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CNN Live Saturday

Robertson Discusses New Videotape From Ayman al-Zawahiri; Storms Hit Both Sides of The U.S.; Cruise and Shields End Feud; Inside Look at How Warren Jeffs Uses Welfare System

Aired September 02, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, Ernesto loses strength as it plays out over New York. In its wake, flooded homes, power outages and piles of debris along the East Coast. The storm is blamed for at least six deaths in various states.
We'll have a live report coming up in one minute.

Just in this hour, an invitation to convert to Islam? It comes in a new videotape from al Qaeda's Ayman el-Zawahiri, addressed to the American people. Also on it, an American wanted by the FBI in connection to possible terrorist threats. We've been working on the translation and we'll have a full report in one minute.

Fourteen British troops have been killed in the crash of a NATO airplane in southern Afghanistan. That according to the British Ministry of Defense. The incident so far is being blamed on a technical problem rather than enemy action.

Scotland Yard rounds up 16 terror suspects. Most of the men were arrested at this Chinese restaurant in London. Police are not linking the suspects to the recent plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners. The men are accused of recruiting and training others for acts of terror.

Kofi Annan is in Tehran, where he met with Iran's foreign minister. The U.S. secretary-general is trying to get support for a resolution ending the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Reuters says Iran's foreign minister offered that support.

We update the top stories every 15 minutes on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

Your next update is coming up at 2:15 Eastern.

Well, welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

Ernesto and John caused chaos on both coasts. The very latest weather forecast for this holiday weekend coming up next.

Tom Cruise says he's sorry.

Does Brooke Shields accept the apology?

It's got everybody talking.

And why this fascinating American woman born in Iran is about to break new ground in space.

But first to our top story. This story just in to CNN.

Osama bin Laden's deputy appears in a new video posted on the Internet a short while ago. A new twist with this tape. Ayman el- Zawahiri is introduced by a young American man.

Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, joins us now from Islamabad, Pakistan, via broadband -- and what do you know about this tape, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do know this young American who introduces Ayman el-Zawahiri likes to be known as Azzam the American. He is, in fact, known as Adam Gadahn.

And on the tape he says: "This is an invitation to Americans and all non-believers to convert to Islam."

He very quickly hands over the message to Ayman el-Zawahiri. They never appear together. It's not clear if this was recorded by both of them in the same room, separate locations. The locations certainly look different.

The message from Ayman el-Zawahiri follows on from Gadahn, saying that this is a message to Americans and all other Westerners, an opportunity to convert to Islam.

When the recording is handed back to Adam Gadahn again after about another four minutes of Ayman el-Zawahiri, who also talks -- refers to the Koran, Gadahn says: "This is a very serious issue. There can be no backsliding on this."

It's not clear why this message has been sent at this time, a 48 minute message. Adam Gadahn speaks for the remaining about 43 minutes on this particular recording. Most of the message from him.

Possibly this is an effort by al Qaeda to reach out to the West through Adam Gadahn, speaking English. Perhaps there, through their interpretations of Islam, a justification, possibly, for attack, because what they are doing here is offering the opportunity for people to convert to Islam and this is something that they see as an important thing that they should do before an attack.

Possibly, that's one interpretation that's being put on it -- Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: And, Nic, nor is it clear as to whether these recorded messages from these two men were taken at the same time.

ROBERTSON: No. The only time reference we have heard so far -- and, of course, this is a very long message and we're analyzing the tape in its entirety at this time -- is that there's reference to the fighting in Lebanon.

So, clearly, that was recorded perhaps within the last month-and- a-half. That's the only time reference. But we don't know when Gadahn made his recording, when Zawahiri made his recording. It does have the same production stamp on this -- on this recording that we've seen on a lot of al Qaeda tapes. And they also have a production facility believed to operate at times here in Pakistan. It's covered -- it's come before with a Pakistan logo under al-Sahab.

But, again, not clear when the two recordings were made, but spliced together by this same production company that's produced almost all previous al Qaeda videos -- Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson, thanks so much for joining us from Islamabad.

And translations are and continue to pore over this new recording, reported recording.

ANNOUNCER: CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

WHITFIELD: The other big story we're following here in the States, floodwaters rising. Trees and power lines are down. Hundreds of homes in the danger zone. It's all part of the mix right now as the weather system once known as Tropical Storm Ernesto moves to the north. It's a storm that won't be forgotten any time soon in North Carolina, Virginia or Maryland.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is in Poquoson, Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Conditions here in eastern Virginia slowly improving now that the rain, for the most part, has stopped, as what's left of Ernesto heads pretty far to the north.

But what a drenching rain we had here in eastern Virginia, with rainfall tallies up and over 10 inches in some spots. And the ground being saturated from thunderstorms earlier in the week, it did not take much for trees to come down and power lines to come down, as well.

At one point during the height of the storm, 600,000 people without power. That number down to about 200,000 as of Saturday morning and hopefully the power company gets that number down to zero by the end of the weekend.

Also with those trees coming down, there were fatalities up the road in Gloucester, with two people dying from a tree coming down on their home. As far as the flooding is concerned, that was a big issue. We are at sea level so it does not take much for this area -- Poquoson is where we are, right near the Chesapeake Bay -- for this area to flood.

Three and four feet of water above normal and some folks were forced to leave their homes, not only here, but around the Hampton Roads area.

Good news in this area, as opposed to New Orleans, is once the water -- once the winds shift and the rain stops, because we are at sea level, most of that water quickly recedes back into the tributaries that lead into the Chesapeake Bay, which eventually lead into the Atlantic Ocean.

So conditions will continue to improve here throughout the weekend in eastern Virginia.

In Poquoson, Virginia, I'm Rob Marciano.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: And now let's cross the continent to Mexico's Pacific coast. Hurricane John is causing some problems there.

CNN's Harris Whitbeck is in Cabo San Lucas.

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hurricane John is still in the area of La Paz in the Baja, California Peninsula. But in general, the officials here are breathing a sigh of relief.

We spoke with a member of the civil protection delegation in La Paz and he said about 3,000 people are in shelters there. He said there is no loss of life and no one has been injured. He did say some roads are washed out and there is concern that more roads could wash out. There could be a few more mudslides because the rains are expected to continue in that part of the Baja Peninsula for the next 24 to 48 hours.

Here in Cabo San Lucas, which is the main tourism destination in Baja, California, the wind is still a bit brisk, but the skies are beginning to clear. We also see a lot more people out on the streets. Again, everybody breathing a sigh of relief that Hurricane John didn't pack as powerful a punch as many thought it would.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Cabo San Lucas.

WHITFIELD: Both storms downgraded, but still packing a bit of a punch on both sides of the continent.

Bonnie Schneider is in the Weather Center -- and where do we want to begin, Bonnie?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, ATS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Fredericka, we'll start out west since we were just talking about Mexico.

Now, this storm, Hurricane John, is still a powerful hurricane and it's still pounding the Baja Peninsula right now. The latest advisory now says the location is about 15 miles to the west-northwest of La Paz, Mexico, or 100 miles to the south-southeast of Loretto, Mexico.

The storm actually made landfall as a category two hurricane, but as we look at the track, we can see that it has weakened a bit and it's working its way further to the north and eventually it'll be pushing away from the mainland. Right now, it's a category one with winds at 85 miles per hour. But as we put this track into motion, you can see it does work its way further up the peninsula and then eventually off to sea. And eventually, by Monday or Tuesday, it should be downgraded quite a bit.

But the storm is a powerful one.

Now we'll talk about Ernesto. We are looking at the rains. The center of circulation of Ernesto, even though it's really broken up, is just to the east of Washington, D.C. But the rain is in advance of it. And, in fact, if we take a look at this the radar now, we still have watches and warnings posted, in addition to what we're seeing right now for Ernesto.

Areas here, these are flood watches. These will hold through the evening hours. The flood warnings are mainly for South Jersey at this hour. And the areas in yellow right here through Western Massachusetts, parts of Vermont and even into parts of Upstate New York. Those are high wind watches.

Yesterday, we were telling you that the way things are set up, with low pressure to the south and high pressure to the north, the winds are really kicking up. So that can knock down trees and cause some more problems with power outages, as well.

As we take a look at where the rain is coming down heavy and hard related to Ernesto, look at this -- Buffalo, Rochester, all through Upstate New York and back across the Great Lakes. Plenty of heavy rain. It's a soggy start to this holiday weekend, unfortunately.

Rochester getting hit very hard with rain. And then down to the south, many folks, for this holiday weekend, heading out to the beaches of Long Island on the East End or perhaps the Jersey Shore.

Well, today it's going to be a soggy one. The good news is we are expecting this rain to let up for tomorrow and you should get some better weather in the forecast in the days to come.

But since it is a holiday weekend and many of you are traveling, we can show you some of the airport delays that we're facing right now, and they are numerous.

Look at this. In New York City, two hours and 20 minutes ground delays at JFK. In New York, LaGuardia, there is a ground stop reported. And in Newark, New Jersey, an hour and 40 minute delays.

So we are, unfortunately, looking at some travel troubles for those of you that are looking to start your holiday weekend on Saturday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: More terror related arrests in Britain. Coming up, find out what the suspects were accused of.

And young people in Detroit look for ways to help neighborhoods break out of poverty.

And a cult leader and his money -- are you giving him your tax dollars? (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fashion has inspired Kimora Lee Simmons since she started modeling at 13. As lead fashion designer for Baby Phat, Simmons has taken the company from simple t-shirts to a glammed out teen line. And she plans to roll out a home collection this fall.

KIMORA LEE SIMMONS, CEO & CREATIVE DIRECTOR, BABY PHAT FASHIONS: A good business leader, I think, is someone that knows what they want and what they need and can effectively bring others into that process of getting it done and accomplishing your overall goals.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Earlier this year, Simmons released her first book, "Fabulosity," which emphasizes boosting self- esteem and not letting hostility from others get the best of you.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A quarter past the hour.

A new message today from al Qaeda's second in command. The message from Ayman el-Zawahiri was posted on an Internet site and it's directed to the American people, calling on non-Muslims to convert to Islam or suffer.

The message is introduced by a California man who is wanted by the FBI in connection with possible terrorist threats against the U.S.

Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison, once at the center of an abuse scandal, is no longer under coalition control. The prison, which now sits empty, was transferred to Iraq's justice ministry today.

A soggy Labor Day weekend for millions of Americans along the mid-Atlantic. Gusty winds and heavy rain are in store for much of the northeastern U.S. as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto move north. Floodwaters now cover parts of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

And at least a half dozen deaths are being blamed on the storm in various states.

We update the top stories every 15 minutes on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

Your next update is coming up at 2:30 Eastern.

In Britain right now, 16 terror suspects under arrest. They were nabbed today in two separate operations.

CNN's Robin Oakley is in London with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Following an intensive surveillance operation by security authorities, British police have arrested a further 16 suspects in relation to terrorist offenses. Fourteen of the men were arrested in South London, the bulk of them at a Chinese restaurant, The Bridge to Chinatown, where other diners talked of as many as 40 armed police coming in to take the men.

Two others were arrested elsewhere in London and two has been arrested in Greater Manchester, where police investigators took away a number of cars.

There's also an investigation going on at a school in East Sussex, where there is suspected of being a connection with terrorist training and recruitment.

Police are stressing that the new arrests are not related to the alleged plot to blow up airliners en route from Britain to the United States disclosed on August the 10th, nor are they related to the July 7 bombings last year in London, in which 52 people died at the hands of four suicide bombers on the London subway system.

Meanwhile, Peter Clark, the head of anti-terrorist operations at Scotland Yard has warned that thousands of British Muslims are under surveillance as possible sympathizers with terrorism, the kind of people who might be helping to finance terrorist operations, to help with recruitment and training or to help with the travel of those involved in terrorist offenses.

Robin Oakley, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Fighting back against poverty. Coming up, you'll see how high school students in Detroit are trying to turn things around in their neighborhood.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: As rich as this nation is, poverty remains a constant in too many American lives.

Can poverty be eliminated altogether so that 13 million children no longer suffer from it? And then add the number of adults and the number of poor people in America nearly triples.

This weekend, Dr. Sanjay Gupta caught up with former President Bill Clinton to talk about that problem. It's a CNN special, "THE POVERTY TRAP," and you'll see it only on CNN.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: (voice- over): Detroit's East Side. Its people and neighborhoods have been hit hard by years of poverty and neglect. In 2005, the city had some 12,000 abandoned homes. Now, many are fighting back.

MIKE FISHER, PRESIDENT & CEO, DETROIT COMMUNITY INITIATIVE: Let's go.

Two new houses being built on the side of it. Two new houses across the street. This has to go. Address right there.

GUPTA: Mike Fisher runs DCI, the Detroit Community Initiative, a nonprofit organization that gives high school students a summer job, and a chance to improve their neighborhoods.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: It just makes me feel sad looking at something like this.

GUPTA: They're using a global positioning tracking device to mark the exact locations of destroyed and abandoned homes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one burned up the side of their house.

FISHER: We try to work with mayor's office, the Detroit City Council, the department heads, other community groups to try to make it clean and safe -- picking up tires, cleaning up dumping, rehabbing homes, building new homes. So we're bringing something to the table.

GUPTA: The city receives the information and prioritizes homes for demolition. They're replaced by low-income housing that's paid for by a federal tax credit program.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: I feel like I'm actually achieving something because when I go out and I help out, I'm making an impact on the city.

FISHER: One block at a time, one family at a time, and we can turn things around.

NADIRA WADE, DETROIT COMMUNITY INITIATIVE: Right here! Right here!

GUPTA: This is Saratoga Street, where Nadira Wade lives.

WADE: Yes! What is it granny?

GUPTA: Nadira has 14 grandchildren.

She's lived in this house for 19 years.

WADE: Look at there. You can see right up in to the roof.

GUPTA: And it needs a lot of work.

WADE: There's a crack in the kitchen here right above the stove. It leaks right here. We're poor people. We don't have anything right now.

GUPTA: But she still has hope for her neighborhood, and that's why she's working with Mike Fisher in DCI.

WADE: I'm on board of the directors. And we're trying to rebuild the neighborhood back up from what it was to something better -- low-income housing, for people like myself, which I own my house now. I can't afford to fix it, but it's mine.

GUPTA: DCI plans to help Nadira replace her roof.

WADE: It's just a struggle. It's just things is too high -- your gas bill, light bill, telephone bill.

GUPTA: Despite the difficulties, Nadira still believes her work with the Detroit Community Initiative will increase the value of her property, and improve the value of the neighborhood.

WADE: When we get through building all these 49 brand new homes, I believe that people will start having more respect and it will give them something to look forward to.

This is your neighborhood. Respect your neighborhood. You live here. These people don't have no hope. They don't have any hope, because it's like they've just given up. I'm not going to give up.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Dr. Sanjay Gupta's conversation with Bill Clinton can be seen on "CNN PRESENTS: THE POVERTY TRAP," tonight and tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Still ahead, an expert who translates Al-Zawahiri tapes tells us about this new tape just minutes after it has been released.

And who has been helping to finance this man? Perhaps you?

How money was funneled to polygamist Warren Jeffs before his arrest this week, all coming up.

And later, the dream to fly in space -- it's close to reality for this woman, an Iranian-American. A story of inspiration.

An iPod is due for some competition from companies hoping to take a bite out of the Apple.

Our technology correspondent, Dan Sieberg, explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: When it comes to portable music players, the iPod is still the big man on campus. But that hasn't stopped a slew of companies from trying to take a bite out of Apple.

And joining us now to talk about some of those products is Brian Cooley, editor-at-large with CNET.

So, Brian, some of these products, they look like an iPod, but could they be better than an iPod?

BRIAN COOLEY, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, CNET.COM: They could do more for the same money. Let's take a look at this one. This is called the Music Gremlin. It's a whole new kind of device. It looks a little thicker than a regular iPod. However, it has a unique feature. It has wi-fi networking built in, wireless networking. So you can use this device to get on the Internet and actually purchase music directly to it.

SIEBERG: So no more cords plugging it in.

COOLEY: No more having to go find your computer to connect it.

SIEBERG: Right.

COOLEY: So it is an Internet device in and of itself.

That, I think, is the vanguard of the future. $300. It only holds eight gig, but it's a cutting edge product.

SIEBERG: All right, the next one from Toshiba looks like the iPod.

COOLEY: Very much like the iPod, the videotape iPod. Look how similar that is. I almost expect a lawsuit over that one.

SIEBERG: Yes, right.

COOLEY: The Toshiba Gigabeat S is audio/video photos like you'd expect. It does a lot of things like an iPod does, but it subscribes to more services -- Napster, Rhapsody, Yahoo! Music, all of those "Janus" services that are also known as the Windows family of services. So you have a lot more ideas of what you can get on here and it has a really nice new Windows display that we think is actually a breakthrough.

SIEBERG: Gigabeat, gigabyte, I get it.

Now, the last one here, pretty small, but it actually does a fair bit, right?

COOLEY: A great display on this little guy. It's called the Creative Zen Five Plus or Zen V Plus. And it's got an OLED display, super bright, super high resolution. It holds one, two or four gigabytes of music. It's like a Nano Killer, but you see it's actually shorter. And it has additional features that Nanos don't have, like FM radio.

Only $120 for a one gig version. And that will be cheaper on the street.

SIEBERG: Great.

Lots of options out there.

Brian Cooley, editor-at-large with CNET, thanks so much.

COOLEY: You bet.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And meantime, lots of questions about this new tape from al Zawahiri, when it was recorded and where. Someone who evaluates such video and audio reportings, counter terrorism expert Laura Mansfield. She joins us now from Greenville, South Carolina.

All right, Laura, when did you get wind of this tape?

LAURA MANSFIELD, TERRORISM EXPERT (via telephone): We first heard that this tape was that coming out Thursday evening when a banner was displayed on several different Jihadi message boards basically announcing THAT a tape coming from Sahab which produces al Qaeda's video would be out featuring Adam Kadam from California who they call Kadam, the American and Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri.

The tape was supposed to be entitled, "Invitation to Islam." And they said you have a standard coming soon banner.

The tape actually popped out about a couple of hours ago, again on the same Jihadi message board. The tape is 48 minutes and one second long and it's an interesting tape.

WHITFIELD: And what's particularly notable now -- you mentioned Adam Gadahn, the American who is being used to help introduce al Zawahiri. What about the message that's being conveyed, what's particularly striking about the message by Adam Gadahn as well as Zawahiri in your view.

MANSFIELD: Well, the message is addressed to the American people and the people of the west, the unbelievers of the west in general. And both Adam Gadahn and Zawahiri make specific statements to that effect, that this is to the people of the west, specifically to the Americans.

It's interesting because it's the first time we've seen a tape that pops out with Gadahn makes an introduction, Zawahiri comes in, makes actually -- and then Gadahn comes in again and then Zawahiri...

WHITFIELD: Like an endorsement.

MANSFIELD: And Zawahiri comes in for four minutes and then the rest of the 48 minute tape, about 42 minutes of the tape, is totally Adam Gadahn because it's kind of interesting because you thought you would hear more from Zawahiri.

On the other hand, since Gadahn is an American, he's speaking in English to the American people, I suppose it makes sense to have him as a spokesperson.

WHITFIELD: So, in your view, is this like Gadahn endorsing what al Zawahiri is saying? Or is it a word-for-word translation of what al Zawahiri is saying? MANSFIELD: He takes -- Zawahiri only speaks for about four minutes while Gadahn speaks basically for 43 minutes.

Gadahn takes what Zawahiri has said in this tape and previous tapes and what bin Laden has said in videotapes and basically reiterates their Islamist ideologies and presents reasons why we should convert.

They go so far as to say, this is not a type when you should procrastinate, this is actually what Zawahiri says, you should not procrastinate or backslide, time is short.

WHITFIELD: Do you also interpret this as perhaps a new way to threaten Americans by saying if you don't convert to Islam, you will suffer?

MANSFIELD: Yes. I think it's definitely, it's definitely a threatening tape. Basically, Islamists believe that they have to give, issue a warning and an opportunity to convert to infidels, to unbelievers before they can launch attacks against them. So, many analysts will probably agree with me on this that this may very well be a warning before something else.

Again, no definitive things on the tape in terms of timing, but the tape appears to -- itself appears to have been made within the last month. It makes specific reference to the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

It also proceeds to give a chronology of what it considers crimes by the Americans throughout the world and it specifically references her Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

WHITFIELD: Counterterrorism expert Laura Mansfield, thanks so much for your point of view.

Joining us from Greenville, South Carolina.

Another big story we continue to follow here, damaging storms make for some waves on two fronts this hour. Here's what we know about Hurricane John and what's left of Ernesto.

On the east coast, Ernesto floods remain a threat as remnants of that former tropical storm scatter northward. At least six deaths are being blamed on the storm across several states.

And along the Pacific coast, Hurricane John is battering Mexico's Baja Peninsula. John is expected to lose strength and be downgraded to a tropical storm, possibly early tomorrow.

Let's check in again with Bonnie Schneider. Still is causing problems out there.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It sure is. And it's still a pretty substantial hurricane, a category 1 right now. But what's important to note about John is that it's a compact storm, the hurricane force winds only extend outward by about 25 miles. So, it could have been larger. And it could have been a whole lot worse.

But it's not over yet. In fact, let's take look at the track and I'll show you where John is headed next.

The storm is likely to become a depression as you reported later on today or even into tomorrow. Eventually it will curve back out into the Pacific where it will encounter more cooler weather. And that will definitely make a difference to downgrade it further. Maximum winds right now are at 75 miles per hour. And that's according to the latest advisory.

Switching gears now, we come back over to the east coast and show you the rain coming down heavy and hard due to Ernesto. Look at this, it stretches all the way as far north of New York/Canadian border we're getting rain.

And as we take a look at some of the rain we're seeing around the region, there's still the risk for flooding in some areas, particularly South Jersey. That's where we have a flood warning. That's right along the Jersey shore. Flood watches posted up for parts of Pennsylvania into upstate New York and still the concern for flooding remains for eastern North Carolina and parts of Virginia.

The areas in yellow you see here, western Massachusetts, Vermont, into New York as well, those are wind advisories that will got through tonight because we're expecting gusts as strong as 45 miles per hour.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. Those delays also delaying some serious tennis up there in New York. People don't like that there.

All right, thanks a lot, Bonnie.

A cult leader and his money. Are you giving him your tax dollars?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You may not relate to the lifestyle of polygamist cult leader Warren Jeffs who was caught on Monday, but as CNN's Randi Kaye explains, he's getting a lot of attention and, apparently, a lot of money from you, the taxpayer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Warren Jeffs may live thousands of miles from you, but he may not be that far from your wallet. Jeffs and his followers are costing you money and getting away with it, critics say, by hiding behind religion.

MARK SHURTLEFF, UTAH ATTORNEY GENERAL: Their religious belief is they are what they call bleed the beast, the beast being the government. While they hate the government, they will bleed it. They will take everything they can from it to welfare, through tax evasion and fraud.

KAYE: You see, as practicing polygamists, Jeffs and his group believe it's their religious right to have multiple wives and dozens of children and often lean on taxpayers to foot the bill.

(on camera): Here's how it works. The men have multiple wives but only one marriage is recognized as legal by the state of Utah. So the rest of the wives claim to be single moms struggling to raise a house full of dependents. That makes them eligible for government aid. So they collect welfare, lots of it, and it's all legal.

SHURTLEFF: More than 65 percent of the people are on welfare, they're on food stamps, compared to about 6 percent in the general populations.

KAYE (voice-over): Keeping Warren Jeffs and his followers honest is a challenge.

SHURTLEFF: He's like a crime boss. I mean, he runs an organization, an empire, where he has absolute control.

KAYE: Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff hasn't filed charges, but he's investigating Jeffs for cooking the books, avoiding taxes, even setting up offshore accounts.

KAYE: He has them convinced from the moment they're born that he is God on earth and that if you disobey him, if you leave his church, if you disobey his commandments, then you will burn in hell forever.

BRUCE WISAN, ACCOUNTANT: Say nothing, do nothing.

KAYE: A judge appointed accountant Bruce Wisan to take control of the group's $110 million trust and the land in it. Wisen's biggest challenge, collecting more than $1 million in overdue property taxes from polygamist property owners living in Colorado City, Arizona where Jeffs' church is base based.

(on camera): Is it their responsible to pay?

WISAN: Well, it is. And they've received benefits of living on the trust land for free. They didn't pay for the land and in many cases, the community efforts built the houses, so all they have to pay is utilities and property taxes. And I don't think that's unreasonable.

KAYE (voice-over): Why did they stopped paying? Because when Wisan took control of the trust, Jeffs ordered his members to stop paying taxes.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Salt Lake City, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So, what about the actual charges facing polygamist cult leader Warren Jeffs? He's accused of arranging marriages of underaged girls to older men. Let's see what our legal experts have to say about the case.

Avery Freidman is a civil rights attorney and law professor. Good to see you.

And Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney. Good to see you as well, gentlemen.

RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, this guy was on the run for about two years. He was on America's most wanted list and here they claim that he was going to be armed and dangerous. When they have did get him, Richard, and got him in custody, he had a truck full of money and disguises but no arms.

So, how might that have a bearing on how this fugitive is treated once he does face these accomplice to rape charges?

HERMAN: Well, Fred, pretty pompous of this guy to be riding around Nevada in a brand-new Escalade, just incredible, being on the FBI most wanted list.

But they had had the extradition hearing this week. He waived extradition. He's going back to Utah. He's going to be prosecute on those two felony charges there -- at least on those two felony charges.

And, you know, the case is going to be a difficult case for the prosecution, believe it or not...

WHITFIELD: Why?

HERMAN: Because they're going to have a get a live body in there testifying. The victim is going to have to come in and testify. And she's going to have to stare him down. She's been ingrained since he was born with this cult and it's going to be very difficult for her to get up there and testify adversely against him.

WHITFIELD: Except that, Avery, I would think they would try to get a former follower if they need to get young women to testify. And this former follower may feel a little bit more confident about speaking out against Warren Jeffs as opposed to the person who is still under the control of the community of Warren Jeffs, right?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, LAW PROFESSOR: Yes. I think that's exactly right. In fact, your interview actually was riveting involving Carolyn Jessop. She I think is one of a number of individuals who are going to stand firm, stand strong, they have the confidence to come back and stand forward.

And, you know, there was some argument that, well, it's going to be good for this individual to go back to Utah because you have Fundamental LDS members. But the fact is that most of these people don't register to vote. So they're not going to be in the jury pool. So I think actually the prosecution may be in a little bit stronger position than a lot of people think right now. WHITFIELD: So Avery, how about these charges? Are they serious enough? I mean, was he not, for lack of a better word, wasn't he pimping?

FRIEDMAN: Wasn't he what?

WHITFIELD: Pimping. He was a pimp, wasn't he? I mean, allegedly a pimp if he's trying to set up these young women with older men but instead, the charges are accomplice to rape.

FRIEDMAN: I would statutory pimping, I guess. Well, I didn't see that one coming.

WHITFIELD: I'm sorry.

FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, that's very interesting. It is a -- this is statutory pimping, that's exactly right.

I mean, what we have here is an individual who claims to be the prophet, the representative of God, who, among other things, has banned young men -- these are called the lost boys, they have their own civil litigation, interestingly enough, going forward. And so what you have is girls and young women basically being offered up to old geezers, to old guys. And essentially, it is statutory pimping.

And you know what, being serious about this, these are two felony charges of rape by accomplice that can lead up to life in prison. So this is dead serious stuff.

WHITFIELD: It is serious. And Richard, I'm not trying to make fun here. I mean, this is really a serious thing. But am I in trouble by using that kind of language?

HERMAN: No, you're not.

WHITFIELD: Is it tantamount to that?

HERMAN: Hey Fred, big love is in big trouble here. These accomplice to rape charges, this young girl in particular was 14 years old when she was forced, or persuaded, or however you want to put it to marry some older man. She was forced to have sex with this man. She tried for 30 days not to. She pleaded with Jeffs -- I don't want to, I don't want to. And he said, you have to. That's our religion. Do what you have to do.

You know, she had children. I think it's going to be pretty easy to prove statutory rape. And he was an accomplice. I think he's going down. Five years to life on both counts.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that is pretty serious.

Well, we're not done with you guys, Richard and Avery. We are going to talk more about Richard, your favorite, John Mark Karr. Try to talk about that. We'll try and squeeze it in.

But coming up next, the story after woman's dream to fly in space and what she's doing to make that dream come true.

Also, has Tom Cruise accomplished a mission impossible? Coming up, you'll hear what former verbal victim Brooke Shields is saying about the film star now.

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WHITFIELD: Well, he says now he's sorry. Brooke Shields calls the apology from Tom Cruise pretty heartfelt. Cruise publicly criticized Shields for taking anti-depressants. And shields told the "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE SHIELDS, ACTRESS: He had called me and he came over to my house. And he gave me a heartfelt apology. And he apologized for bringing my into the whole thing and for everything that had happened.

And through it all, I was so impressed with how heartfelt it was. And I didn't feel at any time that I had to defend myself, or did I feel that he was trying to convince me of anything other than the fact that he was deeply sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: As a Scientologist, Cruise claims depression can be treated with exercise and vitamins.

Well, they are back. The Atlantis astronauts return to the Kennedy Space Center today. NASA has rescheduled the space shuttle lift-off for Wednesday. Ernesto had interrupted last week's scheduled launch. Crews say they found no damage to Atlantis from the tropical storm.

And an Iranian-American business woman in Texas is weeks away now from making history in space. CNN's Asieh Namdar has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For most of us, riding into space is an impossible dream. For Iranian-born Anousheh Ansari, it will be a dream come true.

Later this month, Ansari a successful high-tech entrepreneur from Dallas will make history. She will become the first female and the first Iranian-American space tourist, only the fourth space tourist ever.

The 39-year-old Ansari will ride a Russian capsule to the International Space Station with two astronauts -- one Russian, one Spanish and one American. She will spend ten days at the station before returning with its current crew.

ANOUSHEH ANSARI, SPACE TOURIST: I'm looking forward to capturing my feelings and my experiences while I'm flying and when I get to the space station. And then, I will share it with everyone upon my return.

NAMDAR: Ansari grew up in Iran until she was 16, then moved to the United States. She says she has a deep connection to the Iranian people and the culture.

On one arm, she wears the American flag. On the other, the Iranian flag minus the emblem representing the Islamic revolution.

Ansari got her chance to make space history because of someone else's bad luck. She's replacing a Japanese businessman who failed a medical test.

ANSARI: I knew how hard he had trained and how excited he was about the flight and he was looking forward to it. So I hope that in the very near future, he will be able to come back and finish his training and finally realize his dream as well.

NAMDAR: Ansari's contract bars her from saying how much she paid for the trip. The three previous space tourists, Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth and Greg Olsen reportedly paid $20 million each. Perhaps a small price to pay for what Ansari considers an opportunity of a lifetime.

Asieh Namdar, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And straight ahead, "CNN PRESENTS: The Last Days of Pope John Paul II." You'll hear from his confidantes about the pontiff's final hours and the effort to make John Paul a saint.

After that, a new tape from al Qaeda's deputy and the American man who appears with him. It's on CNN LIVE SATURDAY at 4:00 Eastern, 1:00 Pacific. A check of the day's headlines is next and then, "CNN PRESENTS."

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