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Paula Zahn Now

Dubai Calls Off Port Deal; Asleep at the Wheel; Growing Up Transgendered

Aired March 09, 2006 - 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: Good evening, everyone. Glad to have you all with us.
Tonight, what began as ripples of unrest causes a political tidal wave in Washington.

ZAHN: On the CNN "Security Watch," the dramatic collapse of the Dubai ports deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETER KING (R-NY), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I think this is over. As far as I'm concern, the -- you know, the deal was dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Who wins? Who loses? And does the Republican rebellion mean more trouble for the president?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): Mysteries of the mind. What is it like to be born a girl with the soul of a boy?

TYE CLARK, TRANSGENDERED TEEN: It felt unfair to me that my parents would keep telling me that I was a girl.

ZAHN: One family's amazing journey into unknown territory.

RORY COHEN, MOTHER OF TYE CLARK: We just didn't know that it was possible to have a male brain on a female body.

ZAHN: The unforgettable story of a transgendered teen.

And "Vital Signs" -- sleep, driving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people remember nothing.

ZAHN: Imagine going to bed, then waking up on a highway under arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went to bed. The next thing I know, there is a policeman at my car door.

ZAHN: Is there a connection between a popular sleeping pill and the growing number of drivers asleep at the wheel?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Welcome back.

The Dubai ports deal dead tonight. The security questions were so troubling and the opposition was so ferocious, even for the White House. And that is significant. The deal fell apart this afternoon, after a dramatic chain of events in Washington that ended with the president getting out of town.

Here's White House correspondent Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He pretended not hear the questions, but the political reality was loud and clear. In a defiant standoff with his party on his signature issue, the president lost.

The drama's climax came two hours earlier, with the Senate floor crackling with outrage that the president supporting allow an Arab company to control U.S. port terminals. Then this:

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), VIRGINIA: D.P. World has decided to transfer fully the U.S. operation of P&O Ports North America to a United States entity.

BASH: Republican Senator John Warner, up late into the night trying to save the deal, stunned the room and the town by declaring it dead, reading a statement from Dubai Ports World that they would sell off control of six U.S. ports involved in the deal to an American company.

Just a few hours earlier, an intense meeting at the White House -- Republican leaders told the president there was no way to overcome the enormous opposition. Sources involved in the Oval Office session say uncertainty only added to the tension.

D.P. World was sending mixed signals. Neither the president, nor top congressional leaders knew what the company would do.

REP. PETER KING (R-NY), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: If Dubai ports is divesting itself of all American aspects of the contract, this is over. We can all go forward. There's no acrimony. There's no more problem.

BASH: By day's end, "Move on" was the view of most Republican critics. But some Democrats say, not so fast. Key details, like which American company might step into the picture and whether it has any ties to Dubai Ports World, are still up in the air.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: How thick is the wall? And until we have all of those details, we can't say anything.

BASH: It is a chapter the White House is eager to close. Mr. Bush not only backed the deal, but did so with a veto threat that only exacerbated a GOP revolt that caught the White House off guard.

REP. MARK FOLEY (R), FLORIDA: I supported them wholeheartedly on so many positions. On this one, they're wrong.

BASH: Republicans like Congressman Mark Foley broke with the president in droves, worried about their own reelection -- two-thirds of Americans opposing the sale of U.S. port operations to an Arab company, and only 38 percent of Americans behind the man defending it, the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, HAROLD FORD JR. FOR TENNESSEE AD)

REP. HAROLD FORD (D-TN), TENNESSEE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: President Bush wants to sell this port and five others to the United Arab Emirates, a country that had diplomatic ties with the Taliban.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And risk this against them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, HAROLD FORD JR. FOR TENNESSEE AD)

FORD: I'm running for the Senate because we shouldn't outsource our national security to anyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: The official line here at the White House is that the UAE pulling the plug on this deal reflects the importance of the relationship between the two countries.

But, Paula, a source involved in these negotiations calls the Dubai government -- quote -- "furious." And aides here are worried about the backlash that could happen across the Arab world in a place where they already feel slighted by U.S. policy in the Middle East.

ZAHN: Yes. I guess they have already threatened to pull back on some airline orders from Boeing.

BASH: Exactly.

ZAHN: We will keep an eye on this very closely. Dana Bash, thanks so much for the update.

We turn now to New York Republican Congressman Peter King. He happens to be the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and a major opponent of the port takeover.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: So, Representative King, is the president off the hook on this one yet?

KING: Yes. I think this is over, Paula. I really do. As far as I'm concerned, the -- you know, the deal is dead. Dubai Ports is going to divest itself of all its American interests on -- on these ports. I think that -- I -- I was at the White House today for the signing of the Patriot Act. And there was a small group, which included the speaker and the leadership of the House, along with the president, and what I sensed was a feeling of relief that we got this behind us, and we can go forward.

So, yes, I -- I think the president has cleared the decks on this one.

ZAHN: You might think he has cleared the decks, but you also have to concede, when you have got many members of your own party abandoning you, this is not helpful. Long term, how will this affect this president through the rest of his term?

KING: Listen, I prefer to think the glass is half-full. And what we have to do is take this as a -- as a wakeup call, to both the administration and to the Congress, that we have to work more closely in the future. With have to communicate better.

If that's the case, if that's the result of this, then, you know, this can end up being a big plus, because the Republican Congress and the president have much more in common than divides us. We can't allow a situation to develop, like we did over the last several weeks, where the -- you know, the gap just got wider and wider.

ZAHN: But you have got to admit, the president has lost an awful lot of political capital here. Isn't he the big loser in all of this?

KING: You know, I don't prefer to look upon it as winners and losers.

The fact is, he is the commander in chief. He is the president. I think, on many of the underlying issues, including the war against terror, the American people support the president's policies. We have to start speaking more with one voice.

Listen, this was not the best two weeks for the president. It wasn't the best few weeks for the Congress either. But the fact is, if we can go forward from here, then it is going to end up being a positive experience for all of us.

ZAHN: Are you confident this compromise is bulletproof?

KING: I'm confident that I have been told that it is. I am going to obviously watch it carefully.

I think it would be the worst possible mistake if Dubai Ports tried to cute or clever about this and try to interpret this in such a way that they just transfer title or transfer the contract to an affiliate or a subsidiary of theirs. This has to be to a totally independent American company. The contract has to end up with a totally independent American company.

ZAHN: Well, we will be watching this very closely. Representative Peter King, thanks for your time tonight. Appreciate it.

KING: Thank you, Paula.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And now we move on to developments in a story we have been covering as it has unfolded over the last few weeks.

Maybe you have seen our dramatic stories about a radical religious group that has been staging protests at the funerals of Americans killed in Iraq. These protests have devastated the families of the fallen, and they have shocked and outraged so many people that four states have actually taken action to stop them.

Here is Ed Lavandera with tonight's "Eye Opener."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred Phelps is on his way to another military funeral, laughing at all the people trying to silence him.

FRED PHELPS, PROTESTING AGAINST HOMOSEXUALITY: It is like popping popcorn. Here goes the kernel. Pow. Here goes the kernel. Pow in this state, that state.

LAVANDERA: He says that's how lawmakers are reacting to the military funeral protests Phelps and his family have launched. They believe U.S. soldiers deserve to die because they fight for a country that tolerates homosexuality.

Now four states have recently passed laws that restrict how close Phelps and his family can be to the funerals. Another dozen states are considering similar laws.

PHELPS: If those guys knew how I'm appreciating all this work they're doing, I think they would quit doing it, just for spite.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You crossed the line. Now God is your enemy!

LAVANDERA: The Phelps family says it has picketed more than 100 military funerals since last summer, but, because of these new laws, the Phelps say they will stay away from funerals in Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, and Oklahoma, but not for long. Several family members are attorneys, who say these laws violate their First Amendment right to free speech.

PHELPS: I want Congress to pass a law that says I can't picket, so we can immediately get it all brought to the nation's attention in one gulp.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a hero. You're slime! LAVANDERA: The protests have sparked great outrage. They carry signs that read "Thank God for IEDs" and "Thank God for dead soldiers." The message is so callous, nasty and disruptive, it inspired a group of motorcycle riders from around the country to show up in support of the military families.

RANDY WENDLING, FATHER OF KILLED U.S. SOLDIER: ... to keep peace.

LAVANDERA: Randy Wendling lost a son in Iraq. He still struggles to understand how anyone could be so mean-spirited. Today, he welcomed the news that these new laws might be slowing down the Phelps family.

WENDLING: Families that are mourning should have the freedom to privacy, to mourn the loss of their loved one. And it is very important that this situation never arise again, that the people would be protected.

LAVANDERA: The Phelps family says it will continue picketing legally. These new laws won't slow them down, because, they say, there are plenty of other funerals in other places that will get their attention now.

PHELPS: Love it. You got to love it.

LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And that might come as little consolation to the families who have to come face to face with the Phelps, but they promise to obey all laws and not be arrested.

We move along now -- as detectives try to solve the mysterious killing of a graduate student, a controversy has erupted over her last night alive. She was out drinking alone. Is a radio host out of line to have said that that was inviting trouble?

Later, what is unusual about this ninth-grade boy? Would you believe, that, last year, she was an eighth-grade girl?

ZAHN: And does a sleeping pill used by million make some people sleepwalk, even sleep-drive? You will meet a man who claims he was arrested for just that.

Nearly 20 million of you went on to our Web site today. Here is our countdown of the top 10 most popular stories on CNN.com.

Number 10 -- a new bird flu warning from the Homeland Security secretary. He says it could reach the U.S. in the next few months. The flu has already killed 95 people all over the world.

Number nine, violent storms roll across the south. We heard of a big storm warning in Kentucky just moments ago. In Arkansas, one man was killed, while thousands of home and businesses lost power. Please stay with us -- numbers eight and seven coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: He says he felt like a boy trapped in a girl's body. But, by the eighth grade, he decided to switch genders. We are going to meet him a little bit later on.

Tonight, meanwhile, murder investigators in New York remain focused on a bar bouncer in the brutal killing of a 24-year-old graduate student. Darryl Littlejohn is being held on a parole violation and, today, went before a lineup in another case. A law enforcement source says the victim in that case did not identify Littlejohn.

It has been 12 days since Imette St. Guillen was raped and strangled, her body dumped in a desolate section of Brooklyn. She was last seen alive at 4:00 a.m., alone, at a Manhattan bar where Littlejohn worked, possibly having had too much to drink.

In her hometown of Boston, there is controversy this week, because radio talk show host John DePetro has questioned the victim's behavior. And that's coming to a boiling point tonight.

So, joining me now, John DePetro of WRKO Radio in Boston, as well as former sex crimes prosecutor Wendy Murphy, now a professor at New England School of Law.

Thank you both for joining us tonight.

John, you touched off that firestorm when you said that Imette was -- quote -- "asking for trouble" and may have been inviting trouble. Are you blaming the victim here for her own death?

JOHN DEPETRO, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: You know, Paula, we're not blaming the victim.

But poor Imette made a mistake that night. And I think most people -- we were having -- I do a daily talk show in Boston. We were having a discussion about the event. And most people, it would strike them that a young woman alone, intoxicated, at 4:00 a.m., you are heightening your risk to run into trouble.

So, whether it is an expression of inviting trouble or asking for trouble, the -- the real thing that has to get out here is, young women have to be careful alone at night. And you are heightening your risk.

We're not blaming the victim. Anyone who is a victim of crime is not asking for it. But there are things that we can do to prevent being a victim of crime.

ZAHN: So, Wendy, is really John off base here? A lot of parents are terrified when they know their kids are out there drinking. They don't want their daughters to be alone at 4:00 in the morning at some bar or leave the bar alone. WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: You're right. I -- I have got three daughters, and I would wring their necks if they did such a thing.

But -- but -- but if -- if they did it, and somebody did anything to hurt them, I would wring the neck of John DePetro if he dared suggest she was asking for it. He's trying to play semantic games, because he's getting in a lot of hot water for having clearly stated that she bears some of the blame. I know he's saying, well, that's not what I meant.

Well, it is, in fact, what he said. And, look, the bottom line is, there is only one pie of blame to go around. One hundred percent of blame goes to somebody. And if...

DEPETRO: Criminally.

MURPHY: ... you start talking about blaming the victim at all, or what she did or shouldn't have done or did or didn't do, you, by definition, reduce that 100 percent pile of blame. And the criminal...

DEPETRO: This was not a random act of violence...

MURPHY: The criminal gets the benefit.

DEPETRO: ... the way Wendy tries to make it.

MURPHY: And you shouldn't do that.

DEPETRO: Paula...

ZAHN: All right, John, what were you saying? You said criminally, and then you paused.

DEPETRO: Yes.

ZAHN: What was the point you were trying to make?

DEPETRO: Yes. You know, Wendy argues -- Wendy argues criminally.

I mean, whenever you're a victim of crime, criminally, of course, the -- the criminal is the person that bears all the responsibility. But whether it is someone robbed on the street, or someone breaks into your house, or steals your car, you then have to look back and say, gee, I wonder if I should have left my car running when it was stolen, or maybe I shouldn't have left my house unlocked when someone broke in.

So, of -- of course, they're a victim. But this poor girl, whether it be -- and this is another example of it, Paula. We had Natalee Holloway. You know, was it a good idea for her to be drinking and then ride away with three young guys? Is -- are we blaming her? Is it her fault, what happened? No. But, at the same time, you heighten your risk. People like Wendy... (CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: But, look, there's a difference between...

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: But, Wendy -- Wendy, you -- you -- you said, even with your own daughters...

MURPHY: Yes.

ZAHN: ... you would wring their necks if you found out they left a bar alone at 4:00 a.m.

MURPHY: Yes.

ZAHN: So -- so, where do you think the issue of judgment and...

DEPETRO: Wendy is blaming her daughters.

ZAHN: ... and personal responsibility comes in here?

MURPHY: No. No, I'm saying there is a very important difference between risk reduction and victim blaming.

DEPETRO: The first time you have said that.

MURPHY: We -- when -- and this is how I would describe it.

It's the difference between calling something a vulnerability and a liability. John is not clear about it. And, by the way, he's putting all the onus on females. And who really gets hurt in barrooms after a night of drinking? Disproportionately, it is men. There was a statistic in a Margery Eagan column today in "The Boston Herald."

DEPETRO: Oh, God.

MURPHY: And she spoke to the Boston police.

DEPETRO: Don't start quoting that nonsense.

MURPHY: Now, listen.

ZAHN: All right.

MURPHY: Stop.

Margery Eagan asked the police. They said...

DEPETRO: Oh, my God.

MURPHY: ... no woman who has been drinking in a bar has been killed as a result of any of that...

DEPETRO: That's what we are talking about, Wendy.

MURPHY: ... activity in 10 years in Boston.

DEPETRO: And you know it. There's a difference between men and women.

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: Ten years.

ZAHN: We are -- we are going off subject here.

And -- and...

DEPETRO: She is.

ZAHN: ... we have to -- to leave it with this very important subject of -- of what we can all do as parents to make our children safer out there.

John DePetro, Wendy Murphy, thank you for both of your perspectives tonight.

DEPETRO: Thanks, Paula.

MURPHY: You're welcome.

ZAHN: Now we are going to change our subject. One of the most popular sleeping pills in the country comes with a very important warning. It says you could sleepwalk, but what are some people actually doing in their sleep? It is a lot more than walking, and leading to some arrests along the way. That story is coming up.

But, right now, let's go straight to Erica Hill at Headline News to update this hour's top stories -- Erica.

ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Paula, the Patriot Act, part two -- the president signed a renewal today, strengthening the power of government to intercept and share information. But the renewal put curbs on secret subpoenas and the seizing of library records.

Meantime, the attempt to limit abortion rights is now spreading. In Nashville, lawmakers moved to eliminate the right to choose from Tennessee's Constitution.

In Michigan, a men's rights group is suing to stop the courts there from forcing a man to pay child support for an unintended pregnancy.

And dramatic pictures now to show you of one of the moons of Saturn, spewing geysers of water and ice. Now, NASA says that no -- there is no guarantee there is life there, but water is one of the necessities -- Paula, back over to you.

ZAHN: Thank so much, Erica. Appreciate it.

Felicity Huffman's Oscar-nominated performance in "Transamerica" has focused an awful lot of attention on people who actually switch sexes. We're going to meet a boy tonight who was actually a girl as recently as last year. We're going to join his family's journey of uncertainty when we come back.

Now on to number eight on our CNN.com countdown -- the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops denies a woman's accusation of sexual abuse. She says Bishop William Skylstad abused her more than 40 years ago, when she was a child.

Number seven, the U.S. military says it will transfer detainees out of notorious Abu Ghraib prison within three months. The prison would then be turned over to the Iraqi government -- six and five minutes away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: In tonight's "Mysteries of the Mind," I'm about to introduce you to a family dealing with a truly bizarre problem. One of their children, born physically a girl, almost from the beginning was convinced she's actually a boy.

So, you can only imagine the kind of torment that could cause to a small child growing up. Well, the family finally reached a turning point when a psychologist diagnosed Tye Clark with gender identity disorder. And now the family finds itself on a very challenging journey, dealing with this very strange new reality -- reality, that is -- of a transgender child, someone who wants to be considered a member of the opposite sex.

That family's story is tonight's "Mysteries of the Mind."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Take me back to when you were 2 years old, and you say you became very aware that you were born the wrong gender. What exactly could you feel at that age?

TYE CLARK, TRANSGENDERED TEEN: Right from the time that I could really make my own decisions, like a dress and choose what I was going to be, and sort of the whole like what are you going to be when you grow up, I felt just male. And my body didn't match what I felt inside, because I would look down and I would have -- have a girl's body.

ZAHN: At what age were you old enough to really feel trapped by that?

T. CLARK: You know, maybe third grade, when kids were starting to get into boys or girls, or dating, and fashion, and Barbies and all that -- that kind of stuff.

ZAHN: And, yet, you tried to convince your parents for a very long period of time that you were a boy trapped in a girl's body.

T. CLARK: Yes, because I was so convinced in my mind that I was a guy. And I -- it felt unfair to me that my parents would keep telling me that I was a girl, because I knew, in my mind, that I was a guy.

ZAHN: I guess what I find so remarkable about your story is that you were so young when you realized you were different. And we have a picture of you playing. And -- and you're dressed as a groom at a wedding. No one could ever convince you to be the bride, could they?

T. CLARK: All the girls were in their little skirts and pink shirts and saying, oh, I'm the woman. I was always like Ken, and I'm going to marry you, and like the guy in that. And I just -- yes, I was so convinced, myself, that I was a guy, that I just wouldn't let anyone tell me I had to be girl.

Rory, when Tye started saying to you, "Mom, I'm not a girl; I'm a both; stop dressing me like a girl; you can put as many frilly dresses on me as you want, but that's not who I am," how did you deal with that?

RORY COHEN, MOTHER OF TYE CLARK: Well, I'm a very open-minded, liberal person.

And I thought that Tye -- so, I was very -- thinking I was being very open-minded, well, Tye, you're a girl. And girls can do anything. You know, maybe you just like boys -- what boys do. Maybe you just think that boys are cooler. You can be anything you want as a girl. This is -- it's a great time to be a woman in this country.

ZAHN: And you actually sent him to a girls school...

COHEN: We sent him to a girls...

ZAHN: ... to expose him to a broad range of what girls can be like...

COHEN: That's right.

ZAHN: ... and how they can live.

COHEN: We just didn't know that it was possible to have a male brain on a female body. So, as much as I heard Tye say he was male, I didn't understand. I don't think either one of us really understood at that point what that really meant, that it even was a possibility, that -- that he was transgendered.

ZAHN: And, Matthew, you're a doctor who has been exposed to a lot of differences in -- in people's lives. How terrified were you to know the truth?

MATTHEW CLARK, FATHER OF TYE CLARK: Well, it was -- it was definitely unsettling. You know, it's -- I think it is a different -- it is one thing to sort of be there as a physician while someone else goes through a crisis with their child, whatever that might be, and have some kind of distance or objectivity.

It -- it felt -- it felt different, you know, being a dad. And it's hard to be in doctor mode when -- when it is my kid. I also think this was more unchartered territory than what I was used to. ZAHN: Tye, if you could, kind of walk us through the journey that you have been on, from this time where you had to absolutely convince your parents that you were a boy trapped in a girl's body, where you went public with your diagnosis, shared it with classmates in a very large school. What has that been like for you?

T. CLARK: It has definitely been hard, because, yes, I think every kid wants to be accepted and wants to be, you know, in with the other group of kids.

And, for me, that's -- that has been hard, because of my situation. But what I did after I got diagnosed with this, I held this assembly with my eighth grade class. It was basically all the eighth grade kids in the school and I said this is what I am, and I want you to accept me because I'm no different from what I was last year, except that I'm a guy this year, but I'm the same person and I want you to accept me and just give me the respect of being a guy. You know, after that, things picked up a lot. And...

ZAHN: In what way?

T. CLARK: Well, I was happier for one thing because I wasn't hiding anymore. And people called me "he" and for the first time in my life it was just mostly a consistent he. I mean, there were slipups but, you know, people would call me "he."

ZAHN: Shane what has it been like for you to watch what used to be your sister transition into your brother?

SHANE CLARK, TYE'S SISTER: At first when he first came home with the diagnosis that he was transgender that was just the worst part for me because I couldn't believe, you know, my sister was going to be -- how could my sister be a boy? It didn't make any sense to me. Then I started to see how happy he was and just how much this fit who he was as a person and it just sort of -- it made sense to me.

ZAHN: How surprised have you all been by that level of acceptance? Weren't you worried about that, Tye?

T. CLARK: Oh, yeah. I -- one of the things that matters to me is being accepted, so I was terrified getting up there and telling people because, you know, on one hand, it could be good keeping quiet, but on the other hand it could be bad and I just had so vision of it being negative, but it turned out to be so positive, I was just stunned.

ZAHN: As Tye moves ahead, into his late teens, and into his 20s, what do you most worried about?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I worry about anything, it is just that he would be safe. And that he wouldn't be a victim of some violence of an ignorant person, just because he's transgendered and because he's chosen to be so public about it.

ZAHN: You do have some critical decisions you're going to have to make down the road about taking different kinds of hormones and perhaps even surgery at some point. Where are you on that right now?

T. CLARK: I'm not on hormones at the moment, but I would definitely think about taking them in the future, possibly after surgery. Maybe -- a few months ago I was interested in top and bottom surgery. But then I decided since there were more cons than pros, I decided not to get bottom and to get top surgery.

ZAHN: Tye what do you dream about? What do you hope your life will be like someday?

T. CLARK: Well, I've got to say, like most of the teens I know, you want to be look a rock star or someone famous. But I really -- I would like to find somebody I want to spend the rest of my life with and just settle down and I'm really -- I'm interested in, you know, like art and writing and I think I want to write my own book about this for kids and parents, especially, who, you know, need support on this. So, I think, you know, maybe write a book or just take things easy, you know, and just taking it one step at a time and I don't know. I want to get married at some point, but...

ZAHN: You want kids of your own.

T. CLARK: I want kids of my own.

ZAHN: Tye, what has been the best thing about being told that in fact you are transgender and these feelings you've had for so long were real?

T. CLARK: I've got to tell you, it is such a relief to find out what you finally are after, you know, years of just struggling with yourself. It is just a relief to really get a concrete definition of what you are, because I like to be in a box. And having that diagnosis of, yes, you are transgender is a really good place to start for me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And what a journal I he has traveled. Tye's doctors recommend that from the time he was diagnosed, he live for at least two years as a boy before pursuing any surgery. And he remains under the care of a psychiatrist and a psychologist.

A lot of people were outraged when a man who got out of prison by making a promise to donate a kidney to his son has vanished. How is the boy doing? And how long he can wait for another donor?

Also, what happens to some people who take the most popular prescription sleeping pill in the country? It's not a very pretty picture, especially when they think they're awake.

Now to No. 6 on our CNN.com, a countdown, secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice today told a senate committee quote, "The U.S. faces no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran."

No. 5, New Orleans officials in an uproar after a team of searchers and dogs looking for the bodies of Katrina victims left after just a few days on the job. The dog handlers say fia -- FEMA, that is, failed to guarantee them housing.

Numbers four and three coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Coming up in this half hour, some people who took one of the best-selling sleeping pills on the market, why don't they remember what they did next? Could anything have stopped them?

And what is the Donald say now about Martha? We'll find out when he stops by "Larry King" tonight, coming up at the top of the hour.

Meanwhile, an international manhunt continues tonight in a story that has outraged any of us who's heard about it. What kind of a father would promise a kidney to his desperately ill son and then simply disappear?

Authorities are trying to track down Byron Perkins, the convict who vanished after being released from jail on a promise to donate a lifesaving kidney to a 16-year-old son. Perkins was last seen in Mexico running out of money with his girlfriend. Tonight we have an update now on Destin Perkin's condition as he waits and hopes. Here's national correspondent Susan Candiotti taking us "Beyond the Headlines," tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's no telling how long Destin Perkins can go on without a new kidney.

BARBARA BARR, DESTIN'S GRANDMOTHER: This is Destin in Tennessee.

CANDIOTTI: His mother gave him one of hers but Destin's body rejected it, putting the 16-year-old back at square one. His father was next in line to help.

BARR: I can't believe he took off and left us and left his son in the condition he's in. He needs him so bad.

CANDIOTTI: He is Destin's father Byron who is expected to be his son's second donor.

DR. LARRY SHOEMAKER, KOSAIR CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: His dad would have been the most likely to have a good match as one could hope for at this point.

CANDIOTTI: Destin's father, Byron Perkins, remains on the run. Last seen in a Mexican fishing village south Puerto Vallarta. In January, authorities bought his tearful promise to donate a kidney and allowed Perkins out of jail for medical tests, even though he faced a 25 year sentence for a conviction on drug and gun charges. That's when Perkins bolted.

On Thursday, U.S. marshals added Perkins and his fugitive girlfriend Leeann Howard to its 15 most wanted list, offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to their capture. But how do you console a son abandoned by his father in such a public way? Destin's paternal grandmother admits it's humiliating.

(on camera): What do you tell him about Destin father and what he did?

BARR: I want Destin to know I'm very sorry for what his dad did to him. And that we will find him a kidney someway or somehow.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Destin's doctors says the earliest he'd consider an operation is months from now. In part to allow for a dose of emotional healing. Though strangers offered help, doctors will first turn to Destin's relatives if push comes to shove.

SHOEMAKER: Right now the family has gone through a lot of psychological strain and we're trying to get Destin back to a regular dialysis program.

CANDIOTTI: Destin's mom says boosting his self-image may take some time.

(on camera): How is he doing now?

ANGELA HAMMOND, DESTIN'S MOTHER: He's really down that his dad would step up and that for him.

CANDIOTTI: What does he think of his dad now?

HAMMOND: He doesn't really talk about it.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): As for her runaway ex...

HAMMOND: I don't understand why he couldn't have done the transplant, you know, to help Destin. I just don't understand. It's unbelievable.

CANDIOTTI: Susan Candiotti, CNN, Russell Springs, Kentucky.

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ZAHN: What a wait that young man has.

Time now for the "Headline News," once again here's Erica Hill.

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ZAHN: Got that one right, Erica. You always do.

Coming up next, some hair raising stories from people who went to sleep, but didn't stay in bed. Was their bizarre behavior caused by the most popular sleeping pill in the country?

And at the top of the hour, the Donald. Donald Trump talks about his new crop of apprentices, and of course, Martha Stewart as well on "Larry King Live."

Now No. 4 on our CNN.com countdown, in France, a former teacher surrenders to police after taking 21 students and two teaching assistants hostage for several hours in a high school. All of the hostages, fortunately were released unharmed.

No. 3, a Naval Academy quarterback accused of raping a fellow classmate may also be facing charges of violating an order to stay away from her. That came out during the military's hearing today in Washington. No. 2 on our countdown coming up next.

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ZAHN: All right. I got a little work for you to do right now. I want you to think for a moment what it would be like to go to bed, think you've fallen asleep and then wake up behind the wheel of a car that just crashed. Now millions of Americans take the prescription drug Ambien to help them get to sleep. It happens to be the most popular prescription sleeping pill in the country. But now we're hearing reports that in some cases, it may have a dangerous side effect: Sleep driving. Here's senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta with tonight's "Vital Signs."

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The man in this police video looks drunk, but he may actually be asleep. He says he was sleep driving the night he was arrested after taking two Ambien tablets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went to bed. I was reading. The next thing I know there is a policeman at my car door.

GUPTA: He doesn't want us to use his name or show his face. According to him, he doesn't even remember getting into the car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At some point I got up, I got dressed, I came downstairs, got my car keys, I drove to a grocery store that is probably three minutes away from home. I went in the store, I bought three packages of cookies. As I was leaving the grocery store, that's where the police report says the policeman first saw me.

GUPTA: His case is on appeal after being convicted with driving under the influence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the first time I really kind of came to was when they put me in the first cell and I saw a telephone and I called a friend of mine who's an attorney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He took it for the first time and the next thing he knows he's in handcuffs.

GUPTA: All of this may sound bizarre, but Judy Evans knows what these people are talking about. Six years ago, the 59-year-old grandmother started taking Ambien for insomnia.

JUDY EVANS, SLEEPWALKING AFTER TAKING AMBIEN: I would go to sleep and sleep all night long. At least I thought I was sleeping all night long.

GUPTA: A few weeks later, her son caught her turning on the oven and stove and taking food from the refrigerator in her sleep.

EVANS: I had the burners on. And I could have started a fire and put so many people at risk.

GUPTA: Strangest of all...

EVANS: I don't remember a thing about it.

GUPTA: Evans says she stopped taking the Ambien and the sleepwalking stopped as well.

DR. CARLOS SCHENCK, PHYSICIAN: These people remember nothing.

GUPTA: Dr. Carlos Schenck says he has documented 32 cases of people with no previous history of sleepwalking what began sleepwalking including walking, eating, even driving while sleeping under the influence of Ambien.

SCHENCK: Because Ambien does increase the percent of slow wave sleep which is the stage of sleep that promotes sleepwalking.

GUPTA: Doctors wrote nor than 26 million prescriptions for Ambien last year, making it far and away the most used sleeping pill. In a statement, Ambien's manufacturers, Sanofi Aventis, says it could not comment on specific cases. Adding this, "It is important to emphasize, although sleepwalking may occur during treatment with Ambien, it may not necessarily by caused by it. It is difficult to determine with certainty whether a particular instance of sleepwalking is drug induced, spontaneous in origin, or a result of an underlying disorder."

There is no large study to gauge the risk, but for the vast majority of Ambien users, Dr. Schenck says don't worry. And to follow the warning labels provided with prescriptions.

SCHENCK: Even a sip of alcohol with Ambien could be dangerous, so I would discourage any use, even a sip.

GUPTA: And if you ever do sleepwalk after taking the drug, you should stop taking it. This man wishes he had.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had no intention of driving. And I would just like people to know that, in particular the judge that hears my appeal.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

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ZAHN: Scary stuff. We have another story tonight about turning your back on your first career, your second or third to live out your dreams. This one's about a woman who actually traded in her life as a marketing executive for pound cake. Here's Jennifer Westhoven with a look at "Life after Work."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) AMY HILLIARD, COMFORT CAKE OWNER: Yep. Looking good, ladies. Looking good.

JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pound cake was always the star attraction at Amy Hilliard's thanksgiving dinner.

HILLIARD: At one point I said if one more person tells me I should put this on the market, I'm going to do it. I'm a marketer, that's what I do.

WESTHOVEN: Amy, a Harvard MBA, quit her marketing job and started Comfort Cake.

HILLIARD: I envision having a big company right from the start. I was single mother. I had two children. I have two children I'm putting through college.

WESTHOVEN: Amy couldn't get a bank loan so she risked it all, she sold her house to start up her new business.

HILLIARD: I'll make this work somehow is my attitude. Because I had some instances where I could have just said this is too tough. Our very first customer that came onboard was United Airlines. I got some samples to them through a friend of mine and they liked them and they called me up and they said, you know, we really like your cake. And I was so excited, I'm like, great, I can get you more samples and they're like, no, we want to buy 500,000 slices.

WESTHOVEN: Seven years later, there are 16 kinds of comfort cake on sale in stores and on the Internet.

HILLIARD: The sky is the limit. Why not? I mean, we started from nothing and I look at people who started from nothing and I say if they can do it, I can do it. If Mrs. Fields can do it, I can do it. Is Howard Schultz of Starbucks can do it. We can make our product and ship it overseas and there is a markets where people like sweet goods. Who's to say we can't have Comfort Cake in China. Why not?

WESTHOVEN: Jennifer Westhoven, CNN.

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ZAHN: No stopping Amy there. Go, Amy, go.

Coming up, he is becoming a father again and he is still feuding with Martha Stewart. And he will be taking your phone calls. Donald Trump on "Larry King Live."

No. 2 on our CNN.com countdown. Our top story, a Dubai based company ends its efforts to take over operations at U.S. ports. No. 1 right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ZAHN: All right, I don't want to make you all jealous, but it is a beautiful night in New York City, tonight. You're looking at Columbus Circle, right outside our studios here at the fabulous Time Warner headquarters, here in New York City, we're going to get a 60 degree day tomorrow. We're all in pretty good moods. Friday is around the corner.

Now to No. 1 in our CNN.com countdown. A very bizarre case out of New Jersey a missing teenager has been reunited with her family. And now police are investigating her claim of being abducted and raped and sending calls for help by text message.

That is it for all of us tonight, we really appreciate your joining us. Tomorrow night, another eye-opener, this time looking at a group that's trying to get sexual predators off the Internet. They create on-line profiles of teenagers. You're not going to believe the kind of person that makes contact with them.

Again, thanks for joining us tonight, appreciate you joining us. Have a good night.

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