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Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer
As we drove past the huge white gates at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas, we weren’t sure what to expect. The last time we were here was in June of last year when the state of Texas raided the FLDS property and took 462 children and placed them in state custody. Allegations of child brides, sex with minors, and abuse put a spotlight on the FLDS and what was going on inside this ranch. We were allowed in to speak with mothers who were pleading for their children to be returned. It was our first look inside this secretive religion which practices polygamy.
Today we were invited again. We were given a guided tour by one of the church leaders Willie Jessop. He says life here on the ranch is much different that what many people believe. He allowed us to meet and speak with mothers and children who say they were taken from the ranch last year before being returned.
At first, the ranch seemed desolate and the same as it was the last time we visited. As we took our tour we saw more work had been done in fields of crops they say were ruined during the raid. As time passed we began to see women and children outside their homes working and playing in front of their homes.
We came across children who were picking carrots and doing other work around the ranch. All say they are more than thrilled to have been returned to their families and the life they know. Some say that being away from their home and their life as they knew it only strengthened their faith.
Outside the ranch in the Schleicher County courthouse, 10 FLDS men were present today for pretrial motions on their cases involving sexual assault of a minor and other various charges related to underage marriage and bigamy. Their trial dates are scheduled for the fall.
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Maureen Miller
AC360° Writer
We're following a strange story out of Florida. Investigators believe a pilot in financial trouble has tried to fake his own death and risked his life to do it.
The pilot, Marcus Schrenker, 38, parachuted out of a small plane that crashed into a swamp, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office.
Schrenker was flying solo in a Piper turboprop from Indiana to Destin, Florida. But near Birmingham, Alabama, he made a distress call and told air traffic controllers his plane's windshield shattered and said he was bleeding profusely.
He then turned on his autopilot and contact was lost with the plane.
That's when military jets were called to intercept the plane. They found the Piper empty, the door open and the cockpit dark.
The jets followed the empty plane until it crashed in Florida.
When rescue workers arrived at the crash site the pilot was missing, but not for long.
Investigators say the pilot was seen more than 200 miles away in Childersburg, Alabama. He went up to a cop at a store, wearing goggles, and claimed he was in a canoe accident that left his clothes wet from the knees down. The cops took Schrenker to a hotel.
When police found out about the plane crash in Florida they went back to the hotel to find Schrenker gone.
Investigators say he checked into the hotel under a fake name, paid for his room in cash, and later ran into the woods and has vanished.
Why is he on the run?
We'll have the latest developments tonight on AC360°.
We'll also have new details on the war in Gaza and the raw politics of President Bush's last news conference.
Hope you can join us for all that and more tonight at 10pm E.T.
Cate Vojdik
AC360° Writer
Three of President-elect Obama's cabinet nominees – Steven Chu, Arne Duncan and Hillary Clinton - will be grilled by Congress on Tuesday. Ok, real quick, match each name to their potential post:
a) Secretary of State
b) Secretary of Education
c) Secretary of Energy
We're confident you knew that Hillary Clinton is Obama's secretary of state designate. We'll cut you some slack on the other two, at least for now. Bonus points if you aced the quiz, because not all of us did (without Googling, that is).
As important as each cabinet post may be, Clinton will likely get the lion's share of the media spotlight tomorrow, especially given the current war between Israel and Hamas and flare-ups in other foreign policy hotpots. Her confirmation hearing is expected to be generally smooth, though her husband's foundation and international activities will likely be a focus. We'll have full coverage of the hearing, plus a look at the challenges Clinton will face if nominated.
One of her toughest tasks may be negotiating with members of her own government. After all, she'll be working in a crowded foreign policy kitchen. Rumor has it that Obama has asked other big names like Dennis Ross, Richard Haas and possibly Richard Holbrooke to serve as chief emissaries in his administration. And don't forget Vice President-elect Joe Biden, with his strong background in international affairs. If you are Hillary Clinton, do all these names add up to too many cooks in the kitchen?
We'll also be following the latest out of Gaza and Israel.
See you at 10 p.m. ET.
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President-elect Barack Obama speaks to reporters after lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl January 10, 2009 in Washington, DC.(AFP/Getty Images)
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Jack Gray
AC360° Associate Producer
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that when Mickey Rourke thanked his dogs last night he probably wasn’t thanking a Lhasa Apso named Mrs. Snuggles and a Bichon named Kenneth.
In case you missed it, The Golden Globe Awards were given out last night in Los Angeles. It was a big night for Slumdog Millionaire and a not-so-big night for The Curious Case of Brad Pitt’s Moustache.
Huge thanks to all of you who joined me for our 1st Annual Golden Globes Live Blog here on AC360.com. We had a great response and I really enjoyed it. I want to be clear: Everyone realizes there are much more important things in the world than Hollywood awards, nevertheless it was fun to indulge ourselves for a few hours. And by indulge I mean sharing a bag of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers with my dog, who kept trash-talking the dog from Marley & Me.
Meanwhile, it’s gearing up to be another big week in Washington. Hillary Clinton’s consolation hearings, um, I mean confirmation hearings begin tomorrow. And apparently the Roland Burris Reality Show could end as soon as today. The Democratic leadership appears to be finally ready to seat Mr. Burris now that he has complied with their request to delete Rod Blagojevich from his list of Facebook friends.