Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Students Arrested in Church Arsons; Bush Visits New Orleans, Promises Housing Plan; Insurgents Dressed as Police Kidnap Dozens; Fighting Lung Cancer

Aired March 08, 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. We begin this hour with a major breakthrough in the Alabama church fires.
Two Alabama college students have been arrested. They're identified as Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk, both 19, and students at Birmingham Southern College. Police are still looking for a third suspect, 20-year-old Matthew Lee Cloyd, a student at the University of Alabama Birmingham.

The suspects were traced through tire tracks found at the fires.

Ten Baptist churches in western and southern Alabama were torched in early February, and investigators say at least nine of those are related. Still no word yet on a motive. None of the suspects has criminal records.

Rusty Dornin joins us on the phone right now with the latest information.

Rusty, what can you tell us?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, what's interesting now is the men they are searching for, Matthew Lee Cloyd, 20 years old, is a student at the University of (AUDIO GAP) helped provide the names of the other two suspects.

From what we know (AUDIO GAP) this came from Congressman Spencer Baucus who told CNN that investigators found tire tracks at four different church fires. They were a very unusual tread. They traced it back to a dealer in Shelby County, Alabama, and he said he had special ordered those tires for a Matthew Lee Cloyd.

When investigators went to Cloyd's residence, apparently the young man did break down and told him that the other two men that he was involved with were Russell Debusk and Ben Moseley.

It is unclear right now as to why investigators did not arrest Cloyd at that time. But they did arrest Debusk -- excuse me -- and Moseley on the campus of Birmingham Southern, which is where they are students, very early this morning; 1 a.m. this morning was when the arrest took place.

Now, of course, these are ten different church fires. Nine of them are definitely related. They are still not sure about the tenth. But so far, they are still looking for Matthew Lee Cloyd -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Do they think that Matthew Lee Cloyd has -- is it suspicious circumstances as to why he's gone or do they think he took off, that he's in hiding?

DORNIN: We have no word on that at this point. It is very unclear as to -- as I said, it's also unclear as to why they didn't take him into custody at the time they were questioning him. So it is unclear as to why they -- what happened to Matthew Lee Cloyd.

PHILLIPS: All right. Rusty Dornin, thanks so much. We'll talk again, I'm sure.

Don Clark is a former FBI agent. He joins us now live from Houston to talk more about this investigation.

Don, first of all, I guess let me ask you, why wouldn't investigators have arrested Cloyd if he -- sounds like he admitted that he was involved and then he ratted out the other two?

DON CLARK, FORMER FBI AGENT: Well, you know, Kyra, you got to know a little bit more detail. And you got to know what's going on between the investigators and this guy Cloyd.

It is a possibility that this person may be in some type of protective status somewhere along the line. So that's something -- an option that has to be looked at.

And the other is I can't imagine that -- him giving that much information, that they would just let him go foot-loose and fancy- free, so there's got to be another answer to this one way or the other.

PHILLIPS: So do a profile for us. We've got three college students. It looks like three white males. We heard from an affiliate possibly they're theater majors. Two of them go to one college. Another one goes to a different college. So they're not all in class together.

What could be the possible motivation here? I mean, can you take anything from a little bit of a profile and put something together at this point?

CLARK: Well, you know, Kyra, I'm going to have to go to the Internet. Because I think that, even though these people are not in the same college -- at least one is in a separate college -- so often today, ideas and ideologies are transferred back and forth from each other through the Internet. And people make these bonds and make these decisions and decide that they ought to take on a particular challenge.

I mean, clearly, to me, the motive seems racially motivated. The issue seems racially motivated. Now, I know that it was almost equally divided, predominantly black and predominantly white. But still, there's a tremendous racial line that it just sort of reminds me of the '60s. But I would bet that there's been some kind of communication through Internet asset -- access that they've been able to bond together with.

PHILLIPS: So you do think it's race -- explain to me why you think it's racial motivation, because most of these churches were white churches, right?

CLARK: Well, it was about equal. It was about half and half. And when they said predominantly white, or mostly black, then that would still tell me that the racial issue is probably the card that's being played there.

And this just reminds me of something that's back in the '60s. I mean, this type of activity -- it wasn't obviously very professionally done. And even as professionally as it can be, invariably there will be something left that the investigators could follow.

So what else could the motive be? I have not known, in my career, Kyra, where churches were targeted just because of their ideology. It was usually because of race.

PHILLIPS: What about -- I mean, these are churches. Do we know if these are pretty much conservative churches? Could it be what the churches believe, ideology? Maybe these three have an issue with some type of belief that the church has?

CLARK: That's a possibility. And I'm certain that that's something they will ferret out. But if we go back again and look at history, that's never been, really, the main focus of an attack on a group of churches. Maybe a single church or a single parishioner who said -- made a comment or something, possibly. But in terms of just going down the line, one after one after the other, it's usually been racially motivated.

PHILLIPS: Thrill-seeking, another option?

CLARK: I don't think so. Yes, it is an option, but I think it's an option that you look at down the line. Because I think if it had been thrill seeking, maybe there would have been something else tied to this. But this just seems to be going from one church to the other.

And I just can't imagine. I know you have fire bugs that are out there who just like to see things burn, but churches are not usually one of those entities that someone has gone to and said I'm going to burn this church for thrill's sake. That hasn't been the case. And again, I still go back to the racial issue.

PHILLIPS: Well, tracking down these boys, they did it by tire tracks, good old police work, good old-fashioned police work. And it definitely points out how important it is to preserve the crime scene in order to track something like this.

CLARK: Well, I tell you, Kyra, you're right on target there. It's exactly -- I mean, when you get that crime scene protected, and not only protecting that crime scene, is not leaving -- not any stones unturned. You know, this is truly old-fashioned police work. My very first bank robber, I had to do in my new blue suit a cast, a tire cast. And I thought, "This is the worst thing that I could ever do." Nonetheless it finally led us to a vehicle. And even back then, it was identifying the tire track, getting a good cast played -- made, and then making sure that you could take that cast and try to get it identified with the dealer and everything else just seems to fall into place, even to who purchased it.

PHILLIPS: Don Clark, former FBI, thanks, Don.

CLARK: Thank you, Kyra. Good to see you again.

PHILLIPS: Eighty-four days to hurricane season, and the Gulf Coast still has a long way to go. Today President Bush is getting a firsthand look, his tenth of the damage -- the damage done by Hurricane Katrina. I think we meant to say his tenth trip maybe? And the slow going recovery, of course, that we continue to talk about.

CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with him -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that's right, absolutely right. It's his tenth trip. And really White House officials, even some folks from the Army Corps of Engineers, a little bit nervous but trying to reassure people here. It's less than 100 days before the next hurricane season.

Of course, President Bush traveling here. The Ninth Ward in particular to highlight and to see firsthand some of the damage. And after six months now still some of these homes absolutely devastated. The levee that broke in that particular area.

The president was here to highlight three things. First a housing initiative in the tune of $4.2 billion to provide up to $150,000 for home owners who have lost their homes due to Katrina. That's minus the money from Katrina, as well as insurance.

Also the president to make the point here that debris removal on private property has to speed up. This is something that he also saw firsthand.

And then finally is this proposal here, this promise, that the president has made, essentially, to rebuild the levee system. We're talking about 350 miles, 169 of that damaged from Katrina, all up and in good shape by June 1, the next hurricane season. President Bush trying to reassure people, come back to New Orleans, because they're going to rebuild that system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First part of the strategy is to make sure these levees are strong. We fully understand that people don't have confidence in the levee system they're not going to want to come back. People aren't going to want to spend money or invest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Kyra, as you know, there's also a controversy. It was earlier in the week that there were two experts of independent groups that were essentially questioning the materials that they were using for the levee rebuilding, saying it was substandard.

President Bush came out, as well as the head of the Army Corps of Engineers, saying that is not the case. They want to make sure that people know that they will be strong enough at least to sustain a Category 3.

But they also acknowledge here it would not be any higher than a Category 3 and there still would be flooding in that Ninth Ward and the low-lying areas.

President Bush ending his trip here. He took out -- went to a store, got a pot of red beans and rice and held it up to the cameras. Then he left. He is now headed to Gulfport, Mississippi, again to look at damage and make remarks there -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I hope they were true red beans and rice. There's only certain places you can go there in that city, Suzanne. Let me ask you another question.

MALVEAUX: It looked good, yes.

PHILLIPS: Yes. OK, good. You didn't get to sample it, I take it?

MALVEAUX: I wish I did, but I'm going to stay for an extra day so I'll get my share.

PHILLIPS: All right. I'll tell you where to go.

Serious question, though. Weekly we're turning pieces on these families still leaving in trailers, still not able to be -- rebuild, or even get the word that they can rebuild on their property. Tell us about this housing initiative that the president talked about.

MALVEAUX: Well, the president actually didn't give too many details about it, but I talked to Don Powell, who's really his point person when it comes to recovery. He laid out some of the details.

And essentially they're trying to get Congress to approve it. It's part of this $20 billion supplemental, but it's $2 billion. It allows for up to $150,000 per home owner. If you've lost your home, it's damaged due to Katrina, it's not reparable, you could get this money. This is something that they're hoping to allocate to folks, but they would be minus, of course, any money they get from FEMA or from the insurance companies.

This is something that is just a plan, not yet in the works, certainly up to Congress to see whether or not they push that thing through. A lot of people looking very carefully at that, though, Kyra, as an option.

PHILLIPS: Suzanne Malveaux, live from New Orleans. Thanks, Suzanne.

Since Hurricane Katrina hit, President Bush has made several visits and requested billions of dollars in aid. Details now in this "Fact Check."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR (voice-over): President Bush is making his seventh visit to New Orleans and his tenth to the Gulf Coast in the six months since Katrina came ashore. During those trips, he has toured damage areas, talked to victims of the storm, and made a memorable speech to the nation from New Orleans's Jackson Square, promising a massive rebuilding effort.

According to the White House, the Bush administration and Congress have already provided more than $87 billion in direct relief to the gulf region. That money has been used for immediate recovery and rebuilding efforts and paid more than 200,000 flood insurance claims.

On February 16, President Bush asked Congress for almost $20 billion more in additional emergency funding. More than $9 billion of that would help pay for FEMA's ongoing efforts to provide shelter, medical care and other disaster assistance.

More than $4 billion in block grants would address housing needs. Another billion dollars, plus, would be used to strengthen levees and improve storm protection for the greater New Orleans region.

This week, governors from the gulf region, including the president's home state of Texas, told members of Congress the aid they have received so far is only a fraction of what they have been promised.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Two hundred billion dollars doesn't buy what it used to, not when it's tobacco money earmarked for anti-smoking campaigns and treatment of sick smokers. You won't believe what some of that money has bought. LIVE FROM returns in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Gunmen in police uniforms kidnap dozens of people. Real police discover 18 strangled bodies in a minivan. Bombings and gunfire kill several people, including an American soldier. All part of another day in Iraq.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Baghdad with the latest. Aneesh, I don't even know where to begin.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Kyra, essentially this day stood apart from the rest by this brazen attack. Insurgents essentially dressed as Iraqi police commandos, some 25 of them arrived at the office of a private Iraqi security firm just around 1 p.m. local. They then kidnapped some 50 employees. That according to Iraqi police.

Now, one of the more disturbing parts of this is that police, it seems, were around the area. They did not respond, because they thought this was a legitimate operation by the Ministry of Interior, given the uniforms and vehicles that these armed men were dressed and driving in. So they didn't respond. Other police weren't notified until after, because communication was cut off in and around the security firm.

So Iraq's interior ministry has now launched a major investigation into what exactly took place. But this is a perennial problem here, the fact insurgents are able to get their hands on uniforms that are either exactly that of or look exactly like Iraqi police commandos, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So what is being done to try to prevent that, Aneesh? I mean, this is something we've been talking about for months, about these insurgents being able to infiltrate, whether it be the police, the military, even government buildings.

RAMAN: Well, there's two threads to this. The first is that the government that's in place really can only do short-term measures to fix any of this, because they're about to be kicked out of office. The new parliament was elected now almost three months ago, and a lot of decisions are being shelved until that permanent government comes into being. And no one knows quite when that will happen.

The other issue is that these uniforms are being sold on the black market. There's joint cooperation, some suggest, between Shia militias and Shia that are within Iraqi's police force.

And the vehicles are essentially Ford pickup trucks that are bought separate from those that Iraqi police have and made to look exactly like them.

So they've got to make the uniforms and the vehicles more official. But they've also got to get a government in place that can make long-term decisions.

PHILLIPS: Now, they face a constitution deadline for Sunday, right?

RAMAN: They do, for the parliament to meet. Iraq's president wants them to convene because of that deadline, but some of the Shia politicians are suggesting they should sort of ignore it, because they haven't resolved the major issue of who will be the country's prime minister. They don't think parliament should convene until that issue is resolved. So the leaders are set to meet tomorrow to decide on a date for parliament to convene.

PHILLIPS: Aneesh Raman, live from Baghdad, thanks, Aneesh.

Civilian life can wait for the U.S. Army general best known for his tours at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The Senate Armed Services Committee is taking the highly unusual step of asking the Army to postpone the retirement of Major General Geoffrey Miller. The committee has questions about Miller's candor in previous testimony on alleged prisoner abuse. Among other steps, members want to compare Miller's testimony to them with what he said then in court- martials of soldiers accused of abuse.

The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

PHILLIPS: And our breaking news concerns those ten fires that took place in Alabama, a story that we've been on for a number of months now.

We're now getting word that a third person is in custody. It's that third person that officials are -- authorities were looking for after they arrested two people today in connection with that string of church fires in Alabama.

We told you about the two young college students, Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk, both 19, both students at Birmingham Southern College. Well, how police found them is because of one young man that they talked to, a 20-year-old student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, identified as Matthew Lee Cloyd. Authorities had talked to him. He is the one that led authorities to the other two teenagers.

Well, now Matthew Lee Cloyd is in custody. So now authorities have three college students, three male college students in custody, with regard to those arrest -- or those church fires in Alabama.

As soon as we get more information, we'll let you know. We hope to find out more about the motive. At this point a lot of people still speculating about why these three have been involved with these church fires. We are expecting a news conference, a live news conference with more information on these. When did we say that was, what hour?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three o'clock.

PHILLIPS: Three o'clock Eastern Time. So when that happens, we will take that live.

Well, it's a historical day at the New York Stock Exchange. The world's biggest stock exchange is now a publicly traded company. Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the floor of the exchange there with the last.

Susan, give us a feel for what it's like.

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Straight to Carol Lin now. She's working a developing story in the newsroom -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, ANCHOR: Kyra, this is out of Phoenix, Arizona, the governor there issuing an executive order after declaring a state of emergency along the border. She is authorizing that the state put more National Guard troops along the border. They're saying that illegal immigration has increased fivefold since the 1980s and that crime is rampant.

But Kyra, this is an indication of a -- of a bitter battle between the federal government. In this executive order, she issues a scathing criticism of the Defense Department and homeland security, saying that "I have repeatedly sought federal assistance, including direct appeals to the defense and homeland security departments and Congress, for increased funding."

She's going ahead with this, but frankly it's the state senate that's forcing her hand, because they were authorizing $10 million for increased national troop deployment there.

So far, only 170 national troops deployed there, and they have more than 6,000, Kyra, available. So Arizona taking this as a very serious matter, illegal immigration.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll stay on it. Carol Lin, thanks so much.

LIN: You bet.

PHILLIPS: Yesterday we looked back on a very special life and the disease that cut it short. But the story's far from over. Every minute of every day more families are confronted with the pain, loss and sorrow of lung cancer.

Dana Reeve's death put a spotlight on some staggering numbers. This year alone, an estimated 174,000 new lung cancer cases will be diagnosed in America; 162,000 people will die. Advocates say that is inevitable and indefensible, consequence of too little public funding for research.

Remember that huge tobacco settlement of 1998? More than $200 billion from cigarette-makers to help 46 states pay for the cancer treatment and anti-smoking campaigns. Well, guess where a lot of that money hasn't gone?

CNN's Tom Foreman found out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the shadow of the capitol, Sheila Ross is a rarity. A one-time big smoker, twice diagnosed and treated for lung cancer, yet alive and fighting for change.

SHEILA ROSS, CANCER SURVIVOR: This is a political problem. It's not a science problem. The money for research, the money for screening and early detection is going to the cancers that have large political constituency. It's not going to a cancer like lung cancer, even though it's the biggest single killer. Because there are not enough survivors to give it political power.

FOREMAN: It's a terrible truth. The tsunami killed fewer people than died from lung cancer in America last year -- 163,000. And only 15 percent of people diagnosed are alive five years later.

Laurie Fenton is with the Lung Cancer Alliance.

LAURIE FENTON, LUNG CANCER ALLIANCE: More than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney, pancreas, melanoma cancers combined. That's what lung cancer does every year, takes the lives of all of those diseases combined, every year. And that has to change.

FOREMAN: The 1998 legal settlement with the big tobacco companies was supposed to change things, sending hundreds of millions of dollars to states to replace money spent on tobacco related illness. But that money has generally not gone to lung cancer research, detection or treatment.

CHERYL HEALTON, AMERICA LEGACY FOUNDATION: It's been spent to build prisons, to build roads, to do heavens knows what things, but all sorts of projects that are not even health related, let alone related to tobacco.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 50,000 people die each year from second-hand smoke.

FOREMAN: Some of the settlement money has been used to counteract the $40 million a day big tobacco was using to market its products.

HEALTON: But in comparison of the arsenal on the other side, it is a David vs. Goliath battle, no question about it.

FOREMAN: So the battle to change public policy toward this disease largely falls on the ever falling army of survivors. That's why Sheila Ross, who spent her life working in politics, says she'll spend the rest of it on this issue.

ROSS: It's almost inevitable that my lung cancer will recur.

FOREMAN: You expect it?

ROSS: I fully expect it. But before I get sick again, I'm going to make as much noise as I can on Capitol Hill. Lung cancer is a horrible way to die. We can't continue to ignore it.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: She was told she had lung cancer and had just one year to live. That was almost six years ago. Instead, Melissa Zagon defied the doctors and disease. She's alive and she's doing very well and raising a lot of money for research as head the Lungevity Foundation. She joins me live from Chicago.

Great to see you.

MELISSA ZAGON, LUNG CANCER SURVIVOR: Thank you. Great to be here.

PHILLIPS: Well, take me back to when you first found out and how you've been dealing with the cancer.

ZAGON: Well, I found out in September of 2000, which is about five and half years ago. I was having headaches. I never had any symptoms in my lung. I was having headaches, one that was really awful. And I went and had an MRI and they found three brain tumors. And so then I went into a hospital and after a week of testing, they traced it back to a primary lung cancer that had metastasized to my brain.

Now, obviously at the time, I was shocked, I was devastated. And, frankly, I was terrified. I'm not sure that the doctors gave me a specific date, but I did a lot of research and knew that I didn't have much time or at least that's what they were saying. And...

PHILLIPS: So you did your research -- you, of course, immediately started to figure out OK, what can I do, how can I beat this. What was it that you believe saved your life?

ZAGON: I believe it was my -- personally, my attitude. I didn't just say, oh, this is terrible, I'm just going to wait around until I die. I said, oh, this is terrible, I'm going to fight this thing with every ounce I have. And it doesn't work for everybody. I got very lucky. But for me, having that fighting spirit, going out, setting up a war room in my house where I gathered all the documents, all the information, found the right doctors for me and the right clinical trials for me.

And also going out and trying to do something good for other lung cancer patients by starting the Lungevity Foundation. All of that optimism and fighting spirit, I think, really has attributed to my health and the fact that I'm still here five and a half years later.

PHILLIPS: Well, I think by the piece that we just ran by Tom Foreman, and also looking at your Web site and doing some other research and looking at these numbers, with regard to the amount of money that goes toward research.

We actually put the numbers together -- I'm going to try to bring them up on the screen so you're able to see them. And it's -- we basically broke it down from breast cancer to prostate cancer, colorectal cancer to lung cancer. And just looking at the amount of money, the federal spending, in these areas, were you shocked to find out how little amount was spent on lung cancer research?

ZAGON: Absolutely. I mean, at the time, I was shocked to learn anything about lung cancer. Thirty-two years old and healthy. I knew nothing. But the first thing that shocked me was that it was the number one cancer killer, and that it was getting so little research. And that was what caused me and the other six individuals to start the Lungevity Foundation in the first place, because we could not find any organization in the country that was raising the funds for lung cancer exclusively. We could give to organizations that were raising for cancer or lung disease, but there was no guarantee that it would actually go to lung cancer.

PHILLIPS: So two things that I have learned within the past two days. I have to tell you, since we started talking about Dana Reeve's death and of course that's led us to talk a lot about lung cancer and other people that have been affected. Even when Peter Jennings lost his life, we were talking so much about it.

Two things. It seems like there are a number of promising drugs out there. You were talking about specific trials. I talked to one survivor yesterday who was on Iressa, but it's not available to anybody else right now, any new patient. Only the old patients can continue to use that drug. But it seems to be working for some people.

Why aren't there more drugs like that out there, and more people being able to have access to these drugs? It just -- it seems very few and far between.

ZAGON: Right. Well, I think that the drugs are out there. I think that patients need to consider clinical trials so that we can get these drugs developed more quickly. Well Iressa isn't available anymore, there's a drug called Tarceva, which actually targets the same proteins and that's the drug I'm on. I was on Iressa for 18 months, have been on Tarceva for somewhere around a year at this point.

The drugs are being developed, but we need the research to continue the development, to continue to find out why lung cancer exists, which parts of the cell are affected and target the therapies so that the right people are getting what's going to work for them.

PHILLIPS: And finally, let me ask about these cigarette companies. Whether it be ads, money for research that's -- well, there's a lot of money that's supposed to be going to research. And just these efforts to try and save lives and prevent people from getting cancer. Where is that money going? Have you been able to track that and follow that at all?

ZAGON: I have not been involved in tracking that money. What I will say is it's very important to work on programs to stop smoking. But I think we all have to remember that even if smoking were eliminated tomorrow, we're still going to be dealing with lung cancer for generations, with people who have never smoked or people who have smoked in the past and given it up. And so that's an important part, is to stop the smoking. But we need the money to go to research as well, to save the lives of the 170,000 people diagnosed each year.

PHILLIPS: Melissa Zagon, it's great to talk to you. Thank you so much.

ZAGON: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Osama bin Laden, obviously, rightfully number one, but I think James "Whitey" Bulger rightfully number two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You may not know his name or face, but the FBI want your help in finding one of the most wanted man in America. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: More information coming in to us here with regard to the Alabama church fires. Throughout the morning, we've now told you that three arrests have been made, three male college students. The names are Matthew Lee Cloyd, age 20, a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, also Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk, both 19, both students at Birmingham Southern College.

Now there have been talk that Matthew Lee Cloyd had initially talked to authorities, had told authorities about Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk. He told authorities where they could find those two, and then police had not arrested Matthew Lee Cloyd. They had gone for the other two boys. They had been arrested, and then later today we discovered all three men now have been arrested.

Well, we just received part of the ATF sworn testimony. It happened on March 7th. The Bureau of the ATF, the Alabama State Fire Marshal's Office and Bibb County Sheriff's Department investigators interviewed a witness. And according to this statement, the witness stated that either he or she spoke with Matthew Cloyd -- that's the third young man that's now been arrested -- by telephone on March 7th, 2006. The witness stated that Cloyd told him or her -- we're not sure if this witness is a he or she -- that he, Cloyd, and Moseley had done something really stupid, that Cloyd stated to the witness that Moseley did it as a joke, and it got out of hand. Cloyd stated that they set a church on fire.

So according to an ATF sworn statement here, another witness has come forward, naming at least two of the three young men that have been arrested in these Alabama church fires. The closest we've gotten to any type of motive, according to this testimony, possibly it was a joke that got out of hand, they realized they had done something bad, and they had set a church on fire. We'll continue to follow all the latest developments in this story.

Will DNA connect a brutal rape and murder to the only potential suspect? Well, New York police are hoping so. The victim is Immet St. Guillen (ph), a 24-year-old grad student who's brutalized body showed up a few hours after she was seen in a Manhattan bar. Police have the bouncer for that bar in custody. He's reportedly an ex-con with a long record. This is a police photo for a 2003 arrest. Investigators searched his home and found items that they're testing for in the victim's DNA.

Now a racketeering case that reads like a script from "The Sopranos" -- construction payola, loan sharking, hits and contracts, everything but the bada-bing. Among other thing, John Gotti Jr., son of the infamous Dapper Don, is charged with ordering the death of Guardian Angels founder-turned radio host Curtis Sliwa for having badmouthed his late father on the air. Sliwa survived and doesn't plan to keep quiet. The defense is summing up today. The jury get the case later today or tomorrow. Gotti could get 30 years if convicted.

Where's Whitey? Police in Boston and FBI only wish they knew. They're hoping old surveillance tapes lead them to a reputed mob kingpin, who's flight from justice is second to none. OK, second to one, in the eyes of the feds.

CNN's Dan Lothian has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You may not recognize his face, you may not even know his name, but 76-year-old James "Whitey" Bulger appears next to America's worst enemy on the FBI's 10 most wanted list.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN, U.S. ATTY.: Osama bin Laden, obviously, rightfully number one, but I think James "Whitey" Bulger rightfully number two. It's because of the horrific crimes he committed over a long period of time, the numbers of families that have been destroyed.

LOTHIAN: "Whitey," as he's called, is seen in these 25-year-old surveillance videos just released by the U.S. attorney's office. A notorious leader of south Boston's Irish Mafia charged with 19 counts of murder, and various other crimes, from distortion to distributing drugs.

HOWIE CARR, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Where is Whitey's hat?

LOTHIAN: Boston talk radio host and newspaper columnist Howie Carr started covering Bulger as a young reporter about the time the surveillance videos were shot.

CARR: There really was a reign of terror in Boston for, I don't know, maybe 15, 20 years, where Whitey Bulger operated with impunity; nobody could do anything about him.

LOTHIAN: Snitches seemed to disappear. Intimidation helped him force a code of silence.

Carr says even reporters who nosed around mobster's south Boston headquarters were threatened by his gang.

CARR: The guy said, you tell Howie if he ever comes here, we have a dumpster out back waiting for him. It'll be another Robin Benedict. She was this prostitute who was chopped up by an infatuated professor.

LOTHIAN (on camera): But everything changed 11 years ago. Bulger, who was also an FBI informant, was tipped off by his handler that he was about to be indicted. So he grabbed the girlfriend, packed up his car, and vanished.

(voice-over): The hunt for Whitey has spanned the globe. A joint Bulger task force of 11 full-time FBI agents, state police and corrections officers has followed up leads in dozens of countries. His most wanted poster is printed in at least six languages. The last credible sighting was more than three years ago in London.

KEN KAISER, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: I can't remember as much money and manpower devoted throughout the world looking for one individual as in this case.

LOTHIAN: Eclipsed only by Osama bin Laden. How has Bulger managed to evade such a wide net for so long?

SULLIVAN: I think he prepared for a long period of time to be on the run.

LOTHIAN: Specifically a global network of bank safety deposit boxes, stashed with cash, passports and other items to help him disappear. The Bulger task force hopes the release of these old videotapes will help jog the public's memory.

KAISER: There's potentially some things they may recognize by the way he moves, or by the way he holds his hands or by the way he walks down the street.

LOTHIAN: The 76-year-old, an avid reader, is believed to be on the run with longtime girlfriend 54-year-old Catherine Greig.

CARR: Now the first thing I want to talk about today...

LOTHIAN: Howie Carr, the talk show host, has also authored a new book on Whitey, and his brother, William Bulger, the once powerful state politician and former president of the University of Massachusetts. He writes about mistakes made by police, corruption and a mobster's madness. An intriguing case with a lot of loose ends.

CARR: It's an ongoing story. The final chapter has yet to be written, and I hope I'll be around to write the final chapter.

LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Bulger has Some unpleasant company on the 10 most wanted list, including Robert William Fisher. He allegedly shot dead his wife and two children, then blew up the house they all lived in.

Glenn Stewart Godwin broke out of Folsom Prison and broke out of a Mexican prison. He has two murder wraps and is considered armed and dangerous. Richard Steve Goldberg wanted for sex acts with girls under the age of 10 and making children porn.

The most familiar face on the list, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. You can see the FBI's entire most wanted list on their Web site, FBI.gov.

Sinatra may be gone, but his appeal, his mystique, his star power is still as strong as ever. Just ahead, the Chairman of the Board like you've never seen before, a red carpet premiere at London's (INAUDIBLE). Well, when LIVE FROM continues, we'll take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: seen before. The red carpet premiere at London's Palladium where -- well, when LIVE FROM continues, we'll take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: Frank Sinatra died more than seven years ago, but he never really left us. His music still sells, and his movies still play, and they always will. Today, a new show kicks off in London that makes it seem as if Sinatra still swings with the best of them. It's called "Sinatra at the London Palladium."

CNN's Paula Newton is on the red carpet with more. I can't wait to hear about the show, Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Can you imagine, Kyra, it was 55 years ago -- almost 56 -- that Frank Sinatra first played in this theater? And can you imagine, some of the people that were there at the time were telling me that people were yelling Bing, Bing? They wanted Bing Crosby.

And it took him inside of five minutes. He had that audience in the palm of his hand, and from that moment on, Londoners realized what everyone was so excited about in the United States. What they're trying to do here is recapture that kind of excitement.

Technologically, it is a different sign kind of show. As you can imagine, anywhere from six to nine screens, at any one time, up on the stage, along with a huge band, 24 piece swing orchestra, 20 dancers. It's impeccably choreographed.

But, you know, Kyra, a lot of people have commented that it's also just a little bit creepy. Like, you almost think he is there, standing right there in front of you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So you're saying that this is the exact same place where he performed more than 50 years ago. Has -- are they doing the show exactly the same or are there different twists to it?

NEWTON: What they're trying to do really is intersplice a lot of historical footage -- some of it new, some of it never seen on 35 millimeter -- along with this -- what most people would typically know as a Broadway musical, let's say.

The whole effect is really a huge repertoire of the best Frank Sinatra songs and just a lot of him -- that beautiful, booming voice. And it has to be said, Nancy Sinatra, his daughter, and the rest of the Sinatra family really do support this. They think it's a brilliant idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY SINATRA, FRANK SINATRA'S DAUGHTER: I just think it's great and it makes me so happy to know that new generations of people here in Britain will just -- will be able to experience him in concert, even though it's not really live, but still, you'll get the feel of it from this, I believe, and I'm looking forward to seeing it myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: She will be here tonight. She hasn't arrived yet, but she will be inside shortly, and she'll be there for curtain call. this is premiere night. It is very exciting.

You know, it has to be said, the Sinatra family has done a lot to try and preserve his memory in the proper way. They've said themselves that they don't want his image to be used in the same way that Elvis Presley's was.

You know, you have to say that they're going to be making a lot of money off of this production, as well. You know, Kyra, Frank Sinatra can still do from the grave what many performers can't do, which is be a sure thing at the box office. This show has had a lot of advance bookings and they're expecting a very, very good turnout.

With that being said, technologically, there really isn't anything all that new about this, but for die-hard fans, they really could care less. It's more of Frank and that's what they want -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Final question, real quickly, Paula. How long is the show going to be there? And will it possibly travel to the United States?

NEWTON: Well, it will be here until October. And it's funny you should mention the United States. It was -- did a few day run at the Radio City Musical Hall in 2003, I believe. And that was how they got the idea to do this show. If it's very successful, we'd have to talk to Nancy Sinatra, but I think she will try and bring it to the United States.

PHILLIPS: All right. Paula Newton, Thanks so much.

Straight ahead, three college students under arrest in that string of Alabama church fires. You won't believe the alleged motive. Details straight ahead. We're back with the second hour of LIVE FROM after a quick break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com