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AT&T Sets Sights on DirecTV; Californians Can Return Home; "The New York Times" Dealing with Fallout From a High Profile Dismissal; Clashes Breaking Out Near Slovyansk; How Much Privacy Do Any of Us Really Have?; Investigators Suspect Arson Involved in Some California Fires; Battle of Sonya's Adoption Finally Over

Aired May 18, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. These are the stories that are topping our news this hour.

AT&T sets its sights on America's biggest satellite TV provider. A merger that could affect tens of millions of you and your cable auction.

And thousands of Californians who have been forced from their homes for days because of raging wildfires finally get a break while the battle against the flames takes a turn.

And private moments suddenly becoming very public, not just for the celebrities but everybody. It's happening to an increasing number of high profile people in particular and ordinary citizens. Privacy rights, what you need to know in this age of high-technology and social med media.

A huge merger is in the works today and it could involve your cable provider. Telecom giant AT&T is expected to meet to finalize a deal to acquire satellite provider, DirecTV, according to a source who knows about the meeting. And if it goes through, that deal will be worth about $50 billion.

AT&T and DirecTV are both staying quiet on this for now but sources say the announcement could come as early as this afternoon.

So, cable customers are wondering, how does this affect me? For more on that, I'm joined now by Brian Stelter, the host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."

Good to see you again, Brian. So, how is this potentially going to affect customers?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: Well we're talking about so many people that would be affected by this. One in four people who are watching us right now have DirecTV or AT&T television. About a hundred million households in the United States that have some form of cable or at light. About 20 million of those are DirecTV subscribers all across the country, particularly in rural areas where you might not be able to get a wired cable subscription in the ground. Another five million or so have AT&T television service. AT&T though hasn't had a very strong time expanding its television service. This is going to let them do it. Now they're going to own one out of four households that have their TV service.

WHITFIELD: That's incredible. All right. So for folks who are ready, say have cable, how might this kind of open up options for them? Because, you know, a lot of folks will complain that cable prices are so high. And now with another option like this, what could it mean?

STELTER: Well, you know, what we're seeing is a trend toward consolidation, towards viewer options, Comcast and Time Warner cable are in the process of merging. The government is reviewing possible mergers now. And the government will also have to review this deal between AT&T and DirecTV.

But in cases like this, the companies don't go forward unless they believe they're going to get it through the government regulators. I was able to take a look at the portion of the internal presentation for shareholders in this deal. I was able to get my hands on it this morning. And it make clear, they believe it will pass muster.

Let me read you this most interesting quote from this internal document. It says the transaction will create content distribution leader across mobile, video and broad band.

What is that mean? What that mean is that you can get your AT&T wireless phone service, you can get your television subscription and you can get your internet access all from the same company.

AT&T is thinking about that in the same way that the same way Comcast is because everything is merging into an internet pipeline. We're going to get all of our content, a phone call or a video program like this via our internet connection and AT&T is trying to look down that road and be prepared.

WHITFIELD: So, the consolidation could be a very good thing for customers but is there a downside to this potential merger?

STELTER: When you a case like this you never expect price to go down. Comcast has actually been pretty honest about that in their efforts to merge with Time Warner cable. There is nothing about that deal that would imply prices will go down. I don't think there's anything in the AT&T DirecTV deal that would imply that either. But what you have to hope for in a merger like this, the pro-consumer view would be it would make more television available in easier ways that ever.

The negative side, the anti-consumer point of view would be fewer option to get your internet, to get your phone and get your TV. And that is will right to look at. By the way, I think we'll get an announcement about this in coming hours, maybe this evening, definitely no later than tomorrow morning. And like I said, $50 billion, it will be a very big deal.

WHITFIELD: Huge. Very big. All right, Brian Stelter, thank so much. Good to see you again. STELTER: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, now to southern California where firefighters are making big leaps in their battle against several raging fires. Four are still spreading in San Diego County. But cooler temperatures in (INAUDIBLE) community are helping crews put out the flames and that is allowing many people living right in fire's path to return home. Some of them described their experiences as they rushed to evacuate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HULSE, RESIDENT: There was just smoke coming up over the wall and we grabbed the computer and a couple pictures, the dogs and took off.

HALEY HULSE, RESIDENT: It's been hard. It's like moving back and forth and back to one place and then to another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, meteorologist Alexandra Steele back with us monitoring the conditions. How is it looking?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well are going to see an improvement. It's short term. Weather wise we'll see an improvement. What has happened, an area of low pressure here has developed off the California coast. This counterclockwise flow now changing the wind direction from what we have seen in the past couple of weeks. Southwesterly winds bring in that moisture in off to pacific and increasing the humidity.

So finally we're seeing some increased values. Here is in the state today and into tonight, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, so check on the humidity value. Dew points is coming up, humidity is coming up. And notice too, we've had this ridge in place. We haven't had any rain. Now with the ridge eradicated we're seeing some rain begin to come in. See that? That's in northern California. That's not going to get quite as far south as southern California, it is kind of the battles of the fire, but certainly moisture is coming in.

Also temperatures have been exuberantly high, in the 90s. Now temperatures have dropped in the 70s. So temperatures coming down, humidity values coming up. So the weather forecast in the short term is certainly favorable. Bu the problem is the fire forecast. It's let so. Because this year alone, we've doubled the five-year average for fires. Last year California had its driest year on record. This year, last Thursday, first time in an entire century that the entire state was in a severe drought or worse yet.

So Fred, short term it's OK. We're going to see some changes, but the longer term, the stage is set. We've had three very dry winters. So the wet season hasn't been wet. So drought begets drought. We're in a hole here.

WHITFIELD: That really underscores the worry.

All right, thanks so much Alexandra.

STEELE: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right, "the New York Times" is now dealing with the fallout from a high profile dismissal, the publisher of the times is disputing claims that sexism fueled the firing of his executive editor saying Jill Abramson was dismissed for performance issues and nothing else. Abram sob hasn't spoken publicly about it. This is also opening up a conversation about women in media and in executive level positions.

Here's Jean Casarez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, IN SESSION (voice-over): In one day, proof of how far women have come and how far some say they still need to go on the job. TV trail blazer Barbara Walters retiring after over 50 years in broadcasting. But as the first female network co- anchor, she wasn't always welcome.

BARBARA WALTERS, BROADCAST JOURNALIST: I had great difficulties and it was a very difficult and unhappy experience.

STELTER: She's talked about how she was the flop as the first female co-anchor of Nightly News cast and how the mail co-anchor undermined her every chance he got. Those kinds of barrier that she was breaking down decades ago.

JILL ABRAMSON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I'm honored to be the first woman to serve as executive editor.

CASAREZ: At the same time another female pioneer gets the ax. Jill Abramson, executive editor of the "The New York Times" since 2011. The speculation as to why. A national conversation with some wondering does America have a problem with powerful women and female bosses?

It turns out to female CEOs are forced out of their jobs more often than their male counter parts. A recent study found 11 percent more.

The "The New York Times" says the decision was made because of an issue with management. NPR's media reporter said some who worked with her found her to be brusque, even to the point of rudeness.

And close associates are telling the New Yorker that she confronted top brass after finding out that she was making less money than her made predecessor.

The speculation became so rampant, the publisher of "the Times" issued an internal memo saying, compensation played no part whatsoever in my decision that Jill could not remain as executive editor.

Abramson isn't talking publicly about her ouster, but her daughter posted this picture of her on Instagram, referencing criticism of her mother's character with the hash tag pushy. Another female first. Hillary Clinton close to clinching the Democrat nomination for presidency in 2008 but not close enough. In her concession speech she referenced the struggles even the most powerful women face.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Although we weren't able to shatter that highest hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you it's got about 18 million cracks in it.

CASAREZ: But cracks in the glass ceiling may be replaced with the glass cliff for women who do break through, begging the question whether for women getting to the top is only half the battle.

Jean Casarez CNN New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And coming up, social media, drones, surveillance cameras. We'll look at why you don't have to be a celebrity to wonder whether you have any privacy left at all.

And then in Ukraine, the pro-Russian separatists are putting out a call for more man power as violence heats up. We'll ask an expert what the U.S. could or should do now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, to Ukraine now. Today, rebel leaders are appealing for more fighter to join the insurgency. Clashes have broken out near Slovyansk where the Ukrainian army set up the check points. The U.N. says 127 have died since the pro-Russian separatists took up arms in April.

The latest flare ups come after the recent referendum on independence for eastern Ukraine. The Russian foreign ministry is calling on the government to end its attack on the separatists. Each side blames the other for torture and targeted killing and other human rights violation.

Let's expand our conversation with Christopher Hill. He's the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and the head of the Korbel School of international studies at the University of Denver.

Good to see you again. All right. It seems as if we've reached and stalemate in Ukraine. How do you see it? Do you see either side really taking charge?

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: Well, first of all, I don't see the Russians having quite the appetite to annex other slices of Ukraine. So that's somewhat of an improvement, whether the Russians have decided to pull back a little, whether sanctions have had some impact on their thinking. Hard to say. But they don't seem to want to go to route of over annexation at this point.

What they haven't done though is close off any option to do that. And I think it's pretty clear that they're continuing to have trouble among these rebels. I think the real question will be Kiev is able to get through this May 25th election and whether they are able to continue this process of reaching out to eastern Ukraine and come up with governance solutions. As you know, there's discussions about whether it should be a federalized structure or whether it should be a structure that actually does have more autonomy to it but doesn't go the whole route of federalization. So I think that type of process is probably the right direction and we should be encouraging that.

WHITFIELD: So the international community and the U.S. has expanded, intensified sanctions. Is there anything more that the U.S. could do?

HILL: I'm not sure there's much more we could do in the area of sanctions. And the tension with sanctions is the more we push on it, the more chance we start having problems with our European allies. I think a key ingredient in our entire response to this has been to work closely with our European allies. So we want to be a little careful that we don't push too hard on sanctions and then lose that solidarity.

I think it's also been very important to shore up these sort of eastern flank of NATO. You know, I spent four years as U.S. ambassador to Poland. And for Poland, it's very important that we be present there in NATO. And I think we've done a pretty good job of that and I think having President Obama soon going to Poland will be further a sign of our commitment to those countries.

WHITFIELD: And with elections in Ukraine next week, any concerns that you might have? Do you worry about people voting more than once like we saw in last week's elections or even that people would be intimidated?

HILL: Well there will be some of the latter. People don't usually steal elections on retail basis. So I'm not too concerned about the double voting or something. I'm more concerned about incidents of intimidation that in turn try to kind of taint the entire election process. And clearly the Russian, while seem not to go the route of annexation at this point are quite happy to make problems for the Ukrainians.

WHITFIELD: All right, Christopher Hill. Thank you so much. Good to see you

HILL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Olympic track star Lolo Jones have been ranked and one of the best in the world, but she says something is still missing, a gold medal. What she says to her critics about that in my face-to-face interview with her coming up.

And it seems celebrities can't go anywhere without cameras following them. But what about the rest of us? Is there any privacy left, whether it be in the elevator or just out in public? Anything? I'll ask our legal lady to weigh in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. A private moment suddenly made public from the phone conversation to what happens in an elevator. It can be pretty embarrassing. Or in the case of Donald Sterling, downright damaging. And yet it keeps happening over and over.

Celebrities and public figures assuming something is private just before it ends up online and in a very public way. So, how much privacy do any of us really have?

Jean Casarez takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ (voice-over): From a private conversation --

DONALD STERLING, L.A. CLIPPERS OWNER: Well then, if you don't feel, don't come in my games. Don't bring black people and don't come.

CASAREZ: To an alleged elevator brawl. Is nothing private anymore?

ALLAN MAYER, 42 WEST PR FIRM: Well, there might be a right to privacy but there's no reality to privacy anymore.

CASAREZ: Donald Sterling said he had no idea his conversation with V. Stiviano was being recorded.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, AC360: Did you know you were being recorded?

STERLING: No. Of course not. Now, I just wish I could ask her why. And if she was just setting me up, I think that people say she was taping me for two years.

CASAREZ: Sterling's fellow NBA owner Mark Cuban who never shied away from the limelight said the red light of the camera is always on no matter where you are.

MARK CUBAN, DALLAS MAVERICK OWNER: First of all, you have no privacy, you know, from the little things like license plate cameras to walking down the streets, there's sensors everywhere, there's cameras everywhere.

CASAREZ: Case in point, what seemed to be a private elevator ride in New York Standard Hotel turns out to be anything but when TMZ posts the security video purportedly showing Beyonce's sister Solange attacking Jay-Z, kicking him multiple times.

Entertainment attorney Jeff Biederman says expectation of privacy in an elevator may not be warranted.

JEFF BIEDERMAN, ENTERTAINMENT ATTORNEY: You've raised the question of being in someone's home. You know, that's a different level of privacy to expect and say an elevator which is a public place, anybody can enter that and of course, many elevators in modern building do have cameras. CASAREZ: Security cameras are ubiquitous capturing our every move yet most people never feel their privacy violated because the pictures never go public. But when the famous and the powerful are involved, the right to privacy is often trumped by the public's appetite for the tape.

But Mark Cuban says celebrities have learned to expect the kind of exposure and now you should too.

CUBAN: I'll give you another perfect example that should terrify you, right? That you tweet, that you post on Pinterest, that you have public postings on facebook, all of that information and you footprint know more about you than you know more about you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Jane Casarez reporting. Thanks so much.

So, there is a question of how much privacy do any of us really have. Let me bring in our legal ladies, Mo Ivory is an attorney and radio personality and Carrie Hackett is a criminal defense attorney.

Good to see both of you.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: OK. So Carrie, you first. You know, is the definition of privacy changing or does it have to change now that that we've got, you know, cameras and phones everywhere?

CARRIE HACKETT, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think that there's a big difference between our subjective understanding and thoughts about what should be private and what legally is private. There is very little legally that is actually private pretty much in our homes that should be private.

Here in Georgia, a conversation between two people can be recorded and you might not even know that that other person is reporting you and that is not a violation of breach of your privacy. So very little is actually legally private.

WHITFIELD: So then, you know, when people are in an elevator, in a, you know, whether it's a private business or a public building, you cannot expect that you're having a private moment with whether you're a celebrity or not, in the elevator. I mean, it really is out of your control.

MO IVORY, ATTORNEY: Well, there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in an elevator.

WHITFIELD: To what degree?

IVORY: OK. So, for example, they put the cameras high up so you're not at eye level.

WHITFIELD: So, they're there for security. IVORY: There for protection and a valid business reason, right? So you're not allowed to have audio in elevators because that would violate federal wired tapping laws. And a lot of times they do black and white. You hardly ever see a color video from a camera in an elevator because it's to sort of give everybody in the elevator a little bit of privacy. So, it's a reasonable expectation but not a huge one. It is a public place.

WHITFIELD: So indicate that Beyonce, Jay-Z, Solange, they're identifiable, maybe because the person who supplied the tape said guess what, let me tell you who's on there. But beyond that, if Beyonce, Jay-Z, Solange were to say, you know, we're ready to sue, you know, the Standard Hotel because this violates our privacy, would you have grounds in which to do so?

HACKETT: No, I don't believe so. And I think it depends too on what the hotel holds themselves out as providing. I mean, if the hotel contractually with their guests say yes you can have an expectation of privacy in our elevators, then certainly.

IVORY: Very few hotels (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: So, what is happening now when you have cameras everywhere, you've got, you know, whether it be audio or visual, surveillance, and it may be there for security reason or it may be that folks are, you know, got their cell phones and they can do or record anything. You are walking in a park or anything. People decide they want to videotape it. You, because you're in a public space cannot expect that you have a private moment.

IVORY: No.

WHITFIELD: Your image is private.

IVORY: You know, when you're public and you're just out walking on the street and people are recording, you have no expectation of privacy. Now, when you were in the bathroom or a dressing room or a fitting room, anything like that, you do have an expectation of privacy. But out in public, and you know, I think the way we've dealt with social media and the way we've put all of our business out, we sort of have diluted the idea of privacy.

So, there's the street law which is like what's really happening and then the law to fit it into what has become the societal norm.

WHITFIELD: Do you think the law is going to be changing, laws have been put in place with the embedded, you know, the internet et cetera. But now privacy, our space what we have to expect. All of that has to change or is changing.

HACKETT: I think people want those laws to change to protect privacy interests. But I think particularly with celebrities or people that are in if public eye, I think at this point, you really can have no real expectation of privacy.

WHITFIELD: All right. IVORY: And Donald Sterling, I mean, you know, there we go, right?

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: There is a lot to talk about in there.

IVORY: There's a lot to talk about with privacy, yes.

WHITFIELD: OK, very good. Mo, Carrie, thank you so much.

All right, out west firefighters are actually getting closer. Some good news to putting out all of the fires burning in the San Diego county area. We'll take you high above the planes where the military choppers are battling the hot spots.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Bottom of the hour now. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome back. Here are the big stories crossing the CNN news desk right now.

Outrage is growing over a death sentence for a pregnant woman who refuses to renounce or Christian faith. Now the government of Sudan said it is reviewing the sentence and nothing is final yet. The Sudanese court says that the 27-year-old woman is Muslim even though she says she's a Christian. She was found guilty last week ago of abandoning her Muslim faith and also adultery for marrying a Christian man. She's in prison, eight months pregnant and she is also with her 20-month-old toddler.

Eight people are hospitalized after a bus crash in the Boston area. The transit bus slammed into a guardrail over the Massachusetts turn pike (ph) in Newton around 7:30 this morning. Seven passengers and the driver were hurt. And police say none of the injuries are life threatening. No word yet on the cause of the crash.

And it may with the largest ever dinosaur discovery. Could it be? A museum in Argentina has unveiled what they're calling seven tyrannosaurs (ph). Experts think each one was about 130 feet long weighing 180,000 pounds. That's about the weight of 14 elephants and as long as two tractor-trailers. The discovery dates back to about 95 million years ago.

And what a day for Devon Walker, once a star safety at Tulane University until he was paralyzed on the field. He refused to allow that devastating injury to end his dreams. The saints actually signed him to a contract yesterday after graduation. The coach calling him an inspiration. Walker did graduate from Tulane with a degree in cell and molecular biology. Congrats to him.

All right. Officials in San Marcos California have just lifted an evacuation order for people living in the path of a fire that's now 85 percent contained. Cooler weather and calmer winds are helping the firefighters in their battle against that fire and three others still burning in San Diego County. More than 27,000 have been scorched. One evacuee who is back in her home described her emotions. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To see my home, oh, it's just such a relief. I feel so bad for the ones that lost everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Indra Peterson get an up close look of the battle happening high above the flames.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

INDRA PETERSONS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the airstrip that the marines use to battle the blazes. In all, they dropped the half of million gallons of water on a 150 And we, just went along for one of the.

A wall of flames closing in on an airstrip, a military base under siege.

COL. WILL HOOPER, 3RD MARINE AIRCRAFT WING: I watched as this marched from half a mile away almost to within 200 meters of us and I could feel the heat on my face as this thing approached.

PETERSONS: Enter the third marine aircraft wing and 22 helicopters ready to battle the flames. On this flight, we're headed for a lake on the base with a 300 gallon bucket in tow. Our chopper is guided by a crew team, manning a door in the chopper floor known as the hell hole.

From our window you can see the delicate balance as other choppers lower toward the lake, our pilot does the same lowering the bucket until it's submerged. Once it's full, we head to the fire line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can see how badly buttered this is area is after these fires.

PETERSONS: Again, using the hell hole and a lot of precision, the crew chief spots the right moment the make the drop. On his signal the water is released. In all, these choppers made over than 900 drops.

As the fires peak, Captain Bradley Gibson pulled it off with zero visibility.

CAPT. BRADLEY GIBSON, PILOT: You see your lead aircraft go into smoke and he just disappears. You don't know if this is going straight ahead. You don't know if he is coming after left. You don't know if he got his bucket dropped off or not. So, t best you can do is hope.

PETERSONS: The smoke so intense it cut off the main water supply on the base forcing the crews to look elsewhere. This video show a marine chopper hovering over the Pacific Ocean.

HOOPER: Actually, reassuring that these my neighborhood. PETERSONS: These marines don't just fight fires on Camp Pendleton but in nearby communities. In some cases water drops like these are to protect even their own homes.

HOOPER: You knew if you had confident. And it can grow, you know, I can call home, call the wife and say, hey, the neighborhood looks good.

PETERSONS: Their water drops these marines couldn't make in 2003 when the massive cedar wildfire killed 20 people. Today, new policies have united the marines with local firefighters.

HOOPER: So rather than having to go back to Washington, D.C. to launch aircraft to fight these fires, the local commanders here can make the determination that there's an immediate threat to life and property and we had our aircraft airborne inside of hours.

PETERSONS: Immediate action helping marines' safe property and lives. In this case, those lives were their own.

You just went along on one ride. But in all, these marines have spent 250 hours in the air fighting these braces. It helped them get the upper hand on the fire. And the cooler weather is only expected to help even further.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Indra Peterson.

Investigators suspect arson may be involved with some of the fires. Three people are under arrest and one of them have been charged.

Next, a little girl caught up in the middle f of a custody fight. Does staying with her adoptive parents or going with the biological dad best to benefit her? Which one?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: For almost seven years it was the only home and the only parents a little girl had known. But one day a stranger showed up and took her away after a court's ruling. That man was her biological dad who she did not know.

As CNN's Randi Kaye reports, this heartbreaking legal battle may change everything you thought you knew about adoption.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the sound of a 9- year-old girl begging to return to the only home she'd ever known.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did you say, baby doll?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want you to come and get me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just stay strong and everything is going to be OK. OK?

KAYE: That was the last time Sonya's adoptive parents heard her voice, January 30th. Sonya had been removed from their home, her home in Tennessee the day before. But why? Sonya had been in the care of David and Kim Hodgin since before she was two and adopted by the Hodgins back in 2008.

When the adoption became final, how thrilled were the two of you?

KIN HODGIN, SONYA'S ADOPTED MOTHER: We was ecstatic, so happy.

KAYE: But that joy was short lived and here is why. Sonya's birth father, John McCaul is a convicted criminal. He fled guilty to transporting firearms, a felony and was sentenced to 15 years in to federal prison. Under Tennessee law his rights were automatically terminated because state law doesn't allow anyone incarcerated for more than ten years to have right to a child under 8-years-old.

But before his daughter's adoption were finalized, he cut a deal and got his sentence reduced to seven and a half years. That deal and lesser sentence allowed him to assert his parental rights and fight to reverse the adoption that was later finalized.

K. HODGIN: She's never laid eyes on this man. He's a total stranger.

KAYE: That total stranger managed to convince the court to reconsider. In November 2009, one year and 12 days after she'd been legally adopted, Sonya's adoption was reversed. But she continued to live with the Hodgins while both sides fought for custody. Nearly five years later a juvenile court judge ruled Sonya should be returned to her biological father.

DAVE HODGIN, SONYA'S ADOPTED FATHER: Sonya is crying her eyes out, just screaming bloody murder, please don't let them do this, daddy. Please mama, don't let him take me.

K. HODGIN: They took her bags and that's the last time I seen her.

KAYE: Just three hours after the judge's ruling, Sonya was gone. Dave Hodgin asked Dave McCaul to reconsider.

D. HODGIN: I asked him to look in her eyes right now because obviously, he's standing right there and she's begging and pleading and crying, it didn't matter.

KAYE: McCaul's lawyer in Tennessee told us despite repeated efforts by the foster family to terminate this child's father's rights, his parental rights have never been successfully terminated and his daughter has now been returned to his care. This is Sonya's home now.

We came here to Omaha, Nebraska hoping to get John McCaul to answer some of our questions about his daughter Sonya and his past. He told me earlier by phone he would be open to that and to check with his lawyer. But when I got a-hold of his attorney, she told me that at least for now Mr. McCaul is forbidden by the Tennessee department of children's services to speak publicly about the case and Sonya. Back to that heart wrenching phone call, the Hodgins recorded in January during their last conversation with Sonya, this is show she described her new life.

K. HODGIN: Tell me how bad is that house?

SONYA, 9-YEARS-OLD: Dirt everywhere. I think there's even mold.

K. HODGIN: There's even mold.

SONYA: He doesn't have no clean water.

K. HODGIN: No clean water, no drinking water.

SONYA: It's so dirty. There's dirt all over it. There's cigarettes everywhere.

K. HODGIN: Is he nice to you?

SONYA: Yes.

KAYE: It's a recording Dave and Kim Hodgin can't even bring themselves to listen to.

D. HODGIN: Anybody within their right mind would be worried and yes we're terribly worried.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN Dickson, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Heartbreaking.

All right. You probably know the name Lolo Jones and you know her work on the track in the summer Olympics, right? Well, did you see her on the ice this past winter? She talk to me what the winter Olympics meant to her, how transformative it was in my face-to-face interview next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now, some of America's best known track and field stars are competing in track meets on U.S. soil. Something that's become rare in recent with most big international meets taking place overseas, a huge live audiences.

Well, among the stars helping to get American fans filling the stands, Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones. She is competed at a race in Georgia this past weekend and I caught up with her face to face and talked to her about her sometimes stormy and sunny journey on and off the track.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOLO JONES, OLYMPIAN: I don't actually --

(LAUGHTER) WHITEFIELD (voice-over): At 31, two-time summer Olympian and 2014 winter Olympian Lolo Jones is striving for more.

JONES: And you know, aim for Rio, 2016 Summer Olympics. So hopefully my last one.

WHITEFIELD: Used to beating the odds, Jones believes being a sort of senior citizen on the track circuit makes her no less ambitious about medaling, nor does it make her feel anymore entitled.

Do you feel you're more relaxed, more confident as a runner?

JONES: No.

WHITEFIELD: No?

JONES: No. I feel like as a runner, you really uptight. I think what -- as the years have gone along, I'm able to handle the failures better and the successes better.

WHITEFIELD: So how have you managed the successes and failures, in your view? I mean --

JONES: Well, like, before if I didn't make a team I was like, I mean, it would be bad. Like I mean, just don't talk to me for a while. It's going to take me a while to get out of this, you know slump. But now, you know, like one race, if I don't do good in the race, I'm like OK. The bigger picture is here. If I move some puzzle pieces I work better at this angle. I can kind of, you know, salvage the season. So, it's not like, my God. Like, a nightmare meltdown and, you know, things don't go my way.

WHITEFIELD: Is that a lesson that came out of Beijing?

Leading the 100 meter hurdles, her foot caught a hurdle's final ion Beijing 2008. Her foot caught a hurdle. Jones went down and so did her dream of taking home gold.

JONES: Well, no. I think I embraced it earlier than that. I think the first time I actually tried to make an Olympic team I fell miserably. I wasn't even top in the U.S. And you know, ranked number one in the world in 2008. So, I don't know. I think that was my biggest hurt and that was the one that kind of motivate me to work harder and not experience that again. I was like I don't want to experience that again, where I work so hard and don't have the outcome of what I desire. So I was like what can I do better? How can Improve this next four years? And so, I kind of just evaluated every aspect I could and, you know, changed and, you know, got there.

WHITEFIELD: How did London feel different?

JONES: London was different just because I was injured a year out from the Olympics.

WHITEFIELD: She had a tethered spinal cord, a birth defect as an adult led to pain on her left side and a loss of feeling in her feet. Before the 2012 London Olympic trials, surgery and recovery that surprised even her doctors.

JONES: I had spinal surgery. I pretty much had to relearn how to walk, and you know, before I could even run. So I was not completely healed when I was on the start line of London. But it is one of my proudest races. A lot of athletes who I talked to at the Olympics, like, my biggest regret getting fourth. And I'm like, my biggest regret is hitting a hurdle, you know. Winning the race and hitting a hurdle or not getting the medal, fourth I was really proud of because I had spinal surgery. A lot of people opinion to make the team, and you know, going there and making the team and, you know, gaining forth, it is like -- I don't know. For some reason that's one of my proudest moments. It was like even though it didn't turn out the way I wanted, I know that I faced so many odds to get there and get so close that, you know, I kind of just, you know, smiled at the end of the day.

WHITEFIELD: But then, that smile was replaced by frustration, fueled in part by constant criticism.

JONES: I just wanted to get away from track. I was so burned out after track. I, you know, pursued this dream so many years. And honestly, I was just tired of people just teasing me, making fun of me for not getting this Olympic medal and for me, I'm like, look, I'm very proud of my effort. You know? I've fought hard. I've made more teams than some people only make one Olympic team as a summer athlete because it's so hard and I was just -- I need to step away. I was completely burned out on the track world. And you know, I didn't know if I wanted to run again and compete, if my best effort was going to be mocked by others who haven't even taken a step in one of my races. So I kind of just wanted to get away.

WHITEFIELD: It was time for a change, a big one.

JONES: Bobsled was that outlet.

WHITEFIELD: A diversion that along the way reignited her desire and determination.

JONES: Well, it was a really tough transition. I didn't think it would be as tough as I thought.

WHITEFIELD: Helping to soften the blow, her fellow bobsled teammates.

JONES: I mean, honestly, lifelong friends. And I don't have many lifelong friends from the track world that, you know, I've been in so long. Like not the bond that I have in bobsled, just because we traveled together, you know. We were in the same lodging. We -- I mean, ate in 12 hours a day together. So, it is just, you know, that bond is really strong.

WHITEFIELD: So it surprised you this was an experience in would be revitalizing.

JONES: Absolutely. I honestly at first was like, good as a cross- training, you know. It will just be -- I don't know, something daring to do. I didn't think it would be something that would kind of refresh me and revive me to return and pursue.

WHITEFIELD: Right now, it's back to her roots on the track. She, other Olympians and professional stars are competing in meets sponsored by the American track league in eight U.S. cities.

JONES: Well, then the one question we kind of get asked in track is, where can I watch you run? Like, you know, they watch us as the Olympics. The whole country is supporting us and cheering for us, but in between those years, they can't watch us, because a lot of our competitions are in Europe. So this is the first year we're bringing track back to the U.S. soil. You know, for track and field, in USA track and field, we are the most dominant track and field country in the world. We go. We always win the medal count.

There are so many talented athletes in the U.S.

WHITEFIELD: And possibly inspiring the next generation of athletes. Jones doesn't mind looking back as long as, she says, it helps her and others bring out their best.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: And hard to believe as Lolo says she is making the way toward Rio. She says she actually needs to still lose 30 pounds. The weight gained in order to be that Olympic bobsledder. She is in to it now and ready to go. We'll be watching.

All right. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins after a short break with Miguel Marquez in New York. He has got the latest on the crisis at "The New York Times." And whether you have cable or satellite, it is a story you got to see. The TV landscape is about to change.

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