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CNN Live Today
"TIME" Reports Raid Revealed Attack Plans; Al Qaeda Infiltration May Have Been Compromised; Filipino Twins Recovering; Record Heating Oil Prices
Aired August 09, 2004 - 10:00 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.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get right to the news now, shall we? Here's what's happening right now in the news from Atlanta.
Terry Nichols faces a second life prison sentence this hour. A judge will hand down his decision in the state murder trial. Nichols spared the death penalty when the state jury in the Oklahoma City bombing case could not agree on a sentence. He's already serving a life term on federal charges.
President Bush hits the campaign trail this hour. The president kicks off a weeklong, nine-state swing at a community college in Northern Virginia. Audience members here will have a chance to ask questions of the president at the town hall style meeting.
Doctors say the separated Filipino twins are recovering so well, they may ease up on their sedation today. You are seeing the first pictures of the two since that surgery. The formerly conjoined twins still face several more operations, including reconstructing their skulls. The two-year-olds were during a 17-hour operation in a New York hospital last week. Their mother expected to make public comments in a few minutes and we plan to take that coverage live.
And smoke could be seen from miles this morning on Chicago's South Side. An abandoned building about two city blocks long went up in flames. No injuries reported. But it was a four-alarm fire.
And we begin this hour with unsettling discovery of a possible al Qaeda plan to assault New York City by land, air and sea. "TIME" magazine has the details, reporting a July 24 raid in Pakistan revealed computer data dissecting some of al Qaeda's options.
One scenario, gut a limousine and packing it with explosives. By air, the commandeering of tourism helicopters over the skies of New York. And even at sea, dispatching speedboats and divers to carry out attacks in New York Harbor.
Earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," we spoke to "TIME" magazine's news director Howard Chua-Eoan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: First about the limousines, what are you reporting on that? What was the strategy behind using that?
HOWARD CHUA-EOAN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: The strategy was, trucks would have been too obvious and they wouldn't have been able to bring them too close to the building, they thought. But a limo, stripped out and packed with explosives, driven up, no one seemed to mind. And no one seemed to -- would have stopped a limo.
HEMMER: Because you can see those vehicles on the streets of Manhattan...
CHUA-EOAN: Right. They're all over the place.
HEMMER: There are plenty. You're exactly right. The heliports in New York City, what was the point behind those?
CHUA-EOAN: Perhaps hijacking helicopters and launching attacks on the New York-New Jersey area. Parts of New York that were photographed that are parts marked Midtown, Downtown, so that whoever had taken over the helicopter would be able to tell what part of town they were in.
HEMMER: Wow. What about the Citigroup building? There were similarities that it found to the World Trade Center.
CHUA-EOAN: The analysis they had was that the building was built very much like the World Trade Centers that a large gasoline bomb, a tanker truck would probably bring it down, they surmised.
And then, it's interesting, because they stopped doing that -- they stopped thinking about that, because the -- they had realized that these tanker truckers -- trucks have GPS trackers. So they decided maybe it's not the right way to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: "TIME" also reporting all the attacks would be timed just before the presidential election in November. In fact, there are published reports that as early as this week, New York could implement new security measures on those tourism helicopters.
And this morning, we have more to report from Pakistan. Intelligence sources telling CNN three suspected al Qaeda members have been arrested overnight and are now being questioned.
For the latest on this developing story, CNN's Maria Ressa joins us by videophone. She is in Islamabad.
MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Drew, intelligence sources tell CNN that three Turkish nationals suspected of being al Qaeda members were arrested early morning in the City of Lahore.
Separately, Pakistani officials are saying very little here in the capital about U.S. actions last week, which may have compromised an operation, an al Qaeda operation using an al Qaeda mole. What they say is that they continue to remain focused. They're working with other governments around the world, including the United States, to use the information available now to try to bring down al Qaeda cells globally.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RESSA (voice-over): Over the weekend, another al Qaeda operative was arrested in Dubai and sent to Pakistan, part of an ongoing global crackdown, which led to increased security in the U.S. and U.K. It was spurred by a treasure trove of information discovered after the July 13 arrest of computer expert Naeem Noor Khan.
Authorities here said he was working with them as a mole to help track down other al Qaeda operatives around the world. Compromised after the U.S. prematurely released his name last week.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Hyat, the Pakistani interior minister, actually said maybe if Khan's name hadn't been released it might have led to getting bin Laden himself terrorists.
RESSA: But U.S. officials say they had a duty to warn about possible pre-election plots against the U.S.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The problem is when you're trying to strike a balance between giving enough information to the public so that they know that you're dealing with a specific credible different kind of threat than you've dealt with in the past, you're always weighing that against kind of an operational considerations.
RESSA: There are other irritants to the Pakistanis. Last week, a U.S. official warned of possible al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan. A charge, officials here vehemently deny.
SHEIKH RASHID AHMED, INFO. MINISTER, PAKISTAN: This is a stupid propaganda. And how it's our forces are there from inch to inch, our armed forces are moving and there's a training camp. No way at all.
RESSA: Since 9/11, Pakistan says it's doing all it can in the war on terror, including sending its armed forces into the tribal areas for the first time ever to hunt for al Qaeda. Pakistan says it has arrested nearly 600 al Qaeda members.
Now, al Qaeda is striking back with increased bombings and targeted attacks. Two assassination attempts against Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. And just two weeks ago, a suicide bombing attack against its prime minister designate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RESSA: Don't question our commitment now says Pakistan, even as it asks its cabinet ministers to cut down public appearances while this crackdown continues, anticipating what al Qaeda can do as they're pushed further against the wall.
Back to you, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Maria Ressa in Islamabad, thank you.
We want to take a closer look now at al Qaeda -- the growing stream of intelligence and the all-important questions of credibility. Let's turn to our guest, CNN terrorist analyst, Peter Bergen.
And Peter, thanks for joining us this morning. Maria says they're backed up against the wall. Is al Qaeda on the run? Do these arrests mean anything in terms of dismantling this organization?
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORIST ANALYST: Oh, I think these series of arrests are pretty significant. I mean, we had the arrest of somebody by the name of Ghailani, who was one of the seven most wanted of the FBI announced back in May, that people they were looking for. Also, the arrest of Khan, the person mentioned in Maria's piece.
These arrests have led to, you know, discovery of a lot of information based on computers, documents, these kinds of things and leading to these other series of arrests around the world. For instance, in London, the leader of al Qaeda in Britain was arrested.
And we're seeing -- so I -- I mean this is not the end of al Qaeda, the organization, or indeed the end of al Qaeda the ideological movement, which will survive, you know, which will carry on. You know, arresting people is relatively simple. Arresting ideas is harder. And the al Qaeda ideas have spread, you know, around the world. And we've seen people operating on those ideas who've got nothing to do with al Qaeda, the formal organization.
But I do think that the, you know, the events that we've seen in the last 10 days in Pakistan are quite significant. And clearly, you know, the fact that the alert was raised in the United States is, I think, was only the reasonable thing to do.
GRIFFIN: Now, Peter, the arrests in Pakistan, what was interesting to me is how much information came out of those initial arrests, and how they were able to turn that information around. Apparently these people arrested are talking.
BERGEN: Well, it's not necessarily that they're talking. Although Khan is obviously cooperating because he's cooperating with the sting operation to find other members of al Qaeda. But I think what's even more important than what they're saying, is the computers, the documents, the cell phones that are recovered when they're arrested.
That's true of any of these arrests, because the stuff in the computers, that's information that doesn't lie. So what they're doing is analyzing all this information very quickly.
I think one of the people that was arrested, Ghailani, who was one of the leaders in the U.S. embassy bombing attacks on the in Africa, according to Pakistani reports was not cooperating with investigators. But even if he doesn't choose to cooperate verbally, the information that he has with him is useful to investigators.
GRIFFIN: Based on what we heard from the 9/11 Commission, it appears that al Qaeda planning seems to be very skittish once their plans are compromised, or there's a quirk in the plans. Do you think that the announcement of these specific targets in New York, and New Jersey, and Washington will change the focus of those attacks, that they will basically be scuttled?
BERGEN: It's hard to tell because, you know, in '93, the Trade Center was attacked. They wanted to bring the towers down in '93. And they did it on 9/11. You may remember that before the USS Cole attack, there was also a plan to attack a very similar U.S. warship, the USS The Sullivans in the Yemen. That plan didn't work out. So the fact that a plan doesn't work out doesn't mean these targets are necessarily off the table.
GRIFFIN: All right. Peter Bergen, thank you so much for joining us and adding your insights on these latest developments in Pakistan.
BERGEN: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: We want to go to somewhat breaking news now, good news. Arlene Aguirre, the mother of those conjoined twins, is in New York and about ready to speak at a news conference. Her two sons, Carl and Clarence, were separated in a 17-hour surgery. Let's listen in. This is one of the doctors who took part in the surgery.
DR. DAVID STAFFEBERG, CHIEF PLASTIC SURGEON: In order to simply protect the surgical sites, their scalps repaired, the plastic surgical reconstruction is still relatively delicate. And I felt knowing Carl and Clarence and seeing what I saw immediately after the operation, I felt that we'd really need to hold them back a bit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, they'll be here for another two to three weeks?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would think so, yes.
STAFFENBERG: And they've had absolutely no fevers in the past four days. So thus far, everything that we're seeing is very, very encouraging.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doctor, is there progress so far, better than anything that's happened in any of the earlier cases? I mean is this the best result so far?
STAFFENBERG: I think each stage along the way, as we had hoped, with the help of their occupational therapy and physical therapy at Blythedale, their nutritional support at Blythedale, just absolutely outstanding, stellar nursing support. They've recovered better and better after each stage.
And so, although this seemed to be a bigger operation, it was certainly a longer operation. I get the feeling that they've bounced back even more than some of the earlier procedures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I meant was, compared to other cases of conjoined twins.
STAFFENBERG: Oh, I see. I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are they doing better at this stage than any others have done? Well, we for example, have not had to put them in a cardiac arrest, which has been a historical situation. We have not had to put either of these children into coma, making their brains electrically silent.
From the point of view of their recovery, the fact that a child wakes up immediately at the end of the surgery as responsive, I think, is fairly unique. I think each of the situations we've reviewed in the past, there's been a very long and delayed period, as these kids tend to recoup.
When I looked at Carl's cat scan yesterday, I was absolutely astonished not to see any of the problems that we expected: the swelling of the brain, the venous infarctions. And these were all things that we were concerned about. And I think taking them through a staged procedure like this, allowing Carl to redevelop his own circulation has made all the difference in the world.
STAFFENBERG: The planning and performance of each of these stages has really been tuned into the fine details. And even now, after this last stage when Dr. Goodrich, Dr. Singer and I looked at the details of their recovery, we see some very, very positive things, in addition to the fact that the final separation was a shorter operation than we might have seen historically.
The amount of blood transfusions that they required was significantly less. And simply the fact that since that separation surgery, since they came out early Thursday morning, they have not had to go back to the operating room, is also, I think, a very, very unique situation historically.
GRIFFIN: This is a live news conference in New York. Doctors discussing the separation of conjoined twins, twins conjoined at the head, the very tip of their skull.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now.
What lies ahead for these twins in terms of, how do you recover from this? How do you put a skull back where apparently there wasn't?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, you know, that's a good question to ask, because they're certainly not out of the woods yet. People make a lot of fuss about the fact that they're actually separated. But there's a long road to go still. We saw that with the two Marias in Los Angeles, for example.
The skull, for example, sometimes they take some of the ribs from the body and actually create skull from the ribs. Sometimes they take other portions of the skull and actually split the bone to actually try and provide some skull there. The good news is being so young they'll actually continue to grow bone on their own.
But that can be a long process, which is why they're likely to be in the hospital for a long time. One of the twins, Carl, you saw the picture for a second, much more difficult spot, Drew, then the other, Clarence. Because a lot of the bone and the outer covering of the brain went to Clarence in this operation.
GRIFFIN: Can you tell yet what developmental problems are going to exist?
GUPTA: You know, it's so hard to tell. And one of the things -- again, I talked a lot to Dr. Goodrich, the pediatric neurosurgeon before this operation, and some of the other neurosurgeons who have performed these operations, the kids are fortunate. Their brain is still sort of developing.
It's still sort of -- all the circuits are still going to develop quite a bit. So while the brain took a significant hit, they always do with operations like that, there's a good chance they could develop still fairly normally.
GRIFFIN: And just a little while ago we heard from the mother, Arlene Aguirre. Let's hear what she had to say in a statement that she made.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARLENE AGUIRRE, MOTHER OF TWINS: When I first found that I had conjoined twins, I know that this is the real risk operation. I know that I might lose one of them. But it never stopped me of doing it. I have to be -- get a chance that they will be separated. And that's it. My dream's come true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Interesting story with her having to decide for the first time, which child to go to first after the separation.
GUPTA: Real -- I mean, really. You know, Drew, the interesting thing about this operation, as dramatic as it is, from our purposes, for medical purposes, it's still an elective operation. Some consider it a cosmetic operation. Both kids likely would have lived; how long exactly, unclear. But this wasn't a life-saving procedure. So these are difficult decisions to make, to actually do the operation potentially jeopardizing one or both children's lives.
GRIFFIN: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us on what is apparently some good news out of New York with the conjoined twins.
Thanks, Doctor.
GUPTA: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: An accident during testing for a private manned space flight. An experimental rocket malfunctions right after taking off. Wait until you see what happened to this.
Oil prices they remain very high. Hear how you can cut your energy costs on the road and at home.
And as the children head back to school, an etiquette expert joins us on how to coach your kids and yourself on good behavior before they get back on that bus. Our guests will take your questions on school etiquette. Send them right now to livetoday@cnn.com, that's coming up later this hour on CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Jacqui Jeras joins us now with the weather.
(WEATHER REPORT)
GRIFFIN: Thanks, Jacqui.
Well, both the Bush and Kerry campaigns are keeping the gloves on. But some so-called independent friends taking shots below the belt. Well below. We're going to look behind the scenes of this new strategy to keep the candidates above the fray.
And as the price of oil goes through the roof, Gerri Willis explains how you and I, and we can cut costs.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL EDITOR: Exactly. Home heating oil prices through the roof. Could set a record. We'll tell you what to do when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: The crude oil prices are climbing to record highs. And that means you're paying more, and not just at the gas pump.
CNN's Gerri Willis joins us from New York with ways to cut your home energy costs.
Hi, Gerri.
WILLIS: Hey, Drew. Good to see you. My first tip here today, understand that it's not just crude oil prices impacted here, it's heating oil prices. If you use heating oil to make yourself warm in the winter, cool in the summer, you're going to find yourself paying up.
Heating oil prices now at a record for August. Expectations here that they're going to go from $1.17 per gallon to maybe as high as $2 per gallon. And there's a little added incentive for retail buyers, it will cost them a little bit more.
So, if you refill right now, you'll pay about $340 more than you did last year. But if you wait -- Katie, bar at the door, Drew -- I think you're going to be paying much, much more. So the experts out there are saying, do it now, don't wait.
GRIFFIN: Another do it now in terms of getting ready for the winter ahead, you're telling us start those projects to seal up your house now.
WILLIS: You bet. You know, people just waste money because their doors leak hot air, cool air. The windows, they have leaky -- really just an inefficient house. There's an easy enough way to figure out if you're paying too much in your energy bills. Go to energystar.gov. They have like a little five-minute quiz that will tell you if you're paying more than you should be.
Naturally you want to do things, like seal the gaps with spray foam or caulk. That's a great place to start. You might want to add some insulation. And one thing that a lot of people don't think about, Drew, leaky heating ducts are a big problem. If you want to find out if you've got that problem, take the quiz on Energy Star's site and you'll go a long way to making your house energy efficient.
GRIFFIN: Gerri, a lot of people are thinking about alternative energy. Is this realistic for the average American?
WILLIS: Well, it's becoming increasingly more realistic. And rising energy prices making it all the more important now to consider those alternatives.
GRIFFIN: Like solar?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD EVANS, COMMERCE SECRETARY: Americans have been so fortunate to have cheap energy for the past 20 years. And I don't believe we're going to see cheap energy again in our lifetimes. We have to start looking at other alternative forms of energy. Crude oil and natural gas is not the only answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: So you can use solar energy either for electricity or just to heat your water. It can cost a ton of money, though, as much as $20,000 to $25,000 to make this happen.
The good news, Drew, is that you can get some help paying that bill. Great Web site to go to, the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy can tell you where you might apply to get some money to help you pay for something that's ultimately going to reduce your energy bill permanently, by as much as 75 to 80 percent.
GRIFFIN: Your fourth tip is something that I really didn't think about at all. Digging deep to save.
WILLIS: That's right. There's something out there called geothermal systems. And what they do is tap into underground constant air temperatures, so when it's hot outside, it's cooler underground, when it's cooler outside, it's hotter underground. This makes your bill go down dramatically. But again, it's a new technology out there that people can check out.
GRIFFIN: All right. And finally, how can I save money while still driving my car?
WILLIS: Yes, don't forget the car. I mean, you know, that's going to cost you a ton, too. One great place to go on the web, gasbuddies.com. It will hook up you up with local Web sites that will tell you the best places, the cheapest places to go for gas -- Drew. GRIFFIN: All right. Gerri Willis with the best Top 5 list you'll find just about anywhere. Thanks for joining us.
WILLIS: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: The president out on the campaign trail, taking questions this morning in Virginia. We're going to have an update on the president's schedule and Senator John Kerry's.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired August 9, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get right to the news now, shall we? Here's what's happening right now in the news from Atlanta.
Terry Nichols faces a second life prison sentence this hour. A judge will hand down his decision in the state murder trial. Nichols spared the death penalty when the state jury in the Oklahoma City bombing case could not agree on a sentence. He's already serving a life term on federal charges.
President Bush hits the campaign trail this hour. The president kicks off a weeklong, nine-state swing at a community college in Northern Virginia. Audience members here will have a chance to ask questions of the president at the town hall style meeting.
Doctors say the separated Filipino twins are recovering so well, they may ease up on their sedation today. You are seeing the first pictures of the two since that surgery. The formerly conjoined twins still face several more operations, including reconstructing their skulls. The two-year-olds were during a 17-hour operation in a New York hospital last week. Their mother expected to make public comments in a few minutes and we plan to take that coverage live.
And smoke could be seen from miles this morning on Chicago's South Side. An abandoned building about two city blocks long went up in flames. No injuries reported. But it was a four-alarm fire.
And we begin this hour with unsettling discovery of a possible al Qaeda plan to assault New York City by land, air and sea. "TIME" magazine has the details, reporting a July 24 raid in Pakistan revealed computer data dissecting some of al Qaeda's options.
One scenario, gut a limousine and packing it with explosives. By air, the commandeering of tourism helicopters over the skies of New York. And even at sea, dispatching speedboats and divers to carry out attacks in New York Harbor.
Earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," we spoke to "TIME" magazine's news director Howard Chua-Eoan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: First about the limousines, what are you reporting on that? What was the strategy behind using that?
HOWARD CHUA-EOAN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: The strategy was, trucks would have been too obvious and they wouldn't have been able to bring them too close to the building, they thought. But a limo, stripped out and packed with explosives, driven up, no one seemed to mind. And no one seemed to -- would have stopped a limo.
HEMMER: Because you can see those vehicles on the streets of Manhattan...
CHUA-EOAN: Right. They're all over the place.
HEMMER: There are plenty. You're exactly right. The heliports in New York City, what was the point behind those?
CHUA-EOAN: Perhaps hijacking helicopters and launching attacks on the New York-New Jersey area. Parts of New York that were photographed that are parts marked Midtown, Downtown, so that whoever had taken over the helicopter would be able to tell what part of town they were in.
HEMMER: Wow. What about the Citigroup building? There were similarities that it found to the World Trade Center.
CHUA-EOAN: The analysis they had was that the building was built very much like the World Trade Centers that a large gasoline bomb, a tanker truck would probably bring it down, they surmised.
And then, it's interesting, because they stopped doing that -- they stopped thinking about that, because the -- they had realized that these tanker truckers -- trucks have GPS trackers. So they decided maybe it's not the right way to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: "TIME" also reporting all the attacks would be timed just before the presidential election in November. In fact, there are published reports that as early as this week, New York could implement new security measures on those tourism helicopters.
And this morning, we have more to report from Pakistan. Intelligence sources telling CNN three suspected al Qaeda members have been arrested overnight and are now being questioned.
For the latest on this developing story, CNN's Maria Ressa joins us by videophone. She is in Islamabad.
MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Drew, intelligence sources tell CNN that three Turkish nationals suspected of being al Qaeda members were arrested early morning in the City of Lahore.
Separately, Pakistani officials are saying very little here in the capital about U.S. actions last week, which may have compromised an operation, an al Qaeda operation using an al Qaeda mole. What they say is that they continue to remain focused. They're working with other governments around the world, including the United States, to use the information available now to try to bring down al Qaeda cells globally.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RESSA (voice-over): Over the weekend, another al Qaeda operative was arrested in Dubai and sent to Pakistan, part of an ongoing global crackdown, which led to increased security in the U.S. and U.K. It was spurred by a treasure trove of information discovered after the July 13 arrest of computer expert Naeem Noor Khan.
Authorities here said he was working with them as a mole to help track down other al Qaeda operatives around the world. Compromised after the U.S. prematurely released his name last week.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Hyat, the Pakistani interior minister, actually said maybe if Khan's name hadn't been released it might have led to getting bin Laden himself terrorists.
RESSA: But U.S. officials say they had a duty to warn about possible pre-election plots against the U.S.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The problem is when you're trying to strike a balance between giving enough information to the public so that they know that you're dealing with a specific credible different kind of threat than you've dealt with in the past, you're always weighing that against kind of an operational considerations.
RESSA: There are other irritants to the Pakistanis. Last week, a U.S. official warned of possible al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan. A charge, officials here vehemently deny.
SHEIKH RASHID AHMED, INFO. MINISTER, PAKISTAN: This is a stupid propaganda. And how it's our forces are there from inch to inch, our armed forces are moving and there's a training camp. No way at all.
RESSA: Since 9/11, Pakistan says it's doing all it can in the war on terror, including sending its armed forces into the tribal areas for the first time ever to hunt for al Qaeda. Pakistan says it has arrested nearly 600 al Qaeda members.
Now, al Qaeda is striking back with increased bombings and targeted attacks. Two assassination attempts against Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. And just two weeks ago, a suicide bombing attack against its prime minister designate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RESSA: Don't question our commitment now says Pakistan, even as it asks its cabinet ministers to cut down public appearances while this crackdown continues, anticipating what al Qaeda can do as they're pushed further against the wall.
Back to you, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Maria Ressa in Islamabad, thank you.
We want to take a closer look now at al Qaeda -- the growing stream of intelligence and the all-important questions of credibility. Let's turn to our guest, CNN terrorist analyst, Peter Bergen.
And Peter, thanks for joining us this morning. Maria says they're backed up against the wall. Is al Qaeda on the run? Do these arrests mean anything in terms of dismantling this organization?
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORIST ANALYST: Oh, I think these series of arrests are pretty significant. I mean, we had the arrest of somebody by the name of Ghailani, who was one of the seven most wanted of the FBI announced back in May, that people they were looking for. Also, the arrest of Khan, the person mentioned in Maria's piece.
These arrests have led to, you know, discovery of a lot of information based on computers, documents, these kinds of things and leading to these other series of arrests around the world. For instance, in London, the leader of al Qaeda in Britain was arrested.
And we're seeing -- so I -- I mean this is not the end of al Qaeda, the organization, or indeed the end of al Qaeda the ideological movement, which will survive, you know, which will carry on. You know, arresting people is relatively simple. Arresting ideas is harder. And the al Qaeda ideas have spread, you know, around the world. And we've seen people operating on those ideas who've got nothing to do with al Qaeda, the formal organization.
But I do think that the, you know, the events that we've seen in the last 10 days in Pakistan are quite significant. And clearly, you know, the fact that the alert was raised in the United States is, I think, was only the reasonable thing to do.
GRIFFIN: Now, Peter, the arrests in Pakistan, what was interesting to me is how much information came out of those initial arrests, and how they were able to turn that information around. Apparently these people arrested are talking.
BERGEN: Well, it's not necessarily that they're talking. Although Khan is obviously cooperating because he's cooperating with the sting operation to find other members of al Qaeda. But I think what's even more important than what they're saying, is the computers, the documents, the cell phones that are recovered when they're arrested.
That's true of any of these arrests, because the stuff in the computers, that's information that doesn't lie. So what they're doing is analyzing all this information very quickly.
I think one of the people that was arrested, Ghailani, who was one of the leaders in the U.S. embassy bombing attacks on the in Africa, according to Pakistani reports was not cooperating with investigators. But even if he doesn't choose to cooperate verbally, the information that he has with him is useful to investigators.
GRIFFIN: Based on what we heard from the 9/11 Commission, it appears that al Qaeda planning seems to be very skittish once their plans are compromised, or there's a quirk in the plans. Do you think that the announcement of these specific targets in New York, and New Jersey, and Washington will change the focus of those attacks, that they will basically be scuttled?
BERGEN: It's hard to tell because, you know, in '93, the Trade Center was attacked. They wanted to bring the towers down in '93. And they did it on 9/11. You may remember that before the USS Cole attack, there was also a plan to attack a very similar U.S. warship, the USS The Sullivans in the Yemen. That plan didn't work out. So the fact that a plan doesn't work out doesn't mean these targets are necessarily off the table.
GRIFFIN: All right. Peter Bergen, thank you so much for joining us and adding your insights on these latest developments in Pakistan.
BERGEN: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: We want to go to somewhat breaking news now, good news. Arlene Aguirre, the mother of those conjoined twins, is in New York and about ready to speak at a news conference. Her two sons, Carl and Clarence, were separated in a 17-hour surgery. Let's listen in. This is one of the doctors who took part in the surgery.
DR. DAVID STAFFEBERG, CHIEF PLASTIC SURGEON: In order to simply protect the surgical sites, their scalps repaired, the plastic surgical reconstruction is still relatively delicate. And I felt knowing Carl and Clarence and seeing what I saw immediately after the operation, I felt that we'd really need to hold them back a bit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, they'll be here for another two to three weeks?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would think so, yes.
STAFFENBERG: And they've had absolutely no fevers in the past four days. So thus far, everything that we're seeing is very, very encouraging.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doctor, is there progress so far, better than anything that's happened in any of the earlier cases? I mean is this the best result so far?
STAFFENBERG: I think each stage along the way, as we had hoped, with the help of their occupational therapy and physical therapy at Blythedale, their nutritional support at Blythedale, just absolutely outstanding, stellar nursing support. They've recovered better and better after each stage.
And so, although this seemed to be a bigger operation, it was certainly a longer operation. I get the feeling that they've bounced back even more than some of the earlier procedures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I meant was, compared to other cases of conjoined twins.
STAFFENBERG: Oh, I see. I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are they doing better at this stage than any others have done? Well, we for example, have not had to put them in a cardiac arrest, which has been a historical situation. We have not had to put either of these children into coma, making their brains electrically silent.
From the point of view of their recovery, the fact that a child wakes up immediately at the end of the surgery as responsive, I think, is fairly unique. I think each of the situations we've reviewed in the past, there's been a very long and delayed period, as these kids tend to recoup.
When I looked at Carl's cat scan yesterday, I was absolutely astonished not to see any of the problems that we expected: the swelling of the brain, the venous infarctions. And these were all things that we were concerned about. And I think taking them through a staged procedure like this, allowing Carl to redevelop his own circulation has made all the difference in the world.
STAFFENBERG: The planning and performance of each of these stages has really been tuned into the fine details. And even now, after this last stage when Dr. Goodrich, Dr. Singer and I looked at the details of their recovery, we see some very, very positive things, in addition to the fact that the final separation was a shorter operation than we might have seen historically.
The amount of blood transfusions that they required was significantly less. And simply the fact that since that separation surgery, since they came out early Thursday morning, they have not had to go back to the operating room, is also, I think, a very, very unique situation historically.
GRIFFIN: This is a live news conference in New York. Doctors discussing the separation of conjoined twins, twins conjoined at the head, the very tip of their skull.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now.
What lies ahead for these twins in terms of, how do you recover from this? How do you put a skull back where apparently there wasn't?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, you know, that's a good question to ask, because they're certainly not out of the woods yet. People make a lot of fuss about the fact that they're actually separated. But there's a long road to go still. We saw that with the two Marias in Los Angeles, for example.
The skull, for example, sometimes they take some of the ribs from the body and actually create skull from the ribs. Sometimes they take other portions of the skull and actually split the bone to actually try and provide some skull there. The good news is being so young they'll actually continue to grow bone on their own.
But that can be a long process, which is why they're likely to be in the hospital for a long time. One of the twins, Carl, you saw the picture for a second, much more difficult spot, Drew, then the other, Clarence. Because a lot of the bone and the outer covering of the brain went to Clarence in this operation.
GRIFFIN: Can you tell yet what developmental problems are going to exist?
GUPTA: You know, it's so hard to tell. And one of the things -- again, I talked a lot to Dr. Goodrich, the pediatric neurosurgeon before this operation, and some of the other neurosurgeons who have performed these operations, the kids are fortunate. Their brain is still sort of developing.
It's still sort of -- all the circuits are still going to develop quite a bit. So while the brain took a significant hit, they always do with operations like that, there's a good chance they could develop still fairly normally.
GRIFFIN: And just a little while ago we heard from the mother, Arlene Aguirre. Let's hear what she had to say in a statement that she made.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARLENE AGUIRRE, MOTHER OF TWINS: When I first found that I had conjoined twins, I know that this is the real risk operation. I know that I might lose one of them. But it never stopped me of doing it. I have to be -- get a chance that they will be separated. And that's it. My dream's come true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Interesting story with her having to decide for the first time, which child to go to first after the separation.
GUPTA: Real -- I mean, really. You know, Drew, the interesting thing about this operation, as dramatic as it is, from our purposes, for medical purposes, it's still an elective operation. Some consider it a cosmetic operation. Both kids likely would have lived; how long exactly, unclear. But this wasn't a life-saving procedure. So these are difficult decisions to make, to actually do the operation potentially jeopardizing one or both children's lives.
GRIFFIN: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us on what is apparently some good news out of New York with the conjoined twins.
Thanks, Doctor.
GUPTA: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: An accident during testing for a private manned space flight. An experimental rocket malfunctions right after taking off. Wait until you see what happened to this.
Oil prices they remain very high. Hear how you can cut your energy costs on the road and at home.
And as the children head back to school, an etiquette expert joins us on how to coach your kids and yourself on good behavior before they get back on that bus. Our guests will take your questions on school etiquette. Send them right now to livetoday@cnn.com, that's coming up later this hour on CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Jacqui Jeras joins us now with the weather.
(WEATHER REPORT)
GRIFFIN: Thanks, Jacqui.
Well, both the Bush and Kerry campaigns are keeping the gloves on. But some so-called independent friends taking shots below the belt. Well below. We're going to look behind the scenes of this new strategy to keep the candidates above the fray.
And as the price of oil goes through the roof, Gerri Willis explains how you and I, and we can cut costs.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL EDITOR: Exactly. Home heating oil prices through the roof. Could set a record. We'll tell you what to do when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.
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GRIFFIN: The crude oil prices are climbing to record highs. And that means you're paying more, and not just at the gas pump.
CNN's Gerri Willis joins us from New York with ways to cut your home energy costs.
Hi, Gerri.
WILLIS: Hey, Drew. Good to see you. My first tip here today, understand that it's not just crude oil prices impacted here, it's heating oil prices. If you use heating oil to make yourself warm in the winter, cool in the summer, you're going to find yourself paying up.
Heating oil prices now at a record for August. Expectations here that they're going to go from $1.17 per gallon to maybe as high as $2 per gallon. And there's a little added incentive for retail buyers, it will cost them a little bit more.
So, if you refill right now, you'll pay about $340 more than you did last year. But if you wait -- Katie, bar at the door, Drew -- I think you're going to be paying much, much more. So the experts out there are saying, do it now, don't wait.
GRIFFIN: Another do it now in terms of getting ready for the winter ahead, you're telling us start those projects to seal up your house now.
WILLIS: You bet. You know, people just waste money because their doors leak hot air, cool air. The windows, they have leaky -- really just an inefficient house. There's an easy enough way to figure out if you're paying too much in your energy bills. Go to energystar.gov. They have like a little five-minute quiz that will tell you if you're paying more than you should be.
Naturally you want to do things, like seal the gaps with spray foam or caulk. That's a great place to start. You might want to add some insulation. And one thing that a lot of people don't think about, Drew, leaky heating ducts are a big problem. If you want to find out if you've got that problem, take the quiz on Energy Star's site and you'll go a long way to making your house energy efficient.
GRIFFIN: Gerri, a lot of people are thinking about alternative energy. Is this realistic for the average American?
WILLIS: Well, it's becoming increasingly more realistic. And rising energy prices making it all the more important now to consider those alternatives.
GRIFFIN: Like solar?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD EVANS, COMMERCE SECRETARY: Americans have been so fortunate to have cheap energy for the past 20 years. And I don't believe we're going to see cheap energy again in our lifetimes. We have to start looking at other alternative forms of energy. Crude oil and natural gas is not the only answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: So you can use solar energy either for electricity or just to heat your water. It can cost a ton of money, though, as much as $20,000 to $25,000 to make this happen.
The good news, Drew, is that you can get some help paying that bill. Great Web site to go to, the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy can tell you where you might apply to get some money to help you pay for something that's ultimately going to reduce your energy bill permanently, by as much as 75 to 80 percent.
GRIFFIN: Your fourth tip is something that I really didn't think about at all. Digging deep to save.
WILLIS: That's right. There's something out there called geothermal systems. And what they do is tap into underground constant air temperatures, so when it's hot outside, it's cooler underground, when it's cooler outside, it's hotter underground. This makes your bill go down dramatically. But again, it's a new technology out there that people can check out.
GRIFFIN: All right. And finally, how can I save money while still driving my car?
WILLIS: Yes, don't forget the car. I mean, you know, that's going to cost you a ton, too. One great place to go on the web, gasbuddies.com. It will hook up you up with local Web sites that will tell you the best places, the cheapest places to go for gas -- Drew. GRIFFIN: All right. Gerri Willis with the best Top 5 list you'll find just about anywhere. Thanks for joining us.
WILLIS: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: The president out on the campaign trail, taking questions this morning in Virginia. We're going to have an update on the president's schedule and Senator John Kerry's.
We're back in a moment.
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