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Fugitive Preacher Arrested; Violence Surges in Iraq; Lebanese Government Makes Efforts to Rebuild

Aired August 30, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Ernesto makes landfall as a tropical storm, but don't underestimate its power. Torrential rain is now the problem. CNN's Jacqui Jeras is tracking it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sir, can I ask a quick question? Yes, I just -- Mister, can I ask you a quick question? Did you know -- miss?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN's Gary Tuchman tracks Warren Jeffs' followers. Doesn't get much, though. The polygamist leader is in custody. Will the man with 10 wives be his successor? Tuchman takes us inside Colorado City.

And the Com Air crash in Kentucky. From the wreckage, the co- pilot survived. This hour, I'll talk to the heroes who pulled him out of the flames. LIVE FROM starts right now.

Ernesto in Florida. A hurricane that wasn't. Now, it isn't even a tropical storm. Still, the Sunshine State's getting drenched as the now tropical depression slowly spins to the north. So far, Ft. Lauderdale has seen about two inches of rain and minimal damage.

The storm came ashore in Plantation Key around midnight. By dawn, the winds and rain were more of a nuisance than anything else. But Ernesto isn't done yet. Now expect the storm to take a swipe at the Carolinas next. Projections show it could make landfall again between Charleston and Georgetown, South Carolina tomorrow afternoon, dumping several inches of rain along the way. North Carolina is alerting its emergency teams.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE EASLEY, NORTH CAROLINA: We've evacuated 150 National Guard soldiers to be deployed with one group in the west, one group in the east. Also, with them will be two Black Hawk helicopters that can be used for aerial rescue, along with our swift water rescue teams.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Ernesto isn't the only fish in the sea, as it were. Hurricane John is also working its way into the system. Jacqui Jeras tracking it all for us -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Kyra.

John in the Pacific, in the eastern Pacific, could be affecting Mexico. We'll show you that in just a minute.

And here you can see what's left of Ernesto, tropical depression. And the reds and the purples. That's really where we have any intensity left with the storm. That's where we're going to be seeing the heavy showers and thunder storms and some of the stronger wind gusts at times.

It's going to continue to weaken. It's moving on up to the north right now. The biggest threat, really, is just still some heavy rain. We could see an isolated tornado in eastern parts of Florida, some of these feeder bands come in offshore, maybe a little water spout making its way on land. But generally, they will be weak, F-0, F-1 type of tornadoes. But that's going to cause a little bit of damage. Something to keep your heads up on for today.

The heavier showers and thunderstorms just north of Alligator Alley right now. We also have some pulling in here around Daytona Beach, heading up towards Jacksonville.

Jacksonville dry at this hour, but watch for that rain to move on in. And use a lot of caution, you know. You don't want to be driving through this stuff today if you don't have to. Certainly don't cross over any roads that have water on them, because you just don't know how deep they are.

Ernesto is moving up to the north at this hour. It's expected to gradually start to turn on up towards the north and to the east. And as it does that, it could be bringing the center offshore again into the Atlantic. When that happens, we've got the chance for this to intensify and become a tropical storm again.

And then it's expected to be making landfall into the Carolinas, most likely South Carolina at this time. That's going to be happening tomorrow, maybe even 24 hours from now.

It's going to start to slow down a little bit in forward speed, make its way inland and bring some very heavy rain across parts of the mid-Atlantic. The rainfall so far has been rather minimal across parts of Florida.

But this is our 48-hour forecast precipitation, the rainfall totals. And there you can see some of those whites. Orlando on up towards Jacksonville. That's where we're expecting to see three inches or more. We could see four to eight inches as we head towards the mid-Atlantic by late this week and into the weekend.

Let's go over to the Eastern Pacific. We're on storm number 10 over here. So twice as many as what we've seen thus far in the Atlantic.

And you are looking at John. And quite impressive. Very easy to pick out the center of circulation. This is a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 135 miles per hour.

We've got some video coming in from Acapulco, which you can see right there. They've been experiencing some of the feeder bands. Winds so far in Acapulco have been relatively light. You can see, just a nice little breeze there. But some rough surf. It looks, overall, Acapulco will be relatively spared, outside of the very heavy rainfall.

Now you can see the flooding in some of the streets. We're also concerned about mudslides in the higher terrain and in parts of Mexico.

Now right now, the storm itself is kind of skirting parallel with the coastline, which is good news, at least for now. Sparing the brunt of the worst of the wind, the hurricane force wind, much closer to the center of the storm. So they're well offshore at this time.

Puerto Vallarta we think is going to be OK outside of heavy rains, maybe a few gusty winds and that's about it. But what happens down the line, we're very concerned about right now. The waters here, very, very warm. And we're expecting this to hold its status as a major hurricane.

And Cabo San Lucas, right here, Baja, California, does have the potential of having a direct hit from this storm. That would be happening sometime late Friday and into Saturday. So something to watch very closely.

A lot of tourists know those towns very well, Kyra. Ever been to Cabo?

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. Yes. And our producer just came back from there. Jen was so happy the wedding wasn't taking place right now. It's a beautiful place. It really is.

JERAS: It is.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Jacqui.

That's something else that we're all monitoring, including Jacqui, grabbing what they can and getting out. With an out of control wildfire burning the hillsides, people are evacuating two communities near San Bernardino National Forest in Southern California.

The fire is about 60 miles east of the Los Angeles. It's burned two homes, 2,000 acres and is just 10 percent contained right now.

Well, a self-styled prophet who traveled in style. And I'm speaking of the fugitive, sect leader Warren Jeffs, and the 2007 Cadillac Escalade that he was captured in late Monday in Nevada. I don't mean the supple leather seats and the double stitched front seams and rear seat DVD.

CNN's Ted Rowlands has more on other fugitive-friendly accessories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Warren Jeffs is expected to make his first court appearance tomorrow morning here in Las Vegas. He received a visit from his brother late last night at the jail where he's being kept.

It's unclear which state will have an opportunity to prosecute Jeffs first. There are outstanding warrants in both Utah and Arizona. The charges in Utah are more severe. Arizona filed charges first, however. That should be cleared up on Thursday.

Warren Jeffs was on the run for more than a year. He was apprehended Monday night just north of Las Vegas by a very astute state patrol officer that pulled Jeffs over and noticed right away Jeffs and his brother, who he was traveling with, along with one of his wives, were very nervous.

The state trooper said at one point Jeffs sitting in the back seat, was eating a salad, and the vein in his neck was popping so hard, says the trooper, that he knew something was wrong.

They searched the vehicle. They found in excess of $50,000 in cash, along with cell phones, computers, and other items, including letters to the prophet Warren Jeffs. Eventually, the FBI an called in, and Jeffs admitted his true identity.

He was taken into custody and remains in custody here in Las Vegas on no bail.

Ted Rowland, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, bye-bye, Boulder. John Mark Karr will soon be bound for California after being ruled out in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.

Yesterday, a Colorado judge ordered Karr's extradition to Sonoma County to face five-year-old misdemeanor child porn charges. Karr had agreed to extradition back in 2001 as a condition of bail, bail he later skipped.

Karr appeared calm during most of the hearing but grew upset when prosecutors refused to return a photo of JonBenet and her mother Patsy. Prosecutors originally sent the photo to Karr in Thailand, hoping to track him when he picked it up.

Who will be in charge of Iraq's security a year from now? A top U.S. general says Iraqi forces could be. It's hard to imagine on a day like this or a summer like this.

CNN's Michael Holmes is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. and Iraqi officials had been pleased with the sharp drop in violence this month, that is until this week.

Since Sunday, 200 Iraqis have been killed in a bloody string of attacks around the country, more than 200 wounded.

Surja (ph) sells everything from food to electronics, and Iraqis travel from miles around to visit, making it a popular target for acts like this. For those who were there Wednesday, talk of a reduction in violence this month means little.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The situation won't get better for me. It goes from worse to worse and the bloodshed will continue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't want to blame anyone because the entire situation is not good.

HOLMES: South of Baghdad in the town of Hillah, an army recruitment center was targeted. A bomb rigged to a bicycle, killing a dozen people, wounding dozens more.

(on camera) Elsewhere around the country, the attacks continued. Near Baquba, just north of the capital, six members of one family killed, two wounded, when the family's mini bus was hit by a roadside bomb. Others killed and hurt in a second roadside bomb in the same area.

Police in Baquba tell us it has been particularly targeted by sectarian violence, people killed even as they flee the area.

(voice-over) All of this, as Operation Together Forward continues. U.S. and Iraqi troops sweeping through Baghdad's more violent suburbs, an operation successful in reducing sectarian killings in those areas, but clearly not affecting the ability of insurgents to attack elsewhere.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to the newsroom. Fredricka Whitfield with details on a developing story. The first, a verdict in the murder of Dru Sjodin?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Remember, that was the 22-year-old University of North Dakota student who was missing, and then her body was found. She had been subjected to a rape and stabbing.

Well, the man who has been on trial for her death and abuse, 53- year-old Alfonso Rodriguez, was just found guilty now in court. We're just now learning that.

He is the first person to face the death penalty in 100 years in the state of North Dakota. We'll find out whether it will be that jury or a judge who will then sentence him. But right now, we're learning that he has been found guilty of the stabbing, rape, and murder of 22-year-old Dru Sjodin.

And the other case we're following, out of New Orleans, remember that a federal court had decided that Merck and Co. was found guilty of helping to cause the death of at least one man and then awarding his family $50 million?

Well, now the judge is calling the award excessive, saying that a new trial must be held on damages for retired FBI agent Gerald Barnett, who suffered a heart attack after taking the painkiller Vioxx.

Those two top stories we're following for you, Kyra, here in the newsroom.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred. Thanks.

Well, one plane crash, so many mistakes. The runway, the tower, the flight crew. All part of a probe into the deadly crash of Com Air Flight 5191. We're going to tell you what we've learned.

Plus, blockade road blocks. These men can't agree on the naval blockade against Lebanon, even after the end, more or less, of hostilities. That's straight ahead on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: U.S. Marines in court. Hearings start today at Camp Pendleton for seven Marines and a Navy corpsman, all charged with murdering an unarmed Iraqi man four months ago. Prosecutors say the troops took the victim from his home in Hamdaniya, shot him, then tried to make him look like an insurgent.

Defense lawyers question the credibility of the Iraqis who reported the killing. The hearings will determine whether to recommend courts-martial.

The blockade isn't budging for now. U.N. chief Kofi Annan has failed to move Israel to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon. Israel worries that would open the flow of weapons to Hezbollah. But after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Annan says that Israel's concerns are being addressed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I think we need to be able to take care of the concerns of Israel.

And I understand the issue of rearmament, that we need to make sure that arms do not come in, either through the airports and the borders, or through the seaports. And I can assure you that in my discussions with the Lebanese authorities, they are taking this issue seriously, and they are taking measures to deal with it. And the international community should work with them to deal with it.

But in the meantime, I do believe that the blockade should be lifted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Israel says that it will lift the blockade once international forces are on the ground, along Lebanon's borders with Israel and Syria.

Now Lebanon is offering roughly $33,000 to citizens who lost their homes in the fighting with Israel. Two weeks ago, Hezbollah began handing out $12,000 payments in Southern Beirut.

CNN's Anthony Mills is in the Lebanese capital to tell us more about those checks -- Anthony.

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it really does appear as though the Lebanese government is trying to re-seize the initiative now with this package of $33,000 or so.

After being almost embarrassed a couple weeks ago when Hezbollah was handing out wads of cash in the southern suburbs, $12,000 a head to people who lost their homes there.

And this in the run-up to a conference which will be attended -- a donor conference in Stockholm, Sweden, which will be attended by government officials.

Now, even in the cleanup there is Hezbollah eclipsing the Lebanese government. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILLS (voice-over): An aerial survey of Lebanon's coastline, stained by a massive oil slick, six weeks after thousands of tons of oil leaked into the sea from a power plant struck by Israeli missiles in the heat of war.

Along the coast, oil blackens beaches, coats rocks, clogs ports and settles on the sea bed. In the normally bustling fishing harbor of Biblos, north of Beirut, boats sit idle, trapped in a black sludge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): All these nets are ruined. They cost $5,000-6,000. Nobody's helping us or compensating us.

MILLS: Lebanon's government hopes that an international donor conference in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, on Friday will yield hundreds of millions of dollars in funds for reconstruction.

But before Lebanon can begin large-scale reconstruction of homes, the country's damaged infrastructure must be fixed and thousands of tons of rubble cleaned up.

YAACOUB SARRAF, LEBANESE ENVIRONMENT MINISTER: We need to remove, to clear the areas of the rubble. We need to take care for the infrastructure first.

MILLS: In Beirut's once densely populated southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold heavily bombarded throughout the five-week Israel/Hezbollah war, there is one destroyed building after another.

Hezbollah has been quick to organize a huge cleanup effort in the suburbs it controls.

(on camera) All day long, hundreds of trucks transport twisted metal and concrete from Beirut's devastated southern suburbs and dump it here, creating a mountain of rubble.

(voice-over) Although government officials say the government is involved in the cleanup, this is very much a Hezbollah-run operation, in the heart of Hezbollah-controlled territory.

Armed guards, who ordered us not to film them, watch over the dump site. And everywhere are Hezbollah symbols. A foreman with a Hezbollah association, overseeing the cleanup, who declines to reveal his last name, highlights Hezbollah's role.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They're helping us a lot. We are very grateful for that.

MILLS: As Lebanon's prime minister, Fouad Siniora, heads to the Sweden donor conference, seeking to reassert governmental authority in the cleanup and reconstruction process, back home in the southern suburbs, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, not Prime Minister Siniora, is seen as a savior.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MILLS: Even in the cleanup process in the southern suburbs, Kyra, there's no question that Hezbollah's in control.

PHILLIPS: Anthony, the latest on Lebanon's rebuilding effort. Let's talk about that for a minute. There definitely appears to be a constant tug-of-war between Hezbollah and the government to this point. Do you think they'll find any common ground?

MILLS: Well, there really is a tug-of-war. On the face of it, people are talking of unity, and there's no real attacking -- direct attacking of one party by the other. But there's certainly a tag of war in efforts to appear to really be doing something.

I think the Lebanese government really was stung by criticism in the early stages of the cleanup, when Hezbollah suddenly started distributing these packages of cash in the southern suburbs and the Lebanese government was effectively accused of, A, doing nothing, and even, to a certain extent, allowing a state to function within a state. Because we're talking about a large sum of money. There are thousands of people who have lost their homes. By the prime minister's account himself today in the press conference, 50,000 homes were either partially or completely destroyed in those southern suburbs.

So this is really the Lebanese government fighting back.

PHILLIPS: Anthony Mills, live from Beirut, thank you.

Three more Brits are charged today with plotting to smuggle liquid bombs onto airliners bound for the U.S. Fifteen suspects have now been charged out of 25 people arrested by Scotland Yard in connection with that alleged plot. Five remain in custody but have not been charged. Five others have been released.

A lunch hour hit and run rampage. The weapon, an SUV. Details from San Francisco.

Plus, a fast-moving wildfire in Southern California. Two communities threatened. We're going to take you there, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you work long hours, your blood pressure may be suffering. A new study says that people who clock more than 51 hours a week are way more likely to have high blood pressure than people who work less than 40 hours.

And the risk goes up with the number of hours worked. Researchers at the University of California Irvine also found hypertension more common among clerical and unskilled workers than professionals.

Ernesto has lost some of its punch, but it's still posing a threat to Florida's valuable orange crop. To find out why, Susan Lisovicz has all that news from the New York Stock Exchange.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

That's because of all the storms that have preceded Ernesto, Kyra. Florida was already bracing for its lowest orange crop in more than 15 years. The industry has been hurt by two years of hurricane- related losses and the spread of plant diseases.

A citrus industry consulting group predicts a crop of 123 million boxes of oranges for the coming season. Sounds like a lot it, but it would actually be the smallest Florida crop since the 1989-90 season, when the harvest was hurt by a freeze.

The weak crop has roughly doubled the prices paid to growers since 2004. But the citrus industry worries that shortages of orange juice and higher retail prices could drive away some consumers for good. The two biggest juice makers, Tropicana and Minute Maid, have already raised prices by up to 10 percent to offset the higher costs. And here on Wall Street, earlier this week, orange juice futures rose to their highest levels since 1990. They have since backed off, though, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're also seeing supply shortages with some other food products, right?

LISOVICZ: That's right. Organic foods have become very hot, and they are being hampered by supply shortages. And their growing popularity here largely to blame.

The organic food market has more than doubled in just a few years to a $14 billion a year industry. We're going to define organic as meaning what it doesn't use, such as conventional pesticides and antibiotics, growth hormones, things like that.

Even huge retailers like Wal-Mart and Safeway are now offering organic foods. And that's putting a strain on the supply to smaller organic food stores.

According to the trade association -- there is a trade association for organic food -- 52 percent of grocers said they could sell more organic products if they had a more reliable supply. Well, that's supply and demand, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Isn't that the truth? Well, higher prices for orange juice, organic food. What about higher prices on Wall Street?

(STOCK REPORT)

PHILLIPS: First responders become lasting heroes. Three Kentucky police officers put their own lives at risk to save the lone survivor of this com air crash. They'll join us on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Straight to Fredricka Whitfield working a number of stories for us today -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, first this out of North Dakota, guilty. A North Dakota jury decides that Alphonso Rodriguez, a 53-year-old, already convicted as a sex offender, has been found guilty of kidnapping, stabbing, raping and leaving for dead, eventually murdering, 22-year-old Dru Sjodin, who was a University of North Dakota student, that you see in the photographs here. It will be up to the jury to decide whether he should be sentenced to life in prison or if he would get the death penalty. And this is the first time in 100 years that a case has been facing a North Dakota jury involving the death penalty.

The other case now coming out of New Orleans, this being a federal case, taking place in a U.S. district court. A judge has now decided to overturn a recent jury's decision of awarding $50 million against Merck & Company to a retired FBI agent, that of Gerald Barnett. The U.S. district court judge, Elden Fallen, said, quote "No reasonable jury could have found that Gerald Barnett was entitled to $50 million in compensatory damages after suffering a heart attack after taking the drug Vioxx, made by the company Merck & Company. Those two stories, we'll continue to watch for you there -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred, thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I understand that we have a live presser right now from Max Mayfield talking about intensity forecasting.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MAX MAYFIELD, DIR., NATL. HURRICANE CENTER: They've flown for about nine hours, gone back, refueling, put the second flight crew on board and taken off again, and so we've two missions from the jet per day. That has certainly helped with the track forecast. And the track forecast so far looks like it's been pretty good, and I think it will continue to be good.

We have not done as well as we'd like to as with the intensity forecasting. And when it impacted the land masses there of Haiti and Cuba, at least our best guess is that the inner core stayed over Cuba as long as it did, it just really disintegrated. When it finally came off the north coast of Cuba, it was never able to get that inner core re-established.

Now the largest scale systems we looked at, the upper-level environment of Ernesto, to us, looked very favorable yesterday. The water temperatures in the Florida Straits extremely warm. There's no problem with either one of those parameters. So from our perspective here, we thought that it had a very good chance to strengthen.

And, you know, we've gone through the drill here. I went through the drill. I put up -- actually, my wife and friends put up our shutters. And I've had to explain that to my wife. And I just had a video teleconference with the secretary of -- Department of Homeland Security, the FEMA director and a cast of hundreds of people here about an hour ago, and wanted to make sure that they understood what happened here.

We've been very honest with people in saying that we have limitations in forecasting. And I think the folks probably in South Florida understand this a little bit better than others, we've gone through this so many times. The intensity forecasting, to me, it's almost like putting a million-piece jigsaw puzzle together, and some of those pieces to the puzzle don't have any color on them and some of those pieces are missing. It's very, very difficult. And we're probably 10 to 15 years behind track forecasting with intensity. And we've been very honest with people in talking about that. I've testified before Congress that we need some help with intensity forecasting, and Congress has put some money into supplemental bills to help with the development of a new hurricane model that will be -- that's being developed now. Hopefully that will be operational in the 2007 hurricane season.

But I just want to caution everyone that, you know, this is very, very difficult. Could this same scenario play out again? Absolutely. We have -- that's a limitation that we have. I'm not sure they have it forecast to be stronger than actually occurs than the other way around. And, by the way, the computer guidance we looked at, we had some guidance that was suggesting that it could even become a hurricane. And we need to remember here, we never did put up a hurricane warning for Florida; we put up a hurricane watch, which means there is some potential that you could have a hurricane, and then we posted a tropical storm warning.

And we've done our best to talk about these limitations. No one wants to get this right more than I do. And we didn't do as good as we'd like to on the intensity, and I'm afraid this is the state of science at this stage of the game.

And with that, I'll gladly take some questions.

JERAS: OK, you've been listening to Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, talking about intensity forecast. And this has really been a hot topic for a long time in the field of meteorology. The track forecasting is really quite good, in fact, well under 100 miles error of that skinny line in 24-hour period of time. And the track this time around, we really do to commend the National Hurricane Center, because they did get the track very accurately thus far on Ernesto. But we thought this thing could be a hurricane, then we thought a strong tropical storm. And, you know, it ended up being a very minimal tropical storm at landfall. So a lot of research still needs to be done in intensity forecasting, and we kind of learned that last year. We saw lots of rapid intensifications last go-around with Katrina, and Rita and Wilma and how they interacted with the Gulf loop current.

So a new research project, too, by the way, was just announced last week for NOAA for intensity forecasting. So hopefully they're going to be able to find out a little more information. We'll get better with these as time goes on -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Sounds good. Thanks, Jacqui.

Fizzling over Florida, but don't count Ernesto out yet. Now a tropical depression, it's still quite a rain-maker as it spins the length of the state.

CNN's Daniel Sieberg waiting for the rains in Cocoa Beach, within sight of Kennedy Space Center.

Gee, what do we talk about first, the fact that you're in Cocoa Beach, or should we talk about the shuttle?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, we've been experiencing sort of the downgrade here ourselves. The rain has been sort of intermittent with some moderate to heavy rains periodically. The wind picking up a little bit now, but certainly nothing that serious. It certainly hasn't deterred the surfer crowd here at Cocoa Beach. They are out in full force today. They've been out since early this morning. A lot of them catching some of these waves. They had been predicted to get a one to three foot storm surge here at Cocoa Beach. We haven't seen anything that's too serious in terms of coming ashore, or erosion or anything like that right where we are. And we are in Brevard County.

And as a sign of how this is really coming to a turn to downgrade, I just got an e-mail from the Brevard County Emergency Management folks. They're actually going to close up the shelters they opened for people here on a voluntary basis at 3:00 this afternoon. They're also saying they're going to reopen the schools, the county offices, the space coast area transit. So I think they're sort of breathing a sigh of relief at this point.

You also pointed out the Kennedy Space Center and the shuttle. That was a real concern leading up to that. You might know Cocoa Beach from "I Dream of Jeannie." We are about 15 miles south of Kennedy Space Center, where Atlantis sits on launch pad 39B.

NASA yesterday was on its way to putting the shuttle into the large vehicle-assembly building. They had it on top of the enormous Crawler transporter, which is an amazing vehicle in and of itself, carrying the shuttle, which weighs about four-and-a-half million pounds. It's also got a 17-ton payload inside it. About halfway down, going about one mile per hour on this three-mile trek, NASA announced they were going to switch into reverse and put it back on the shuttle launch pad. It cited that the conditions were not going to be severe enough, that they could withstand it by being on the launch pad and enclosed in this rotating service structure, which they can lock on it, and they will leave is it out there through the storm. There are certain conditions that have to be met for that, and they've been debating that for a long time here, for the last several days, and it was really at the 11st hour that they decided to do that.

As a result, they will get a couple-day window. September 6th would be the earliest the shuttle could go up. There had been hurricanes that go through here in the past, of course, at the Kennedy Space Center. Back in 2004 with Frances, the vehicle assembly building suffered some damage. There was a lot of panels on the outside that got torn off as a result.

But it would be where they had to have put the shuttle if they determined it was that serious. Had they gone all the way to that massive vehicle assembly building, they would have lost that window in September. So they've really picked up some time, because the whole point of these missions going forward, Kyra, is to rendezvous with the International Space Station and complete the assembly.

And they're really under the gun to try and get that completed by 2010. They've got 15 more missions to go, and now they're going to have to hope this goes forward next week. Otherwise, it requires some rather diplomatic negotiations with the Russians, and they're kind of hoping to not get into that. So that's the latest from here at Cocoa Beach -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Daniel Sieberg, thanks. Well, one plane crash, so many mistakes: the runway, the tower, the flight crew. All part of the probe into the deadly crash of Comair Flight 5191. We're going to tell you what we've learned.

Plus, first responders become lasting heroes. Three Kentucky police officers put their own lives at risk to save the lone survivor of this crash. They'll join us, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Leaderless, at least for now. It's not likely Warren Jeffs' followers have much to say about it, at least not to the pesky media. On a recent visit to Jeffs' enclave in Colorado City, Arizona, CNN's Gary Tuchman learned the real meaning of Stonewall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The followers of Warren Jeffs are dedicated to their leaders' commands. And nearly all of them obey Jeffs' orders not to speak to outsiders.

(on camera): Do you still consider Warren Jeffs your leader?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No comment, thank you.

TUCHMAN: Sir, can I ask you a quick question?

Yeah, I -- miss, can I ask you a quick question? Did you know -- miss?

(voice-over): And then we asked this question.

(on camera): Did you know that Winston Blackmore was here today?

(voice-over): Winston Blackmore is a man who says he has at least 10 wives and as many as 100 children. He was once a leader in Jeffs' church, but was ex-communicated and now lives in British Columbia. He's believed to be detested by Jeffs and therefore, persona non grata among Jeffs' supporters.

WINSTON BLACKMORE, POLYGAMIST: I'm going to give you a little preamble of our history in this place.

TUCHMAN: But amid a tense atmosphere, he came back to Colorado City, Arizona to dedicate a monument to families separated during a polygamy raid by police.

BLACKMORE: We've been robbed!

TUCHMAN: By his own account, Blackmore could find himself in legal hot water, too. He admits he has married underage girls, and believes Canadian authorities may arrest him one day. Some believe Blackmore is angling to take over the church in Jeffs' absence.

(on camera): Would you like to someday possibly run the church here in Colorado City? BLACKMORE: No. And this is not all about that at all.

TUCHMAN: I was hoping I could ask you a quick question.

(voice-over): We did get one Warren Jeffs supporter to speak with us, sort of.

(on camera): Do you still like Warren Jeffs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure, I like everybody.

TUCHMAN: How are you doing, sir?

(voice-over): But then, a Colorado City police officer showed up. According to outside legal authorities, the cops in town are totally obedient to Jeffs. This officer accused us of being solicitors.

(on camera): I just wanted to ask you...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No questions asked. You're soliciting. Put the cameras away, leave the property.

TUCHMAN: Can I just ask you off the property, then? Can I ask you a couple questions?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The property is the parking lot of a post office, one of the only businesses in town not owned by the church. The police have refused all our interview requests for weeks.

(on camera): Can I ask you a couple of questions off the property? I just want to...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I don't want to talk to you.

TUCHMAN: How come?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Load up and leave the property now.

TUCHMAN: But why can't I talk to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now.

TUCHMAN: But why -- sir, that's fine if you don't want to talk. But why won't you talk to me, is all I'm asking?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Load now or I'll cite you.

TUCHMAN: You'll cite me for what?

(voice-over): The police and other Jeffs' followers did leave Winston Blackmore alone. He dedicated his monument and headed back to Canada, to his throng of wives and kids. Whether he's a leader in waiting of this polygamist church, still not known. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: You can see more of Gary Tuchman's reporting on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." Just watch "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

A cult where women are property and books are burned. As you just saw, it's right here in the U.S. Coming up on LIVE FROM, an inside view of the fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, told by a woman who risked everything to escape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, a short runway and a short staff. We're learning more about the crash of Comair flight 5191. We know the plane took off from the wrong runway early Sunday morning in Lexington, Kentucky. Now CNN has learned that the captain and first officer got on the wrong plane when they first arrived at Blue Grass Airport.

A ramp worker pointed out their mistake. We also know that there was only one air traffic controller on duty. The FAA requires two. A lone controller was not watching the takeoff, which ended with 49 people dead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE HERSMAN, NTSB: At that point in time, he turned around to perform administrative duties. He had cleared the aircraft for takeoff and he turned his back and performed administrative duties in the tower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the lone survivor of Comair flight 5191 owes his life to three men, each of whom braved an inferno to pull him to safety. Joining me now, Lexington police officer Bryan Jared, Blue Grass Airport public safety officer Jon Sallee and James Maupin.

Gentlemen, great to have all three of you.

OFC. BRYAN JARED, LEXINGTON DIVISION OF POLICE: Thanks.

OFC. JON SALLEE, BLUE GRASS AIRPORT PUBLIC SAFETY: Thank you.

OFC. JAMES MAUPIN, BLUE GRASS AIRPORT PUBLIC SAFETY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Bryan, why don't you just start us off? When you first got to the scene, describe it to me. What did you see?

JARED: Basically, once I made it to the scene, it was pretty intense. You're just trying to figure out where you're at and get your bearings on what's actually going on. Due to being a rural setting, and the magnitude of that type of crash, you're just trying to find yourself looking for survivors. PHILLIPS: And, Jon, how did you coordinate with Bryan and James? How did the three of you, you know, figure out you were going to do this together?

SALLEE: Due to the terrain -- the terrain was rough terrain. Just verbally, verbally when we first got there, just talking to each other. We really couldn't see each other due to the atmosphere. But we just communicated with each other, verbally letting them know where we were, what we were seeing at the time, and things of that nature.

PHILLIPS: So, James, how did you know that the co-pilot was still alive? And how did you -- the three of you make the decision to go in there for him?

MAUPIN: Well, there was movement, and Jon and Bryan, they saw that there was movement, and they went right straight to him there and they got him out because of the movement that they saw.

PHILLIPS: Bryan, was he talking?

JARED: No, ma'am, not at that time, he was not talking to us.

PHILLIPS: Jon, did you get -- did you check to make sure he was still breathing? How did you know he was still alive?

SALLEE: Just in his actions. He was moving and we could tell he was breathing without -- just at the noises.

PHILLIPS: So, James, was it -- describe the fire. How big was it? I mean, did you have to literally go through the flames to get him out or was it getting worse as you were pulling him out?

MAUPIN: From our location -- we were at the front of the plane -- all the fire was behind us. So we really didn't deal with much fire because it was behind us. So we really didn't pay any attention to the fire.

Our main concern and our main goal was getting the patient out. Myself -- and I'm sure Bryan and Jon -- we didn't even think about the fire. Our main objective and our main goal at the time was getting the patient out, trying to get him help, and so that's what we did.

PHILLIPS: Wow. And, Bryan, did you hear any other sounds or signs of life from anybody else? I know it was all probably happening so quickly, but did you think that possibly there might have been another survivor that you would need to go after?

JARED: You know, in that type of situation, all three of us were so focused on the co-pilot, it didn't really give us an opportunity to go ahead and -- I guess, like you said, the adrenaline is to observe what was going on around you.

You just kind of focused on that one person you would make a difference in. And we went ahead and did what we had to do to get him to safety and get him some medical attention. So like you said, I don't remember seeing anyone else at that time. PHILLIPS: Jon, do you remember anything, hearing anything else or thinking to yourself, wow, we've got to get him out, we know he's alive, we might have to go back for more?

SALLEE: Initially, after we got the patient out we cried, went back and looked. Didn't see anybody. So after we got -- Pete and Jerry (ph) got him on the way to the hospital. I focused on firefighting at that time.

PHILLIPS: And you know what's so amazing, is that when a plane crashes, it's such a miracle that anyone survives, considering all the elements and the circumstances. James, were you just amazed that you were able to find someone that was still breathing?

MAUPIN: Yes, I was. With the magnitude of the situation that we had there, the amount of fire, just the situation itself, it was amazing. I was astonished.

PHILLIPS: Bryan, at any moment did you think, oh, boy, I could get engulfed in these flames?

JARED: Sure. Like we spoke to each other earlier before this, you know, we always -- you are worried about your safety, and you wouldn't be human otherwise. So that was always in the back of your head.

But when you see somebody that you can make a difference in, and somebody that needs your help, you just kind of fight through all your emotions and your thoughts, and kind of just try to put it in the back of your head, try to get in there, and try to render aid to somebody that can use it. So we just kind of fought through those type of thoughts and hopefully we made a difference.

PHILLIPS: Oh, it's obvious you made a difference. And, Jon, have any of you guys had a chance to talk with family members?

SALLEE: Yes, we have.

PHILLIPS: Were you the ones that were able to say, hey, he's alive? Tell me about the -- did you go to their home? Tell me how you connected with him?

SALLEE: I really can't elaborate at that on this time.

PHILLIPS: OK, can any of you guys talk about just any conversations with family members, and how you let them know that -- you know, that you had rescued the co-pilot?

MAUPIN: Not at this time, we cannot.

PHILLIPS: OK, so it's a hard subject because of the investigation.

JARED: Yes, ma'am.

MAUPIN: That's right. SALLEE: Yes, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'll tell you what, gentlemen, it's pretty amazing that you were able to get him out of there. And it's just -- it's everything you train for, yes?

SALLEE: That's right.

PHILLIPS: Well, it was an honor to talk to all three of you. Bryan Jared, Jon Sallee, and James Maupin, congratulations, gentlemen.

SALLEE: Thank you very much.

JARED: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, a fast-moving wildfire in Southern California, two communities threatened. We're going to take you there.

Plus, three more British suspects are formally charged in the alleged airline terror plot. The latest on this unfolding case straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

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