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CNN Live Saturday

60 Percent Say Bush's War Going Poorly; Convicted Rapist Arrested In Darlington County, South Carolina; Internet Child Pornography Ring Abused Toddlers; "New York Times" Identified Wrong Man As Hooded Prisoner; U.S. Navy Ships Fired Upon By Pirates; Wildfires In Texas Slowed by Rain; High School Student Won Intel Science Talent Search; Hurricane Katrina Reunion; Joey Cheek Gives To Charity; James Vlahos Recreates Journey Of Andes Crash Victims

Aired March 18, 2006 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A convicted rapist accused of assaulting two teens and hiding them is in custody after his family turned them in. The suspect is expected in court today, and we've got the latest.
Three years after the U.S. entered Iraq, President Bush is still asking for patience, but is that message getting through?

And later, the will to live, more than three decades after surviving a plane crash in the Andes, we talk with one man who lived it and another who had written all about it. Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY, I'm Fredericka Whitfield; a busy hour straight ahead, but first these top stories.

New grim discoveries in Iraq today, Iraqi security forces tell CNN they found 16 bodies in six Baghdad neighborhoods, people shot in the head, and apparently tortured. The victims have not been identified.

Iraq's presidential security adviser is complaining that too many innocent young men are being rounded up in Operation Swarmer and he's calling for their quick release. The joint U.S.-Iraqi anti-insurgency operation is now in its third day northeast of Samarra.

The Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs were key concerns as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Japanese and Australian counterparts, today. In a joint statement they say they share grave concerns about Iran's intentions and they called on North Korea to return immediately to six-party nuclear talks.

Assailed around the world as war criminal, former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic is being buried with honors today. Tens of thousands of admirers turned out in Belgrade for services that had many of the trappings of a state funeral.

Hamas party leaders say they'll meet tomorrow with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who must approve their selections for a new Palestinian cabinet. Only three selections have been announced so far. All three are long-time Hamas members.

And how would the United States respond to a terror attack that used smallpox as a weapon? That's the focus of a preparedness drill at the White House today. It's described as a tabletop exercise involving several top administration officials.

A massive manhunt for a convicted child rapist ends after the suspect's family turned him in. Forty-seven-year-old Kenneth Hinson is due in court this afternoon in Darlington County, South Carolina. He is accused of abducting two teenaged girls and assaulting them in an underground dungeon behind his home. And get this, Hinson got an early release from prison in 2000, when he was serving time for raping a 12-year-old girl.

On the phone with us now is Andy Locklair, an investigator with the Darlington County Sheriff's Department.

Thanks so much for being with us.

ANDY LOCKLAIR, DARLINGTON CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Hey, thanks for having us.

WHITFIELD: All right, so where do you go on this investigation? What is the extent of your search of his property, which is where this dungeon was uncovered, as well?

LOCKLAIR: Well, we still have an ongoing investigation. Of course, our authorities, our officials here at the sheriff's office were able to conduct the search earlier in the week after this incident happened. And evidence was collected and we'll take the evidence and all the information pertaining to the case, and we'll go to court with it.

WHITFIELD: So take us back. The two teenage girls were allegedly in this dungeon. They somehow broke loose, right, and then they ran for help?

LOCKLAIR: They were both abducted over a period of time, one individual after the other, taken to this dungeon, as you call it, duct taped and sexually assaulted, then after the perpetrator left, one was able to get free and then freed the other one, and then they were able to, together, escape from this area and go to safety and call for authorities.

WHITFIELD: So they ran for help, and they were able to tell authorities, this is the person who abducted us. Is that how family members knew, family members of Kenneth Hinson knew that you were on the lookout for him and that's why they turned him?

LOCKLAIR: They were acquaintances of the perpetrator. They lived right behind him. Some relationship there. And once this incident started, of course, law enforcement officials go to the area, we start our investigation, we start looking for him. Then with all the media exposure we've had in Darlington County, everyone has been on the lookout, including the family members, including everyone else in this neighborhood and with the help of a community we may able to apprehend him.

WHITFIELD: Are you looking for other possible hideaways? LOCKLAIR: With the construction well done with this hideaway that he had, this bunker-type, dungeon-type deal, there, you know, may be some other things there. There's some intelligence that's come into our office that there may be one or more of these places that he may have had built. Our office, as well as the state law enforcement division will be looking into those possible leads to see if we find other type places like this.

WHITFIELD: And so when looking at the videotape, which shows the trailers, are we saying these dungeons were something that was built into the ground?

LOCKLAIR: They were into the ground. Approximately four foot into the ground.

WHITFIELD: Under the trailers?

LOCKLAIR: Under a storage shed that was behind the trailer, like a little shop area, a little storage area, behind the trailers.

WHITFIELD: And in your investigation, did any of the neighbors ever say that they thought something strange may be taking place there?

LOCKLAIR: Some people were familiar with his background. Some people were not. It came to a shock to everybody with this dungeon- type storage area that he had built behind his house. Even relatives, I think, it was kind of a shock to them, as well. It's something strange.

WHITFIELD: And the two teens are back with their families, and as far as you know, they're OK, as well as they could be after something like this?

LOCKLAIR: Yes, physically they're OK. You know, mentally I think with this kind of trauma, it's something that's going to scarred them for life possibly, but they're OK. They're back with their family. Everything is fine with them.

WHITFIELD: Andy Locklair, thanks so much, investigator with the Darlington County Sheriff's Department. Thanks for being with us.

LOCKLAIR: Thank you for having us.

WHITFIELD: Well, disturbing details about an internet child pornography ring that allegedly abused toddlers has a lot of people taking a hard look at their own neighbors. This week's Justice Department sting identifies 27 suspects. But CNN's Justice Department correspondent Kelli Arena reports the accused predators have little in common.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They came from different places, different backgrounds, brought together by an alleged interest in the most sorted pornography imaginable. Brian Annareno (ph) is 29 years old, unemployed, father of an 18-month-old girl. Arrested in Bartlett, Illinois, he's accused of molesting an infant, live on the internet. Friday in a Chicago court, he pled not guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the face it looks bad, every case does at the beginning. You know, I cant's say a lot.

ARENA: Gregory Sweezer also pled not guilty, Friday -- 48 years old, a mailman for half his life, he's charged with possessing and disturbing child porn. Federal and state authorities say the two men belonged to an internet pornography ring that showed graphic images and live molestations of young children. But that's where the similarities between them end. Michele Collins has tracked child exploitation for eight years.

MICHELE COLLINS, TRACKS CHILD EXPLOITATION: I can't summarize the motivations of the individuals who fall into this particular web. Particularly with child pornography in the last few years, they come from al socioeconomic levels, they're all education levels, they come from different genders, they come from different races.

ARENA: In general, Collins says, offenders are male and white.

(on camera): Most are caught with pornographic images of children between the ages of six and 12, but law enforcement officials are worried because both victims and offenders are getting younger.

(voice-over): The people who sexually exploit children generally know the victims.

COLLINS: Of the cases we know where the children have been identified, it is predominantly a family member or a parent or somebody who -- a family friend or somebody who has legitimate access to that child.

ARENA: The suspects recently taken into custody range in age from 19 to 51. The oldest, David Perozzi, is a Sunday school teacher from Oakfield, New York. He also pled not guilty. His neighbors were shocked at the charges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What bothers me is it's sometimes the people you least expect that may be involved in this type of thing.

ARENA: The same was said about Royal Weller from Tennessee, a 49-year-old appliance repairman who never married. As the alleged host of the "Kiddypics & Kiddyvids" Web site, federal officials say he called himself "G.O.D." and allegedly used the biblical online name "Devil666" to share his child porn files. His lawyer has not returned calls. His neighbors were also shocked to hear about the charges against him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quiet guy. I mean, he's like, what, in his 50s, never caused no trouble.

ARENA: One defendant is a woman, Lisa Winebrenner (ph), who lived at this trailer park in Iowa with her husband and two daughters. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been sick ever since I found out about it.

ARENA: The one thing that tied all the suspects together is the internet. Experts like Collins say the ability to produce, share, and view material in private has made it easier to victimize children in the most abhorrent ways possible.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Three years and counting, President Bush is again calling for patience as he marks the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It came amid continuing bloodshed and chaos in Baghdad and other cities, and a new joint U.S.-Iraqi military operation.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: More fighting and sacrifice will be required to achieve this victory. And for some, the temptation to retreat and abandon our commitments is strong. If there is no peace, there's no honor and there's no security in retreat, so America will not abandon Iraq to the terrorists who want to attack us again. We will finish the mission. By defeating the terrorists in Iraq, we will bring great security to our own country and when victory is achieved, our troops will return home with the honor they have earned.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A majority of Americans aren't buying the president's message. In our latest poll, 60 percent said things are going poorly in Iraq.

The democrats mince no words in responding to President Bush. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California said it's time the Iraqis get their political house in order.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: On Monday the president acknowledged for the first time that Iraqi forces must take control of more of Iraq by the end of this year. In taking this position, he inched closer to the position held by Democrats, and by the American people who believe that Iraqis must take primary responsibility in 2006, this year, for securing and governing their country, so our troops can responsibly be re-deployed.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Obviously, not planned, but the British defense secretary agreed with Senator Feinstein, at least on one key point, speaking in Baghdad. John Reed says the most urgent need for Iraqis is to form a national unity government. Until that happens, he warns violence will continue. Reed also is visiting some of the 8,000 British troops in Iraq.

Thousands of anti-war demonstrators around the world are protesting the third anniversary of the Iraq war in the streets. In Sydney, Australia, some shouted, quote, "End the war now," and carried signs branding Mr. Bush as the world's number one terrorist. More of the same in London. Another target, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Bush's strongest ally in the war. Rallies were also planned for New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities here in U.S.

The "New York Times" said it identified the wrong man as the hooded prisoner in a photograph from Iraqi's Abu Ghraib prison. The "Times" admit it didn't adequately research the claim by Ali Shalal Qaissi. The original story which ran last week, was challenged by the on-line magazine, Salon.com. Qaissi now he acknowledges he isn't the man in this specific photo that ran in the "Times."

Checking some stories making headlines "Across America," now. A southern California tone tells smokers to butt out. A smoking ban that's believed to be the toughest of its kind in the United States is now in place in Calabasas. Under the plan, smokers can still light up in their homes and in their cars, but most public places are totally off limits.

Motorists in Tennessee can now put "choose life" license plates on their vehicles. A federal appeals court in Ohio says the plates may be ill-advised but not unconstitutional. The decision overturned a lower courts ruling, part of the extra fee motorists pay for those plates will go to a group opposed to abortion. A dozen other states offer similar license plates.

A Texas skyscraper goes down in a cloud of dust. Several hours ago crews imploded a Landmark Tower in Ft. Worth. The building had been part of the city's skyline since the 1950's.

And more than 30 years ago a plane carrying a rugby team from Uruguay crashed in the Andes Mountains. It was 72 days before they were rescued. Ahead this hour, we speak with one of the survivors, and another man who decided to write all about their journey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Reynolds Wolf for CNN, and this is a look at the "Flu Season." From the central Rockies eastward, the flu cases are widespread to regional, from the southeast, the northeast, right along the eastern seaboard up to the Great Lakes.

Meanwhile, in the central Rockies, westward, conditions aren't quite as bad, just sporadic in a few spots, namely over the four corners for parts of the great basin into California, it's just a little local activity. And in Alaska it's sporadic. I'm meteorologist Reynolds Wolf for the "Flu Season."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: A story unfolding off the coast of Somalia, the U.S. Navy ships apparently fired upon some pirate ships that had initially fired upon them. So on return fire, the U.S. Navy ships then targeted the suspected pirate ship. In the end, one suspected pirate was killed, five others were wounded. Earlier Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, had this to say about the details we're learning.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two U.S. Navy warships, early Saturday, were in a gun battle, indeed, with pirates off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa. As you might expect, the U.S. Navy won this engagement.

Two warships, the Cape St. George and the Gonzales, were patrolling in the waters of Somalia. They approached a suspicious vessel. There were pirates on board, brandishing shoulder-fired grenade launchers, and those opened fire on the U.S. Navy, and immediately sailors onboard the decks of both of those U.S. Navy warships returned fire with a variety of machine guns and weapons.

They killed one pirate, wounded five. A number of people have been taken into custody. The Navy now investigating this entire incident, trying to determine why these pirates thought they could possibly win opening fire against U.S. Navy warships.

Of course, this has been an area there has been a good deal of smuggling and pirate activity on the high seas, out there. The United Nations, just a few days ago, issued a notice encouraging all shipping off the coast of Somalia to be very careful of pirate activity.

A lot of shipping has come under attack out there, and that is hindering U.N. efforts to provide relief supplies to victims of drought and famine in the area. But this encounter between pirates and U.S. Navy warships, possibly -- sources tell us, possibly signals a new ratcheting of up of hostilities.

The Navy hasn't seen this type of thing where pirates attempt to open up on them. It was late last year, of course, that pirates attempted to attack a cruise ship in the reason, the Seaborne Spirit, that passenger cruise ship, and they were fended off. Those pirates also have having these shoulder-fired grenade launchers. But this incident today, certainly catching the Navy's attention.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meantime, the good news is, no sailors onboard the USS St. George -- Cape St. George or the USS Gonzales were injured. Meantime, we do have some new pictures coming in that have been provided from the U.S. Navy.

And you're looking at a handful of the automatic weapons that were seized -- the U.S. Navy seized from those pirated ships as they then apprehended those who were injured and those who allegedly fired upon the U.S. Navy ships, off the coast of Somalia. Meantime, onto other news, rain and sleet helped ease to wildfires in Texas, but crews are still putting out hot spots. And officials are turning their attention to the aftermath. At least 11 people died this week. The fires burnt hundreds of thousands of acres. And Governor Rick Perry says the losses to the state are staggering.

Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is in the CNN Weather Center.

And Reynolds, will Texas firefighters keep getting a break, perhaps, from the weather?

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right Reynolds, thanks very much.

WOLF: You bet.

WHITFIELD: After the break, we'll meet an outstanding high school student who excelled in math and science, and guess what? She has a really big prize to show for it. Stay tuned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Lower your energy costs by weatherizing your home. You can safe as much as 15 percent on your utility bills by sealing up those drafty windows and doors. Materials like caulk and weather stripping can stop air leaks. And don't forget to insulate your home's exterior walls in areas like your garage, which are also common sources of energy loss.

Also check out the Department of Energy's Web site for information about their Weatherization Assistance Program. Now, this program is available to lower income families. And remember, caulk and weather stripping only cost about $50 to the average home, and you can save two to three times that in one heating season.

(on camera): I'm Gerri Willis with "Your Energy Tip."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, who says that boys are better than girls when it comes to science? Shannon Babb is only, 18 but she's already showing she's following the foot steps of some of the world's top scientists. Earlier this week, the high school student won the Intel Science Talent Search and a $100,000 scholarship to boot for shining the spotlight on water quality problems. Previous winners have gone on to win six Nobel Peace Prizes, so who knows what Shannon's potential is. She joins us now from Salt Lake City.

Good to see you and congratulations.

SHANNON BABB, SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH WINNER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Wow, what a whirlwind this must have been for you. How floored or excited were you upon learning that you won?

BABB: It was amazing. I was kind of shocked.

WHITFIELD: So you set out to be a part of this competition and you really didn't think you had a great chance of wining?

BABB: No, I really didn't.

WHITFIELD: Why not?

BABB: Well, I consider my project not to be as exciting as some of the space projects or innovative as some of the math ones.

WHITFIELD: So, instead your project really did, you know, zoom in on the consumer level. You really wanted to look into water quality there in Utah. What was it that provoked you to do this? I understand this has been an interest of yours since you were about 13, in fact, right?

BABB: Yes, it has. Water quality is important because Utah is the second driest state in the nation. And so when the media kept on saying that there was pollution problems, I wanted to find out why.

WHITFIELD: And how did you go about testing the water quality and coming to a real conclusion, enough to actually submit this as a project and become a winner?

BABB: I ended up testing six months along the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) River at seven sites. Each site showed what kind of chemicals entered from like urban areas or agricultural areas. And I did field test kits, so I sat out there and tested the water on the river bank.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, congratulations. All those efforts have rewarded you quite substantially. So now you've got this $100,000 scholarship money. What are your plans?

BABB: Well, this fall I'm going to Utah State. Where I'll be...

WHITFIELD: Fantastic.

BABB: I'll be study hydrology, or water.

WHITFIELD: OK, And tell me what this week has been like. I understand everything from wining the completion in Washington, D.C. to getting a chance to meet the president?

BABB: It has been really quite cool. I've met people that most people will never meet in their lifetime.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, that's incredible. We're looking at the picture right now of you among the other finalists getting a chance to, you know, meet the president there at the White House. And I guess that's pictures of your mom there, too, rather tearful, but at the same time really proud of you.

BABB: Yes, she was really proud and excited after I won. WHITFIELD: Well, Shannon Babb, you really have been a model student through it all. And just at a time when everybody was saying that girls don't seem to be interested in science. What do you exemplify now?

BABB: Well, I think I represent that girls can be just as successful as boys, and it's just -- girls need to be exposed to it and get into little fields, niches that they find interesting.

WHITFIELD: Well, great job and you're truly an inspiration. And we'll be watching to see what's next for you. Shannon Lisa Babb, congratulations.

BABB: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's a family reunion that you won't want to miss. After seven months, a little girl is finally back with her family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Checking our top stories right now, South Carolina officials say fugitive sex offender Kenneth Hinson apparently hid in the woods for four days before his capture yesterday. Hinson is accused of kidnapping two teens and raping them in an underground room on his property. The teens managed to escape.

Suspected pirates fired on two U.S. Navy ships off the coast of Somalia today. The Navy returned fire, killing one person and wounding five others. No Americans were injured.

More bloodshed in Iraq -- at least nine Shiite pilgrims were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in Baghdad. Several other people were wounded elsewhere in attacks elsewhere in the city.

Tens of thousands of supporters turned out for the burial of former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic. He died a week ago while on trial by the U.N. for war crimes during the Balkan wars in the 1990.

Bill Lester has become the first African-American driver to qualify for a race in NASCAR's top series in nearly two decades. He qualified 19th in the Golden Corral 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway yesterday. His big event is tomorrow.

A little girl torn from her family in the whirlwind following Hurricane Katrina is now back in her mother's arms. It's a joyful end to seven months of desperate searching, and the final chapter in a hurricane drama that included more than 5,000 missing children.

CNN's Rick Sanchez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Katrina did something that is almost unbearable for families. It separated 5,192 children from their parents. Mothers and fathers agonized, wondering, where were they? Dead? Alive? Lost? Who knows?

Among the missing was this little girl. Her name is Cortez. This is her story.

CORTEZ STEWART, REUNITED DAUGHTER: They had a lot of water. And my Mima (ph) used to picking me up.

SANCHEZ: Mima is the woman seated next to Cortez and her mom. She is Cortez's godmother. And when Hurricane Katrina arrived, she took Cortez to what she thought was the safety of a hotel. But the waters rose and rose, and she ended up having to be rescued by helicopter, like this.

FELICIA WILLIAMS, CORTEZ'S GODMOTHER: It was just, like, unbelievable for them to have me clinging her with a string around my waist, pulling me up into a helicopter.

SANCHEZ: Meanwhile, Cortez's mom had her hands full with her five other children. She was being rescued by boat and taken to the nearest piece of dry land, an interstate overpass, where she and her children slept on concrete for four days.

(on camera): And there you sit for four days.

LISA STEWART, CORTEZ'S MOTHER: Right.

SANCHEZ: With -- you couldn't take a shower?

L. STEWART: No.

SANCHEZ: You couldn't eat.

L. STEWART: No.

SANCHEZ: What they gave you and some scraps, basically, right?

L. STEWART: Right. Right.

SANCHEZ: That must have been hard.

L. STEWART: You know, it was. It was terrible.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): What made it even more terrible was, she was looking through the crowd to find her missing daughter. Where was she? Could she have drowned?

L. STEWART: Right, because the water -- the height of the water, the water was taller than buildings.

SANCHEZ: Actually, Cortez was across town, at Louis Armstrong Airport, where she had been taken with her Mima. They were dropped off by helicopter, put on a plane, and flown to San Antonio, where they contacted Felicia's relatives in Atlanta, which is where they ended up.

Cortez's mom, meanwhile, was picked up by a bus and driven to the Houston Astrodome, tired, hungry, sharing a small space with 100,000 people, all the while thinking she had already lost one child, and wasn't about to lose another one.

L. STEWART: I didn't trust the men that was around, you know? They had predators.

SANCHEZ: Finally, Lisa got away and settled in Houston. Almost seven months had passed since that horrible night where she was separated from her daughter, and still no trace of Cortez. She and her husband tried everything: FEMA, the Red Cross, Web sites galore -- nothing.

CHARLES TENNESSE, CORTEZ'S FATHER: I left numbers where we was at, addresses where we was at.

SANCHEZ (on camera): Was it painful?

TENNESSE: It was very painful.

SANCHEZ: Painful and frustrating, because even the organization entrusted by the Justice Department to look for the missing children of New Orleans couldn't find her. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was able to find 5,191 of the 5,192 that were missing, in other words, all except one.

So, Cortez is number 5,192?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): The family and Mima say they tried everything, but, somehow, they hadn't been able to find each other on the lists and Web sites.

Finally, one more check of the Web sites was successful. And, so, finally, after tears, and an anxious trip to the airport ...

L. STEWART: Let's start looking around. Oh, my God.

SANCHEZ: ... this happened

(SCREAMING)

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... the baby!

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the baby.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: A family reunited -- the last of the missing has been found.

Rick Sanchez, CNN, Houston, Texas. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Last September, the Katrina missing persons hotline was set up to reunite separated families. More than 5,000 children were separated from their parents. All of those cases are now resolved. The hotline has logged more than 34,000 calls.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children continues to take calls on other missing children, as well as reports of child sexual exploitation. That number, 1-800-THE-LOST.

He's an Olympic medallist with a heart of gold. After the break, speedskater Joey Cheek and what he's been doing since he medaled at the Torino winter games.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: What makes an Olympic gold medal winner a superhero? Well, sometimes it's what the winner does after the flame goes out.

CNN's Andrea Koppel has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For American speedskater Joey Cheek, winning a gold medal in last month's Turin Olympics was a dream come true.

(on camera): You looked so excited when you were holding the flag.

JOEY CHEEK, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST: Well, that's a day that you dream of. It really is. As cliche has it sounds, it really is something that you dream of and chase in your head over and over and over again.

KOPPEL (voice-over): But it's what Cheek did after he won gold that turned this Olympic champion into a hero. At a post-race press conference, Cheek announced he planed to donate the $25,000 bonus he won from the U.S. Olympic Committee to help children in refugee camps, especially those in Sudan's Darfur region.

CHEEK: I saw -- in 2002 I won a bronze medal and I kind of saw how the news cycle worked and how the people who won would get an opportunity to speak for a few minutes. And I decided when I got those few minutes, I wanted to make sure that I spoke on something that I really cared about and was passionate about, not just the normal kind of fluff that a lot of people talk about.

KOPPEL: In the weeks since Turin, the 26-year-old Cheek, who has also donated his $15,000 Olympic bonus from wining a silver medal, has become a star advocate for those campaigning to stop the genocide in Darfur, a genocide which has killed at least 200,000 people, according to the United Nations, and forced two million Sudanese men, women, and children to seek shelter in refugee camps. On Friday, Cheek shared the media spotlight with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who recently led a congressional delegation to Darfur.

CHEEK: What I didn't realize would happen, what's been amazing to me, is how much this has snowballed into more people supporting, more people aware of the cause.

KOPPEL: Before the Olympics were over, Cheek says he succeeded in raising more than half a million dollars in matching funds from U.S. corporations and individuals. The moral, says Cheek ...

CHEEK: That small act made by at lot of people is a very powerful thing. You don't have to make a grand gesture. You just have to take little steps every day, and it doesn't have to be this cause. People can make a difference if only they will act or only take the chance to lead.

KOPPEL: For now, Cheek is hanging up his skates, looking forward to his next challenge, starting college in the fall.

Andrea Koppel, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Extraordinary.

Well, still ahead, an incredible story of survival made famous in a book and a movie called "Alive." How a rugby team from Uruguay survived in the Andes Mountains more than 30 years ago. That story right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It was a survival story made famous in real life and then followed by a book and then a movie. More than 30 years ago a plane carrying a rugby team from Uruguay crashed high in the Andes Mountains near Santiago, Chile and the Argentina border. During the 72 days before they were rescued, the survivors resorted to cannibalism. The rescue came about after two of the survivors made a perilous 10-day hike to try to get help.

Now James Vlahos has recreated that journey and writes about how amazing it was for the new issue of "National Geographic Adventure." He joins us with Roberto Canessa, one of the survivors, who is now a cardiologist and motivation speaker. Good to see both of you, gentlemen.

JAMES VLAHOS, "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ADVENTURE": Good morning.

ROBERTO CANESSA, ANDES PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: Good morning, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Roberto, let me start with you. Does it feel like 34 years ago that this happened? CANESSA: Well, the feelings are not there. The sadness is gone. I can look at what happened in a perspective way. I think sometimes that we were like guinea pigs in a very hostile environment, and we were just faced with the limits human endurance. And there was a lot to be done, a lot of innovation. A new society had to be developed in order to survive in the Andes.

WHITFIELD: And that was the key to surviving this, wasn't it? I mean, you as survivors had to collectively come together many times and talk about what do you do next? You know, how do you stay warm by, you know, using the clothes off those who had died, and many of whom were friends and family members? They were tough decisions for you all to make.

CANESSA: Yes. When we heard that the search had been called off, someone was brave enough to say, this means that we must get out of here walking. We realized that the world considered us dead, so it was in ourselves. I mean, everything changed. Money was just a paper that could be used to be put on fire. We didn't have anything to eat. And the source of protein were the dead bodies of our dead friends.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

CANESSA: So everything had changed. Everyone had different values. The value of human heat was the best one, and the mountain was having avalanches all the time, and you feel like a little mouse in a huge world. And the only thing you can do is look at the sky and say, God help me, I will do my part. I need your part.

WHITFIELD: So among the 16 of you, you and Nando Parrado make a decision that, like you said a moment ago, we're not going to die sitting here. We would rather die walking. The two of you decided to make this trek.

You had no idea how long it would take, if you would even survive it. It's freezing cold. You know, you have got many feet of snow. When you made that trek, did you really think that there was a possibility that you might find help, or had you resolved to the fact that, you know what, we really will die walking?

CANESSA: We thought enough about that. In 60 kilometers, we would reach Chile, and this would mean 100,000 steps. We thought a lot about it. We spoke as a team. They put lots of meat and fat into the rugby socks.

We made a sleeping bag made of the insulation material of the plane, and we had Byzantine (ph), which was a very strong player. He was like a bull. He helped us to climb up there on the mountains and bring all of the food up there. And when he was exhausted we sent him down, and we continue.

I mean, there was a lot of using your brain. When you feel like you're dying, your brain gets very smart. And also the principles of love and friendship were standing there and saying, here we go.

WHITFIELD: You had to be incredibly innovative. And, you know, James writes that many of you felt like the 13 who died were actually the lucky ones because of how inventive you had to be, those survival instincts, how they had to kick in.

CANESSA: Yes. I mean, you don't have any water. We had to melt the snow into the metal things there. There wasn't a bed. There wasn't mommy to help you, there was just your courage and the will to live. We learned a lot. And I know that nowadays lots of people are climbing their own mountains, and I just want to tell them, don't give up because still if you fail trying, you'll die happy.

WHITFIELD: So, James, trying to tackle this story of survival, it has been told in at least one book, well-documented book. It's been told in the movie as well. And, of course, as Roberto says, he and 15 others lived it. So your objective was to write about this journey that he and Nando decided to make by leaving the other survivors and make this trek.

And you decided to make that trek as well, knowing that there would be really no comparison because you were going equipped, you know, with the right kind of equipment, footwear, clothes, et cetera. Why did you decide to make this trek, and what did you discover?

VLAHOS: Well, my expedition partner, Ricardo Pena, and I, had seen the movie, we'd read the book, and like many people, we were fascinated. We wanted to know what was it really like to be them. What would it be like to go through what they had gone through?

And we felt that this portion of the story, the escape trek, it was a key chapter -- is was what led to the rescue of the 16 survivors -- that it was poorly documented and not well-understood in some ways.

WHITFIELD: And wasn't that, in part, because, I mean, the memory of these survivors, particularly, you know, Roberto and Nando, I mean -- they were nearly delirious. I mean, you know, the kind of conditions that they were having to endure this walk, it was difficult to really remember every little detail about what happened, right?

VLAHOS: Sure. I think they remember a lot, but they were young, they were tired, they were exhausted, and they certainly didn't have high-end digital cameras to document what it looked like along the way, they didn't have GPS to record the elevations. They didn't have temperature gauges to find out how cold.

And our hope was certainly not that we could do exactly what they did, but we could show what they did so people could have a better understanding of how difficult it truly was.

WHITFIELD: So with all this, had you to be astounded as to how in the world they survived that 10-day trek.

VLAHOS: I was blown away. I was blown away. We had great gear. We had many comforts that they didn't have. And I thought, oh, maybe it will be easy for us. And it wasn't at all. It was a grueling, grueling trek.

This is going high up a mountain to 15,000 feet, avoiding crevasses, going down through a valley where there are rocks the size of cars. It's nothing like being on a trail in a national park. There's no way to know if you're even going the right way. So it certainly broke us down and gave us a great respect for what they had to endure.

WHITFIELD: So you also write how really remarkably the 16 survivors are all still alive, 15 of whom are living in the same area. Roberto, how often do you reach out to the other survivors? Is there a real -- I imagine, a real camaraderie, a real brotherhood among the other survivors? Are you a part of one another's lives to this day?

CANESSA: Well, we are the Old Christians. I'm the president of the best club in the world. We have the nieces and the nephews of our friends that died. We have to bring up this thing as a community that was very healthy. There were the parents of four guys that were orphaned, the elder one was 12, the younger one was four. These are the Nicola (ph) family. They are parents now.

We went to the grave, and they brought the grandson of this couple and say here's your grandmother buried. She helped the survivors to survive, and this is her story of love and courage, and you must honor this memory. And I mean, the tears were coming to their eyes, and it shows the resilience, the power you get from suffering can lead you to be optimistic in life many times.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's an amazing story. We're so grateful that you are both able to convey it and share that story with us. Roberto Canessa and James Vlahos, thank you so much. And the article is in the "National Geographic Adventure."

And we'll be right back.

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