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Paula Zahn Now

Senate Reaches Deal Resolving Filibuster Fight; Laura Bush Journeys Into the Political Spotlight

Aired May 23, 2005 - 20:00   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We continue our coverage of the breaking news now. A deal has been struck in the Senate to avoid a showdown over the issue of the filibuster.
Senator Lindsey Graham saying it, I think, the most succinctly, when he said the Senate -- quote -- "is back in business." Just a few minutes ago, 14 moderate senators, seven Democrats, seven Republicans announcing that they had come to this deal.

We are now going to listen in on a little bit of what Senator McCain had to say when he characterized what has come at the end of a very long day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Future nominations will -- the signatories will exercise their responsibilities and the nominees should only be filibustered under extraordinary circumstances.

And in light of this commitment and a continuing commitment, we will try to do everything in our power to prevent filibusters in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And we expect to hear shortly from the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, as well as the Senate minority leader, Reid, in a short while.

In the meantime, we go to our congressional correspondent Joe Johns, who is going to give us a better understanding of what this deal is.

But before we get to the specifics, Joe, I took a lot of notes here. And it was interesting, because there was a lot of coded language, I thought. When a senator said, we have come here to pause, to hope, to try to avert a crisis. Is the crisis really over or not here?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is also a question as to whether there was a crisis at all. A lot of Republican senators have said this is not a crisis at all. The Senate of the United States has the right to change its rules. It is in the United States Constitution.

On the other hand, there have been many Democrats who have said the notion of removing the filibuster, removing the ability of the minority to block judicial nominations, is a major step in turning the Senate into a legislative body that is exactly like the House of Representatives, where majority rules. In the Senate, the tradition as long as I have lived has certainly been one of extended debate. A senator individually has always been able to pretty much talk one issue to death, if he or she so desired to. So, that's the kind of things the senators are saying they've been able to avert. Also, there is that important notion sort of overarching of the coming -- the possible Supreme Court nomination that could come as early as this summer, a lot of senators very worried about creating a situation like that.

ZAHN: Joe, we're going break off here for a moment and come back to you in just a moment.

Senator Lieberman is now talking to reporters or -- who is it now? Senator Warner. I don't see the picture yet. So bear with us. This is breaking news. We'll go to whichever Republican is talking now. They keep on trading the microphone here.

And now, of course, with my luck, no one is talking.

So Joe, let's come back to this whole issue of how there were a number of people in the Senate that didn't want this deal in the first place. How will this go down with the whole body?

JOHNS: Right. Well, there are a lot of people in the Senate that didn't want the deal in the first place. There is a lot of pressure on the outside from conservative groups, who said it is time for the president's nominees, plain and simple, to get an up-or-down vote. Now some conservatives in the Senate felt exactly the same way. There are some conservatives who said there should be no deal that didn't include an up-or-down vote for all of the president's nominees. So, it is not likely to sit very well with them. There is also some thought that down the road politically there could be some danger for those Republicans who have stepped into the fray and decided to sign on to this deal, because a lot of conservative groups were threatening that, you know, you'll hear from us again the next time an election comes around if you don't go our way, Paula.

ZAHN: In fact, Senator Graham made that very clear when he said, what I'm about to say is not going to go down well with the folks at home. And he, too, took a little poke at the White House, saying -- quote -- "The White House is going to have to listen to us."

JOHNS: Right.

ZAHN: What was the subtext of that?

JOHNS: Well, the subtext is that it is always been assumed here that, while the president has said he's been hands off on this issue, that quietly behind the scenes some of the people who work for the president have been pulling strings, trying to keep the Republicans in line on this issue, because they want all their judicial nominees. And down the road, they want to make sure that a Supreme Court nomination, if it happens this year, gets through on their terms. So, there was a lot for the White House to try to protect here. And a lot of people on Capitol Hill have suggested, of course, that the Constitution gives the Senate the power of advice and consent. So, when you send a nomination up here, the Senate gets to work its will and the White House should be hands off, simply because of the separation of powers. That's at least part of the subtext, Paula.

ZAHN: Let's go on to how we understand this deal works. So, there will be a simple and yes-no vote on Justice Priscilla Owen, Justice Janice Rogers Brown and Judge William Pryor. Then what?

JOHNS: Then there are a couple others. There is -- including Henry Saad, who has been a fairly controversial nomination, who could still be filibustered. So no one is saying what they're going to do on that, which means Democrats presumably would have the right to block those nominations. And going forward, good faith, these senators promising only to filibuster in extraordinary circumstances or some language like that.

We have been hearing that again and again and again. And that sort of is -- is a wave at the notion that some senators have been filibustering a bit too much. Some senators have been blocking judicial nominations too often and perhaps this went too far.

ZAHN: Joe Johns, we're going to break away.

The Senate minority leader, Reid, now takes to the podium. Let's listen in.

SENATOR HARRY REID, (D) NEVADA, SENATE MINORITY LEADER: The podium's still warm.

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: It's still shaking.

(LAUGHTER)

Give him a minute. (PAUSE) They got air conditioning in here?

REID: Need several seconds to read my writing.

ZAHN: It's understandable that Minority Leader Harry Reid needs a couple moments to see what he so swiftly wrote when this deal came together.

REID: Thank you all very much. This is really good news for every American tonight. This so-called nuclear option is off the table. This is a significant victory for our country, for our democracy and for every American.

Checks and balances have been protected. The integrity of the Supreme Court has been protected from the undue influence of the vocal, radical right wing.

Tonight the Senate has worked its will on behalf of reason and behalf of responsibility. We have sent President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and the radical arm of the Republican base an undeniable message -- abuse of power will not be tolerated, will not be tolerated by Democrats or Republicans. And your attempt -- I say to the vice president and to the president -- to trample the Constitution and grab absolute control is over.

I offered Senator Frist several options similar to this compromise, over many months. And while he was not able to agree, I'm pleased that some responsible Republicans and my colleagues were able to put aside their differences and work from the center.

I don't support several of these judges that have been agreed to that are outside the mainstream of American jurisprudence and basic common sense. But we have had to move forward and, as Senator Byrd said, we have a Republic tonight that's been protected.

I'm happy that my colleagues are here with me. Each one of these men and women, in addition to Senator Leahy, have been kept apprised of all that has been going on for many, many months now.

I'm grateful for their support. As you know, these two men behind me serve on the Judiciary Committee. And they knew the individuals better than any of the rest of us to begin with. We all know them quite well now.

We would be happy to take a few questions.

QUESTION: Senator Reid, the Michigan judges that...

REID: Michigan judges will be approved, except for Saad, of course.

QUESTION: How confident are you that this doesn't blow up over a Supreme Court nominee?

REID: The Senate is going to act its will. Now there are rumors that there will be vacancies on the Supreme Court. And if there is, we believe that the president should do just as President Clinton did. And as President Clinton dealt with Chairman Hatch -- have a little consultation, advice and consent.

And I have seen a number of lists of Supreme Court nominees that have been suggested in the White House. These are people that we're happy to take a look at.

These two men: Senator Schumer, that's his subcommittee; Senator Durbin is on the committee. We'll look at them.

This should be the Senate as it has always worked for 200-plus years.

We're not out looking to pick fights with President Bush. He shouldn't be out looking to pick a fight with us. This is a very important night for the American people.

QUESTION: Senator Reid, do you think that this is going to force President Bush to consult more closely with the Senate before sending up nominations or legislation?

REID: I don't think it should force him to do anything. It just is common sense. We're here to do the people's business. We have important issues to deal with, important issues. The Senate working at its best was designed by the Founding Fathers to go very slowly. That's what has been the preservation of our Republic.

So at best we move slowly. And if the president has an agenda, we're willing to work on his agenda. But he should have a little more humility, I guess is the word I would like to pronounce

QUESTION: Will you all continue to filibuster on Myers?

REID: Yes.

QUESTION: And Saad?

REID: Yes.

QUESTION: Will you hold a filibuster on Myers?

REID: Yes.

QUESTION: And Saad?

REID: Yes.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

REID: Nuclear option is off the table. The Senate can work as the Senate. How much better could it be not for Democrats, not for Republicans, but the American people. This is a wonderful...

ZAHN: We leave the Senate minority leader to listen to what Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist now has to say about the deal cobbled together in the Senate.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SENATOR BILL FRIST, (R) TENNESSEE, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: ... reminding the Senate of my principle, a simple principle that I've come to this floor day after day stating, stressing.

And it is really this -- I fundamentally believe that it is our constitutional responsibility to give judicial nominees the respect and the courtesy of an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate.

Investigate them, and question them and scrutinize them and debate them in the best spirit of this body. But then vote. Up or down, yes or no, confirm or reject, but each deserves a vote.

Unlike bills, nominees can't be amended. They can't be split apart. They can't be horse-traded. They can't be log-rolled. Our Constitution does not allow for any of that. It simply requires up-or- down votes on judicial nominees.

So in that regard, the agreement announced tonight falls short of that principle. It falls short. It has some good news and it has some disappointing news. And it will require careful monitoring.

Let me start with the good news. I'm very pleased, very pleased that each and every one of the judges identified in the announcement will receive the opportunity of that fair up-or-down vote.

Priscilla Owen, after four years, two weeks and one day, she will have a fair and up-or-down vote.

William Pryor, after two years and one month, he will have a fair up-or-down vote.

Janice Rogers Brown, after 22 months, a fair up-or-down vote.

Three nominees will get up-or-down votes with certainty now because of this agreement, whereas a couple of hours ago, maybe none would get up-or-down votes. And that would have gone wrong.

And with the confirmation of Tom Griffith to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals...

ZAHN: In our attempt to try to give equal time to both the Senate minority leader and the Senate majority leader, we'll cut it straight down the middle by checking in with Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, and Ben Nelson from Nebraska, another esteemed gentleman.

Gentlemen, I see the thumbs up. That must mean you can hear me.

Senator Graham, you said it rather succinctly when you said earlier at the news conference, the Senate is back in business. But at what cost? You said there are going to be a lot of folks in your home state who are going to be pretty angry with you about going along with this compromise.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Pretty much at my cost, I think. But all of us are going to take some heat here, but -- because people get really emotionally involved in this issue. But most Americans just see us unable to do the nation's business.

So, the reason I was willing to not vote for the nuclear option at this point in time is, after talking with Ben and other Democrats and Republicans, I think we get a chance to start over. And very seldom in life do you get a chance to start over. We're going to have some votes on judges, which I think will be a good step for the Senate. And we'll deal with the future as the future comes.

If we'll learn from the past mistakes of the year and a half, if the White House will learn, if Republicans and Democrats will learn, we can have a process where people get better treated in the Senate and we can stay in business beyond judges and do some things good for the country. So, I'm willing to take a little heat if it helps my country. And I think it did. ZAHN: Senator Nelson, we heard some very harsh language used by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, when he said this compromise is, he says, evidence that the abuse of power by this administration will no longer be tolerated. And he -- quote -- basically said, your attempt to trample the Constitution, referring to vice president and the president, is over.

Do you agree with that harsh assessment?

SEN. BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: I agree that the country has avoided a nuclear option and a meltdown and now has the opportunity within the Senate to begin to work on the important issues in addition to judges. And that is to get energy legislation through and all of the other things that we need to do, which were raised in doubt by this continuing debate about whether we're going to have a nuclear option or not.

ZAHN: But, gentlemen, here's what I don't understand.

Although you cobbled together this compromise, we're hearing from Senator Reid -- and Senator Graham, you can take a whack at this -- saying that the Democrats will invoke a filibuster, I guess after these three judges, where you'll have a simple yes-no vote, and Senator Frist say a filibuster should never be used.

GRAHAM: Well, I was a guy that was willing to sue the Senate because I think the constitutional requirement of every senator is to give advice and consent by voting. I don't like the filibuster for Republicans or Democrats. I think it is unconstitutional.

But as Ben said, we have got a lot of issues up here. And I saw blowing the Senate up over this basically putting us at peril in a time of war. So what I would say to Senator Reid, let's sit down and talk, like the 14 of us did. If you're going challenge the president in this way, talk to him quietly after the spin machine is turned off. Let's see if we can get a pool of candidates coming over here.

There are going to be some votes where Republicans vote against some of President Bush's nominees. But people are going to start getting votes. And the truth is, some are going to make it. Some won't. As to the Supreme Court, I believe we can work as mature adults to get confirmation of Supreme Court justices who are conservative and -- if we really work hard. So, I wish the spinning would stop and the talking would begin.

ZAHN: But Senator Nelson, do you expect the filibuster to be used on some of these other judicial nominees after these first three are simply cleared on a yes-or-no vote?

NELSON: It hasn't been ruled out. As a matter of fact, a couple of names have been left on, if you will, the if list. And that isn't known at the present time.

But I do think that, if you look at the signatories to this agreement, that you'll see people with -- in good faith coming together to say that, except in extraordinary circumstances which then we would vote for a filibuster, all other cases will be voted to get an up-or-down vote. I think that's what is the significance of this event, an up-or-down vote for most judges, at the same time, no nuclear option for our country. That serves everybody's purpose.

GRAHAM: Can I add one thing, Paula, about the future?

I don't know what the future holds. But I know this. No matter how much pressure I get in South Carolina, no matter how much pressure I get from conservative groups, I'm not going to vote for the nuclear option because I'm worried about me. If there are future filibusters where one of the Senate Democrat colleagues believes they have to filibuster, at that point in time, I retain my right as an individual senator to vote to change the rules if I believe they're out of bounds.

We have to trust each other. We have to work together. But we have a chance to start over. And my vote is depending on what my seven colleagues decide to do in the future. If they decide to go down the filibuster road, I retain my options to change the rules. But I don't think we're going get there. There is no reason for us to have to do that if we'll act like the senators the public expects us to be.

ZAHN: Senators, great to have both of your opinions tonight.

NELSON: Thank you.

ZAHN: Senator Nelson, Senator Brown, appreciate your time.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: Congratulations on your deal.

Once again, as you could see from our conversation, there is still a little bit up in the air about how the Senate will proceed from here, clearly, still some great tension between the Republicans and the Democrats, with the most harsh words coming from the Senate minority leader tonight, when he basically said -- accused the Bush administration of trying to trample on the Constitution with trying to put this nuclear option through.

That of course did not happen, 14 senators coming out in a news conference describing this compromise that they have come to. And we will keep you posted on what that means down the road for some of the Bush administration's controversial nominees.

We're going to move ahead now with the rest of our show tonight. She's making her presence felt around the world, even if that means taking heat in the Holy Land. Coming up next, First Lady Laura Bush's journey into the political spotlight.

And a little bit later on:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You don't remember being hit more than 100 times in the head?

KATIE DALLAM, BOXER: I don't remember being hit. It is kind of like I see her coming and then it's blank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And the woman whose real-life story is almost a mirror image of the Oscar-winning movie "Million Dollar Baby."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Lots going on politically tonight. We move from that ferocious filibuster battle on to the first lady and her increasingly familiar role as the face and voice of the Bush administration. You maybe missed this over the weekend, but it is definitely worth watching, Laura Bush surrounded by police as she visited the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, one of Islam's holiest sites.

Israeli security closed ranks around the first lady to protect her from angry protesters. In an interview today with Suzanne Malveaux, Mrs. Bush brushed off questions about whether she was ever worried.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: These are places of great emotion. The Holy Land is the birthplace of three different great religions. There are wonderful Christian sites there, obviously, the sites that mean the most to the Jewish people, and then the Dome of the Rock, which is very important to Muslims.

But, of course, there are tensions there. But that's part of the purpose of the trip and part of the purpose of working for peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Well, the first lady's trip to the Middle East is just the latest example of that higher profile she's been taking during her husband's second term. And that is by design.

Here is Soledad O'Brien with tonight's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" profile.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please welcome Mrs. Laura Bush.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First lady Laura Bush, looking picture perfect by her husband's side as they celebrate his second term in office. She's developed a reputation for being reserved and soft-spoken, a supportive wife who finds strength in her 28-year marriage to George W. Bush.

L. BUSH: I think there is something about politics that has strengthened our marriage for sure and really made us that much more appreciative of each other and appreciative of the fact that we do have a strong marriage.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And so the city slicker asked the old guy how to get to the nearest town.

L. BUSH: Not that old joke, not again.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Now, after more than four years in the White House, the one-time shy librarian from Midland, Texas, has grown into her role, becoming much more outgoing and showing America her lighter side.

L. BUSH: One night after George went to bed, Lynne Cheney, Condi Rice, Karen Hughes and I went to Chippendales.

(LAUGHTER)

L. BUSH: I won't tell you what happened. But Lynne's Secret Service code name is now "Dollar Bill".

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: At this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner, Laura Bush poked fun at her husband and recounted a typical Sunday evening at home.

L. BUSH: I am married to the president of the United States. And here is our typical evening; 9:00, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep. And I am watching "Desperate Housewives."

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Many political watchers credit Laura Bush with softening her husband's image and helping him win another term in the White House.

ANN GERHART, BIOGRAPHER: She is the perfect wife. She knows exactly how to calibrate her public appearance and her public pronouncements. She does nothing but enhance his image.

O'BRIEN: Though she appears more comfortable in public, the 58- year-old first lady is an admitted introvert whose favorite pastime is simply reading. Her reluctant life in politics began on a blind date 28 years ago.

L. BUSH: What I liked about George when I first met him was, I liked his personality. I liked that he gave me a lot of energy because of the energy of his personality.

G. BUSH: I saw an elegant, beautiful woman who turned out not only to be elegant and beautiful, but very smart and willing to put up with my rough edges and, I must confess, has smoothed them off over time.

L. BUSH: Not all of them.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Within six weeks, they were engaged, within three months, married.

L. BUSH: It was a small wedding, just about 75 people. It was in the church I had been baptized in as a baby. So, it was a really wonderful way to start a new marriage.

O'BRIEN: Laura Welch was raised a Democrat. But now she was forever tied to a Republican Party dynasty. Just one day after they said their "I do"s, George W. followed in his family's footsteps and entered politics.

G. BUSH: Howdy.

O'BRIEN: Running for a congressional seat in Texas.

G. BUSH: I'm George Bush.

O'BRIEN: Bush lost. And after that defeat, George and Laura both agreed to return to private life and start a family. But for Laura, pregnancy did not come quickly.

G. BUSH: We did want children and were in the process of adopting. Laura, actually, as I understand it, checked twins on the "We would love to have twins." And in between going to the Gladney Home and being accepted as parents and the final home visit by the case worker, Laura became pregnant with twins.

L. BUSH: We were thrilled. We had waited a long time to have children. And so, when we got to have two at once, we were especially thrilled.

O'BRIEN: The Bushes named their twin girls Barbara and Jenna, after their grandmothers. In the early years of their marriage, Laura Bush was concerned about her husband's drinking.

BILL MINUTAGLIO, "PEOPLE": It is very, very clear from talking to their friends that it put an enormous strain on their relationship. And then she essentially laid down the law and, in essence said, you know, it is drinking or me.

G. BUSH: I think it is a well documented fact that I drank too much and quit drinking, and -- because alcohol was beginning to crowd out my energy level and crowd out my affections.

GERHART: While he says she made him quit drinking, that she said, it is it is me or the Jim Beam, Laura herself says, oh, I never said that. He made it that funny story.

O'BRIEN: With his drinking days behind him, George W. Bush helped his father's successful run for the presidency in 1988.

GEORGE H. W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So help me, God. O'BRIEN: Following in his family's footsteps, George W. Bush decided to give politics another try, running for governor of Texas in 1994.

G. BUSH: Let's make it official. I'm a candidate for governor of Texas.

O'BRIEN: He won, defeating incumbent Ann Richards.

G. BUSH: A woman who will be a great first lady of Texas, Laura Bush.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

L. BUSH: I would have never guessed. People would say, do you think George will get back into politics? And I used to joke and say, yes, maybe when we're 50. And, as it turned out, we were pretty close to 50 when he ran for governor.

O'BRIEN: With her husband now the governor of Texas, the most private Laura Bush was now thrust into the public spotlight, whether she liked it or not.

After six years in office, George W. Bush saw an opportunity to continue in his family's powerful political dynasty.

G. BUSH: Well, this exploratory business is over. I'm running. I'm in, and I intend to win.

O'BRIEN: In the end, it turned out to be a winning one for George Walker Bush.

G. BUSH: So help me, God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.

PODESTA: She is the steel in his back. She is a civilizing influence on him. I think that she has built him in many ways into the person he is today.

O'BRIEN: Laura Bush gracefully embraced her new role, standing with her husband and pushing for causes near to her heart.

L. BUSH: I'm going around the country talking about how important teaching is and how important it is for women and men to consider teaching as a career.

O'BRIEN: After just eight months in the White House, Laura Bush would use her trademark grace to reach out to the country. Following the attacks of September 11, she visited hospitals, blood drives and memorial services, calming the nerves of a worried nation.

GERHART: After September 11, Laura Bush really transformed herself into a figure who could take a really active role and that was to reach out and be reassuring to people. And she surprised herself in a way. Before that, she hadn't really recognized that she herself had this incredible platform.

O'BRIEN: As her husband embarks on a second term as president, the one-time reluctant politician's wife has learned to embrace her role.

GERHART: She's gotten a lot more confident standing in front of a crowd. She's still surprised though when she walks into a room and there's a huge round of applause. She still sometimes looks over her shoulder to see who's coming in behind her who these people might be clapping for.

O'BRIEN: While she's become more comfortable in the spot light. As a devoted wife who finds comfort in her close knit family.

GERHART: I think that when historians look back on the Bush presidency, they'll find that she was a bedrock and that he could have never managed without her. He really needs his wife and she's been there to perform that function for him.

L. BUSH: Every single day we have the opportunity to meet really great people and see fabulous things that happen all over our country.

O'BRIEN: The role of a lifetime but leaving little time for simple pleasures like curling up with a good book.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Something we should all be doing more of. Soledad O'Brien reporting on the first lady's surprising journey.

Tomorrow, Mrs. Bush meets with Egypt's first lady, then flies back home to Washington.

And time for all of you to pick the "Person of the Day." Your choices are Sergeant Mike Hall, the Florida police officer who found an eight-year-old girl buried alive inside a dumpster at a landfill.

The 14 senators who averted a nuclear meltdown in the Senate by negotiating a solution to the filibuster impasse.

Or Afghan President Hamid Karzai for coming to Washington to try to forge closer ties with the U.S.

So, normally right now, I'd tell you to cast your vote at CNN.com/Paula where people have been voting all afternoon. But this one is such a landslide, we're going actually going to call the race right now.

With 95 percent of the vote, the "Person of the Day" you picked is police Sergeant Mike Hall who found the missing eight-year-old Florida girl.

We'll have the full story of how he rescued her from that landfill dumpster a little bit later on in this hour. It is really a stunning story.

Coming up, though, a violent sport becomes bloody exploitation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one stops the bleeding. They allow her to bleed all over -- all over herself. She bleeds onto the opponent, and the crowd is standing up and cheering and yelling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Coming up next, the boxer whose story is a real-life version of the film "Million Dollar Baby."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: All week we're going to be focusing in on survivors -- people who live through traumas most of us can barely imagine. But first a warning, some of the pictures you're about to see might be very difficult for you to watch. Tonight, a real-life version of the movie blockbuster "Million Dollar Baby," about a critically injured female boxer that won the Oscar for best picture. The movie ended in death. But that wasn't the case for the woman you're about to meet. She chose to live.

And Elizabeth Cohen has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know you get in there, it's about defending yourself. It is about offense and defense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw her every time she was hit. It was 140 times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Katie made the choice that she wanted to get in there that night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This shouldn't happen. This is not a sport which by definition is competitive.

DALLAM: I just have this memory of her coming at me.

COHEN (voice-over): Voices and images that define one night nine years ago. One life-changing night for the boxer Katie Dallam.

DALLAM: I do remember before going in there, having this really bad feeling in my gut about it. But I didn't want to listen to that, because I thought, well, it's just my nerves or something. I just remember her coming at me with her arms swinging and in a way I was not familiar with.

COHEN (on camera): You don't remember being hit more than 100 times in the head?

DALLAM: I don't remember being hit. It is kind of like I see her coming and then it's blank.

COHEN (voice-over): It was Katie Dallam's first professional fight. And the outcome was as disturbing as Katie's interpretation on canvas. She became the first female boxer in history to be seriously injured in the ring. Katie's family believes that Katie's experience was the inspiration for the Oscar winning film "Million Dollar Baby." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE "MILLION DOLLAR BABY")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People who see me fight, say I'm pretty tough.

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: Curly, tough ain't enough. (END VIDEOTAPE "MILLION DOLLAR BABY")

COHEN (on camera): Were you excited about getting into boxing?

DALLAM: Yes. I -- I -- I really enjoyed being able to learn, you know, just the whole thing about which punches to throw and just, made me feel more in control, I guess. And that's the -- my trainer.

COHEN (voice-over): For 37 years, Katie had pushed herself. As a young woman she had overcome alcoholism, did a tour in the Air Force, and became a substance abuse counselor. She always challenged herself artistically as well as physically. She took up kick boxing, and then she decided to test her skill as a professional boxer. She found a trainer and agreed to her first fight. The purse, $300. Katie got her professional boxing license just one day before that fight. Her sister Stephanie remembered her trainer's words.

STEPHANIE DALLAM, SISTER: This girl that she's fighting really can't fight at all. So there is no danger here. He's like, you know, kind of like, don't worry, you know, put that out of your head. I guarantee you, you know, that she's not going to get hurt.

COHEN: Katie's opponent, Sumaya Anani. Fifteen years younger, 30 pounds lighter than Katie. Anani was also a novice. This would be her fourth professional fight.

Round one.

S. DALLAM: Katie gets up there, and this woman comes out like a Tasmanian devil or something like that, I mean, just like a fury of fists.

And of course she can't even do anything. She's being pummeled just back and forth, back and forth. And the audience, you know, calling for her to kill Katie. And then soon, Katie's nose is broken, and blood is streaming down her face, and the crowd is standing up and cheering and yelling.

And my instinct was to run into the ring and to, you know, jump between them, you know, and pull this woman off of her.

COHEN: Finally, the fight was stopped early in the fourth round. Katie remains standing, but Stephanie knew that something was terribly wrong.

S. DALLAM: I said her name. I said, Katie, and she didn't turn to look at me. She looked really shaky. She looked like some -- you know, she didn't -- she wasn't focused on anything. COHEN: Stephanie rushed to the dressing area. But by the time she got there, Katie had passed out.

S. DALLAM: At that moment, I realized she was going to die.

COHEN: Stephanie, who is a nurse, says she cleared an air passage so her sister could breathe. An ambulance was called. Katie was rushed to the operating room. The main vessel that connected the two hemispheres in her brain had burst.

It seemed like an eternity as Stephanie waited for word from the surgeon.

S. DALLAM: He says he's never seen anything like it. He says, well, we got her stable right now. She's in the ICU and you can see her.

I went to her bedside. And I basically saw her after the surgery, and she had every tube imaginable, and, you know, and she looked like a dead person already. And I really wasn't sure that I was ever going to see her again, you know, alive.

I saw the camera with me, and so I took a picture, because I wanted to be able to show the rest of the family what she'd looked like. And, you know, because I didn't think I would ever see her again.

I told them what had happened. I told them that if they wanted to see her again, they should probably get on the next plane, but I couldn't guarantee she would be alive when they got here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Coming up, Katie's remarkable recovery, and how her ordeal disgraced the sport of women's boxing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURT SUGAR, BOXING HISTORIAN: The referee would have stopped the male fight, because it was obvious one of the participants couldn't defend themselves. In this case, he just let it go on and on and on, until basically a one-sided butt-whooping, as Muhammad Ali used to call it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: More from Katie Dallam and the opponent who nearly killed her.

Plus, you've picked him as the person of the day. You don't want to miss this policeman's story of actually how he found a missing eight-year-old girl in a dumpster, and saved her life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And we continue to focus on survivorship tonight. Katie Dallam nearly died in her very first professional boxing match. She suffered a horrifying beating from her opponent, who weighed 30 pounds less than Katie. But unlike the hero of "Million Dollar Baby," Katie chose to live. Once again, here is Elizabeth Cohen with Katie Dallam's story of survival.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're standing and trading shots at the center of the ring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're going to start to see some blood pretty soon if she lands many more of those jabs right to the nose.

COHEN (voice-over): In her book on boxing, Joyce Carol Oates writes that the sport has become America's tragic theater. That was never more true than for Katie Dallam, in a coma after surviving the brutal outcome of her first professional fight.

As Katie began to come out of the coma, doctors were not optimistic. Like Maggie in "Million Dollar Baby," Katie says she remembers being ready to die until she had a vision of her mother.

KATIE DALLAM: I was ready to just go. But my mom had already died of breast cancer, and I was talking to her. And she told me it wasn't my time to go. And that pissed me off, because I did not want to come back down and be in this body that had -- I mean, at that point I was really bad. I have, like, these wires in my skull and everything, and horrible headaches, and the broken nose, and then my -- this whole side of my body was in a lot of pain.

What I remember is me and my mom talking up there and her saying, you know, it's not your time.

COHEN: That was when Katie began the fight of a lifetime.

S. DALLAM: She didn't know who she was. She wanted to go back to her life but didn't remember her life.

COHEN: After leaving the hospital, she had to learn how to walk, how to talk, how to do just about everything.

Katie turned to her art work for relief. But because she was a different person, she became a different artist. The pastel water colors were gone, and her painting became violent and disturbing.

K. DALLAM: Some of these pictures are pretty dark. But there is always this anger in there, kind of this fright, too, you know, fight against these creatures or something.

COHEN: Katie's recovery would take years, and during that time, her family began to ask questions. Questions about what really happened that night.

S. DALLAM: It was just a nightmare situation. I just stood by and took pictures while, you know, my sister was beaten to death in front of me. I felt dirty just for having been there.

COHEN: One fight that changed the lives of Katie and her family, and became a symbol of the problems in women's boxing.

SUGAR: Women's boxing is, I think, a totally disorganized sport.

COHEN: Burt Sugar is one of America's foremost boxing historians.

SUGAR: There are certain very good fighters, but I just don't think it is the sport that I recognize as a sport.

COHEN: Sugar says because there aren't enough women fighters, bouts are often gross mismatches in weight and in experience. And since the sport itself is relatively new, he says, there is a shortage of qualified ring officials, and that the crowd may be there for other reasons, more than just the boxing.

SUGAR: Having watched, albeit sort of like this, women's boxing, and watched the crowd more than the women, I would put to you that a group is there to watch the women's boxing and enjoy it. But just as many, if not more, are there to watch the women's assets. They're there almost as voyeurs.

COHEN: We asked Burt Sugar to analyze the tape of the fight between Katie and Sumya.

SUGAR: This match was no match. It was terrible. But, yes, one girl at least knew she had two hands, Sumya. The other, Katie, couldn't figure out where her other hand was. A referee would have stopped a male fight because it was obvious one of the participants couldn't defend themselves. In this case, he just let it go on and on and on until, basically, a one-sided butt-whooping as Muhammad Ali used to call t.

COHEN: Why didn't Katie Dallam's corner throw in the towel? And why didn't Katie just quit?

S. DALLAM: She had this pride, even though she's getting beat, she wanted to get beat with dignity. I mean, that's why I think she wouldn't go down.

COHEN: And what about Katie's opponent, Sumya Anani? How does she recall that night?

SUMYA ANANI, KATIE DALLAM'S OPPONENT: I've kind of always felt like they were blaming me, and I never understood that because I was in there just like Katie was, and I chose to get in there just like Katie did. I did what I was supposed to do and she hit back.

COHEN: Do you have an unusual style?

ANANI: That was out of fear. I was fighting out of fear because she weighed so much. So they -- they joke about the windmill. It is true. I was just throwing because I was scared of her weight. COHEN: That evening nine years ago is still a blur to Katie Dallam. Today, she lives by herself, and her salvation has been her painting. K. DALLAM, I feel very comfortable when I'm doing my work. I can talk better. I can just be OK with who I am and what I'm doing. But I get out of that realm, and I don't feel so good. The only thing I feel that is -- that I'm -- absolutely can do is the art work. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE "MILLION DOLLAR BABY")

HILARY SWANK, ACTRESS: Because I know what you train me, Red, I'm going to be a champ.

(END VIDEOTAPE "MILLION DOLLAR BABY") COHEN: Earlier this year, Katie's life changed yet again, when Stephanie heard about the movie "Million Dollar Baby."

S. DALLAM: I said I have to know if this movie is about Katie. And then, Katie is like, well, I have to see it, too, then, because I have to know if this movie has anything to do with what happened to me.

COHEN: How did that movie change your life?

K. DALLAM: Immediately, I felt like, OK, this did happen to me. It was like it finally put a piece of the puzzle in there, and I could accept that I have a head injury.

I mean, in the movie, she has a different kind of injury. She still has her brain, but she doesn't have her body. And it made me realize, you know, she's a good fighter. She would have the same situation, but she decided not to go on whereas I've been still fighting to go on, and I don't know, I guess it made me realize I'm not weak.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Powerful realization. Elizabeth Cohen telling that story tonight. Katie and Stephanie say, because of the movie, some people have actually shown interest in buying Katie's art which gives her some hope that her artistic career will grow someday, too.

Still ahead, the incredible story of the Florida policeman who saved a little girl who had been buried alive in a dumpster. But first, just about eight minutes before the hour, Erica Hill joins us from HEADLINE NEWS.

ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS: Paula, busy day on the CNN "Security Watch".

A Pennsylvania man is accused of trying to build a bomb and sell it to terrorists in Houston. The FBI says 68-year-old Ronald Grecula was arrested today in Houston. Officials say he made the offer to an undercover agent who he thought was a member of al Qaeda.

And it happened again over Washington today. The Air Force scrambled jets and fired warning flares, forcing another small plane to land after it violated restricted air space. The military says the Cessna was on a flight from Tennessee to Maryland and landed safely. The pilot was questioned about it. Meantime, the pilot who triggered the evacuation in Washington two weeks ago has been grounded. Federal officials are taking away his pilot's license. The student flying with him was not punished.

And what could be the biggest security breach in the banking industry. Four banks including Wachovia and Bank of America are notifying 670,000 customers their personal information has been stolen. So, far 10 suspects have been arrested. Seven are bank employees.

And, that's the latest from HEADLINE NEWS at this hour. Paula, back to you.

ZAHN: Something I think we all fear. Thanks, Erica.

Coming up, the "Person of the Day," and no wonder, 98 -- we said earlier 97 -- it's up to 98 percent of you picked him. His own story of saving a little girl buried in the dumpster, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Now the "Person of the Day" -- in a landslide with 98 percent of the vote, you picked Sergeant Mike Hall, a Florida police officer who actually found an eight-year-old girl buried in a landfill dumpster near West Palm Beach. Susan Candiotti has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SGT. MIKE HALL, FOUND GIRL IN DUMPSTER: It is kind of chilling. But got thing is, I mean, as I said, she's a strong young girl. She -- she survived and it is a happy ending. That's all that matters.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CORRESPONDENT: Sergeant Mike Hall, one day after he found an eight-year-old girl inside a dumpster at a landfill near the home where she was staying. She had been missing for seven hours.

HALL: I got here. I got over the corner right here, looked in like here and then about right here within arm's reach was a yellow recycle bin.

CANDIOTTI: The bin inside the dumpster looked like this.

HALL: And I lean over, flip it open, falls back just like that. I start looking in.

CANDIOTTI: It was halfway filled with rocks. He started shaking the bin.

HALL: In between the rocks, I see a small little hand and a small little foot.

CANDIOTTI: But not moving.

HALL: But no movement. No movement, no sound. I start shaking, the bin as best I can. I start -- I ask can you hear me? Are you OK? I hear nothing. I see no movement.

CANDIOTTI: Sergeant Hall called in a supervisor, Lieutenant Dave Matthews. He looked in, prepared for the worst. And then...

LT. DAVE MATTHEWS: The first thing that came out might have mouth, her finger just moved, and then, also thinking that these guys are going to think I'm nuts. But it moved again.

CANDIOTTI: Stunningly, the child was breathing, after seven hours apparently buried alive under rocks.

HALL: He put her in there, left her for dead. I mean, he made sure that even if she was still alive, there was no way she was going crawl out of this. I mean, in the heat, with the lid down, plastic -- she was just going to bake in there. There is no way she was going get out.

CANDIOTTI: You're talking about boulders this size that were on top of her.

HALL: This size right here, yes, ma'am.

CANDIOTTI: How heavy is this?

HALL: This right here, that's probably about 30 pounds right there. Heavy.

CANDIOTTI: I can barely lift this thing myself.

Sergeant Mike Hall, a reluctant hero.

HALL: If anything, I mean, she's the hero. She's the one that needs to be sitting here and America needs to be calling her a hero. Not me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: What a lucky little girl to have such a brave man looking for her. Susan Candiotti with our "Person of the Day."

Before we go, we wanted to recap this hour's breaking news from Washington where a group of moderate senators, Democrats and Republicans, announced a deal on President Bush's judicial nominations. Three of them, Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor, will no longer be filibustered and will get a final vote, a simple yes no. But there is no commitment to vote for or against the filibusters blocking two other nominees, Henry Saad and William Myers. Republican Senator John McCain sums up the deal this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The first question that most of the media are going to ask is who won and who lost? The Senate won and the country won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan calls tonight's deal a positive development and progress, but carefully chosen words, just like words of the senators who forged the compromise. Everything is hedged with terms like "pause," "hope," "trying to avert a crisis." Weigh them, and you begin to understand just how much difficult slogging (ph) lies ahead.

The Republican senators are saying the deal forces the White House to listen. Democratic leader Harry Reid says the Bush administration's attempt to subvert the Constitution is over, and for the time being, at this hour, we don't know if the Republicans actually had enough votes to block a filibuster. So, despite the relief over tonight's compromise, no one knows how much uglier this might all get.

There will be much more tonight on the Senate deal with Aaron Brown on NEWSNIGHT at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. That's it for all of us here. Thanks so much for being with us tonight. LARRY KING LIVE starts right now. We'll be back, same time, same place, tomorrow night.

END

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Aired May 23, 2005 - 20:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We continue our coverage of the breaking news now. A deal has been struck in the Senate to avoid a showdown over the issue of the filibuster.
Senator Lindsey Graham saying it, I think, the most succinctly, when he said the Senate -- quote -- "is back in business." Just a few minutes ago, 14 moderate senators, seven Democrats, seven Republicans announcing that they had come to this deal.

We are now going to listen in on a little bit of what Senator McCain had to say when he characterized what has come at the end of a very long day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Future nominations will -- the signatories will exercise their responsibilities and the nominees should only be filibustered under extraordinary circumstances.

And in light of this commitment and a continuing commitment, we will try to do everything in our power to prevent filibusters in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And we expect to hear shortly from the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, as well as the Senate minority leader, Reid, in a short while.

In the meantime, we go to our congressional correspondent Joe Johns, who is going to give us a better understanding of what this deal is.

But before we get to the specifics, Joe, I took a lot of notes here. And it was interesting, because there was a lot of coded language, I thought. When a senator said, we have come here to pause, to hope, to try to avert a crisis. Is the crisis really over or not here?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is also a question as to whether there was a crisis at all. A lot of Republican senators have said this is not a crisis at all. The Senate of the United States has the right to change its rules. It is in the United States Constitution.

On the other hand, there have been many Democrats who have said the notion of removing the filibuster, removing the ability of the minority to block judicial nominations, is a major step in turning the Senate into a legislative body that is exactly like the House of Representatives, where majority rules. In the Senate, the tradition as long as I have lived has certainly been one of extended debate. A senator individually has always been able to pretty much talk one issue to death, if he or she so desired to. So, that's the kind of things the senators are saying they've been able to avert. Also, there is that important notion sort of overarching of the coming -- the possible Supreme Court nomination that could come as early as this summer, a lot of senators very worried about creating a situation like that.

ZAHN: Joe, we're going break off here for a moment and come back to you in just a moment.

Senator Lieberman is now talking to reporters or -- who is it now? Senator Warner. I don't see the picture yet. So bear with us. This is breaking news. We'll go to whichever Republican is talking now. They keep on trading the microphone here.

And now, of course, with my luck, no one is talking.

So Joe, let's come back to this whole issue of how there were a number of people in the Senate that didn't want this deal in the first place. How will this go down with the whole body?

JOHNS: Right. Well, there are a lot of people in the Senate that didn't want the deal in the first place. There is a lot of pressure on the outside from conservative groups, who said it is time for the president's nominees, plain and simple, to get an up-or-down vote. Now some conservatives in the Senate felt exactly the same way. There are some conservatives who said there should be no deal that didn't include an up-or-down vote for all of the president's nominees. So, it is not likely to sit very well with them. There is also some thought that down the road politically there could be some danger for those Republicans who have stepped into the fray and decided to sign on to this deal, because a lot of conservative groups were threatening that, you know, you'll hear from us again the next time an election comes around if you don't go our way, Paula.

ZAHN: In fact, Senator Graham made that very clear when he said, what I'm about to say is not going to go down well with the folks at home. And he, too, took a little poke at the White House, saying -- quote -- "The White House is going to have to listen to us."

JOHNS: Right.

ZAHN: What was the subtext of that?

JOHNS: Well, the subtext is that it is always been assumed here that, while the president has said he's been hands off on this issue, that quietly behind the scenes some of the people who work for the president have been pulling strings, trying to keep the Republicans in line on this issue, because they want all their judicial nominees. And down the road, they want to make sure that a Supreme Court nomination, if it happens this year, gets through on their terms. So, there was a lot for the White House to try to protect here. And a lot of people on Capitol Hill have suggested, of course, that the Constitution gives the Senate the power of advice and consent. So, when you send a nomination up here, the Senate gets to work its will and the White House should be hands off, simply because of the separation of powers. That's at least part of the subtext, Paula.

ZAHN: Let's go on to how we understand this deal works. So, there will be a simple and yes-no vote on Justice Priscilla Owen, Justice Janice Rogers Brown and Judge William Pryor. Then what?

JOHNS: Then there are a couple others. There is -- including Henry Saad, who has been a fairly controversial nomination, who could still be filibustered. So no one is saying what they're going to do on that, which means Democrats presumably would have the right to block those nominations. And going forward, good faith, these senators promising only to filibuster in extraordinary circumstances or some language like that.

We have been hearing that again and again and again. And that sort of is -- is a wave at the notion that some senators have been filibustering a bit too much. Some senators have been blocking judicial nominations too often and perhaps this went too far.

ZAHN: Joe Johns, we're going to break away.

The Senate minority leader, Reid, now takes to the podium. Let's listen in.

SENATOR HARRY REID, (D) NEVADA, SENATE MINORITY LEADER: The podium's still warm.

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: It's still shaking.

(LAUGHTER)

Give him a minute. (PAUSE) They got air conditioning in here?

REID: Need several seconds to read my writing.

ZAHN: It's understandable that Minority Leader Harry Reid needs a couple moments to see what he so swiftly wrote when this deal came together.

REID: Thank you all very much. This is really good news for every American tonight. This so-called nuclear option is off the table. This is a significant victory for our country, for our democracy and for every American.

Checks and balances have been protected. The integrity of the Supreme Court has been protected from the undue influence of the vocal, radical right wing.

Tonight the Senate has worked its will on behalf of reason and behalf of responsibility. We have sent President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and the radical arm of the Republican base an undeniable message -- abuse of power will not be tolerated, will not be tolerated by Democrats or Republicans. And your attempt -- I say to the vice president and to the president -- to trample the Constitution and grab absolute control is over.

I offered Senator Frist several options similar to this compromise, over many months. And while he was not able to agree, I'm pleased that some responsible Republicans and my colleagues were able to put aside their differences and work from the center.

I don't support several of these judges that have been agreed to that are outside the mainstream of American jurisprudence and basic common sense. But we have had to move forward and, as Senator Byrd said, we have a Republic tonight that's been protected.

I'm happy that my colleagues are here with me. Each one of these men and women, in addition to Senator Leahy, have been kept apprised of all that has been going on for many, many months now.

I'm grateful for their support. As you know, these two men behind me serve on the Judiciary Committee. And they knew the individuals better than any of the rest of us to begin with. We all know them quite well now.

We would be happy to take a few questions.

QUESTION: Senator Reid, the Michigan judges that...

REID: Michigan judges will be approved, except for Saad, of course.

QUESTION: How confident are you that this doesn't blow up over a Supreme Court nominee?

REID: The Senate is going to act its will. Now there are rumors that there will be vacancies on the Supreme Court. And if there is, we believe that the president should do just as President Clinton did. And as President Clinton dealt with Chairman Hatch -- have a little consultation, advice and consent.

And I have seen a number of lists of Supreme Court nominees that have been suggested in the White House. These are people that we're happy to take a look at.

These two men: Senator Schumer, that's his subcommittee; Senator Durbin is on the committee. We'll look at them.

This should be the Senate as it has always worked for 200-plus years.

We're not out looking to pick fights with President Bush. He shouldn't be out looking to pick a fight with us. This is a very important night for the American people.

QUESTION: Senator Reid, do you think that this is going to force President Bush to consult more closely with the Senate before sending up nominations or legislation?

REID: I don't think it should force him to do anything. It just is common sense. We're here to do the people's business. We have important issues to deal with, important issues. The Senate working at its best was designed by the Founding Fathers to go very slowly. That's what has been the preservation of our Republic.

So at best we move slowly. And if the president has an agenda, we're willing to work on his agenda. But he should have a little more humility, I guess is the word I would like to pronounce

QUESTION: Will you all continue to filibuster on Myers?

REID: Yes.

QUESTION: And Saad?

REID: Yes.

QUESTION: Will you hold a filibuster on Myers?

REID: Yes.

QUESTION: And Saad?

REID: Yes.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

REID: Nuclear option is off the table. The Senate can work as the Senate. How much better could it be not for Democrats, not for Republicans, but the American people. This is a wonderful...

ZAHN: We leave the Senate minority leader to listen to what Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist now has to say about the deal cobbled together in the Senate.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SENATOR BILL FRIST, (R) TENNESSEE, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: ... reminding the Senate of my principle, a simple principle that I've come to this floor day after day stating, stressing.

And it is really this -- I fundamentally believe that it is our constitutional responsibility to give judicial nominees the respect and the courtesy of an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate.

Investigate them, and question them and scrutinize them and debate them in the best spirit of this body. But then vote. Up or down, yes or no, confirm or reject, but each deserves a vote.

Unlike bills, nominees can't be amended. They can't be split apart. They can't be horse-traded. They can't be log-rolled. Our Constitution does not allow for any of that. It simply requires up-or- down votes on judicial nominees.

So in that regard, the agreement announced tonight falls short of that principle. It falls short. It has some good news and it has some disappointing news. And it will require careful monitoring.

Let me start with the good news. I'm very pleased, very pleased that each and every one of the judges identified in the announcement will receive the opportunity of that fair up-or-down vote.

Priscilla Owen, after four years, two weeks and one day, she will have a fair and up-or-down vote.

William Pryor, after two years and one month, he will have a fair up-or-down vote.

Janice Rogers Brown, after 22 months, a fair up-or-down vote.

Three nominees will get up-or-down votes with certainty now because of this agreement, whereas a couple of hours ago, maybe none would get up-or-down votes. And that would have gone wrong.

And with the confirmation of Tom Griffith to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals...

ZAHN: In our attempt to try to give equal time to both the Senate minority leader and the Senate majority leader, we'll cut it straight down the middle by checking in with Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, and Ben Nelson from Nebraska, another esteemed gentleman.

Gentlemen, I see the thumbs up. That must mean you can hear me.

Senator Graham, you said it rather succinctly when you said earlier at the news conference, the Senate is back in business. But at what cost? You said there are going to be a lot of folks in your home state who are going to be pretty angry with you about going along with this compromise.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Pretty much at my cost, I think. But all of us are going to take some heat here, but -- because people get really emotionally involved in this issue. But most Americans just see us unable to do the nation's business.

So, the reason I was willing to not vote for the nuclear option at this point in time is, after talking with Ben and other Democrats and Republicans, I think we get a chance to start over. And very seldom in life do you get a chance to start over. We're going to have some votes on judges, which I think will be a good step for the Senate. And we'll deal with the future as the future comes.

If we'll learn from the past mistakes of the year and a half, if the White House will learn, if Republicans and Democrats will learn, we can have a process where people get better treated in the Senate and we can stay in business beyond judges and do some things good for the country. So, I'm willing to take a little heat if it helps my country. And I think it did. ZAHN: Senator Nelson, we heard some very harsh language used by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, when he said this compromise is, he says, evidence that the abuse of power by this administration will no longer be tolerated. And he -- quote -- basically said, your attempt to trample the Constitution, referring to vice president and the president, is over.

Do you agree with that harsh assessment?

SEN. BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: I agree that the country has avoided a nuclear option and a meltdown and now has the opportunity within the Senate to begin to work on the important issues in addition to judges. And that is to get energy legislation through and all of the other things that we need to do, which were raised in doubt by this continuing debate about whether we're going to have a nuclear option or not.

ZAHN: But, gentlemen, here's what I don't understand.

Although you cobbled together this compromise, we're hearing from Senator Reid -- and Senator Graham, you can take a whack at this -- saying that the Democrats will invoke a filibuster, I guess after these three judges, where you'll have a simple yes-no vote, and Senator Frist say a filibuster should never be used.

GRAHAM: Well, I was a guy that was willing to sue the Senate because I think the constitutional requirement of every senator is to give advice and consent by voting. I don't like the filibuster for Republicans or Democrats. I think it is unconstitutional.

But as Ben said, we have got a lot of issues up here. And I saw blowing the Senate up over this basically putting us at peril in a time of war. So what I would say to Senator Reid, let's sit down and talk, like the 14 of us did. If you're going challenge the president in this way, talk to him quietly after the spin machine is turned off. Let's see if we can get a pool of candidates coming over here.

There are going to be some votes where Republicans vote against some of President Bush's nominees. But people are going to start getting votes. And the truth is, some are going to make it. Some won't. As to the Supreme Court, I believe we can work as mature adults to get confirmation of Supreme Court justices who are conservative and -- if we really work hard. So, I wish the spinning would stop and the talking would begin.

ZAHN: But Senator Nelson, do you expect the filibuster to be used on some of these other judicial nominees after these first three are simply cleared on a yes-or-no vote?

NELSON: It hasn't been ruled out. As a matter of fact, a couple of names have been left on, if you will, the if list. And that isn't known at the present time.

But I do think that, if you look at the signatories to this agreement, that you'll see people with -- in good faith coming together to say that, except in extraordinary circumstances which then we would vote for a filibuster, all other cases will be voted to get an up-or-down vote. I think that's what is the significance of this event, an up-or-down vote for most judges, at the same time, no nuclear option for our country. That serves everybody's purpose.

GRAHAM: Can I add one thing, Paula, about the future?

I don't know what the future holds. But I know this. No matter how much pressure I get in South Carolina, no matter how much pressure I get from conservative groups, I'm not going to vote for the nuclear option because I'm worried about me. If there are future filibusters where one of the Senate Democrat colleagues believes they have to filibuster, at that point in time, I retain my right as an individual senator to vote to change the rules if I believe they're out of bounds.

We have to trust each other. We have to work together. But we have a chance to start over. And my vote is depending on what my seven colleagues decide to do in the future. If they decide to go down the filibuster road, I retain my options to change the rules. But I don't think we're going get there. There is no reason for us to have to do that if we'll act like the senators the public expects us to be.

ZAHN: Senators, great to have both of your opinions tonight.

NELSON: Thank you.

ZAHN: Senator Nelson, Senator Brown, appreciate your time.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: Congratulations on your deal.

Once again, as you could see from our conversation, there is still a little bit up in the air about how the Senate will proceed from here, clearly, still some great tension between the Republicans and the Democrats, with the most harsh words coming from the Senate minority leader tonight, when he basically said -- accused the Bush administration of trying to trample on the Constitution with trying to put this nuclear option through.

That of course did not happen, 14 senators coming out in a news conference describing this compromise that they have come to. And we will keep you posted on what that means down the road for some of the Bush administration's controversial nominees.

We're going to move ahead now with the rest of our show tonight. She's making her presence felt around the world, even if that means taking heat in the Holy Land. Coming up next, First Lady Laura Bush's journey into the political spotlight.

And a little bit later on:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You don't remember being hit more than 100 times in the head?

KATIE DALLAM, BOXER: I don't remember being hit. It is kind of like I see her coming and then it's blank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And the woman whose real-life story is almost a mirror image of the Oscar-winning movie "Million Dollar Baby."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Lots going on politically tonight. We move from that ferocious filibuster battle on to the first lady and her increasingly familiar role as the face and voice of the Bush administration. You maybe missed this over the weekend, but it is definitely worth watching, Laura Bush surrounded by police as she visited the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, one of Islam's holiest sites.

Israeli security closed ranks around the first lady to protect her from angry protesters. In an interview today with Suzanne Malveaux, Mrs. Bush brushed off questions about whether she was ever worried.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: These are places of great emotion. The Holy Land is the birthplace of three different great religions. There are wonderful Christian sites there, obviously, the sites that mean the most to the Jewish people, and then the Dome of the Rock, which is very important to Muslims.

But, of course, there are tensions there. But that's part of the purpose of the trip and part of the purpose of working for peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Well, the first lady's trip to the Middle East is just the latest example of that higher profile she's been taking during her husband's second term. And that is by design.

Here is Soledad O'Brien with tonight's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" profile.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please welcome Mrs. Laura Bush.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First lady Laura Bush, looking picture perfect by her husband's side as they celebrate his second term in office. She's developed a reputation for being reserved and soft-spoken, a supportive wife who finds strength in her 28-year marriage to George W. Bush.

L. BUSH: I think there is something about politics that has strengthened our marriage for sure and really made us that much more appreciative of each other and appreciative of the fact that we do have a strong marriage.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And so the city slicker asked the old guy how to get to the nearest town.

L. BUSH: Not that old joke, not again.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Now, after more than four years in the White House, the one-time shy librarian from Midland, Texas, has grown into her role, becoming much more outgoing and showing America her lighter side.

L. BUSH: One night after George went to bed, Lynne Cheney, Condi Rice, Karen Hughes and I went to Chippendales.

(LAUGHTER)

L. BUSH: I won't tell you what happened. But Lynne's Secret Service code name is now "Dollar Bill".

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: At this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner, Laura Bush poked fun at her husband and recounted a typical Sunday evening at home.

L. BUSH: I am married to the president of the United States. And here is our typical evening; 9:00, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep. And I am watching "Desperate Housewives."

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Many political watchers credit Laura Bush with softening her husband's image and helping him win another term in the White House.

ANN GERHART, BIOGRAPHER: She is the perfect wife. She knows exactly how to calibrate her public appearance and her public pronouncements. She does nothing but enhance his image.

O'BRIEN: Though she appears more comfortable in public, the 58- year-old first lady is an admitted introvert whose favorite pastime is simply reading. Her reluctant life in politics began on a blind date 28 years ago.

L. BUSH: What I liked about George when I first met him was, I liked his personality. I liked that he gave me a lot of energy because of the energy of his personality.

G. BUSH: I saw an elegant, beautiful woman who turned out not only to be elegant and beautiful, but very smart and willing to put up with my rough edges and, I must confess, has smoothed them off over time.

L. BUSH: Not all of them.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Within six weeks, they were engaged, within three months, married.

L. BUSH: It was a small wedding, just about 75 people. It was in the church I had been baptized in as a baby. So, it was a really wonderful way to start a new marriage.

O'BRIEN: Laura Welch was raised a Democrat. But now she was forever tied to a Republican Party dynasty. Just one day after they said their "I do"s, George W. followed in his family's footsteps and entered politics.

G. BUSH: Howdy.

O'BRIEN: Running for a congressional seat in Texas.

G. BUSH: I'm George Bush.

O'BRIEN: Bush lost. And after that defeat, George and Laura both agreed to return to private life and start a family. But for Laura, pregnancy did not come quickly.

G. BUSH: We did want children and were in the process of adopting. Laura, actually, as I understand it, checked twins on the "We would love to have twins." And in between going to the Gladney Home and being accepted as parents and the final home visit by the case worker, Laura became pregnant with twins.

L. BUSH: We were thrilled. We had waited a long time to have children. And so, when we got to have two at once, we were especially thrilled.

O'BRIEN: The Bushes named their twin girls Barbara and Jenna, after their grandmothers. In the early years of their marriage, Laura Bush was concerned about her husband's drinking.

BILL MINUTAGLIO, "PEOPLE": It is very, very clear from talking to their friends that it put an enormous strain on their relationship. And then she essentially laid down the law and, in essence said, you know, it is drinking or me.

G. BUSH: I think it is a well documented fact that I drank too much and quit drinking, and -- because alcohol was beginning to crowd out my energy level and crowd out my affections.

GERHART: While he says she made him quit drinking, that she said, it is it is me or the Jim Beam, Laura herself says, oh, I never said that. He made it that funny story.

O'BRIEN: With his drinking days behind him, George W. Bush helped his father's successful run for the presidency in 1988.

GEORGE H. W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So help me, God. O'BRIEN: Following in his family's footsteps, George W. Bush decided to give politics another try, running for governor of Texas in 1994.

G. BUSH: Let's make it official. I'm a candidate for governor of Texas.

O'BRIEN: He won, defeating incumbent Ann Richards.

G. BUSH: A woman who will be a great first lady of Texas, Laura Bush.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

L. BUSH: I would have never guessed. People would say, do you think George will get back into politics? And I used to joke and say, yes, maybe when we're 50. And, as it turned out, we were pretty close to 50 when he ran for governor.

O'BRIEN: With her husband now the governor of Texas, the most private Laura Bush was now thrust into the public spotlight, whether she liked it or not.

After six years in office, George W. Bush saw an opportunity to continue in his family's powerful political dynasty.

G. BUSH: Well, this exploratory business is over. I'm running. I'm in, and I intend to win.

O'BRIEN: In the end, it turned out to be a winning one for George Walker Bush.

G. BUSH: So help me, God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.

PODESTA: She is the steel in his back. She is a civilizing influence on him. I think that she has built him in many ways into the person he is today.

O'BRIEN: Laura Bush gracefully embraced her new role, standing with her husband and pushing for causes near to her heart.

L. BUSH: I'm going around the country talking about how important teaching is and how important it is for women and men to consider teaching as a career.

O'BRIEN: After just eight months in the White House, Laura Bush would use her trademark grace to reach out to the country. Following the attacks of September 11, she visited hospitals, blood drives and memorial services, calming the nerves of a worried nation.

GERHART: After September 11, Laura Bush really transformed herself into a figure who could take a really active role and that was to reach out and be reassuring to people. And she surprised herself in a way. Before that, she hadn't really recognized that she herself had this incredible platform.

O'BRIEN: As her husband embarks on a second term as president, the one-time reluctant politician's wife has learned to embrace her role.

GERHART: She's gotten a lot more confident standing in front of a crowd. She's still surprised though when she walks into a room and there's a huge round of applause. She still sometimes looks over her shoulder to see who's coming in behind her who these people might be clapping for.

O'BRIEN: While she's become more comfortable in the spot light. As a devoted wife who finds comfort in her close knit family.

GERHART: I think that when historians look back on the Bush presidency, they'll find that she was a bedrock and that he could have never managed without her. He really needs his wife and she's been there to perform that function for him.

L. BUSH: Every single day we have the opportunity to meet really great people and see fabulous things that happen all over our country.

O'BRIEN: The role of a lifetime but leaving little time for simple pleasures like curling up with a good book.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Something we should all be doing more of. Soledad O'Brien reporting on the first lady's surprising journey.

Tomorrow, Mrs. Bush meets with Egypt's first lady, then flies back home to Washington.

And time for all of you to pick the "Person of the Day." Your choices are Sergeant Mike Hall, the Florida police officer who found an eight-year-old girl buried alive inside a dumpster at a landfill.

The 14 senators who averted a nuclear meltdown in the Senate by negotiating a solution to the filibuster impasse.

Or Afghan President Hamid Karzai for coming to Washington to try to forge closer ties with the U.S.

So, normally right now, I'd tell you to cast your vote at CNN.com/Paula where people have been voting all afternoon. But this one is such a landslide, we're going actually going to call the race right now.

With 95 percent of the vote, the "Person of the Day" you picked is police Sergeant Mike Hall who found the missing eight-year-old Florida girl.

We'll have the full story of how he rescued her from that landfill dumpster a little bit later on in this hour. It is really a stunning story.

Coming up, though, a violent sport becomes bloody exploitation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one stops the bleeding. They allow her to bleed all over -- all over herself. She bleeds onto the opponent, and the crowd is standing up and cheering and yelling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Coming up next, the boxer whose story is a real-life version of the film "Million Dollar Baby."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: All week we're going to be focusing in on survivors -- people who live through traumas most of us can barely imagine. But first a warning, some of the pictures you're about to see might be very difficult for you to watch. Tonight, a real-life version of the movie blockbuster "Million Dollar Baby," about a critically injured female boxer that won the Oscar for best picture. The movie ended in death. But that wasn't the case for the woman you're about to meet. She chose to live.

And Elizabeth Cohen has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know you get in there, it's about defending yourself. It is about offense and defense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw her every time she was hit. It was 140 times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Katie made the choice that she wanted to get in there that night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This shouldn't happen. This is not a sport which by definition is competitive.

DALLAM: I just have this memory of her coming at me.

COHEN (voice-over): Voices and images that define one night nine years ago. One life-changing night for the boxer Katie Dallam.

DALLAM: I do remember before going in there, having this really bad feeling in my gut about it. But I didn't want to listen to that, because I thought, well, it's just my nerves or something. I just remember her coming at me with her arms swinging and in a way I was not familiar with.

COHEN (on camera): You don't remember being hit more than 100 times in the head?

DALLAM: I don't remember being hit. It is kind of like I see her coming and then it's blank.

COHEN (voice-over): It was Katie Dallam's first professional fight. And the outcome was as disturbing as Katie's interpretation on canvas. She became the first female boxer in history to be seriously injured in the ring. Katie's family believes that Katie's experience was the inspiration for the Oscar winning film "Million Dollar Baby." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE "MILLION DOLLAR BABY")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People who see me fight, say I'm pretty tough.

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: Curly, tough ain't enough. (END VIDEOTAPE "MILLION DOLLAR BABY")

COHEN (on camera): Were you excited about getting into boxing?

DALLAM: Yes. I -- I -- I really enjoyed being able to learn, you know, just the whole thing about which punches to throw and just, made me feel more in control, I guess. And that's the -- my trainer.

COHEN (voice-over): For 37 years, Katie had pushed herself. As a young woman she had overcome alcoholism, did a tour in the Air Force, and became a substance abuse counselor. She always challenged herself artistically as well as physically. She took up kick boxing, and then she decided to test her skill as a professional boxer. She found a trainer and agreed to her first fight. The purse, $300. Katie got her professional boxing license just one day before that fight. Her sister Stephanie remembered her trainer's words.

STEPHANIE DALLAM, SISTER: This girl that she's fighting really can't fight at all. So there is no danger here. He's like, you know, kind of like, don't worry, you know, put that out of your head. I guarantee you, you know, that she's not going to get hurt.

COHEN: Katie's opponent, Sumaya Anani. Fifteen years younger, 30 pounds lighter than Katie. Anani was also a novice. This would be her fourth professional fight.

Round one.

S. DALLAM: Katie gets up there, and this woman comes out like a Tasmanian devil or something like that, I mean, just like a fury of fists.

And of course she can't even do anything. She's being pummeled just back and forth, back and forth. And the audience, you know, calling for her to kill Katie. And then soon, Katie's nose is broken, and blood is streaming down her face, and the crowd is standing up and cheering and yelling.

And my instinct was to run into the ring and to, you know, jump between them, you know, and pull this woman off of her.

COHEN: Finally, the fight was stopped early in the fourth round. Katie remains standing, but Stephanie knew that something was terribly wrong.

S. DALLAM: I said her name. I said, Katie, and she didn't turn to look at me. She looked really shaky. She looked like some -- you know, she didn't -- she wasn't focused on anything. COHEN: Stephanie rushed to the dressing area. But by the time she got there, Katie had passed out.

S. DALLAM: At that moment, I realized she was going to die.

COHEN: Stephanie, who is a nurse, says she cleared an air passage so her sister could breathe. An ambulance was called. Katie was rushed to the operating room. The main vessel that connected the two hemispheres in her brain had burst.

It seemed like an eternity as Stephanie waited for word from the surgeon.

S. DALLAM: He says he's never seen anything like it. He says, well, we got her stable right now. She's in the ICU and you can see her.

I went to her bedside. And I basically saw her after the surgery, and she had every tube imaginable, and, you know, and she looked like a dead person already. And I really wasn't sure that I was ever going to see her again, you know, alive.

I saw the camera with me, and so I took a picture, because I wanted to be able to show the rest of the family what she'd looked like. And, you know, because I didn't think I would ever see her again.

I told them what had happened. I told them that if they wanted to see her again, they should probably get on the next plane, but I couldn't guarantee she would be alive when they got here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Coming up, Katie's remarkable recovery, and how her ordeal disgraced the sport of women's boxing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURT SUGAR, BOXING HISTORIAN: The referee would have stopped the male fight, because it was obvious one of the participants couldn't defend themselves. In this case, he just let it go on and on and on, until basically a one-sided butt-whooping, as Muhammad Ali used to call it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: More from Katie Dallam and the opponent who nearly killed her.

Plus, you've picked him as the person of the day. You don't want to miss this policeman's story of actually how he found a missing eight-year-old girl in a dumpster, and saved her life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And we continue to focus on survivorship tonight. Katie Dallam nearly died in her very first professional boxing match. She suffered a horrifying beating from her opponent, who weighed 30 pounds less than Katie. But unlike the hero of "Million Dollar Baby," Katie chose to live. Once again, here is Elizabeth Cohen with Katie Dallam's story of survival.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're standing and trading shots at the center of the ring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're going to start to see some blood pretty soon if she lands many more of those jabs right to the nose.

COHEN (voice-over): In her book on boxing, Joyce Carol Oates writes that the sport has become America's tragic theater. That was never more true than for Katie Dallam, in a coma after surviving the brutal outcome of her first professional fight.

As Katie began to come out of the coma, doctors were not optimistic. Like Maggie in "Million Dollar Baby," Katie says she remembers being ready to die until she had a vision of her mother.

KATIE DALLAM: I was ready to just go. But my mom had already died of breast cancer, and I was talking to her. And she told me it wasn't my time to go. And that pissed me off, because I did not want to come back down and be in this body that had -- I mean, at that point I was really bad. I have, like, these wires in my skull and everything, and horrible headaches, and the broken nose, and then my -- this whole side of my body was in a lot of pain.

What I remember is me and my mom talking up there and her saying, you know, it's not your time.

COHEN: That was when Katie began the fight of a lifetime.

S. DALLAM: She didn't know who she was. She wanted to go back to her life but didn't remember her life.

COHEN: After leaving the hospital, she had to learn how to walk, how to talk, how to do just about everything.

Katie turned to her art work for relief. But because she was a different person, she became a different artist. The pastel water colors were gone, and her painting became violent and disturbing.

K. DALLAM: Some of these pictures are pretty dark. But there is always this anger in there, kind of this fright, too, you know, fight against these creatures or something.

COHEN: Katie's recovery would take years, and during that time, her family began to ask questions. Questions about what really happened that night.

S. DALLAM: It was just a nightmare situation. I just stood by and took pictures while, you know, my sister was beaten to death in front of me. I felt dirty just for having been there.

COHEN: One fight that changed the lives of Katie and her family, and became a symbol of the problems in women's boxing.

SUGAR: Women's boxing is, I think, a totally disorganized sport.

COHEN: Burt Sugar is one of America's foremost boxing historians.

SUGAR: There are certain very good fighters, but I just don't think it is the sport that I recognize as a sport.

COHEN: Sugar says because there aren't enough women fighters, bouts are often gross mismatches in weight and in experience. And since the sport itself is relatively new, he says, there is a shortage of qualified ring officials, and that the crowd may be there for other reasons, more than just the boxing.

SUGAR: Having watched, albeit sort of like this, women's boxing, and watched the crowd more than the women, I would put to you that a group is there to watch the women's boxing and enjoy it. But just as many, if not more, are there to watch the women's assets. They're there almost as voyeurs.

COHEN: We asked Burt Sugar to analyze the tape of the fight between Katie and Sumya.

SUGAR: This match was no match. It was terrible. But, yes, one girl at least knew she had two hands, Sumya. The other, Katie, couldn't figure out where her other hand was. A referee would have stopped a male fight because it was obvious one of the participants couldn't defend themselves. In this case, he just let it go on and on and on until, basically, a one-sided butt-whooping as Muhammad Ali used to call t.

COHEN: Why didn't Katie Dallam's corner throw in the towel? And why didn't Katie just quit?

S. DALLAM: She had this pride, even though she's getting beat, she wanted to get beat with dignity. I mean, that's why I think she wouldn't go down.

COHEN: And what about Katie's opponent, Sumya Anani? How does she recall that night?

SUMYA ANANI, KATIE DALLAM'S OPPONENT: I've kind of always felt like they were blaming me, and I never understood that because I was in there just like Katie was, and I chose to get in there just like Katie did. I did what I was supposed to do and she hit back.

COHEN: Do you have an unusual style?

ANANI: That was out of fear. I was fighting out of fear because she weighed so much. So they -- they joke about the windmill. It is true. I was just throwing because I was scared of her weight. COHEN: That evening nine years ago is still a blur to Katie Dallam. Today, she lives by herself, and her salvation has been her painting. K. DALLAM, I feel very comfortable when I'm doing my work. I can talk better. I can just be OK with who I am and what I'm doing. But I get out of that realm, and I don't feel so good. The only thing I feel that is -- that I'm -- absolutely can do is the art work. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE "MILLION DOLLAR BABY")

HILARY SWANK, ACTRESS: Because I know what you train me, Red, I'm going to be a champ.

(END VIDEOTAPE "MILLION DOLLAR BABY") COHEN: Earlier this year, Katie's life changed yet again, when Stephanie heard about the movie "Million Dollar Baby."

S. DALLAM: I said I have to know if this movie is about Katie. And then, Katie is like, well, I have to see it, too, then, because I have to know if this movie has anything to do with what happened to me.

COHEN: How did that movie change your life?

K. DALLAM: Immediately, I felt like, OK, this did happen to me. It was like it finally put a piece of the puzzle in there, and I could accept that I have a head injury.

I mean, in the movie, she has a different kind of injury. She still has her brain, but she doesn't have her body. And it made me realize, you know, she's a good fighter. She would have the same situation, but she decided not to go on whereas I've been still fighting to go on, and I don't know, I guess it made me realize I'm not weak.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Powerful realization. Elizabeth Cohen telling that story tonight. Katie and Stephanie say, because of the movie, some people have actually shown interest in buying Katie's art which gives her some hope that her artistic career will grow someday, too.

Still ahead, the incredible story of the Florida policeman who saved a little girl who had been buried alive in a dumpster. But first, just about eight minutes before the hour, Erica Hill joins us from HEADLINE NEWS.

ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS: Paula, busy day on the CNN "Security Watch".

A Pennsylvania man is accused of trying to build a bomb and sell it to terrorists in Houston. The FBI says 68-year-old Ronald Grecula was arrested today in Houston. Officials say he made the offer to an undercover agent who he thought was a member of al Qaeda.

And it happened again over Washington today. The Air Force scrambled jets and fired warning flares, forcing another small plane to land after it violated restricted air space. The military says the Cessna was on a flight from Tennessee to Maryland and landed safely. The pilot was questioned about it. Meantime, the pilot who triggered the evacuation in Washington two weeks ago has been grounded. Federal officials are taking away his pilot's license. The student flying with him was not punished.

And what could be the biggest security breach in the banking industry. Four banks including Wachovia and Bank of America are notifying 670,000 customers their personal information has been stolen. So, far 10 suspects have been arrested. Seven are bank employees.

And, that's the latest from HEADLINE NEWS at this hour. Paula, back to you.

ZAHN: Something I think we all fear. Thanks, Erica.

Coming up, the "Person of the Day," and no wonder, 98 -- we said earlier 97 -- it's up to 98 percent of you picked him. His own story of saving a little girl buried in the dumpster, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Now the "Person of the Day" -- in a landslide with 98 percent of the vote, you picked Sergeant Mike Hall, a Florida police officer who actually found an eight-year-old girl buried in a landfill dumpster near West Palm Beach. Susan Candiotti has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SGT. MIKE HALL, FOUND GIRL IN DUMPSTER: It is kind of chilling. But got thing is, I mean, as I said, she's a strong young girl. She -- she survived and it is a happy ending. That's all that matters.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CORRESPONDENT: Sergeant Mike Hall, one day after he found an eight-year-old girl inside a dumpster at a landfill near the home where she was staying. She had been missing for seven hours.

HALL: I got here. I got over the corner right here, looked in like here and then about right here within arm's reach was a yellow recycle bin.

CANDIOTTI: The bin inside the dumpster looked like this.

HALL: And I lean over, flip it open, falls back just like that. I start looking in.

CANDIOTTI: It was halfway filled with rocks. He started shaking the bin.

HALL: In between the rocks, I see a small little hand and a small little foot.

CANDIOTTI: But not moving.

HALL: But no movement. No movement, no sound. I start shaking, the bin as best I can. I start -- I ask can you hear me? Are you OK? I hear nothing. I see no movement.

CANDIOTTI: Sergeant Hall called in a supervisor, Lieutenant Dave Matthews. He looked in, prepared for the worst. And then...

LT. DAVE MATTHEWS: The first thing that came out might have mouth, her finger just moved, and then, also thinking that these guys are going to think I'm nuts. But it moved again.

CANDIOTTI: Stunningly, the child was breathing, after seven hours apparently buried alive under rocks.

HALL: He put her in there, left her for dead. I mean, he made sure that even if she was still alive, there was no way she was going crawl out of this. I mean, in the heat, with the lid down, plastic -- she was just going to bake in there. There is no way she was going get out.

CANDIOTTI: You're talking about boulders this size that were on top of her.

HALL: This size right here, yes, ma'am.

CANDIOTTI: How heavy is this?

HALL: This right here, that's probably about 30 pounds right there. Heavy.

CANDIOTTI: I can barely lift this thing myself.

Sergeant Mike Hall, a reluctant hero.

HALL: If anything, I mean, she's the hero. She's the one that needs to be sitting here and America needs to be calling her a hero. Not me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: What a lucky little girl to have such a brave man looking for her. Susan Candiotti with our "Person of the Day."

Before we go, we wanted to recap this hour's breaking news from Washington where a group of moderate senators, Democrats and Republicans, announced a deal on President Bush's judicial nominations. Three of them, Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor, will no longer be filibustered and will get a final vote, a simple yes no. But there is no commitment to vote for or against the filibusters blocking two other nominees, Henry Saad and William Myers. Republican Senator John McCain sums up the deal this way.

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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The first question that most of the media are going to ask is who won and who lost? The Senate won and the country won.

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ZAHN: Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan calls tonight's deal a positive development and progress, but carefully chosen words, just like words of the senators who forged the compromise. Everything is hedged with terms like "pause," "hope," "trying to avert a crisis." Weigh them, and you begin to understand just how much difficult slogging (ph) lies ahead.

The Republican senators are saying the deal forces the White House to listen. Democratic leader Harry Reid says the Bush administration's attempt to subvert the Constitution is over, and for the time being, at this hour, we don't know if the Republicans actually had enough votes to block a filibuster. So, despite the relief over tonight's compromise, no one knows how much uglier this might all get.

There will be much more tonight on the Senate deal with Aaron Brown on NEWSNIGHT at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. That's it for all of us here. Thanks so much for being with us tonight. LARRY KING LIVE starts right now. We'll be back, same time, same place, tomorrow night.

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