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Paula Zahn Now
Iran Refuses to Shut Down Nuclear Program; New Cancer Treatment Discovered?; Polygamist Leader Heads to Utah
Aired August 31, 2006 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you for joining us on a busy news day that has seen major developments in one of this year's most important top stories, the looming showdown over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Here's the very latest.
Today was the deadline for Iran to shut down its nuclear programs. A brand-new report handed to the United Nations confirms that they are still going ahead.
The United States immediately started pressing the U.N. Security Council to follow through on its threat to impose sanctions on Iran. That debate could start in a matter of weeks. Iran's President Ahmadinejad says his country won't be bullied and won't yield to pressure. President Bush himself was applying more of that pressure today in a speech to the American Legion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Iranian regime denies basic human rights to millions of its people. And the Iranian regime is pursuing nuclear weapons, in open defiance of its international obligations. There must be consequences for Iran's defiance, and we must not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: With Iran the focus of world attention tonight, let's go right to Tehran now and one of the few Western reporters covering the story from inside Iran, CNN's Aneesh Raman -- Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Iranian officials are set to travel to Europe next week to try and jump-start a new round of talks. Despite the U.N. deadline, in Tehran tonight, there's no sense that the clock has run out yet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN (voice-over): Defiant to the end, Iran's president, speaking this morning to huge crowds in northwest Iran, left no doubt, his country will not suspend its nuclear program.
"This nation," he said, "will not tolerate tyranny and will not give in to a cruel pressure and violation of its rights, even a bit."
People in this agricultural region are some of Ahmadinejad's strongest supporters, cheering every phrase. Here, for some, he is a hero. And they reveled in their president's continued challenge to debate U.S. President Bush.
"They say they want the public to know all the news and facts," he says, "and decide for themselves. But, when we offered to debate the world's problems and corruption, and let the world judge for themselves, they rejected."
But it is Iran's rejection of the U.N. deadline to stop its nuclear program that matters today. And, in Tehran, as shops open for business, despite fears of business going down, of sanctions, here, as well, there was defiance.
"We have undergone sanctions for 27 years," says Hossain. "We are not afraid of sanctions. Iranians can live off of bite of bread and live in cramped dwellings."
There are many here who do fear sanctions outright. And, while today's deadline was big news in Iran, Iranians have known this day was coming, have known they can do little to affect their government's choices.
Mojtaba Vahedi runs a reformist newspaper here.
MOJTABA VAHEDI, NEWSPAPER OWNER (through translator): A better response from Iran was possible by opening this issue up to the public and using independent experts, like former reformist officials.
RAMAN: That did not happen. And now Iranians can only hope against the worst.
"If a military invasion against Iran is a possibility," says Bahram, "it's to the Iranians' benefit to resolve the problem peacefully."
A military invasion is not seen as something that will come any time soon, but Iran's government has made it clear, through war games that have been on going for weeks now, that it will defend against any attack.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN: John, a big issue for Iran tonight is the report by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, which does raise some serious questions. Iranian officials haven't answered them. Instead, they have said the entire report is illegal -- John.
ROBERTS: Aneesh, how far does it appear Iranian officials are willing to push this whole thing?
RAMAN: It does not seem that there is any deal that can be in the works to get Iran to suspend its nuclear program. They have seized upon the fact that the U.N. has not found credible evidence of a weapons program here. And keep in mind, as well, Iranian officials are using this issue as a platform for defiance against the West, against the United States, to shore up support in the broader Muslim world. They are profiting from this defiance on the Muslim street -- John.
ROBERTS: Aneesh Raman, watching the story for us from inside Iran, one of just a handful of Western reporters who are inside the country.
Just a bit early, a "Top Story" panel, former U.N. chief weapons inspector David Kay and Islam analyst Vali Nasr of the Center for Contemporary Politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALI NASR, CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY POLITICS: Well, Iran had all -- all along said that it was not going to suspend enrichment as a precondition for talks, and it was not going to abide by the U.N. demands.
Now, its strategy is to try to hold -- to separate China and Russia from the United States and Europe in the Security Council, and, then, also by keeping a brave face, and, through military exercises the like, try to create a deterrence to possible U.S. military action against Iran.
ROBERTS: David Kay, Iran insists that its enrichment program is simply for peaceful purposes, for generating power. The White House insists it's pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Is there any way to really know what Iran's true intentions are here?
DAVID KAY, FORMER CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Well, they're certainly not, with the intelligence capability that we have.
What we're dealing with is that point in the nuclear cycle where everything you do that could be rolled into a peaceful program is very relevant, if, in fact, you were to decide to go ahead with a military program.
ROBERTS: Vali Nasr, what kind of a position is Iran in, in taking the defiant stance against the United Nations, particularly in the aftermath of the war between Israel and Hezbollah?
NASR: Well, they believe they have a strong position, because the United States is bogged down in Iraq. Lebanon war did not produce a convincing victory for Israel, and they think there might not be appetite for military action.
And they also think, with high oil prices, and where Russia and China have been standing on -- on the issue of -- of the sanctions against Iran, that it might even have a good chance to -- to avoid harsh punishment at the United Nations as well.
ROBERTS: Do -- do you think that Iran believes that all it needs to do is stand up to the United States, continue to stand up to the United States, and, as opposed to Iran caving, the U.S. will finally cave?
NASR: Well, there is a perception in Iran that, whenever they have talked tough and taken a tough stand, they have got better deals than when they have been conciliatory.
ROBERTS: David Kay, John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, this afternoon, talked about Iran producing uranium metal, and saying that the only use for uranium metal was for nuclear weapons. Do -- do we know if Iran is producing uranium metal? And -- and is that statement true, that that would be the only use for it?
KAY: The most obvious use for uranium, to take it to the metal form, is in weapons production. It's not the only one. There are other things, other reasons to do it.
ROBERTS: So, is the U.S. rhetoric getting ahead of the reality here?
KAY: Well, I'm afraid this has been all the way, and maybe not the reality, but what we have as proven intelligence.
Look, intelligence is almost always ambiguous. And you reach a conclusion by looking at the context. This context, you have Iran with 18 years of self-admitted cheating on its nonproliferation obligations, a failure to answer all the IAEA's questions, and a leader who makes the most fanatical statements.
So, in fact, that's driving people to reach conclusions for which there probably are not clear, undisputable facts at this point in time.
ROBERTS: President Bush says he wants to pursue the diplomatic track, but he hasn't taken military action off the table. From what you know of Iran's nuclear facilities, could a U.S. military strike, probably an airstrike, I -- I would imagine, could it be effective at -- at neutralizing or degrading those capabilities?
KAY: I wouldn't say the U.S. couldn't do it. I think it would be a very expensive -- on the first move, very expensive step. And, then, you have got to worry about, what's the reaction? How do you feel about $150-a-barrel oil? How about the reaction in the rest of the Middle East?
ROBERTS: Yes.
Vali Nasr, on that point, what would the reaction be in the Muslim world if the United States were to attack Iran?
NASR: Well, the action would be anger and unhappiness, particularly if the -- if the -- if the attacks are inconclusive.
There's always also the possibility that, once you attack Iran, then, all the gloves are off. The Iranians may retaliate in other places, which then will force the U.S. to take additional actions. And we could see a cascade of conflicts in the region that would make life very difficult for the West.
ROBERTS: Vali Nasr, David Kay, good to talk with you. Thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.
KAY: OK.
NASR: Thank you.
KAY: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Another "Top Story" we're following tonight, the saga of a man who used to be on the country's most wanted list.
Stay with us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Going back, come what may -- polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is on his way back to Utah to face criminal charges. And a one-time follower explains why she's going back to the secretive sect that she once fled.
Plus: what could be a major victory in the fight against cancer -- a pioneering doctor's breakthrough gets the body's own defense system to attack and kill tumors -- all that and more when we continue.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Another "Top Story" we're following tonight: the capture of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. We got our first close look at him today during a quick, but important court appearance -- coming up, where Jeffs goes next and the charges that he will face.
Our "Top Story" coverage moves to terror and politics. In Iraq today, bombers killed at least 45 people in Baghdad, and wounded 160. Just this week, more than 250 Iraqis have been killed.
And, even as people were dying in Baghdad today, President Bush made the first in a series of speeches around the United States, designed to win back support for the war in Iraq by tying it to the war on terror -- a tough mission, with midterm elections just over two months away, as he faces declining public support, more vocal opposition from Democrats, and new opposition from some people in his own party.
Here's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, part of the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's a familiar strategy: When faced with public discontent over the Iraq war and an election on the horizon, launch a new P.R. blitz.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The security of the civilized world depends on victory in the war on terror, and that depends on victory in Iraq. So, the United States of America will not leave until victory is achieved.
(APPLAUSE)
MALVEAUX: Some of those words, we have heard before. But now the president is testing out new themes on doubtful Americans, who increasingly believe the war in Iraq is a distraction to the overall war on terror.
BUSH: You have seen this kind of enemy before. They are successors to fascists, to Nazis, to communists, and other totalitarians of the 20th century.
MALVEAUX: The president signaling to voters, this is a crucial moment in global history, and not just a distant skirmish.
ROBERT DALLEK, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: This is more of -- the president's use of this rhetoric is more a kind of political shorthand for reaching out to American voters in the coming November elections, to speak to them in ways that will be understandable, that will generate support for the White House.
MALVEAUX: Mr. Bush also framed the war in Iraq in terms that would generate support from veterans and older Americans, people who are more likely to vote in the upcoming midterm elections.
BUSH: Victory in Iraq will be difficult, and it will require more sacrifice. The fighting there can be as fierce as it was at Omaha Beach or Guadalcanal. And victory is as important as it was in those earlier battles.
MALVEAUX: With the five-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks days away, and the midterm elections less than two months later, the stakes are that much higher for Mr. Bush and his party, as he tries to tie the war in Iraq to Americans' personal safety.
BUSH: You can decide to stop fighting the terrorists in Iraq and other parts of the world, but they will not decide to stop fighting us.
MALVEAUX (on camera): The president says that these speeches are not about politics. But, arguably, 10 weeks away from the midterm elections, everything is politics.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: So, will the president be able to make his case that winning the war in Iraq is essential to the battle against terrorism?
Joining me now to talk about that, two people on opposite sides of this debate, Paul Glastris -- he's the editor in chief of "Washington Monthly" -- and Republican strategist Rich Galen, who is the publisher of Mullings.com.
Rich Galen, let's start with you.
We have heard President Bush, for the last couple of years, say that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror. Why is it any different this time around?
RICH GALEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, don't think it is any different.
But I do think -- is that this White House, until recently, with the -- the change-out in -- in press secretaries, from -- to Tony Snow, I don't think has done a very good job in -- in making sure that that message gets out on a regularized basis. And Paul knows this better than the -- the other two of us. I mean, he was a speechwriter for -- for Bill Clinton.
Clinton had a -- an extraordinarily good group of people all the way through his two terms, people like Josh King and Doug Sosnik, communications director, and -- and the speechwriting crew.
So, the -- the White House has an obligation to frame the national debate. And I don't think that this White House, up until the last couple of weeks or so, has done a very good job doing that.
ROBERTS: Right.
Now, the president said earlier today that these speeches were not political in nature. He -- he almost smirked a little bit when he said that.
And let's take a quick listen to what he said today, when he was speaking before a crowd. It was a -- a -- a public event, a political event, for Orrin Hatch. Let's take a listen to what the president said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: This is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century. Some would like to assign this war to something as -- something as simple as law enforcement. That shows a lack of understanding of the nature of the enemy.
You know, the tendency in any difficult situation is for some to want to forget the lessons, put the past behind, and think about a -- a more comforting future. And I can understand that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, Rich Glastris -- Paul Glastris, I mean -- there was -- there was a remarkable sense of deja vu when I heard those words today, because they sounded almost identical to what the president was saying during the 2004 campaign, when he was trying to paint John Kerry as soft on terror. So, can it be said that these are not political speeches?
PAUL GLASTRIS, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "THE WASHINGTON MONTHLY": No. They're -- they're clearly political speeches. It's a tough political row to hoe.
Rich said that the Clinton White House did a better job than the Bush White House has been doing. But the Clinton White House had a good story, had good facts behind it. The president -- America won the Kosovo war. America, alas, is losing the Iraq war.
So -- so, this is a very uphill battle for -- for the president and his staff. And -- and it's -- I don't -- Rich knows that, in -- in 2004, the president was able to make this argument that the war on terror and the war in Iraq were the same.
ROBERTS: Mmm-hmm.
GLASTRIS: That's no longer the case, that -- the American public has disengaged. The majority of the public now, unlike 2004, does not think that -- that the war in Iraq is part of the war on terror.
GALEN: Well, you know...
GLASTRIS: And they're trying to fuse that.
GALEN: You know, back at this point, Paul, in 1998, I was running a thing called GOPAC, which was Gingrich's PAC. And -- and, coming out of the August election, I can remember that -- that we were rubbing our hands together with glee. Boy, we had you guys on the run. It was going to -- guess what? We lost five seats.
It's a long way to go between now and then, because, when you guys came back after the August break, you got your legs under you, and you -- you -- you took us to the cleaners. So, there's a long way to go, in terms of making -- making these points.
And one of the things the Democrats have not been able to do -- and the time for this, I believe, is short -- is, it's one thing for Ned Lamont and Al Sharpton and -- and MoveOn.org to say, get out of Iraq, get out of Iraq, but -- but somebody has got to say, and then this will happen.
ROBERTS: Well -- well, what...
GALEN: And nobody has -- nobody has been able to really articulate that on the Democratic side.
ROBERTS: Well, what about that, Paul?
Can the Democrats just sit back and -- and -- and watch the -- the Republicans get pummeled over Iraq? Or do they have to articulate an alternative plan before November?
GLASTRIS: I don't think they do, frankly. I wish they would, but I don't think they need to, to win. If this were a presidential election, and you had a visionary leader, who the public was waiting for to provide a strategy for victory, I think that would be true.
But, in a midterm election -- midterm elections, like it or not, are referendums on the politicians in power. All Democrats have to be able to say is, if you like what's happening in Iraq, vote Republican.
ROBERTS: Hey, Rich, Rich, Rich, we're running out of time here, but I wanted to ask you this -- this one question.
Some Republican strategists who I talked to back in the spring, when the president was talking up Iraq, said, you know, it's already too late. We believe that people have -- have made up their minds. Is anybody listening to the president anymore?
GALEN: Well, they will, as we get closer to the election.
Most people, unlike folks watching us tonight and people like us, who -- who -- who watch us very closely, the -- the huge majority of the voting public will begin to tune in starting some time in the next few weeks. That's why we say right after Labor Day begins the campaign season.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we will see if it's effective.
Rich Galen, Paul Glastris, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.
GALEN: Nice to be with you.
GLASTRIS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Tropical Storm Ernesto is our next "Top Story."
The storm seemed to be on the way to dying, after it crossed over the Florida Panhandle, but it has picked up strength offshore, on the verge now of becoming a hurricane, just about to make landfall in the Carolinas.
Maximum sustained winds are 70 miles an hour.
Keith Oppenheim is in Charleston, South Carolina, and joins me live now.
What does it look like there now, Keith?
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's unusually quiet here, John.
The expectation was that, here in the city of Charleston, Ernesto would create a major rain event. As you can see behind me, the city is kind of coming back to life.
And, just for some context, over here is an open-air market called The Market. And that structure was nearly completely under water back in 1989, when Hurricane Hugo came here. But Hugo and Ernesto are very different systems, not that much rain here. If we take a look at some video, you can see that there was flooding in certain parts of this city, and certainly some inconvenience.
But the trouble may be yet to come. Ernesto, according to our weather experts at CNN, is going to hit the South Carolina-North Carolina border a little bit southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, in about an hour. And the trouble, when you get into the central Carolinas, into the middle of the state, is that, as the rain falls on the mountains, it just goes into streams and rivers, and can really cause some significant flooding there.
So, overall, there's just a great sigh of relief here in Charleston. And people are getting back to basically dining and enjoying the evening -- back to you.
ROBERTS: You know, the -- the winds are up just below hurricane strength now -- and, as Max Mayfield from the Hurricane Center, has told us, very little difference between tropical storm strength and the lowest hurricane strength.
Along the -- the Outer Banks, the Cape Hatteras seashore there, which took such a bad hit from Hurricane Isabel, are they worried that there could be more beach erosion there?
OPPENHEIM: There's always a concern about beach erosion.
And you're right. The difference between a tropical storm, a strong tropical storm, and a hurricane 1 is really minor, especially when you talk about the combination of rain and water that can come from a system like that.
Overall, I think that we're still looking at a couple of days of potential trouble, when it comes to the rain event that's -- we're still waiting from Ernesto.
ROBERTS: Right, the predictions of upwards of five inches, and perhaps, in some places, 10 inches.
Keith Oppenheim, thanks very much. Appreciate it.
Now Melissa Long is in our Pipeline studio with the latest on a much more powerful storm that has made...
MELISSA LONG, CNN PIPELINE: Mmm-hmm.
ROBERTS: ... tonight's CNN.com countdown.
Hey, Melissa.
LONG: Hello, John.
And more than 21 million people went to our Web site today. Many did want to read, as you mentioned, about Hurricane John, number 10 on the list tonight. That storm is moving up Mexico's Pacific coastline, has been downgraded to a Category 2, with sustained winds of 105 miles an hour. The Mexican government has ordered 15,000 people in Baja California to evacuate. This storm is expected to reach land some time tomorrow.
A story from Illinois, number nine tonight -- a judge has sentenced 18-year-old Sarah Kolb to 53 years in prison for murdering a high school classmate and covering up that crime.
And number eight: Israeli commandos stormed the British Embassy in Tel Aviv to capture an armed Palestinian man who got into the compound and threatened to shoot himself if Britain did not grant him political asylum.
We will continue the countdown coming up -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Melissa.
LONG: OK.
ROBERTS: We will see you back here a little bit later.
Earlier today, we finally got a good look at the man who has been the subject of a nationwide search. Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs' future remains one of the nation's top stories. We will have the very latest for you in just a minute.
We're also going to take a closer look at one of the most successful tools for catching fugitives, including Warren Jeffs.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Our "Top Story" "Outside the Law" tonight: fugitive polygamist Warren Jeffs in court.
Jeffs was caught this week in a routine traffic stop in Nevada. And, today, he appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom. He declined to fight extradition to Utah, where he will face charges of being an accomplice to rape.
Jeffs leads a community of 10,000 fundamental Mormon followers, who consider him a prophet. Authorities say he has almost total control over those followers.
Ted Rowlands joins me now with the latest developments in Las Vegas from Las Vegas.
And, Ted, Jeffs didn't look much like a prophet in the courtroom today.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, John.
There -- you know, there was a lot of concern about this first court appearance. Would Jeffs recognize the authority of the court? Would his followers show up to try to disrupt the proceedings here? It turns out, a lot of people were very surprised with what they saw, after getting their first real close look at the prophet Warren Jeffs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Under heavy security, polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was brought into a Las Vegas courtroom. He was shackled and wore blue jail-issued clothing. Appearing meek and, at times, confused, Jeffs politely answered questions from the judge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you Warren Jeffs?
WARREN JEFFS, DEFENDANT: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
ROWLANDS: Jeffs, who didn't have an attorney for the short hearing, stood and listened, as the judge explained that he was wanted in both Utah and Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you understand everything I just explained?
JEFFS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. What would you like to do?
JEFFS: Go ahead and be extradited is fine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to waive your rights in regards to extradition and go back as -- as quickly as they can have the -- as they can come pick you up?
JEFFS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
ROWLANDS: Jeffs will be transported to Utah, where he faces two counts of being an accomplice to rape. Prosecutors there say they are ready for him.
RYAN SHAUM, UTAH PROSECUTOR: We have an opportunity now to present our case. We have an opportunity to go forward with the evidence that we believe we have.
ROWLANDS: Jeffs had one unidentified supporter in the courtroom, this man. After the hearing, he was followed by a crowd of journalists, but had nothing to say as he left the courthouse.
Warren Jeffs is believed to have as many as 10,000 loyal followers across the Western United States, Canada, and Mexico. Many of them live in the Colorado City-Hildale area, which is very close to where Jeffs will be held in Utah.
GARY ENGELS, MOHAVE COUNTY, ARIZONA, INVESTIGATOR: I think the community there, you know, the ones that are his loyal followers, are going to stay loyal to him. And they're going to support him. And they will provide him with any amount of money or anything else he needs.
ROWLANDS: Flora Jessop, a former member of the FLDS, says she's concerned about Jeffs' followers and what they may do, with their prophet in jail.
FLORA JESSOP, FMR. FLDS MEMBER: They're going to look at him as a martyr. He's been the one that's wronged. As a child I was taught and they're still teaching these children that law enforcement is our worst enemy and that the streets would run red with the blood of our enemies.
ROWLANDS: So far though there's been little reaction from the secretive communities where, until now, Jeffs has held almost complete authority.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Ted Rowlands, the prosecutors in Utah seem pretty anxious to get Warren Jeffs into a court of law. How much jail time could he face if convicted?
ROWLANDS: Well, the charges that he's facing has a maximum sentence, if convicted, of life in prison. The conviction is going to be the hard part, however. This allegation is that Jeffs did not take part in any type of rape, but rather ordered one of his church members. So he's been charged with rape by association, if you will, and today prosecutors admitted that they have never prosecuted anyone under this Utah law. So clearly their work is just beginning.
ROBERTS: All right, Ted Rowlands for us live from Las Vegas. Ted, thanks very much. We're going to meet Flora Jessop, who you just saw in Ted's piece, in just a moment, first though let's go to Melissa Long for more on our CNN.com countdown tonight, Melissa.
LONG: John, hello once again and number seven tonight, one of your top stories, also a speech we covered live on pipeline today right around the lunch hour, while in Utah the president made a new appeal to stay the course in the war on terrorism. Also warning about the potential threat from Iran, which brings us to number six tonight. Iran defying the U.N. deadline to suspend uranium enrichment and refusing to allow officials to verify that its nuclear program is peaceful.
And number five, veteran actor Glenn Ford has died. He appeared in scores of films, had starring roles in "The Blackboard Jungle," that was 1955, "The Big Heat, "Guilda," way back in 1946, as well as countless westerns. Glenn Ford was 90 and for anybody curious to learn more about his remarkably long career, I went to our website CNN.com, four pages worth of his work on the small screen and the big screen.
ROBERTS: Yes, he was a great actor and certainly part of my history growing up. Melissa thanks. We'll see you a little bit later.
Next in our top story coverage a woman's dramatic visit to one of Warren Jeffs' polygamist communities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mom, please come out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: She fled Warren Jeffs' sect years ago. Stay with us for her emotional return.
Later, how the FBI goes about filling the vacancy that Warren Jeffs capture creates on its most wanted list.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: In this half-hour an in depth look at the FBI's most wanted list. Who gets on it and how amazingly effective it has been.
Also, the top story in medicine, new hope in the fight against one of the deadliest forms of cancer.
At the top of the hour on "LARRY ROBERTS LIVE" much more on the capture of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
More now on our top story, outside the law, the arrest of fugitive polygamist Warren Jeffs. He's now in a Las Vegas jail awaiting extradition to Utah where he'll face charges that he was an accomplice to rape. My next guest says she was raised in Jeff's polygamist community, which is home to some 10,000 people and she managed to escape at the age of 18. Today she went back to Colorado City, Arizona. Joining me now Flora Jessop. Flora, 15 years ago you risked it all to escape from Colorado City. Why go back today?
JESSOP: I came back today to try and find my mother who hasn't been seen by anyone for over a year and a half.
ROBERTS: You were on her doorstep at the front gate of her house, I guess just a little while ago. Tell us what happened then.
JESSOP: Well, they refused to open the gate. They refused to open answer our phone calls. They refused to allow my mother to come out and say anything to her children.
ROBERTS: So you believe your mother is still there, she just hasn't been seen?
JESSOP: Yes.
ROBERTS: What's that all about?
JESSOP: I'm not going away until you come out here.
ROBERTS: Flora why haven't they let her out? JESSOP: That's what this community is. They claim that it's about free choice and yet mothers aren't allowed to see their children, aren't allowed to see their mothers. It's the only town in America where the law that's enforced is slavery.
ROBERTS: Some people say that the FLDS is all about raising children in close knit, old fashioned family values. You say it's more about slavery, though?
JESSOP: Do old fashioned families not allow mothers to see their children?
ROBERTS: Right. What do you think is going on with Warren Jeffs' followers right now that he's in jail and facing extradition to Utah where he will face charges?
JESSOP: Well, where do I think the people are at?
ROBERTS: What do you think's going through their mind right now? Are they upset that he's in jail? Are some of them fearful of what could happen to them if they were ever called to testify against him?
JESSOP: Oh, I don't think they're afraid of whether they would have to testify or not, I just think they wouldn't show up. I think that they're very afraid, and they're very angry because they don't think the law has the right to step in on Warren Jeffs.
ROBERTS: Earlier today you took the media on a tour of a cemetery where you say there are an inordinate number of children buried. What do you think has been going on?
JESSOP: Well, we know that there's a lot of accidents, a lot of children born with birth defects. We don't know the exact causes of all these deaths, and that's something we've been trying to find out. We just know that 60 percent of the graves in this community are children ten and younger.
ROBERTS: When you say accidents, is that accidents legitimately or accidents in quotation marks?
JESSOP: In quotation marks.
ROBERTS: Right. What do you think is going to happen with the FLDS, with that sect, with Colorado city, Hildale, and the other compounds, now that Jeffs is in jail? Will someone else step up to take over?
JESSOP: Yes, if he gets convicted somebody else will definitely step into his place, whether remains in place or whether they just wait for him to get out of his 60-day jail sentence remains to be seen.
ROBERTS: Who do you think would take over? Who are the likely candidates?
JESSOP: Wendall Nelson (ph) or Maryl Jeffs (ph), I believe. ROBERTS: And compared to Warren Jeffs they are?
JESSOP: Worse.
ROBERTS: In what way?
JESSOP: Because they wouldn't do things the way Warren Jeffs did. Warren Jeffs had such an ego that he believed he was untouchable and he acted on that belief and it got him caught.
ROBERTS: Well, Flora Jessop, thanks very much for being with us. We with you look trying to find your mother, appreciate it.
JESSOP: Thank you.
ROBERTS: We'll have more top story coverage in just a few minutes. Right now Melissa Long continues our CNN.com Countdown, Melissa.
LONG: John, a huge break in the investigation into the theft of two of the most famous paintings ever stolen. Police in Norway say they've recovered Edvard Munch's masterpieces, "The Scream" and "Madonna." Masked gunmen took the paintings from the Munch Museum two years ago in Oslo.
And people have been logging on all week to learn more about the new information on the Comair crash. The National Transportation Safety Board says the sole air traffic controller on duty at the time of that crash Sunday morning had been working for more than 14 out of the previous 24 hours and only had two hours sleep between shifts. Forty-nine out of the 50 people on board that flight were killed -- John.
ROBERTS: Melissa, thanks. We'll see you soon.
A turning point in the Warren Jeffs saga came when the FBI put him on its most wanted list. Next in our top story coverage, an in- depth look at the list, who gets on it, and how long they stay.
Also, the stop story in medicine. A doctor's amazing recovery -- or discovery, rather, of a way to train our bodies to fight cancer with our own natural defenses.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Continuing with our top story, "Outside the Law." The arrest of polygamist cult leader Warren Jeffs leaves a vacancy on the most famous top 10 list in the world, the FBI's 10 most wanted. The list has included fugitives from bank robber Willy Sutton back in the 1950s to Osama bin Laden today. So what does it take to make the list? Here's justice correspondent Kelli Arena.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are hundreds of them, fugitives considered armed and extremely dangerous, like Justin Solondz, an alleged eco terrorist and arsonist, or Michael Johnson, wanted for his alleged role in three execution-style murders in New Mexico.
They are among the possible candidates for Warren Jeffs' spot on the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives list.
MICHAEL MASON, FBI EXEC. ASSIST. DIRECTOR: The field offices all know the value of the top 10 list, and they all would like to get their most dangerous person or the criminal that they want the most on the top 10 list.
ARENA: Mike Mason oversees the FBI's criminal division. He says each of the bureau's 56 field offices can submit candidates for the list. A committee at headquarters goes over the choices, and the deputy FBI director gets the final say.
MASON: It has to do with dangerousness, number one, and number two, the likelihood that the publicity is going to increase the probability of their apprehension.
ARENA: True enough, of the 482 fugitives who have made the list since it began in 1950, 453 have been caught, a 94 percent success rate. On average, it takes about 121 days.
But then there's Donald Webb, who allegedly murdered a police chief in Pennsylvania. The FBI's been hunting him for 25 years.
The types of criminals on the list have changed over the years from bank robbers to drug kingpins to terrorists.
MASON: It's a reflection of what society deems is important as well, I mean, because again, there are more bad guys than -- it would take a hundred top 10 lists to put them all on it.
ARENA: Veteran FBI agent Brad Garrett explains the advantages when you're chasing down someone on the top 10.
BRAD GARRETT, FBI AGENT: Particularly when you get a lead of a potential that the person might be in your territory, it's very easy so get help, both from other law enforcement agencies, but there's a certain energy I guess about my, we might find somebody or catch somebody on the top 10 today.
ARENA: Garrett nabbed Mir Amil Kasi in Pakistan in 1997. He was on the top 10 for the politically motivated shooting spree outside CIA headquarters in Virginia.
GARRETT: The reward was substantial, and I think that was the driving force for the sources to give us the correct information.
ARENA (on camera): FBI officials insist that politics has nothing to do with who makes the top 10, and that factors such as race are not involved.
(voice-over): They expect to name the newest addition in the next few weeks, but so far there's no obvious frontrunner. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Not all the best-known fugitives make the list. Those who were never among the top 10 include the mysterious skyjacker D.B. Cooper, Patty Hurst, and the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.
Let's go now back to Melissa Long in Atlanta for more of our CNN.com countdown -- Melissa.
LONG: Hello again, John. We're going to wrap up that list. Tropical Storm Ernesto coming in at number two tonight, expected to make landfall later this evening, and rain bands are just starting to move onto the Carolina coastline. We'll be watching this storm all evening, so do stay with CNN for the very latest.
And number one, a Connecticut attorney is charged with killing a neighbor who he thought had molested his 2-year-old daughter. Police say he stabbed the man after climbing through the window of his home. They're still investigating whether the toddler was actually assaulted -- John.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Melissa. We'll see you again.
Right now, let's take a biz break. It was a slightly down day on Wall Street -- nothing serious, though. Today, the Dow fell almost 2 points. The Nasdaq also dropped almost 2 points, and the S&P just a shade less than a point.
Freddie Mack reported today that mortgage rates dropped again to 6.44 percent for 30-year fixed rates loans. That's the best rate since the beginning of April.
And some good news in our "Crude Awakenings," our daily look at gas prices across the country. The states with today's highest prices are in red, the lowest in green. The average today for unleaded regular is down to $2.78, a virtual bargain there, and the trend keeps going down.
Tonight's top story in medicine gives some cancer victims new hope. Coming up, how a doctor is getting our own bodies to fight cancer without extra drugs, surgery, or radiation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Our top medical story tonight, an amazing step forward in the fight against cancer. Using gene therapy scientists turned immune cells into tumor fighters. A study published today in the Journal "Science" reports the experimental technique saved two men suffering from Melanoma, a deadly skin cancer. Every year 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Melanoma, nearly 8,000 die. In tonight's Vital Signs, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on what may be a revolutionary treatment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA (voice-over): Mark Origer shared the dreams of many fathers I had met, to walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day. But Melanoma almost took that away from him. He was diagnosed with the deadly skin cancer in 1999. After an operation, it went away. But it came back three years later. And by 2004, his doctors in Wisconsin could find nothing that would slow its spread. It moved into his liver.
MARK ORIGER, CANCER SURVIVOR: I was just pretty much devastated when I found out that I did not respond. Right around that time my daughter got engaged and I knew there was going to be a wedding coming up and there was concern. I wanted to be there.
GUPTA: The chance of that happening wasn't very good. But then Mark's dreams intersected with the dreams of a doctor halfway across the country. Dr. Steven Rosenberg is a cancer fighting pioneer at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. When he was a young doctor in Boston, he saw a patient fight off cancer without any treatment.
DR. STEVEN ROSENBERG, CANCER RESEARCHER: It got me to think about the fact that here, this patient's body had learned how to destroy its own cancer and I've spent the last 25 years trying to figure out how to make that happen again.
GUPTA: Not with a knife, or chemotherapy or even radiation, but by reaching deep inside the body and teaching the human immune system to kill cancer all on its own. A remarkable idea and one that doctors put to the test in clinical trials with Mark and other 16 patients diagnosed with Melanoma.
Doctors took some of their immune cells, called lymphosites, the warriors of the immune system and added the genes of a virus that would seek out tumors, attach to them and destroy them. In 15 patients the treatment didn't work, but in two so far the cancer appears to have completely disappeared. Mark was the first. And this week when we met him, more than a year and a half after the treatment, he found out he's still cancer free.
ROSENBERG: Mark, as you know, is one of the first patients to respond to this new treatment. So we're thrilled. I know he is.
ORIGER: Yes. Absolutely.
GUPTA (on camera): How does it feel to be the first?
ORIGER: It feels unique; it does. It feels like quite an honor.
GUPTA (voice-over): Although the approach is still in clinical trials, the results are published in the journal "Science".
ROSENBERG: This is a highly experimental treatment that we've used in only a few patients. But it represents a proof of the principle for the first time, to my knowledge, that you can actually genetically manipulate the human body and cause disease regression. GUPTA: And yes, Mark's other dream also came true, as well. On September 17, 2005, he walked his daughter Katie down the aisle, virtually cancer-free.
ORIGER: It's a celebration, a celebration of life. It's the beginning of my daughter's life, new life, beginning of my new life. I think I shed more tears than anybody.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Washington
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Lucky man. Dr. Rosenberg should know by September 15th if the FDA has approved another clinical trial with an even more powerful gene therapy. He's also looking to expand his treatment to lung cancer, ovarian and prostate cancer. For more information on clinical trials and how that you might qualify for them visit www.ClinicalTrials.gov.
For some people the end of one career is the beginning of another. In tonight's Life After Work Valerie Morris reports on a man who is still keeping the fires very hot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALERIE MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Retirement is a hot commodity for 65-year-old Richard Bush. Bush creates pottery from scratch in his (INAUDIBLE) farm studio in Leesburg, Virginia. He learned his craft by taking classes and workshops in the late '80s.
RICHARD BUSH, POTTER: What started out as just kind of a casual hobby turned into the first kind of a passion and then I have to admit it became kind of an obsession.
MORRIS: Bush worked as a magazine editor for more than 30 years. In 1997 he had a unique opportunity from his company.
BUSH: As luck would have it, I was offered a chance to retire early, and so even got a little bit of a jump start on what had become a bit of a fantasy. The idea was to have a studio and a showroom and a place where people could come and buy things, quite a few things that are new. I make a lot of vases, cylinders that are used for cooling wine, espresso sets, mugs, plates, you name it. I just absolutely love coming downstairs in the morning and rolling out some clay and getting on the wheel.
MORRIS: Bush says you can find him working about seven days a week.
BUSH: When you love what you do you just want to keep doing it as much as you can.
MORRIS: Valerie Morris, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Quite the retirement in quotation marks.
At the top of the hour "LARRY ROBERTS LIVE" focuses on the capture of polygamist Warren Jeffs and how he could fight the charges that he's facing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Before we go one last check of our top weather story tonight. Tropical storm Ernesto is just below hurricane strength, with 70 mile-an-hour sustained winds. It's expected to make land fall within the next hour near Wilmington, North Carolina, expected to dump a lot of rain in the middle Atlantic states.
And that's all for tonight. For Paula Zahn, I'm John Roberts. Thanks very much for joining us. Stay tuned, "LARRY ROBERTS LIVE" starts right now.
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