America's Top Commander on Capitol Hill; New Developments in Polygamist Ranch in Texas
 
ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES
CNN
 
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And, then, still ahead: the ugly secrets of polygamy revealed. Tonight, new details about the chilling call for help from a child bride that led to the raid of a polygamist compound in Texas.

Plus, news about the price of gas that could change your summer plans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: More victims in what may be the largest children's welfare raid in U.S. history.

And with the search for more victims comes new and horrific charges involving the polygamist compound in Texas. Tonight, we know the details of that phone call that triggered the massive investigation.

In a sworn statement, a teenage girl said she was raped and choked by her husband, a man old enough to be her grandfather.

CNN's David Mattingly has the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To the rest of the world, they might look like children. But to the polygamists at this West Texas compound, they are allegedly something else: wives and mothers, some as young as 13 or 14.

The story of one still-missing girl spells out the painful details in black and white. In a call to a family violence center that led authorities to raid the compound, she claims she was wife number seven, married at 15 to a 49-year-old man. She was a mother at 16, with another already on the way.

In a state affidavit, she claims that her husband beat and hurt her, and forced himself on her sexually. She said he punched her in the chest, choked her, while another woman in the house watched and held her baby. Once, the beating was so bad, she said she went to the hospital. The last beating was Easter Sunday.

(on camera) And though she desperately wanted to run away, this girl allegedly said she was being held at the compound against her will, and told that if she tried to run, that she would be caught and locked up.

She actually called the family violence center back, this time in tears, saying that she had also been told that outsiders would force her to cut her hair, wear makeup and have sex with lots of men. She then said to forget about her report.

(voice-over) But state officials raided the compound anyway. Court documents described how investigators found several teenage mothers and pregnant teenage girls. They described a widespread pattern and practice of young girls conditioned to marry and accept sexual activity with adult men. Young boys were expected to marry when they became adults, sometimes to underage girls.

The state decided this places all of the children at the compound, both male and female, to risk of emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse.

MARLEIGH MEISNER, TEXAS CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES: Child Protective Service investigators have now left the ranch, and we are now working on the issues pertaining to these children that are in care.

MATTINGLY: Four hundred sixteen children, ages 17 and under, have been removed from the ranch. But so far, the state has only been able to name 38 mothers or fathers. Many children are described as unwilling or unable to name their biological parents.

Texas authorities believe they now have all the children removed from the ranch. But they have yet to find the girl whose call set off this massive action. State officials have had no comment about her husband.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And David has there been any comment from the compound itself about the allegations?

MATTINGLY: Campbell, a source close to the leadership at the compound tells us tonight that they question the evidence that the state had to go into the compound. They want to know why the state felt like they had the authority to take all of the children, based on the story of this one girl.

Also, the church elder Merrill Jessop was quoted in "The Salt Lake Tribune" today, saying, "The hauling off of women and children makes any -- matches anything in Russia or Germany."

So clearly, they're feeling like they're under attack and that their families have been wronged.

BROWN: All right. CNN's David Mattingly. David, thanks.

Up next, we'll talk with reporter Michael Watkiss, who has been covering the sect for years.

And also ahead, this is not the first time authorities tried to save children from inside a secretive polygamist compound. We're going to tell you about another raid with a much different ending, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: And the creepy song stylings of Warren Jeffs. Right now, 416 children from his sect are in temporary shelters. The state says all were in imminent risk of harm. Texas officials still have not located the one girl who said she was raped and choked by a polygamist husband.

From the new legal documents to the men still inside the ranch, this story is getting bigger and stranger by the day.

For more on the investigation, let's bring in reporter Mike Watkiss now.

And Mike, we're learning more about this girl, the 16-year-old girl who made the phone call that triggered the raid. And she was brought to the ranch about three years ago and became one of several wives to a man who she says forced himself on her sexually, beat her, even broke her ribs and choked her, all of this abuse happening while the other women in the house would take care of her baby.

Is this kind of story common in FLDS?

MIKE WATKISS, KTVK REPORTER: Shocking you would say, right? You know what, I've been reporting on this for a long time, Campbell, and sadly, I'm not a bit shocked. These are stories that we have been telling for better than a decade now. This is so typical of so many stories of the young women who are born into that community.

It's cruel for both the young girls and the boys. The boys are used as slave laborers, and they're cast out. One man can't have eight wives and have an equal number of men and women.

So this thing is -- I wish I were shocked, really, from the bottom of my heart. I wish my reaction was shocked, because it would mean that I'd heard this story for the first time. But we've been reporting on this for so long, hoping that state officials in Utah and Arizona would heed the cry of these girls.

It took a long time. They finally did. It's really what drove Warren Jeffs here so he could continue to practice business as usual, as it has been along the Utah-Arizona border for generations.

BROWN: And, you know, 133 women have voluntarily left the ranch. Are you surprised that they would willingly leave?

WATKISS: No. I mean, I think mothers are mothers, and I think that these women have grown up in that culture. And the one thing that women are told to do, that your role is to be an obedient wife to your assigned polygamist husband and take care of your kids.

So I'm sure that many of these women are very good mothers, and they're here to attend to their kids' needs. They're terrified, like their children are, you know.

But it all comes down to the men. There's a handful of men in this culture that have concocted this cockamamie theology that is made up by men for the benefit of men, that they have utilized through decades and generations to oppress women and children. And it's time we all address this issue and confront guys like Warren Jeffs.

He lives lavishly while his -- many of his followers are impoverished; starving. But they continue to send their daughters and most of their dollars to him because in this theology, he is their only avenue to heaven. They have to appease him, do what he says, because without him, they can't get into the highest realm of heaven, the celestial kingdom. And it's this sort of whammy that has been put on all of their heads for so long.

There's no doubt the people here in Texas have a daunting job to break down the barriers that now exist between them and the kids in there.

BROWN: Right.

WATKISS: But I laud their efforts. It's high time. They had to do this.

BROWN: And David mentioned this just before the break. That Merrill Jessop, the presiding member of the ranch, told the "Salt Lake City Tribune" that -- that, quote, "there needs to be a public outcry that goes far and wide. What's coming we don't know. The hauling off of women and children matches anything in Russia or Germany."

WATKISS: Yes.

BROWN: And these men are obviously upset with the situation, but what are they likely to be doing right now?

WATKISS: Well, they're probably scared. They always send women, usually, out to defend them. You know, these guys are cowards that hide behind their religion and usually have hidden behind their women, who go out and defend the practice.

Merrill Jessop, you read his ex-wife, Carolyn Jessop's excellent book "Escape," you see what a brute he is. He talks about Russia and Germany. You know what? This guy's a jerk. And he can come out and defend them all he wants; but he's a coward and he's an abuser. And you know what? Bring it on, Merrill. I hope that -- I hope that he ends up in jail, just like his polygamist prophet, Warren Jeffs.

It's really high time we all sort of -- because of the religious issue, we can't touch these guys. You know, that's nonsense. This is a religion that is premised -- nobody is attacking polygamy. If this was adult men and adult women, women who had had education and made choice, none of us would care. This would be a two-day lifestyle story in the news cycle.

But that's not what it is in a place like Colorado City. Underpinning their polygamy is the twin pillars of incest and child- forced marriages. And that's what prosecutors are after, not polygamy. If it was adults, consenting adults, nobody would care.

BROWN: All right. Michael Watkiss. Mike thanks.

WATKISS: Thank you, Campbell.

BROWN: For the children, the greatest challenge may be ahead of them. Kathy Jo Nicholson went from sewing her own wedding dress as a young polygamist bride to struggling for survival on the outside. She joins us live, next.

And later, from freedom to fear, how another raid on a polygamist community backfired.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: They are not allowed to laugh, banned from wearing certain colors, and are taught to believe that convicted felon Warren Jeffs is God's messenger. And those are just some of the rules that members of Jeffs' polygamist church must obey. That education begins at an early age.

But what happens when they leave their polygamist kingdom behind and enter our world? At this moment, that is the reality facing scores of people in Texas. So what do they do now?

Let's ask someone who actually knows. Kathy Jo Nicholson was raised in a polygamist household. Warren Jeffs was her schoolteacher. She eventually escaped that life. And Kathy Jo Nicholson is joining us right now.

Kathy Jo, welcome to you.

KATHY JO NICHOLSON, FORMER POLYGAMIST SECT MEMBER: Thank you.

BROWN: You know, according to the affidavit, investigators at the compound observed a practice in which female children determined to have reached child-bearing age at just 13 or 14 years old are then, quote, "spiritually married" to an adult member of the church. As a former member, is this at all surprising to you?

NICHOLSON: No, not at all, not in recent years. Since Warren took over for his father, it became more and more prevalent that that was the way things were done.

BROWN: This is pretty typical?

NICHOLSON: Very typical. And Merrill Jessop has, I understand, taken the reigns now while Warren is in jail. And Merrill was notorious for giving his daughters up to the prophet.

I know several of his daughters, very young, beautiful women, were given to Rulon Jeffs when he was basically on his deathbed, just to seal their place in heaven. Then those women were inherited by Warren when his father passed the monarchy down to him.

BROWN: Also, according to this affidavit, children are apparently denied food. They're forced to sit inside closed closets as punishment.

When you were in FLDS, you know, Warren Jeffs was not yet the prophet, but he was your teacher. Does this sound like his brand of discipline?

NICHOLSON: Definitely. He was -- he was not the prophet. But he did send down his decree of "Today we fast. OK, we're going to fast again tomorrow." I mean, there were some times -- I remember thinking to myself that it's so much easier after the third day to ignore your hunger.

He -- he would beat the boys and close the girls in. This did not go on in my private home. But at school, we were to mind the headmaster, and the fasting did take place throughout the community.

BROWN: I know the raid was the result of a 16-year-old girl's phone call to a family violence shelter. And when she called, she used someone else's cell phone. She spoke in whispers. And she was told that if she ever tried to leave the ranch, that he would be found. She'd be locked up.

And you escaped. What did you think would happen to you if you were ever caught?

NICHOLSON: You know, they -- when I was growing up -- and I imagine even still, they tell these children and young women that they are free to go. I know that that's always something that I was told: "You're free to go if you'd like, but you'll never see us again. You'll never have any support from us" and what not.

You're not free to go when you have no resources, no outside information that you've been able to study and become familiar with. There are virtual walls up. Yes, you can step across the border, and you can be free, which is what I did. But those virtual walls and the walls of the threat of hell and eternal damnation are very strong. And it's scary to these -- to these women.

I only hope -- I'm so grateful to Texas and to Utah for, in the first place, convicting Warren. And the young Wall girl who stepped forward and now this other girl who has yet to be determined. But I'm so grateful that Texas has taken -- has undertaken this huge task and done it so diplomatically so far. I'm hoping that the other communities, because there are -- there are still other communities. I know there's Colorado. I believe there's the Dakotas.

BROWN: Right.

NICHOLSON: Still definitely on the border of Utah and Arizona, Colorado City.

BROWN: Right. Glad they're taking these kind of actions.

NICHOLSON: Oh, definitely. And they are still under the rule of Warren.

BROWN: Right.

NICHOLSON: My sister, I believe, is in Colorado City. And I have many, many family members that are -- that I don't know where they are. And I cry out if anybody knows of the Nicholson family, sisters and brothers...

BROWN: We would love to see you be able to reconnect with them. We really appreciate you coming on and talking with us tonight. Kathy Jo Nicholson, thanks so much for your time.

NICHOLSON: Thank you. It was a pleasure.

BROWN: And up next, a raid on a polygamist compound that didn't go exactly as planned. Gary Tuchman takes us inside the special mission.

Also ahead, how high will gas prices get? New predictions that may make you want to invest in some good walking shoes. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you know -- miss? Sir, can I ask you a quick question? Yes, I just -- sir?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Looking for answers, getting nothing but closed doors. That was CNN's Gary Tuchman last year on his eerie trip to the heart of Warren Jeffs' kingdom. It straddles the Arizona-Utah border. And it is a journey straight into the twilight zone.

The showdown in Texas - that is happening now. It's not the first time authorities have tried to save children from polygamy. Decades ago, the mission was to liberate. The outcome, anything but.

Gary Tuchman gives us an up-close look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Her name is Suzy. She was 6 years old in 1953 when her world changed.

SUZY: I was literally ripped from the arms of my father and my family.

TUCHMAN: Ripped from her family in a raid conducted by Arizona law enforcement over a half century ago. Suzy's father was one of more than 100 husbands and wives arrested in an effort to eliminate polygamy from the state. It happened in the town of Colorado City, which was then known as Short Creek.

(on camera) Were you scared?

SUZY: Terrified. Terrified. Terrified.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Little known to many Americans, that raid still affects the lives of polygamist families. Dozens of women and more than 260 children were placed in state custody.

Suzy and these friends, all polygamists today, were some of those children.

Fanita (ph) had four mothers and 22 brothers and sisters when her father was taken away.

Fanita: We knew that the object was to take us away, adopt us out, and that we would never be back to our homes.

TUCHMAN: The July 1953 raid was reenacted in a made-for-TV movie called "Child Bride of Short Creek."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay where you are. We are here under special orders from Attorney General Roth and the governor of Arizona. We have warrants for your arrest on charges of unlawful cohabitation.

TUCHMAN: The children of the raid said they did not know what the police were going to do. Neither, apparently, did many of the adults, including Fanita's (ph) elderly great-grandfather.

FANITA: He stepped forward and said, "If it's blood you want, take mine."

TUCHMAN: But what police wanted was to take the polygamists to jail. Fanita went to say goodbye to her father as he was taken into custody.

FANITA: And so I went over to try and talk to him, and the guard pointed his gun at me and told me to go away.

TUCHMAN (on camera): You were a 7-year-old girl?

FANITA: Yes. And I said, "I just want to talk to my dad."

And he said, "Well, you can't. So go away."

TUCHMAN: Most of the polygamists stayed in jail a short time but had to promise never to see their families again.

Edson, like many of the fathers, would secretly visit his family, though. His wife became pregnant during one of his visits. The baby was Priscilla.

(on camera) Your mother had to hide her pregnancy.

PRISCILLA: Absolutely.

TUCHMAN: No one could know she was pregnant?

PRISCILLA: No one could know.

TUCHMAN: Because they would know that your father...

PRISCILLA: She was saying that she had had nothing to do with my father. And obviously, she had something to do with my father.

TUCHMAN: Obviously.

(voice-over) Marlene's (ph) mother also gave birth to a baby when her father wasn't supposed to be around. If her mother was seen with the baby, it could mean being arrested. So...

MARLENE: They put the baby's sister in the suitcase and took her out to the car, because she would have definitely been evidence.

TUCHMAN: The raid led to bad publicity, but it still took years before most of the families got back together.

(on camera) Was there ever a time where your mothers said, "You know what? It's time to have a marriage with one person, find a new person, start a new life, make it a lot easier for ourselves?"

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never.

TUCHMAN: Most of the children had fake birth certificates to protect their families. Suzy did not get a real one until well into adulthood.

SUZY: I remember sitting out in the car, looking at my real name on a birth certificate, and I wept. I wept because, for the first time, I saw my identity as it really was.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Do you feel the same thing that happened to your father in the 1950s could happen to your husband today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe that's a possibility.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): A half century has gone by, but the children of the raid have never stopped looking over their shoulders.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Colorado City, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And Erica Hill joining us again with a "360 News and Business Minute" -- Erica.

HILL: Campbell, the Olympic flame, which we've been covering so much, turns out it's in hiding tonight somewhere in San Francisco, but in hiding because protesters are gearing up for the U.S. leg of the torch relay tomorrow. That run in San Francisco, the only U.S. stop on the 23-city global tour, which of course, has been marked by protests aimed at China's human rights record.

Brace yourself: those gas prices, we're told, could surge as high as four bucks a gallon this summer; that coming from the Energy Department. Right now the average for a gallon of gas, already 55 cents higher than it was a year ago.

And in London, a real-life "Star Wars" battle. The man who made these storm trooper helmets for the original 1977 "Star Wars" movie now being sued by Lucasfilm for copyright violations. It seems he's making replicas, according to the suit, from the original mold, and telling them for up to 1,000 bucks.

BROWN: For our international viewers, CNN Today is next. Here in the states, Larry King is coming up.
 
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Originally broadcast April 8, 2008
 
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