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CNN Saturday Morning News

Indonesian Villagers Flee From Threat of Mount Merapi; McCain Gives Commencement Speech at Falwell's University; Medicare Deadline Looming

Aired May 13, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Villagers flee from the slopes of Indonesia's Mount Merapi. The volcano rumbles to life, belting out smoke, ash and fiery lava, but some refuse to leave their farms and livestock behind.
Good morning, everyone, from the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Tony Harris. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for starting your day with us. Our top stories in just a moment, but first a look at what else is happening right now.

Zacarias Moussaoui on the move. U.S. marshals saying Moussaoui has been transported from a detention center in Virginia to a maximum- security prison in Colorado. The convicted Al Qaeda terrorist was sentenced last week to life in prison without the possibility of release.

Stormy weather in the Philippines. Check it out. A typhoon lashed the northwestern part of the country today. Reports are that at least 23 people were killed. Thousands of people have been evacuated. Others are stranded at major part ports. Wind gusts up to 75 miles an hour and knocked out power and snapped trees.

Now to New Orleans. It may not be completely ready for the start of hurricane season. The Army Core says massive floodgates designed to better protect the heart of the city from storm surges may not be installed until July. That is a month after hurricane season starts.

HARRIS: A roadside bomb has killed another American soldier in Iraq. The military says the attack happened as the soldier was driving in southern Baghdad. His death brings to 2,435 the number of American troops killed in Iraq since the war began.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says using National Guard troops for border security may not be a good idea. Senior administration officials say President Bush is considering such a plan. Schwarzenegger says many guard troops are returning from a long tour of duty in Iraq and he says they should be allowed to go back to work.

President bush will discuss border security and immigration in an address to the nation Monday night. CNN's in-depth coverage begins with a special edition "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer at 7:00 Eastern. After the speech, join us with a special "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," followed by "LARRY KING LIVE"" and a special edition of "ANDERSON COOPER 360." It is all here on CNN.

NGUYEN: All right. Now we want to get to our top story. Indonesia is on high alert today. Take a look at the pictures. It is all triggered by fears and a volcanic eruption that is imminent. Thousands of people are ordered to evacuate from the slopes of Mount Merapi as red-hot lava flows from its crater.

Let's get straight to CNN's Kathy Quiano, who joins us on the phone from Jakarta. Kathy we are watching the smoke and we've seen the orange molten lava, how close is this volcano to erupting?

KATHY QUIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Betty. Scientists are saying that they can't predict for sure when it's going to happen, but they are seeing the new lava dome that started forming on its peak on April 28th and it occurred at about 270 feet and that may cause huge lava to flow for the next few days. The scientists say Mount Merapi (INAUDIBLE) are characterized by heat clouds and an avalanche, rock, ash reaching about 573 cities.

NGUYEN: This is a serious situation because this is a densely populated area. Some 80,000 people is what we're hearing could be displaced. Is that true? And where are they going?

QUIANO: Well, estimates are different, but what we're getting is about 22,500 people live within the eight kilometers, five-mile radius from the volcano and they need to be evacuated soon.

Now the ones that have been moved from that dangerous (INAUDIBLE) now they're in temporary shelters, evacuation centers and makeshift tents. Some of them have been there for weeks now since the volcano started acting up. They report that temporary shelters are getting overcrowded already and that officials are going to bring the others to schools and other buildings in surrounding cities.

NGUYEN: They've got a lot on their hands right now. And a lot of these people are affected by this volcano are farmers. Farmers that don't want to leave their farmland. Don't want to leave their cattle and the rest of their livestock. So what's being done to coerce them to leave their property and seek shelter?

QUIANO: Well, authorities have been trying to convince them to move for weeks. As you say they don't want to leave their livestock, (INAUDIBLE) are convinced they need to go to safer areas. Although we are hearing with some reports that some residents refused to leave, particularly in a village who interestingly enough is a mystical figure in this area. And in the village are doing the same.

NGUYEN: Well, we will stay on top of this and we'll continue to follow it and watch as the smoke rises and the lava continue to flow and the people, as you see there continue to evacuate.

Kathy Quiano on the phone on the phone from Jakarta. Kathy thank you.

Tony.

HARRIS: In today's "Security Watch," how private are your private phone conversations? Verizon is being sued in federal court in Manhattan following news reports that Verizon, AT&T and BellSouth have provided customer phone records to the National Security Agency. Verizon will only say it is operating within the law, but that cannot comment further because it is highly classified.

If phone companies are providing customer records to the government, there is plenty of precedent. In fact, phone records may just be the tip of the iceberg.

CNN national security correspondent David Ensor has that report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a brief report on the impact of war upon a nationwide service.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For as long as there have been telephones and even well before that, the major communications companies have cooperated closely with the U.S. government. Former employees say during World War II, the government under President Franklin Roosevelt received copies of every single telegram sent in or out of the United States. Not by law, but by request.

A former administration official says the same thing is apparently going on now between AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon and the U.S. government and that it is legal, according to the Supreme Court.

RICHARD FALKENRATH, FMR. HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: They said, call records that are stripped of personal information about the customer are not covered by the fourth amendment and therefore may be held and used by a federal agency that gets there voluntarily.

ENSOR: Such as the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland, which is analyzing telephone, call records in search of terrorists. It is legal, too, who says Falkenrath for the companies to give the phone call data, just the telephone numbers under the Telecommunications Act of 1934 and subsequent laws, but clearly not everyone agrees. The then CEO of Qwest Communications, Joseph Nacchio refused the government's request for his customers' phone data.

In a statement his attorney says, quote, "When he learned that there was a disinclination on the part of the authorities to use any legal process, Mr. Nacchio concluded that these requests violated the privacy requirements of the Telecommunications Act. Accordingly, Mr. Nacchio issued instructions to refuse to comply with these requests."

Phone calls are not the only issue. In this AT&T building in San Francisco, according to a retired 22-year employee Mark Klein, who is a witness in a lawsuit against the government, the NSA scoops up e- mail and Internet traffic from the whole region.

JAMES BROSNAHAN, ATTORNEY FOR MARK KLEIN: He became aware and was assigned the job of assisting in a split of the fiber optic cable so that it took a complete copy of all of the e-mails and all of the web browsing that people do people of all kinds, companies of all kinds, and sent it to a secret government room.

ENSOR: NSA and AT&T officials offer no comment on the lawsuit. BellSouth, Verizon and AT&T also declined comment on their dealings with the NSA, but in a statement, Verizon said, it does not and will not provide any government agency with unfettered access to our customer records or provide information to the government under circumstances that would allow a fishing expedition.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable information on your safety and security.

Still ahead, you know what they say about politics and strange bedfellows. Check out this pair.

NGUYEN: Interesting.

HARRIS: We will tell you why Senator John McCain and the Reverend Jerry Falwell are letting bygones be bygones for the future of the Republican Party.

NGUYEN: Monday, set your clock. It's the deadline to get those enrolled in the prescription drug benefit program, the government program. Pharmacist Jonathan Marquess joins us this hour to answer some of the questions. A lot of questions coming in to CNN and a lot of question from seniors who simply haven't enrolled yet because there's a lot of confusion. So we are here to answer those question send them to Jonathan Marquess at WEEKENDS@CNN.com. We'll read them on the air and try and find you the answers that you desperately need in order to make the deadline.

Hi Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hello. It is a rainy, morning in Chicago, got some scattered showers there. Maybe mama needs an umbrella. Yes. Maybe an umbrella for Mother's Day. You can give her something better than an umbrella. We do have the raindrops there the question is will they continue into Mother's Day. I'll give you a complete forecast for Chicago and the rest of the nation coming up in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Today in Lynchburg, Virginia, we could witness the opening bid for the White House in 2008. In just about 20 minute from now Senator John McCain of Arizona is set to deliver the commencement address at Liberty University. And as you know, Liberty is the home turf of the Reverend Jerry Falwell. Political observers think McCain's presence there is part of a bigger strategy at the GOP nomination. CNN's Kyung Lah is there she joins us now live with the latest. Hi there Kyung.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Betty. This is something that no one would have predicted six years ago, watching the McCain of 2000. Back then he called the Reverend Jerry Falwell and parts of the religious right "agents of intolerance." Here is Rev. Jerry Falwell, you see there he is the head of Liberty University at Lynchburg, Virginia. In just about 20 to 40 minutes, we are expecting the commencement speech from McCain looking toward 2008. He's going to give the graduates there, about 10,000 seated in the crowd a sendoff from the Arizona senator, but this is much more than a commencement speech as you look at these live pictures there of the graduates.

This is political rebuilding with an eye toward 2008. We've gotten an early look at the speech that McCain is expected to say where he talks about regularly having disagreements as Americans. He certainly had a disagreement with this American, Reverend Jerry Falwell, the leader of the once powerful majority where McCain said that he is hurting the party, but that was then.

McCain of 2000 was poorly funded and a political outsider. He ran an insurgency campaign if you will getting independents to the polls. Well, McCain of 2008 is well funded and he is a political darling. He has Bush operatives now helping in his campaign to win. He needs the conservative base. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: I had strong difference with Rev. Falwell and some of the religious right in the year 2000. Reverend Falwell came to my office and said I want to put aside our differences and knowing that we will still have disagreements and I want you to speak at my university.

REV. JERRY FALWELL, LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CHANCELLOR: My guess is it will take him about six months of sincere communication with people in the religious right of certain platforms and put that all to rest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Reverend Falwell says that this is not an outright endorsement. What he is doing is inviting McCain to the university to forget about the past. For his part, Falwell is certainly relishing, having an impact on the party once again. The 72-year-old minister would certainly like to have more as he did during the Reagan days. McCain says that he hasn't changed. He's always been very conservative socially and that he remains and continues to be politically independent.

Betty.

NGUYEN: Bygones be bygones there. It is going to be interesting to see what McCain says today. Kyung Lah reporting from Washington for us today. Thank you.

CNN is your campaign headquarters and you'll want to stay with us for the best political coverage on television. HARRIS: Weather wise we're looking at some showers in the Midwest and, let's see, Milwaukee, Chicago.

WOLF: Man, you got it.

NGUYEN: He does this every weekend.

WOLF: See you later, guys! We are looking at scattered showers into parts of the mid west and the Great Lakes. What did you get your mom an umbrella?

NGUYEN: No, I think I'd be in trouble if I got my mom an umbrella.

WOLF: I used to get my mom really stupid stuff, you know those macaroni.

NGUYEN: When you were six?

WOLF: No, I was 28 years old.

I'm just joking. My mom like everything I give her. We'll give all you moms out there, unfortunately a rainy day. Lets go right to the forecast and show you what we have. Guess what we're talking about, Chicago, we have scattered showers there. Nothing severe. No severe weather for Chicago or back up to Green Bay or even Travers City, but the rain is coming and you'll be dealing with it not just for today, but possibly tomorrow. Here's the big trouble maker this area of low pressure that continues to creep its way very slowly off toward the east and the trailing cold front with all of the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is giving us that weather regime that's keeping things pretty damp up there.

There is a chance for stronger storms in Atlanta, possibly to Birmingham, Alabama as well, through portions of southern Arkansas and even into Mississippi, but in terms of it being a major tornado outbreak, I don't think so. We'll be seeing scattered storms. Meanwhile, out to the west, just beautiful conditions, very, very warm in Phoenix and there's a big surprise for you. The high expected today of 102 degrees in the valley of the sun back up to Salt Lake City, 79 degrees and 66 in Seattle, 73 in Billings, New York, 63 degrees in Boston.

And we'll take a look at Mother's Day's forecast coming up very soon. Looks like rain is going to be sticking around at the Great Lakes and Chicago will stay wet all of the way through.

NGUYEN: All right. Well work on that gift.

WOLF: We can.

NGUYEN: Mom's counting on you.

WOLF: We can play with it, you know? It's an art form.

NGUYEN: It's good all of the way around. Thank you Reynolds. HARRIS: Reynolds, thank you.

Still ahead, senior citizens have until Monday to make what for many of them say life or death decision.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they should give you a plan. I don't think you should have to choose from ten different ones.

NGUYEN: Not to not worry because CNN SATURDAY MORNING has a pharmacist in the house with a lot of experience helping them to sort out what's best for them. He will answer your questions when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: If you are still in the dark on the Medicare prescription drug benefit the clock is ticking. Veronica De La Cruz joins us now with that information that is available online for you. Veronica, good morning.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM: Good morning to you. Tony, we're trying to make sense of this Medicare confusion, as you know it hasn't been all that simple, but we're going show you what we've found so far online. Let's get started with our sister website, CNNMONEY.com/retirement this, is what you'll find. You find Medicare confusion.

Gerri Willis, she has created a top 5-tip commentary. Know your deadline, which we know, is fast approaching. It's Monday. Weigh your position, Tony; figure out how much money do you spend a year in prescription drugs. If you spend at least $750 you definitely want to enroll in the plan.

HARRIS: Right.

DE LA CRUZ: Also go national, Tony.

HARRIS: What does that mean?

DE LA CRUZ: Go national. It means that if you spend some time living in California because you like the warm weather, but you really live in Minnesota, you'll want to make sure you have a plan that protections you across the country.

HARRIS: Because there are plans in California and there are plans in Michigan and Maryland, wherever you call home.

DE LA CRUZ: Exactly.

So, now at the end of her commentary, she says send out the S.O.S., check out Medicare medicare.gov and you know you can even enroll online. We'll take you to Medicare.gov right now to see how easy it would be to enroll online. Medicare.gov, you scroll down the page. It's simple enough. It's right there, it's the fourth link, but once you click, Tony, suddenly you have to answer all those questions for coverage information. So Eldercare.gov is another place you can go and that Website actually gives you local resources.

HARRIS: So we're in Georgia and we go to elder care, we need some additional help.

DE LA CRUZ: We do.

HARRIS: So you go to elder care and you get a list of agencies and organizations here in the Georgia area.

DE LA CRUZ: That will give you their Website.

HARRIS: And walk you through.

DE LA CRUZ: Yes, it will walk you through that, but the thing we've been running into is some of them will provide you with a 24- hour hotline number and suddenly there's nobody there, it's automated.

HARRIS: For example, and then in a lot of cases what happens is you are directed to call the 1-800-medicare number 1-800-medicare.gov.

DE LA CRUZ: It's 1-800-633-6447.

HARRIS: We just called a few moments ago and lets find out what happens if you call that number right now, 9:23 Eastern Time. What do we hear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You've reached Georgia Care, we provide health insurance information for counseling and Medicare.

HARRIS: And the point is that these phone lines in many cases are going to be swamped.

DE LA CRUZ: Yes, they are.

HARRIS: The problem with that is you need to get this done by this deadline. What we'll do is we'll just keep calling and try to connect with a human voice who can help us through there their and there was something else you found that you wanted to share with us.

DE LA CRUZ: Last thing I wanted to show you. Medicareresourcecenter.com I found this online. It is the one-minute consult guide. It breaks down the who, what, when, how, and why of the Medicare. It has this, you can write down your notes. If you print this out at home this will get you through it. If you find it as confusing as a lot of other people have, this might help you out. That website is Medicareresourcecenter.com.

HARRIS: And Veronica help us out, continue to search the web and get us information that helps folks make this decision and make this choice.

DE LA CRUZ: Our pharmacist who has been on with us this morning he told me about Medicareresourcenter.com, great Website. NGUYEN: Speaking of that pharmacist. We told you about the pitfalls of calling and not getting someone to answer the questions. We have a pharmacist in studio right now, Dr. Jonathan Marquess who is going to answer some of your questions. I have the questions in hand for those of you who have e-mailed in. Let's get right to them. A lot of people have a lot of questions. This is confusing, truly, isn't it?

DR. JONATHAN MARQUESS, PHARMACIST: Yes.

NGUYEN: All right. So Linda says, "My mom is 80 and on three medicines. One is Premarin and one is a water pill and one is a blood pressure medication. They're not that expensive, so why should she pay premiums that may be more than the drug?

MARQUESS: Good question. I guess I would have to preface that; there are a lot of pharmacies open right now in communities. I like Websites and I like 800 numbers, but right now there are a lot of pharmacies open in these communities. Hopefully these folks have a relationship with their pharmacist and can ask them some specifics about the medications they take, but I also say it is a personal -- it is a private condition. Some people may not need to sign up. What I like to do with our patients is layout all the facts because what happens, they may not need it today, but what happens in 24 months.

NGUYEN: See, that's my question; these are the medications she's taking right now. Say down the road two years from now she needs other medications because of her health condition. She hasn't signed up for this program so she'll pay penalties for it. So is it best for those thinking down the road? Should they sign up now to avoid those penalties?

MARQUESS: Personally I think they should. Lets just give an example if you wait until 2008, there will be 19 percent points increased on their monthly premium.

NGUYEN: And that's for life, right?

MARQUESS: That's correct.

NGUYEN: That continues to add up and add up because it doesn't ever change. It continues to tack on. Next, Barbara says, "I am a 66- year-old female who doesn't take any drugs, prescription or otherwise, do I have to sign up for that plan, if so, which one do I choose? I can't find answers on the Medicare Website."

MARQUESS: I think you need a professional to talk to. We decided sort of together that maybe now wasn't the right time. They are very healthy. They exercise they eat good. Chronic disease states don't run in their family. That's a smaller percentage than the larger out there that do need this plan.

NGUYEN: We are flat out of time. We have so many questions for you, what if I pick the wrong program can I go back and change it? What are the penalties for that? We have a lot of questions.

We'll continue addressing them with you and we're also going to talk with Secretary Mike Levitt tomorrow to answer some of your questions as well. We are not done with this topic. We have more to come on it. If you have questions do send them to us at WEEKENDS@CNN.com. We will speak with Mike Levitt, tomorrow the secretary.

Here's a question for you. What would you like to ask the Secretary of Health and Human Services about the new Medicare prescription drug plan? The deadline is Monday, so if you're going to get in on it, you'll have to get in on it now. Send us your questions at WEEKENDS@CNN.com.

How about saving money on energy? "Open House" is straight ahead with tips you might have not considered.

HARRIS: And next hour the extra cost you're paying for gas, doesn't just showing up at the pump. Petroleum is in almost everything you buy. The hidden costs, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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