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CNN Live At Daybreak

Problem Off Coast of Hawaii

Aired April 24, 2003 - 05:14   ET

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

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A problem of a different sort off the coast of Hawaii. A Royal Caribbean luxury ship is now being searched room by room. Federal agents say two notes threatening acts of terrorism were found on board.
Stephanie Lum of CNN affiliate KHNL in Honolulu has details for us.

And the passengers are still on board the ship right now, right?

STEPHANIE LUM, KHNL CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Carol. Now, whenever the Legends of the Sea cruise liner visits Honolulu, it always docks here at this pier behind me, right next to the Aloha Tower. But tonight it is anchored (AUDIO GAP) a mile out.

Now, this all began late last night when two anonymous letters turned up on board this ship and federal officials are taking this very seriously after they say that both of the letters threatened to harm the more than 2,000 people on board.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUM (voice-over): The search began in the afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Underway with 06POB, over.

LUM: Dozens of Coast Guard teams and other law enforcement agencies boarding the luxury cruise liner, Legends of the Sea.

CAPT. TIM SKUBY, U.S. COAST GUARD: It's a positive control boarding, is what we call it, to just ensure that the right people or the masters is in charge of the vessel and it's not a terrorist or somebody.

LUM: An unexpected stop after two threatening letters turned up in the ship's rest room.

DAN DZWILEWSKI, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: It threatened the, again, no one specifically, but it threatened harm to passengers, the ship itself, the passengers and crew.

LUM: Passengers waited outside as bomb sniffing dogs searched their cabins, some unaware of the emergency on board.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we got to Hilo, they diverted us to Honolulu. And we've been on the ship all day and we were supposed to get off. And if there's a threat of an explosion, why would they keep us on the ship? You understand what I'm talking about? So we're all bewildered. We don't know what's going on.

LUM: But the safety of everyone on board is the FBI's main concern.

DZWILEWSKI: We'll be interviewing all passengers, crew.

LUM: And until the FBI says it's OK, the cruise liner won't be going anywhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUM: Now, once again, federal officials have been searching the cruise liner since this afternoon and they continue to do so tonight. No word yet on whether they've come across anything in their investigation this far.

Reporting live from Honolulu.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: We appreciate it.

Stephanie Lum reporting from Honolulu this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired April 24, 2003 - 05:14   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A problem of a different sort off the coast of Hawaii. A Royal Caribbean luxury ship is now being searched room by room. Federal agents say two notes threatening acts of terrorism were found on board.
Stephanie Lum of CNN affiliate KHNL in Honolulu has details for us.

And the passengers are still on board the ship right now, right?

STEPHANIE LUM, KHNL CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Carol. Now, whenever the Legends of the Sea cruise liner visits Honolulu, it always docks here at this pier behind me, right next to the Aloha Tower. But tonight it is anchored (AUDIO GAP) a mile out.

Now, this all began late last night when two anonymous letters turned up on board this ship and federal officials are taking this very seriously after they say that both of the letters threatened to harm the more than 2,000 people on board.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUM (voice-over): The search began in the afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Underway with 06POB, over.

LUM: Dozens of Coast Guard teams and other law enforcement agencies boarding the luxury cruise liner, Legends of the Sea.

CAPT. TIM SKUBY, U.S. COAST GUARD: It's a positive control boarding, is what we call it, to just ensure that the right people or the masters is in charge of the vessel and it's not a terrorist or somebody.

LUM: An unexpected stop after two threatening letters turned up in the ship's rest room.

DAN DZWILEWSKI, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: It threatened the, again, no one specifically, but it threatened harm to passengers, the ship itself, the passengers and crew.

LUM: Passengers waited outside as bomb sniffing dogs searched their cabins, some unaware of the emergency on board.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we got to Hilo, they diverted us to Honolulu. And we've been on the ship all day and we were supposed to get off. And if there's a threat of an explosion, why would they keep us on the ship? You understand what I'm talking about? So we're all bewildered. We don't know what's going on.

LUM: But the safety of everyone on board is the FBI's main concern.

DZWILEWSKI: We'll be interviewing all passengers, crew.

LUM: And until the FBI says it's OK, the cruise liner won't be going anywhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUM: Now, once again, federal officials have been searching the cruise liner since this afternoon and they continue to do so tonight. No word yet on whether they've come across anything in their investigation this far.

Reporting live from Honolulu.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: We appreciate it.

Stephanie Lum reporting from Honolulu this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com