National Guard Troops to Defend the Border?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, tips pour in on the hunt for fugitive Warren Jeffs, as police investigate another polygamist leader. And the battle on the border -- with thousands of illegal immigrants crossing each day, the White House considers sending soldiers, National Guard troops, to help secure America's borders.</s>ANNOUNCER: Guarding the borders -- new reports that President Bush might send troops to help do it. He was impeached for lying, but Americans now say this president is more trustworthy than the one in the White House. And a CNN exclusive:</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So many people have had their lives totally dismantled.</s>ANNOUNCER: Twenty wives, 100 kids -- he split from fugitive polygamist Warren Jeffs. Now they're all paying the price.</s>ANNOUNCER: Across the country and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360. Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, here's Anderson Cooper.</s>COOPER: Thanks for joining us this Friday evening. We begin tonight with a fight over illegal immigration -- several developments today -- the White House announcing the president will deliver a prime-time televised address on illegal immigration on Monday. And there's word tonight that thousands of National Guard troops could soon be heading to the U.S. border with Mexico. Pentagon sources tell CNN that the idea is on the table, and a decision could be announced as early as next week. The battle on the border is heating up, no doubt about it. And, tonight, we're covering all the angles. Would sending troops to the border work? We will examine what role they would have and who would be in charge. Plus, the civilian fight -- Minutemen demonstrators in Washington today protesting a bill that would give millions of illegals a chance at U.S. citizenship. We will talk to their group's executive director. And the president's address Monday. His poll numbers are reaching new lows. We will talk about the speech's political impact with former White House adviser David Gergen. We begin, however, with CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre on the possible plan to send National Guard troops to the border.</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The Pentagon has been asked to draw up options for the military to help beef up security along the U.S.-Mexico border. And Pentagon sources tell CNN, one idea under consideration is to have the federal government pick up the tab for several thousand additional National Guard troops, to be activated in the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Under that option, the Guard troops would remain under the control of state governors, as they were during Hurricane Katrina, and would be limited to a supporting role, providing logistics, intelligence and surveillance help to civilian authorities. That's already being done on a small scale by several hundred Guard troops. But the numbers could jump to several thousand.</s>FRANK GAFFNEY, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY: This is a job that we can train our forces to perform. We can utilize the panoply of sensors and detection devices and -- and monitoring equipment and military hardware to ensure that we do not continue to be subjected to what amounts to an onslaught every single day.</s>MCINTYRE: Still, don't expect to see U.S. troops on the front lines patrolling the border, officials say. But, with additional helicopters, unmanned spy planes, and sophisticated computers and communications, the Guard can be what the Pentagon calls a force multiplier for the overburdened U.S. Border Patrol and local law enforcement. Active-duty U.S. troops are barred from domestic law enforcement by a Civil War-era law known as Posse Comitatus. But National Guard troops under state control can perform some law enforcement functions, such as crowd control. Still, the Pentagon is anxious to avoid the sort of controversy that erupted back in 1997, when a U.S. Marine supporting counter-drug agents shot and killed a goat herder along the Mexican border. (on camera): The Pentagon says, in theory, it could sustain of force of up to 10,000 Guard troops along the Mexican border without affecting its other operations. But officials say it's way too early to say how many troops might be deployed. And they insist, any additional military assistance will be temporary, until the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency can hire additional permanent personnel. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.</s>COOPER: Well, if National Guard troops do head to the border, they will go with the blessing of the Minuteman Project. Members of that civilian group say, at the end of the month, they actually plan to start building border fences on private property. Today, its members arrived in Washington, and they made some noise. Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.</s>TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through a crowd of angry protesters and fresh from a tour of the country, the Minuteman Project arrived at the Capitol with a message for lawmakers: Enforce immigration law, or else.</s>STEPHEN EICHLER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MINUTEMAN PROJECT: If you will not protect our liberties, then you will be booted out of office!</s>EICHLER: And you will be sent to the unemployment line! And we will find a patriot who loves America to take your place!</s>FOREMAN: Whether this group can deliver on such threats is not clear, but they have seized the spotlight, patrolling illegal border crossings, reporting employers who hire illegals, and relentlessly demanding that America's boundaries be secured.</s>PATTY PEEBLES, MINUTEMEN SUPPORTER: We want it done the right way. And that's all we're asking.</s>FOREMAN: David and Michelle Beasley say they have never been involved in politics before, but drove nine hours from South Carolina to say they're worried about the effect of illegal immigrants on national security, American culture, and the economy.</s>MICHELLE BEASLEY, MINUTEMEN SUPPORTER: We see people getting paid under the table.</s>FOREMAN (on camera): Day workers.</s>BEASLEY: Day workers. They're lined up on the streets down from where we live.</s>FOREMAN: And what do you think that does to work American workers and American wages? David Beasley, Minutemen Supporter: They cannot compete. They cannot compete.</s>UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Bigots in suits and ties, we don't want your racist lies!</s>FOREMAN (voice-over): Protesters who want amnesty for illegal immigrants call the Minutemen racist, Klansmen, Nazis.</s>AMADA JAUREGUI, PROTESTER: But I'm here to tell them that we are opposed to them, and there are many people who just disagree wholeheartedly with what their opinion is.</s>FOREMAN (on camera): The Minutemen have caught on because a lot of Americans are growing concerned about immigration and fearing that their government is not doing enough.</s>WILLIAM ABERCROMBIE, TRUCK DRIVER: They're -- they're just not listening to the people. And, so...</s>FOREMAN: Why would they do that?</s>ABERCROMBIE: Honestly, I think it's because of the -- the influence that the lobbyists and corporate America has, and they want the cheap labor in this country.</s>FOREMAN (voice-over): Immigration rights activists have filled the streets, but the Minuteman Project aims to fill elected offices with people who can make tough immigration laws and make them stick.</s>UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS (singing): ... of the brave.</s>FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.</s>COOPER: Well, Steve Eichler is one of the Minutemen you saw in that piece. He's the executive director of Minutemen Project. He joins me now from Washington. Steve, thanks for being on the program. What were you -- what were you hoping to accomplish with this caravan and this rally today?</s>EICHLER: Well, we wanted to draw national attention to the issue. Exactly 13 months ago, Jim Gilchrist went down to the border, the Arizona border, and drew national attention, one man with a lawn chair and a -- binoculars, and, all of a sudden, the president of the United States called him a vigilante. Well, no one's laughing anymore. We have called national attention. We're bringing the argument up. And, all of a sudden, folks want to talk about putting troops on the border. That's a wonderful first step.</s>COOPER: Yes. I mean, what -- what -- what about the plan to -- you actually think National Guard troops -- I mean, would they be able to do a job that the Border Patrol is not able to do?</s>EICHLER: Oh. Well, it's a significant first step. The Border Patrol needs a 500 percent increase in their budget. They are understaffed, and they have -- don't have enough equipment. And the fact that the Minutemen are there to be their eyes and ears, to observe and report, is a significant help for them. Now, to add to that, if could have National Guard troops there, that would be wonderful.</s>COOPER: Do you think it is ever really possible, though, to completely seal off this border? I mean, you go down to San Diego, and, you know, they have a double fence, very, you know, high-technology, and you still have people digging, you know, 1,000-, 2000-foot tunnels underneath it.</s>EICHLER: Well, according to recent estimates, there will be two million two to three million people flowing across that border. What if we could just cut it in half? That would be significant. We address a lot of those issues our on Web site, of course, at MinutemanProject.com, because we know that, if you take two Minutemen and you put them on the border, they can secure over one mile of border fence. So, if you have National Guard there, plus Minutemen, plus Border Patrols, of course, you're going to have a -- a positive impact.</s>COOPER: You -- the -- obviously, you feel very strongly about this.</s>EICHLER: Absolutely.</s>COOPER: You had a couple hundred people involved in -- in this caravan. Obviously, the other side had, you know, hundreds of thousands of people that -- that have turned out. A -- a lot of Americans agree something needs to be done on the border. They need to be more secure, but three-quarters of Americans say in a recent poll that -- that giving amnesty to illegal immigrants who have been here for five years was a good idea. More than half seem sympathetic to illegal immigrants. Do you think, I mean, you guys are really representative of -- of the great -- the vast sentiment out there?</s>EICHLER: Absolutely. As this argument grows, more and more Americans are very, very angry at the inaction of the federal government. And by that type of inaction, they're going to be showing it at the polls. So, when they go in the ballot box, they're going to make a decision. Has this candidate properly represented the argument, and will they represent us? If so, they will get the vote.</s>COOPER: Well...</s>EICHLER: Yes.</s>COOPER: ... we will be watching it at the polls. Steve Eichler, I appreciate you joining us. Thanks.</s>EICHLER: Thank you for having me.</s>COOPER: We all know the polling numbers for President Bush have been bad lately, to say the least. But get this. In a recent poll, when asked who was more honest as president, Bush or Clinton, guess who won? We will tell you in a moment. And it's not just honesty they were polled about, foreign policy, Iraq, the economy. We are going to run the numbers. The answers may surprise you. Also tonight, the hunt for a fugitive polygamist.</s>DEAN MAY, HISTORIAN, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: The people who practice polygamy in Utah today see themselves as continuing a practice that was urged upon Latter Day Saints by their earlier prophets.