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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Alleged Marine Massacre Investigated; Interview With Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha
Aired May 30, 2006 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone.
Questions don't come any tougher than this. Tonight: Did U.S. Marines in Iraq conduct a massacre and then try and cover it up?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Women died. Children died.
SUSIE BRIONES, MOTHER OF LANCE CORPORAL RYAN BRIONES: He had to pick up this child's body to put her in a body bag.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, word the investigation is leading to charges of murder and more.
Under fire, troops wounded, a CBS crew killed, a correspondent badly hurt -- the latest on Kimberly Dozier and the people saving lives in Iraq every day.
And the haunting voice of a fugitive polygamist.
WARREN JEFFS, POLYGAMIST LEADER: So, when you enjoy the beat, the rock music, you're enjoying the spirit of the black race.
ANNOUNCER: An exclusive window into the strange mind of Warren Jeffs.
JEFFS: I want to testify to you.
ANNOUNCER: Turning young kids into mindless followers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Across the country and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, here's Anderson Cooper.
COOPER: Thanks for joining us.
We start with something Vice President Cheney said almost exactly a year ago. The insurgency in Iraq, he said, is in its last throes. Well, tonight, the Pentagon's latest quarterly progress report to Congress on Iraq says otherwise. And events on the ground bear it out. The report's bottom line: Expect the insurgency to remain strong until 2007.
All the angles tonight on the latest wave of terror, dozens of bombings in the last two days, 600-plus insurgent attacks a week, according to the report, the worst numbers in more than two year.
Also ahead, the reinforcements, 1,500 more troops heading to Iraq for deployment west of Baghdad. Mentioned in the report is the second deadliest part of Iraq, second only to Baghdad itself. And, in Baghdad, scores killed and injured yesterday and today in a wave of roadside bombings, Iraqi civilians, troops and a crew covering the story for CBS News. Cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan were killed, correspondent Kimberly Dozier badly hurt. She's now in an American military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
CNN's Chris Burns has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kimberly Dozier arrived on what's called the intensive care unit in the sky, connected to a ventilator, to machines measuring her vital signs, to I.V.s delivering medicine and nourishment. This is the story of how she made it here alive, from that horrific moment at a Baghdad traffic circle.
SGT. EZEKIEL HERNANDEZ, U.S. ARMY: We stopped every traffic every which way. No one came through.
BURNS: Sergeant Ezekiel Hernandez was with his 4th Infantry Division Monday morning, searching for improvised explosive devices.
Kimberly Dozier was with her CBS camera crew, documenting the unit's day.
HERNANDEZ: Specialist Potter (ph) had called me over and said, is it all right if vehicles pass through the outer part of the other section over here, which was kind of not close to us?
So, we were like, yes, that's fine. They can pass that way, but they can't come, like, within 50, 75 meters from us.
And, right when he did that, that's when I just felt a gust of wind and fire all around me. I went deaf. My eardrum was blown out. And I commenced to run across the street.
BURNS: A bomb planted in a car had exploded. Kimberly Dozier's cameraman, Paul Douglas, and soundman, James Brolan, were killed. So was an American soldier and an Iraqi translator.
Dozier was blasted with shrapnel. A young medic applied tourniquets to her legs, which kept her alive until she got here, to what's called the 10th CSH, the combat zone support hospital, in Baghdad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was here. By the time I got there, she had already been wheeled back and was just lying, about as white as the pale floor that we have here, too.
BURNS: Captain David Steinbrenner (ph) is the trauma E.R. doctor who led the team that saved Dozier's life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was tough. She was near death when she first came in. She had lost so much blood out in the field. So, what we needed to do was protect her airway, stop the bleeding, literally, just clamp it off at the leg, stop the bleeding, and then fill her up with blood.
BURNS: The bleeding under control, Kimberly Dozier was put on a C-17 transport plane, that intensive care unit in the sky, for the five-hour flight to the U.S. air base in Ramstein, Germany.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During the trip up, she did open her eyes to some simple commands. And I was present when they were taking her off the bus this morning. And I did notice that she was moving her feet. So, that's a good sign.
BURNS: As of this evening, Dozier was listed as very seriously injured. She is under sedation and attached to a ventilator. Nearly two dozen other war wounded arrived at Landstuhl hospital today as well.
And that's the way it is every single day, from Baghdad, Iraq, to Landstuhl, Germany.
Chris burns, CNN, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, Kimberly Dozier might never have made it to Landstuhl had she not been taken first to one of the busiest E.R.s. in Baghdad. It is a place where patients only stay 24 hours or less.
But, as CNN's Cal Perry found out in this exclusive report, those harried, hectic, bloody hours often mean a lifetime.
First, though, a gentle warning: The following report includes images that are anything but gentle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Memorial Day in the Green Zone, Baghdad. Every day, the war pulls right up to the front door of the 10th Combat Support Hospital. And on this day, Humvees are bringing this the victims of a car bomb that went off just minutes earlier in central Baghdad. The medical staff are anticipating three wounded. But they know to expect the unexpected.
DR. SAM MEHTA, U.S. ARMY: I have no idea how -- what they are. So, if -- just in case, you don't need to come down now, but if they're all three (INAUDIBLE) I may need you to help with one.
PERRY: They quickly find out it's many more than three casualties. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got one thing of blood coming. So, they're getting it now. And it's coming down. So, if you need somebody that needs blood (INAUDIBLE) we will have it.
PERRY (on camera): On Memorial Day, this combat support hospital received eight critical patients, seven U.S. soldiers and CBS reporter Kimberly Dozier.
(voice-over): The soldiers are members of the 4th Infantry Division. Several are still conscious, despite their injuries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got a good pulse. (INAUDIBLE)
PERRY: The surgeons and nurses here move at astonishing speed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bag him.
PERRY: But they also find time to offer words of comfort.
MEHTA: We're going to put you to sleep. We will take good care of you, OK? We will get you back home, OK?
All right, buddy, hang in here.
PERRY: But before they can think of getting these soldiers home, they have to deal with the trauma and stop the blood loss.
MEHTA: What do you have there?
PERRY: Dr. Sam Mehta and his team are used to bringing soldiers back from the brink of death. But even by their standards, this day has been unique.
MEHTA: For me, Memorial Day will never be the same. While I do remember those who have died for our country in past wars and previous conflicts, for me, this will also be a day that I remember as the memory of people who have lived, because we -- our team saved the life, I believe, of seven soldiers and Ms. Dozier. Those guys are all going home.
PERRY: Cal Perry, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Important to remember that while we're all just living our lives over here, they are dealing with that day in and day out. It bears remembering.
You can take comfort in knowing that not just Kimberly Dozier, but everyone who passes through the 10th CSH, and Landstuhl as well, gets perhaps the best trauma care on the planet.
Some perspective now on that and Ms. Dozier's chances from 360 M.D. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who has reported on and worked with American doctors in Iraq since the war began. We spoke earlier tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Sanjay, Kimberly Dozier was actually dead for 20 seconds, but has since been reported to have opened her eyes, wiggled her toes. What can you tell about her condition from that? I mean, that's incredible, to hear that she was actually dead.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it's interesting, Anderson.
In battlefield situations, as well as the heat of trauma bays sometimes in this country, people can be pronounced dead just because a pulse can't be detected for some reason, and that's because the pulse is really, really weak from lack of -- loss of blood from the injuries. And that can happen. The person's not really dead. Their heart is still beating, but it's just very faint.
A couple of considerations. One is, though, that if your pulse is that weak, you may not be getting adequate blood flow to some of your other organs, like your kidneys. And that can cause some problems later on down the road. The fact that she's opening her eyes, wiggling her toes, obviously very good signs.
And, Anderson, as you know, you know, when I was out in Iraq, I actually came across a young Marine myself, when I was out there, who -- who -- same thing. He was actually twice declared dead in the field, because they just could not find a pulse. And he's doing very well today. So, people can make recoveries even after that sort of diagnosis.
COOPER: Well, I mean, how does it work in the field? If they say, OK, this person's dead, they continue working on them until -- until what?
GUPTA: Yes. It's a good question, because the way it happened -- I don't know Kimberly's exact situation -- but the way it typically works is that they look for a pulse.
And then the person's actually taken to some sort of triage center. It could be just a tent in the middle of the desert where they actually put leads to try and detect the heart rate or heartbeat. That's a much more sensitive test. And, without that, you really have a hard time declaring somebody dead. So, that's probably what happened in this case, as well as with the Marines that are out there now.
COOPER: The commander in Landstuhl said that Dozier's injuries were actually fairly typical of those resulting from an IED blast, which they frequently see at Landstuhl. What are typical IED injuries?
GUPTA: You know, the way to think about IED injuries, improvised explosive devices, really as waves of injury.
There's what is called a primary wave. And that's when you have all this shrapnel and the bullets and all that sort of stuff that is coming out of the explosive device. That can actually cause a part -- injury to the skin. It can cause injury to the eyes.
You have a secondary sort of wave, which can be bone fractures. Think of bodies actually moving now from the concussive sort of force of the injury, then the tertiary sort of injuries, which are burns, crush injuries. Again, this is a third wave, sometimes breathing problems as well.
Sometimes, you can have amputations that just occur from the blast itself. And, you know, one of the things about this war that's so interesting, Anderson, is that if you look at sort of the signatures of various wars, Vietnam had its own signature, which was a lot of penetrating injuries.
With this particular conflict, it is these blast injuries. And you can see that, like, for example, the head injuries, the concussive injuries, where a brain is actually moving back and forth inside a helmet, it may not -- it may look perfectly fine when you actually examine somebody, but that concussive injury can be pretty significant. And we're seeing a lot of that.
COOPER: You know, you have these medical centers out in the field. You have been in them yourself during the war.
I mean, how prepared are doctors in the field to treat traumas like these from IEDs?
GUPTA: You know, it's interesting, because people are definitely surviving injuries that they probably wouldn't have survived even in the Gulf War in '91.
I mean, they have gotten much better at being able to take care of injuries immediately after the injury. So, they have these units, for example, called the forward resuscitative surgical suites. I was embedded with one of them during last -- in spring of 2003. They are incredible.
You're actually taking some of the most precious commodities of a battlefield and moving them right behind the front line. The whole goal is, you don't want to wait -- make people wait more than an hour to get care. And, sometimes, people are getting care just minutes after coming off their injury.
So, they are pretty well-equipped. But, Anderson, it's interesting. What we're starting to see is that while people are surviving these injuries, they are being badly devastated. I mean, they're having amputations. They're having brain injuries as well.
So, survival's not the only outcome parameter that they're measuring. We're starting to see a lot of devastating injuries.
COOPER: And the results, of course, for years to come.
Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Some perspective now.
The deaths of the two CBS crew members makes Iraq the deadliest conflict for journalists ever. Here's the "Raw Data."
According to the Freedom Forum, 71 journalists and 26 support staffers have been killed in the Iraq war since 2003, a higher toll than in World War II, when 69 journalists were killed. In Vietnam, 63 journalists died; 17 were killed in the Korean War.
Straight ahead, the dark side of combat, the darkest side imaginable, allegations that U.S. Marines retaliated for a roadside bombing by perpetrating a massacre and then trying to cover it up, allegations and, tonight, growing evidence as well.
Also ahead, a CNN exclusive, newly obtained audiotapes of polygamist fugitive Warren Jeffs preaching about a woman's role in his world.
Plus, how two men in a polygamist society came to believe that God was telling them to kill -- their story and more when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN MURTHA (D), PENNSYLVANIA: The worst thing is the cover-up. I'm convinced they knew about this. The services knew about it. The chain of command knew about it, and that has to be investigated, because this thing should have been made public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That was congressman and Marine veteran John Murtha. We will talk to more to him in a moment.
Today, President Bush promised a full investigation of what happened last November in the Iraqi village of Haditha, something that, had the insurgency truly been in its last throes a year ago, might never have happened. But that's no longer the issue. Insurgent attacks happen. They happen so often that, despite their brutality, especially to civilians, we tend to lose track -- not this. This is what happened to civilians allegedly at the hands of U.S. Marines after one of those attacks -- two reports tonight.
First, CNN's Ryan Chilcote.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's plenty of evidence civilians were killed in Haditha. Twenty-four bodies were counted, at the morgue, women and children among the dead, many images too graphic to show. But the dead can't speak. So, at CNN's request, a human rights organization went back to Haditha with a camera to interview survivors. The interviewer found three, all children. For each, the story begins here, where a roadside bomb struck a Humvee carrying American Marines, killing one of them. It was 7:30 in the morning.
Twelve-year-old Saffa Yunis was getting ready for school. She says she was the only survivor in her house, eight relatives killed.
SAFFA YUNIS, EYEWITNESS (through translator): A bomb exploded on the street outside. We heard the sound of the explosion, and we heard shouting. We were inside the house when U.S. forces broke through the door. They killed my father in the kitchen. The American forces entered the house and started shooting with their guns.
They killed my mother and my sister, Noor (ph). They killed her when they shot her in the head. She was only 15 years old. My other sister was shot with seven bullets in the head. She was only 10 years old. And my brother, Mohammed (ph), was hiding under the bed, when the U.S. military hit him with the butt of a gun, and they started shooting him under the bed.
The U.S. military then shot me. And I was showered in blood. We couldn't leave the house, because the U.S. military surrounded the area with a large number of soldiers.
CHILCOTE: Saffa's cousins, 8-year-old Abdul Rahman (ph) Walid and 9-year-old Eman Walid, were next door in the first house entered by the Marines. They say seven were killed in this house.
EMAN WALID, EYEWITNESS (through translator): They entered the house. They burned the room. And my father was inside the room. Then they attacked my grandmother and my grandfather, and they threw a bomb. Me and my brother, Abdul Rahman (ph), were injured. I saw how they killed my mother, Asman (ph), and I saw how they killed my grandmother.
CHILCOTE: Eman (ph) is initially poised. She has clearly told the story many times. She needs no questions to prompt her.
WALID (through translator): My grandmother, she decided to open the kitchen door. Before she opened it, she said, "Maybe they will break it otherwise." I wish she hadn't.
CHILCOTE: Eman's brother, Abdul Rahman (ph), doesn't say much. The interviewer asks him to show his wounds.
Off camera, a voice in the room is heard asking: "He didn't have a weapon. What danger did he pose?"
But there is an intriguing variation in Eman's account the third time she tells it. She says she was expecting the bomb.
WALID (through translator): I was planning to go to school. I was about to get out of bed. I knew the bomb would explode, so I covered my ears. The bomb exploded. The bomb struck an armored vehicle. I don't know if it was a Humvee or an armored vehicle. When the bomb exploded, they came straight to our house.
CHILCOTE: The question is, was her expectation of the explosion a premonition, a fear based on the sound of the passing convoy? Or was it based on some knowledge? The interviewer does not follow up. He says the 9-year-old got confused and got her story mixed up.
All three children were wounded. Eman and Abdul Rahman (ph) were treated at a U.S. hospital in Baghdad.
Saffa Yunis says she wants tough justice for those who killed her family.
YUNIS (through translator): I want them to be tortured and killed, and I want them to leave our country.
CHILCOTE: The people in these houses were not the only ones to have been killed. Others died in this house, too. But the survivors here did not want to talk.
Ryan Chilcote, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, more on Haditha coming up -- how the U.S. military is responding. Right now, there are two investigations under way, one focused on the alleged executions, a second on whether there was an attempt to cover them up. We will have the latest on those.
Plus, an arrest in the hunt for Warren Jeffs, but the fugitive polygamist leader is still out there. We will visit a place where the entire town where gives outsiders the silent treatment in solidarity with Jeffs -- when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Two allegations that U.S. Marines committed war crimes and that there was an attempt to cover them up. We will have the latest on the investigations -- next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: More now on what happened last November in Haditha after a roadside bomb went off. Did U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton, California, go on a killing rampage? Did they and others take part in a cover-up? The findings of a Pentagon investigation will not be out for several weeks, but already Marines and members of Congress are being told privately to brace for the worst, including murder charges.
CNN's Jamie McIntyre tonight "Keeping Them Honest."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The White House says President Bush was informed of the allegations of atrocity in Haditha as soon as "TIME" magazine began asking questions back in February, questions which prompted the U.S. military to launch a criminal investigation.
And the U.S. is promising full disclosure as soon as two separate probes into whether there was both a crime and a cover-up are done.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president also is allowing the chain of command to do its what it's supposed to do, and the Department of Defense, which is to complete an investigation. And the Marines are taking an active and aggressive role in this.
And I have been told and was assured earlier today when I called about it that, when this comes out, all the details will be made available to the public.
MCINTYRE: The preliminary findings began to leak out as soon as key members of Congress were briefed.
Congressman John Murtha, a former Marine, was the first to disclose, the evidence strongly suggests 24 Iraqi civilians, including eight women and four children, were murdered. He blames it on the stress put on overworked American troops fighting a determined insurgency.
MURTHA: It breaks my heart to think Marines did something like this. And when you hear some of the stories now that are coming out, it just makes it worse than ever.
MCINTYRE: Even before any charges have been filed, defense attorneys have been talking to Marines from Kilo Company of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, based at Camp Pendleton, California, some of whom may be charged with murder.
At least one attorney tells CNN that there was a firefight near where the killings took place, something that, if true, could support the original report given by the small squad of Marines.
Meanwhile, attention focused on the events in Haditha last November is prompting questions about other killings in Iraq, including one that took the life of a cousin of Iraq's newly appointed ambassador to the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE SITUATION ROOM")
BLITZER: So, what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?
SAMIR AL-SUMAIDAIE, IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE (on camera): The Iraqi ambassador says the U.S. military has cleared the Marines who he believed killed his brother, but he's asked the top American commander in Iraq to reopen the investigation. Meanwhile, Iraq's new prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, says he wants answers about Haditha, as well as other incidents in which Iraqis have been killed by mistake. He's quoted as saying, "There's a limit to the acceptable excuses."
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, you heard a bit from Congressman Murtha a moment ago. He's a powerful Democrat from Pennsylvania, an outspoken critic of President Bush's conduct of the war, and a Marine combat veteran.
I spoke with him earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Congressman Murtha, you believe the military investigation will ultimately show that the troops in Haditha -- quote -- "overreacted because of the pressure on them and killed innocent civilians in cold blood." That's a quote from you.
How are you so sure at this point? The investigation isn't even complete.
MURTHA: Well, the Marine Corps at the highest level came over and briefed me a couple months ago.
I read the article in "TIME" magazine. I wasn't satisfied that anything was being done, that they were not really following up on this thing. But the more facts that have come out, the more convinced I am that there was an overreaction to the stress -- due to the stress that these young folks are under.
I mean, these -- these guys have done everything we have asked them to do. They're well-disciplined troops. But, at some point, they crack. And I just saw a mother say today that, when they come home, they don't get the psychological counseling they need.
This is a tremendous -- they wear 70 pounds on their body. They're out there every day. And, of course, there's less of them, so that means they're under stress every day with IEDs, which -- the explosive devices, and somebody shoot -- and they don't know who the enemy is. So, you have all those things built into this, and I can understand. I don't excuse it.
COOPER: Two investigations going on, one about the incident, the other about any possible cover-up. You say there is a cover-up. How high do you think it goes?
MURTHA: Well, I don't know.
General Pace just said on CNN that he learned about it in February. This thing's been going on for six months. They knew the day afterwards that this wasn't accurate, the information that was being put out. They put off "TIME" magazine. They were not open about this whole thing. And that's what frustrates me so much.
COOPER: Again, the investigation is still going on. Couldn't it have been the fog of war? There was a military lawyer quoted in "The Washington Post" on November 19, quoted, who said that, look, that day, November 19, was an unusually -- it was an unusually violent day.
MURTHA: Anderson, let me tell you something.
Two months ago, the day afterwards, they knew that the IED attack, they only killed one Marine. There was no hostile fire. There was nobody firing at our Marines. A taxi pulled up. They killed the people in the taxi. Then they went into the rooms and killed women and children.
One young woman on CNN today said, I -- he -- the young Marine, her son, carried the body of a -- I mean, this breaks my heart to think that this happened. And then they tried to cover it up. That even makes it worse.
COOPER: There have been those who said you are politicizing this. You're jumping to judgment. The investigation's still going on.
A man by the name of Ilario Pantano, a Marine who was accused with two counts of premeditated murder, charges which were later dropped, he wrote a letter to "The Washington Post." And he said this -- quote -- "Not only is he" -- meaning you, Mr. Murtha -- "certain of the Marines' guilt, but he claims to know the cause, which he conveniently attributes to a policy he opposes. Let the courts decide if these Marines are guilty. They haven't even been charged with a crime yet, so it is premature to presume their guilt, unless that presumption is tied to a political motive."
MURTHA: Well, let me tell you something. They're trying to kill the messenger.
There's no question in my mind. The highest level of the Marine Corps has come to me and told me what happened. And there is no question in my mind exactly what happened.
It's the transparency which is so bad. This happened on November 19. And they knew about it two days later. They knew exactly what happened. And, all this time, they have tried to confuse the whole thing. Now they're blaming me for -- for bringing it out. If I hadn't brought it out, I'm not sure it would have come out.
COOPER: There was also an unnamed lawyer quoted in "The Washington Post" who said that there was a report that some of the radio traffic indicates there was some small-arms fire in the wake of this IED, and perhaps that played some role in it, meaning the Marines thought they were under fire. Have you heard that from the people you were briefed by?
MURTHA: Anderson, I can only tell you that's not the information I have.
COOPER: All right. We are going to have to leave it there.
Congressman Murtha, appreciate you joining us. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Coming up tonight, the hunt for fugitive polygamist Warren Jeffs -- new developments tonight and a CNN exclusive, Jeffs' voice on tape, a rare recording.
First, Erica Hill from Headline News has some of the other stories we're following -- Erica.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, U.S. Marines are helping to deliver aid to the victims of last week's earthquake in Indonesia. At least 5,700 people were killed when the 6.3-magnitude quake struck the country's Java Island on Saturday. The U.N. says more than 22 countries have answered the call for help, but workers are having difficulty bringing aid to the tens of thousands of victims.
On now to Montgomery County, Maryland, where it is another guilty verdict for D.C. area sniper John Allen Muhammad. A jury convicted Muhammad in the shootings of six people in Maryland three-and-a-half years ago. Prosecutors are seeking the maximum penalty of six consecutive life sentences. Muhammad has already been sentenced to death for shooting -- a shooting in Virginia.
Milford, Michigan, the mystery of what happened to Jimmy Hoffa remains a mystery for now. The FBI has called off its two-week search for Hoffa's remains at the Hidden Dreams Farm. The former union boss disappeared in 1975. Agents began digging at the farm after receiving what had been considered a very credible tip.
And celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have a new baby girl, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, who was born Saturday in the African country of Namibia. Jolie's obstetrician says the seven-pound baby was delivered by C-section and that everything went flawlessly.
COOPER: That is certainly good news. I want four names. It seems like a lot of people have four names.
HILL: You only have three?
COOPER: I got three. Do you have four?
HILL: No, I only have three, too. But what would you like your fourth name to be? We can add it right now.
COOPER: I don't know. I should hold some sort of a competition. I haven't really thought about it.
HILL: There you go. Send in your e-mails. What should Anderson's fourth name be?
COOPER: What's your middle name?
HILL: What's my middle name?
COOPER: Yes.
HILL: It's Ruth. What's your middle name?
COOPER: Hays. H-A-Y-S.
HILL: There's that.
COOPER: There you go.
HILL: All right. See you later.
COOPER: Well, coming up, he's been accused of brainwashing his followers, forcing young girls to marry much older men. Tonight, a rare audio recording of fugitive polygamist Warren Jeffs, preaching the virtues of polygamy to young girls. A CNN exclusive.
Also, two brothers, both in polygamist societies, who believe they were prophets. They also were convinced that God wanted them to kill, coming up on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
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COOPER: Yes. The creepy guy singing is fugitive polygamist Warren Jeffs, a man both revered and reviled. It's jot just for his singing. His followers consider him a prophet, but to the FBI, he's a criminal wanted on charges of sexual conduct with a minor and rape as an accomplice.
Three weeks ago, his name was put on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. Since then law officials have been cracking down on the fundamentalist sect he leads in Colorado City, Arizona.
This guy, the mayor, was arrested Friday on felony charges stemming from fraudulent vehicle registration. Just about everyone in this town is a follower of Jeffs.
The day before authorities searched four homes in Colorado City in connection with eight sexual abuse indictments issued last summer. Jeffs, however, is not one of the eight men named in those indictments, but he does have a $100,000 bounty on his head. He is now in hiding.
Tonight, you can hear him in a rare audio recording obtained by CNN. With the exclusive, here's Dan Simon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WARREN JEFFS, FUGITIVE POLYGAMIST LEADER: I want to testify to you...
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This audiotape obtained exclusively by CNN was given to children.
JEFFS: That when this celestial and plural marriage is lived correctly.
SIMON: The voice is that of fundamentalist Mormon leader Warren Jeffs, lecturing young girls on the virtues of polygamy.
JEFFS: It is the most beautiful thing there is.
SIMON: At the beginning of the tape, Jeffs says he's teaching what he calls a home economics class. The tape, given to us by a former member of the sect, was recorded in 1996, six years before Jeffs declared himself a prophet. At the time, his father, Rulon Jeffs, held that title, and Jeffs defends him from a hostile world.
JEFFS: And when people declare the prophet is a wicked man for having many wives, or any other good man, those people are only revealing what is in their own hearts.
SIMON: Jeffs tells the girls that God channels to the prophet whom they should marry. He calls this a revelation and warns his young students that outsiders look on with scorn.
JEFFS: The world especially mocks how the prophet appoints the marriages by revelation. You have to have a faith that God lives and that his prophet teaches us the truth.
SIMON (on camera): Jeffs took control of the sect in 2002. According to former members, he has ex-communicated anyone who challenged authority as a prophet. So that makes his words back then about loyalty to the prophet so relevant today.
JEFFS: Loyalty to the prophet is everything. And that's the kind of husband you want, a man whose greatest love and loyalty is to the prophet.
SIMON (voice-over): And the kind of wife you want?
JEFFS: The woman is to obey the husband as he obeys the Lord.
SIMON: When he came into power, Jeffs exerted influence on all aspects of life. He forbid his followers to watch television or see movies, even listen to contemporary music, saying in another lecture it's evil. And here Jeffs exposes his racism.
JEFFS: So when you enjoy the beat, the rock music, you are enjoying the spirit of the black race.
SIMON: And Jeffs believed much of America was lured into what he called immorality and corruption.
JEFFS: And thus, the whole world has partaken of the spirit of the Negro race, accepting their ways. SIMON: Instead, Jeffs only approved music made by his followers and gave out recordings of his own singing.
JEFFS (singing): That guide us on our way.
SIMON: On the run from law enforcement, Warren Jeffs hasn't been seen publicly in two years, but his voice is still with us.
JEFFS (singing): We must live in love.
Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It is so fascinating.
Warren Jeffs' followers are nothing if not loyal. Just ask Gary Tuchman. Virtually everyone in Colorado City, Arizona, supports Jeffs. They don't want nothing to do with reporters. Gary managed to get a few to talk. Coming up, you'll hear what they had to say.
Also, two brothers in a polygamist society, a bloody crime and a chilling confession. They say God told them to kill. Their crime coming up on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Before the break, you heard from Jeffs in a rare audio recording talking about his beliefs. Now you're about to hear from some of his followers. They are intensely loyal still and very angry.
Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Colorado City, Arizona, the American flag flies, but most of the citizens pledge allegiance to Warren Jeffs.
(on camera) What do you think of the man?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he's awesome.
TUCHMAN: The FBI fugitive has instructed his followers not to talk to the news media. Almost always that demand is strictly obeyed.
(on camera) Can I ask you a quick question?
I'm Gary Tuchman with CNN. I just wanted to check with you. Do you have any idea where Warren Jeffs is? Any idea at all?
(voice-over)Just wanted to ask you if you have any idea where Jeffs is. The police department where the chief is also a member of Jeffs' FLDS church doesn't return repeated phone calls.
(on camera) Anybody there? (voice-over) And the cops have no interest in speaking when we stop by. They don't even speak to a county attorney special agent who's been here for 18 months investigating Jeffs and his supporters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is bizarre, but then again we are here in Colorado City. That every one of the police officers are FLDS members. You know, they've sworn to follow Warren Jeffs.
TUCHMAN (on camera): We travel a lot in this job. Rarely do we go anywhere where we feel so unwelcome as this place. For the most part when we come up to people, they scatter.
(voice-over) Can we ask you a quick question?
(on camera) But in this town of about 9,000, where Warren Jeffs lived in this house before he went underground, some coaxing did result in some comments. Do you know where Warren Jeffs is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir. Ain't nobody seen him for two or three years that I know of.
TUCHMAN: What do you think of him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a great prophet. And you're damn fools for bothering him. Your ass is going to get harmed one of these days when you look up from hell and look at him in the face.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Jeff's very passionate followers also believe his father, Rulon, was a prophet. Rulon died in 2002 and is buried here in town. Warren Jeffs has been the FLDS leader since then.
(on camera) Do you have any idea where Warren Jeffs is right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't.
TUCHMAN: When was the last time you saw him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About three years ago.
TUCHMAN: So you don't -- do you think he's been back to Colorado City at all?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He could have. That's none of my business, though.
TUCHMAN: How come? You're a follower of him, and you think he's a prophet, and you think he's the greatest man on earth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does what he needs to do, and I don't have to know about it.
TUCHMAN: How are you able to continue following his way if you don't see him or hear of him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The words that he's already given us. TUCHMAN (voice-over): Investigator Engels says his presence is not welcomed either. And he's occasionally harassed.
GARY ENGELS, MOHAVE COUNTY, ARIZONA, INVESTIGATOR: Sometimes if they're stopped at a stop sign or something, they'll try to take of real fast, throwing gravel on my vehicle or the diesels, they'll accelerate real fast, throwing a lot of black smoke out.
TUCHMAN: Well, lo and behold -- we got a similar experience. The FBI may have Warren Jeffs on its Ten Most Wanted List, but what most people here want...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys are all damn idiots.
TUCHMAN: ... is for us to get out of town.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Colorado City, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Warren Jeffs is not the only polygamist calling himself a prophet. After the break, we'll meet two other self-proclaimed prophets from a polygamist society who claim that God told them to kill.
Plus, lingering questions about the death of a pro football player in the line of duty. Tonight, a CNN investigation, a detailed look at exactly what happened to Pat Tillman, all ahead on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Right now, sitting on the FBI's most wanted list, the face of polygamist Warren Jeffs has come to symbolize the viciousness of religious fundamentalism. He's by no means alone. Others have committed wicked acts, claiming they were simply following orders from God.
Our Ted Rowlands tonight tells us the story of two men not affiliated with Jeffs whose fundamentalist beliefs led them to murder.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are brothers from Utah County, one a former construction worker, the other, a failed businessman. But in their twisted minds, Ron and Dan Lafferty came to view themselves as so much more. They believed they were prophets receiving messages from God, messages that led them to kill those they felt were going against God's will.
DAN LAFFERTY, MURDERED BROTHER'S FAMILY: There's a purpose for it all. And the purpose is that Christ wants to have a party with his children.
ROWLANDS: Dan Lafferty and his seven siblings, five brothers, two sisters, were raised as mainstream Mormons. In the early '80s, Dan became angry at the government for shutting down his unlicensed sandwich business, and he sought comfort in the Book of Mormon. As Dan explored his faith, he became more interested in teachings his church had long abandoned, such as polygamy and blood atonement, a teaching that says that particular sins committed against Mormons can be made right only if the sinner's blood was spilt.
The more Dan read, the more he became certain the church had gone off track. He became a fundamentalist and soon convinced his brothers to do the same.
Dan's older brother, Ron, who was struggling financially, submerged himself in the teaching. He talked enthusiastically about taking on multiple wives and was abusive to the one he had. When Ron said he was going to marry off their daughters as plural wives, his wife ran to church leaders. Ron was soon excommunicated and divorced. Those familiar with the story say Ron then began to fall into a madness.
JESSE HYDE, "THE DALLAS OBSERVER": Ron started to spend a lot of time in this -- in this abandoned home in Orem, Utah, that they called The Farm. And while he was there, he began to receive what he called revelations, and he would keep them on this yellow legal pad.
ROWLANDS: Revelations he believed were from God. Without a wife or church, Ron became even more involved in a fundamentalist group called the School of Prophets. On April 5th, 1984, Ron shared with them what he called a divine revelation.
He claims God told him, quote, "It is my will and commandment that ye remove the following individuals in order that my work might go forward. For they have truly become obstacles in my path, and I will not allow my work to be stopped."
Among those individuals mentioned in the revelation were Brenda Lafferty, the 24-year-old wife of Ron and Dan's younger brother, Allen, and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica. Brenda had stood up against the family's fundamentalist teachings and tried to convince the other wives to do the same. Ron blamed Brenda for his divorce, and he believed she was trying to break up the brothers.
On July 24, 1984, Ron and Dan, intent on fulfilling the revelation, made their first stop at the home of their younger brother, Allen. Allen was not there, but Brenda and Erica were. Dan says he used a wrestling move to take Brenda down, and as she apologized, Ron beat her unconscious. But she was still alive. Dan said she was not to be killed before the child's life was taken.
Dan then took a knife to the child's room, where Erica was sitting in her crib. Dan claims he told the girl that, while he did not understand it, he knew he had to take her life. He slit Erica's throat, then used the same knife to kill Erica's mother.
HYDE: There was blood on the walls, blood on the carpet. And it still haunts the neighborhood and the people who witnessed it. ROWLANDS: With Brenda and Erica both dead, Ron and Dan Lafferty set out to, quote, "remove other individuals on their list," but obstacles got in their way. They killed no more people before they were arrested.
Today Ron Lafferty is awaiting execution while Dan Lafferty sits in a cell at Utah state prison, serving out two consecutive life sentences.
Ron doesn't speak to the media, but Dan has been happy to tell his story, and he's not apologetic. He still believes he carried out God's will by killing Brenda and Erica. He now likens himself to the prophet Elijah and believes he will announce the second coming of Christ.
LAFFERTY: I'm more like the bailiff saying all rise, here comes the judge.
ROWLANDS: But he understands how others can view him as a cold- blooded killer.
LAFFERTY: That doesn't bother me because I have the inclination that that's the way it's meant to be, and that's perfectly fine. I believe I know Christ well enough to tell that he's just the party animal and all he wants to do is party.
ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: "The Shot of the Day" is coming up. First Erica Hill from Headline News has some of the business stories we're following -- Erica.
HILL: Anderson, stocks took a pounding on Wall Street today. The Dow losing 184 points, the NASDAQ fell 45 and the S&P dropped 20. That slide came as consumer confidence fell and oil prices rose. U.S. light crude oil for July delivery jumped 66 cents, up now to $72.03 a barrel. The increase comes before an OPEC meeting in Venezuela and the start of the Atlantic hurricane season later this week.
With all of that as a back drop, President Bush is nominating Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO Henry Paulson to be the next treasury secretary after John Snow resigned from the job. At today's announcement, the president thanked Paulson for his willingness to leave Wall Street to serve the American people, Anderson.
COOPER: Erica, it's time for "The Shot of the Day." And no doubt, you may think aliens are among us. And if you do, pay close attention to this. A California bird rescue center x-rayed an injured duck. That's what you're looking at, an injured duck, on Sunday revealed more than a broken wing. Take a close look.
HILL: An alien in the duck?
COOPER: The unmistakable face of an alien's head staring out of it from the duck's stomach.
HILL: How did the alien get in the duck? Was it some odd turducken?
COOPER: It's unclear whether the duck was invaded by a body snatcher or made a meal of a pint-sized E.T. We will never know. Mysteriously, the duck died. Very mysteriously, I might add.
HILL: Mysteriously, huh?
COOPER: An autopsy revealed only corn and grits in the stomach. The x-ray image is for sale on eBay. At last check, the highest bid more than $4,600. The money can...
HILL: That was your bid, right?
COOPER: The money is going to go to the International Bird Rescue Research Center. Can we take another look at that? Do we have that?
HILL: It's just wacky.
COOPER: Yes. Do we have a close-up? Can we get the close-up? Because it's -- there it is. Ooh.
HILL: It looks like, and it really looks like those sort of glow in the dark alien heads that you see on, like, pajama pants, you know?
COOPER: The truth is out there, Erica Hill. The truth is out there.
HILL: And you'll find it for us.
COOPER: Erica, thanks.
HILL: See you tomorrow.
COOPER: Coming up in the next hour, deadly serious stuff. In Iraq, a group of U.S. Marines accused of murder. Others are shaken up after seeing the alleged crime scene. Coming up, we'll hear from the mother of one Marine who had to remove the bodies in Haditha. She tells us about the horror her son faced.
Plus, that other war, in Afghanistan, where the danger is far from over and the Taliban is working to regain control. We'll take you inside the intensifying fight.
And a CNN investigation. What really happened to Pat Tillman in Afghanistan? He, of course, the former pro football player turned soldier killed in Afghanistan. We'll bring you the new details when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Growing word tonight the U.S. Marines may soon be facing charges, perhaps even the death penalty for what allegedly happened after a roadside bomb killed one of their buddies in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Stories of a massacre told by children of Haditha. Tonight, the horror they witnessed, they say, at the hands of U.S. Marines.
Pro football star Pat Tillman killed in the line of duty. Questions remain: what really happened to him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The family is not satisfied with the information they're getting. We owe the family honest answers.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, hear the untold story. A CNN investigation.
And the country hit hard by the tsunami gets hit again, and again, Indonesia sends out a call for help.
Across the country and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360. Live from the CNN broadcast center in New York, here's Anderson Cooper.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Good evening.
We begin this hour with the killings of 24 men, women and children in the Iraqi town of Haditha. Tonight, sources at the Pentagon are saying privately, and members of Congress are saying very publicly, to expect charges including murder charges against Marines who were there.
In a moment, Congressman John Murtha, who believes Marines from Camp Pendleton, California, took part in a massacre. First, the story from the scene as it happened last November.
Here's CNN's Ryan Chilcote.
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