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Tracy Smith is a CBS News correspondent based in New York. She's been reporting on human trafficking for The Early Show -- and continues her investigation on tonight's CBS Evening News. -- Ed.

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I have to admit that before producer Kim Kennedy and I started working on this series, I didn't give much thought to the problem of human trafficking. The Klaas Kids Foundation for missing children calls human trafficking America's "new dirty little secret."

But to me, it seemed like one of those crimes I could distance myself from. Tragic, yes, but far removed from my life here in the United States. It was something that happened overseas, but not here, not in my community, not to U.S. citizens, not to American children.

But when I met Tyamba, all of those assumptions were shattered. Here was a good kid, an American girl with a mom who adores her, who somehow got drawn into the very real world of human trafficking, just miles from where I live.

It started as an all-too-familiar story: Tyamba, a promising, gifted child, started hanging out with the wrong crowd, and ended up running away from home. She met a seemingly kind stranger who promised to take care of her, and ended up forcing her to do things no 13-year-old girl should ever have to contemplate. And as Tyamba was casually traded from pimp to pimp, her mother, who never gave up looking for her, finally tracked her down.

Tyamba is home safe now, still haunted by those months in captivity. As I told her and her mother, no one would blame them if they never wanted to speak of that horrible period in their lives ever again. But instead, they're determined to discuss it, and to wake up people like me, who had no idea that human trafficking could hit so close to home. I'm grateful, and somewhat amazed, by their strength. Tyamba has even told her story to other kids in school.

And there are so many other Tyambas out there...

To read more, continue to The Early Show website.

Tracy Smith is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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I was in Des Moines, Iowa for some political stories when the bridge in Minneapolis collapsed and, like most everyone, I first saw those horrible pictures on TV. A producer, crew and I got in our cars and started driving, and made it there just a little before 1 am Minneapolis time. That night was spent interviewing witnesses, talking to families who were waiting for word on missing loved ones. It seemed everyone we spoke to was grieving or in shock.

Then yesterday I met Martha Roberson. She had all those same emotions in the hours after the collapse. She told me she honestly thought she'd lost her two granddaughters forever.

But by some twist of fate, and with the help of some courageous friends and strangers, Martha was one of the lucky ones. Her granddaughters were on the bus that had just crossed the bridge when it collapsed. The girls -- Samara, who's 6, and 4-year-old Josette -- had a few bumps, but were OK. All of the 61 people on that bus, full of summer campers headed back from a trip to a waterpark, survived.

Jeremy Hernandez, one of the camp counselors who'd helped get the kids to safety was wondering aloud yesterday, trying to figure out not just how but why they narrowly escaped. "Lucky" was how he described it. Another survivor I talked to, Gary Babineau, was also wrestling with that. "I guess it just wasn't my time," he said. He's about to become a new dad: his baby's due in 2 weeks.

I can't explain it. But I sure am grateful I got to tell those stories too.

Tracy Smith is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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The first time I went to Yellowstone was in the mid-90's, for a story on how the federal government was bringing wolves back to the park. I found out then that you don't have to be Little Red Riding Hood to have a strong opinion about wolves. Maybe it's because the wolf is the classic fairy tale villain. He didn't just dress up like grandmama, he also threatened to do unsolicited gut renovations to the homes of the three little pigs. A lot of the ranchers around Yellowstone, who've lost their livestock to wolves, see them that way: as sneaky, vicious killers.

But despite that rep, the wolf is also one of the most common animals honored in art. At the park, I met people who said they were actually spiritually moved by seeing wolves.

I saw wolves when I visited this last time, for a story on how they're poised to come off the endangered species list. With a high-powered scope (all the better to see you with, my dear), I watched a pack of them stalk some bison. I have to admit my elation came more from wanting to get shots of them for our story than from any sort of spiritual awakening.

They did draw a crowd, though. And perhaps more importantly, biologists say that, as predators, wolves have straightened out the park's ecology. So, as even the ranchers told me, wolves are likely here to stay. Now that they're losing federal protections, the trick for states is figuring out how to keep the wolf population strong...but away from the ranchers' door.

Let's hope there can still be a fairy tale ending.

Tracy Smith is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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Sometimes all the formal training in the world isn't as useful as what we learn from our family. I'm reminded of this occasionally when I'm covering a story and something happens that my fancy degrees in journalism didn't exactly prepare me for. When I have to rely on basic human instinct, or what my parents taught me, rather than what I read in a textbook. And I was reminded of it again this weekend, when I visited Ft Bragg, and a woman named Kara Smith.

Kara's husband Jason is a lieutenant with the 82nd Airborne unit that rescued 24 Iraqi orphans last week. They were special needs children who'd basically been left to die, starving and naked, chained to cribs. The soldiers brought them to safety, got them cleaned up, and fed, and then visited them with toys and supplies. And one picture stood out: of Jason, brushing a little boy's teeth.

As Kara told me, that's not exactly the kind of skill they teach you in basic training. Jason learned that from her. You see, Kara's big brother Michael is mentally challenged. And one of the things that Kara does for Michael is brush his teeth.

It's such a simple thing, really. But, as Jason said, it's something these kids will remember for the rest of their lives. That someone cared enough to brush their teeth for them. A skill Jason picked up from just watching the woman he loved care for her brother.