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CNN Saturday Morning News
Thousands Flee from Indonesian Volcano; Bush to Present Immigration Reform Plan
Aired May 13, 2006 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, a spectacular sight. Look at it. But, you know what? It signals danger. An Indonesian volcano is rumbling and an eruption may be imminent.
We're going to have a live report just ahead.
Also, low humidity, high winds -- it's a recipe for wildfires. And forecasters are warning of the fire danger in Florida right now, after a week of brush fires.
Our meteorologist, Reynolds Wolf, is standing by live with the forecast.
Zacarias Moussaoui, this morning, began serving his life sentence. The al Qaeda terrorist has been transferred to a maximum security prison in Colorado.
National Guard troops may be sent to tighten security along the U.S. border with Mexico. It is one of President Bush's possible plans for immigration reform.
A live report from the White House is just ahead.
And Senator John McCain delivers the commencement address at Reverend Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. The two men say they've put aside their differences, stemming from the 2000 presidential campaign. McCain is a possible presidential candidate in 2008.
Well, it is Saturday, May 13th.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: Good morning, Tony.
HARRIS: Good to see you.
NGUYEN: Good to see you, too.
We're live from CNN here at the headquarters in Atlanta.
Good morning.
I'm Betty Nguyen.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.
Coming up, the Duke rape case. New DNA results are in and we'll tell you what the defense says about them.
Your phone calls and the NSA -- reports of another secret program fuel a heated debate on privacy rights. Will the phone fallout cause static for the Bush administration?
And ethanol, good for the environment and for your bank account. So why aren't we producing more of it?
NGUYEN: That's a good question.
But first, Indonesia is on high alert. Take a look at this. Not because of terrorists, but because of nature. You're seeing lava there, molten lava. Authorities fear one of the country's most dangerous and active volcanoes is about to erupt. They're ordering everyone out of harm's way.
Kathy Quiano joins us now on the phone from Jakarta with the latest on this volcano -- Kathy, talk to me, first off, about the evacuations, because those are underway.
KATHY QUIANO, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, Betty.
Authorities in the four districts surrounding Mount Merapi say they've evacuated thousands of residents from the danger zone. That's about within five miles from the erupting volcano. Thousands more need to be evacuated. Officials say there is an estimated 22,000 residents living within the danger zone. And, as I said, the evacuation is underway -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Now, they're going to temporary shelters, but there is a problem with that because these shelters can only hold so many people.
QUIANO: That's right, Betty.
In fact, earlier today we spoke to local authorities who said at least in one district, the biggest shelter could only house about 500 people. And by midday there were more than 1,000 already.
So officials are looking into housing the evacuees in schools and government buildings, whatever they can find that's outside the danger zone -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, it's a big problem because some 22,000 people need to be evacuated.
Give us some history on Mount Merapi, because this has been a very active and a very dangerous volcano.
QUIANO: That's right. It's one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. There are about 129 active volcanoes here. Mount Merapi has been rumbling for about five years now. But about a month ago, it showed increased volcanic activity and the scientists have been on watch for more than a month already. And, in fact, at some point urging people who live at the foot of the mountain to move out.
Now, the -- it's large -- last large eruption was in 1994, when heat clouds traveling at about 60 miles an hour killed 66 people. Its deadliest eruption was in 1930, when more than 1,300 people perished -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, and the key is getting people out of harm's way, because a lot of those people living near the volcano are farmers and they're reluctant to leave their farmland and their livestock. So, of course, we're going to keep an eye on this story.
Kathy Quiano, thank you for that update.
HARRIS: We are keeping our eye on potential fiery developments here at home. Forecasts say conditions right now in Florida are ripe for the spread of wildfires.
This has been a rough week for firefighters. Nearly 37,000 acres were scorched. At least three homes burned and the busy Interstate 95 in Volusia County was closed due to brush fires -- Reynolds, rain is needed in Florida.
Is there any in the forecast for today?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, there's nothing really in the forecast for rain for today, for tomorrow. Maybe by late Tuesday and into Wednesday the rain chances are going to pick up. But they have a fire weather watch that's in effect for a good part of the state, especially central and south Florida.
The reason why is because of the very low humidity and also a steady breeze, which means that well, if there's any kind of spark, well, the fire could spread very quickly. And the foliage is very dry for lack of rainfall.
Let's show you a live image that we have from Orlando, from WKMG, the powerhouse. This is actually from Lake Eola. A beautiful shot that we have here. A beautiful day across Orlando. And anyone who has ever taken a trip to central Florida, you know how it seems every time you go to Universal Studios or Disney, every time in the afternoon you have those showers and storms that pop up, and then they dissipate.
Those are sea breeze showers and storms. And that's usually what the state depends on to keep everything so nice and green. But that's not what they have been getting.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: The battle over immigration may involve U.S. troops. Plans are being considered that would send several thousand more National Guard troops to beef up security at our border with Mexico. It's something California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger opposes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I think that the key thing is that we secure our borders. Going the direction of the National Guard, I think, is maybe not the right way to go, because I think that the Bush administration and the federal government should put up the money to create the kind of protection that the federal government is responsible to provide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, President Bush will make his case for immigration reform on Monday night. He's planning a televised address to the nation.
For more on the president's plans, we go live to CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano -- Elaine, what's the significance of him making the speech in prime time and from the Oval Office?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Tony, that's right. That certainly signifies it is very important, this issue, to President Bush. This will be the first time that he's going to be delivering an address from the Oval Office in prime time on a domestic issue.
Now, the goal here really is to push Congress, as the Senate looks to take up this issue once again next week, to push Congress to get comprehensive immigration legislation to his desk. And for the president, he sees that as including three things -- border security, interior enforcement and a temporary guest worker program. And a senior Bush aide says that border security will, in fact, be a main focus when the president delivers those remarks Monday night -- Tony.
HARRIS: So, Elaine, what does the White House think about the chances of reaching a compromise on immigration?
QUIJANO: Well, you know, the House and the Senate obviously are far apart and it's that idea of a temporary guest worker program that has so agreed conservatives, members of the president's own party in the House. They see it as amnesty because they believe that people who are here illegally should not be given a path to citizenship.
What the president has argued is that it is not amnesty because it is earned citizenship. There will be requirements. In fact, they say that people who want to become U.S. citizens will have to follow.
At the same time, we should tell you, a senior Bush aide says that the president is not going to necessarily endorse a specific plan or another that is being floated on Capitol Hill right now. Instead, we expect him to, again, call for a measured tone in this debate.
As you know, it's been such a heated debate, a very emotional one, as well. But the president feels quite strongly about this. You know, he has firsthand experience as a Texas governor in dealing with this issue.
HARRIS: Yes.
QUIJANO: And so he wants to let people know where he stands on immigration and why he thinks a guest worker program is so needed.
HARRIS: CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano. Elaine, thank you.
Now, before the president's speech, we'll have a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Monday.
And you'll certainly want to hear what Lou Dobbs has to say about the speech.
NGUYEN: No doubt.
HARRIS: He is known for having an opinion or two.
NGUYEN: Yes. Just two?
HARRIS: On fire.
NGUYEN: He's often on fire.
HARRIS: Then we will hear from Larry King.
And Anderson Cooper will be live at 10:00 p.m. with his own take on illegal immigration.
It is all here on CNN.
NGUYEN: All right, get this, Tony, pumping corn.
HARRIS: Huh?
NGUYEN: Yes, corn -- ethanol. It's the new gas. The drive to get it in more tanks.
Plus this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE CHESHIRE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It appears that this woman had sex with a male. But it also appears with certainty that it wasn't a Duke lacrosse player.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The Duke rape investigation -- where does it go from here?
The defense says the lacrosse players are off the hook after new DNA tests.
HARRIS: And a vicious bee attack. A Texas tree cutter hits a hive. He gets stung maybe hundreds of times.
NGUYEN: Yikes!
Ooh.
HARRIS: You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Good morning, everyone.
A look at our top stories now.
An Indonesian volcano could erupt any time now. Increased lava flow indicates a deadly eruption could be imminent. Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate.
A major interstate in Florida has reopened. Massive brush fires had forced parts of I-95 to close. Nearly 37,000 acres have been scorched and at least three homes have burned.
And the president tackles a hot button issue in prime time. President Bush will make a televised speech on immigration and border security Monday night at 8:00 Eastern. For live coverage, tune into CNN.
NGUYEN: And now, a presidential push to get Air Force General Michael Hayden in the CIA director's seat. During his weekly radio address today, President Bush urged the Senate to confirm Hayden. That may take some convincing. Some lawmakers question Hayden's support of the NSA's secret wiretapping program when he was leading that agency. And now, new concerns over the report that the agency has secretly collected phone call records of millions of Americans.
President Bush alluded to the controversy today.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP FROM PRESIDENT BUSH'S RADIO ADDRESS)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This week, new claims have been made about other ways we are tracking down al Qaeda to prevent attacks on America. It is important for Americans to understand that our activities strictly target al Qaeda and its known affiliates. Al Qaeda is our enemy and we want to know their plans.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So, will the controversy over the NSA's secret surveillance programs become a major liability for the president and his CIA nominee?
We're going to talk to a top columnist and political guru.
That's coming up on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
HARRIS: Fence mending between two former political foes. Senator John McCain gave the commencement speech at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Virginia today.
Flashback to the year 2000, when the Arizona Republican denounced Falwell and other conservative religious leaders as "agents of intolerance."
You remember that remark? McCain now says he no longer believes that and he insists the two men have put aside their differences.
During today's graduation speech, the senator focused on the United State's desire to spread democracy overseas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Thank you for the invitation.
We're not defending an idea that every human being should eat Corn Flakes, play baseball or watch MTV. We're not insisting that all societies be governed by a bicameral legislature and a term limited chief executive. We're insisting that all people have a right to be free and that right is not subject to the whims and interests and authority of another person, government or culture.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: McCain is scheduled to speak at Columbia University's graduation in New York next week.
Howard Dean, on the other hand, will be a no show at the University of California in Berkeley. The Democratic chairman backed out of giving the commencement speech at the University's law school today. He didn't want to cross a picket line of janitors who are protesting wages.
Dean did hold an informal meeting with graduates on Thursday.
NGUYEN: All right, Tony, gas prices -- they keep rising and Americans keep hearing they need a fuel alternative. So, why isn't more being done to get ethanol into our tanks?
HARRIS: Plus, attacked by bees -- it sounds like a horror movie or something, but it really happened in one Austin neighborhood. How it played out...
NGUYEN: Poor guy.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
Ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
NGUYEN: Plus, paparazzi and celebrity obsession -- tonight on "CNN PRESENTS," "CHASING ANGELINA." The paparazzi set their sights on Angelina Jolie and you're along for the ride as they pursue her. That is tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
GERALDINE LAYBOURNE, CHAIRMAN & CEO, OXYGEN MEDIA, INC.: I have a philosophy that liking your audience and liking your customer is the best way to do business. UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And after reaching over 65 million homes in eight years, Geraldine Laybourne knows how to tune in success.
Together with Oprah Winfrey, Laybourne founded Oxygen Media, a 24-hour cable TV network owned and operated by women, for women.
The network airs original series like the hidden camera show, "Girls Behaving Badly" and it's newest comedy, "Campus Ladies."
LAYBOURNE: My definition of success is making a difference and also doing well. Don't think about yourself. Think about creating an environment that you would like to work in. Create something that's good for people, that will keep on existing.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Keeping our eyes on the Gas Gauge. You're still pumping lots of money into your tanks.
The latest figures from AAA show the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded, Betty, $2.88.
A month ago, that gallon cost you $2.69.
And a year ago, it was $2.17.
NGUYEN: Wow!
HARRIS: Many people are feeling the pinch. We know that alternate fuels such as ethanol could help reduce our need for foreign oil.
And Bill Tucker has discovered a welcome bpd of ethanol -- the creation of jobs.
Sackets Harbor, New York
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This abandoned Miller plant in upstate New York is making a comeback. Tanks empty for 12 years are about to brew fuel for cars and trucks. It's becoming an ethanol plant, the first in the Northeast. It has not been an easy road.
ERIC WILL, NORTHEAST BIOFUELS: Two years ago, we had the project packaged pretty much as it is today. We had our strategic alliances put in place. We had contracts negotiated. We had the pre- engineering done. We had our air permit issued. We were all dressed up and no place to go.
TUCKER: Help came from a most unusual place. Two union locals loaned the project $3 million. In return, they secured a labor agreement for their members.
DAVID DECAIRE, PLUMBERS & STEAMFITTERS LOCAL 73: That was exciting to me, that we could not only get a return on our money, but bring something back from the dead to be useful in the community.
TUCKER: Three hundred jobs will be created to restore the plant. One hundred permanent jobs will be needed to run-the plant. And an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 more jobs will be created in the area.
For Rick O'Shea, a former Miller employee, there's a personal satisfaction as an engineer involved in the new project.
RICK O'SHEA, ENGINEER, RIVERVIEW BUSINESS PARK: For every job that we employ here, there will be other jobs, you know, down the road -- truck drivers, railroad people. So hopefully when we get up and running, we'll get some, you know, support jobs back in this area.
TUCKER: The jobs welcome in a region devastated by the loss of manufacturing work, where unemployment runs well above the national average.
(on camera): The economic ripple effects will be felt here, in the corn fields of upstate New York, where plant operators hope to buy as much as 50 percent of the corn they need from local growers.
RON ROBBINS, JEFFERSON COUNTY FARMER: Having a ready made market and having that demand there day in and day out for that grain will be a huge opportunity for us as corn growers in this region.
TUCKER: Northeast Biofuels hopes to begin producing 100 million gallons of ethanol annually by early 2008.
Bill Tucker, CNN, Fulton, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: So if ethanol could help the environment and reduce our use of foreign oil, why isn't more being done to get ethanol into our tanks? Some say it's politics.
So, let's ask special correspondent Frank Sesno, who knows his way around Washington -- Frank, appreciate it.
Thanks for your time this morning.
FRANK SESNO, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: You bet.
Sure.
HARRIS: What do you make of this? What's the answer to that question, as you see it? Why aren't we doing more of this if it seems to have such a tremendous upside?
SESNO: Well, the tremendous upside is actually part of the problem. It's not a tremendous upside. There have been a lot of studies about whether ethanol from corn, which is the corn -- which is the ethanol we use in the United States -- is really energy positive or not. There is a new study that says, yes it is. There's a very prominent study that says it actually takes more energy to produce, essentially, the equivalent of a gallon of gasoline, a gallon of ethanol, coming out of it than going into it.
So the fact is that it's not a slam dunk.
HARRIS: Yes.
SESNO: The fact is that -- Minnesota is way out in front of the rest of the country. They want to go to 20 percent ethanol in the next six or seven years. They're subsidizing the ethanol that's grown there. The federal government subsidizes it $0.50 a gallon. It's called the marketplace.
HARRIS: Yes.
SESNO: And that's part of the problem.
HARRIS: So, Frank, on the ground in Brazil, where you have been...
SESNO: Yes?
HARRIS: Tell us about the conversion there and has it been a success there?
SESNO: Yes, it's totally different. Totally different.
HARRIS: OK.
SESNO: First of all, it helps to have a military dictatorship 30 years ago, because they don't debate things.
HARRIS: OK.
SESNO: They just decide.
HARRIS: Right.
SESNO: So they launched that.
The big difference is their ethanol comes from sugar cane. Sugar cane is much more energy productive, seven times more energy productive than corn-based ethanol. We just don't have the land and the climate for that in this country.
But you know what? We don't import Brazilian ethanol because our corn farmers, our agricultural interests, say keep it out.
HARRIS: Right.
SESNO: So we've got a lot of cross-currents here that we've got to work through. We could be doing much better.
HARRIS: Well, you know, what is -- does this come down to sheer leadership? You know, make this the new space race. Make this the new whatever race. Why can't we just designate that we are going to be less energy dependent, the president set a timetable, we want this done by X year, and set the nation in motion?
SESNO: A lot of people say that's exactly what should happen. A lot of people say that's what the president should have done on 9/11, the day after 9/11, or two days or a week or pick your time, that this is the national priority.
So what's happening now is the president is moving. They're going to try to double the amount of ethanol we use over the next several years. We only use about 3 percent ethanol in our fuel now. You mentioned Brazil. They use 40 percent plus.
These flex fuel vehicles that you're seeing advertised? The automakers are moving more toward that, partly for P.R. partly to show that they're innovators because they're in trouble, partly because they think the market is going to develop.
But we're in baby steps here now.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
SESNO: There are only about 600 stations selling ethanol out of 17,000 in the country. We've got a long way to go.
HARRIS: If we were really moving aggressively in this area, even more aggressively than what you describe now, what would this mean for American farmers?
SESNO: Well, ultimately for American farmers, it means more jobs. For them, it means more farm in cultivation. If we really move, Tony, in a big way toward ethanol, we've got some real issues of land use that are going to come up, too, because it would -- it will take millions and millions of acres to, you know, to really fuel our cars, if we were to do it that way.
The big breakthrough is going to be in the cellulose ethanol. And it's a bacteria that breaks down the fibrous woody elements of plants.
HARRIS: Nice.
SESNO: It's not going to be in corn ethanol. And that cellulose ethanol is around the corner. It's still very expensive. That's what's going to provide the breakthrough. And you can imagine a day where, you know, the junk from the farm, essentially, becomes fuel in your tank.
But that's a few years -- five, six years away maybe.
HARRIS: Yes.
Are we at the place where, just like when -- and all the new technology comes out, initially it's really expensive?
SESNO: Yes.
HARRIS: And then -- yes.
Is that where we are?
SESNO: Yes, that's part of it. That's part of it. But, you know, the technology, for example, to make your car or my car, when it's coming off the assembly line, a flex fuel vehicle...
HARRIS: Yes?
SESNO: ... so it can burn either one of these things...
HARRIS: Yes?
SESNO: It's like $100, $200. It's nothing.
HARRIS: Wow!
SESNO: And they -- and they harden some of the lines in the car so that it -- and, actually, some of the ethanol concerns early on was that it corroded some of the elements of your engine. It could actually undermine the warranty of the manufacturer. That's subsiding now.
HARRIS: Hey, could you see yourself driving a car that's fueled by ethanol?
SESNO: Absolutely. Hey, I have recent -- I'll do the commercial here. I recently bought a hybrid. After I did the project I worked on, I went out and I bought a hybrid because I think the technology is going to lead to additional breakthroughs.
HARRIS: The man who did the research, did the homework and made a change in his own life, Frank Sesno.
SESNO: Right.
HARRIS: Frank, we appreciate it.
Thanks for the time.
SESNO: You bet.
Anytime.
NGUYEN: He's not just talking the talk, he's walking the walk.
Well, news this week that the government is snooping around your phone records. We'll tell you how it could have larger implications for the CIA.
And, the Duke rape investigation -- results of a second round of DNA tests are in. We'll have that ahead.
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