[Kaye:] Breaking news now. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has just gotten some new information on the AWOL soldier arrested near Ft. Hood, Texas. Barbara, what do you have?
[Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] This is Private First Class Naser Abdo of the United States Army. Twenty-one years old. Under arrest and possibly now facing federal charges on bomb-making. What we now know is when he was arrested yesterday in Killeen, Texas, by police authorities at a traffic stop after leaving a gun store and a surplus store, they went to his hotel and found a disturbing situation there. Pentagon a U.S. military official now telling us that they found enough material in his hotel room to make two bombs. Two bombs. And I want to read you what they found. I want to be very precise here. They found gun powder, shotgun shells, pressure cookers, 18 pounds of sugar that investigator believe would have been used to enhance an explosion and Christmas lights that would have been used as a possible timer. They found a backpack of his in his possession with so-called jihadi literature in it, according to the initial investigation. And during an interview with law enforcement officials, Private First Class Abdo said he wanted to stage attacks outside of Ft. Hood. This is very significant because investigators also found after leaving the gun store where he had purchased some weapons and some weapons making material, he went to a surplus store in Killenn, Texas, bought an Army uniform and asked that Ft. Hood patches be sewn on to that uniform. So there's growing indications here that there was some sort of thinking on the part of this private first class that he was going to do something related to Ft. Hood. And, of course, this is always a very sensitive issue for the Army. Very concerning to them, Randi, because it was back in late 2009, of course, there was that mass gun attack by Major Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist. He killed a dozen people on the Army base, wounded about 30 more. And it has really forced the Army in recent year to examine its own and think about security on its own bases. Now, another case whereby all accounts a private first class had some plot in his mind or was at least assembling the materials, should add Private First Class this man, Private First Class Abdo was facing charges in the Army for being in position of child pornography. And he was AWOL at the time. He knew he was facing a court marshal proceeding and he had gone AWOL some weeks ago. Now turning up in Ft. Hood, Texas, from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, turning up in Texas with all of this in his possession. Randi.
[Kaye:] Barbara Starr, incredible story. Thank you staying on top of that and do bring us any new information as you get it. Thank you. And now I want to take you to San Angelo, Texas, where polygamist leader Warren Jeffs trial was set to begin today on sexual assault charges. CNN's Gary Tuchman just got out of court. He joins us live from there. Gary, we are expecting opening arguments, but instead Jeffs fired his attorneys. What happened?
[Gary Tuchman, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, that's right, Randi, and the trial may still begin today. But here's what we know. This trail of Warren Jeffs, the polygamist leader, may indeed turn into a circus. A circus that would make the Ringling Brothers be in envy. What has happened is Warren Jeffs has fired all of his attorneys and says he wants to represent himself. There are no cameras in the court, so I'm going to describe it to you. But Warren Jeffs, who we've really never heard speak, and I've been covering him and the polygamist cult for more than five years, I've never heard him say more than a couple of words in court, spoke for 20 minutes. He sounded like he was drunk. But I just saw him in court. I would think he was drunk. He's not drunk. That's the way the guy talks. And he basically says, I want to fire my attorneys because, quote, "I need to do this for justice to be served. For the truth to be presented, I can't use them. They don't have an understanding of my defense." And his attorneys just sat there. The judge asked his attorneys what they thought about that, and his attorneys said, "Mr. Jeffs gives us no permission to talk." She then asked the judge, the other attorneys there are seven attorneys there and they all said they couldn't talk. So, she has given Warren Jeffs permission to represent himself in this trial. A trail in which if he's found guilty of sexual assault of children under 14 years old, he could go to jail for the rest of his life. And she said the trial will begin today or Monday. She's about to make that decision. But it will be a circus. The man knows nothing about the law, Randi.
[Kaye:] Yes. I was going to say, Gary, this sounds like a bit of a risk considering how serious these charges are. Warren Jeffs is not a lawyer. Will he get any legal assistance at all?
[Tuchman:] We are told by his attorneys who aren't allowed to talk in court, but who have talked to me and they have said he sees this as a religious defense that his lawyers can't possibly understand. He doesn't know how to do it in a statement. He doesn't know how to do cross examination. He doesn't know how to do closing arguments. But he says he wants to do it. And it takes him so long to talk I mean, he literally pauses for 30 seconds before he continues into the second sentence. This trial could last forever. But the judge has to agree to it. You have the right to represent yourself. And Lord knows and that's the appropriate thing to say in this kind of trial Lord knows what will happen.
[Kaye:] And, Gary, you've been c covering this guy for a long time, this is not the first time that he's actually fired his lawyers.
[Tuchman:] Well, that's right especially, in this case, he has fired numerous lawyers. And the judge was thinking that he was doing this because he wanted to delay the trial. So, he said today if you are going to represent yourself, and fire your lawyers again, you are not going to delay the trial. It's going to start today. Well, he said, I need a few days. And the prosecution said, we don't object to a few days, for it to start Monday. The judge will surely make the decision whether it starts today, whether it starts Monday. But there's already a jury, the jury is ready to go. They have been sitting in the courtroom since 9:00 a.m. Central Time ready to go with this trial. So, either way, this trial will begin shortly and Warren Jeffs will be representing himself in court.
[Kaye:] He is a man that is full of surprises. We've certainly learned that over the years. Gary Tuchman in Texas Gary, thank you. And minute now, we'd like to remind you, House Speaker John Boehner will be standing at the podium that you're looking at right there in these live pictures, to tell us what progress, if any, Congress has made in this ongoing debt crisis. We'll take you there live as soon as it happens.