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The Situation Room

Five Duquesne University Basketball Players Shot; Search On For Missing Missouri Baby; South Carolina Teenager Uses Text Message for Kidnapping Rescue

Aired September 17, 2006 - 18:00   ET

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

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN SUNDAY, and I'm Carol Lin.
Straight ahead in this hour, kidnapped and then trapped. The underground nightmare now over.

A press conference this hour. We're taking it live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: We're all here because everybody is fed up in watching no action on Darfur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Massive rallies to stop the massive killings.

And no waiting. People join this exclusive club to get organs.

Let's bring you up to speed on what's happening right now.

Day three of a search for a baby girl in Missouri. Week-old Abby Woods disappeared on Friday, after a woman apparently entered the child's home and stabbed her mother repeatedly.

Straight ahead, a live police briefing.

And a teen in South Carolina is rescued from an underground bunker after sending a text message to her mother. At the bottom of the hour, we're going to hear from the girl's family, live.

And a shocking attack in Pittsburgh, five basketball players shot on the campus of Duquesne University. Two are listed in critical condition, as police still search for the gunman.

And a well-known private pathologist performed a second autopsy on Anna Nicole Smith's son. Cyril Wecht arrived today at a morgue in the Bahamas, where Daniel Smith died a week ago today. Wecht consulted on the death of Elvis Presley and more recently, Laci Peterson.

Also an elderly nun shot dead today at a hospital in Somalia. An Islamic militia leader says there may be a link to the recent remarks by Islam by Pope Benedict XVI. And the pope says he is deeply sorry at the reaction to his remarks last Wednesday. A number of Muslim leaders are calling for an all-out apology, though. Those are the headlines but these are our top stories.

Kids in peril: we're following two abduction cases, and we have new details -- well, at least expected to be released this hour about the bizarre kidnapping of a teenager, allegedly held captive in an underground dungeon.

And we're also expecting an update from police on the desperate search for a missing week-old baby girl in Missouri.

But let's get right to the latest on the strange story out of South Carolina. A 14-year-old girl allegedly held captive underground, who sent a text message for help. Our Drew Griffin is in Camden and just filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police say this 14-year-old brave girl had as much to do with rescuing herself as the police did in finding her. She waited for her captor to go to sleep, then took his cell phone and sent a text message to her mother, saying she knew she was in some kind of a hole. She could hear the sounds of trucks, so she thought she was near a certain highway, and through triangulation of that cell phone call, police were able to zero in on this suspect, and this particular piece of property.

Once they got to the area, they fanned out across the woods and found this 14-year-old girl in a 20-foot bunker, eight-foot deep in the ground that, suspect, Vinson Filyaw is accused of holding her in for 10 days. They eventually tracked him down on the side of a road trying to run from police. In fact, police issued -- just gave us this photograph of him. He was in camouflage, he was trying to hide in the woods, even as he was escaping.

The girl apparently relatively unharmed. But we understand now this suspect along with having kidnapping, impersonating an officer and incendiary device charges, is going to be charged with criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. He is being held in the jail here in Camden. Also being held is his common law wife, who apparently knew all about this and helped him during this 10-day ordeal, when this 14-year-old girl was being held, basically inside a hole in the ground. Drew Griffin, CNN, Camden, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: We also have severe weather hitting heard in the nation's the heartland. This, as you're about to see, is eastern Minnesota. The town of Rogers saw a heavy storm sweep through, killing a 10-year- old girl. Six people were injured and hundreds of homes damaged.

And now, let's go to Missouri to find out the very latest from Sheriff Gary Toelke, who is talking about this week-old baby that has been kidnapped.

SHERIFF GARY TOELKE, MISSOURI: We're kind of having troubles managing everything and one of the things we would ask from you this evening is -- the family has been deluged with phone calls. In fact, we're getting ready to send a patrol car out there now because people are being around their house, photographing the house. But kind of give them some slack and let them rest for awhile, if you would and try to coordinate things through us, if you can.

But I guess basically, you want to open it up, asking questions.

QUESTION: Let me start by asking, sheriff -- at one point yesterday, you said you were focusing on the south of the home. Is there a particular area you're focusing on now or where you've been today?

TOELKE: Nothing -- they did do a search today. I'm not sure exactly what area that it was in, but the searchers now are basically, based on information that may come in if we get some information to the possible location, we'll go there and do a search. But those could be anywhere. There's no really particular area that we're focused on that I know of right now.

QUESTION: Are you willing to say anything about what has been recovered at this point?

TOELKE: Not in detail. We have just obviously have found some evidence, but we're trying to not elaborate that much on what we found.

QUESTION: Is there new evidence today in addition to what you found yesterday?

TOELKE: Not that I know of.

QUESTION: How close are you to releasing a composite sketch?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We continue to work on refining what we have, so that the best possible product can be publicized.

QUESTION: And how are you doing that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In cooperation with the victim.

QUESTION: Typically when you have a crime like this, it's domestically related. What makes you convinced or at least leaning towards that it's not something to do with this family?

TOELKE: Two of the interviews that we have conducted, there's really no indication that there are any major problems with the family relationship at this time. But you know, no solid evidence that that was a problem.

QUESTION: Would you still say that you're making progress? Or have you gotten to the point where you're kind of at a standstill?

TOELKE: I think we're still making progress. You know, basically until the leads quit, we're making progress. As long as people keep calling in, giving us leads and tips, you know, we're still at least moving forward. QUESTION: How about the issue of time? I assume that each passing day, things become more difficult. Talk about what this means for you, the fact that we're now however many days in.

TOELKE: Well, time, on major cases like, this obviously is important. Especially in homicides and in this case, too. But in this particular type case, you know, it's possible that it could be an advantage, because the child, Abby, is going to be at somebody's house somewhere. And the longer she's around, this may raise suspicion.

You know, we're there, exposed to it more and they may call in. You know, it would be nice and the sooner we could get some strong leads the better, but it might not be as critical as if it were a homicide or something like that, the time element anyway.

QUESTION: Is it your belief that Abby may still be and/or the abductor are still in the area or you think by now they may have gone elsewhere?

TOELKE: We really don't know.

QUESTION: How many people from the FBI and the National Guard do you have helping?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have about 55 or so FBI personnel that includes professional support personnel, such as computer specialists and other clerical personnel.

QUESTION: The National Guard?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our requirement for their services is stopped as of today unless something develops that requires us to ask for their assistance again.

QUESTION: What is the strategy for your team, the FBI and all of the specialists and experts -- in past cases, how did you go about trying to figure out what happened and where the child may be?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, we pursue it through interviews, and information we receive from the public, and information we develop from the scene. And based upon those leads, whether self-generated or otherwise, we follow the course of where the leads take us basically.

QUESTION: Some people, obviously because this is such an unbelievable story, are skeptical when they hear how could this possibly have happened to a mother. And I imagine that's one of your things, is try to rule out all possible scenarios, whether the family or the victim was involved. Is that true?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We look at all possible scenarios.

QUESTION: And are you pretty confident with the story, with her account of what happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We continue to look at all possible scenarios. QUESTION: How rare are true stranger abductions?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do occur.

LIN: We're listening to the latest briefing on this missing infant. She is only now eight-days-old, Abby Woods. She was taken from her home by a woman, about 200-pound woman with dark hair, who asked the mother if she can come in to make a phone call, and then at a certain point, attacked the mother, slashed the mother's throat. The mother has been released from the hospital, but it doesn't sound like investigators have very much to go on. They do believe though that the more time that goes by, somebody is going to notice that someone who didn't have a baby before has a baby now. So if you have any information at all, you can call this number on the screen. It's 888-265-8639, or e-mail stlouis@ic.FBI.gov.

Meantime, some severe weather happening in the Midwest. So let's check in with Jacqui Jeras at the CNN Weather Center -- Jacqui?

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: Well a worldwide call today to end what's being called a genocide in Sudan's Darfur region. Rallies in New York and London and Toronto aimed at renewing attention to the ongoing violence in that region. Since 2003, Sudanese rebels have killed tens of thousands of people and left more than two million homeless. The activists are urging the U.N. to send in peacekeepers, despite resistance from Sudan's government. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright spoke at the New York rally and I talked to her as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: When the world leaders are gathered in New York for the general assembly session, all the leaders, starting with President Bush, have to make absolutely clear that Sudan is going to be isolated, that they will not be able to do business anywhere, oil or no oil. And therefore, they are going to have to understand that, if they can't protect their people, the international community will do it.

The truth is, that if the Sudanese are not able to do business anywhere -- if in fact their leaders are prevented from traveling anywhere, if the no-fly zone over Sudan is properly enforced, they will find they cannot exist under these circumstances, and they need to understand that this is not an invasion. This is an attempt to protect innocent people and they can get on the right side of history or forever be on the wrong side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Well a few thousand African Union troops providing protection will leave at the end of the month. If the Sudanese president doesn't let U.N. troops replace them, continued bloodshed is all but certain. CNN's Jeff Koinange has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Darfur, a dry, desolate swathe of land, the western part of Sudan, about the size of Texas. A land where tens of thousands of black Africans have been systematically slaughtered by an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed that the United Nations says is sponsored by the Sudanese government itself. Where tens of thousands of women like Miriam Ibrahim have been raped and mutilated, and millions more forced to flee their homes.

It's in camps like this that the poorest of the poor find refuge. But only for a short while as the few eight agencies still able to operate here are constantly being attacked by the Janjaweed. Death, disease, and despair, it's genocide in the 21st century.

JAN EGELAND, UN EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR: It's the biggest humanitarian drama of our time. Three million lives are at stake. Three million people need food every day.

KOINANGE: Food and water and shelter. But most of all, security. There are only 7,000 mostly African peacekeepers on the ground. One for every 4,000 refugees.

EGELAND: We need to have resources if we are to avoid massive loss of life. We hope that all those watching can give money to the United Nations or to the nongovernmental organizations or to the Red Cross. I don't care. As long as the money goes to the people in Darfur.

KOINANGE: The U.N.'s top humanitarian may as well be speaking a foreign language. A handful of countries have contributed more than $100 million in aid this year. But the U.N. says it would need five times that amount to prevent millions of people from becoming extinct in plain sight. Jeff Koinange, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: There are a number of agencies dedicated to assisting the thousands of people fleeing the ongoing violence in Darfur, and there are ways you can help, too. We have listed a few Web sites, including Help Darfur Now and UNICEF USA. So if you'd like to join the humanitarian effort, please, log on.

Now you've heard of members only. Well now there is a new club for donors only. That story next.

And then...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It seems to me that we're operating on hope. We've got our fingers crossed, and we hope that something bad doesn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Well a security watch alert. Despite 9/11, not enough police in the nation's capital.

And then later, the genetics of a genius. Dr. Sanjay Gupta on nature versus nurture. You're watching CNN SUNDAY. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: News across America now, police in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are looking for a gunman who shot five members of the Duquesne University basketball team. Three are in the hospital, two of them in critical condition. More now from reporter Marc Willis of CNN affiliate WPXI. Any news at all, any break in this case?

MARC WILLIS, WPXI CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good evening. Now, here is a flyer from the Duquesne University party that players attended last night. And on this flyer, it says that it was in the Duquesne University ballroom and went on from 10:00 until 2:00 p.m.

Now according to police, students were approached, students were leaving that party, and five of the Duquesne University basketball players were approached by a man who police say was not a student at the university. There was some sort of verbal exchange that went on, and the man then pulled out a gun, and began shooting randomly, according to some university officials.

Now, witnesses on the scene tell me that there was all sorts of chaos at the time. This is something that students say has never happened here before and they feel rather safe on this campus because it's rather secluded from a lot of other, from activities and the neighborhood surrounding it.

Now, again, five students from the Duquesne University basketball team were shot. Two of those men are still in the hospital. One was shot in the head, according to police. He's in critical condition. His name is Sam Ashaolu. He's a junior. He's a transfer student originally from Toronto, transferred here from Lake Region State College. Police say he was shot in the head.

The other student's name is Stuard Baldonado. He's also a junior, originally from San Andreas, Columbia. He's also a transfer from Miami Dade College and he's considered to be one of Duke's best recruits.

Now, once again, students here say that it's a very somber, sad time here on campus. University officials say that they've increased a uniform presence, uniform officers on campus by three times the normal amount that's usually out here, as students are really concerned and praying for their classmates and other students. Carol?

LIN: All right, so are police at all reviewing any ideas of a motive?

WILLIS: Police don't have a motive right now. University officials believe that police are really hot on this guy's trail. They have an idea of who this person is from witness accounts. Again, he -- the person who did the shooting was not a student here at the university, but it did occur on university property. There was a party last night, lots of students, and the university officials believed that it may be a young man who came to participate in the party and there was some sort of argument. No idea why he shot at these players. University officials don't believe that the students, the players provoked this in any way -- Carol?

LIN: All right, Marc Willis of CNN affiliate WPXI, thank you.

Well a possible reason behind a purported Columbine-style plot disrupted in Green Bay, Wisconsin last week. The mother of the three teens arrested says the boys were often taunted and targeted by school bullies. Well Green Bay police say the trio were close to executing an assault on the school.

In Missouri, still no word on the whereabouts of Abby Woods, the infant girl kidnapped three days ago from her home south of St. Louis. Police say a woman slashed the mother's neck before taking off with the baby. The mother was released from the hospital today and police are still working on a sketch.

Now police in Las Cruces, New Mexico, are warning citizens to keep their eyes peeled for any suspicious activities. This on the heels of two recent letters to City Hall, demanding a considerable ransom. The writer threatens random shootings if it's not paid. Now police are uncertain if all of this is just a hoax.

And from Ohio, a dying wish comes close to true for a 17-year-old girl with terminal cancer. The Make a Wish Foundation set up a church ceremony for Nicole Hastings, who desperately wanted to marry her boyfriend. The two aren't exactly man and wife, but they did exchange vows similar to those used in civil ceremonies. A conventional marriage would have precluded Nicole from her family's medical insurance.

Now every 90 minutes someone in America dies waiting for an organ transplant. There's a group to improve the odds that those who need a transplant will get one. It's based on the premise that in order to receive, you first must be willing to give and that has riled some medical ethicists. Here's CNN's Kareen Wynter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER ZWETTLER, LIFESHARERS MEMBER: It's terrifying to wake up knowing, let alone going through the surgery, but am I going to get this surgery? Is my life going to be saved?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jennifer Zwettler was in the prime of her life when she was stunned by a sudden health scare five years ago. She thought she'd need a liver transplant and joined the National Organ Transplant registry, but was afraid it wouldn't come through in time. Luckily, she didn't need it.

ZWETTLER: It was the scariest thing that -- I mean, you can't even imagine what it feels like.

WYNTER: Terry Wallis has had no such health scare, but was concerned about her chances of receiving a life-saving organ. Both Wallis and Zwettler belong to a unique organ donor club where membership has potentially life-saving privileges. Members agree to donate their organs within the group, before making them available to the general public.

MARY WALLIS, LIFESHARERS MEMBER: If anybody in the group needs body parts, I know it sounds awful, doesn't it, but if anybody needs them, we get first dibs on it.

WYNTER: There were 28,000 transplant operations performed last year according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. But some would-be recipients never made it to the operating room.

(on camera): Nearly 90,000 people are on the National Organ Transplant waiting list. Thousands die each year waiting on organs. That's why Dave Undis created LifeSharers, a nonprofit network of organ donors.

DAVE UNDIS, EXEC. DIRECTOR, LIFESHARERS: It occurred to me, if you tell people that you're going to put them at the front of the waiting list, if they donate their organs when they die, more people will die.

WYNTER (voice-over): Not everyone WHO receives an organ on the national transplant waiting list, Undis says, has agreed to donate an organ.

UNDIS: Giving a transplant to someone who won't donate their own organs is like giving the Powerball jackpot to someone that didn't buy a ticket. It just doesn't make sense.

WYNTER: Bryan Stewart with California's state donor registry disagrees.

BRYAN STEWART, ONE LEGACY: Any time you work outside of the established allocation process, you're not necessarily giving the organs to people that are most in need.

WYNTER: Stewart says there are 600,000 registered organ donors in California, whereas LifeSharers only has 6,000 members nationwide. Since no members within LifeSharers have died since its inception four years ago, no one has received a transplant.

STEWART: The likelihood that someone in LifeSharers is going to benefit from a donor that is part of LifeSharers is extremely low.

WYNTER: Carolyn Fagundo was given 18 months to live when she was placed on the established national waiting list for a lung transplant. She got a new lung 28 days later.

CAROLYN FAGUNDO, TRANSPLANT PATIENT: I counted on the system to work for me and it did, so I do believe the system does work. It's just a matter of, you know, time.

WYNTER: But Jennifer Zwettler feels LifeSharers gives her an advantage. (on camera): You've been faced with life or death decisions in the past. How much faith do you have in LifeSharers?

ZWETTLER: I have a lot of faith. I probably would have been dead if I would have thought negatively and not put any trust or faith in anybody.

WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Up next, spending money on space now so others can afford it later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The park police are clearly spread too thin on the Mall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: No money, no manpower. A security watch update you need to see is next on CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: This just in. We've got pictures in from our affiliate KTTV of another brush fire burning in southern California. This makes the third brush fire. About 500 acres have burned so far. Some structures have been threatened, but none burned. Nobody hurt and they've just got a Santa Ana wind condition going out there. These hot, dry desert winds coming in, making things tough for firefighters out there. We'll stay on top of that story as well.

In the meantime, here's also what's happening right now in the news. Police in South Carolina say a 14-year-old is now safe after being held in this underground bunker by her kidnapper. She was found yesterday after text messaging her mother by cell phone.

The search goes on for eight day-old Abby Woods, a Missouri infant snatched from her home Friday. Police are looking for a female suspect whom police say stabbed the baby's mother several times before taking off with the child.

A Maine couple has been arrested, charged with kidnapping their pregnant, 19-year-old daughter. The couple was taking their daughter to New York State for an emergency abortion. The teenager untied herself and escaped in the parking lot of a New Hampshire Kmart.

The FDA is expanding its warning to consumers in the face of an e. coli outbreak. It now says people should avoid all fresh spinach, not just pre-packaged greens. One woman has died and 102 people sickened in the outbreak. Many of those cases are linked to bagged spinach.

Pope Benedict says he's deeply sorry for the reaction to remarks he made about Islam last week. The pontiff says the passage in question did not reflect his personal views or feelings.

And in Mogadishu, Somalia, one suspect is in custody, another is still on the run after an Italian nun and her bodyguard were shot to death. The shooting happened at a children's hospital where she worked.

Tonight you could say that the world wrap is out of this world. Shanon Cook has details on what lies ahead for the "Atlantis" crew and next space tourist. Shanon.

SHANON COOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Out of this world, I love it. Let's go to space, shall we? The "Atlantis" crew said see you later today to the three residents of the international space station. A short time later, the shuttle undocked from the station, which orbits some 220 miles above us and after maneuvering free, shuttle pilot Chris Ferguson did a bit of a fly-around of the ISS to take some new pictures of it. And last week, the shuttle's crew of six conducted three spacewalks to install new solar panels. They will double the station's electrical power. "Atlantis" by the way is scheduled to return to earth on Wednesday.

Meanwhile the first female space tourist prepares to blast off. Entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari will also be the first person of Iranian decent to get to space. She was born in Iran and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Ansari is scheduled to head out to space tomorrow aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket and she hopes to be considered not just a space tourist, but also a goodwill ambassador.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANOUSHEH ANSARI, FIRST FEMALE SPACE TOURIST: I hope that this shows that the people can be separated from the politics, because if you look at it, if you look at Iranians interacting with Americans, sometimes inside Iran, sometimes outside Iran, in most cases what I've seen is always a pleasant experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOK: Anasri will fly to the international space station with a Russian cosmonaut and an American astronaut. Carol, she also said that she hopes she doesn't catch a cold before taking off tomorrow, otherwise she would be disqualified. She's only the fourth space tourist to go to space.

LIN: So how much does a seat in space cost these days?

COOK: It's pretty steep. She wasn't actually allowed to say exactly how much but she suggested that it costs close to the estimated $12 million that it has cost for the previous three people who have gone up as space tourists, like I said, not cheap.

LIN: That's a lot for making a statement. Shanon, thank you.

COOK: Thank you.

LIN: In our security watch today, "Operation Poseidon" is touted as one of the largest anti-terror drills in New England this weekend. This simulated carnage in the city of Boston is designed to test the training of public safety officials. The nightmare scenarios included multiple explosions simulating chemical, gas and radioactive blasts.

Park police are in charge of protecting America's national treasures from terrorism and other threats. But lately there's in short supply and that has some lawmakers furious. CNN's Gary Nurenberg takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Statue of Liberty in New York, Golden Gate Park and the Presidio in San Francisco, the national monuments in Washington D.C.

LT. SCOTT FEAR, U.S. PARK POLICE: We're the most important uniform Federal law enforcement agency in the country.

NURENBERG: The United States Park Police has about 600 officers, 25 percent less than the National Park Service recommended to Congress in 1999.

TERESA CHAMBERS, FMR. U.S. PARK POLICE CHIEF: It seems to me that we're operating on hope. We've got our fingers crossed and we hope that something bad doesn't happen.

NURENBERG: Teresa Chambers was fired from her job as park police chief after she warned of the dangers of understaffing in 2003.

CHAMBERS: I would rather have been candid with the media, with the American public and Congress, than to wait until I was standing among the rubble of a fallen American icon.

NURENBERG: Other police agencies got bigger after 9/11. The U.S. Capitol police force, for example, grew by hundreds of officers. So did the FBI. But the park police force is now smaller than it was.

DEL. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: They are 30 cops fewer than they were in 9/11. That's a disgrace.

NURENBERG: Eleanor Holmes-Norton represents in Congress the city of Washington.

NORTON: The park police are clearly spread too thin on the mall.

NURENBERG: She was particularly upset earlier this summer when tourists on the traditionally safe national mall suffered a series of criminal attacks, including robbery, assault and rape. Park police played a key role in finding and arresting suspects.

KENNETH WEINSTEIN, U.S. ATTORNEY: I want to just give them the credit where the credit's due.

NURENBERG: Proof the park police says, it can respond quickly.

FEAR: We increased our patrols and we stopped the crimes from taking place.

NURENBERG: Additional funding in the 2007 budget should allow the park police to train new officers, training that was canceled because of funding shortages this year.

FEAR: We're expecting to hire three to four classes of officers so at the end of that year, our numbers will probably be up.

NURENBERG: In the meantime --

FEAR: I think our agency has the resources to maintain the security we need.

NURENBERG: Visitors to the country's national monuments hope he's right. Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Now when we come back, he's talking terror but is the president becoming more flexible? A live report from the White House, next.

And this man knows how to make those black and white keys sing the blues. A conversation with Dave Brubeck later this hour on CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Today the president and rebellious GOP congressionals tried again to agree on any boundaries when it comes to interrogating a potential terror suspect. Now, last week, the president fought to change part of the Geneva convention. The international standard tries to protect all prisoners of war from degradation and death, but President Bush wants American interrogators to be able to use the toughest tactics possible. Sounds good until American soldiers are captured. What protects them? Kathleen Koch reports from the White House on what, if any, middle ground was struck this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When it comes to the secret CIA prison program for terrorists, President Bush has been adamant.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Congress passes a law that does not clarify the rules, if they do not do that, the program's not going forward.

KOCH: But top senators in his own party remain just as insistent that reinterpreting article iii of the Geneva conventions to define what CIA interrogators can and can't do could free all nations to do the same and endanger U.S. operatives.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R) ARIZONA: Suppose the Iranians captured an American and they decided that they would modify the common article iii to suit their purposes.

KOCH: The White House is now voicing flexibility.

STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: We need to find a way, so that we can do this without changing or modifying what's called common article iii. That is what Senator McCain thinks is so important.

KOCH: And Republican senators who challenged the president now say they want to give him clear rules for U.S. interrogators.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R) NORTH CAROLINA: I will give him all the tools that I know how to give him that are constitutional, that will make us safe, but I don't want these tools to become clubs to be used against us.

KOCH: Rather than tweaking an international treaty, balking senators proposed to change U.S. law. McCain suggests amending the war crimes act of 1996, which defines war crimes and the penalties for committing them. Some aren't convinced that would give CIA interrogators enough protection in a court of law.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R) TEXAS: I do think it's going to take more than amending the war crimes act because when the Department of Justice passes judgment on whether an interrogation technique is lawful or unlawful, they're going to look at the whole range of laws.

KOCH: Even if both sides are willing to compromise, a House committee has already passed its own version.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: So joining me now from the White House, CNN's Kathleen Koch. Kathleen, so both sides are closer to agreement. Does that mean that we'll see a bill passed before the midterm elections and if not, will that be a serious defeat for the Bush administration?

KOCH: Carol, getting something passed and signed by the president before the midterm elections is going to be very very difficult. The House committee's version is very different from the version passed out by the Senate Armed Services Committee and there are only two weeks that remain before both Houses recess to start campaigning for the midterm elections. This is definitely a measure the president had very much wanted passed, one of the central planks in his anti-terror agenda. And while Republicans and the president they generally do poll quite high on terror with the voters, and they'd hoped that this would be something Republicans could campaign on in the midterms, and so this is tough for the president, going to be tough to get it through, and obviously, instead of getting it through right now, they're fighting amongst themselves.

LIN: How involved will the president be in talks on this and other terror legislation?

KOCH: Well, not directly involved at least the next couple of days, Carol, because the president is heading to New York City tomorrow morning for the annual meeting of the United Nations General assembly. He'll be meeting over the next three days with numerous world leaders. He speaks to the general assembly Tuesday morning before heading back to Washington on Wednesday. You can be certain that top members of this administration will be in very close contact with the senate as they try to frame a compromise on this.

LIN: Kathleen Koch, thank you, live from the White House . President Bush is also going to be in "The Situation Room" for a one on one interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. That's Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 Pacific.

Meantime, Jacqui Jeras is back with us with weather in the tropics and should you travel this coming week? Big question mark. Your forecast is coming up.

And 50 years on the music scene. That's Dave Brubeck on stage and talking about his age, too. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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LIN: We're keeping our eye on several big storms right now, including hurricane Helene, so let's go straight to the CNN hurricane headquarters and meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey Carol. We've got two hurricanes in the Atlantic, hurricane Gordon right here east of Bermuda, finally taking that turn up to the north and the east, moving away from land and should become extra tropical in a couple of days. But Helene we're keeping a very close eye. This has strengthened quite a bit. Winds are up there now, so it's a category two storm. The forecast path is continuing to move the storm up to the north and to the west, and unfortunately, look at Bermuda, way out there. It's in the cone of uncertainty now. At first we were thinking it was going to stay away from there. Computer models are disagreeing, so something to watch closely over the next couple of days. It does not appear like it will be affecting the U.S.

The remnants of what was hurricane Lane, some of that moisture getting caught up into the southern U.S. and bringing some very heavy rain into southern parts of Texas, expecting to see one to three inches widespread there. Also some showers and thunderstorms as you head through the central plains states and into the great lakes. Now, some of these storms right here we're worried about from Chicago, extending toward the St. Louis area. These could become strong or severe, not the big outbreak that we had last night across the Dakotas and into Minnesota, but we could see some damage wind associated with those storms, also the weather really causing some big problems at the airport. We've got delays, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago at Midway and O'Hare, also problems because of thunderstorms at DFW Houston and the high volume into the northeast. Tough night to travel. Carol.

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Jacqui.

We're going to bring you a terrific story about partying by the Pacific. Brooke Anderson joins us live.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol, I'm here as the 49th annual Monterey jazz festival is wrapping up this evening. Coming up we're going to hear from a legend in the jazz world who is paying tribute to an author tonight whose works are popular all over the world. That's when CNN LIVE SUNDAY returns. Stay with us.

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LIN: The 49th annual Monterey jazz festival is pretty much over. Our Brooke Anderson had this terrific assignment. She's been talking to some of the best of the best. Brooke, you talked to Dave Brubeck today.

ANDERSON: Right, Carol. Dave Brubeck is performing tonight and he's actually performing a very special tribute to world renowned author John Steinbeck. What he's going to do, he and his fellow performers will actually vocalize the characters in Steinbeck's book "Cannery Row." It's called the "Cannery Row" suite that they're going to perform. I think we're watching a little bit of Brubeck's rehearsal from yesterday.

Also today marks family day at the 49th annual Monterey jazz festival. A number of younger performers are featured as well including Chris Bodi (ph) and I think we can take a look at him in the main arena. I'm being told he's actually in the crowd, in the sawdust, playing for the crowd right now. He's been playing for the past hour and a half so a long set here for the festival. A number of family oriented and family friendly groups being featured today, including some of the top jazz groups from high schools and colleges all across the country. If you take a look around me, the crowd seems to really be enjoying themselves. A number of vendors are here and they've all brought their wares to sell, including artwork, clothing, jewelry, music, you name it. The atmosphere is very festive. The weather you can't beat it, so as you say, Carol, I am really lucky to have this assignment, 49th annual Monterey jazz festival. They're already gearing up for the 50th anniversary. It'll be quite a celebration next year.

LIN: Your credential is going to be in the mail, Brooke.

ANDERSON: I hope so. Thanks.

LIN: All right. We've got much more straight ahead.

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LIN: We're working this story about the 14-year old girl who was kidnapped and held in an underground bunker in South Carolina. Our very own Drew Griffin is on the ground in Camden, South Carolina. Drew, you were able to talk with the family of that girl. What did they tell you about her experience?

GRIFFIN: Carol, it's really an amazing story. It's a disgusting, gruesome (ph) tale that's going to have a lot of terrible facts coming out. But the real fact that we're getting right now is that this 14- year-old girl, kidnapped and held in an underground bunker for 10 years had the peace of mind, the courage and the composure to rescue herself. What she did was she waited for her captor after 10 days, to finally fall asleep, took his cell phone, and text messaged her mother. We just talked with her mother, Melanie - Madeleine Shoaf, just a few minutes ago and she said on Friday night, she received a text message on her cell phone that told her that her daughter was indeed alive. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't know if that was her. We didn't know if...

MADELEINE, SHOAF, MOTHER OF ABDUCTED GIRL: ...it was a crank, but I just knew in my heart, my sister-in-law kept telling me, no, this was the sign we needed. This was what we needed.

GRIFFIN: Has she always been that strong, did you know she was that tough when the day before --

SHOAF: She always tells me she was a wimp, but she's a very strong child.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm getting mosquito bit here.

SHOAF: She's just, she's amazing. There's no way else to describe her. She's just an amazing...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: That 14-year-old girl is now home. She is trying to rest. She's trying to come down from this terrible ordeal, physically apparently unharmed but you can imagine the emotional stress that she has been under. Her captor was chased down early, early this morning, after trying to carjack a car in rural South Carolina. He didn't put up a fight as he was caught running in camouflage along interstate 20. Again, a lot of gruesome details to come, but the one thing I want to leave you with, Carol, is that this 14-year-old incredibly strong girl in the end saved herself.

LIN: You bet she did. Smart young girl she is. Drew Griffin, thank you very much.

In the meantime, we've got much more ahead this evening. We are going to give you all the very latest, coming up on CNN, though, what is in your future? Miles O'Brien talks to some of the most interesting people that you can find. He's got a special, "Welcome to the Future." That's coming up here on CNN. Also at 8:00, "CNN Presents: Firehouse 54." Larry King is going to interview the survivors of this New York firehouse following 9/11.

At then at 10:00 Eastern, a Dr. Sanjay Gupta special, "Genius: Quest for Extreme Brain Power." I'll have your news updates throughout the evening. Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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