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CNN Live Today
Hurricane Katrina: Remembering and Rebuilding; Fugitive Polygamist Warren Jeffs Arrested
Aired August 29, 2006 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We already have breaking news to get to. So let's go ahead and get started.
And we're going to start with somebody who was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. You can see him there, Warren Steed Jeffs. Leader of a polygamist Mormon's sect. He has been arrested in southern Nevada. He's 50 years old. Was taken into custody after he and two other people were pulled over late last night. Nevada highway patrol trooper on Interstate 15 -- that's just north of Vegas -- is what the FBI is saying.
He is the leader of the group that's called Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints. And he was wanted in Utah and Arizona on suspicion of sexual misconduct for allegedly arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. Warren Jeffs on the FBI's 10 most wanted list has been taken into custody in southern Nevada. We'll have more on that as we get more details out of Nevada.
Also, there is news that keeps coming on this Tuesday morning. We are following these stories this hour.
A solemn day in New Orleans and all along the Gulf Coast. It is Katrina one year later. Live coverage of a prayer service this hour. President Bush will be there.
Ernesto eyes Florida. The storm will bring drenching rainfall to the state. Live to the Hurricane Center and meteorologist Chad Myers.
And he confessed but DNA evidence shows John Karr did not kill JonBenet Ramsey. So once again the Ramsey case is a cold case. We'll hear live from Boulder County D.A. in about two hours.
Not surprisingly, there are a number of events taking place today marking the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Later this hour, at 10:20 Eastern, President Bush joins New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin at a prayer service. Then at 10:30 Eastern, several ceremonies remembering the dead. Bells will ring and wreaths will be laid beginning at one of the levees that failed. And 12:20 Eastern, President Bush will talk about rebuilding New Orleans. And this afternoon, a jazz funeral will wind through downtown streets. It's a New Orleans tradition of mourning but also of celebration.
As I mentioned, the president bringing his message of remembrance and rebuilding to New Orleans. This hour, the president is attending a prayer service. Our Suzanne Malveaux joins me live with details on the president's day. Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Well, President Bush has already had a memorable day. It started with a prayer breakfast. He was eating with Mayor Ray Nagin at a local restaurant called Betsies (ph) when a waitress confronted the president and asked him, are you going to turn your back on me? President Bush responded saying, "not again. No, ma'am, not again." So clearly there is a sense the people you talk to here of frustration and disappointment with the president, with the federal government. Many people who believe that he did not fulfill many of the promises made in Jackson Square about a year ago.
President Bush, of course, sending a very different message today. He wants to convince the American people that he is committed to doing the right thing in the long haul to agreeing to invest in New Orleans and, of course, the Gulf Coast. He will later today talk about the $110 billion in federal aid, although much of that yet to get to the resident who need it the most.
He will also honor those who lost their lives at this prayer breakfast later and, of course, he will talk about those who rescued the heroes that were involved in plucking people from the rooftops during Hurricane Katrina. He will talk about the importance, the spirit and hope of the people and the responsibility of the local government and he will not dwell on his administration's failures. He will acknowledge them, but he will also stress the importance of a long-term commitment.
KAGAN: Suzanne, thank you. Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president in New Orleans.
Want to get back to our breaking news story that we started our hour with. And that is Warren Jeffs, the leader of that polygamist sect who was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list, has been taken into custody, arrested in southern Nevada. Dan Simon's on the phone with us with more information on that.
Dan.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Daryn, we're just getting word that he was captured in Vegas. And this is absolutely stunning news. This is a guy who had not been seen in public since January of 2005. Warren Jeffs, of course, the leader of the fundamentalist Mormon church there in Utah and he had been on the run.
This is a guy who had reportedly had 80 wives and over 250 children. Exerted such control over the people of that community. Would, you know, forbid them to watch television, see movies. Had such control over every aspect of their life.
And the fact that he has been captured in Vegas is absolutely stunning news. We're hoping to get a bit of information later on. But this will come as a bit of such relief to many people in that community and also to the FBI. They've had him on this list since May of this year.
Daryn.
KAGAN: And how did it come to this? That he was a fugitive?
SIMON: Well, he had been charged with various crimes. And the fact that he had been on the run for so long made him a wanted man as far as the FBI is concerned. You know, he has communities. He set up these communities all over really the world.
There's a polygamist community in Danaful (ph), Canada, where some thought he may have gone to. He has this community in Utah. There's also one under construction in Texas. And the fact that he had just remained out of everybody's cross hairs for so long was stunning. And people thought he would have been captured a long time ago. And the fact that he was captured today is absolutely stunning.
KAGAN: And we are hearing from the Justice Department they have confirmed indeed that Warren Jeffs has been taken into custody. One of the things that was frustrating for what most people think of as the Mormon church and LDS based in Salt Lake City, what Warren Jeffs was doing was completely separate from that church.
SIMON: Absolutely. I mean, this has no affiliation to the mainstream Mormon church. This is the fundamentalist Mormon church, which subscribes that men take on multiple wives. You know, the feeling among the leaders of that church is that you need to have at least three wives in order to get to the highest levels of heaven.
And again, Warren Jeffs, you know, ruled this church for a long time. And really such -- had such strict control over the members. You know, there was a group of young boys who are known as the lost boys. And these were people who were kicked out of the church.
KAGAN: And their families even.
SIMON: And their families.
KAGAN: Yes.
SIMON: But these young boys, in particular, had such stories and added such rich detail to this entire episode that the facts that they were booted out of the church because there was so much competition for these wives. And, you know, they may have, you know, been listening to some music or something like that and suddenly they were ousted. And they had nowhere to go. And many of them wound up homeless. Some living in prostitution on the streets of Vegas. And the leader of this church has now been caught, Daryn, and it's an enormous story.
KAGAN: Yes. And the Justice Department once again has confirmed that Warren Jeffs has been taken into custody near Las Vegas. He had been on the FBI's 10 most wanted list and there was a reward of $100,000 offered for information leading to his capture. It will be interesting to see if it was just an alert highway patrol trooper in Nevada that caught him or if indeed there was some information that led to his arrest there. We'll be following it. Thank you, Dan Simon, on the phone.
We're going to have more on this. Also on the anniversary of Katrina. And, don't forget, we're keeping our eye on Ernesto that's getting ever closer to Florida. We'll check in with Chad Myers. We'll get to that after this. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's get back to our breaking news and that is the arrest of Warren Steed Jeffs. He is the leader of this fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints. He was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. He has been arrested near Las Vegas.
We're getting some more information about what took place near Vegas late last night. He was taken into custody and there were two other people with him. We can tell you who those two people were now. They were Naomi Jeffs, one of his wives, one of his many wives and Isaac Steve Jeffs (ph). They are both 32. They're being interviewed by the FBI in Las Vegas. But they were not arrested.
Warren Jeffs wanted on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. What more can we learn about that? Let's go to our justice correspondent Kelli Arena who's in Washington, D.C.
Kelli, what did this guy do that the FBI wanted him so badly to put him on the 10 most wanted list?
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, if you go to the website, it's all listed right there. He's wanted for the alleged sexual assault of a minor in 2002. He's also wanted for one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor in 2002. He's wanted for rape as an accomplice in Utah. He was considered armed and dangerous, Daryn. And we're also told that he was actually arrested at a routine traffic stop in Nevada.
KAGAN: And it was a trooper.
ARENA: Yes, don't -- right, don't have, you know, all the details on that. But it was a routine traffic stop. And that's pretty amazing when you think, you know, you're dealing with one of the top 10 fugitives in the United States and they get him at a traffic stop, huh?
KAGAN: Yes, either, what, speeding or rolling through a red light or something.
ARENA: Right. Right.
KAGAN: It just comes down to that. And a very alert Nevada state trooper there.
So we're talking about why he's on the 10 most wanted. He faces charges in Arizona and Utah. Caught in Nevada. How do they decide who gets him first? ARENA: Oh, boy. You know, I mean that is something that the Department of Justice will have to -- my guess is that he'll probably, you know, be headed, you know, to Vegas at first, and then probably Colorado City. I mean they -- in Arizona they -- you know, it depends on where they have the most clout, ties, you know.
KAGAN: Yes, and who has the best case ready to go.
ARENA: Right. Right. You know, where they have the most evidence, where they have the most solid information to pursue a case. But this is evidence that has been building and cases have been worked on for some time, Daryn. As you know, you know, this is not a new name to any of us, is it?
KAGAN: No. And, in fact, not a new name, you know, having worked in Phoenix for five and a half years, it was just known that that area just north of the Arizona border and, you know, Colorado City, like you mentioned, in there, that there were polygamists Mormon sects that lived there, not associated with the traditional LDS church.
ARENA: That's right. That's right.
KAGAN: (INAUDIBLE) Salt Lake City.
ARENA: And he -- Jeffs is considered somewhat of a prophet by, you know, by his followers. And there are estimated 10,000 people who qualify as his, you know, "followers," Daryn. So very popular, very well-known guy.
KAGAN: OK. Do we have Gary Tuchman's piece ready to go? We don't have that. OK.
Kelli, anything else you can offer?
ARENA: You know, I'm just going through some background information here. And just trying to see -- no, you know, I wish I had more on what happened when he was arrested. It did happen without incident, which is always a good thing. And, as you said, you know, the people with him are being interviewed. You know, but, you know, none of the people that was taken into custody with him was wanted for any crime.
I'm reading here that he faces, you know, as you said, unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in Utah and Arizona. And, hey, and you know what, $100,000, you know, reward.
KAGAN: Right.
ARENA: Right, for him. So, you know, I don't know if that trooper qualifies, Daryn, but that ought to be a nice bonus, huh?
KAGAN: Well, let's hope so. They're not paid enough. And he clearly did his . . .
ARENA: That's for sure. That's for sure. KAGAN: Clearly did his job today. You know, interesting, Kelli, if you just look at the charge against him on the 10 most wanted list. A federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
ARENA: Right.
KAGAN: That's just saying you're running away.
ARENA: Right.
KAGAN: That's not even getting down to the nitty-gritty of really what he's accused of doing.
ARENA: That's right. That's right.
KAGAN: I mean really shattering -- he's accused of shattering so many lives.
ARENA: And that's in two states, Daryn. Right, that's in two states. In Utah and Arizona where he tried to avoid prosecution. But really, I mean, what the underlying issue here is sexual -- alleged sexual conduct, you know, with a minor. And, you know, an accomplice in a rape. I mean, so we are talking about some very serious, you know, crimes that he allegedly committed.
KAGAN: Yes, Kelli, I'm going to let you go. I'm going to let you work the phones and see what else you can find out from the Justice Department.
ARENA: You got it, Daryn.
KAGAN: Now we have a chance to actually tap into my resources at my old television station I used to work at in Phoenix, KTVK in Phoenix, Arizona. One of the reporters there, Mike Watkiss, has spent a lot of time going up into northern Arizona and covering this story and he joins me now on the phone.
Mike, what do you make of this news? The capture of Warren Jeffs.
MIKE WATKISS, KTVK: Good morning, Daryn.
I don't think you can overstate the significance of this development. This is the key development in what has become a giant national story. The manhunt for Warren Jeffs. I think the good news is, and there is good news, that Mr. Jeffs was apparently taken into custody without incident. The great fear was that there would be some sort of Waco or some sort of ruby ridge shoot-out. Mr. Jeffs is known to travel frequently with bodyguards.
And just given the nature of that community, there are a lot of women and children. And the thought was that if officers went storming into one of his new compounds that he's built all over the United States during the last four years, there would be trouble. So the fact that he was taken into custody without anybody getting hurt, that's great news. KAGAN: And if you put into perspective, because I know this has been huge news and followed so long in Arizona and over the southwest, talk about how this story escalated? How this went from what has been known for many years to be polygamist communities living in northern Arizona and then across the border there into Utah and how it went from that into so many shattered lives?
WATKISS: Well, you know, I can tell you, and I've been following sort of America's polygamist underworld for nearly 30 years focusing the last decade on Mr. Jeffs and his community. It is the large -- there's -- now America sort of comes to grips with the fact there are now polygamists in our midst. We realized that when Warren Jeffs ended up on the FBI's most wanted list.
But the bottom line is, these folks have been there for decades, generations. Basically hiding in plain sight. During the last 10 years, Mr. Jeffs really has brought a lot of attention on himself.
And it started with a handful of women who got out of that community, were badly abused and they just said, hell no, we're not going to allow this to happen anymore to our little sisters, to our little brothers. And they really started fomenting an insurgency here in Phoenix.
A handful of reporters got onto the story. And there has been a slow, sort of drumbeat to make state officials do something about it. During the last four years, things have sort of elevated. One of Mr. Jeffs cronies was thrown in jail in Utah, a polygamist cop, who was found guilty of taking an underage bride. This was four years ago. And really that sort of set in motion everything that we're seeing today.
Mr. Jeffs saw the writing on the wall. At that time he started building compounds all over the United States because he knew the day was going to come when they were going to come after him. He's the guy who puts together all of these marriages. Under his tenure as leader of this 10,000 person group, they have consistently started to marry younger and younger and younger girls. There's rampant welfare fraud, tax evasion. A big federal grand jury impaneled in Phoenix now looking at all of those issues.
But Mr. Jeffs is the key. Polygamy is not going to go away with his arrest. It will be here. It was here a hundred years ago in the southwest. It will be here a hundred years from now. But Mr. Jeffs has been more flagrantly violating the law than any other leader, so his arrest is hugely significant.
KAGAN: And, Mike, I know there's a large Mormon community there in Phoenix and across Arizona in the southwest. They are very adamant in saying that what we think of as a Mormon community is very different from what -- from this community that Warren Jeffs has created.
WATKISS: No, and the Mormon church -- this is an argument for another day about theology. The bottom line is, I think you have to address people not in what they believe but in what they practice. And if they violate the law, you have to prosecute. The Mormon church doesn't -- the mainstream Mormon church doesn't practice polygamy anymore.
In my reporting, we have tried to stay completely away from the Mormon church and focus on just the group because they really are not the same thing and they should not be accountable for one another. So I think the Mormon church rightly puts up that defense. Look, we may have practiced it in the past, but we don't know. These guys do. They're the problem.
Prosecutors have recognized that. I don't think they've gone after the belief in polygamy or religious beliefs in any way. They've gone after crimes.
KAGAN: No, I understand that. I just -- in the reporting and certain terms and words and the name of this group is so similar that -- just trying to be sensitive to all the groups involved.
WATKISS: You're absolutely right. Yes, the Mormon church is very sensitive about this. And that's, you know, and you can, I guess, understand that. This group has brought sort of a lot of trouble on themselves. It's Mr. Jeffs practices that have put him into the spotlight. And prosecutors have gone out of their way to say, look, we're not going after these people's religious beliefs. It's when you start marrying these underage girls, depriving them of any meaningful education, raising them in this cult environment where they believe their only work is to be an obedient bride to some polygamist man. And that's where the problem lies. That's where prosecutors are looking at. And that's why they went after Warren Jeffs.
KAGAN: Mike Watkiss with station KTVK in Phoenix. Mike, thank you for putting that story in context for us.
WATKISS: OK.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
We're going to get back to the story on Warren Jeffs on the FBI's 10 most wanted list has now been taken into custody. Have a chance to talk with our own Gary Tuchman who's done a lot of reporting in the region on this story as well.
Also, President Bush is in New Orleans today. There you can see him and Mrs. Bush there at a church in St. Louis. A morning prayer service about to get underway commemorating the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
And speaking of weather, we're still watching Ernesto getting closer to Florida. Who has to watch out? Chad Myers will take a look. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: The markets have been open about an hour. They're struggling on this Tuesday morning. You can see the Dow is down about 30. Apparently some new numbers in on consumer confidence, and that is at a nine-month low. That's bringing the markets down. The Nasdaq also a little bit in negative direction. It is down seven.
All right. This is a Tuesday morning where a lot is happening. First to Indonesia. We're getting word that a major earthquake has hit the eastern part of that country. Magnitude 6.4. An undersea earthquake striking Indonesia's Moluccas (ph) Islands. That happened today. And there is, now we're tracking this, there is a possibility of a tsunami. That's according to an official at the meteorological agency tracking that. A 6.4 magnitude earthquake in the eastern part of Indonesia.
Also today, here in the states, just outside of Las Vegas, Warren Jeffs, a man on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. He is the leader of the fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints. Wanted in Utah and Arizona on suspicion of sexual misconduct for allegedly arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. Basically the leader of this huge polygamist sect in Arizona and Utah. He has been on the run since May. He was captured just outside of Vegas apparently with one of his wives and his brother. A routine traffic stop. A Nevada state trooper caught him.
Also today, we're watching the Gulf Coast. President Bush and Mrs. Bush are there. They are at a church service right now taking place. This is, of course, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
And just to show you that we're keeping our eyes on the current weather situation, also watching Ernesto. Not a hurricane yet, but surely making its way towards Florida. And Chad Myers will be keeping an eye on that and bringing us the latest.
Let's get back to the Warren Jeffs story. Once again, this is a man, a leader of a huge polygamist sect in Arizona and Utah. On the run since May. He faces charges of -- a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution which was in Utah and Arizona. Our own Gary Tuchman has been in that area in Colorado City. Done a lot of reporting.
And, Gary, what did you find when you went to that part of the country, when you were trying to hunt around and get stories on Warren Jeffs?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, this is a huge day for law enforcement. And this is a real moment of truth for them and for Warren Jeffs followers because Jeffs was captured less than 100 miles away from where most of his followers are. His followers lived, about 10,000 of them, in the twin cities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hilldale, Utah, right on the border. And there's a reason they live there. They moved there decades ago because it was an easy place to jump from state to state in case his followers got in trouble in one state or the other.
But the reason it's a moment of truth right now is there's been a lot of concern about law enforcement authority that when this man was caught that there could possibly be Waco-style violence in Colorado City and Hilldale because his followers consider him a prophet. They don't consider him just a man, they consider him a prophet. What he says goes. The people on the police force in Colorado City, Arizona, is believed that they are all followers of his. That they are polygamists. That they don't necessarily abide by the laws of the states of Arizona and Utah and the United States of America, but they abide by Warren Jeffs laws.
So we've been trying to months to interview members of the police force. They won't talk to us. They're very angry at us. They're very hostile at us.
Warren Jeffs has told his followers not to talk to outsiders. So the parts of the stories that we do where we try to get responses from people in a town -- it's our obligation as journalists to try to talk to them -- but it's a very hostile environment. I've never been anywhere in this country, perhaps in other countries, but never anywhere in this country where people are so unhappy to see us and so angry.
It's not like we feel like we're in danger necessarily when we're there, but there are people who follow us. There are people who speed up in their trucks and belch off smoke and dust from their trucks when we drive by. So it's a very intimidating atmosphere.
But the fact is, Jeffs was on the top 10 most wanted list. The same list that Osama bin Laden is currently on. He's been on it for four months. It lists him as a private schoolteacher and as accountant as his occupation. But it's well known that's not what he's been. He's been the man who has dictated every aspect of his followers lives.
If you want to get married, you have to get married by Warren Jeffs. That is the rule. And that's why it's been believed that Warren Jeffs has been traveling. Because marriages are not allowed to take place in his fundamentalist church without him. So it's interesting that he has been caught during a traffic stop.
There were some people who thought that perhaps he was holed up in a compound that was built in the town of Eldorado, Texas. It's very secure. Authorities say they did not want to rush to go into the compound because they were concerned about the possibility of violence. They thought he might be there.
They also thought he could be at one of the compounds the church has built in South Dakota. They also have followers in British Columbia in western Canada and also in Mexico and the state of Cantana Ru (ph), which is near Cancun, Mexico. But the fact that he was caught during a traffic stop is very interesting.
We just got a call -- Daryn, I do want to mention this -- from a viewer a couple of days ago who said she believed after seeing this guys picture on TV so much, that she believes she saw him in an international house of pancakes with some of his wives in Alabama. We kind of thought that sounded funny. That it wasn't likely that he'd pull up in a car and eat there. But now that he was caught in the car, who knows, maybe that's a possibility. But this is a big victory for law enforcement authorities. We do believe it's most likely, we don't know for sure, it's most likely they will try to extradite him to Arizona. Arizona's been the most aggressive in trying to prosecute.
KAGAN: OK, and I do want to ask more questions about that, so can you hang with me a second?
TUCHMAN: Of course, Daryn.
KAGAN: Because we're able to get some more details on exactly how this arrest took place. Because I have on the phone with me right now the spokesman for the Nevada Highway Patrol, Kevin Honea.
Kevin, good morning.
TROOPER KEVIN HONEA, NEVADA HIGHWAY CONTROL: Good morning, thanks for having me.
KAGAN: This is a big get for the Nevada Highway Patrol. Can you tell me how the arrest took place?
HONEA: Well, basically, it's just troopers from the -- and we're technically the Nevada Department of Public Safety. And it was just a routine traffic stop, just heard being explained earlier. Routine traffic...
KAGAN: He ran a stoplight or red light, was speeding, or do you know?
HONEA: It's my understanding it was a temporary registration or a possible registration violation. And just proceeded from there. In running him, the trooper who did the traffic stop recognized him as the fugitive Warren Jeffs, and he verbally confirmed it with our trooper that, yes, he was indeed Warren Jeffs. So went about it that way, involving the FBI field office in Las Vegas and kind of proceeded that way.
KAGAN: And so it was all peaceful? He gave himself up and no problem?
HONEA: That's my understanding. That's my understanding. I have not been alerted to any altercation. I know (AUDIO GAP) immediately had a lot of sergeants, a lot of officers, backing him up on the situation. But it's my understanding that everything went peacefully, yes.
KAGAN: And I don't know if you had a chance to talk with the trooper, but the moment when he's like, whoa, I know who this is.
HONEA: Yes...
KAGAN: I mean, is it when he walks up to the window and sees him or hands over a driver's license? At what moment does he make that connection? HONEA: That -- in all honesty, I can't wait to sit down with him and have a cup of coffee and to find out for myself exactly how this thing went. All I can tell you right now is we can confirm that, yes, this did take place. A lot of the particulars, they're coming in as we speak. It's just been a crazy morning.
KAGAN: I bet. So where is Warren Jeffs now?
HONEA: It's my understanding -- and this has not been confirmed, so -- it's my understanding he's in the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
KAGAN: And I guess the FBI takes over from here?
HONEA: Very much. This is, since he's on the ten most wanted list, I would imagine he will go into federal custody from here. But at this point, it's my understanding he's at just the county lock-up in Las Vegas.
KAGAN: Can you tell me more about this area, where he was, Interstate-15 just north of Vegas?
HONEA: I don't know. It's a pretty remote area. Once you get out of -- once you get northbound out of Las Vegas, it's pretty wide open. There's, of course, the main road, I-15, will take you into Arizona, southern Utah. There's a couple of different highways that you can branch off from. I-15 northbound. The main thoroughfare is I-15 that basically connects California to Arizona, Utah, through Nevada. So, with speculation to where he was going or what he was doing in Las Vegas, I don't have those answers right now.
KAGAN: Got it. Well, Trooper Honea, I tell you what, if you have a chance, the trooper who pulled him over and made the arrest, we'd love to talk to him. Before you buy him that cup of coffee...
HONEA: OK, we'll see what we can do.
KAGAN: ... get him on the phone for us, OK?
HONEA: I know they are -- they're planning press conferences and stuff as we speak. I don't know how this thing is going to unfold. It's just been crazy.
KAGAN: All right. We'll take what we can get. Just had to put the request on there, even if it's on live, national television. Thank you...
HONEA: If you'll have your producers leave me a phone number, we'll do what we can.
KAGAN: We'll -- appreciate that. That's what we call service. Thank you from the Nevada DPS -- Department of Public Safety. Thank you. That's spokesman, Trooper Kevin Honea, giving us the latest on the arrest of Warren Jeffs. We'll have more on the arrest of this man who is on the FBI's ten most wanted list. That's coming up. Also, the latest on this major earthquake that's been felt in the eastern part of Indonesia. What does that mean, in terms of the potential for a tsunami in that part of the world?
President Bush is in New Orleans. We'll be looking at that.
And Ernesto. Florida getting ready, but North and South Carolina might want to be doing the same.
That's all ahead. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We are following two major weather stories. Both Ernesto, which we're going to latest on. Chad, I'm going to let you get started on that. But also, right in the middle of when you're doing that, we probably will be seeing some pictures of what's happening in New Orleans, commemorating what is the one-year anniversary of Katrina.
I don't know if we can hear Chad's microphone. Is just me who can't hear Chad? Chad? Did we try turning on the microphone? OK. We will stand by for that. Chad is going to work on that.
Maybe do we have the live pictures ready to go? All right. Well, this is St. Louis Cathedral -- this is one of the many -- I think I'm hearing Chad now. This is one of the many events taking place today commemorating the one-year anniversary of Katrina. President and Mrs. Bush are in the front row there.
And now we have Chad's microphone. Chad, was it a battery? Did you just forget to turn it on?
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: And these live pictures -- this is New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin at City Hall at one of the events that is commemorating Katrina. The reason they are doing it right now, at this particular time, is commemorating the moment that the first levee broke. Of course, that was just the first of many in what turned into a terrible disaster for the city of New Orleans.
Chad, can you believe it's been a year?
CHAD MYERS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I can. It actually seems like a lot longer than that to me.
KAGAN: It's been a very long year for the folks there.
MYERS: I can imagine, trying to live there, how long it seems just trying to get things cleaned up, the loss of so many friends, people still missing.
KAGAN: Yes, or even people just trying to get back.
MYERS: Right. KAGAN: You know, who just want to go home.
MYERS: They're watching from Houston, Atlanta, Michigan, wherever, and they're -- they want to get home, but they don't have anywhere to go and no place to get to. The houses are just a disaster still.
KAGAN: Want to explain a little bit more what you're going to see on the right side of your screen. This is city hall, the mayor and Mrs. Nagin, they are joined by community leaders. They're going to be ringing ceremonial bells that signify the series of levee breaches that occurred throughout the city. The bells you'll be hearing will ring for two minutes each.
At the same time there are different members of the New Orleans city council he spread out across the city, and they are laying wreaths at those sites where those levees broke as well. We'll get back to that, to the prayer service where you can see Mr. And Mrs. Bush and to the wreath-laying ceremony.
But I also want to get back to our other breaking news story, and that is what is happening in the southwest. You have Nevada involved. You have Utah and Arizona, the apprehension, the arrest of a man on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. Warren Jeffs, leader of this polygamist sect, he was arrested yesterday. He had his one of his wives -- and I stress one of his wives -- with him and his brother with him in Vegas. They were not arrested. He was fleeing a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Our Gary Tuchman has covered that story quite a bit and is still with us on the phone to talk about the significance of this arrest -- Gary.
TUCHMAN: Well, Daryn, it's important to keep in mind that Warren Jeffs wasn't on the list because he's a polygamist. Authorities pledged to us in every state in the southwest where there are a large number of polygamists, that they don't arrest people for polygamy anymore. Last time there was a large scale arrest of the polygamists as in the 1950s. It was a raid that separated families. It caused a lot of heartache and bad public relations. And what they say now is they arrest polygamists who are involved in other crimes, and they allege that Warren Jeffs was involved in sexual assault on minors, was involved in sexual conduct with minors, arranged marriages with his followers with girls under the age of 18, and did it on a large scale, and that's why they wanted to get him.
They are very concerned that there could be violence with this arrest, and that remains to be seen. About 10,000 people live in the hotbed of the FLDS movement, his movement in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hilldale, Utah. These people do not talk to outsiders.
Here is something that's very coincidental. Today, this very day, in Kingman, Arizona, a trial is take place of one of his followers who is alleged to have married a girl under the age of 18. Eight men had recently been arrested. One man was tried about two months ago and found guilty of marrying an underage girl. The second trial is to begin at any moment right now. So some of the people involved with trying to capture Warren Jeffs are In Kingman, Arizona right now, participating in that.
But I can tell you where he was caught, Daryn. It's kind of significant, Interstate 15 north of Las Vegas. That's the way you get to the compound when you fly into Las Vegas. Las Vegas with the largest major airport. Mesquite, Nevada is on Interstate 15, north of Las Vegas. Mesquite is a town where some of his followers live right now.
KAGAN: Yes, because when you hear Vegas, you wouldn't think that somebody who claims to be a fundamentalist would be hanging out in Sin City.
TUCHMAN: No, but you know what, if I wanted to hide, that might be a good place to be, so I wouldn't be so shocked if he was there. But it is important to point out that north of Vegas, it's very isolated and rural. When you drive from the Las Vegas airport, you go through the southeastern part of Nevada, the (INAUDIBLE) of the northwestern part of Arizona into Utah, and you're about 100 miles from Colorado City, so that's the way you get there. But Mesquite is a beautiful town in the desert, but there are some of his followers there, and it's possible that he's been spending time with them there, too.
KAGAN: Well, and this is one case where what happens in Vegas is not going to stay in Vegas. He is going somewhere, either going to Arizona or Utah. And you were saying when we talked to you a few minutes ago, you would bet he goes go to Arizona first. Why is that?
TUCHMAN: I think there's a good possibility, because the state of Arizona has had an investigator living in the town of Colorado city, under great personal risk, because almost everyone in the town is a Warren Jeffs supporter, and they put their lives on the line for this man. This man, this investigator, Gary Engels (ph), he's an investigator from Haby (ph) Country, Arizona, has lived in Colorado City to continue to investigation to try to find Warren Jeffs and trying to find out if other crimes happened there. So Arizona's has been the most involved in trying to track him down. So odds are an extradition would take place in Arizona. But of course he's also wanted in the state of Utah, but my betting is he'll end up in Arizona.
KAGAN: A lot of people interested in talking to him right now.
Gary, thank you. Gary Tuchman on the phone.
Also our Anderson Cooper spent a great deal of time tracking this story and covering this story, and he joins me on the phone right now.
Anderson, you're reaction to hearing about the reaction of Warren Jeffs.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly surprising. I mean, this is something that we've been following for a long time now. There had been really no public indication that authorities were close. A lot of speculation, of course, over the last several months about where Warren Jeffs was. Hilldale, Colorado City, as Gary Tuchman has talked about, also this compound in Texas, which was really perhaps the most remote compound that Warren Jeffs had and really the most difficult for authorities to get to. As Gary was talking about, he was able to go to Colorado City, Arizona and drive around, and you know, he talked about the hostile reception that he received from a lot of people. This compound in Texas, you couldn't even get on the compound.
CNN's Rick Sanchez was in the neighboring town nearby. But there was a gate. It was a large many acre compound that has a huge white temple that was built by Warren Jeffs followers, and that really represented actually departure for Warren Jeffs. Years ago, in his philosophy and the dogma that he sort of developed for the FLDS, they believe that you didn't need a temple in order to communicate with God. You didn't need a temple to get to Heaven. There has been some sort of change in recent years, where he did suddenly decide to build a temple. That had a lot of people raising the eyebrows wondering if this was some sort of end-of-days cult, that they were going to be making a last stand in this temple, and we've all seen the videos taken from helicopters and planes of this sort of large white temple with its steeple sticking out of the Texas brush.
So it's -- clearly there's been an evolution in Warren Jeffs and his philosophy since taking over the FLDS from his father, and, you know, this is the latest chapter. It will be very interesting to see what happens to his other followers. Now who takes the mantle for Warren Jeffs?
KAGAN: There was big -- seems like there's big relief among law enforcement, a number of reporters speculating on this today, that there was concern that this could have ended in a Waco-style situation.
COOPER: Yes, there's been a lot of talk about over the last several months. I mean, no clear evidence either way that that is something that they would have planned. What you heard a lot of people talking about often and the investigator who Gary Tuchman has talked about who's been living in Colorado City has talked about as well, Warren Jeffs has traditionally had a number of bodyguards who followed him all around. A lot of people have heard -- believed that those bodyguard would sort of fight to the death in order to protect Warren Jeffs, a man that they believe is a prophet. And it seems as if this -- he's now been arrested. Doesn't sound like he had a coterie of bodyguard around him. Perhaps he just wanted to keep a large profile, not have a large group of people with him.
KAGAN: Just one of his wives and his brother apparently. And they apparently are not under arrest, but the FBI obviously interested in talking to them.
You know, so much is focusing on the young girls and women who would be victims here. But also there's a group of boys, just tragic, as they were cast away from the families.
COOPER: Well, it's interesting. They're called the "Lost Boys," and it's a grouping of young men, many of them who were cast out as teenagers, some of them fled on their own. Basically there is a limited number of women in Warren Jeffs sect. There are more men than there are women. And since you're supposed to take multiple wives, Warren Jeffs has the power to reassign women to the men that he wants them to be married to. And so he would reward older members of the sect with young women, and if they were in maybe they had a boyfriend, a young boyfriend, he would cast out that young man from the sect in order to make room basically so that this young woman could marry an older man.
So there's -- in Salt Lake City, throughout Utah, there are several hundred of these young men now who have been cast out and really can't have any connection to their families, to their loved ones. Their viewed as unholy, unclean. In some cases, they're literally driven to the highway and just told to find their own way, to Salt Lake or wherever they were going to go. It is a really a tragic story. There are also other husbands who have been literally pushed out and had their wives resigned to them. Had their kids taken away from them. It's a bizarre thing and hard to imagine it can happen in the United States in this day and age.
KAGAN: Strange story indeed. He is now in custody, Warren Jeffs.
Anderson, thank you. Anderson Cooper on the phone.
Anderson will, I'm sure, have more on his show later today -- tonight actually. Also more on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Yes, today. And they're commemorating it in New Orleans and up and down the Gulf Coast, where President Bush is in town, and he's live right now. You can watch this on pipeline, visiting the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, a prayer service commemorating what has taken place and those who lost the lives, and the recovery of that is still to come.
CNN.com/pipeline. You watch the continuous stream of that prayer service as it goes on. More on that ahead.
Also the good grades and the bad, and the incompletes. We'll talk with a woman on the front line of the Katrina recovery effort from both a personal and professional standpoint, coming up.
And John Karr no longer facing charges in the JonBenet murder case. He still, though, is not a free man. His story ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Number of live events. Well, here's a live event. I'll get to my live events on the Gulf Coast in a second. We have first the markets. They've been open about an hour and a half. Let's just round it up there. An hour and a half. Kind of a funky day on Wall Street. Investors not happy. There's new consumer confidence numbers out. They're at a nine-month low. You can see the Dow is down 30 points, and the Nasdaq is making its way downward, as well. It is down ten points. Now to the live events. I got ahead of myself there. This is New Orleans. This is the St. Louis Cathedral right there in the front row. President and Mrs. Bush, they are attending this prayer service in commemoration of the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Just one of the many live events taking place up and down the Gulf Coast today.
Let's give you some perspective here on where New Orleans stands one year after Katrina. Tourism is the lifeblood of the city's economy, yet the all important convention trade is just half what it was before the storm. Similarly, just about half of the city's restaurants have reopened and only 17 percent of the city's buses are running.
St. Bernard Parish is struggling. According to one report, no hospitals or libraries there have reopened, and only 7 percent of the schools in the parish have resumed classes.
A Katrina report card a year after the storm. What's been done, what's still on the to-do list, and what's the story with all the money? Joining me now, Donna Brazile. She's on the board of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. We should also mention, a CNN contributor, a New Orleans native, a daughter and sister tied to many people in the region.
DONNA BRAZILE, LOUISIANA RECOVERY AUTHORITY: Absolutely.
KAGAN: Did I cover it well there?
BRAZILE: You did. I am a native, and I care deeply about the progress that's being made. And I'm also very concerned, as anyone would be, with some of the problems that still exist. But, you know, I'm an optimist, and I do believe that help is on the way. There is a great deal of money in the federal pipeline that is now being delivered to the state and will be delivered to those parishes so that we can get the infrastructure back up.
KAGAN: Yes, let's talk about the money. Because, I mean, as a taxpayer, you look and you go, whoa, that is a lot of money, over $100 billion allocated to this area. And yet if talk to individual homeowners, they're saying where is the money? Why the trouble in getting the money into the hands of people who really need it, do you think?
BRAZILE: Well, first of all, it's $110 billion over five states and three major hurricanes that hit the region last year. So it's not just Hurricane Katrina, it's Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Wilma. That's the first thing. But the second thing is that the bulk of the early money was on providing rental assistance, housing assistance, to individuals. A lot of money was wasted on some of the FEMA trailers that could not be placed in the flood zone. A lot of money was given to sole source contractors.
But, you know, now we have resources in the pipeline, both in Louisiana and Mississippi, to give directly to homeowners. Up to $150,000 to replace their homes, to rebuild their homes, to repair, or even relocate within their respective states. So we have resources available to help Mayor Nagin and other parish leaders to remove some of the debris that Soledad talked about earlier this morning. We have money for the infrastructures to be rebuilt, the water and sewer systems. Six billion dollars spent to repair 220 miles of levees.
There's a lot of work to be done. I would like to see more work done in terms of bringing back affordable housing, renters, so they can come back. And I would also like to make sure we get some of the offshore revenue so that we can rebuild our coastal wetlands. That is the number one way to protect that region from future storms.
KAGAN: We're going to get to some of the future challenges in just a second. One of the things that really, really worked in the wake of Katrina and Rita and these other storms you're talking about, the way we saw America come together.
BRAZILE: Absolutely.
KAGAN: Probably in a way that you and I have never seen in our lifetime.
BRAZILE: That's correct.
KAGAN: We didn't experience World War II and other times when the nation would have had a chance to come together. And, you know, you're a good representation of this. You came forward, Donna, and said, this is my country -- this not just my country, but this is my place. This is where I come from, I want to help. And you've been very purposeful in not making this a political battle.
BRAZILE: You know, it was -- for me, it's been a test of a lifetime. My entire family...
KAGAN: Your dad.
BRAZILE: My dad, my sister Sheila (ph). I get emotional when I think about my family. It's been painful to watch them struggle to get their lives. They lost everything. Not just their homes, their livelihoods, their schools, their jobs. Everything. And yet, they have faith. And, you know, I'm grateful to people that just reached out and helped us and helped my family.
KAGAN: From some of the most powerful people in the country to just everyday people, you got to experience that.
BRAZILE: Well, I reached out to my former boss Al Gore. He was going down on the airplane, and I said please go find my daddy. I reached out to reporters down there. I said, bring them water. I reached out to President Bush, former President Bush. I reached out to former President Bill Clinton. I reached out to everyone and you know what?
KAGAN: To Condi Rice.
BRAZILE: I've had dinner with her several times, and said, look, we need the foreign aid to go down into Louisiana to help rebuild our schools. And Margaret Spelling last week announced $16 million will go to rebuild the schools.
This has been a very personal test of everyone. And what I love most about the American people -- because we can talk about politicians, we can talk about all of the political leaders and the posturing, but you know what? It's the everyday American who just sent their debit card or sent, you know, clothes and sent resources. They're the real heroes. The unsung heroes are those men and women who got in boats and just went down and saved people, literally, without being told what to do. Those are the people I say thank you, and those are the people that we have to appreciate today.
But I also want to talk about some other people, and they're the people who have perished. We lost, as you well know, 1,700 Americans in this storm. Some, of course, like my uncle, who was in an attic for four days, a World War veteran, he was rescued, taken to Roswell, Georgia. And his dying wish, Uncle Buck (ph), was to go back home to Louisiana and die.
So, let me just say, this has been a very tough period for the country, for the Gulf Coast. But we're grateful that the American people has stuck with us.
KAGAN: What needs to be said now that people don't forget?
BRAZILE: Well, you know, it's going to take a long time for the city to come back. In addition to all the things we have to do, get the schools reopened, get the electricity back on, get all of the cultural institutions -- bring the jobs back, get the port running 100 percent. Get the housing fixed and repaired, get the debris removed.
This is an "all hands on deck," and I know what we need to do is make sure that all of the parishes are planning appropriately so that we can get the resources. We have the money for -- to remove the debris. We have the money to rebuild these hospitals.
Let's work together. Let's spend the money wisely. This is no time to waste money. It's time for everybody to come back together.
KAGAN: I know you've done some incredible things with your life, starting with, let's say, run a presidential campaign. That was a pretty good accomplishment. But do you think being involved in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, do you think you've really found your life purpose about what you'll be spending your time doing?
BRAZILE: Oh, Daryn, there's no question. Until every member of my family, as well as my self, can go back home and sit on the front porch and have a Snowball in the summertime, or sit there and wait for the crawfish season to begin so we can have some crawfish etouffee, until we can go back and make gumbo the way we love to make it, with all of the homegrown spices and ingredients, we will always remember this is our home and this place should be rebuilt.
KAGAN: We wish you well.
And I want to mention that Donna has written a very personal piece talking about what her family went through, what it was like for her, and what they face now. You really get a picture of what these families faced by just looking into Donna's family. It's in "Vanity Fair" magazine.
And thank you for sharing that and thank you for sharing your time. We wish you and your family well.
BRAZILE: Thank you.
KAGAN: Thank you.
Donna Brazile.
Thank you, Donna.
BRAZILE: Thank you.
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