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American Morning
Senior Terror Suspect Arrested in Britain Tied to Threat In U.S.
Aired August 06, 2004 - 07:00 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Crackdown across the global al Qaeda web, a senior terror suspect is arrested in Britain. He may have cased financial buildings in here in the U.S.
Meanwhile, another key arrest in Saudi Arabia, the cleric one of that country's most wanted terrorists.
More gun battles in two Iraqi cities. U.S. forces trying to put down the Medhi army.
And the judge suddenly puts the Scott Peterson trial on hold. What is the mystery evidence defense attorneys say could clear their client?
All ahead today on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: All right, good morning here at the close of the week. Good to have you with us today. Soledad is off; Heidi Collins is in.
Good morning.
Heidi Collins. Good morning.
HEMMER: It could be worse. It could be like Monday.
COLLINS: Yes, but the bad thing about Friday is you're now much closer to Monday, you know.
HEMMER: Well, that's true. We have two days in between time.
Anyway, meanwhile, developments across the board in a worldwide effort to catch terrorists. New York Governor George Pataki with us today talking about just the arrest in Britain, also this case in Albany, New York where two men were arrested for getting involved in a fake plot to kill a diplomat.
We'll talk to the governor in a matter of minutes here.
COLLINS: Also, a separate terrorism thread. We'll talk to a reporter who inadvertently purchased computers in Afghanistan once used by al Qaeda. He will tell us what he found.
HEMMER: Also this morning, other news today -- conjoined twins separated this week here in New York. Doctors watching their progress quite carefully.
This morning we will hear their amazing story from the chief medical officer at the hospital where that operation was conducted. We'll get you an update on how the two are doing this morning.
COLLINS: Sixteen hours in that operation.
HEMMER: Whoa.
COLLINS: Yes, very long.
Good morning, Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Heidi.
It's August, do you know we your congressman is?
Well, they're on vacation. That's where they are.
We've got terror warnings all over the place. Al Qaeda suspects being rounded up around the globe and our senators and representatives are at the beach and the amusement parks and the campgrounds saying, ah, you know, maybe we'll get around to it later.
We're going to take a look at whether or not maybe they ought to come back to work a little bit later.
HEMMER: All right. Thank you, Jack.
COLLINS: All right, thanks so much Jack.
To news now -- U.S. government officials say a terror suspect arrested in Britain is a key al Qaeda operative who in 2001 personally cased some of the buildings that sparked this week's terror alert alerts.
Here now justice correspondent Kelli Arena.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Law enforcement sources say they believe one of the men arrested this week in Britain personally conducted some of the surveillance of potential terror targets in the United States.
Esa al-Hindi is described as a senior al Qaeda operative. Sources tell CNN he was on the ground in New York City in early 2001. And one source says law enforcement has definitively faced him in three of the buildings that were surveiled, the New York Stock Exchange, the Citigroup building and the Prudential building in Newark, New Jersey.
EVAN KOHLMANN, "GLOBAL TERRORALERT.COM": He is someone with military experience. He is someone who's perfectly fluent in English, in Urdu, in Arabic. He's a transnational al Qaeda operative who has his fingers in many pots. ARENA: U.S. officials say al-Hindi can currently be described as al Qaeda's chief of operations in the UK. They say he moved operational information between key components of al Qaeda in Britain, Pakistan and the United States.
Terrorism experts say al-Hindi is a Muslim convert and former commander of an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Investigators believe he was plotting to attack London's Heathrow airport based in part on intelligence from Pakistan.
KOHLMANN: I think it's an ominous sign. Whenever there's an attack of this scale going on in London, it's not just a British thing; it's a U.S. thing too because most of the time when al Qaeda strikes it tends to strike in multiple, simultaneous attacks.
ARENA: Al-Hindi's arrest and others in Pakistan, including that of alleged al Qaeda computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan have, have led to multiple intelligence leads.
Especially troubling, government officials say alleged al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan recently contacted an individual or individuals in the United States.
JAMES COMEY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: We have, as we've said before, reason to believe that we are in a very serious threat environment. And we're working like crazy to try and make sure that threat, that it does not come to fruition.
ARENA (on camera): Investigators say given his alleged position, al-Hindi may have knowledge of plans to attack in the United States. The trick is getting him to divulge all he knows.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Another development now this morning, Saudi security forces say they have arrested in important al Qaeda leader. And interior ministry official says Faris Al-Zahrani was captured last night in a bar near the Yemeni border.
The cleric was number 12 on the kingdom's list of the 26 most wanted terror suspects.
HEMMER: Family and friends of two mosque leaders arrested in Albany, New York coming to their defense today. The two are decided described as peaceful family men and proud Americans.
They are now facing terror related charges after being caught in an FBI sting operation. The governor of New York, George Pataki, is our guest this morning.
Governor, good morning to you. And thanks for your time today.
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: Good morning, Bill, nice being with you. HEMMER: You just heard from Kelli Arena's story about this senior al Qaeda operative picked up overseas casing, perhaps, buildings here in New York and New Jersey.
PATAKI: Right.
HEMMER: Have you been briefed on this? And if so, what can you add to it?
PATAKI: Well yes, I have. We get briefed, but any information that is revealed will come from the department of homeland security or the department of justice.
You know they are, obviously, engaged in a very aggressive effort to head off any further attacks. And I'm certainly not going to discuss any information that they might have.
HEMMER: Let's focus on Albany though. Yesterday at your press conference with reporters yesterday morning, you mentioned four or five times that you could not get specific. You could not offer more details.
Can you give us more today, 24 hours later?
PATAKI: Well, I think now we can.
These two individuals are charged with having illegally laundered tens of thousands of dollars to a cooperating witness, someone they thought was a terrorist operative, who showed them an inert, shoulder fired rocket missile and told them that he was going to need these funds to purchase this type of missile and use it to kill the Pakistani ambassador to the U.N.
Obviously, these are people who were inclined and actually did help someone they thought was a terrorist operative, if the charges are proven. And this is very serious.
HEMMER: Was there any mention throughout this entire sting operation about trying to harm U.S. citizens?
PATAKI: Well, that's what it's all about. When you're helping a terrorist to get a shoulder fired missile that can be used to bring down airplanes or to kill an ambassador, obviously this is aimed at hurting people in the United States and subjecting us to another attack.
So in my view, it was very important that people who would provide these funds, provide this material support to someone they think is a terrorist operative is very important.
And I'm pleased, if the allegations are true, that they have been charged.
HEMMER: There's a teacher in the mosque who calls one of the gentleman someone we all believe is a righteous and good Muslim. He refers to the other one as nothing to do with violence and terrorism at any point.
The issue of entrapment has been raised. How do you react to that?
PATAKI: Well, I'm not a criminal lawyer, but I think the answer is very simple. If someone comes to you and says he's a terrorist operative and he needs you to illegally get him tens of thousands of dollars so he can buy a shoulder fired missile to kill the Pakistani ambassador, how are you going to react?
If your reaction would be -- I mean, I think 99 out of 100, at least, people would say this is a criminal act. They'd either turn the person in or they'd certainly say no.
And those individuals who actually follow-through and raise those funds are criminals. And if those allegations are proven to be true, these people will be convicted and I think rightfully so.
HEMMER: Third topic, governor, the issue of these anthrax investigations. Upstate New York yesterday was one location, another location in New Jersey.
What can you add about federal agents visiting this home of the doctor yesterday?
PATAKI: Well, what they're doing is they are simply checking every possible lead to see, to try to eliminate those who might be in any way considered a suspect in the anthrax attacks. And they're just conducting a thorough, step-by-step national investigation trying to determine who was behind these attacks. And I think that's appropriate.
HEMMER: Final word, has this case moved forward in a substantial way at this point?
PATAKI: Which, the anthrax case?
HEMMER: The anthrax matter.
PATAKI: Not that I'm aware of at all, Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Governor George Pataki in Albany. Thanks for your time, governor.
PATAKI: Thank you.
HEMMER: A bit later this morning, our 9:00 a.m. Eastern hour, we'll be talking with the teacher from the mosque in Albany who says the two men arrested could not possibly be involved in terrorist activity. That's the word from the mosque.
We'll continue to follow that throughout the morning, now Heidi.
COLLINS: In Chicago, terror charges will be filed against a convicted counterfeiter with an apparent grudge against the courts. Prosecutors say Gale William Nettles was arrested with a pickup truck containing 1,500 pounds of fertilizer.
He will be charged with plotting to blow up a federal courthouse in a plot similar to the Oklahoma City bombing. But authorities say he never actually had the materials to make a truck bomb since it was a government sting operation.
About 10 minutes past hour now. Time for a look at some of today's other news and Daryn Kagan.
Good morning to you, Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Heidi. Let's begin in Iraq.
There are reports there of four Lebanese truck drivers who have been missing and believed to be taken hostage.
Meanwhile, for a second straight day in Najaf, American troops using tanks and helicopters are fighting militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr.
U.S. forces also called clashed with Medhi army militia in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. Military sources say at least 19 Iraqi's were killed and some 111 others were wounded.
Back here in the U.S. to Illinois, former presidential hopeful and talk show host Alan Keyes has reportedly agreed to run for the U.S. senate. This is according to the "Chicago Sun Times" and "the Tribune."
Keyes will run on the Republican ticket against Democratic candidate Barack Obama. The election would be first U.S. senate contest with two black candidates representing the major parties.
A new ad that questions presidential candidate John Kerry's heroism in Vietnam is being labeled as dishonest and dishonorable. And those charges come from Senator John McCain.
The ad is set to air in several cities. It shows Vietnam veterans accusing Kerry of lying about his war record. A Bush administration official is not condemning the ad but says President Bush has never questioned Kerry's military service.
More on that story in our next hour.
And finally, a Canadian team vying for a $10 million space race prize is showing off its new spacecraft. The da Vinci project -- It's a rocket. It's called wildfire. It was unveiled yesterday.
It must carry a pilot and the equivalent weight of two passengers into sub orbital space twice within 14 days to win the prize. Wildfire is scheduled for launch on October 2nd. And of course, well that's going to bring back memories.
Back in June, SpaceShipOne, Mojave Desert, the Rutans, the Americans, just brushing sub orbital space. So the race is on. HEMMER: That's right. We'll see who wins. Thank you, Daryn. Good to see you on a Friday.
Chad Myers giving us more great news, actually. All this heat and humidity is gone and it's nice and chilly now. Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm kind of ready for like a tailgate party, do a little football here. I mean, Bill, it's that cold out there. A lot of folks had to turn off the air conditioner, even close the windows overnight.
(WEATHER BREAK)
MYERS: Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: All right, Chad, thanks so much for that. We sure will take that cool-down.
Now to what could be a major development in Scott Peterson's double murder trial, the judge is putting the case on hold until Tuesday while the defense examines new evidence is says may clear Peterson.
CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is here to sort it all out for us.
Wow, I mean, this was a huge surprise. What you think this new evidence could be?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the "San Francisco Chronicle" is reporting that the evidence is duct tape that was found in San Francisco Bay near Heidi's...
COLLINS: Laci.
TOOBIN: I'm sorry -- Laci Peterson's body. That, the defense claims is evidence that could indicate how she died, who might have been responsible, and that's the evidence they want tested.
COLLINS: OK, so they're testing that now. But what is the significance? I mean, what is this going to mean for the whole case?
TOOBIN: Well, sometimes you can identify the origin of duct tape, the store it was purchased in, the kind of duct tape it was, potentially fingerprints on it. Of course it's unlikely since it was found in a bay that any of that will be able to be identified; but it is potentially significant.
And it -- frankly it's surprising to me that this kind of testing hasn't been done yet since it's been so long since her body's been discovered.
COLLINS: Right, good point there. You know, if you look at this whole case -- and obviously you're the legal analyst here -- but there has been a lot of talk about the prosecution's case just really not being that strong. And now there's this delay, so what is the jury likely to think about all of this?
TOOBIN: Well, there has been a pattern of prosecution mistakes in this case. So here is another delay. This trial is in its third month and this is not the world's most complicated trial.
This trial should not be taking this long. And Amber Frey, Scott Peterson's girlfriend, hasn't even been called as a witness and supposedly may make it to the stand next week.
Last week, the judge excluded one of the prosecution's witnesses because of prosecutorial misconduct, not turning over records of her prior statements or inconsistencies that she had said.
COLLINS: Right.
TOOBIN: So there have been problems in the prosecution case. However, it is worth keeping in mind that jurors do try to reach the right result regardless of the behavior of the lawyers.
COLLINS: Sure.
TOOBIN: And the key fact in this case remains that Laci Peterson's body was discovered 80 miles away from her home virtually in the precise location that Scott Peterson was on the day that she disappeared.
That's a very bad fact for Scott Peterson. He is very far from in the clear in this case. So, you know, day by day there have been some bad developments for the prosecution, but it's worth keeping in mind that this case is not all that weak after all.
COLLINS: All right, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks so much for that this morning.
TOOBIN: A long way to go.
COLLINS: Yes, a long way to go. We'll have to wait until Tuesday, at least for right now.
TOOBIN: And the end of the trial, who knows?
COLLINS: And the end of the trial, who knows -- all right. Jeffrey Toobin, we will see you again on this one.
Bill, back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Fifteen minutes past the hour. In a moment, Andy's Minding Your Business."
The big news, focused on today's jobs report. Wall Street is waiting. The campaigns are waiting also.
In addition to that, how an old computer gave one reporter a huge surprise in the day-to-day operations inside of al Qaeda.
And the cautious optimism surrounding to formerly conjoined twins, we'll talk to a hospital official to see how the boys are doing this morning ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Doctors in New York are cautiously optimistic about formerly conjoined twins Carl and Clarence Aguirre. The two-year-old Filipino boys were separated this week in a 16-hour operation, the final stage in an unprecedented separation process.
Dr. Steven Safyer, chief medical officer at Montefiore Medical Center spoke with me about their condition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Dr. Safyer, how are Carl and Clarence doing?
DR. STEVEN SAFYER, MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER: The kids are doing absolutely terrific. On the way down here this morning, I called the unit and spoke to the doctor in charge at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, and the kids are absolutely steady, doing well, doing everything we want them to be doing.
COLLINS: Would you call this operation a success as this point?
SAFYER: The operation was definitely a success, but it's important, very important to emphasize that it's one step in a path that we're going down. So you can't declare victory. All you can say is that a very successful and very important battle was conducted two days ago.
COLLINS: Are many more operations to come?
SAFYER: There will be a number of operations, but longer will we need to be separating the children because they have been successfully separated. We will be doing reconstructive plastic surgery. Their skulls are exposed. We need to work with the bone and with the skin to provide adequate covering for each of the children.
COLLINS: And right now they are sedated. Now why is that?
SAFYER: Sedation post-operation is absolutely normal. And the main reason to sedate the children is to quiet them down. They're young. They're two-year-olds. And they'd be pulling tubes out; they'd be moving wires around -- and you want them quiet.
COLLINS: Sure, but this is a good sign, I imagine. I mean it sounds like they were active after the surgery.
SAFYER: Sedation is good. And the activity that they were displaying is terrific.
COLLINS: Great, now talk to me a little bit about what it was like in that operation room. You and I had spoken a little bit about how these children were able to draw you and the other doctors and nurses in and just kind of fall in love with them.
SAFYER: Carl and Clarence and their mother, Arlene, have been with us for nearly a year now. They came last September. And from the very beginning, they have captivated the, just absolutely everybody at Montefiore Medical Center.
Everybody is in love with them. They are really special children.
Now to your point. In the operating room the other evening, what I am told by the surgeons, the lead surgeons there who were working very diligently through the night, when the actual separation occurred, there was applause, which is unusual, and electricity in the air, which is almost impossible to describe.
COLLINS: Well, these children have never walked. They're two years old. They've never walked. They've never seen each other's faces. I mean these are huge things that are about to become possible for them.
SAFYER: The things that we take for granted with our own children, these children have never been able to participate in. Yes, they have never directly looked in each other's eyes.
We've used mirrors. We've tried to develop their musculature with physical therapy, but they can't even sit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Dr. Safyer stressed the twins prognosis is one of cautious optimism. The operations were successful, but the boys still have a long road ahead on their way to full recovery -- Bill?
HEMMER: All right, Heidi. 22 minutes past the hour now.
In a moment here, Senator John Kerry hitting back at the president yesterday for his response in the early moments of 9/11. Today, President Bush gets his chance to return his fire.
We'll get a live report on what's happening on campaign trail 2004 in a moment after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone.
Oil prices surging yesterday, rattled the markets, too, sent them much lower than when we started yesterday. Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business." Good morning to you.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you.
HEMMER: Looking at the oil issue out there...
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: Do you think we're going to get losses?
SERWER: Yes, a lot of stuff going on yesterday, Bill. Stocks swooned on Wall Street yesterday. The Dow falling 163 points, second- biggest loss in the year after March 11th, in the wake of the Madrid train bombing.
Dow below 10,000. Nasdaq also taking a hit so, too, the S&P 500.
What happened? Well, Bill's talking -- there you go -- Bill was talking about oil. Obviously that was the catalyst.
Yesterday problems in Russia with Yukos, that country, that company that owes the government billions of dollars in taxes, also a refinery fire at a British petroleum plant in Texas.
Retail sales also weak, questions about whether the American consumer has run out of steam as well. Of course today the big news will be the jobs report at 8:30. Here's what's going on.
We're looking for 228,000 new jobs to be created. Last month we'll see -- the unemployment rate is supposed to hang tough there at 5.6 percent.
Really Bill, the new jobs have fallen. The creation of new jobs have fallen every month since March. So you've got -- new jobs have been created, but it's gotten less and less over the past four months.
So that will be a big thing, obviously, for the economy and for the campaigns.
HEMMER: That's right, and we'll watch it from Wall Street to the campaign.
Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: Your welcome.
All right, Heidi?
COLLINS: Time now for the "Cafferty File" and the "Question of the Day" from Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thank you.
This, we get this out of the file labeled enough's enough. For the last couple of weeks we've been keeping track of the following for you, the number of days since the 9/11 commission made recommendations on how to protect this country country against terrorism -- 15.
HEMMER: 15.
SERWER: 15.
CAFFERTY: Number of recommendations adopted by the Congress?
HEMMER: 0.
SERWER: 0.
CAFFERTY: There you go.
Meanwhile, there are terror alerts everywhere, New York, Washington, even Newark, New Jersey this week. Where's the Congress? Why they're on vacation.
When the report came out, they said they couldn't possibly do anything about all of this until next year, and then they went on vacation for six weeks.
What is wrong with this picture? Well, quite a lot actually.
Imagine for a moment, what if they came back to work. Wouldn't every incumbent be virtually guaranteed re-election if they gave up their summer vacation to deal with the threats to their country? You bet they would.
Here's the question, should Congress be called into special session to deal with the recommendations of the 9/11 commission?
You can e-mail us at am@cnn.com.
And the people who can do this are three, the president of the United States can call them in special session. The speaker of the house, Dennis Hastert, can call them into special session. And the majority leader in the Senate, Senator Bill Frist, can call Congress back into special session.
COLLINS: Who's going to do it?
CAFFERTY: Well, so far nobody.
SERWER: What if some of them just come back on their own. I mean, you're suggesting it would be great to be, for their election prospects. So why not just come back and say, I'm going to come back and start working on it.
HEMMER: Big old gold star if that happens.
SERWER: Yes, that's right.
CAFFERTY: Don't hold your breath.
COLLINS: All right, Jack, thanks so much.
Still to come this morning, it is Friday morning, time now for "90-Second Pop."
TV critics look at the man in the mirror, but how many of them actually like what they see.
Plus, mirror, mirror on the wall, Ray Stein signs on to play the most wicked wizard of them all.
"90-Second Pop" ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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Aired August 6, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Crackdown across the global al Qaeda web, a senior terror suspect is arrested in Britain. He may have cased financial buildings in here in the U.S.
Meanwhile, another key arrest in Saudi Arabia, the cleric one of that country's most wanted terrorists.
More gun battles in two Iraqi cities. U.S. forces trying to put down the Medhi army.
And the judge suddenly puts the Scott Peterson trial on hold. What is the mystery evidence defense attorneys say could clear their client?
All ahead today on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: All right, good morning here at the close of the week. Good to have you with us today. Soledad is off; Heidi Collins is in.
Good morning.
Heidi Collins. Good morning.
HEMMER: It could be worse. It could be like Monday.
COLLINS: Yes, but the bad thing about Friday is you're now much closer to Monday, you know.
HEMMER: Well, that's true. We have two days in between time.
Anyway, meanwhile, developments across the board in a worldwide effort to catch terrorists. New York Governor George Pataki with us today talking about just the arrest in Britain, also this case in Albany, New York where two men were arrested for getting involved in a fake plot to kill a diplomat.
We'll talk to the governor in a matter of minutes here.
COLLINS: Also, a separate terrorism thread. We'll talk to a reporter who inadvertently purchased computers in Afghanistan once used by al Qaeda. He will tell us what he found.
HEMMER: Also this morning, other news today -- conjoined twins separated this week here in New York. Doctors watching their progress quite carefully.
This morning we will hear their amazing story from the chief medical officer at the hospital where that operation was conducted. We'll get you an update on how the two are doing this morning.
COLLINS: Sixteen hours in that operation.
HEMMER: Whoa.
COLLINS: Yes, very long.
Good morning, Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Heidi.
It's August, do you know we your congressman is?
Well, they're on vacation. That's where they are.
We've got terror warnings all over the place. Al Qaeda suspects being rounded up around the globe and our senators and representatives are at the beach and the amusement parks and the campgrounds saying, ah, you know, maybe we'll get around to it later.
We're going to take a look at whether or not maybe they ought to come back to work a little bit later.
HEMMER: All right. Thank you, Jack.
COLLINS: All right, thanks so much Jack.
To news now -- U.S. government officials say a terror suspect arrested in Britain is a key al Qaeda operative who in 2001 personally cased some of the buildings that sparked this week's terror alert alerts.
Here now justice correspondent Kelli Arena.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Law enforcement sources say they believe one of the men arrested this week in Britain personally conducted some of the surveillance of potential terror targets in the United States.
Esa al-Hindi is described as a senior al Qaeda operative. Sources tell CNN he was on the ground in New York City in early 2001. And one source says law enforcement has definitively faced him in three of the buildings that were surveiled, the New York Stock Exchange, the Citigroup building and the Prudential building in Newark, New Jersey.
EVAN KOHLMANN, "GLOBAL TERRORALERT.COM": He is someone with military experience. He is someone who's perfectly fluent in English, in Urdu, in Arabic. He's a transnational al Qaeda operative who has his fingers in many pots. ARENA: U.S. officials say al-Hindi can currently be described as al Qaeda's chief of operations in the UK. They say he moved operational information between key components of al Qaeda in Britain, Pakistan and the United States.
Terrorism experts say al-Hindi is a Muslim convert and former commander of an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Investigators believe he was plotting to attack London's Heathrow airport based in part on intelligence from Pakistan.
KOHLMANN: I think it's an ominous sign. Whenever there's an attack of this scale going on in London, it's not just a British thing; it's a U.S. thing too because most of the time when al Qaeda strikes it tends to strike in multiple, simultaneous attacks.
ARENA: Al-Hindi's arrest and others in Pakistan, including that of alleged al Qaeda computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan have, have led to multiple intelligence leads.
Especially troubling, government officials say alleged al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan recently contacted an individual or individuals in the United States.
JAMES COMEY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: We have, as we've said before, reason to believe that we are in a very serious threat environment. And we're working like crazy to try and make sure that threat, that it does not come to fruition.
ARENA (on camera): Investigators say given his alleged position, al-Hindi may have knowledge of plans to attack in the United States. The trick is getting him to divulge all he knows.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Another development now this morning, Saudi security forces say they have arrested in important al Qaeda leader. And interior ministry official says Faris Al-Zahrani was captured last night in a bar near the Yemeni border.
The cleric was number 12 on the kingdom's list of the 26 most wanted terror suspects.
HEMMER: Family and friends of two mosque leaders arrested in Albany, New York coming to their defense today. The two are decided described as peaceful family men and proud Americans.
They are now facing terror related charges after being caught in an FBI sting operation. The governor of New York, George Pataki, is our guest this morning.
Governor, good morning to you. And thanks for your time today.
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: Good morning, Bill, nice being with you. HEMMER: You just heard from Kelli Arena's story about this senior al Qaeda operative picked up overseas casing, perhaps, buildings here in New York and New Jersey.
PATAKI: Right.
HEMMER: Have you been briefed on this? And if so, what can you add to it?
PATAKI: Well yes, I have. We get briefed, but any information that is revealed will come from the department of homeland security or the department of justice.
You know they are, obviously, engaged in a very aggressive effort to head off any further attacks. And I'm certainly not going to discuss any information that they might have.
HEMMER: Let's focus on Albany though. Yesterday at your press conference with reporters yesterday morning, you mentioned four or five times that you could not get specific. You could not offer more details.
Can you give us more today, 24 hours later?
PATAKI: Well, I think now we can.
These two individuals are charged with having illegally laundered tens of thousands of dollars to a cooperating witness, someone they thought was a terrorist operative, who showed them an inert, shoulder fired rocket missile and told them that he was going to need these funds to purchase this type of missile and use it to kill the Pakistani ambassador to the U.N.
Obviously, these are people who were inclined and actually did help someone they thought was a terrorist operative, if the charges are proven. And this is very serious.
HEMMER: Was there any mention throughout this entire sting operation about trying to harm U.S. citizens?
PATAKI: Well, that's what it's all about. When you're helping a terrorist to get a shoulder fired missile that can be used to bring down airplanes or to kill an ambassador, obviously this is aimed at hurting people in the United States and subjecting us to another attack.
So in my view, it was very important that people who would provide these funds, provide this material support to someone they think is a terrorist operative is very important.
And I'm pleased, if the allegations are true, that they have been charged.
HEMMER: There's a teacher in the mosque who calls one of the gentleman someone we all believe is a righteous and good Muslim. He refers to the other one as nothing to do with violence and terrorism at any point.
The issue of entrapment has been raised. How do you react to that?
PATAKI: Well, I'm not a criminal lawyer, but I think the answer is very simple. If someone comes to you and says he's a terrorist operative and he needs you to illegally get him tens of thousands of dollars so he can buy a shoulder fired missile to kill the Pakistani ambassador, how are you going to react?
If your reaction would be -- I mean, I think 99 out of 100, at least, people would say this is a criminal act. They'd either turn the person in or they'd certainly say no.
And those individuals who actually follow-through and raise those funds are criminals. And if those allegations are proven to be true, these people will be convicted and I think rightfully so.
HEMMER: Third topic, governor, the issue of these anthrax investigations. Upstate New York yesterday was one location, another location in New Jersey.
What can you add about federal agents visiting this home of the doctor yesterday?
PATAKI: Well, what they're doing is they are simply checking every possible lead to see, to try to eliminate those who might be in any way considered a suspect in the anthrax attacks. And they're just conducting a thorough, step-by-step national investigation trying to determine who was behind these attacks. And I think that's appropriate.
HEMMER: Final word, has this case moved forward in a substantial way at this point?
PATAKI: Which, the anthrax case?
HEMMER: The anthrax matter.
PATAKI: Not that I'm aware of at all, Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Governor George Pataki in Albany. Thanks for your time, governor.
PATAKI: Thank you.
HEMMER: A bit later this morning, our 9:00 a.m. Eastern hour, we'll be talking with the teacher from the mosque in Albany who says the two men arrested could not possibly be involved in terrorist activity. That's the word from the mosque.
We'll continue to follow that throughout the morning, now Heidi.
COLLINS: In Chicago, terror charges will be filed against a convicted counterfeiter with an apparent grudge against the courts. Prosecutors say Gale William Nettles was arrested with a pickup truck containing 1,500 pounds of fertilizer.
He will be charged with plotting to blow up a federal courthouse in a plot similar to the Oklahoma City bombing. But authorities say he never actually had the materials to make a truck bomb since it was a government sting operation.
About 10 minutes past hour now. Time for a look at some of today's other news and Daryn Kagan.
Good morning to you, Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Heidi. Let's begin in Iraq.
There are reports there of four Lebanese truck drivers who have been missing and believed to be taken hostage.
Meanwhile, for a second straight day in Najaf, American troops using tanks and helicopters are fighting militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr.
U.S. forces also called clashed with Medhi army militia in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. Military sources say at least 19 Iraqi's were killed and some 111 others were wounded.
Back here in the U.S. to Illinois, former presidential hopeful and talk show host Alan Keyes has reportedly agreed to run for the U.S. senate. This is according to the "Chicago Sun Times" and "the Tribune."
Keyes will run on the Republican ticket against Democratic candidate Barack Obama. The election would be first U.S. senate contest with two black candidates representing the major parties.
A new ad that questions presidential candidate John Kerry's heroism in Vietnam is being labeled as dishonest and dishonorable. And those charges come from Senator John McCain.
The ad is set to air in several cities. It shows Vietnam veterans accusing Kerry of lying about his war record. A Bush administration official is not condemning the ad but says President Bush has never questioned Kerry's military service.
More on that story in our next hour.
And finally, a Canadian team vying for a $10 million space race prize is showing off its new spacecraft. The da Vinci project -- It's a rocket. It's called wildfire. It was unveiled yesterday.
It must carry a pilot and the equivalent weight of two passengers into sub orbital space twice within 14 days to win the prize. Wildfire is scheduled for launch on October 2nd. And of course, well that's going to bring back memories.
Back in June, SpaceShipOne, Mojave Desert, the Rutans, the Americans, just brushing sub orbital space. So the race is on. HEMMER: That's right. We'll see who wins. Thank you, Daryn. Good to see you on a Friday.
Chad Myers giving us more great news, actually. All this heat and humidity is gone and it's nice and chilly now. Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm kind of ready for like a tailgate party, do a little football here. I mean, Bill, it's that cold out there. A lot of folks had to turn off the air conditioner, even close the windows overnight.
(WEATHER BREAK)
MYERS: Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: All right, Chad, thanks so much for that. We sure will take that cool-down.
Now to what could be a major development in Scott Peterson's double murder trial, the judge is putting the case on hold until Tuesday while the defense examines new evidence is says may clear Peterson.
CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is here to sort it all out for us.
Wow, I mean, this was a huge surprise. What you think this new evidence could be?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the "San Francisco Chronicle" is reporting that the evidence is duct tape that was found in San Francisco Bay near Heidi's...
COLLINS: Laci.
TOOBIN: I'm sorry -- Laci Peterson's body. That, the defense claims is evidence that could indicate how she died, who might have been responsible, and that's the evidence they want tested.
COLLINS: OK, so they're testing that now. But what is the significance? I mean, what is this going to mean for the whole case?
TOOBIN: Well, sometimes you can identify the origin of duct tape, the store it was purchased in, the kind of duct tape it was, potentially fingerprints on it. Of course it's unlikely since it was found in a bay that any of that will be able to be identified; but it is potentially significant.
And it -- frankly it's surprising to me that this kind of testing hasn't been done yet since it's been so long since her body's been discovered.
COLLINS: Right, good point there. You know, if you look at this whole case -- and obviously you're the legal analyst here -- but there has been a lot of talk about the prosecution's case just really not being that strong. And now there's this delay, so what is the jury likely to think about all of this?
TOOBIN: Well, there has been a pattern of prosecution mistakes in this case. So here is another delay. This trial is in its third month and this is not the world's most complicated trial.
This trial should not be taking this long. And Amber Frey, Scott Peterson's girlfriend, hasn't even been called as a witness and supposedly may make it to the stand next week.
Last week, the judge excluded one of the prosecution's witnesses because of prosecutorial misconduct, not turning over records of her prior statements or inconsistencies that she had said.
COLLINS: Right.
TOOBIN: So there have been problems in the prosecution case. However, it is worth keeping in mind that jurors do try to reach the right result regardless of the behavior of the lawyers.
COLLINS: Sure.
TOOBIN: And the key fact in this case remains that Laci Peterson's body was discovered 80 miles away from her home virtually in the precise location that Scott Peterson was on the day that she disappeared.
That's a very bad fact for Scott Peterson. He is very far from in the clear in this case. So, you know, day by day there have been some bad developments for the prosecution, but it's worth keeping in mind that this case is not all that weak after all.
COLLINS: All right, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks so much for that this morning.
TOOBIN: A long way to go.
COLLINS: Yes, a long way to go. We'll have to wait until Tuesday, at least for right now.
TOOBIN: And the end of the trial, who knows?
COLLINS: And the end of the trial, who knows -- all right. Jeffrey Toobin, we will see you again on this one.
Bill, back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Fifteen minutes past the hour. In a moment, Andy's Minding Your Business."
The big news, focused on today's jobs report. Wall Street is waiting. The campaigns are waiting also.
In addition to that, how an old computer gave one reporter a huge surprise in the day-to-day operations inside of al Qaeda.
And the cautious optimism surrounding to formerly conjoined twins, we'll talk to a hospital official to see how the boys are doing this morning ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Doctors in New York are cautiously optimistic about formerly conjoined twins Carl and Clarence Aguirre. The two-year-old Filipino boys were separated this week in a 16-hour operation, the final stage in an unprecedented separation process.
Dr. Steven Safyer, chief medical officer at Montefiore Medical Center spoke with me about their condition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Dr. Safyer, how are Carl and Clarence doing?
DR. STEVEN SAFYER, MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER: The kids are doing absolutely terrific. On the way down here this morning, I called the unit and spoke to the doctor in charge at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, and the kids are absolutely steady, doing well, doing everything we want them to be doing.
COLLINS: Would you call this operation a success as this point?
SAFYER: The operation was definitely a success, but it's important, very important to emphasize that it's one step in a path that we're going down. So you can't declare victory. All you can say is that a very successful and very important battle was conducted two days ago.
COLLINS: Are many more operations to come?
SAFYER: There will be a number of operations, but longer will we need to be separating the children because they have been successfully separated. We will be doing reconstructive plastic surgery. Their skulls are exposed. We need to work with the bone and with the skin to provide adequate covering for each of the children.
COLLINS: And right now they are sedated. Now why is that?
SAFYER: Sedation post-operation is absolutely normal. And the main reason to sedate the children is to quiet them down. They're young. They're two-year-olds. And they'd be pulling tubes out; they'd be moving wires around -- and you want them quiet.
COLLINS: Sure, but this is a good sign, I imagine. I mean it sounds like they were active after the surgery.
SAFYER: Sedation is good. And the activity that they were displaying is terrific.
COLLINS: Great, now talk to me a little bit about what it was like in that operation room. You and I had spoken a little bit about how these children were able to draw you and the other doctors and nurses in and just kind of fall in love with them.
SAFYER: Carl and Clarence and their mother, Arlene, have been with us for nearly a year now. They came last September. And from the very beginning, they have captivated the, just absolutely everybody at Montefiore Medical Center.
Everybody is in love with them. They are really special children.
Now to your point. In the operating room the other evening, what I am told by the surgeons, the lead surgeons there who were working very diligently through the night, when the actual separation occurred, there was applause, which is unusual, and electricity in the air, which is almost impossible to describe.
COLLINS: Well, these children have never walked. They're two years old. They've never walked. They've never seen each other's faces. I mean these are huge things that are about to become possible for them.
SAFYER: The things that we take for granted with our own children, these children have never been able to participate in. Yes, they have never directly looked in each other's eyes.
We've used mirrors. We've tried to develop their musculature with physical therapy, but they can't even sit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Dr. Safyer stressed the twins prognosis is one of cautious optimism. The operations were successful, but the boys still have a long road ahead on their way to full recovery -- Bill?
HEMMER: All right, Heidi. 22 minutes past the hour now.
In a moment here, Senator John Kerry hitting back at the president yesterday for his response in the early moments of 9/11. Today, President Bush gets his chance to return his fire.
We'll get a live report on what's happening on campaign trail 2004 in a moment after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone.
Oil prices surging yesterday, rattled the markets, too, sent them much lower than when we started yesterday. Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business." Good morning to you.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you.
HEMMER: Looking at the oil issue out there...
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: Do you think we're going to get losses?
SERWER: Yes, a lot of stuff going on yesterday, Bill. Stocks swooned on Wall Street yesterday. The Dow falling 163 points, second- biggest loss in the year after March 11th, in the wake of the Madrid train bombing.
Dow below 10,000. Nasdaq also taking a hit so, too, the S&P 500.
What happened? Well, Bill's talking -- there you go -- Bill was talking about oil. Obviously that was the catalyst.
Yesterday problems in Russia with Yukos, that country, that company that owes the government billions of dollars in taxes, also a refinery fire at a British petroleum plant in Texas.
Retail sales also weak, questions about whether the American consumer has run out of steam as well. Of course today the big news will be the jobs report at 8:30. Here's what's going on.
We're looking for 228,000 new jobs to be created. Last month we'll see -- the unemployment rate is supposed to hang tough there at 5.6 percent.
Really Bill, the new jobs have fallen. The creation of new jobs have fallen every month since March. So you've got -- new jobs have been created, but it's gotten less and less over the past four months.
So that will be a big thing, obviously, for the economy and for the campaigns.
HEMMER: That's right, and we'll watch it from Wall Street to the campaign.
Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: Your welcome.
All right, Heidi?
COLLINS: Time now for the "Cafferty File" and the "Question of the Day" from Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thank you.
This, we get this out of the file labeled enough's enough. For the last couple of weeks we've been keeping track of the following for you, the number of days since the 9/11 commission made recommendations on how to protect this country country against terrorism -- 15.
HEMMER: 15.
SERWER: 15.
CAFFERTY: Number of recommendations adopted by the Congress?
HEMMER: 0.
SERWER: 0.
CAFFERTY: There you go.
Meanwhile, there are terror alerts everywhere, New York, Washington, even Newark, New Jersey this week. Where's the Congress? Why they're on vacation.
When the report came out, they said they couldn't possibly do anything about all of this until next year, and then they went on vacation for six weeks.
What is wrong with this picture? Well, quite a lot actually.
Imagine for a moment, what if they came back to work. Wouldn't every incumbent be virtually guaranteed re-election if they gave up their summer vacation to deal with the threats to their country? You bet they would.
Here's the question, should Congress be called into special session to deal with the recommendations of the 9/11 commission?
You can e-mail us at am@cnn.com.
And the people who can do this are three, the president of the United States can call them in special session. The speaker of the house, Dennis Hastert, can call them into special session. And the majority leader in the Senate, Senator Bill Frist, can call Congress back into special session.
COLLINS: Who's going to do it?
CAFFERTY: Well, so far nobody.
SERWER: What if some of them just come back on their own. I mean, you're suggesting it would be great to be, for their election prospects. So why not just come back and say, I'm going to come back and start working on it.
HEMMER: Big old gold star if that happens.
SERWER: Yes, that's right.
CAFFERTY: Don't hold your breath.
COLLINS: All right, Jack, thanks so much.
Still to come this morning, it is Friday morning, time now for "90-Second Pop."
TV critics look at the man in the mirror, but how many of them actually like what they see.
Plus, mirror, mirror on the wall, Ray Stein signs on to play the most wicked wizard of them all.
"90-Second Pop" ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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