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Lawsuits Filed Over NSA Wiretaps; Iraqi President Shares Insights into Elections; Al Gore Calls for Special Counsel to Investigate Wiretaps

Aired January 17, 2006 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Hello, I'm Kyra Phillips, live inside B Control at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. We're talking about dead ends, red herrings and head-line grabbing lawsuits.
The same day "The New York Times" reports the National Security Agency inundated the FBI with names and leads from warrantless wiretaps, names and leads that reportedly, almost without exception, went nowhere. Two federal lawsuits are aiming to pull the plug on what plaintiffs call an astounding violation of constitutional principles.

CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena following all the twists and turns in our Washington bureau.

Kelli, do the plaintiffs have evidence the NSA eavesdropped on specific people?

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Kyra. What they argue is that, given their understanding of the program, that the NSA is monitoring calls overseas to suspected terrorists or people with connections to suspected terrorists. And so plaintiffs believe that their calls and e-mails have been intercepted. Only a belief, no proof.

PHILLIPS: So without evidence, how do these groups think that their cases will be successful?

ARENA: Well, Kyra, here's an example. One of the plaintiffs is author and columnist Christopher Hitchens. Now, he often calls sources overseas. Some of those people may be considered suspected terrorists or they may have ties with suspected terrorists.

So Hitchens says, "Look, my sources assume that my calls are now being monitored, and so they're not being as frank as they used to be." And that, he says is damaging to his work. So he says he's got cause to sue.

Now, that's what -- in legal terms, that's called injury. That's a very high legal bar. And remember, on the other end of this, Kyra, the administration argues that it does have the constitutional authority to eavesdrop, to protect the United States. So, still very much an open question, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So what do you know about this report in "The New York Times," saying the NSA wiretaps had FBI agents chasing down a lot of leads that just went nowhere?

AREA: Well, this has been a gripe of agents for some time, not really to the NSA, just that there's so much intelligence that's coming in it's very hard for them to prioritize.

What I've been told, Kyra, is that most field agents do not know where the intelligence came from. They say it would be very difficult to blame it solely on the NSA, because so much of it comes from CIA and other -- other intelligence means. And most leads -- they say yes, most leads don't turn into anything. Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing that until you track it down.

But universally, Kyra, it is -- it is an issue. And it goes back to wanting to, you know, not leave any stone unturned because you never know what little piece of intelligence is going to be the one that ends up biting you later on if you don't deal with it.

PHILLIPS: Kelli Arena will be talking about it all day. Thanks, Kelli.

ARENA: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: And in these days of heightened security, the Bush administration wants to make sure that visitors know the welcome mat is out. Earlier today, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff unveiled a joint plan aimed at making travel easier, especially for international businesspeople and students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: In the coming months, our two departments will work together to expand the length of time that foreign students can arrive and live and learn in America. We now -- we will now issue student visas up to 120 days before classes begin, as compared to 90 days under current regulations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Along the Mexican and Canadian borders, security officials are hoping to ease the process while still keeping their eye on security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: By the end of this year, our departments anticipate issuing a new, inexpensive travel card for land border crossings that will meet the documentation requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative but in a way that does not necessarily require people to have passports of the traditional kind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. Back behind bars. Two murder suspects are in custody three days after escaping from a jail in Alabama. Police found Johnny Earl Jones and Lamar Benton at a motel in Columbus, Georgia. That's across the river from Phoenix City, Alabama, where they escaped. It's also where our Rusty Dornin is standing by with the latest update.

Do we know if they had any help from the inside or outside, Rusty?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do suspect -- we do know that they did have some help there. It was apparently a woman who had booked a room in a motel about three Miles from the jail from where they escaped. She apparently paid cash for the room. We were told that by the motel owners, that they had been staying in that room.

That is where the sheriff's deputies did arrest Lamar Benton and Johnny Earl Jones after what was going to be a fourth day of a manhunt. This is just three hours ago that the young men were arrested at that motel, both murder suspects in this case. Putting this community definitely at ease. I've already spoken to people some outside who just say they are so relieved to hear that these two suspects are, once again, behind bars -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now, they're going back to the same jail, correct? So what's going on with regard to security?

DORNIN: Well, Sheriff Tommy Boswell said that he has a lot of confidence still in the jail facility here. He feels very confident putting these two men back in. They are going to, of course, be evaluating all of the security precautions and what exactly happened.

Now, if you remember in the story, three men overpowered two guards. They apparently took a shank, one of those homemade devices in the jail. It was made out of reinforced wire, and stabbed one of the guards 15 times.

After they overpowered those two guards, they went further, overpowered a female guard, and that's how they got the keys to get out the facility. And you can be -- bet they're going to be closely looking at every detail, of course, of how that happened. But they're feeling very confident that these two men will remain behind bars.

And, of course, even just the folks here at the jail, very upset about what happened, very close knit group of people, and very upset that this whole thing came down the way it did -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Rusty Dornin, thanks.

And a hostage standoff in the southeast Georgia area, town of Statesboro, actually, ended peacefully today about 24 hours after it began. Robert and Connie Brower surrendered to authorities after holding a lawyer hostage, Michael Hostilo, hostage, claiming they had an explosive device.

Both of them were charged with kidnapping. And authorities say Brower was upset after being convicted in a criminal case in which Hostilo was his court appointed attorney. The standoff prompted city officials to cancel Monday's Martin Luther King Day parade. It would have passed near the scene of that standoff.

A third teenage suspect has been arrested in a string of brutal attacks on homeless men in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The three attacks occurred last Thursday, including this one captured by a security camera. The latest suspect, who's 18, is now facing aggravated battery charge in one of those beatings. The other two, ages 17 and 18, are also facing murder chargers -- charges, rather, in the death of one of those victims.

There may soon be a new chief judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein. Mohammed Saad Al-Hamash has been named to the top spot in the courtroom. The appointment is on an interim basis but will likely become permanent. Al-Hamash is a deputy to the man who presided over the trial since October. The chief judge submitted his resignation on Sunday, but the Iraqi high tribunal has yet to accept it. Hussein's trial is scheduled to resume a week from today.

It's been more than a month since Iraq's parliamentary elections, and now we're closer to finding out the winners and the losers. Uncertified final results of the vote will be released sometime after Thursday. That's when an international panel reviewing complaints about the elections will issue its report. Eleven million Iraqis went to the polls in last month's elections.

Once results are in there's another big step ahead for Iraq, forming the new government. It's a challenge that's heavy on the mind of Iraq's president. CNN's Michael Holmes was given exclusive access to Jalal Talabani and Iraq's West Wing. He joins us now live from Baghdad.

Tell us what it was like, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was an amazing day, Kyra, highly unusual access, unfettered if you like, in what you could call the Iraqi West Wing. There's even a mini Oval Office, if you like.

We spent the entire day with President Talabani, from in his translation office where we actually saw a letter from George Bush being translated into Arabic, wishing the president well. Also saw meetings with the Iranian ambassador, the U.N. ambassador and others.

Now we managed to speak to him one on one on several occasions. He mentioned the elections. They are, of course, vital. And he says that he's hopeful that once those results are finalized in the next few days, a government can be formed pretty quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: You think that forming the government could take weeks or months?

JALAL TALABANI, PRESIDENT OF IRAQ: I think weeks. HOLMES: Weeks?

TALABANI: I hope. Sometimes I'm too optimistic. I hope it will be weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes, so does everyone, really, Kyra. There had been concerns that this could take months to pull together if you like, to get some sort of unity government together. Remember, you've got the Sunnis, you've got the Shias, you've got the Kurds, and they're trying to get together some sort of unity government. And people thought that was going to be problematic. But if he sees weeks, well, let's hope he's right.

PHILLIPS: Well, does he think he has enough power?

HOLMES: That's the question. When it comes to power, now, the president doesn't really have a lot of power under the current guidelines. Talabani says he does want to continue as president, but if he does, it's going to be as somebody who has some power. He says, I don't want to be a "yes man." And whether he gets that power, however, or enough power to satisfy him remains to be seen.

In the interim -- and this is the key thing. Once those results are in, he does have a lot of power because the Kurds are, if you like, the swing vote. Nobody has got a big majority or enough of a majority to rule. So he's the one that's got to pull the people together, act as a mediator, if you like. He says the Kurds are the ones who must, and he says can, bring the Shias, the Sunnis together in a unity government. It has to really work. Otherwise, it's going to be a pretty difficult time ahead, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Did you get a chance to get personal with him at all, get a sense of what kind of guy he is, and if indeed he's going to be able to carry on in this position?

HOLMES: Yes, you know, you've spoken to a lot of senior politicians, too. They can normally be pretty dry or droll or serious. Funny thing about Jalal Talabani is he's a funny man. He has a sense of humor. He's a uniter. He's a man called by the Kurdish people "uncle," because he has a very informal sense about him.

He doesn't stand by protocol. His aides told me that if there's an ambassador coming, for example, and he likes the guy, he runs out to the security office to meet him in person. And the aides are saying, "No, no, no. You're the president. You should sit in the office and wait for him to come to you."

He tells jokes. He plays cards. He's actually a pretty relaxed sort of fellow, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, that's easy for you to say, because you put people at ease. Michael Holmes, thanks so much. We'll talk to you again. Well, the countdown is on for a first of a kind mission for Pluto. Minutes from now, at 1:24 Eastern, to be exact -- we're actual following the live pictures right now -- NASA plans to launch a probe aboard this rocket to study the Solar System's last unexplored planet. NASA hopes to determine once and for all how planets and the universe formed. We're going to go to our space correspondent extraordinaire, Miles O'Brien, right after -- right before the launch, rather, and bring it to you live.

The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Former President Gerald Ford is in the hospital with pneumonia, but he could be back home very soon. Ford was admitted yesterday to the Eisenhower Medical Center near his home in Rancho Mirage, California. Aides say that he's doing very well and could be released as early as tomorrow. We should know more next hour when the hospital gives us an update. At 92, Ford is the nation's oldest living former president.

A Capitol Hill rerun as Mississippi lawmaker Trent Lott ends months of speculation and says he will seek a fourth Senate term. After the stepping up to -- or after stepping up to the podium, rather, Lott tacked on another five minutes of suspense with remarks that didn't get to the point until this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: And I've made a choice. And it's been one of consultation and one of support by my wonderful wife. But I have chosen Mississippi and America, once again. I am going to ask the people to re-elect me to another term in the United States Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The 64-year-old Republican has also been dropping hints he might look for another leadership role. Lott was pushed out as Senate majority leader in 2002 after a birthday gathering for former Senator Strom Thurmond. He said the U.S. would have avoided "all these problems" if Thurmond had succeeded in his 1948 presidential bid. Thurmond ran as a segregationist. Lott has since apologized for his poor choice of words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At present we still have much to learn about the NSA's domestic surveillance. What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the president of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and insistently.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Well, if Al Gore is going to be the voice of the Democrats on national security matters, the White House says it welcomes it. Spokesman Scott McClellan today accused Gore of hypocrisy in yesterday's fiery speech attacking President Bush on warrantless surveillance. McClellan said that the Clinton-Gore administration engaged in warrantless physical searches.

The former vice president's remarks have touched off speculation, and not just inside the White House. Is Gore trying to become the Democratic voice on national security? Is he interested in a 2008 presidential nomination? Or was he just speaking his mind?

Joining us from Capitol Hill to discuss those possibilities and all other matters political, CNN political analyst Bill Schneider. He always speaks his mind, as well.

Just that piece of the speech, Bill, when he was talking about breaking the law. Interesting words, if you look behind the message. Yes?

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, indeed interesting words. He talked about allegations of criminal activity by the president. He talked about the possibility the president has broken the law. And he even called for a special counsel, which would have to be appointed by the attorney general, to investigate. He said Republicans should join Democrats, calling for a special counsel investigation.

Well, he never used the "i" word, which is impeachment, but he did talk about criminal activity, about law breaking. He talked about a special counsel investigation. If the president's found guilty of a crime, that could be the grounds for impeachment, which is something some Democrats have been buzzing about, particularly on the Web.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. So the blogs are talking a lot about this?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, indeed. And, again, Gore did not use that word, but the implications of criminal activity, breaking the law, a special counsel investigation, those are kind of unmistakable.

And he also said that the issue of a special counsel should become an issue in every election this year, should be an issue in every race for the house, for the Senate, because you know the Republicans control the House and Senate. So how can you even think about impeachment if the Republicans are in control of both houses of Congress? The House has to initiate any kind of impeachment proceeding.

Well, his answer is, let's make it an issue. Let's make it our issue. And he even called Republicans to join in, because he said they have to defend the Constitution, too.

Interestingly, Gore was supposed to be introduced on the platform yesterday by a staunch conservative, former Representative Bob Barr of Georgia, who, because of technical difficulties, could not actually do the introduction. But Barr also has been very critical of Bush on civil liberties.

PHILLIPS: Yes, we found that interesting, former Republican congressman who was set to introduce him. Obviously, these two individuals, whether Republican or Democrat, they share the same views about constitutional rights and the Patriot Act. So it really wasn't a surprise, yet it makes interesting bed fellows.

SCHNEIDER: It does. And Gore did talk about bipartisanship. He didn't talk about this as strictly a partisan issue.

Of course, Arlen Specter, a Republican, is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is going to have hearings to investigate possible law breaking by the president, whether the warrantless wiretapping was, indeed, illegal. That investigation is going to be chaired by the Republican chairman of the judiciary committee. So yes, there are some bipartisan concerns about this.

PHILLIPS: Bill, if you were to think of who is the main voice for the Democratic Party right now, is it Al Gore?

SCHNEIDER: Well, it could be Al Gore. He could become that main voice. Because look, who have the Democrats really got? They've got minority leaders in the House and Senate, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, who have no real power in Washington.

John Kerry, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, they all may run for president so they're being pretty cautious about speaking out.

Howard Dean, chairman of the party, his job is to represent all the range of views in the Democratic Party. He can't really be as outspoken as he was when he was candidate.

A lot of the Democrats have been looking to Bill Clinton, their most recent president, to be outspoken as a critic of Bush. He has criticized Bush on some issues like global warming. Not especially critical on the war in Iraq. And a lot of Democrats are disappointed. But remember, Bill Clinton is heavily invested in his wife's political future.

So that leaves Al Gore, who stepped up to the plate yesterday and really made his views known and spoke for a lot of outraged and angry Democrats.

PHILLIPS: Yes, it was interesting, the e-mail from a lot of people wanting to see more of Al Gore.

Bill Schneider, thanks so much.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Well, excitement is building for a far out mission to space. NASA plans to launch a probe to Pluto to study the Solar System's last unexplored planet. Let's get straight to CNN's Miles O'Brien with the new development regarding that mission.

What do we know, Miles? MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, how are you? 1:45 p.m. is the new launch time. And I know -- can you pencil me in, at 1:45?

PHILLIPS: We will pencil you in, my.

O'BRIEN: Excellent. Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: And we'll leave plenty of time because we know about your space segments.

O'BRIEN: Now, now, now. This is your program. Let's keep that straight.

Let's go to NASA, live pictures, if we could, for just a moment here. And give you a sense of what's going on on Launch Pad 41. Check it out here. That's liquid oxygen, right there, streaming off the Atlas 5 Centar (ph) rocket.

You can get a sense just by looking of how much wind we're talking about there. It's at least 33 knot gusts and beyond. Thirty- three is the magic number. If it exceeds that, NASA will not be able to launch. That's why they've built in this 20-minute delay.

They also have a little problem with an oxygen valve that they're working on right now. That does not appear to be a show-stopper this moment. But you never know in this racket when you've got a lot of movable parts.

So at this juncture, we've got windy conditions there. That was the big concern for today. As you can see, you've got those nice high cirrus clouds there. It's beautiful weather otherwise. But it is blowing like the dickens there. And as a result, right now, we're not sure when this thing is going to launch.

As it stands, 1:45 is the current opportunity. Will the wind dissipate? We don't know.

PHILLIPS: So why is this the only planet that's never been visited by a spacecraft?

O'BRIEN: Well, so far away. It's so far away.

PHILLIPS: Really is that reason?

O'BRIEN: Three billion miles. It takes 10 years just to get there, Kyra. You think my segments are long, imagine a trip to Pluto.

PHILLIPS: But you would think that, you know, NASA with all its resources, they would figure, you know, something out. Maybe you've got to bring Burt Rotan into the scene, you know, to figure out how to get there quicker.

O'BRIEN: A Burt Rotan mission. And that actually -- I'd go for a ride on that one. That would be some ride.

PHILLIPS: Wouldn't we all? But that would cost like a million bucks, though, right?

O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes. I don't know if Sandy would go along with that, or John, for that matter. But you know, in any case, you certainly want to enjoy your fellow crew mates if you're flying to Pluto. There's no doubt about that.

PHILLIPS: That's a long trip to bond.

O'BRIEN: This is the fastest thing ever devised by human beings, Kyra: 10 miles per second.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

O'BRIEN: Imagine that. Think about that for a moment. It still is going to take about a decade to get to Pluto. So therein is the issue at why Pluto has not been on the dance card until this moment.

This is some animation, what we're going to see in -- hopefully at 1:45. Maybe not today. They've got until the middle of February to make this opportunity to get to Pluto.

And there you see it. Kyra, it's about the size of a grand piano there at the end of that launch vehicle. That gives it the kick which gives it that 10 miles per second -- I still can't get over that. Ten miles per second. It's hard to imagine. On it will go. It will get a sling shot assist from Jupiter, as it goes around Jupiter's orbit.

PHILLIPS: A sling shot assist?

O'BRIEN: Well, yes, it goes -- it gets slightly captured by the orbit of Jupiter and then gets flung off it. It actually picks up speed kind of as it careens around.

And there you see Pluto. Did you know Pluto was salmon colored?

PHILLIPS: No, I didn't know. But I knew that it's -- I know it's really cold there.

O'BRIEN: Yes. It's cold.

PHILLIPS: It's like minus 300 something degrees, right?

O'BRIEN: It's cold there every day. As a matter of fact, when it is in the parts the -- you know, it has a very elliptical orbit, egg-shaped. When it's farthest away from the sun, its atmosphere, such as it is, completely collapses. There is no more atmosphere. So some would say it's nothing more than a glorified comet or asteroid.

And that's the issue. Is Pluto -- does it really belong in the category of planets, in the planet club?

PHILLIPS: Let's -- let's bring in Jacqui Jeras. She's got a little update, I'm told, Miles, about the weather.

Jacqui, what do you know? JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we're looking at those winds right now, Kyra, and they are quite strong. In fact, we've seen gusts pretty consistent over the last several hours, in the 30 to 35 mile per hour range.

We've got strong winds coming in out of the south right now. And there are wind advisories, which are in the area. All these little red dots here are weather observing sites across the area. Of course, right here is Cape Canaveral.

We're going to zoom in here on the closest one and show you the exact observations at this hour. Ah, look at that. That's live TV for you. Actually updates live. I well tell you, I just checked this 10 minutes ago, and it was showing us that winds were out of the south sustained at 22 miles per hour and gusts were at about 32 miles per hour.

Dave Hennen pulling in there and trying to get some new obs for me. There we go. Titusville, there we go, south-southeast, 20 miles per hour, gusts at 32 right now. Temperature is at 73 degrees. So the clouds not an issue, but the winds getting very close. And there you can see some of those surrounding areas, where the winds were consistently between 25 and 35 miles per hour.

We don't expect them to subside, really, through the afternoon. In fact, they could even get stronger as the cold front gets closer. There you can see the showers and thunderstorms. They've been hitting the Florida Panhandle, steering clear of northern and central parts of Florida. But the closer this front...

O'BRIEN: Jacqui, Jacqui, I have a question. Jacqui, I have a question.

PHILLIPS: The student has a question.

O'BRIEN: Oh, oh, oh. Quickly.

JERAS: Yes?

O'BRIEN: You said 32 miles an hour.

JERAS: Yes, that's the gusts.

O'BRIEN: Not knots.

JERAS: Not knots.

O'BRIEN: Not knots.

JERAS: If you translate, 33 knots, about 38 miles per hour, so yes. So it's below the threshold.

O'BRIEN: It's below the threshold if it's 32 miles an hour.

JERAS: But it's close.

O'BRIEN: If it's 32 knots, you're right on the bubble.

JERAS: Right.

O'BRIEN: Thank you. I just had one question. You can go back to your forecast now. Thank you.

JERAS: Well, I can answer. That's all I really had for you. I was just talking about where the front was in relation to where the site is.

PHILLIPS: It's like a Don Knotts sitcom.

Is that it, guys?

JERAS: That's really all I've got, unless you want to start talking about the volcano. We can go there.

PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what. Let's save that for the next hit. We don't want to steal any time.

Miles, I know you're standing by for us.

Jacqui, thanks so much.

As you know, the launch is expected to happen this hour. We're all going to stay on the story. LIVE FROM's back after not -- you know, a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: An update now on that sole surviving miner from the Sago mine. Tony Harris, live in the news room now.

What's the latest, Tony?

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Kyra, you're going to like this.

Randy McCloy, as you mentioned, the lone survivor of the Sago mine disaster, is making good progress as he recovers from his injuries. Just got an update just a few moments ago.

Kyra, he is making such good progress that his doctors have removed him from intensive care. He has been transferred to a step- down unit. And what that means is that he needs less intensive monitoring as his medical condition becomes more stable.

So what is his overall condition? Well, he remains in serious condition and has not regained consciousness. It's all about his organs and how well they recover. He is now breathing without assistance and has been doing so for a few days now. His heart and liver have continued to improve. Kidneys, well, they're recovering more slowly. So he remains on hemodialysis. But the good news here, Kyra, is that Randy McCloy is out of intensive care. We will continue of course to update his condition.

PHILLIPS: You wonder what the next step will be, if they'll try to communicate...

HARRIS: Consciousness, yes.

PHILLIPS: We don't know the timetable for that, though, do we?

HARRIS: You're right. You're right, we don't know that now.

Tony Harris, thanks so much.

(MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Once again, developing news taking place this time about that volcano in Alaska -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, you remember that, Kyra, that Augustine volcano.

PHILLIPS: I sure do. Very different from St. Augustine. I was talking with Jen about the Fountain of Youth.

HARRIS: That's right. That's right.

PHILLIPS: So absolutely no connection at all. I just, know, thought I'd bring it up. Sorry.

HARRIS: I'm willing to go anywhere with you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, you do.

HARRIS: This is the volcano that is south of Anchorage, Alaska. And you know, last week it was just erupting all over the place. Well, it's at it again, erupted this morning, about an hour ago. What is it? It's about 1:36 Eastern Time, so 9:36 in Anchorage. So just about 8:00 this morning in Anchorage, this volcano erupted again, and sent an ash plume nearly nine miles into the air.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, we're talking now about physician-assisted suicide. It survives. In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court today upheld the only such law in the nation against a diehard challenge from the Bush administration. At issue, the federal government's authority to regulate doctors and drugs, versus an Oregon law that helped more than 200 gravely ill people end their lives since 1998.

Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy says -- and we quote -- "The authority claimed by the attorney general is both beyond his expertise and incongruous with the statutory purpose and design. Gonzales versus Oregon is the first case in which new Chief Justice Roberts winds up on the losing side.

Clarence Ray Allen could barely see, hear or walk. But minutes after his 76th birthday, California executed him, the state's oldest condemned inmate. His lawyers tried to spare his life, arguing it would be cruel and unusual to lethally inject a frail old man. Allen was condemned for ordering a triple murder 25 years ago, while he was behind bars for another murder. In his final statement, he said, quote, "It's a good day to die."

Frustrated with the options, confused by what is and isn't covered, the transition to the new Medicare prescription drug benefit plan is causing plenty of headaches, and it's not just senior citizens who are complaining. Pharmacists are venting, too.

Our Dan Lothian listens to the side of the story He's in Waltham, Massachusetts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE BERNARDI, PHARMACIST: Johnson Drug. Sure, I got to go to a different spot for that. Hold on.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this Massachusetts drugstore, a real mom and pop business, owner and pharmacist Steve Bernardi says the new Medicare drug program has turned his life upside down.

BERNARDI: There's so much confusion. We're trying to take care of everyone.

LOTHIAN: Filling prescriptions for seniors and the disabled, a few pills at a time.

BERNARDI: Did you try calling them again?

LOTHIAN: Even if he can't verify if they or the drugs they want are covered.

BERNARDI: Thank you, too. Sorry for your wait.

LOTHIAN: Bernardi, who owns this business with his wife Diane (ph) hopes the government will eventually pay them back.

(on camera): You've been giving away medication?

BERNARDI: That's right.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): He keeps track of those orders on this clipboard and marks the prescription bag with a yellow slip of paper.

BERNARDI: See, yellow, yellow, yellow. All of these people, even though they had information and said they were signed up, they had filled out the paperwork, they weren't in the system.

LOTHIAN: So Bernardi and his other pharmacists spend as much time on the phone as they do dealing with prescriptions, dealing with customers who can't figure out which health plan covers their drugs.

BERNARDI: I know it happens, and I know what you're saying.

LOTHIAN: And they spend time on hold for up to two hours to get answers from insurance plans. The frustration level here is rising.

BERNARDI: I mean, there's just mental and emotional damage. I mean, I've blown up at people that I had no right blowing up at.

(on camera): In an effort to clear up some of the confusion, this pharmacy is reaching out to its customers, bringing in an expert to give advice and answer questions two days a week.

(voice-over): The new benefit, known as Medicare Part D, aims to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors and the disabled.

ROBERT SARGENT, SENIOR CITIZEN: One good thing about it, some people is going to get coverage that otherwise couldn't afford it.

BERNARDI: It's just crazy. Not fair to anybody.

LOTHIAN: Pharmacist Steve Bernardi knows the system will work itself out, but he worries the high prices small business pay to keep prescriptions filled will never be fully repaid.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Waltham, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And all of us here at LIVE FROM want to help clear up some of the confusion about the new Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Plan. In our next hour, a health expert joins us to answer your questions, so send us your e-mails at livefrom@CNN.com.

Check in real quickly once again with Miles O'Brien. He's following the one-of-a-kind mission that is supposed to take place. What do you think, Miles?

O'BRIEN: Another delay, Kyra. It doesn't look good. It doesn't look good for today. Here's my take on this. And Jacqui will bear me out on this. It gets windier as the afternoon goes on there, and then it starts to die off as the sun goes down.

And this is what's happening right now, is the wind gusts are still causing problems. You know, look at the way that liquid oxygen is getting blown off as it bleeds the Atlas V rocket.

They're now saying 10 minutes after 2:00 Eastern time. Ten minutes after 2:00 Eastern time, putting it in the realm of about a 50-minute delay, a 45-minute delay. And we're watching it closely. Other than that, everything seems to be OK, Kyra. So it's just going to be up to Mother Nature.

PHILLIPS: And just quickly, for our viewers, it's to study Pluto, kind of cool gadgets inside the rocket, pictures -- I mean, what kind of technology in there?

O'BRIEN: It's the latest and the greatest, of course. All kinds of cameras, of course. You know, this is interesting, Kyra. We were talking about this 10-year flight to Pluto. The -- it's a drive by or a fly by in this case. They have about 36 hours to do the meat of the scientific effort here -- 36 hours.

PHILLIPS: Wow. O'BRIEN: And then off they go to another Kuiper Belt icy body. But there's cameras, there's spectrometers, there's dust analyzers -- all the things you'd expect to take a look at the surface and through the atmosphere. Analyze the atmosphere, analyze the surface. Seven instruments in all, run by that plutonium we told you about earlier that is decaying naturally.

PHILLIPS: Cool stuff. We'll keep checking in. Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. I'm here.

PHILLIPS: Quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Developing story in Utah. Tony Harris, what do you have?

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, look at these dramatic pictures. A rescue underway, as you can see. Fire and rescue on the scene there. This is Salt Lake City, Utah. And this is a parking lot of a grocery store where a woman, Kyra, has fallen 20 feet down a manhole. Obviously, no manhole cover.

She's fallen down the manhole some 20 feet. And our thanks to our affiliate there in Salt Lake City, KSL, for these aerial pictures of the scene right now. But you can see, a lot of personnel on the scene trying to make this rescue happen. We have no idea what kind of shape she's in right now, how this happened.

But, once again, Salt Lake City, Utah, a parking lot there of a grocery store, where a woman has fallen 20 feet down a manhole and the effort is underway right now to get her out. No more information on her condition, how this happened, but we will certainly keep following this for you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Tony, we'll keep our eyes on it, thanks.

HARRIS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Nearly $70 billion -- that's what the government set aside for the Gulf coast after Hurricane Katrina. But some lawmakers say it's not enough. A bipartisan group of senators is touring the region today and also holding a hearing on recovery effort.

The group is headed by Maine Republican Susan Collins, who says federal aid has fallen short. Collins says the region needs a sustained federal government, and she says there are fears the relief money is being misspent.

New Orleans is starting to look a lot like a college town again. Classes are restarting today at Tulane, the city's biggest employer, and also at Xavier and Southern Universities. Loyola and Dillard started last week.

All the schools were shut down in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and they're still not up to speed completely. Many of those classes will take place in trailers while campus repairs continue, and overall enrollment is much lower than it was before Katrina.

Ray Nagin has made his share of controversial comments, but this time, the New Orleans mayor might have outdone himself, and he's facing some fallout. At a Martin Luther King Day event yesterday, Nagin called for rebuilding a chocolate New Orleans, a city that maintains its black majority. He says that's the way God wants it to be. And he didn't stop there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: And as we think about rebuilding New Orleans, surely God is mad at America. He's sending hurricane after hurricane after hurricane and is destroying and putting stress on this country. Surely he's not approval of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Nagin is now drawing plenty of critics, many of them from New Orleans. Listen to what one of them had to say on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

TRACIE WASHINGTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Frankly, I'm done with trying to figure out what our mayor is going to say off the cuff on any given day. It was an unfortunate goofball statement for him to make and, you know, all it has really done is made the city look just a little bit more ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Nagin later said his chocolate comment was meant to promote racial diversity. He says if you mix dark chocolate with white milk, then it becomes a, quote, delicious drink.

And as you can imagine, we've received a lot of e-mails on the subject matter.

This one from California: "If the mayor of New Orleans would have said he wanted a vanilla city, the African-American community would be in an uproar. I, as a Caucasian, find his remark very racist and divisive. There is no need to make the city a certain color, but a melting pot of different races and cultures."

And this one from New Orleans: "New Orleans was about 85 percent African-American before the storm. Mayor Nagin suggests nothing other than that, that the city will one day return to its old self. Most people offended by the mayor's comments must know almost nothing about the city. Save your outrage for the wiretaps, people."

All right, we're going to have more on Nagin's comments in the 3:00 p.m. hour of LIVE FROM. The news keeps coming, we'll keep bringing it to you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Hollywood kicks off its annual award season with some moments we'll never forget. Like that new category, best actress in an unsupported role. Before they send off the red carpet for seam cleaning, let's check in with Sibila Vargas for a recap of the Globes, golden and otherwise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: The big winner of the night, "Brokeback Mountain," the film about two gay cowboys took The Golden Globe award in four out of seven categories in which it received nominations, including Best Dramatic Picture.

JAMES SHAMUS, PRODUCER, "BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN": We are stunned in thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press.

VARGAS: Also stunned, Hoffman and Huffman, the winning actors in the 'Dramatic Film' category. Philip Seymour Hoffman won for his portrayal of novelist Truman Capote in "Capote." And Felicity Huffman for her role as a transsexual in "TransAmerica."

FELICITY HUFFMAN, "TRANSAMERICA": I would like to salute the men and women who brave ostracism, alienation and a life lived on the margins to become who they really are.

VARGAS: In the Musical or Comedy Film category, "Walk the Line" won top honors for best picture. While co-stars, Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix took home 'Best Actor' and 'Best Actress' awards in a musical or comedy for their portrayals of Johnny and June Carter Cash.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX, "WALK THE LINE": To John and June for sharing their life with all of us.

VARGAS: George Clooney, who had three individual nominations in three different categories, including Best Supporting Actor in a Drama for "Syriana" was the first award of the night.

GEORGE CLOONEY, "SYRIANA": This is early. I haven't had a drink yet.

VARGAS: British actress Rachel Weiss earned the prize for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for "The Constant Gardener."

The winners in The Golden Globe film categories are closely watched as leading contenders for Academy Awards in two months. Meanwhile ABC was television's big winner of the evening. The thriller "Lost" won Best TV Drama, while fan favorite "Desperate Housewives" won for Best Comedy or Musical TV Show. The Best Comedic Actress award went to "Weeds" star Mary Louise Parker.

MARY LOUISE PARKER, "WEEDS": I thought we were all Desperate Housewives. Mine was a little more desperate than theirs were.

VARGAS: Best Actor in a TV Comedy went to Steve Carell for "The Office." His acceptance speech, he said, was written by his wife. STEVE CARRELL, "THE OFFICE": I would like to thank my wife Nancy.

VARGAS: And "Commander and Chief" star Geena Davis won 'Best Actress in a TV Drama' for her portrayal as the first female U.S. president.

GEENA DAVIS, "COMMANDER AND CHIEF": This is really wonderful for a fledgling little show like ours.

VARGAS: A golden night for all of the Golden Globe winners.

Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: More on the Golden Globes. In the next hour of LIVE FROM, our Sibila Vargas will give us the inside scoop on what happened after the show and all those big parties. LIVE FROM has all the news and scoop you want all afternoon. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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