this is what the North Korean nuclear crisis has come to.

Here's President Bush...

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Kim Jong-il is a dangerous person.

CHINOY: Here's North Korea's official media. "The president," it said, "is a Philistine and a hooligan."

And here's the president's chief of staff...

ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Kim Jong Il is not a good leader.

CHINOY: With the new North Korean missile test and fears that underground nuclear tests could follow, Washington and Pyongyang are busy exchanging insults.

JIM WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Name calling is not a substitute for nonproliferation policy.

CHINOY: But insults seem to be the only game in town now. Diplomacy is going nowhere.

The north refuses to return to six-nation talks in Beijing, unless Washington apologizes for calling Kim Jong-il's regime a tyranny. That's unlikely to happen. And even if the talks resumed, the Bush administration won't bargain, insisting that the north agreed to give up its nukes first. That's not very likely either.

But the other options aren't any better. Squeezing North Korea's failed economy is one idea you hear in Washington, but there's little support in that in Beijing or Seoul. And there's no support in the region for a pre-emptive U.S. military strike, especially as the U.S. doesn't know where Pyongyang is hiding its nukes and the north would almost certainly retaliate.

(on camera): It is, in short, a dangerous deadlock, and while exchanging insults is better than exchanging missile fire, it's not bringing a solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis any closer.

Mike Chinoy, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A month-long review of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty is under way at the United Nations. The U.N. reviews that treaty every five years. Secretary Kofi Annan told today's opening session he welcomes the progress toward establishing a new nuclear weapon0free zone in central Asia.

CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.

Straight ahead, it's one of the parent's -- well, one of a parent's biggest fears. But now, when a child goes missing there is high-tech help available. And it's proving successful. We're going to show you how it works just ahead.

Targeting tunes to get your personal information, why music fans need to listen up.

And one of the Pentagon's top dogs postpones retirement in order to preserve national security. We'll make the rounds with Bill later on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now for an incredible rescue you'll see only on CNN. It happened at sea, and it happened about 25 miles off the coast of Somalia.

Almost 100 people tossed into the water when their vessel capsized. Rushing to their aid, U.S. and German warships in the area on a training exercise. Also, a real-life mission we'll tell you about.

And on the phone with us now, Lieutenant Commander Rich Butler, commanding officer of the USS Firebolt, just one of the ships involved in this incredible rescue.

Can you hear me OK, Lieutenant Commander?

LT. COMMANDER RICH BUTLER, USS FIREBOLT: I sure can. How are you doing?

PHILLIPS: Great. Thank you so much for joining us at the last minute.

We're actually looking at the videotape right now that you were able to take of this rescue mission. Tell me how you came across these individuals and how you reacted so quickly.

BUTLER: Well, the German ship, Karlsruhe, initially found her. And the freighter, with no response, went alongside and found that she was an overcrowded small boat.

We were immediately tasked to come assist. We're a relatively small and very maneuverable ship with a really -- a crew adapted to doing a number of different missions. But once we got there and we got our small boat in the water, and got it up to the dhow, we saw that there was at least 100 people inside and that she was in near- sinking state.

So we immediately put all hands to work to try to save as many people as we could, moved as many life vests as possible to the people, and tried our best to keep them calm. Eventually, though, the dhow -- the vessel succumbed to the waves and ended up in a (INAUDIBLE) situation where my crew and the embarked Coast Guard law enforcement detachment that was helping us do our operations out here did a superb job rescuing as many people as possible.

There was obviously a tragic loss of life, and we're very distraught about that. But we, you know, feel pretty, you know, blessed that we were on station to help as many people out as we could.

PHILLIPS: No -- and it's incredible just watching your sailors jump into the water and try to pluck these individuals out as quickly as possible and put them into your rafts. How many people -- the number I read was 94. Is that correct? And how many of those individuals indeed survived?

BUTLER: Well, we know for a fact that 86 people survived. And they're living to tell their tale. Six people are confirmed dead. We physically removed them from the -- from the water.

We tried to do our best with our corpsmen and the assistance of (INAUDIBLE) EMTs from the -- from the Coast Guard law enforcement detachments of both us and USS Typhoon and the medical staff from the German ship. We did our best, but we weren't able to revive them.

We're not sure exactly how many people were actually in the boat. The numbers range anywhere from around 100 to up to 135. I'm not actually sure if we'll ever know for sure. This -- this certainly was a very tragic event that -- that hopefully...

PHILLIPS: Rich -- do you know, Rich...

BUTLER: Yes? PHILLIPS: ... if these were Somalis that were trying to get to just a better life, trying to flee and get to another part of the country?

BUTLER: Yes, absolutely. They were trying to cross the Gulf of Aden to try to find work in Yemen, which is actually relatively common. Somalia is obviously not a very prosperous nation. And there's a lot of heartache that's been going on there for years.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. It's a tough life in that part of the country, as we well know.

Let me ask you about -- you also were very sensitive with regard to dealing with those that had passed. Tell me how you did that. One of the other COs was telling me you were actually doing some special reading to make sure you cared for the dead in a culturally sensitive way.

BUTLER: Yes. Actually, as the first responder, we were primarily concerned with the immediate safety of the guys. And the cruiser Normandy was only about 20 miles away, and she came up at best speed and was on scene with the rest of us within, you know, a matter of minutes.

And the captain there, Captain Hampton (ph), immediately sent personnel available, and he started moving people, including the deceased. And they were responsible in making sure that the burials were handled in accordance with Islamic tradition. So they did a superb -- superb job of that.

PHILLIPS: I remember being out in parts of the country here before the war, during the war, Rich. And I know you were out there for counterterrorism efforts and security efforts and trying to keep certain regions safe. But when you come across something like this, I mean, this is pretty much the ultimate mission for you, because it's about saving lives. And all of you train specifically for this.

BUTLER: Yes, actually, we do. Obviously in the last couple of years we've focused a lot on what our war fighting capability is. But one of the missions is to, you know, go assist mariners in distress. That's part of what the Navy does and the Coast Guard as well.

That's what we do for a living. We're out there to help people when we need to. And honestly, we prefer helping people rather than hurting them.

PHILLIPS: What's going to happen to the survivors now?

BUTLER: Well, we took them back into the Somali coast and we contacted the local authorities. And the cruiser did all that. We were there as escorts and to assist as needed.

And we used all of our small boats to make sure that the people safely got on board a vessel from the local authorities. So they were taken back into the harbor from whence they came. PHILLIPS: Well, this was an incredible story. Lieutenant Commander Rich Butler there. The USS Normandy, the USS Firebolt, and also the USS Typhoon involved in this rescue mission, in addition to a German frigate. Lieutenant Commander Butler, thank you so much for your time.

Eighty-six people saved in that mission off the Gulf of Aden.

Well, straight ahead on LIVE FROM, we're taking your e-mails about the case of the runaway bride. What would you do if you were the prosecutor? E-mail us at livefrom@cnn.com. We're going to have some of your answers straight ahead.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. If you're among the millions who download music, listen up. Computer hackers are branching out. I'll tell you about their latest targets next on LIVE FROM.

Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it seems that hackers have a new target, and it's not Microsoft for a change. Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us about the latest computer threat -- Susan.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: In the words of one Georgia official, there needs to be some type of retribution. But what that means for runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks remains unclear. While the mayor of Duluth, Georgia, says the search for Wilbanks may have cost as much as $100,000, the D.A. says he's looking into allegations of pre-planning and intent, as he considers whether to bring charges.

In Ft. Hood, Texas, one of the key defendants in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal pleads guilty to seven charges, all involving one of those infamous photos of detainee abuse. Reservist Lynndie England also pleading not guilty to two other charges today. CNN's learned that if the judge accepts the plea deal, England could face as little as two years in prison.

A relentless toll in Iraq. Officials say 12 Iraqis were killed today, 44 wounded, in a deadly wave of car bombings. In Baghdad, there were four blasts in separate locations, two more explosions in Mosul. Today's attacks continue a violent insurgent backlash that erupted after new cabinet officials were announced on Thursday.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 2, 2005 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Will the runaway bride face any criminal charges? Within the last hour, police in Duluth, Georgia, announce that they are still trying to decide. What do you think should happen? We're live on the story and taking your e-mails this hour.
Saving lives at sea. Almost 100 people plucked from the water miles from shore. The Navy captain who headed it up takes us inside the rescue.

Answering the call of his trainers and U.S. Air Force, an elderly veteran of 9/11 puts off retirement to help national security.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Philips. Miles is on assignment. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

It was a mystery, a sensation, finally a hoax. But was it a crime? A Georgia woman's disappearance days before her lavish wedding and her brief and shaky claim she had been kidnapped when she surfaced in New Mexico could yet result in criminal charges.

CNN's Charles Molineaux is still on the case of the runaway bride in Duluth, just up the interstate from Atlanta.

What do you know, Charles?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, as we just saw a few minutes ago, the police here in Duluth, Georgia, as well as the FBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the district attorney, are all putting their heads together still this afternoon, plotting out what they are going to do next, and whether there will in fact be any criminal charges against this runaway bride, establishing what the law says and how it is they're going to move forward. Of course this is still, as we have been saying, at the heart of it just a case of somebody who, well, got cold feet and took off, but then set off a wild search and frantic few days that involved the whole community.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOLINEAUX (voice-over): At about the same time Jennifer Wilbanks had been scheduled to walk up the aisle, she was hustling through an airport, halfway across the country, covered in a blanket instead of a veil. Her disappearance Tuesday triggered a search by police and volunteers in her home town of Duluth, Georgia.

Early Saturday, Wilbanks' family and her anxious fiance, John Mason, cheered at the news she had turned up safe with an incredible story. From this Albuquerque 7-Eleven, she called 911.

JENNIFER WILBANKS: I was kidnapped earlier this week and I'm here now.

MOLINEAUX: Within hours, celebration turned into shock when police announced she made the kidnapping up and had taken off to Las Vegas and then Albuquerque by bus.

CHIEF RAY SCHULTZ, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, POLICE: Agents and detectives learned that Ms. Wilbanks had become scared and concerned about her pending marriage and decided that she needed some time alone.

MIKE SATTERFIELD, WILBANKS' UNCLE: It has been determined that Jennifer has some issues the family was not aware of.

MOLINEAUX: Wilbanks' mortified family lapsed into silence. Some neighbors were furious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very angry with her for doing that to her family and to the city of Duluth.

MOLINEAUX: And a source who has been briefed on the investigation tells CNN this may have been planned, that Wilbanks bought her bus ticket several days in advance, prearranged transportation to the bus station, and cut her hair to avoid being recognized. On Sunday, the congregation of the couple's church prayed for them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously she was going through a lot of things that none of us knew about. And you -- there's a lot of people around her, and nobody saw that.

CHARLIE HALL, PARISHIONER: I'm happy that she's doing OK and the family can just work out what they need to. And it will be all right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MOLINEAUX: Well, one big part of the bottom line in this case may actually be the bottom line. The city of Duluth is still adding up the cost of that huge search for the missing runaway bride. The clerk is still working on the numbers and crunching the figures out, but the mayor says, by her best guesstimates, the figures run around $100,000 -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Charles Molineaux, thank you so much.

And if you were the prosecutor looking at the Jennifer Wilbanks' case, what would you do? Email us. Our address is livefrom@cnn.com. Tonight at 10:00 Eastern, "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN" goes beyond the headlines and takes an in-depth look at the twists and turns of the runaway bride case, plus other high-profile hoaxes.

A military jury will decide what Lynndie England deserves for admittedly mistreating Iraqi detainees. Just over a year after the petite private 1st class turned up in revolting photographs from Abu Ghraib prison, she pleaded guilty to seven of the nine counts against her.

CNN's Susan Candiotti has the story now from Fort Hood, Texas -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

Lynndie England is now back in court while a judge continues to ask her questions to make sure she understands her guilty plea. That includes seven counts of conspiracy, abuse, and performing an indecent act, all of these having to do with photographs. One in particular where she poses before a row of naked detainees, mocking them as they are performing a sex act.

Now, at one point the judge asked her if she understood what she was doing when her then ex-boyfriend, Charles Graner, told her to hold a detainee by a dog leash. And she told the judge, "Well, I know he used to be a civilian prison guard, so I figured he knew what he was doing." All of this in hopes of her getting a lighter sentence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PFC LYNNDIE ENGLAND, U.S. ARMY: You think you're taking the right road, and it ends up being the wrong one. So...

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Lynndie England, now a young unwed mother after an affair at Abu Ghraib prison, wants to make a deal to avoid years behind bars herself. She was once called the poster child of the Iraqi prison scandal. Now the Army reservist from rural West Virginia is prepared to plead guilty, perhaps as early as today, in exchange for a shorter sentence.

England was a clerk, not a guard, at Abu Ghraib, and says she posed for the now infamous photos because her boyfriend, guard Charles Graner, asked her to do so. England talked about the photos in a Dutch television documentary.

In this one, seen holding a leash around a prisoner's neck, her defense? She was trying to help move him to another cell.

ENGLAND: It was a whole intimidation and tactic, you know? It was a mind game.

CANDIOTTI: And this photo, smiling, thumbs up, standing behind the notorious naked human pyramid.

ENGLAND: I thought it was odd, kind of weird. But it was kind of like, if everyone else is doing it, if they thought it was wrong then they would have stopped it.

CANDIOTTI: In her guilty plea, England admitted involvement in four incidents of prisoner abuse, including the naked pyramid, two counts of conspiracy, and one of sexual indecency. Her plea could carry a maximum sentence of 11 years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: And after the judge finishes questioning England, it is then up to him to accept or reject her guilty plea.

Now, there are signs that she seems to have worked out a cap during her plea deal in terms of putting a ceiling on the amount of time she would have to serve. Regardless, a jury will be seated tomorrow on Tuesday, and ultimately they will come back with a sentence. If it's lighter than the one she worked out, that could work in her favor -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Susan Candiotti, thank you so much.

Well, the Iraqi capital is reeling from another day of deadly violence. Four car bombs went off across Baghdad. The most deadly struck an upscale shopping district.

Nine civilians were killed, 12 were wounded in that attack. Dozens have been killed in a wave of attacks since Thursday when a partial new cabinet was announced.

CNN "Security Watch" begins with tensions building on the Korean peninsula. The White House says that North Korea test-fired a short range missile on Sunday. It splashed harmlessly into the sea. But CNN senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy sees a ripple effect around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CHINOY, CNN SR. ASIA CORRESPONDENT (voice over): So this is what the North Korean nuclear crisis has come to.

Here's President Bush...

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Kim Jong-il is a dangerous person.

CHINOY: Here's North Korea's official media. "The president," it said, "is a Philistine and a hooligan."

And here's the president's chief of staff...

ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Kim Jong Il is not a good leader.

CHINOY: With the new North Korean missile test and fears that underground nuclear tests could follow, Washington and Pyongyang are busy exchanging insults.

JIM WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Name calling is not a substitute for nonproliferation policy.

CHINOY: But insults seem to be the only game in town now. Diplomacy is going nowhere.

The north refuses to return to six-nation talks in Beijing, unless Washington apologizes for calling Kim Jong-il's regime a tyranny. That's unlikely to happen. And even if the talks resumed, the Bush administration won't bargain, insisting that the north agreed to give up its nukes first. That's not very likely either.

But the other options aren't any better. Squeezing North Korea's failed economy is one idea you hear in Washington, but there's little support in that in Beijing or Seoul. And there's no support in the region for a pre-emptive U.S. military strike, especially as the U.S. doesn't know where Pyongyang is hiding its nukes and the north would almost certainly retaliate.

(on camera): It is, in short, a dangerous deadlock, and while exchanging insults is better than exchanging missile fire, it's not bringing a solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis any closer.

Mike Chinoy, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A month-long review of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty is under way at the United Nations. The U.N. reviews that treaty every five years. Secretary Kofi Annan told today's opening session he welcomes the progress toward establishing a new nuclear weapon0free zone in central Asia.

CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.

Straight ahead, it's one of the parent's -- well, one of a parent's biggest fears. But now, when a child goes missing there is high-tech help available. And it's proving successful. We're going to show you how it works just ahead.

Targeting tunes to get your personal information, why music fans need to listen up.

And one of the Pentagon's top dogs postpones retirement in order to preserve national security. We'll make the rounds with Bill later on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now for an incredible rescue you'll see only on CNN. It happened at sea, and it happened about 25 miles off the coast of Somalia.

Almost 100 people tossed into the water when their vessel capsized. Rushing to their aid, U.S. and German warships in the area on a training exercise. Also, a real-life mission we'll tell you about.

And on the phone with us now, Lieutenant Commander Rich Butler, commanding officer of the USS Firebolt, just one of the ships involved in this incredible rescue.

Can you hear me OK, Lieutenant Commander?

LT. COMMANDER RICH BUTLER, USS FIREBOLT: I sure can. How are you doing?

PHILLIPS: Great. Thank you so much for joining us at the last minute.

We're actually looking at the videotape right now that you were able to take of this rescue mission. Tell me how you came across these individuals and how you reacted so quickly.

BUTLER: Well, the German ship, Karlsruhe, initially found her. And the freighter, with no response, went alongside and found that she was an overcrowded small boat.

We were immediately tasked to come assist. We're a relatively small and very maneuverable ship with a really -- a crew adapted to doing a number of different missions. But once we got there and we got our small boat in the water, and got it up to the dhow, we saw that there was at least 100 people inside and that she was in near- sinking state.

So we immediately put all hands to work to try to save as many people as we could, moved as many life vests as possible to the people, and tried our best to keep them calm. Eventually, though, the dhow -- the vessel succumbed to the waves and ended up in a (INAUDIBLE) situation where my crew and the embarked Coast Guard law enforcement detachment that was helping us do our operations out here did a superb job rescuing as many people as possible.

There was obviously a tragic loss of life, and we're very distraught about that. But we, you know, feel pretty, you know, blessed that we were on station to help as many people out as we could.

PHILLIPS: No -- and it's incredible just watching your sailors jump into the water and try to pluck these individuals out as quickly as possible and put them into your rafts. How many people -- the number I read was 94. Is that correct? And how many of those individuals indeed survived?

BUTLER: Well, we know for a fact that 86 people survived. And they're living to tell their tale. Six people are confirmed dead. We physically removed them from the -- from the water.

We tried to do our best with our corpsmen and the assistance of (INAUDIBLE) EMTs from the -- from the Coast Guard law enforcement detachments of both us and USS Typhoon and the medical staff from the German ship. We did our best, but we weren't able to revive them.

We're not sure exactly how many people were actually in the boat. The numbers range anywhere from around 100 to up to 135. I'm not actually sure if we'll ever know for sure. This -- this certainly was a very tragic event that -- that hopefully...

PHILLIPS: Rich -- do you know, Rich...

BUTLER: Yes? PHILLIPS: ... if these were Somalis that were trying to get to just a better life, trying to flee and get to another part of the country?

BUTLER: Yes, absolutely. They were trying to cross the Gulf of Aden to try to find work in Yemen, which is actually relatively common. Somalia is obviously not a very prosperous nation. And there's a lot of heartache that's been going on there for years.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. It's a tough life in that part of the country, as we well know.

Let me ask you about -- you also were very sensitive with regard to dealing with those that had passed. Tell me how you did that. One of the other COs was telling me you were actually doing some special reading to make sure you cared for the dead in a culturally sensitive way.

BUTLER: Yes. Actually, as the first responder, we were primarily concerned with the immediate safety of the guys. And the cruiser Normandy was only about 20 miles away, and she came up at best speed and was on scene with the rest of us within, you know, a matter of minutes.

And the captain there, Captain Hampton (ph), immediately sent personnel available, and he started moving people, including the deceased. And they were responsible in making sure that the burials were handled in accordance with Islamic tradition. So they did a superb -- superb job of that.

PHILLIPS: I remember being out in parts of the country here before the war, during the war, Rich. And I know you were out there for counterterrorism efforts and security efforts and trying to keep certain regions safe. But when you come across something like this, I mean, this is pretty much the ultimate mission for you, because it's about saving lives. And all of you train specifically for this.

BUTLER: Yes, actually, we do. Obviously in the last couple of years we've focused a lot on what our war fighting capability is. But one of the missions is to, you know, go assist mariners in distress. That's part of what the Navy does and the Coast Guard as well.

That's what we do for a living. We're out there to help people when we need to. And honestly, we prefer helping people rather than hurting them.

PHILLIPS: What's going to happen to the survivors now?

BUTLER: Well, we took them back into the Somali coast and we contacted the local authorities. And the cruiser did all that. We were there as escorts and to assist as needed.

And we used all of our small boats to make sure that the people safely got on board a vessel from the local authorities. So they were taken back into the harbor from whence they came. PHILLIPS: Well, this was an incredible story. Lieutenant Commander Rich Butler there. The USS Normandy, the USS Firebolt, and also the USS Typhoon involved in this rescue mission, in addition to a German frigate. Lieutenant Commander Butler, thank you so much for your time.

Eighty-six people saved in that mission off the Gulf of Aden.

Well, straight ahead on LIVE FROM, we're taking your e-mails about the case of the runaway bride. What would you do if you were the prosecutor? E-mail us at livefrom@cnn.com. We're going to have some of your answers straight ahead.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. If you're among the millions who download music, listen up. Computer hackers are branching out. I'll tell you about their latest targets next on LIVE FROM.

Stay tuned.

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PHILLIPS: Well, it seems that hackers have a new target, and it's not Microsoft for a change. Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us about the latest computer threat -- Susan.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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PHILLIPS: In the words of one Georgia official, there needs to be some type of retribution. But what that means for runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks remains unclear. While the mayor of Duluth, Georgia, says the search for Wilbanks may have cost as much as $100,000, the D.A. says he's looking into allegations of pre-planning and intent, as he considers whether to bring charges.

In Ft. Hood, Texas, one of the key defendants in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal pleads guilty to seven charges, all involving one of those infamous photos of detainee abuse. Reservist Lynndie England also pleading not guilty to two other charges today. CNN's learned that if the judge accepts the plea deal, England could face as little as two years in prison.

A relentless toll in Iraq. Officials say 12 Iraqis were killed today, 44 wounded, in a deadly wave of car bombings. In Baghdad, there were four blasts in separate locations, two more explosions in Mosul. Today's attacks continue a violent insurgent backlash that erupted after new cabinet officials were announced on Thursday.

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