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American Morning
Aftermath of Indonesia Quake; Jackson Judge Allows Past Allegations Into Trial
Aired March 29, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. First daylight pictures of the worst-hit areas in Indonesia. Hundreds are dead after a second massive quake rocks the region. It's the same fault line, but no tsunami. What was the difference this time?
Social conservatives giving voice and volume to the parents of Terri Schiavo in their fight. But now, is the family becoming frustrated by the same conservative stand?
And a shocking arrest in the Red Lake School shootings. A tribal leader's son is now in custody. Questions of a wider plot on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: Good morning. Very busy Tuesday morning here. Soledad is off today.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello. Much more coming up on the earthquake and Schiavo case.
HEMMER: Also, potentially devastating blow to Michael Jackson. The jury will be allowed to hear evidence of other past abuse allegations to five boys, Macaulay Culkin one of them. Jeff Toobin tells us how bad this might be for Jackson.
COSTELLO: Don't think it can be good.
We'll also talk to the head of a group called Pharmacists for Life, known for refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control bill and the morning-after pill. Can they really do that? We'll look at this growing controversy.
HEMMER: Also, Jack Cafferty, what's on your mind? Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The bad news is there are 30,000 registered sex offenders and predators in the state of Florida alone. The worst news is authorities have no idea where 1,800 of them are. They're gone, vanished, nobody knows where they are. And one of them allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Not exactly what the taxpayers in Florida think they're getting in the way of protection. We'll take a look.
HEMMER: All right, Jacks, thanks. Let's starts overseas this morning. Eight officials scrambling to send relief to earthquake victims in Southeast Asia. So far at least 300 reported dead. The death toll expected to climb throughout the day.
Monday's 8.7 quake centered off the Northwestern coast of Indonesia, striking along the same fault line as the December 26th quake and tsunami. But this time, the outcome was not nearly as devastating.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER (voice-over): As the massive earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, panic spread throughout the entire Indian Ocean region. From Indonesia to Sri Lanka, when the tremors hit, people ran for their lives, fleeing to higher ground, terrified another catastrophic tsunami would follow.
Worst hit by yesterday's quake, the remote Indonesian island of Nias, close to the epicenter. The death toll now in the hundreds, the country's vice president saying the final toll could reach 2,000.
The December quake was a magnitude 9.0, the strongest in 40 years. It caused a tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean, leaving more than 300,000 dead or missing. Monday's quake struck along the same fault line, but with a lesser magnitude of 8.7.
KERRY SIEH, PROFESSOR, CALTECH: I would certainly say it's a fraternal twin. It's not a duplicate. It occurred a little bit further south, a couple hundred kilometers to the south, but it's the same type of earthquake. It would be like having a duck egg and a chicken egg in the same basket.
HEMMER: This time, international agencies, criticized for their slowness in December, were quick to respond.
JAN EGELAND, U.N. UNDERSECRETARY-GENERAL: The system worked far better this time, that there was vigilance, that not only did we have surveillance and information to the countries, but we also had governments reporting out to the local authorities.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Pat Johns runs emergency relief operations in Indonesia for Catholic Relief Services. He was in Medan, Indonesia, when that quake rattled his hotel, sent people running into the street nearby. Pat, what did it feel like when that quake struck?
PAT JOHNS, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES: I was in Medan. I was sending off some visitors. We were in a high-rise hotel. And all I can compare it to, it was like being in an airplane undergoing some severe turbulence. And it lasted for a lot longer than I liked. It lasted about five minutes.
HEMMER: We have talked to other eyewitnesses there, Pat. They tell us that they felt like there were waves rippling across the ground during that five-minute period. Was that what you felt also?
JOHNS: Absolutely. I mean, there was panic in the hotel. Everybody made for the stairwells, trying to get out. It was pretty chaotic.
HEMMER: Was there much damage in your area, Pat?
JOHNS: Actually, going around town today, I was surprised that there was very little damage here in Medan. So I think the damage is basically on Nias and Similli (ph) islands.
HEMMER: Well, you mentioned Nias. We understand possibly 80 percent of the structures there have been damaged. What are you hearing about that resort island?
JOHNS: I mean, the communications are very poor right now. We're hoping that it's better tomorrow. We were in contact with some people in the morning, and the capitol there, the capitol of Nias, there are at least 80 percent of them are either damaged or completely down.
HEMMER: Pat, I understand you're putting the other plans to make a visit there to send in relief supplies. What are you getting ready to send in there and at what point could you move?
JOHNS: Yes, we've spent the better part of the day just trying to line up the logistics. We've got a heavy lift helicopter chartered for tomorrow, so we've got some personnel that -- some medical personnel that are going out there. We've got some medical supplies, some food, as well as body bags. There's a lot of rubble out there.
I think the immediate needs really are medical. There's a lot of people that survived that are banged up and injured, but one of the first things that's needed is just sifting through all the wreckage and trying to retrieve some of the people that are still buried that are still alive. I think the only one with the logistical capability to do that probably Indonesian military and I think they're going to need to deploy a lot more troops out there to do it.
HEMMER: Are you hearing much about Banda Aceh, the northern tip of Sumatra, that area so hard-hit back in...
JOHNS: ... in Banda Aceh and I came into Medan just very briefly. So I've been in touch with our office there. And it's quite a panic, as you imagine after what happened last December. There were a lot of flashbacks. But they went around the city today and everyone seems to be fine.
HEMMER: Pat, one final question here. Based on the amount of relief that flowed into Indonesia back in the end of December, first of part of January, do you essentially have a headstart in the relief effort for this time?
JOHNS: I think so. I think, you know, pre-tsunami, a lot of agencies were not working in that part of Indonesia. So a lot of us had geared up and we've got quite an operational presence and it's basically just a matter of shifting and redeploying some staff and some relief supplies. I think we can get this going pretty quickly.
HEMMER: Pat Johns from the Catholic Relief Services. Pat Johns in Indonesia. The U.S. Geological Survey says this is the eighth most powerful earthquake in 100 years.
Want to check in with Chad Myers right at the CNN Center. Chad, yesterday afternoon, we were all waiting for the wave. Luckily, it did not come. Is there an answer as to why there was no tsunami triggered?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, there's an answer, Bill. The one that we had back in December moved a lot of water. This one didn't. Obviously, that's the simple answer. Now, here's the reason why. As we spin you around for the United States across the Pacific, all the way across Borneo, Indonesia and over to Sumatra, the islands here, the deeper water, the subduction zone or front between the earth's plates.
The earthquake that we had yesterday under this little archipelago, it lifted the water, lifted the land, but also lifted air. And so it just made a puff of air, rather than a big puff of water. The earthquake that we had back in December was in deeper water. So when the thrust came up, it thrust the water as well and it created the wave rather than just creating all the shaking.
There's a lot more shaking with this earthquake, and so buildings were shaking and then dropped to the ground. They actually were shaken apart, where with this earthquake here, the water came up and the destruction was as that wave extended eastward and westward.
HEMMER: We're going to look at this throughout the morning, talk with a number of experts as we go throughout the morning. Chad, thanks for that. We'll talk to you a bit later. Chad Myers at the CNN Center -- Carol.
COSTELLO: The son of the Red Lake tribal chairman has been arrested in last week's school shootings. Police have been talking to friends of Jeff Weise, who was suspected of killing nine people and himself on a Minnesota Indian Reservation last week. At first, the FBI said Weise was acting alone, but now, according to "The Washington Post," the chairman's son could be charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Last week on AMERICAN MORNING, Chairman Floyd Jourdain talked about how close the community is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FLOYD JOURDAIN, CHMN., RED LAKE OJIBWA NATION: I knew practically all the people involved, the children. At some time I worked for the school district and if I didn't know them, I knew their families. This is a small community. Most people know one another. We go to the same schools, we frequent the same businesses, and there will not be one soul that's untouched by this tragedy here in Red Lake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Authorities aren't saying much, but they're talking to other teenagers and have not ruled out making more arrests.
Early this afternoon, Terri Schiavo starts her 12th full day without food or water. George Felos, the attorney for Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, says, quote, "Death is near." Felos said Monday that Michael Schiavo has requested an autopsy when Terry dies to show the extent of her brain damage.
Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, says he and his family are quote, "praying for a miracle." In the meantime, the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo's attorneys continue to contradict each other on Terri's condition.
Also, scores of protesters are still gathering at Schiavo's hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida. At least eight of them were arrested on Monday. A total of 46 have been arrested since Terri's feeding tube was removed on March 18.
HEMMER: Once again, a major setback for Michael Jackson. A judge says old allegations of abuse are fair game in the current trial. Jeff Toobin explains why he thinks the ruling is outrageous. We'll talk to Jeff in a moment.
COSTELLO: That should be interesting.
Also, not getting enough sleep? I'm with you. One study says the problem is so bad, it could spell trouble for your marriage.
HEMMER: Oh! Also, a growing controversy. Pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control. The clash between women's rights and pharmacists' beliefs ahead here on AMERICAN MORNING, live in New York City, on a Tuesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Prosecutors in the Michael Jackson molestation case say it will likely be about two weeks before they start presenting evidence of past allegations of sex abuse. The judge in that case has agreed to hear testimony from at least one boy and another's mother. Allegations date back more than a decade. The judge's decision could be a major hit to Jackson's defense. Here's Ted Rowlands in Santa Maria this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson is now at the center of not one but six allegations of sexual abuse. In addition to the accuser he is facing in his current trial, the judge's ruling allows prosecutors to detail what they claim are examples of sexual abuse against five other boys ages 10 to 13.
One of the alleged victims is actor Macaulay Culkin, who Jackson befriended in the early 1990s. Culkin himself is not expected to testify. In fact, he has publicly stated that no abuse took place. LARRY KING, "LARRY KING LIVE": What happened at the house? That's what all these people are concerned about.
MACAULAY CULKIN, ACTOR: You know, that's what's so weird.
KING: What did happen?
CULKIN: Nothing happened. I mean, nothing really. We played video games, you know. We, you know, played at the amusement park.
ROWLANDS: Prosecutors say, in fact, only one of the alleged victims will actually testify. Instead, the judge is allowing other witnesses, not the children, to detail the alleged cases of abuse.
Prosecutors say their witnesses will describe seeing Jackson in bed with four of the children and on some occasions allegedly they saw underwear, apparently the child's and Jackson's, on the floor beside the bed. Another witness is expected to testify that her son slept in the same bed with Jackson dozens of times. In 1993 that child was the subject of abuse allegations against Jackson, which resulted in a financial settlement. While the alleged victim is not expected to testify, the mother's testimony could be very damaging to Jackson.
RAYMOND CHANDLER, ALLEGED VICTIM'S RELATIVE: She is going to put him in that bedroom, which makes it more than just sort of, oh, let's have an impromptu sleepover. That's a relationship. Fifty, 60 nights, night after night, in about ten locations around the world.
ROWLANDS: Jackson's lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, argued that allowing these allegations without direct testimony from the alleged victims is unfair. Mesereau told the judge that the prosecution has a, quote, "weak case" and this testimony could hurt Jackson's right to a fair trial. Michael Jackson, who was not in court when the ruling was made, did show up later, but had no comment.
(on camera): Prosecutors say it'll take at least two weeks before they start introducing evidence of prior sexual abuse allegations. One clear effect of this ruling is that the estimated five-month long trial will be extended.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Santa Maria, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: So then, now that the judge in the Michael Jackson case has opened a door to Jackson's past, what is next? Our senior legal analyst, he's next for us. Jeffrey Toobin stops by. Good morning to you.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Howdy.
HEMMER: Were we correct to say that you think this ruling is outrageous?
TOOBIN: I do. I think it's very unfair to Jackson.
HEMMER: How so?
TOOBIN: Because you have now the specter of five accusations against Jackson, five new people who are at the center of allegations. However, four of them will not even testify, and three of them are on record as saying nothing happened. So I think particularly with those three it is unfair to make Jackson defend himself when the people who are in the best position to know say nothing happened.
HEMMER: So you might think it's outrageous, but to get your viewpoint to back itself up, you have to go back and change the state law in California. Because ten years ago, the legislature changed to allow this.
TOOBIN: Right. 1995, in response to all the pedophile priest cases, they changed the law to make it easier to bring in prior uncharged conduct. But I think it's different if you -- people come back and say, yes, years ago, he did this to me. That, I think is legitimate evidence.
But here you have people saying, years ago, nothing happened. And only have secondhand witnesses saying something happened. I think there's a difference between when the actual accusers come forward and when they don't.
HEMMER: Are you in the school of thought, that we've heard from so many observers outside that courthouse in Santa Maria, that this law was changed so they could prosecute Michael Jackson at some point?
TOOBIN: Certainly, that was -- that was in their minds. But I think it was much more the priest cases, because those were the ones that were really in front of the legislature at that point. It was the mid '90s, all those cases were coming to the surface. Those were -- and this law has been tested repeatedly, almost entirely in those kinds of cases. And, to be fair to the law, it has been approved by appeals courts.
HEMMER: We just heard Macaulay Culkin, I think it was May of 2004, with Larry King, saying yes, he was at Michael Jackson's house, nothing happened. He said it twice, in fact. But if you can, as a prosecutor, bring another witness in that says, hey, I saw this, and I was there when it happened, how does that hold up?
TOOBIN: Well, I think it's going to be interesting to see what these witnesses say. Some of these witnesses that the government is going to bring are going to be problematic witnesses. They've sold their stories to tabloids, they -- Michael Jackson has sued some of them successfully. These are not necessarily fine, upstanding witnesses.
However, it may be compelling evidence. Although in the defense case, presumably, then, we will hear from Macaulay Culkin and Culkin will say, I don't know what the guards are talking about. Nothing happened sexually between us.
HEMMER: Is it your sense there has been a legitimate shift or a tilt in this trial back toward the prosecution? TOOBIN: Well, remember, the jury hasn't seen any of this evidence yet, but I think, without question, this is good news for the prosecution. You know, the fact that these five cases can be brought before the jury and I, like most people, thought this case was not going especially well for the prosecution. Clearly, this is better news for the prosecution, yesterday's developments, than it is for the defense. Whether it's earth-shaking, I think -- I will reserve judgment on that.
HEMMER: You are right to do that, counselor. Talk to you later. Jeff, thanks -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Get ready to dig even deeper into your pockets to pay for gas. Andy tells us why in "Minding Your Business." That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: If you've had to fill up your car in the past few days, you've seen it. It shocked you. Gas prices still creeping higher. And guess what? They set another record. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Really?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Yes. And if you're going to fill up before you go to work, you better go not to the ATM first, because it's a shocker. $2.15 a gallon nationwide. That's four cents higher than it was last week, 40 cents higher than a year ago. And it looks like there's no end in sight, because oil prices, while they've stabilized a bit, do not look like they're going to be falling.
Let's see here. Houston, $2.03, your lowest. And L.A., $2.40 is your highest. And they're talking about a nationwide average, Carol, of $2.35 by Memorial Day, which is not good news.
COSTELLO: So could it go to $3.00? I mean, is that possible?
SERWER: Well, anything is possible. I don't think it's going to go to $3.00 this summer, but at some point down the road.
Let's talk about the market yesterday. Pretty good for investors. Dow up 42 points, you can see here. And Nasdaq barely made it into the green, but that's OK. Slight ease in the oil prices, but that was just a little blip.
And finally, an end of an era, Wall Street titan has left his job. This is Maurice Hank Greenberg, has stepped down as chairman of AIG. You might remember two weeks ago, he left as CEO because of investigations of the company and its practices there. And those investigations continued and the heat kept getting turned up and he had to leave.
COSTELLO: It got too hot for him to sit. He got to go.
CAFFERTY: If it turns out they were cooking the books, can they drag him back and put him on trial?
SERWER: I think they can. And he still has to talk to Mr. Spitzer about stuff that was going on.
CAFFERTY: I mean, that's one of the things they're looking into, is whether or not they were doing funny stuff down in the Bahamas to adjust the profit numbers.
SERWER: Finite reinsurance.
CAFFERTY: Yes, that.
SERWER: Technical. Highly technical and complicated stuff.
CAFFERTY: So they could have old Henry up there on the witness stand, saying I had no idea, it was the financial officer's fault.
SERWER: Well, yes, that -- God, we've heard that before. CFO!
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Do we have a CFO we can blame here?
COSTELLO: I'm sure we do.
CAFFERTY: We should get one.
SERWER: We need one.
CAFFERTY: That's right.
HEMMER: Thanks, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
HEMMER: What's happening?
CAFFERTY: This is just disgusting. There are 30,000 registered sex offenders and predators living in the state of Florida, and according to the "Miami Herald," that did some pretty good investigative reporting, authorities have no idea where 1,800 of them are.
9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, kidnapped, raped and murdered. John Couey, this pig, a man with a criminal record that spans 30 years, has been arrested 26 times. Now, he was out. He confessed to killing Jessica Lunsford. And yet when she died, nobody had any idea where this guy was. Couey. He was supposed to be living five miles away from Jessica's home. It turns out, he was less than a block away.
Here's the question. What should be done to keep track of sex offenders? I have one solution. If you put them in a grave, you know right where they're at.
HEMMER: 1,800 in Florida alone. And Marc Klaas...
CAFFERTY: They have no idea where they are.
HEMMER: Marc Klaas came on our air last week and said Florida has one of the better track records of any state in the country.
CAFFERTY: And there's 30,000 of them on the street down there, that are living down there.
COSTELLO: But there are so many, how do you keep track of them? How do you do it?
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: And they can't be rehabilitated, I assume, right? I mean, that's the real scary thing.
HEMMER: Well, the other thing, if it's true that he's a drug addict and he was, you know, he's roaming around all over the southeastern part of the country, if they found him in Georgia, where he popped up in some bar on some Saturday afternoon, how do you keep track of these people in the first place?
CAFFERTY: Why is a guy who has been arrested 26 times in a criminal career that spans 30 years, out walking the streets anywhere in this country?
COSTELLO: And his past comments, he even said that he needed help and could not recover and help me. John Couey even said that. And he was still out.
SERWER: The criminal system needs help.
CAFFERTY: Anyway...
HEMMER: We'll get to it. Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: We'll figure this thing out.
HEMMER: All right, let's get a break here. In a moment, religious conservatives fighting to put Terri Schiavo back on life support. But are their protests causing more harm than good? That's ahead after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Get the very latest news every morning on your e-mail. Sign for AMERICAN MORNING quick news at cnn.com/am.
Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Indonesia deals with the last thing it needed after December's devastating tsunami, another major earthquake. The latest just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired March 29, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. First daylight pictures of the worst-hit areas in Indonesia. Hundreds are dead after a second massive quake rocks the region. It's the same fault line, but no tsunami. What was the difference this time?
Social conservatives giving voice and volume to the parents of Terri Schiavo in their fight. But now, is the family becoming frustrated by the same conservative stand?
And a shocking arrest in the Red Lake School shootings. A tribal leader's son is now in custody. Questions of a wider plot on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: Good morning. Very busy Tuesday morning here. Soledad is off today.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello. Much more coming up on the earthquake and Schiavo case.
HEMMER: Also, potentially devastating blow to Michael Jackson. The jury will be allowed to hear evidence of other past abuse allegations to five boys, Macaulay Culkin one of them. Jeff Toobin tells us how bad this might be for Jackson.
COSTELLO: Don't think it can be good.
We'll also talk to the head of a group called Pharmacists for Life, known for refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control bill and the morning-after pill. Can they really do that? We'll look at this growing controversy.
HEMMER: Also, Jack Cafferty, what's on your mind? Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The bad news is there are 30,000 registered sex offenders and predators in the state of Florida alone. The worst news is authorities have no idea where 1,800 of them are. They're gone, vanished, nobody knows where they are. And one of them allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Not exactly what the taxpayers in Florida think they're getting in the way of protection. We'll take a look.
HEMMER: All right, Jacks, thanks. Let's starts overseas this morning. Eight officials scrambling to send relief to earthquake victims in Southeast Asia. So far at least 300 reported dead. The death toll expected to climb throughout the day.
Monday's 8.7 quake centered off the Northwestern coast of Indonesia, striking along the same fault line as the December 26th quake and tsunami. But this time, the outcome was not nearly as devastating.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER (voice-over): As the massive earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, panic spread throughout the entire Indian Ocean region. From Indonesia to Sri Lanka, when the tremors hit, people ran for their lives, fleeing to higher ground, terrified another catastrophic tsunami would follow.
Worst hit by yesterday's quake, the remote Indonesian island of Nias, close to the epicenter. The death toll now in the hundreds, the country's vice president saying the final toll could reach 2,000.
The December quake was a magnitude 9.0, the strongest in 40 years. It caused a tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean, leaving more than 300,000 dead or missing. Monday's quake struck along the same fault line, but with a lesser magnitude of 8.7.
KERRY SIEH, PROFESSOR, CALTECH: I would certainly say it's a fraternal twin. It's not a duplicate. It occurred a little bit further south, a couple hundred kilometers to the south, but it's the same type of earthquake. It would be like having a duck egg and a chicken egg in the same basket.
HEMMER: This time, international agencies, criticized for their slowness in December, were quick to respond.
JAN EGELAND, U.N. UNDERSECRETARY-GENERAL: The system worked far better this time, that there was vigilance, that not only did we have surveillance and information to the countries, but we also had governments reporting out to the local authorities.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Pat Johns runs emergency relief operations in Indonesia for Catholic Relief Services. He was in Medan, Indonesia, when that quake rattled his hotel, sent people running into the street nearby. Pat, what did it feel like when that quake struck?
PAT JOHNS, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES: I was in Medan. I was sending off some visitors. We were in a high-rise hotel. And all I can compare it to, it was like being in an airplane undergoing some severe turbulence. And it lasted for a lot longer than I liked. It lasted about five minutes.
HEMMER: We have talked to other eyewitnesses there, Pat. They tell us that they felt like there were waves rippling across the ground during that five-minute period. Was that what you felt also?
JOHNS: Absolutely. I mean, there was panic in the hotel. Everybody made for the stairwells, trying to get out. It was pretty chaotic.
HEMMER: Was there much damage in your area, Pat?
JOHNS: Actually, going around town today, I was surprised that there was very little damage here in Medan. So I think the damage is basically on Nias and Similli (ph) islands.
HEMMER: Well, you mentioned Nias. We understand possibly 80 percent of the structures there have been damaged. What are you hearing about that resort island?
JOHNS: I mean, the communications are very poor right now. We're hoping that it's better tomorrow. We were in contact with some people in the morning, and the capitol there, the capitol of Nias, there are at least 80 percent of them are either damaged or completely down.
HEMMER: Pat, I understand you're putting the other plans to make a visit there to send in relief supplies. What are you getting ready to send in there and at what point could you move?
JOHNS: Yes, we've spent the better part of the day just trying to line up the logistics. We've got a heavy lift helicopter chartered for tomorrow, so we've got some personnel that -- some medical personnel that are going out there. We've got some medical supplies, some food, as well as body bags. There's a lot of rubble out there.
I think the immediate needs really are medical. There's a lot of people that survived that are banged up and injured, but one of the first things that's needed is just sifting through all the wreckage and trying to retrieve some of the people that are still buried that are still alive. I think the only one with the logistical capability to do that probably Indonesian military and I think they're going to need to deploy a lot more troops out there to do it.
HEMMER: Are you hearing much about Banda Aceh, the northern tip of Sumatra, that area so hard-hit back in...
JOHNS: ... in Banda Aceh and I came into Medan just very briefly. So I've been in touch with our office there. And it's quite a panic, as you imagine after what happened last December. There were a lot of flashbacks. But they went around the city today and everyone seems to be fine.
HEMMER: Pat, one final question here. Based on the amount of relief that flowed into Indonesia back in the end of December, first of part of January, do you essentially have a headstart in the relief effort for this time?
JOHNS: I think so. I think, you know, pre-tsunami, a lot of agencies were not working in that part of Indonesia. So a lot of us had geared up and we've got quite an operational presence and it's basically just a matter of shifting and redeploying some staff and some relief supplies. I think we can get this going pretty quickly.
HEMMER: Pat Johns from the Catholic Relief Services. Pat Johns in Indonesia. The U.S. Geological Survey says this is the eighth most powerful earthquake in 100 years.
Want to check in with Chad Myers right at the CNN Center. Chad, yesterday afternoon, we were all waiting for the wave. Luckily, it did not come. Is there an answer as to why there was no tsunami triggered?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, there's an answer, Bill. The one that we had back in December moved a lot of water. This one didn't. Obviously, that's the simple answer. Now, here's the reason why. As we spin you around for the United States across the Pacific, all the way across Borneo, Indonesia and over to Sumatra, the islands here, the deeper water, the subduction zone or front between the earth's plates.
The earthquake that we had yesterday under this little archipelago, it lifted the water, lifted the land, but also lifted air. And so it just made a puff of air, rather than a big puff of water. The earthquake that we had back in December was in deeper water. So when the thrust came up, it thrust the water as well and it created the wave rather than just creating all the shaking.
There's a lot more shaking with this earthquake, and so buildings were shaking and then dropped to the ground. They actually were shaken apart, where with this earthquake here, the water came up and the destruction was as that wave extended eastward and westward.
HEMMER: We're going to look at this throughout the morning, talk with a number of experts as we go throughout the morning. Chad, thanks for that. We'll talk to you a bit later. Chad Myers at the CNN Center -- Carol.
COSTELLO: The son of the Red Lake tribal chairman has been arrested in last week's school shootings. Police have been talking to friends of Jeff Weise, who was suspected of killing nine people and himself on a Minnesota Indian Reservation last week. At first, the FBI said Weise was acting alone, but now, according to "The Washington Post," the chairman's son could be charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Last week on AMERICAN MORNING, Chairman Floyd Jourdain talked about how close the community is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FLOYD JOURDAIN, CHMN., RED LAKE OJIBWA NATION: I knew practically all the people involved, the children. At some time I worked for the school district and if I didn't know them, I knew their families. This is a small community. Most people know one another. We go to the same schools, we frequent the same businesses, and there will not be one soul that's untouched by this tragedy here in Red Lake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Authorities aren't saying much, but they're talking to other teenagers and have not ruled out making more arrests.
Early this afternoon, Terri Schiavo starts her 12th full day without food or water. George Felos, the attorney for Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, says, quote, "Death is near." Felos said Monday that Michael Schiavo has requested an autopsy when Terry dies to show the extent of her brain damage.
Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, says he and his family are quote, "praying for a miracle." In the meantime, the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo's attorneys continue to contradict each other on Terri's condition.
Also, scores of protesters are still gathering at Schiavo's hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida. At least eight of them were arrested on Monday. A total of 46 have been arrested since Terri's feeding tube was removed on March 18.
HEMMER: Once again, a major setback for Michael Jackson. A judge says old allegations of abuse are fair game in the current trial. Jeff Toobin explains why he thinks the ruling is outrageous. We'll talk to Jeff in a moment.
COSTELLO: That should be interesting.
Also, not getting enough sleep? I'm with you. One study says the problem is so bad, it could spell trouble for your marriage.
HEMMER: Oh! Also, a growing controversy. Pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control. The clash between women's rights and pharmacists' beliefs ahead here on AMERICAN MORNING, live in New York City, on a Tuesday.
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HEMMER: Prosecutors in the Michael Jackson molestation case say it will likely be about two weeks before they start presenting evidence of past allegations of sex abuse. The judge in that case has agreed to hear testimony from at least one boy and another's mother. Allegations date back more than a decade. The judge's decision could be a major hit to Jackson's defense. Here's Ted Rowlands in Santa Maria this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson is now at the center of not one but six allegations of sexual abuse. In addition to the accuser he is facing in his current trial, the judge's ruling allows prosecutors to detail what they claim are examples of sexual abuse against five other boys ages 10 to 13.
One of the alleged victims is actor Macaulay Culkin, who Jackson befriended in the early 1990s. Culkin himself is not expected to testify. In fact, he has publicly stated that no abuse took place. LARRY KING, "LARRY KING LIVE": What happened at the house? That's what all these people are concerned about.
MACAULAY CULKIN, ACTOR: You know, that's what's so weird.
KING: What did happen?
CULKIN: Nothing happened. I mean, nothing really. We played video games, you know. We, you know, played at the amusement park.
ROWLANDS: Prosecutors say, in fact, only one of the alleged victims will actually testify. Instead, the judge is allowing other witnesses, not the children, to detail the alleged cases of abuse.
Prosecutors say their witnesses will describe seeing Jackson in bed with four of the children and on some occasions allegedly they saw underwear, apparently the child's and Jackson's, on the floor beside the bed. Another witness is expected to testify that her son slept in the same bed with Jackson dozens of times. In 1993 that child was the subject of abuse allegations against Jackson, which resulted in a financial settlement. While the alleged victim is not expected to testify, the mother's testimony could be very damaging to Jackson.
RAYMOND CHANDLER, ALLEGED VICTIM'S RELATIVE: She is going to put him in that bedroom, which makes it more than just sort of, oh, let's have an impromptu sleepover. That's a relationship. Fifty, 60 nights, night after night, in about ten locations around the world.
ROWLANDS: Jackson's lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, argued that allowing these allegations without direct testimony from the alleged victims is unfair. Mesereau told the judge that the prosecution has a, quote, "weak case" and this testimony could hurt Jackson's right to a fair trial. Michael Jackson, who was not in court when the ruling was made, did show up later, but had no comment.
(on camera): Prosecutors say it'll take at least two weeks before they start introducing evidence of prior sexual abuse allegations. One clear effect of this ruling is that the estimated five-month long trial will be extended.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Santa Maria, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: So then, now that the judge in the Michael Jackson case has opened a door to Jackson's past, what is next? Our senior legal analyst, he's next for us. Jeffrey Toobin stops by. Good morning to you.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Howdy.
HEMMER: Were we correct to say that you think this ruling is outrageous?
TOOBIN: I do. I think it's very unfair to Jackson.
HEMMER: How so?
TOOBIN: Because you have now the specter of five accusations against Jackson, five new people who are at the center of allegations. However, four of them will not even testify, and three of them are on record as saying nothing happened. So I think particularly with those three it is unfair to make Jackson defend himself when the people who are in the best position to know say nothing happened.
HEMMER: So you might think it's outrageous, but to get your viewpoint to back itself up, you have to go back and change the state law in California. Because ten years ago, the legislature changed to allow this.
TOOBIN: Right. 1995, in response to all the pedophile priest cases, they changed the law to make it easier to bring in prior uncharged conduct. But I think it's different if you -- people come back and say, yes, years ago, he did this to me. That, I think is legitimate evidence.
But here you have people saying, years ago, nothing happened. And only have secondhand witnesses saying something happened. I think there's a difference between when the actual accusers come forward and when they don't.
HEMMER: Are you in the school of thought, that we've heard from so many observers outside that courthouse in Santa Maria, that this law was changed so they could prosecute Michael Jackson at some point?
TOOBIN: Certainly, that was -- that was in their minds. But I think it was much more the priest cases, because those were the ones that were really in front of the legislature at that point. It was the mid '90s, all those cases were coming to the surface. Those were -- and this law has been tested repeatedly, almost entirely in those kinds of cases. And, to be fair to the law, it has been approved by appeals courts.
HEMMER: We just heard Macaulay Culkin, I think it was May of 2004, with Larry King, saying yes, he was at Michael Jackson's house, nothing happened. He said it twice, in fact. But if you can, as a prosecutor, bring another witness in that says, hey, I saw this, and I was there when it happened, how does that hold up?
TOOBIN: Well, I think it's going to be interesting to see what these witnesses say. Some of these witnesses that the government is going to bring are going to be problematic witnesses. They've sold their stories to tabloids, they -- Michael Jackson has sued some of them successfully. These are not necessarily fine, upstanding witnesses.
However, it may be compelling evidence. Although in the defense case, presumably, then, we will hear from Macaulay Culkin and Culkin will say, I don't know what the guards are talking about. Nothing happened sexually between us.
HEMMER: Is it your sense there has been a legitimate shift or a tilt in this trial back toward the prosecution? TOOBIN: Well, remember, the jury hasn't seen any of this evidence yet, but I think, without question, this is good news for the prosecution. You know, the fact that these five cases can be brought before the jury and I, like most people, thought this case was not going especially well for the prosecution. Clearly, this is better news for the prosecution, yesterday's developments, than it is for the defense. Whether it's earth-shaking, I think -- I will reserve judgment on that.
HEMMER: You are right to do that, counselor. Talk to you later. Jeff, thanks -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Get ready to dig even deeper into your pockets to pay for gas. Andy tells us why in "Minding Your Business." That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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COSTELLO: If you've had to fill up your car in the past few days, you've seen it. It shocked you. Gas prices still creeping higher. And guess what? They set another record. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Really?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Yes. And if you're going to fill up before you go to work, you better go not to the ATM first, because it's a shocker. $2.15 a gallon nationwide. That's four cents higher than it was last week, 40 cents higher than a year ago. And it looks like there's no end in sight, because oil prices, while they've stabilized a bit, do not look like they're going to be falling.
Let's see here. Houston, $2.03, your lowest. And L.A., $2.40 is your highest. And they're talking about a nationwide average, Carol, of $2.35 by Memorial Day, which is not good news.
COSTELLO: So could it go to $3.00? I mean, is that possible?
SERWER: Well, anything is possible. I don't think it's going to go to $3.00 this summer, but at some point down the road.
Let's talk about the market yesterday. Pretty good for investors. Dow up 42 points, you can see here. And Nasdaq barely made it into the green, but that's OK. Slight ease in the oil prices, but that was just a little blip.
And finally, an end of an era, Wall Street titan has left his job. This is Maurice Hank Greenberg, has stepped down as chairman of AIG. You might remember two weeks ago, he left as CEO because of investigations of the company and its practices there. And those investigations continued and the heat kept getting turned up and he had to leave.
COSTELLO: It got too hot for him to sit. He got to go.
CAFFERTY: If it turns out they were cooking the books, can they drag him back and put him on trial?
SERWER: I think they can. And he still has to talk to Mr. Spitzer about stuff that was going on.
CAFFERTY: I mean, that's one of the things they're looking into, is whether or not they were doing funny stuff down in the Bahamas to adjust the profit numbers.
SERWER: Finite reinsurance.
CAFFERTY: Yes, that.
SERWER: Technical. Highly technical and complicated stuff.
CAFFERTY: So they could have old Henry up there on the witness stand, saying I had no idea, it was the financial officer's fault.
SERWER: Well, yes, that -- God, we've heard that before. CFO!
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Do we have a CFO we can blame here?
COSTELLO: I'm sure we do.
CAFFERTY: We should get one.
SERWER: We need one.
CAFFERTY: That's right.
HEMMER: Thanks, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
HEMMER: What's happening?
CAFFERTY: This is just disgusting. There are 30,000 registered sex offenders and predators living in the state of Florida, and according to the "Miami Herald," that did some pretty good investigative reporting, authorities have no idea where 1,800 of them are.
9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, kidnapped, raped and murdered. John Couey, this pig, a man with a criminal record that spans 30 years, has been arrested 26 times. Now, he was out. He confessed to killing Jessica Lunsford. And yet when she died, nobody had any idea where this guy was. Couey. He was supposed to be living five miles away from Jessica's home. It turns out, he was less than a block away.
Here's the question. What should be done to keep track of sex offenders? I have one solution. If you put them in a grave, you know right where they're at.
HEMMER: 1,800 in Florida alone. And Marc Klaas...
CAFFERTY: They have no idea where they are.
HEMMER: Marc Klaas came on our air last week and said Florida has one of the better track records of any state in the country.
CAFFERTY: And there's 30,000 of them on the street down there, that are living down there.
COSTELLO: But there are so many, how do you keep track of them? How do you do it?
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: And they can't be rehabilitated, I assume, right? I mean, that's the real scary thing.
HEMMER: Well, the other thing, if it's true that he's a drug addict and he was, you know, he's roaming around all over the southeastern part of the country, if they found him in Georgia, where he popped up in some bar on some Saturday afternoon, how do you keep track of these people in the first place?
CAFFERTY: Why is a guy who has been arrested 26 times in a criminal career that spans 30 years, out walking the streets anywhere in this country?
COSTELLO: And his past comments, he even said that he needed help and could not recover and help me. John Couey even said that. And he was still out.
SERWER: The criminal system needs help.
CAFFERTY: Anyway...
HEMMER: We'll get to it. Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: We'll figure this thing out.
HEMMER: All right, let's get a break here. In a moment, religious conservatives fighting to put Terri Schiavo back on life support. But are their protests causing more harm than good? That's ahead after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
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Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Indonesia deals with the last thing it needed after December's devastating tsunami, another major earthquake. The latest just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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