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CNN Live At Daybreak

Explosion Shatters Windows at British Consulate in NYC; Reggaeton, New Music Craze

Aired May 05, 2005 - 06:31   ET

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

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
As we've been telling you about all morning long, we are covering breaking news out of New York City this morning. Two small explosions rocked the British consulate there. CNN has learned two improvised explosive devices caused the blast. It was a small blast, both of them.

The bomb squad is on the scene right now. So is Jason Carol.

Jason -- tell us more, because these improvised devices -- it's just so strange.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Carol. I think that's an accurate way of describing it.

A short while ago, as you know, investigators out here described what they found as they started piecing together their shrapnel. What they found were two improvised explosive devices. Both of them described as looking like toy grenades. One of them looked like a pineapple, the other one it was described as looking like a lemon. Again, both of were these novelty types of devices.

Inside those devices, black powder and a fuse. That's how these devices were detonated. Someone came out here, lit the fuse. There was a small explosion.

Actually, at this point, investigators are trying to determine if those explosive devices went off together or separately. There are some eyewitnesses who said they thought they heard two explosions, but police at this point are saying they believe those explosive devices went off together.

Now, they were located inside a planter. There were several planters that are located in front of this building where the British consulate is housed. As you said earlier, those planters are put there not just for decoration, they're put there protectively in those concrete sorts of holders so that, theoretically, a truck or some sort of a vehicle would not be able to then drive into the building and then be detonated where the explosives were located inside there.

Again, this was described as a small explosion. It blew out a windowpane on the first floor. We are told that there were some people inside the building during the time of the explosion, which took place early this morning at about 3:50. And there were no injuries.

At this point, we are trying to determine if anyone has called in to claim any sort of responsibility for what happened out here. We are awaiting a press conference from New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. That is expected to happen very, very shortly -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jason, a couple of questions for you. The consul general is Sir Philip Thomas. For those of you not in the know, the consulate is usually a place where you go to get visas, right? Correct.

CARROLL: This was described...

COSTELLO: Go ahead.

CARROLL: This was described to me as being the place that where it's people-to-government as opposed to the mission, where it's government-to-government business. For instance, if you're a British citizen and you're having a problem in the U.S., you would go there for a visa, you would go there for a passport, whatever the case may be. If you're having those types of issues, that's the type of business that would be conducted at the British consulate as opposed to the mission, where you've got government-to-government business going on.

The mission is located not too far from here, in fact. Just about a five-minute walk. And we are told that police were over there checking out the scene over there just to make sure that scene was secure as well. That scene seems to be clear.

A five-block area, I should tell you, here has been sort of cordoned off, although we were allowed to be right up where that building is located at 51st and Third Avenue, which would seem to suggest the sort of mood and feeling that police have, not to say that they're not taking this very seriously, but in other situations where you've seen explosions of a particular size, you're not allowed anywhere close to the scene of where that would have happened -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, doesn't this bring up all sorts of questions? Because these big concrete planters are put there to protect the building, and now someone, or more than one someone, goes by, plants these two little fake grenade things with explosive powder inside them right in the planter and manages to cause some damage.

CARROLL: Correct. But, once again, those planters are put there for a reason, as I described earlier. But if it wasn't a planter, it could have been a mailbox. It could have been a trash can. It could have been any sort of anything to hold the device. This person or persons just happened to choose the planters that are put there to protect the building -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, but you know what's interesting? Because trash cans have been removed from train stations, so people can't place any sort of an explosive device inside of the trash can. So, maybe they'll rethink this planter idea. CARROLL: They might. They might. But, you know, we'll have to see as investigators are out there. We'll certainly ask them about that. But on the other side of that, you know, they do serve, as you know, a protective purpose for sensitive buildings. And so, it would be -- I think it would be hard to imagine them coming in because of an incident such as this, which, once again, they're describing as being relatively small now. I mean, it would be hard to imagine them coming out and removing them.

But I think what they may do is do more sweeps of them in the future, coming by, checking them out to make sure that they're clear, maybe perhaps on a daily basis, weekly basis, whatever the case may be.

COSTELLO: Well, or making them closed. Not making them planters but closed concrete barriers, because I know that they are put there to prevent cars from parking too close to the buildings. Let's talk about a car on the scene, because all morning long we've been showing the bomb squad combing over this silver SUV, searching for who knows what. Tell us how many cars were parked on the street near that building, and if they found anything at all in that SUV.

CARROLL: They found several -- there are several cars that were parked in front of the building. That Jeep, SUV, that vehicle just happened to be closest to the planter that had those two improvised explosive devices inside. So, they're obviously checking out that vehicle. They're going to be checking out the other vehicles as well.

No word yet on what, if anything, they found inside that vehicle. That will be one of the many questions we will have for investigators as they head down to us very shortly.

COSTELLO: And, of course, the British elections are going on today. And I know that you asked police officers had there been any threats directed towards this building or any other building involving these elections being held in Britain today.

CARROLL: Right. They're checking into that as well. But, as you said, the timing is curious, because, you know, that election is taking place today.

You know, this is a building which houses the British consulate, you know, among other businesses as well. And so, you know, it begs the question, is there some sort of a connection? At this point, it's unclear if there were any threats previous to what happened here early this morning. Obviously, investigators are going to be checking into that, checking into any threats perhaps that they may have dismissed.

But, again, at this point, no word yet if there were any threats before this incident. But I'm sure if there were, we'll be hearing about it very shortly.

COSTELLO: All right, Jason Carroll live in Manhattan this morning. Thank you very much.

He's at Third Avenue and 51st Street near that British consulate. And just to bring you up to date. Two small explosive devices were planted in a planter in front of the building. One was shaped like a pineapple, the other a lemon. They were kind of novelty grenades, if you will. They were fake grenades. And somebody put real powder inside, set off two small explosions. Don't know if those explosions went off together or separately, but they did cause a big chunk of concrete to be blown from that planter, and they did shatter some windows. The good news is no injuries, and police are considering this incident small.

In other stories "Now in the News."

Insurgents have unleashed another series of deadly attacks targeting Iraqi security forces. Police say at least 23 people have been killed in suicide bombings and ambushes across Baghdad this morning.

And there are new reports this morning concerning the health of Iraq insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. military leaders are looking into claims al-Zarqawi was at a hospital last week. Zarqawi's group claims American soldiers stormed the hospital last Thursday, but apparently did not nab him.

Military prosecutors must now decide if they will refile charges against the most recognizable figure in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. A military judge has thrown out Army Private Lynndie England's guilty plea, saying he is not convinced she knew what she was doing was illegal.

To the forecast center now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: It is a story you just can't enough of. A firefighter who did not speak for almost a decade speaks.

CNN's Bill Hemmer joins us now for a look at what else is coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Good morning.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning to you.

A remarkable story, too, out of Buffalo. We talked about it yesterday at great length. This brain-damaged firefighter is talking now after 10 years of silence. What kind of progress is he making? And what does his future hold? And is it possible that he could stop speaking again? We'll talk to his doctor this morning about all of those questions.

Also, remember yesterday, Carol, Jack's "Question of the Day" was about this Texas lawmaker who wants to ban sexually-suggestive cheerleading in high school. Well, late last night, the bill was passed by the House, and now it goes to the Senate. And if it's approved there, it will go to the governor, et cetera. Critics still say there are more important matters to worry about, though, in Texas. And we will talk to that with a state representative. Al Edwards is our guest today. And how that law would be enforced in the high schools in Texas. So, we'll get that to you this morning.

Also, we will not leave this story for very long, right down the street. I know you're chuckling there, but on this explosion, just about four streets away, and we'll be all over it this morning at 7:00 a.m. -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, we will...

HEMMER: OK.

COSTELLO: ... this morning. Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: See you later. Sure.

COSTELLO: There has been a key al Qaeda arrest in Pakistan. Officials there are hopeful the arrest of Abu Faraj al-Libbi will help in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It may bring in information on the terror group's attack plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: This guy was my number one target. Bin Laden, of course, is much more important symbolically, but in terms of practical day-to-day operations, what al Qaeda is doing, how it threatens the United States, how it plans against targets in the United States, this is the guy you want. If anyone knows where Osama bin Laden is, this is the man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: While the CIA wants to question al-Libbi, Pakistani authorities want to prosecute him for attempting to assassinate the president.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Still to come, country and western, rhythm and blues, rock and rap, crossing the many lines of music. It is a new underground sound that's hitting the airwaves.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money -- oh, let's check the international markets first. Just keep in mind that the Nikkei is closed, so no numbers to give you there. The FTSE is up almost 27 points, the German DAX is up just about 22.5 points.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:47 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning. A small explosion has rocked the British consulate in New York City. CNN has learned two improvised explosive devices caused the blast. The devices were located in large planters -- in one of the large planters outside of the building. The bomb squad is still on the scene right now.

Officials plan to redesign the Freedom Tower, the building that's going up on the World Trade Center site. That's because New York City police have raised undisclosed security concerns over the original model.

In money news, Nike says no to blue light specials. The shoe company plans to pull its products from Sears stores, which were recently bought by discount retailer Kmart.

In culture, would you pay more than $27 million for this? An unidentified bidder is shelling out that much for a rare sculpture called "Bird in Space," and that is a record for a sculpture at a public auction.

In sports, the Washington Wizards have a three-games-to-two lead in their NBA opening round series after a wild 112-110 win over the Chicago Bulls. The Wizards are doing well. The Wizard are doing well, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, I knew we couldn't go two hours without a basketball story.

COSTELLO: Oh, come on. The Wizards haven't done well since they were the Bullets.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: It's an amazing story.

MYERS: Oh, good. Just look at that. Almost overtime, Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, just do the weather, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you.

It's got a beat, and you can definitely dance to it. After the break, we'll tell you about the latest music craze. It's a mish-mash of different styles, reggaeton. Stay tuned if you want to stay hip.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We know that you yearn to be hip, so we are about to let you in on the coolest music trend to hit your ears in a long time. And you can thank us later.

Maria Hinojosa is here to explain reggaeton.

Why haven't I heard about this? MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Because you're not listening to the right radio stations, Carol. Reggaeton.

COSTELLO: Oh, sorry.

HINOJOSA: Reggaeton.

COSTELLO: Reggaeton.

HINOJOSA: You got it! It's so cool. And here's what happened, Carol. I'm at a party in the Dominican Republic over December, and all of a sudden everybody crowds the dance floor -- little kids, the elderly, retired friends of mine, middle-aged people -- and they're all dancing to this rhythm. And I'm like, 'What is this?' And my husband who listens to all of this stuff said, "Reggaeton." I come back to New York, and I'm hearing it everywhere, even on the top 40 stations.

COSTELLO: So, it's a mish-mash of all different kinds of music. It sounds a lot like rap to me, however, or hip-hop.

HINOJOSA: It does? I don't know. It doesn't sound like rap to me.

COSTELLO: It stopped.

HINOJOSA: No, it's got a different rhythm. What happened is that in Panama, you had Jamaican workers who were helping to build the Panamanian Canal. And they were mixing Panamanian rhythms with Jamaican rhythms. That's one thing that happened. And then, you have, you know, Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean next to Jamaica. They're hearing the Jamaican radio stations. They start jiving with the music and mixing Puerto Rico rhythms with Jamaican rhythms, and then they create this thing called reggaeton. Very street, very rough. It's been around for about -- I don't know -- seven, eight years. But now, it's really making the crossover.

COSTELLO: Yes, making the crossover in New York City, but is it being played in other places in the United States? And when might that happen?

HINOJOSA: It is being played across the United States. In fact, in Los Angeles just in the past 10 days, they had a huge reggaeton festival, big artists coming there. You know, you have to remember that in L.A., New York, Miami, San Antonio, the Spanish-language music stations are number one in drive-time.

COSTELLO: Yes.

HINOJOSA: So, those are the stations that are putting this out there, having this music out there. But I'm driving home listening to a top 40 stations, and I hear reggaeton. I said, 'Oh, my god, this is incredible.'

COSTELLO: We have to tell people. You have some examples for us. HINOJOSA: Of the music? Well, there's Daddy Yankee, which I'm hoping I'm hoping we can hear. Let's get some Daddy Yankee going. All right, this is not Daddy -- oh, yes it is. This is Daddy Yankee. He is huge. Let's just listen to the music, so you can get a sense of the beat for a second.

So, it's kind of got this, you know, waving thing. I mean, I hear it, and I'm immediately like, you know, just starting to dance. It's kind of flowing. It's not exactly medinge (ph). It's not exactly hip-hop. And they do a lot of this riffing with the music. And there are actually some lyrics -- a lot of it is quite sexual. But there are some lyrics...

COSTELLO: What a surprise.

HINOJOSA: What a surprise, right? And there have been some concerns about that. But a lot of it is also talking about youth issues, gang violence, and women's issues, too. So, there is some political stuff that's happening here. I mean, you just hear it, and you just like want to, you know...

COSTELLO: You know, I'm into heavy metal music. But I'm sure I'll just love it. Love it. And I will listen to the top 40 radio stations to see if they play it, because, as you know, they don't play rock and roll anymore.

HINOJOSA: And, you know, the thing is that if people aren't listening to it, their kids will be hearing it. If they haven't heard it now, within minutes they're going to be hearing it, and the parents can say, oh, yes, I knew about reggaeton. I heard it on CNN.

COSTELLO: Now, translate that for me, so I can see how sexual the lyrics really are.

HINOJOSA: It's too early in the morning.

COSTELLO: All right. Maria Hinojosa, thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.

Let's take a break. We'll give away a DAYBREAK coffee mug -- some mug time. How could I forget? I'm sorry.

MYERS: Oh, Carol, come on, come on, come on.

COSTELLO: I'm sorry. That music just threw me.

MYERS: Well, I thought she was talking about rigatoni. I didn't know she was talking about reggaeton.

COSTELLO: It's reggaeton.

MYERS: I know. I missed that thing going there, but we'll get to that later.

Let me show you what's going on here with our mug winner. How long was the Buffalo firefighter in a coma? A lot of you answered nine years. No, he was only in a coma for three years. He couldn't speak for nine-and-a-half years.

COSTELLO: Oh.

MYERS: And what role did Meinhardt Raabe play in "The Wizard of Oz?" He was the coroner that said, yes, the witch is dead.

COSTELLO: The Munchkin coroner?

MYERS: He was the Munchkin coroner, yes.

And the winner, the winner now, we only had a few winners, Kara Wassman from Gainesville, Florida, you had the correct answers. Thank you, Kara, for your entry.

Now the questions for today. We've got to do these quickly here. What movie theater chain will publish actual start times for movies now? And what is the name of a new urban blend of music we were just talking about?

CNN.com/daybreak. Give us your answers there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Chad.

You're watching DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We're out of time. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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


Aired May 5, 2005 - 06:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
As we've been telling you about all morning long, we are covering breaking news out of New York City this morning. Two small explosions rocked the British consulate there. CNN has learned two improvised explosive devices caused the blast. It was a small blast, both of them.

The bomb squad is on the scene right now. So is Jason Carol.

Jason -- tell us more, because these improvised devices -- it's just so strange.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Carol. I think that's an accurate way of describing it.

A short while ago, as you know, investigators out here described what they found as they started piecing together their shrapnel. What they found were two improvised explosive devices. Both of them described as looking like toy grenades. One of them looked like a pineapple, the other one it was described as looking like a lemon. Again, both of were these novelty types of devices.

Inside those devices, black powder and a fuse. That's how these devices were detonated. Someone came out here, lit the fuse. There was a small explosion.

Actually, at this point, investigators are trying to determine if those explosive devices went off together or separately. There are some eyewitnesses who said they thought they heard two explosions, but police at this point are saying they believe those explosive devices went off together.

Now, they were located inside a planter. There were several planters that are located in front of this building where the British consulate is housed. As you said earlier, those planters are put there not just for decoration, they're put there protectively in those concrete sorts of holders so that, theoretically, a truck or some sort of a vehicle would not be able to then drive into the building and then be detonated where the explosives were located inside there.

Again, this was described as a small explosion. It blew out a windowpane on the first floor. We are told that there were some people inside the building during the time of the explosion, which took place early this morning at about 3:50. And there were no injuries.

At this point, we are trying to determine if anyone has called in to claim any sort of responsibility for what happened out here. We are awaiting a press conference from New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. That is expected to happen very, very shortly -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jason, a couple of questions for you. The consul general is Sir Philip Thomas. For those of you not in the know, the consulate is usually a place where you go to get visas, right? Correct.

CARROLL: This was described...

COSTELLO: Go ahead.

CARROLL: This was described to me as being the place that where it's people-to-government as opposed to the mission, where it's government-to-government business. For instance, if you're a British citizen and you're having a problem in the U.S., you would go there for a visa, you would go there for a passport, whatever the case may be. If you're having those types of issues, that's the type of business that would be conducted at the British consulate as opposed to the mission, where you've got government-to-government business going on.

The mission is located not too far from here, in fact. Just about a five-minute walk. And we are told that police were over there checking out the scene over there just to make sure that scene was secure as well. That scene seems to be clear.

A five-block area, I should tell you, here has been sort of cordoned off, although we were allowed to be right up where that building is located at 51st and Third Avenue, which would seem to suggest the sort of mood and feeling that police have, not to say that they're not taking this very seriously, but in other situations where you've seen explosions of a particular size, you're not allowed anywhere close to the scene of where that would have happened -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, doesn't this bring up all sorts of questions? Because these big concrete planters are put there to protect the building, and now someone, or more than one someone, goes by, plants these two little fake grenade things with explosive powder inside them right in the planter and manages to cause some damage.

CARROLL: Correct. But, once again, those planters are put there for a reason, as I described earlier. But if it wasn't a planter, it could have been a mailbox. It could have been a trash can. It could have been any sort of anything to hold the device. This person or persons just happened to choose the planters that are put there to protect the building -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, but you know what's interesting? Because trash cans have been removed from train stations, so people can't place any sort of an explosive device inside of the trash can. So, maybe they'll rethink this planter idea. CARROLL: They might. They might. But, you know, we'll have to see as investigators are out there. We'll certainly ask them about that. But on the other side of that, you know, they do serve, as you know, a protective purpose for sensitive buildings. And so, it would be -- I think it would be hard to imagine them coming in because of an incident such as this, which, once again, they're describing as being relatively small now. I mean, it would be hard to imagine them coming out and removing them.

But I think what they may do is do more sweeps of them in the future, coming by, checking them out to make sure that they're clear, maybe perhaps on a daily basis, weekly basis, whatever the case may be.

COSTELLO: Well, or making them closed. Not making them planters but closed concrete barriers, because I know that they are put there to prevent cars from parking too close to the buildings. Let's talk about a car on the scene, because all morning long we've been showing the bomb squad combing over this silver SUV, searching for who knows what. Tell us how many cars were parked on the street near that building, and if they found anything at all in that SUV.

CARROLL: They found several -- there are several cars that were parked in front of the building. That Jeep, SUV, that vehicle just happened to be closest to the planter that had those two improvised explosive devices inside. So, they're obviously checking out that vehicle. They're going to be checking out the other vehicles as well.

No word yet on what, if anything, they found inside that vehicle. That will be one of the many questions we will have for investigators as they head down to us very shortly.

COSTELLO: And, of course, the British elections are going on today. And I know that you asked police officers had there been any threats directed towards this building or any other building involving these elections being held in Britain today.

CARROLL: Right. They're checking into that as well. But, as you said, the timing is curious, because, you know, that election is taking place today.

You know, this is a building which houses the British consulate, you know, among other businesses as well. And so, you know, it begs the question, is there some sort of a connection? At this point, it's unclear if there were any threats previous to what happened here early this morning. Obviously, investigators are going to be checking into that, checking into any threats perhaps that they may have dismissed.

But, again, at this point, no word yet if there were any threats before this incident. But I'm sure if there were, we'll be hearing about it very shortly.

COSTELLO: All right, Jason Carroll live in Manhattan this morning. Thank you very much.

He's at Third Avenue and 51st Street near that British consulate. And just to bring you up to date. Two small explosive devices were planted in a planter in front of the building. One was shaped like a pineapple, the other a lemon. They were kind of novelty grenades, if you will. They were fake grenades. And somebody put real powder inside, set off two small explosions. Don't know if those explosions went off together or separately, but they did cause a big chunk of concrete to be blown from that planter, and they did shatter some windows. The good news is no injuries, and police are considering this incident small.

In other stories "Now in the News."

Insurgents have unleashed another series of deadly attacks targeting Iraqi security forces. Police say at least 23 people have been killed in suicide bombings and ambushes across Baghdad this morning.

And there are new reports this morning concerning the health of Iraq insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. military leaders are looking into claims al-Zarqawi was at a hospital last week. Zarqawi's group claims American soldiers stormed the hospital last Thursday, but apparently did not nab him.

Military prosecutors must now decide if they will refile charges against the most recognizable figure in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. A military judge has thrown out Army Private Lynndie England's guilty plea, saying he is not convinced she knew what she was doing was illegal.

To the forecast center now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: It is a story you just can't enough of. A firefighter who did not speak for almost a decade speaks.

CNN's Bill Hemmer joins us now for a look at what else is coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Good morning.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning to you.

A remarkable story, too, out of Buffalo. We talked about it yesterday at great length. This brain-damaged firefighter is talking now after 10 years of silence. What kind of progress is he making? And what does his future hold? And is it possible that he could stop speaking again? We'll talk to his doctor this morning about all of those questions.

Also, remember yesterday, Carol, Jack's "Question of the Day" was about this Texas lawmaker who wants to ban sexually-suggestive cheerleading in high school. Well, late last night, the bill was passed by the House, and now it goes to the Senate. And if it's approved there, it will go to the governor, et cetera. Critics still say there are more important matters to worry about, though, in Texas. And we will talk to that with a state representative. Al Edwards is our guest today. And how that law would be enforced in the high schools in Texas. So, we'll get that to you this morning.

Also, we will not leave this story for very long, right down the street. I know you're chuckling there, but on this explosion, just about four streets away, and we'll be all over it this morning at 7:00 a.m. -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, we will...

HEMMER: OK.

COSTELLO: ... this morning. Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: See you later. Sure.

COSTELLO: There has been a key al Qaeda arrest in Pakistan. Officials there are hopeful the arrest of Abu Faraj al-Libbi will help in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It may bring in information on the terror group's attack plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: This guy was my number one target. Bin Laden, of course, is much more important symbolically, but in terms of practical day-to-day operations, what al Qaeda is doing, how it threatens the United States, how it plans against targets in the United States, this is the guy you want. If anyone knows where Osama bin Laden is, this is the man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: While the CIA wants to question al-Libbi, Pakistani authorities want to prosecute him for attempting to assassinate the president.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Still to come, country and western, rhythm and blues, rock and rap, crossing the many lines of music. It is a new underground sound that's hitting the airwaves.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money -- oh, let's check the international markets first. Just keep in mind that the Nikkei is closed, so no numbers to give you there. The FTSE is up almost 27 points, the German DAX is up just about 22.5 points.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:47 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning. A small explosion has rocked the British consulate in New York City. CNN has learned two improvised explosive devices caused the blast. The devices were located in large planters -- in one of the large planters outside of the building. The bomb squad is still on the scene right now.

Officials plan to redesign the Freedom Tower, the building that's going up on the World Trade Center site. That's because New York City police have raised undisclosed security concerns over the original model.

In money news, Nike says no to blue light specials. The shoe company plans to pull its products from Sears stores, which were recently bought by discount retailer Kmart.

In culture, would you pay more than $27 million for this? An unidentified bidder is shelling out that much for a rare sculpture called "Bird in Space," and that is a record for a sculpture at a public auction.

In sports, the Washington Wizards have a three-games-to-two lead in their NBA opening round series after a wild 112-110 win over the Chicago Bulls. The Wizards are doing well. The Wizard are doing well, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, I knew we couldn't go two hours without a basketball story.

COSTELLO: Oh, come on. The Wizards haven't done well since they were the Bullets.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: It's an amazing story.

MYERS: Oh, good. Just look at that. Almost overtime, Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, just do the weather, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you.

It's got a beat, and you can definitely dance to it. After the break, we'll tell you about the latest music craze. It's a mish-mash of different styles, reggaeton. Stay tuned if you want to stay hip.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We know that you yearn to be hip, so we are about to let you in on the coolest music trend to hit your ears in a long time. And you can thank us later.

Maria Hinojosa is here to explain reggaeton.

Why haven't I heard about this? MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Because you're not listening to the right radio stations, Carol. Reggaeton.

COSTELLO: Oh, sorry.

HINOJOSA: Reggaeton.

COSTELLO: Reggaeton.

HINOJOSA: You got it! It's so cool. And here's what happened, Carol. I'm at a party in the Dominican Republic over December, and all of a sudden everybody crowds the dance floor -- little kids, the elderly, retired friends of mine, middle-aged people -- and they're all dancing to this rhythm. And I'm like, 'What is this?' And my husband who listens to all of this stuff said, "Reggaeton." I come back to New York, and I'm hearing it everywhere, even on the top 40 stations.

COSTELLO: So, it's a mish-mash of all different kinds of music. It sounds a lot like rap to me, however, or hip-hop.

HINOJOSA: It does? I don't know. It doesn't sound like rap to me.

COSTELLO: It stopped.

HINOJOSA: No, it's got a different rhythm. What happened is that in Panama, you had Jamaican workers who were helping to build the Panamanian Canal. And they were mixing Panamanian rhythms with Jamaican rhythms. That's one thing that happened. And then, you have, you know, Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean next to Jamaica. They're hearing the Jamaican radio stations. They start jiving with the music and mixing Puerto Rico rhythms with Jamaican rhythms, and then they create this thing called reggaeton. Very street, very rough. It's been around for about -- I don't know -- seven, eight years. But now, it's really making the crossover.

COSTELLO: Yes, making the crossover in New York City, but is it being played in other places in the United States? And when might that happen?

HINOJOSA: It is being played across the United States. In fact, in Los Angeles just in the past 10 days, they had a huge reggaeton festival, big artists coming there. You know, you have to remember that in L.A., New York, Miami, San Antonio, the Spanish-language music stations are number one in drive-time.

COSTELLO: Yes.

HINOJOSA: So, those are the stations that are putting this out there, having this music out there. But I'm driving home listening to a top 40 stations, and I hear reggaeton. I said, 'Oh, my god, this is incredible.'

COSTELLO: We have to tell people. You have some examples for us. HINOJOSA: Of the music? Well, there's Daddy Yankee, which I'm hoping I'm hoping we can hear. Let's get some Daddy Yankee going. All right, this is not Daddy -- oh, yes it is. This is Daddy Yankee. He is huge. Let's just listen to the music, so you can get a sense of the beat for a second.

So, it's kind of got this, you know, waving thing. I mean, I hear it, and I'm immediately like, you know, just starting to dance. It's kind of flowing. It's not exactly medinge (ph). It's not exactly hip-hop. And they do a lot of this riffing with the music. And there are actually some lyrics -- a lot of it is quite sexual. But there are some lyrics...

COSTELLO: What a surprise.

HINOJOSA: What a surprise, right? And there have been some concerns about that. But a lot of it is also talking about youth issues, gang violence, and women's issues, too. So, there is some political stuff that's happening here. I mean, you just hear it, and you just like want to, you know...

COSTELLO: You know, I'm into heavy metal music. But I'm sure I'll just love it. Love it. And I will listen to the top 40 radio stations to see if they play it, because, as you know, they don't play rock and roll anymore.

HINOJOSA: And, you know, the thing is that if people aren't listening to it, their kids will be hearing it. If they haven't heard it now, within minutes they're going to be hearing it, and the parents can say, oh, yes, I knew about reggaeton. I heard it on CNN.

COSTELLO: Now, translate that for me, so I can see how sexual the lyrics really are.

HINOJOSA: It's too early in the morning.

COSTELLO: All right. Maria Hinojosa, thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.

Let's take a break. We'll give away a DAYBREAK coffee mug -- some mug time. How could I forget? I'm sorry.

MYERS: Oh, Carol, come on, come on, come on.

COSTELLO: I'm sorry. That music just threw me.

MYERS: Well, I thought she was talking about rigatoni. I didn't know she was talking about reggaeton.

COSTELLO: It's reggaeton.

MYERS: I know. I missed that thing going there, but we'll get to that later.

Let me show you what's going on here with our mug winner. How long was the Buffalo firefighter in a coma? A lot of you answered nine years. No, he was only in a coma for three years. He couldn't speak for nine-and-a-half years.

COSTELLO: Oh.

MYERS: And what role did Meinhardt Raabe play in "The Wizard of Oz?" He was the coroner that said, yes, the witch is dead.

COSTELLO: The Munchkin coroner?

MYERS: He was the Munchkin coroner, yes.

And the winner, the winner now, we only had a few winners, Kara Wassman from Gainesville, Florida, you had the correct answers. Thank you, Kara, for your entry.

Now the questions for today. We've got to do these quickly here. What movie theater chain will publish actual start times for movies now? And what is the name of a new urban blend of music we were just talking about?

CNN.com/daybreak. Give us your answers there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Chad.

You're watching DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We're out of time. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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