[Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Tonight there are two breaking news stories on two fronts in the emotional custody battle playing out in West Texas. CNN's David Mattingly is right now inside the polygamist compound where more than 400 children were removed ten days ago amid allegations of abuse. Gary Tuchman also has explosive new details about the phone call that triggered the whole raid. We'll get to Gary in a moment. First, David joins me from inside the FLDS compound, which is normally strictly off limits to outsiders. David, this is remarkable. How did you get in?
[David Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Anderson, it was an absolutely extraordinary turn of events. Late this afternoon, the state took all of the women and children out of the shelter; took them to the coliseum in town and then separated the mothers from the children. The only mothers that were allowed to stay behind were the mothers of children that were ages 4 and under. The rest of the mothers were offered a choice, you can go to a shelter, you can go to a safe place or you can go back to the ranch. Most of them decided to go back to the ranch. If you ask the mothers themselves, they say all of them did. The state is telling us, however, that some of the mothers did choose to stay behind and go to this safe place but they will not tell us how many. And then we arrived here and eventually the attorneys for the ranch showed up and a decision was made to open the gates that have been closed to the outside world for the last four years and allow us inside to talk to these women about what they've been going through for the last ten days. You can see some of that going on behind me. Some of the women are still outside. They're still talking about the events of the day. They were taken to the coliseum. They say they were lied to by the state saying that they were just told they were going to be separated for a moment and then they realized they were not going to be seeing their children again. They believe that their rights have been violated and when you talk to them every single one of them will say that. They believe that they are being persecuted because of their religion. When you ask them about specific charges, Anderson, about what the state is alleging about the sexual and physical abuse of children here, they say that does not go on. When you ask them how young are women when they marry here? Every single woman I talked to got married at the age of 18, 19, or 20 today. When you ask them how unusual is it that a child that a girl 16 years or under might be wed, they say it's very rare and usually the girl is only 16. You ask them other questions about these allegations of sexual abuse and they say that the case that started all of this was a hoax, they believe. A caller from the outside, not a caller from the compound; that this girl Sara they say does not exist. So they're putting out their story, this extraordinary access given to us today, essentially for damage control, because they know they're going to be going into court on Thursday and these parents are going to have to be fighting tooth and nail for custody of their children Anderson.
[Cooper:] Someone call it media manipulation, others will call it damage control or getting their story out. This is a compound where for the last year or so we have been literally kicked off of numerous times, had doors slammed in Gary Tuchman's face who's been down there. You've been down there. Police who work for this sect in other parts of Hildale and Colorado City; they have tried to chase us off this compound. So to be allowed on it is clearly a sign either of their desperation but they're clearly trying to get their message out. I understand the lawyer right now I think we're seeing pictures the lawyer or lawyers are talking to some of the women that are on the porch. The meeting just broke up. Do we know what the lawyers are telling these women about their options?
[Mattingly:] They said that they did meet with them prior to allowing them to speak to the media. They said that none of these women were coached. As far as their legal options go, they're going to be pressing for every single one of these families to be represented by their own attorney so that they can be fighting for their individual child's freedom, to have that child come back home and arguing their own cases. The state as well is trying to round up attorneys for all 400 plus of these children. It's going to be a huge day when that court day begins on Thursday. That's what they're gearing up for here. And what they're telling us, they believe again that their rights were violated and they're going to be arguing to the state that all of these children did not have to be taken because of this one phone call.
[Cooper:] David, we've always seen this compound from aerial views, from helicopters and planes flying over. We've always seen that giant white chapel, I guess you would call it, that they built in the middle of this compound in Eldorado. Where are you in relation to that? Can you show us what you're seeing?
[Mattingly:] We were only able to get a glimpse of the chapel as we came in. We came down the main drive. It is a long dirt road, a long dusty road. Then we turned off to the right and went down behind where that temple is. This is sort of a residential area. It's a little dark here. But I'm going to walk over this way just a little bit. There's huge highways, huge roads rather here that they're not paved, they're gravel and dirt roads; everything very orderly here. We're actually standing in the middle of what is a residential area. That area where the women were talking to us, these large log- looking like structures; these buildings we're told are actually houses housing presumably very large families here. And we were told not to stray from the path to come down here. They brought us to a specific place to do these interviews. They asked us not to go wandering around and some of the men were standing around, watching us as we were doing our work today. But no sense of intimidation, no sense of antagonism on the part of anyone here. Again, a very, very different face we're seeing inside this compound than what we've grown accustomed to hearing about over the last four years.
[Cooper:] David, it is a fascinating view. We appreciate your reporting. I should say we have noticed a certain similarity in some of the things that the women in this compound have been saying to the media over the last day or so. We want to get a better understanding of the FLDS followers in Texas. A short time ago, I spoke with a woman named Kathleen who doesn't want her last name mentioned. She says she's been separated from her children. Listen. Kathleen, how many kids do you have and where are they right now?
[Kathleen, Flds Member:] I have five children and one grandchild and they are all, to my knowledge, are at the San Angelo Coliseum or pavilion in Texas.
[Cooper:] How old are your kids?
[Kathleen:] My oldest child is 18 plus with one grandchild. My other child is 16, 15, 11 and 9.
[Cooper:] And how old is your grandchild?
[Kathleen:] My grandchild is 10 months old.
[Cooper:] 10 months old. What is the message you're trying to get out? It's very rare we've tried to talk to people in your community before and have always had doors closed on us. Why now are you talking?
[Kathleen:] Because the state of Texas has confiscated our children on an alleged allegation that has no facts. And now they're holding our children and we want the children back.
[Cooper:] And whose idea was it to come forward and talk to the media?
[Kathleen:] It was ours, because this nation has been so prejudiced against us that they have a false image of what we are.
[Cooper:] What are you? Why do you live in this community?
[Kathleen:] Because that's where I choose to live. It's the nicest community in America. For instance, my children had never seen a firearm in their life until they had a firearm put in their face and told to load on a bus. You will never see your father and mother again if you don't get on the bus and do what we tell you to do.
[Cooper:] How many wives does your husband have?
[Kathleen:] I will not answer that.
[Cooper:] Why not?
[Kathleen:] I want the children back. This has to do with me and my children. That question's not pertinent to the nation knowing that we need our children back.
[Cooper:] I have talked to other women who were once part of your community but who said they had to flee in the middle of the night, sometimes taking their children, sometimes unable to take their children. And they say there are abuses that take place in this community.
[Kathleen:] Well, I can't I'm not going to quarrel with their story. My story is we have had our children taken from us on an allegation that has no foundation. Now we will do whatever it takes to get the children reunited with their mothers.
[Cooper:] But do you understand that there are many people watching this and many people who have heard about this story for many years now who are legitimately worried about your children or some of the other children there who they say have to get married at a young age or forced to marry older people who they don't have feelings for.
[Kathleen:] That's why they chose to leave is because they had a fear. I have no fear.
[Cooper:] There are also many young men, they call them the lost boys, who have they say been kicked out by the community because older men wanted the younger women and the young men were literally tossed out from their families. Have you seen that?
[Kathleen:] That does not have anything to do with the message that the state of Texas has taken away a whole community of children and withheld their parents from them on an allegation from outside. That allegation did not come from within YFZ ranch.
[Cooper:] So clearly, you don't want to talk about anything about the community. You just want the message out about your children?
[Kathleen:] I do. I want the children returned to their parents, to their parents, to their guardians.
[Cooper:] I don't want to sound cynical, but it does sound like you have rehearsed what you want to say with other people, because everybody is saying the exact same thing.
[Kathleen:] Well, sir, what would you say if your children had been robbed from you and kidnapped? What would you say?
[Cooper:] I don't know.
[Kathleen:] Well, put yourself in our condition. That's why we're all saying the same story because we have all had our children taken.
[Cooper:] Are you do you have an attorney yet? Do you have confidence in the system working?
[Kathleen:] My hope is that there is some hope that the United States constitution can have effect; that we have freedom of religion. Sir, I have been
[Cooper:] Have you been able to talk to your kids?
[Kathleen:] Not for several hours, since we've been taken from them. I want you to understand that we have been put in a compound, that fort over there, brick walls, 170 women and children in a building that was 100 feet by 40 feet with two bathrooms, okay? Do you understand that? So we need the public to know that an injustice has been done against us. In the land of the free and the home of the brave, we are being treated like the Jews were when they were escorted to the German Nazi camps.
[Cooper:] You're saying you were being treated like people sent to concentration camps?
[Kathleen:] Yes, we have been treated that way. In a country that professes to be free, the land of the free and the home of the brave. And we have been persecuted for our religion.
[Cooper:] Just for accuracy, do you actually know what happened to the Jews during World War II? Because it does not seem to be the same, just factually speaking.
[Kathleen:] I do. I am 42 years old. I'm very studied in history. I have a college degree.
[Cooper:] Do you believe the state why do you think the state did this? Do you believe what they say, that they were worried about the children?
[Kathleen:] I do not believe that they were worried about the children. I believe they have been prejudiced against us from people that chose to leave that were dissatisfied with our way of life. And so they have stirred up the public opinion against our lifestyle just because of their emotions, not how I feel, it was how they felt. I may feel totally different, just as you feel totally different.
[Cooper:] Kathleen, I appreciate you talking. I know it's difficult. It's a difficult situation. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us.
[Kathleen:] Thank you, sir.
[Cooper:] With me now on the phone is former FLDS member Carolyn Jessop. She was forced to marry at age 18 and had eight children before she and her children escaped Warren Jeff's kingdom. Carolyn, I assume you were able to hear that mother who has been separated from her kids. It's hard to first of all, it's hard to believe that this is going on in this day and age that there are still compounds like this. What did you think when you heard that woman talking?
[Carolyn Jessop, Former Flds Member:] Anderson, you have to understand, I mean I recognized her voice. That is Kathleen, and she is
[Cooper:] You know her?
[C. Jessop:] My former sister wife. She was married to Meryl. She's also the one who told on me when I was trying to escape. So in the land of the free and the home of the brave, why is it that she felt so urgent to go to Meryl in the middle of the night and tell him I had my children up and I was leaving? And I nearly didn't make it out because she made that phone call. So she believes in freedom, where is my right as a mother to take my children and flee if I believe we are at risk? You know, where are my rights? Because she didn't allow me any rights but now she's demanding rights and it's obvious that her daughter, who she is talking about with the 10-month-old baby, and by the way is not 18 plus, she's barely 18. She was probably impregnated when she was 16. That in my opinion is abuse, and that, by the way, is one of the very reasons I was fleeing in the night. I agree with what most of these women are saying. It's true they were married at 18, some of them were married at 20, some were married at 22. But those women are also at an age of 30 and above. Warren reset the marrying age many years ago and he reset it first from 22 and 20 down to 18. Then after a few years he reset it down to 16. And around the time I escaped with my family, my daughter was within months of becoming 14 and I knew he was resetting that age at 14. So what happened in the past was done under another prophet. It's not what's occurring now. The state went in and they found very clear felony charges of child abuse and they have acted on that. And I mean if Kathleen wants to express that her rights are being taken, I feel like she deprived me of my rights five years ago.
[Cooper:] You know, anybody, of course, is sympathetic to a mother separated from her kids. It's a bizarre situation; it's a difficult situation. Frankly, I don't know what to make of it. But I can imagine some people listening to this and kind of thinking, you know, Ruby Ridge, Waco, this is a government going in against individuals, against a religious group. From your perspective, what is the crime or the crimes that have been andor are occurring in these kind of compounds?
[C. Jessop:] The crime is that first of all, if you do need help, you can't get it because when I was in Colorado City, which is a far more open community, I couldn't get help. I couldn't get authorities to come in and get me out. I had to make it out on my own. And this compound is far more locked down than that. You know, it's just difficult. I can appreciate Kathleen's feelings and emotions that her children have been taken from her, but she knew full well when she made that call to Meryl that if he had caught me and restrained me and not allowed me to leave and take my children, she understands and her and I both know this, that Meryl would have taken my children from me and I would not have been allowed to see them again.
[Cooper:] So she was a sister wife, so she was married to the same man that you were married to?
[C. Jessop:] Yes. She was his fifth wife, I was his fourth.
[Cooper:] How many wives does this man Meryl have?
[C. Jessop:] You know, Anderson, I don't know. I know he had seven during the time that I was married to him. I'm aware of eight that he married after I left him.
[Cooper:] Do you have a message for her? Do you have a message for these other mothers?
[C. Jessop:] Yes, I do. I mean, my message to Kathleen is if she feels so strongly that she has rights, why did she feel like she had the right to violate my rights to leave the society and prevent me from protecting my children and what I believe was right for them? She may believe that this lifestyle is right for her children.
[Cooper:] What do you think should happen now? I mean, it's a difficult situation; there are hundreds of kids in state control right now. What do you think should happen?
[C. Jessop:] I think that every case needs to be heard. I think that it all needs to go to a court. If there're crimes that have been committed against children, then a judge is going to have to rule in the best interest of protecting the child. And this, by the way, is not about religious persecution. It never has been from the beginning. Nor is it about polygamy. The officers did not go in there because they had a call that there was polygamy going on in that compound. They had a cry for help from a child and they went in to investigate that cry for help. When they got in, whether they found that child or not, that's why they went in and they did find other children that were being abused. And either way, having sex with a 16-year-old in the state of Texas is a felony. They found felony cases of child abuse.
[Cooper:] Carolyn, we appreciate you coming on. I had no idea that you knew Kathleen but I appreciate your perspective and we've had you on before. It's always good to talk to you. Carolyn Jessop, thank you so much for being with us.
[C. Jessop:] Yes, thank you.
[Cooper:] We're live blogging during this broadcast. I'm not able to tonight because I have computer problems but Erica Hill is. Join the conversation, go to cnn.com360. Up next, more breaking news on this situation. New questions about exactly what sparked the raid in Texas. That phone call that Carolyn Jessop was talking about, some new information, one investigator is telling us that could shake up this whole case. Also ahead, "Raw Politics." it started with the word bitter. Now it's getting pretty ugly. We're on the trail in Pennsylvania following Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. All that and more ahead on "360."