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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Karla Brandau
Aired March 15, 2003 - 09:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: Did religion play a part in the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart? The man accused in her abduction claims to be a Mormon and the Messiah.
Joining us is Karla Brandau, who is the director of public affairs for the Atlanta area Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
And I want to welcome you this morning. Thanks for being here.
KARLA BRANDAU, CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
NEVILLE: OK, so Brian David Mitchell, he had been excommunicated from the Mormon Church. Did that have any significance in his mindset and what happened here?
BRANDAU: Any significance at all in being excommunicated, the statement that we have on him is that he was excommunicated, and so we're not at liberty to discuss a lot of that, because those are private issues, and so I don't have the details on that excommunication.
NEVILLE: But this man claims to be the Messiah. He's Emanuel. So again...
BRANDAU: Right.
NEVILLE: ... trying to get into his head, and turn -- his religious head, that is...
BRANDAU: Right.
NEVILLE: ... you know, I'm not sure, help me understand, because I don't know much about the Mormon Church, and I'm certainly not necessarily making a correlation that, in fact, because he was or had been a Mormon, that is, in fact, why he went off the deep end. I'm not saying that.
BRANDAU: Right.
NEVILLE: Just trying to understand something about this man's head.
BRANDAU: Well, the man evidently did go off the deep end, because, you know, all of us want to be as Christlike as we can, but to say you're Emanuel or to assume that you're God in Christ is way off the teachings.
NEVILLE: Now, he claimed, Mitchell claims to be a polygamist. Again, is that something -- now, is that still practiced in the Mormon Church?
BRANDAU: Oh, no. No, not at all. There were a few leaders of the church and members that practiced that in the late 1900s. But in 1890, Wilfred Woodruff, who was the president of the church at that time, received a revelation that we were not to practice that anymore. And it has not been practiced. And if you do practice it now, you are excommunicated.
NEVILLE: But, I mean, once again, that was certainly sort of a doctrine that was sort of ingrained in his mind, in Mitchell's mind, and here he is in 2003 trying to carry that out.
BRANDAU: That could be. That could be. But it's still not associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at this time.
NEVILLE: Of course, of course.
And again, Elizabeth Smart, their family is also Mormon.
BRANDAU: Yes, they are.
NEVILLE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all of the stories in just regular conversations at the dinner table, people are talking about the faith and how it helped her and the family get through.
If you could tell me basically the basic beliefs of the Mormon Church, and not get too technical on me here.
BRANDAU: Right. Well, our basic belief is in God the Eternal Father and in his son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. And we do believe that families are eternal, that we lived with our father in heaven before we came here to this earth. And that as we progress through earth, families are here to help us, to strengthen us, to encourage us. And that we can live with our families in the afterlife. So they're very, very important to us.
NEVILLE: And I'd imagine polygamy would be the biggest myth at this point, misbelief, of what goes on in the Mormon Church?
BRANDAU: Right, yes, that could be said.
NEVILLE: I see, I see. OK, well, listen, Karla Brandau, thank you very much for stopping by and trying to help us make some sort of sense of that tragedy that happened. But thankfully, Elizabeth Smart is back home and safe/.
BRANDAU: Oh, we're so grateful too.
NEVILLE: Of course.
BRANDAU: Thank you very much. NEVILLE: Thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 15, 2003 - 09:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: Did religion play a part in the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart? The man accused in her abduction claims to be a Mormon and the Messiah.
Joining us is Karla Brandau, who is the director of public affairs for the Atlanta area Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
And I want to welcome you this morning. Thanks for being here.
KARLA BRANDAU, CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
NEVILLE: OK, so Brian David Mitchell, he had been excommunicated from the Mormon Church. Did that have any significance in his mindset and what happened here?
BRANDAU: Any significance at all in being excommunicated, the statement that we have on him is that he was excommunicated, and so we're not at liberty to discuss a lot of that, because those are private issues, and so I don't have the details on that excommunication.
NEVILLE: But this man claims to be the Messiah. He's Emanuel. So again...
BRANDAU: Right.
NEVILLE: ... trying to get into his head, and turn -- his religious head, that is...
BRANDAU: Right.
NEVILLE: ... you know, I'm not sure, help me understand, because I don't know much about the Mormon Church, and I'm certainly not necessarily making a correlation that, in fact, because he was or had been a Mormon, that is, in fact, why he went off the deep end. I'm not saying that.
BRANDAU: Right.
NEVILLE: Just trying to understand something about this man's head.
BRANDAU: Well, the man evidently did go off the deep end, because, you know, all of us want to be as Christlike as we can, but to say you're Emanuel or to assume that you're God in Christ is way off the teachings.
NEVILLE: Now, he claimed, Mitchell claims to be a polygamist. Again, is that something -- now, is that still practiced in the Mormon Church?
BRANDAU: Oh, no. No, not at all. There were a few leaders of the church and members that practiced that in the late 1900s. But in 1890, Wilfred Woodruff, who was the president of the church at that time, received a revelation that we were not to practice that anymore. And it has not been practiced. And if you do practice it now, you are excommunicated.
NEVILLE: But, I mean, once again, that was certainly sort of a doctrine that was sort of ingrained in his mind, in Mitchell's mind, and here he is in 2003 trying to carry that out.
BRANDAU: That could be. That could be. But it's still not associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at this time.
NEVILLE: Of course, of course.
And again, Elizabeth Smart, their family is also Mormon.
BRANDAU: Yes, they are.
NEVILLE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all of the stories in just regular conversations at the dinner table, people are talking about the faith and how it helped her and the family get through.
If you could tell me basically the basic beliefs of the Mormon Church, and not get too technical on me here.
BRANDAU: Right. Well, our basic belief is in God the Eternal Father and in his son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. And we do believe that families are eternal, that we lived with our father in heaven before we came here to this earth. And that as we progress through earth, families are here to help us, to strengthen us, to encourage us. And that we can live with our families in the afterlife. So they're very, very important to us.
NEVILLE: And I'd imagine polygamy would be the biggest myth at this point, misbelief, of what goes on in the Mormon Church?
BRANDAU: Right, yes, that could be said.
NEVILLE: I see, I see. OK, well, listen, Karla Brandau, thank you very much for stopping by and trying to help us make some sort of sense of that tragedy that happened. But thankfully, Elizabeth Smart is back home and safe/.
BRANDAU: Oh, we're so grateful too.
NEVILLE: Of course.
BRANDAU: Thank you very much. NEVILLE: Thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
