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Outrage Over Phone Records Database; Priest Convicted of Murdering Nun

Aired May 11, 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, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Fury over phone calls. A new report says the National Security Agency has a database of Americans' phone records. The president tries to calm the storm.

Battered Biloxi. Katrina spoiled their school year. This afternoon, some graduates get their diplomas and a personal congratulations from the president.

LIVE FROM starts right now.

Also this hour, an historic verdict in Ohio as a priest is convicted of murder. We're going to take you there live

Well, next time the phone rings, think about this. Uncle Sam is keeping records. A report out today detailed a data collection effort we never heard about before in the government's war on terror. It's causing an uproar, and President Bush is trying to calm things down again.

With the story live from the White House, CNN's Ed Henry -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra.

That's right. You know, President Bush right now is heading to Gulf Coast Community College. He's going to be delivering the commencement address there, school hit hard by Katrina. He wanted to talk about lessons learned from that storm.

Instead, dealing once again with a political storm here in Washington, hit with this story in "USA Today", charging that, in fact, the federal government has been collecting the phone records for domestic calls of millions of Americans right here in the United States, raising new questions about this domestic surveillance program.

The president came out swinging, without confirming or denying the story. But the fact that he was pushing back seems to be another hallmark of the new chief of staff, Josh Bolten, here at the White House, trying to put his stamp on things, pushing back quickly, not letting a news cycle pass before the president got involved, the president insisting his intelligence activities are legal and that he protects the civil liberties of Americans. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans. Our efforts are focused on links to al Qaeda and their known affiliates. So far, we've been very successful in preventing another attack on our soil. As a general matter, every time sensitive intelligence is leaked, it hurts our ability to defeat this enemy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, the president was referring to an important distinction here, which is that the government appears to be -- again, he didn't confirm it, but based on the "USA Today" report, collecting these records, but not actually eavesdropping, not listening in on the calls, an important distinction.

Nevertheless, Democrats obviously already pouncing on this. This is likely to ignite an even bigger fire storm than already expected for the confirmation hearings that could begin as early as next week for the president's pick to be CIA director, General Michael Hayden -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Interesting point. We haven't heard anything from Michael Hayden. Of course, the papers saying he has no comment. Is the administration trying to keep him under wraps while this is going on?

HENRY: Well, you know, he was supposed to have a meeting with Senator Rick Santorum this morning, one of the many courtesy calls. That got canceled. There was some confusion about what's really going on, whether or not the White House was trying to hide Hayden on a day like today, since he is so identified with the domestic surveillance program.

The White House insisting they're trying to reschedule that meeting. They have no reason to keep Michael Hayden away from the television cameras. But a quick point there is that this White House is insisting they're spoiling for that fight with Democrats about this domestic surveillance program. They feel that in an election year Democrats will maybe the mistake to try to challenge the president on a program that the White House says is stopping terrorism here on American soil -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: One quick question, Ed. We're talking about phone numbers, but do we know for sure if names, addresses, other personal information, can be attached to those phone records?

HENRY: We don't know for sure. That's one the many questions that are out there. The president gave a very limited statement, did not really go into any detail. Obviously, that's been the norm on sensitive stories before.

But I think it is significant that the president wanted to get out quickly within a couple hours of this story, igniting this storm, this political storm, if you will, once again, clear sign this White House wants to deal with this, wants to get out there, try to get ahead of this story, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ed Henry, live at the White House, thanks, Ed.

HENRY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Much of that uproar I mentioned is coming from Capitol Hill. Ed even mentioning that, Democrats in particular. With more on that story, congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that's right, immediate reaction from both Democrats and Republicans here on the Hill today, many demanding answers, some of it criticism of the administration.

One particular noteworthy comment and directive coming from the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter, saying he's going to hold hearings on this. He is going to call up the executives from the major telecoms to get the answers that he said they're not getting from the Department of Justice or from the White House at this point.

Again, you also have Democrats, top Democrat Patrick Leahy from Vermont, throwing up his arms, really, in ex-aspiration, outrage if you will. On the other side, you've got Republicans like Jon Kyl who are saying, "Hold on a minute, folks, don't rush to judgment. I think folks are making basically a mountain out of a molehill." Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: We need to know what our government is doing in its activities to spy upon Americans. If we're unwilling to do this, and unwilling to require these answers, then this Congress, its Republican leadership, ought to admit they have failed in their responsibility to the American government.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: It is not a warrantless wiretapping of the American people. Let's talk about this in a rational way. We're in a war with terrorism. There are people out there that want to kill us, and I don't think this action is nearly as troublesome as being made out here, because they're not tapping our phones and getting our conversations. They're merely maintaining these numbers from which they have some system, apparently, to utilize those to match up with international phone calls connected to al Qaeda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Obviously, that's Senator Jeff Sessions, not Senator Kyl.

All of this taking place against the backdrop of those confirmation hearings you were alluding to, Kyra, that are supposed to happen next Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, the confirmation hearing of General Michael Hayden.

Before this story broke, there were already big questions being raised by both sides of the aisle about General Hayden's military background, as well as his connection to that controversial NSA domestic wiretapping program, because he was one of the architects. He was also one of those who was sent out on behalf of the White House to defend it when that story broke at the end of December, Kyra, if you'll remember, in "The New York Times".

PHILLIPS: Andrea Koppel, live from the Hill. Thanks, Andrea.

Remember that Justice Department investigation of domestic eavesdropping? Well, it's been dropped.

Department lawyers say that they can't get security clearance from the agency that they're trying to investigate. That probe began in January. It was meant to learn the roles of other Justice Department lawyers in approving surveillance of certain e-mails and phone calls without warrants by the National Security Agency.

Now investigators say they can't get the sensitive records they need to continue. One top Democrat says it's a cover-up. A top Republican, Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, says he's going to write the department to see what's going on.

Before we leave Washington a major road block lifted on immigration reform. Senate leaders came to terms this morning on a bill that was left for dead just last month. It would offer millions of illegal immigrants, or migrants, rather, who have jobs here at least a chance at U.S. citizenship.

Debate is due to start Monday with a vote, it is hoped, by Memorial Day. After that, the path is much less certain. The House passed a much different, much tougher bill in December, among other things, making illegal immigration a felony. We all saw the protests and the rallies that followed.

Well, it may be a first in U.S. legal history, a priest convicted of murdering a nun. CNN's Keith Oppenheim is in Toledo with more on today's verdict.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

It was just about an hour and a half ago in court that the jury of 12, seven women and five men, concluded unanimously they believe Father Gerald Robinson committed murder, that he stabbed and strangled Sister Margaret Ann Pahl 26 years ago.

Shortly after the verdict was read, the priest was taken away in handcuffs in the courtroom. He's being transported to the county jail. And perhaps in the next couple of days or so, he will be moved to prison.

Quick background on this case. It was 1980 that Sister Pahl's body was found dead in the hospital chapel, of Toledo's Mercy Hospital. At the time, Father Gerald Robinson, who was a chaplain at the hospital, was questioned but never charged.

And then nearly 24 years later, cold case investigators took another look at the case. And they believed they found a match between a blood stain at the crime scene and a dagger-shaped letter opener that prosecutors said was the murder weapon that belonged to Father Robinson.

In a series of news conferences that took place after the verdict, one of the things that prosecutors said that they really felt was the big deal was that match between the blood stain and the letter opener. This letter opener, Kyra, had a -- an emblem of the U.S. Capitol near the hilt. And you could -- they argued that you could actually see the emblem of the Capitol in blood stains on the altar cloth which covered her body, and they felt that was a very significant piece of evidence.

Defense attorneys seemed shocked. In fact, one of them was nearly in tears. They seemed very concerned for the future health of Father Robinson. He's 68 years old. And they indicated that prison's a rough place and they're worried about him, and they seemed quite surprised by this verdict.

And by the way, none of the jurors spoke afterwards. I was outside the courtroom and saw a group of at least eight of them just walk away. They clearly did not want to explain how they came to this verdict.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Keith Oppenheim, thanks.

Iran and the west. Relations are breaking down. But what's the real reason? Nuclear power, a higher power? A former U.S. secretary of state points to politics, God, and plain old ignorance. My conversation with Madeleine Albright coming up.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: For an eye on Iran today, we look eastward to Indonesia. That's where Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is enjoying warm welcomes and supportive audiences. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population.

More fiery language from the Iranian leader today, calling Israel a cancer. But he also was cracking the door to possible nuclear talks with the United States. In fact, he says he's ready to talk with anybody.

Cut off the hand of any invader? That's what Iran's president says his military can do, and he's going to brag about it. But how would Iran's military match up against U.S. forces in a real war? Here's what the experts say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Ever since its devastating war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iran has been struggling to rebuild its military. The biggest obstacle, international sanctions on spare parts, which Jane's (ph) "Defense Weekly" says are desperately needed for an aging weapons systems.

For its part, Iran claims great strides in beefing up its military. Among the weapons it claims to have: flying boats that can fire missiles, radar-avoiding missiles, high-speed torpedoes and tanks.

Western analysts dismiss most of the claims as mere chest beating. Jane's "Defense Weekly" says recent Iranian reports of new missile tests were actually variants of existing missiles. And that the high-speed torpedoes are believed to be based on Russian models that would pose little or no threat to the U.S. Navy.

As for Iran's 350,000 strong army? "Foreign Policy" magazine says more than half are conscripts who are poorly trained and undisciplined. The air force apparently is in worse shape. "Foreign Policy" says in addition to a lack of spare parts, it's been years since pilots have had air combat training.

That aside, analysts say Iran does have this ability: its navy could cause havoc around the world by attacking oil tankers and oil platforms in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Peaceful energy, weapons production, ultimatums and possible sanctions. The U.N. Security Council. The parties aren't talking face-to-face, but they are all posturing. It's all about politics or society or religion. Yes. Does it concern a former American secretary of state? You better believe it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Their desire now through their leadership to pursue some kind of nuclear programs and their secrecy about them, I think is something that is of great concern.

PHILLIPS: A lot of people are asking this question as well, do you think we'll go to war with Iran? Is it inevitable?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I hope it isn't inevitable, because again, I fully agree with the president that no option can be off the table. In fact, you know, that's kind of boiler plate whenever you say anything you say never take an option off the table.

But I think we have to be very careful not to put the military option on the table, that we need to pursue diplomacy to its end if we need to, because there's so many problems. People say, well, military strikes, they're not a solution.

I do think it's important to pursue what's going on that Secretary Rice is trying to pursue in the United Nations, with -- also with the Europeans. But I personally have been advocating direct talks with Iran. I don't see it as giving in to them or appeasement, but much more a way to deliver a tough message.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Madeleine Albright, the diplomat, the educator, the author. She has much, much more to share with us, not just about Iran but the roots of conflict around the world. More of our discussion tomorrow on LIVE FROM.

Some scary tape to show you now off the coast of Siberia. A Russian helicopter -- take a look at this -- in a training exercise hits the water, as this type of chopper's designed to do. But then trouble erupts.

The pilot can't get the nose up, the rotor blades pitch forward and it crashes. Thirteen men on board. All were pulled from the water, but one of them died. We're told it was the pilot.

Katrina disrupted their lives but it couldn't destroy their hopes. Two college students who survived the storm get ready to receive their diplomas. They join me to talk about their experiences and the fact they might meet the president today. Next on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Bird migration equals flu propagation. Well, not this year in Europe. Experts with the Dutch environmental group, Wetlands International say migrating flocks did not pick up bird flu on their annual trip to Africa. And that's good news for Europe's own birds and poultry.

If wild flocks had been infected, they could have lit the fuse on H5N1 outbreak on the way home. Doesn't mean the bird flu threat is over, but for now some European countries are relaxing poultry quarantine rules.

Smokers may soon have a new option in the battle to quit. Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange with that story.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

That's right. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new anti-smoking drug. The drug is made by Pfizer, and it's called Chantix. It's different from other anti-smoking aids, because it doesn't use nicotine to ease your dependency. Instead it works by blocking the pleasurable effects of smoking and reducing the craving and withdrawal symptoms that occur when people are trying to quit.

Pfizer says the drug will be on pharmacy shelves in the second half of this year and it could be a big hit for the pharmaceutical. Analysts say it could have $900 million in annual sales by the year 2010. And Pfizer shares are off right now, but then so again, so is the overall market -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, how effective is the drug compared to the other anti-smoking aids?

LISOVICZ: Pfizer says that Chantix had twice the quitting rate of GlaxoSmithKline's competing drug, Ziban, in clinical studies and quadruple the rate of a placebo.

But there is a caveat. The American Heart Association says the 44 percent of patients quit smoking while using the drug, but half of those people resume smoking once they stop taking the drug. The drug is designed to be taken over a 12-week period of time.

Smoking, of course, linked to 20 percent of all deaths in the U.S., whether it's lung cancer, hypertension, many other ailments that are linked to tobacco.

PHILLIPS: All right, what's happening on Wall Street. A little different from yesterday. Nothing historic?

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: This is nuts. We are in a war. And we've got to collect intelligence on the enemy, and you can't tell the enemy in advance how you're going to do it. And discussing all of this stuff in public leads to that.

LEAHY: Only through the press we begin to learn the truth. The secret collection of phone call records tens of millions of Americans. Now, are you telling me that tens of millions of Americans are involved with al Qaeda? If that's the case, we've really failed in any kind of war on terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Public defense of privacy from President Bush in the wake of a new revelation on homeland surveillance. Mr. Bush insists the government fiercely protects the privacy of ordinary Americans.

"USA Today" reports on a database that's been secretly compiled for years of almost every phone call in the country. Not the contents, just the numbers, times, locations and patterns.

Here's Mr. Bush, just before departing for Biloxi, Mississippi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Today there are new claims about other ways we are tracking down al Qaeda to prevent attacks on America. Want to make some important points about what the government is doing and what the government is not doing.

First, our intelligence activities strike strictly target al Qaeda and their known affiliates. Al Qaeda is our enemy, and we want to know their plans. Second, the government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval.

Third, the intelligence activities I authorized are lawful and have been briefed to appropriate members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat.

Fourth, the privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The revelations could make life harder for Michael Hayden. The Air Force general and former head of the NSA was expecting a pretty big grilling today at his confirmation hearings to head to the CIA. That should happen. And this morning, he canceled a day's worth of meet and greets on Capitol Hill.

Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president is circling the drain in the polls. Numbers for the Republican-led Congress are worse. An election is six months away. Into this collision of calendar and political fortune, the president throws General Michael Hayden, nominated to head the CIA.

SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: This program that he runs, that the president authorized, disregards the -- the law that was passed by the Congress, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. How -- what kind of a message is it if we simply confirm him, without him backing off on that?

CROWLEY: We are looking at weeks of renewed debate about warrantless wiretapping, a high-stakes throw-down between the White House and Congress. Can you say, bring it on?

SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: The fact that we had a very aggressive program to try to keep up with what these people were doing, yes, I think this could be -- wind up being a winner, and -- instead of a loser, like some people might suspect.

CROWLEY: The administration is happy, in fact, eager, to have this fight over a program one top official says has been miscast as domestic spying.

The White House thinks Americans will support warrantless wiretaps, when it's properly explained. And Hayden, who developed and ran the program as head of the National Security Agency, has been properly explaining for months.

HAYDEN: We are going after very specific communications that our professional judgment tells us we have reason to believe are those associated with people who want to kill Americans. That's what we're doing. CROWLEY: If the nomination reignites the debate over which party can best protect the nation, Republicans are betting on the guy who will show up at hearings wearing four stars on his shoulder.

VICTORIA CLARKE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The debate about the eavesdropping program is -- is one of the easiest ways to make some Democrats look weak on national security, which is their Achilles' heel.

CROWLEY: As it happens, that's exactly how the president's political adviser saw things, when he teed up the elections last January.

KARL ROVE, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BUSH: The United States faces a ruthless enemy. And we need a commander in chief and a Congress who understand the nature of the threat and the gravity of the moment America finds itself in.

CROWLEY: The truth is, some Republicans have been highly critical of the eavesdropping program, and the nomination of General Hayden is not enough to change an election landscape. But it might produce a couple of good days for the White House, and that would be a start.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, from survival to celebration. Graduates at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College get their diploma today. The academic year had barely started when Hurricane Katrina devastated the campus and its community. But the students battled back. Derek Goff and Andrea Noll receive their degree in just a few hours. They join me live from Biloxi. You guys are all ready to go. You've got your caps, your gowns. Are you excited?

ANDREA NOLL, MGCCC GRADUATE: Very excited.

DEREK GOFF, MGCCC GRADUATE: I'm Excited.

PHILLIPS: I bet you thought this probably wasn't going to happen, Derek.

GOFF: No, it was a question as to whether I'd come back after the hurricane.

PHILLIPS: Well, you got married, your apartment got affected, right? Even your mom and brother-in-law got a tremendous hit to their homes.

GOFF: Right. Right. It was basically all helping each other. We had to provide moral support for each other. Well, my apartment got damaged. It was pretty much taken care of. But my important role was to play a support beam for the rest of my family.

PHILLIPS: And you did that. Andrea, as well as you. You come from a family of six.

NOLL: Yes, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: They were all affected. How did you guys come together as a family and help each other out? I know you had a lot of devastation to property and your dad's business.

NOLL: Yes, ma'am. Well, our theory was if we all couldn't go together, we would all stay together. So that's what we did, we all stayed at my house and lived through the hurricane. All my family had to live together in one house. So we just had -- the stress level had to be depleted and we all had to work together.

PHILLIPS: So, Derek, how did you, I mean, keep up with your marriage, keep supporting the two of you, work, go to school? How did you manage everything?

GOFF: It was very difficult, because what time wasn't being devoted to work was devoted to trying to keep my grades up. And I had to throw in there trying to get my mother and the rest of my family back on their feet, because, I mean, everyone literally came home to slabs after Hurricane Katrina. It was really hard to juggle everything. But basically entertainment was cut out at that point.

PHILLIPS: Understandably. It's sort of hard to enjoy yourself when you're dealing with these pictures that we're looking at.

But you mention that you had a hard time keeping up with your grades. But, Derek, aren't you 4.0?

GOFF: Yes. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Andrea, he's so humble, isn't he?

NOLL: Yes, it was hard to keep grades up because of all the stress, you know, having to think about school and think about what's going on in your home life. It was kind of hard at first, but then, you know, everything started working out. It started becoming normal, everyday life again, going back to school.

PHILLIPS: Well, Andrea, this is what's hard for me to understand. You were part of the color guard, you've got a lot of energy, you're a big support at that school, but you really had a hard time dealing with this. I was reading about how you really got depressed.

NOLL: I got really upset because a lot of my friends here on the coast lost a lot of stuff. And I was busy with -- like I said, the color guard, the captain for the color guard, and I was kind of like a moral support for everybody and I really got down, because Long Beach is always going to be my home, but it wasn't my home after the hurricane because there was nothing there. And I didn't know how to react and be upset. When all my other friends were upset, I didn't know if I should be upset or if I should be the moral support. So I did get depressed at first, but I knew I had to be move on, and keep going with my life and pick up the pieces.

PHILLIPS: Well, it has been pretty amazing how you both have pulled through. Andrea, the president is going to give the commencement speech. What do you think about that? What do you want to hear?

NOLL: I'm excited to see what he says about, you know, all the students and their graduating, about, like I said, picking up the pieces and then moving on from this hurricane. And it just -- president -- the president does speak at big events. And to him he feels like this is a big event. So I was thinking, you know, maybe he'll say stuff about our education program here in Mississippi and what he says about the education. I'm just looking forward to him speaking.

PHILLIPS: Well, we know his wife really values education, and libraries there on the Gulf coast.

NOLL: Yes, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: She's been speaking about that.

Derek, what do you want to hear from the president?

GOFF: Mainly the same things. I want to hear about the perseverance of the Gulf Coast, about how we didn't wait around for someone to fix our problems. We really took it upon ourselves. It really has made me proud to be from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I hope that he talks about that.

PHILLIPS: Derek, once you graduate, what's your plans? What do you want to do?

GOFF: Well, it's kind of up in the air. I'm either going to USM, the University of Southern Mississippi, or I'm going to join the Air Force.

PHILLIPS: All right. The Air Force. Are you ready for the military?

GOFF: I think I am. I've been working out. I think I am.

PHILLIPS: How about you, Andrea? What are your plans?

NOLL: I plan to continue my education, to get my bachelors at the University of Southern Mississippi in elementary education, with an emphasis on math and grammar, and be an elementary school teacher.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, then you definitely need to connect with the president and hook up with his wife, the first lady, because she values that. You've to work that now, Andrea.

NOLL: That's a good idea.

PHILLIPS: There you go.

NOLL: Yes, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: And since, Derek, you're a 4.0, so maybe you can help him with some of the pronunciation, maybe tell him how say nuclear properly.

GOFF: Maybe, nuclear.

PHILLIPS: There you go. Derek, Andrea, congratulations. It's great to see you there at school and getting your degrees. And I know, no doubt, the two of you will go on to do great things.

NOLL: Thank you.

GOFF: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, both.

President Bush is on his way right there to the Mississippi Coast, where those two are. And he delivers the commencement speech for Andrea, Derek and the other graduates at MGCCC in less than two hours. You're going to hear his remarks live right here on LIVE FROM.

And still ahead this hour, one of the world's greatest crises now spreading. Exclusive report from Africa and CNN's Nic Robertson when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now the crisis in Darfur. The U.S. and others say the war on civilians in western Sudan amounts to genocide, and the crisis is spreading to the neighboring country of Chad.

CNN's Nic Robertson is there and filed this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a dusty, crowded displaced persons camp in Chad, about 50 miles from the border with Sudan, Jan Egeland, the U.N.'s top humanitarian relief official, came to show the world how the problems of Darfur are spreading.

JAN EGELAND, U.N. EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR: We're on the front lines of humanity here. It's very difficult to aid these people, and it's also very dangerous to aid these people. And I will now speak to their leader, and then we can walk a little bit around.

ROBERTSON: (voice-over): Fourteen-thousand Chadians, all displaced inside their own country by Arab fighters crossing from Sudan, according to Egeland.

EGELAND: This problem is exported from Sudan. It was the ethnic militias, probably the Arab ethnic militias so-called Janjaweed.

ROBERTSON (on camera): From Sudan?

EGELAND: From Sudan, who displaced all of these people.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): From this camp, at Goz Bieda, aid officials have a problem. There is not enough water, and they need to convince the families, many already displaced for the second time, to move on again.

EGELAND: I think they believe that we will indeed solve this for them. What we cannot solve is security.

ROBERTSON: Chadian troops stand guard during Egeland's visit. But the area is so close to the border, Sudanese rebels seek sanctuary and support in Chad. While the Janjaweed, backed by the Sudanese government, appear to cross the border and raid villages with impunity.

MARC M. WALL, U.S. AMB. TO CHAD: Borders don't mean very much, though, in this part of the world. It's very hard to know who's Sudanese and who's Chadian.

ROBERTSON: So far, about 50,000 Chadians have been forced from their homes. And without a deterrent force, attacks continue.

(on camera): Security is also an issue for U.N. officials. Less than a week ago, an aide worker was shot in broad daylight in a street of a town considered relatively safe. Her vehicle was stolen. She's in critical condition in a medical facility in Paris.

(voice-over): In the same village, Egeland also visited a refugee camp, crammed with Sudanese families, many who fled across the border from Darfur more than two years ago. An indication of the complexity of the aid program here, refugees, displaced people and locals all compete for the same resources.

A quarter-of-a-million Sudanese are taking refuge in Chad. And despite massive shortfalls in funding this year, according to Egeland, they are getting regular aid handouts.

(on camera): This is where the food distribution happens. There's lentils here, 45 soya, salt in this one, sugar in this barrel, oil over here. The big difference here is that the Darfurian refugees get this food aid. The internally displaced Chadians, from inside of Chad, don't get food handouts.

(voice-over): It's not that aid officials won't feed them. They will. But in Goz Bieda, they want to help the Chadians displaced persons camp to move somewhere more sustainable, and feeding them, they fear, will make them stay.

EGELAND: A main problem for the refugees is funding. For the internally displaced, it's security, it's reaching them. It's much more a group, which is in flux really as they are fleeing within their own country.

ROBERTSON: And that's what Egeland came here to spotlight.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Goz Bieda, Chad. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: We're here to bring you Nic's reports for the Darfur region. More LIVE FROM after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now we're still waiting for scientific confirmation of a seismic event that shook the entire United States. If you missed it, well, it happened last night at about 9:30 Eastern, when millions of American jaws hit the floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN SEACREST, "AMERICAN IDOL" HOST: A lot of people predicted Chris, that you could be the next "American Idol." Chris, you are going home tonight. The journey ends. America...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The crowd booed, Paula boo-hooed. Even cynical Simon seemed stunned by the news that Chris Daughtry won't make it to the "American Idol" finals. The three remaining contestants are Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin. That list is alphabetical order, by the way. It's no indication of how the LIVE FROM team is voting.

Well, mama and paparazzi. As Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt nest in Africa to await the birth of baby Brangelina, photographers are stalking them the way Ernest Hemingway went after African antelope. The exclusive shot of the celebutot could fetch as much as $3 million bucks.

Here's a preview of the "CNN PRESENTS" documentary "Chasing Angelina: Paparazzi and Celebrity Obsession."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): The word "paparazzi" was coined from the name of the photographer who chased the rich and famous in Federico Fellini's 1960 classic "La Dolce Vita." The paparazzi these days use high-tech measures to track down celebrities.

BEN, PAPARAZZI, BAUER-GRIFFIN: Well, the company keeps a database of both license plates and addresses, as well as tail numbers of airplanes.

PHILLIPS: And on the paparazzi payroll, well-placed sources, including valets, waiters, coat checks and hotel clerks.

PETER HOWE, AUTHOR, "PAPARAZZI": They also pay off people you would never even think of, like people in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, people in the airline industry. I mean, I would have thought it was pretty hard to get a passenger manifest after September the 11. But if you know the right people, you pay the right money, you can get it. FRANK GRIFFIN, BAUER-GRIFFIN: This is the front of the hotel.

PHILLIPS: A series of tips helped Bauer-Griffin land big-money shots of Jennifer Aniston with actor Vince Vaughn. The exclusive set of photos was the first confirmation that the two were an item.

GRIFFIN: Luck sometimes plays a part in showing up. The photographer when he was looking down from all the high-rises surrounding the hotel, they happened to walk out on the deck, the very minute he was looking down.

PHILLIPS: Kevin Mazur doesn't rely on tips for his photos. In fact, many times, he lets the stars call the shots.

KEVIN MAZUR, WIREIMAGE: And I've had celebrities call up, hey, you know, I really didn't like that picture. You know, it's like, hey, you know, fine, you know, I'll kill the picture. I don't care, you know, just remember me next time.

PHILLIPS: And the stars do remember Mazur. He started out as a fan, sneaking backstage at rock shows with his cameras. Later, he snapped the iconic photo of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love with their new baby. Mazur now helps run WireImage, one of the top celebrity photo agencies in the business. Mazur knew early on he was not paparazzi material. He made his decision while on a movie set with actor Robert de Niro.

MAZUR: He comes walking my way and I lift up my camera and I start taking pictures. And he walks right up to me with his bodyguard, pushes me up against the trailer like this and said don't ever, ever take an f-ing picture without asking and walked away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the celebrity hunt is on and the target is Angelina Jolie. As the world awaits the birth of baby Brangelina, "CNN PRESENTS" takes viewers on a pretty wild ride through the paparazzi's pursuit of the red-hot actress. Tune in this Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. Eastern.

A hero of one hurricane made homeless by a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED WRAGGE, KATRINA SURVIVOR: It's been real frustrating. I give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, why a New Orleans man has been camping in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, he helped rescue victims of Hurricane Betsy. A generation later, Katrina turned his own life upside down. A New Orleans man is living in a tent inside what's left of his house. He's been waiting weeks for the keys to his government trailer. The story now from reporter Bill Capo of our affiliate WWL.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL CAPO, WWL REPORTER (voice-over): With the hiss of a zipper, Ed Wragge enters his bedroom. At age 71, he's sleeping on a cot inside a tent that has been pitched in a room of his gutted Gentilly home. The tent keeps the insects away so he can sleep at night, but it is not peaceful rest, not since Hurricane Katrina wrecked his life.

WRAGGE: It's been real frustrating. I give up. The government should -- to alert people. You know, I don't know what to do.

CAPO: He has no kitchen so he eats meals from cans, drinks bottled water. There's no bathroom. Yet outside his home sits the FEMA trailer he asked for in October. He says it's been here seven weeks but he's not gotten the keys yet. He had been staying with friends but can't any longer.

WRAGGE: I got to sleep in this house, I have no place else to stay. And everybody died. They died on me.

CAPO: Before he bought the tent, Ed slept in his car which he says was even worse.

WRAGGE: Oh, it's miserable. I'm too tall. I can't stretch out my legs.

CAPO: There is still mold in the house that Ed says he and his nephew are gutting. He's lived here since 1960 and his parents before him and says this is the first flood. Among the belongings he's trying to save are the water-damaged uniforms that Sergeant Ed Wragge wore in the 1960s. And when Hurricane Betsy struck New Orleans, he was on duty.

WRAGGE: I was a National Guard sergeant. The first few days I was in the water, I tell you, I had two poles (ph) and I'd start driving a truck, rescuing people. I had the uniform on. I had to do my duty.

CAPO (on camera): How many people did you rescue?

WRAGGE: I don't know, hundreds.

CAPO: The reason he hasn't been given the keys yet is easy to spot. There's no power to the trailer. So since he called the action line, I've had several conversations with FEMA and I've also called the contractor, Fleur (ph), asked them to make this situation a priority. Officials at FEMA tell me they're working on it.

WRAGGE: It would be a lifesaver. I've been sleeping in a tent, I'm making do.

CAPO (voice-over): Hopefully, he won't have to make do much longer. I'm Bill Capo, Eyewitness News action reporter. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, in the past hour, we got great news. We learned that the power in Ed Wragge's trailer has been turned on. We hope he gets hooked up with his keys now as well.

Well, just 21 days until the 2006 hurricane season begins. CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider keeping watch on the weather for us. Hi, Bonnie.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, as Kyra mentioned, we're getting closer to the start of hurricane season, and this hour we have a hurricane factoid for you about contraflow, which is actually the reversal of traffic in order to evacuate folks safely and quickly in the even of a hurricane.

Now, we have video just to show you of what it looked like last year -- remember Hurricane Rita? This was everybody trying to get out of Houston and, as you saw, traffic was at a standstill. Some people were on the road for 15 hours at a time just trying to get miles and miles.

Now, when they do switch the reversal of traffic in a contraflow situation, it opens it up only about 30 percent, so it's not a perfect solution, but the good news is for this year, New Orleans now has a plan for all of the main roads to reverse direction if necessary in the event of an evacuation.

If you'd like more information on "Hurricane 101," go to our Web site, CNN.com/weather. CNN is your hurricane headquarters -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Bonnie, Thanks.

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