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| Obama says new NSA proposal alleviates privacy concerns about surveillance - Washington Post Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:24 AM PDT President Obama on Tuesday said he believes the plan his administration has given him to address concerns about the National Security Agency's widespread collection of Americans' phone data is "workable," and he hopes Congress will move to enact it. Speaking at a nuclear summit in The Hague, Obama said the plan should alleviate "core concerns" about the government storing massive amounts of data on Americans' phone calls. The White House is preparing a proposal that would end the government's "bulk collection" of such data while, Obama said, preserving its ability to gain information about terrorists who might be plotting an attack against the United States. The plan, senior officials said, would allow data about phone calls made to and from Americans to be kept with the phone companies. The companies would not be required to hold the data longer than they normally would. Obama stressed that the plan would ensure that "a judge is looking at each individual" phone number to ensure it is linked to a suspected terrorist organization before phone companies are asked to search their records for data about the number. Such prior judicial approval of queries is considered a key requisite by privacy advocates. Obama in January gave his subordinates until March 28 — this Friday — to find a way to end the government's mass collection of phone data, a program that has stirred controversy since it was revealed through a leak to the news media in June. The proposal, which is still being finalized, would require phone companies to make data available on a real-time, ongoing basis — an idea embraced by NSA leaders, officials said. Officials said the administration has decided to renew the current program for at least one more 90-day cycle. The current orders expire Friday. Under the program, the government collects telephone numbers and call times and dates but not call content. The administration effort comes as the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee have drafted a bipartisan bill that would also end the NSA's mass gathering of data. Their measure would also keep the records at the phone companies. But some privacy advocates are already expressing opposition to the proposal. The House bill would reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to make clear that the government can no longer collect any form of electronic communication in bulk, said its sponsors, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the committee's chairman, and Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.), its ranking Democrat. "We believe this can be the solution for those of us who want to preserve important national security capabilities while heeding the legitimate concerns of many that the collection of bulk telephone metadata has a potential for abuse," said Rogers, who has staunchly defended the NSA's bulk-collection authority. Ruppersberger, whose district includes the NSA's Fort Meade headquarters, said, "The most important thing is getting the public's confidence that their government is out there protecting them against terrorist attacks" while respecting privacy and increasing transparency. The bill, according to congressional aides, would bar the mass collection of different types of information, including phone call records and records of Internet activity. It also covers location information, aides said. It, too, would not require telecommunication companies to retain data for longer than they do now. And it would require that the government serve a directive on a company that is being asked for data. But unlike other pending legislation, it does not call for judicial approval of a specific phone number before a request for data is submitted to a company. The Rogers-Ruppersberger legislation would have the court make that determination "promptly" after the FBI submits a number to a phone company. If the court did not approve the number as being linked to an agent of a foreign power, including terrorist groups, the data collected would be expunged. "If there is no judicial authorization beforehand, I don't see the civil liberties community getting behind it," said Harley Geiger, senior counsel for the Center for Democracy & Technology. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), who has co-sponsored competing legislation, said the Rogers-Ruppersberger bill "limits, but does not end, bulk collection." He said that provisions in the draft "fall well short" of the safeguards in his bill. Both the administration's and the House lawmakers' proposals would allow data up to two "hops" from a target to be collected. |
| Washington mudslide rescue operation shifts to recovery mission, official says - Fox News Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:34 AM PDT Emergency officials say they expect the death toll from a massive mudslide in rural Washington state to rise as volunteers and responders pick through rubble. The mudslide, which struck the town of Oso on Saturday morning, has left 14 people dead and 176 missing, Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said Tuesday. Hots said authorities offer their "deepest sympathies and condolences to the families affected by this disaster." He added that authorities believe the death toll will increase. "We are expecting that number to go up throughout the day," he said. There are 156 people in the field looking for anyone who may be trapped under rubble, Hots said, but rain forecasted for Tuesday afternoon may hamper search efforts. A 50-member National Guard team is also en route to the area. Earlier in the day, officials looking to narrow down the number of people unaccounted for said the operation is now shifting from a rescue effort to a recovery mission. "I never lose faith and a lot of the people in this community will never lose faith, but there's a realism element that's entered in," John Pennington, Snohomish County's director of emergency management, said Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show, according to Reuters. "We have responded as well as we can, and we will continue to do that, but... we are turning that very delicate corner in the recovery operation." Emergency responders and volunteers resumed searches Tuesday but so far have not been able to locate anyone who still may be trapped under the rubble. A 22-week-old baby injured in the mudslide remained in critical condition Tuesday, Seattle's Harborview Medical Center said. His mother was also injured. Late Monday, authorities announced that the official death toll had increased to 14 after searchers discovered six more bodies in the rubble. The main focus of the search operations has been to pin down the exact number of people unaccounted for after the disaster. Pennington told reporters late Monday that officials were working off a potential list of 176 people, but he stressed that authorities believed that included many duplicate names. "I believe very strongly [176] is not a number we're going to see in fatalities," Pennington said. "I believe it's going to drop dramatically." However, other authorities said they have not been able to determine whether there were multiple calls about the same missing person. The 1-square-mile mudslide struck Saturday morning. Authorities have described the search for additional survivors to be "grim" as crews battle uneven ground and rising waters. Monday's search included specially trained dogs, firefighters, law enforcement, aircraft and search-and-rescue teams. Heavy equipment from the Washington State Department of Transportation helped to move trees, boulders and earth. "Most of us in these communities do not believe we'll find anyone alive," Pennington said Monday, but then added "I'm a man of faith and I believe in miracles." Authorities believe that the slide destroyed 35 homes, as well as 13 manufactured homes, including RVs, and at least one cabin. Part of the difficulty in determining the exact number of missing people comes from authorities not knowing how many of the homes, some of which are kept for vacationing visitors, were occupied at the time of the slide. Authorities also believe some nonresidents may have been working in the area, while some victims may have been passing through in their cars on nearby State Highway 530. Another obstacle has been the chaotic nature of the debris field itself. In some places, the ground is covered by 15 feet of rubble. "It's muddy, in areas it's like quicksand," said Hots. "One of the folks out there told me, 'Chief, sometimes it takes five minutes to walk 40 or 50 feet.'" Searchers are also running into gasoline and septic discharge and dealing with ground that geologists warn remains unstable. Authorities believe the slide was caused by ground made unstable by recent heavy rainfall. Ed Hrivnak, who was co-piloting an aircraft that was first to arrive at the scene Saturday, said a lot of the houses weren't buried. When they got hit, "the houses exploded." He said cars were crushed into little pieces, their tires the only signs that they had been vehicles. He said he saw people so thoroughly covered in mud that searchers could only spot them by the whites of their waving palms. His helicopter rescued eight people, including a 4-year-old boy, who was up to his knees in concrete-like compressed mud. The mud was so sticky, the rescuers were worried about getting stuck so the helicopter hovered about a foot away and the crew chief tried to pull him out. "He was suctioned in that mud so much that his pants came off," Hrivnak said. The boy was taken to a hospital and was reunited with his mom. Hrivnak said the boy's father and three siblings are still missing. Friends and families immediately launched their own rescue missions. Elaine Young and her husband, Don, picking their way through the devastation, heard tapping, a steady beat. They got closer and realized it was coming from their neighbors' buckled home. Trapped in an air pocket, Gary "Mac" McPherson, 78, was banging away for help with a loose stick. The Youngs managed to pull him out, but family members said his wife, Linda McPherson, 69, a former librarian and school board member, did not survive. Chain saws buzzed as friends and families cut toppled houses open on Monday. Buddy, a large chocolate Labrador, was pulled muddy and cut from under the ruins Sunday after a house was searched. His owner has not been found. Gail Moffett, a retired firefighter who lives in Oso and works at the hardware store in Arlington, said she knows about 25 people who are missing. Among them, Moffett said, were entire families, including people with young children. Moffett said some of the people who are missing were working in the area Saturday morning. "There's so much pain going on in the community right now," she said. President Barack Obama Tuesday asked Americans to send their thoughts and prayers to Washington state as search operations continue. He said first responders have acted bravely and people have come forward to help fellow citizens. Obama says he's spoken with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Inslee and signed an emergency declaration for the state, adding that his administration is in ongoing contact with state officials. Evacuation shelters were set up at Post Middle School in Arlington and the Darrington Community Center. Click for more from Q13Fox.com FoxNews.com's Cristina Corbin and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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