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American Morning

London Terror

Aired July 08, 2005 - 07:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A lengthy news conference and a news conference where there was a fair amount of information available. They seemed to be trying to be at least very forthcoming. One big piece of information I thought was -- the plea for help from the community. They say that kind of intelligence is really the most helpful.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And along with that, the ominous thought that is probably unlikely these were suicide attacks, and there is a cell still operating, perhaps still in their midst, in London, in Great Britain.

S. O'BRIEN: That was pretty -- I think ominous is a good word there. We're going to have more information about the casual casualties ahead this morning, the investigation, the early discussions about Al Qaeda. Some people say the attack has the hallmarks of Al Qaeda. Clearly a gut-wrenching time for Londoners, and I think everybody who lived through the 9/11 attacks here in New York. You know, really feel very empathetic to what they're going through today.

M. O'BRIEN: I think a difficult commute for a lot of people all over the world this morning. Going from triumph to tragedy as it were. Look at the front page of the "Sun" Thursday as the city celebrated winning the 2012 Olympics. This was on newsstands as explosions occurred. One day later, same paper, and look at this headline, of course. Shows you the emotions. Talk about the full range of emotions in 24 hours.

S. O'BRIEN: That picture, I mean, we've seen that a lot, that is tough.

Let's update you with the very latest coming to us from London police this morning. The Thursday transportation terror bombings, a huge disaster, not only to the infrastructure, and also emotionally as well. Fifty people dead, 700 injured. Those are updated numbers. It was London's bloodiest day since World War II. Twenty-two of the injured remain in hospital in critical condition. Officials are unsure, though, of the number of dead because of the amount of destruction at some of the crime scenes. Also, some of the crime scenes are just impossible to get to. Police are asking for patience while they try to access some of the bodies, they say.

They also say the bombs contained less than 10 pound of explosives, small enough to fit into a backpack. The bombs were probably placed on the floors of the trains. The bomb on the bus could have been on the seat or on the floor. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair blames Islamic militants for the attacks. Police say they had no warnings, and no one's called them yet to claim responsibility. One previously unknown group did claim responsibility yesterday in the name of Al Qaeda. Experts, though, being very cautious about that claim.

In London today, unaffected underground lines are back in service. The buses are running normally outside of the crime scenes. People have been told to go about their business as normal, but to stay away from London's city center.

The losses were the greatest at the King's Cross station. Richard Quest is there this morning for us.

Richard, really, I thought one of the most disturbing facts to come out of this news conference is the fact that there are bodies at that station that cannot be recovered from the carriage because of the instability of that carriage and of the tunnel, too.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Throughout the hour, Soledad, that have I've been standing here, and I've been here for the best part of seven or eight hours, that has been the overriding fact in everyone's mind.

Behind me King's Cross tube station, railway station. The bus is running normal, and that, of course, belies the very sad fact that roughly 100 feet underneath where we are standing, that is where the wreckage and the remains of that tube train are, and where they are recovering the bodies. It's believed 21 bodies are still on the train.

The chief inspector told me earlier it will probably take the best part of the day to remove those bodies.

And then they have to go into another spear of the investigation. They have to make sure the tunnel is safe. They have to make sure there are no contaminated materials, not so much from dirty bombs, but just asbestos and dangerous substances, all the normal things that they would expect to find. And then, finally, make sure that the lines are safe to reopen the subway.

You talked about that press conference, and you and Miles are absolutely right, it was very, very detailed by the commissioner of police, the chief of police, if you like, here in London. He talked about forensic opportunities. That basically means a chance to go into those carriages, Soledad, find out what happened, find out where the bombs were, what they were made of, and most crucially, how they were detonated. They are still not prepared to say it was a timing mechanism. And, of course, the sad fact, that more than 50 people have died -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: And I think, also, a little bit scary that it's going to be a very, very difficult crime scene in order to gather forensic information together, any kind of evidence as well. They underscored that, I though, many times.

Richard Quest for us this morning. Richard, thanks -- Miles. M. O'BRIEN: World leaders gathered in Scotland for the Group of 8 Summit are vowing to not allow the terror threat to alter their agenda.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is in Gleneagles, Scotland.

And, Suzanne, while it doesn't alter the agenda, necessarily, it certainly dramatically changed the tone, didn't it?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it absolutely did. It was really fascinating to see just how everything changed yesterday, but British Prime Minister Tony Blair really today is really trying to move forward, despite the terrorist attacks, he and the other leaders. He returned yesterday to the summit, and they are all meeting today to try to refocus on the original agenda, if, in fact, that is possible. One of those items, of course, aid to Africa, the other talking about global warming.

It was earlier today that Blair and other leaders are meeting with African leaders to try to hash out and work out the negotiations of some sort of aid package. Blair certainly hoping to put on the table here to double the amount of aid from $25 billion a year to $50 billion a year in the next 10 years. It is still up in the air whether or not he is actually going to get that figure.

Also, of course, they'll be talking about climate change, global warming, and it's expected they'll put out a declaration. The United States is the only country out at the G-8 not to sign on and ratify the Kyoto Treaty. That is not happening this time around either. What we do expect is that declaration will say we all agree it is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately, but beyond that, it is not going to make any headway when it comes to Kyoto. And, of course, Miles, not to be outdone, not to be surprised in any way, there will be a very, very strong statement on the war on terror in light of those terrorist attacks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux, in Gleneagles, Scotland, thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, U.S. mass transit systems are now at an orange, or high-alert, level. Department of Homeland Security officials say they have received no specific threats, but want commuters to be on the lookout for anything suspicious.

For more on the reaction of rush hour commuters, let's get to Mary Snow. She's at Penn Station in New York City this morning. Kathleen Koch at Union Station in Washington D.C.

Mary, let's begin with you. I've got to imagine a lot of nervous travelers today in New York City.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, Soledad. And just about everyone you talk to say, yes, the attacks are on their mind, but most New Yorkers saying that they really don't have a choice, and that they're pressing ahead with their daily commute. I spoke to one woman who said she thought about not coming in today, but changed her mind. Many say they feel comforted by the police presence that they see on commuter trains and subways.

Yesterday the police commissioner announced that twice the number of officers will be in the subway system. More canine units have been deployed. That is clearly visible here. And also the governor yesterday signed an order that Connecticut and New Jersey police can also board New York trains. It's a way of heightened security.

So some of those measures certainly comforting passengers early on this morning, they tell us. And they also say that they are being more observant, as the mayor and police commissioner have asked them to do -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Mary, thanks. Let's get right to Kathleen Koch at Union Station in Washington, D.C.

Kathleen, sort of some of the same scenario, people a little frazzled nerves today?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Quite so, Soledad. But you know, the transit officials do say that ridership, at least yesterday, was at a normal level. Now, we think that was very much because a lot of people yesterday did head to work not knowing about what had happened in London. So if there is a drop in ridership, if people's nerves are frazzled, you'll see them more today.

But we certainly did see yesterday and what we'll see more of today is heightened security. A regular sight in many of the subway stations throughout the city where metro transit police wearing bulletproof vests. Some of them carrying machine guns. SWAT teams even swept at random through individual stations. They checked closets, utility rooms and trash cans. They even boarded individual trains looking for suspicious packages or individuals, or bomb- sniffing dogs searching for explosives.

Also security ramped up here at Union Station on the trains and then on the buses throughout the city. Also surveillance cameras, which have been installed. A very intricate system throughout the nation's capital. Those were switched on, a really heightened alert throughout the city, but with commuters that we spoke with yesterday, and also today, they're telling us that they are doing what they have to do. They're not going to change their lives. They're not going to let the terrorists win -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at Union Station. Thanks, Kathleen.

Their attacks in London have drawn comparisons to last year's attacks on Spanish trains, both considered soft targets, might be especially attractive to Al Qaeda operatives who would be seeking to disrupt daily life.

Former Assistant Secretary of State Jamie Rubin in London this morning. He's with us this morning.

Jamie, thanks for talking with us. Appreciate it.

You know, the tactics, the timing, certainly the targets seem much more similar to Madrid than 9/11 attacks here in New York City, you think that's fair to say?

JAMIE RUBIN, FMR. ASST. SECY. OF STATE: I do think that's fair to say, and I think what we're seeing now in the aftermath of the war in Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda's leadership was destroyed, where its base of operations was destroyed, is that the organization has more into these kind of smaller cells and countries around the world, in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and Madrid and Spain. There's been talk of their existence in France, here in the U.K. and Germany, and I think that's the kind of threat we're facing in the future, not spectacular uses of weapons of mass destruction, but the continued effort to use mass murder to try to attack our societies from within.

O'BRIEN: And so when there is an overwhelming emphasis on aviation security and less on the soft targets, do you think that's misdirected, that actually that money and focus should be put on the soft targets like malls, and subways, or is it impossible, really, to protect those?

RUBIN: Well, I think there is a few points to make about that. First of all, as long as there are such people in the world, soft targets, places where people congregate, city streets, trains, whatever are, at some level, very, very, very difficult no matter what you do to protect against.

Secondly, on the aviation side, clearly, there was a big hole, and we fixed that hole, but you do have to be careful not to fight so- called last war.

But finally, the real way to get at this issue is not going to be defense; it's going to be offense. And I hope and pray that right now at the G-8 Summit, the leaders of the world are going to get a new commitment, a new intensity to the war on terrorism, the real war on terrorism, the war against Al Qaeda. It's been a couple of years since the real cooperation on law enforcement, on intelligence, on military operations focused on Al Qaeda. We've had divisive issues since the Iraq war, Guantanamo, many other subjects, and I'm hoping and praying, and I think all of us are, that today these leaders will look at each other and remember that feeling they had after 9/11 and get the governments and all the bureaucracies to be using all means necessary to do the offensive work, which is the only way really to stop it.

S. O'BRIEN: Jamie Rubin is the former assistant secretary of state, in London this morning. Jamie, thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: We're going to talk about transit, for the most part, up and running in London, which is an amazing statement when you consider what went on 24 hours ago. But do Londoners feel secure enough to ride yet? It's a tense ride, you might say.

S. O'BRIEN: And of course, here just how safe is our commute this morning? We're going to be live with the secretary of homeland security to find out just what's being done to protect transit here in the U.S. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Hurricane Dennis, Category four, bearing down on Cuba on its way towards the Florida Keys and who knows where after that, 135 mile-an-hour winds. Category four is something to pay very close attention to, folks.

Pensacola, Florida, hit hard by Ivan last year, one of the towns potentially smack dab in the middle of that cone we've been telling you about. Mayor John Fogg joins us now from Pensacola to talk about hurricane preps there.

Mr. Mayor, good to have you with us.

Tell us what you're doing there to prepare.

MYR. JOHN FOGG, PENSACOLA, FLORIDA: Well, good morning. I tell you, we're not strangers to hurricanes in this area, and everybody is taking this very, very seriously. We still have another four years or so to go before we recover from Ivan. As you mentioned just a moment ago...

M. O'BRIEN: Four more years before you recover from Ivan, really?

FOGG: Oh, yes, it will take that long. We had over 45,000 dwelling units made uninhabitable by Ivan. It's going to take us about that long. The same experience happened down in Homestead after they had Andrew down there.

So we're in this for the long haul, obviously. This storm is extremely threatening, not only from a physical standpoint, but also from a psychological standpoint.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk about that for a minute, because psychologically, on the one hand, people are obviously kind of battered by what happened to Ivan and, on the other hand, from your perspective, they're going to listen to your warnings, aren't they?

FOGG: Oh, absolutely. Even as I drove in this morning early, there were people lined up at all the gas stations. Gas stations are running out of fuel already. That already began yesterday. People are buying fuel not only for their cars, but for generators. Generators are not available. They're running out of plywood and all the sources of that. People are boarding up as best they can, and evacuations actually began yesterday for a lot of people, and they haven't even begun to order evacuations yet.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, by the way, We're looking at pictures on the right there of Ivan damage. You really did get hard hit there.

It always amazes me, mayor, that people don't get their supplies sooner. FOGG: Well, I think, we're used to dealing with these kind of situations and, for the most part, we all know what it takes, we preposition water and, you know, non-perishable food and all those kind of things. So it's not as if we are having to reinvent the wheel here.

M. O'BRIEN: Tell us about how people are doing, though, because you're right, long after the media goes away, these events really wear on people, and I imagine people are beyond weary. They're at their wit's end in some cases. How is the town doing?

FOGG: Well, we're doing pretty well in the recovery. I think people that I have been speaking with are just kind of resigned to the reality of this. We love living in this part of Florida. It's a wonderful community, but at the same time, we're just kind of worn down. But we're going to rise to the occasion. I can tell you that we're going to count on that.

M. O'BRIEN: One look at that Gulf and those sugary beaches and we know why you stay there. Mayor John Fogg, thanks for being with us this morning on AMERICAN MORNING.

And we'll check back on Hurricane Dennis throughout the morning. Of course you can get the latest track of the storm at our Web site, at CNN.com -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: The business outlook in the wake of the terror attacks. The London stock market took a hit briefly. Wall Street investors, though, stood their ground. Andy's going to join us in a moment, though, to tell you how stocks are doing today. He's "Minding Your Business."

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Around the globe, a chaotic day of trading yesterday. So how's it looking today. Let's get right to Andy Serwer, who's "Minding Your Business" this morning. I mean, it really started off bad.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE. It did. It did, Soledad, but then pretty quickly we recovered yesterday, and this morning actually trading is looking rather to the upside in London.

Let's get you right away to a quote there here. You can see up 1.2 percent. The big news is that basically we're at the same level in the London Stock Exchange as we were before the bombing. That's right, the market has come all the way back. This is yesterday. We're at 5222, which is right where we started before the bombing. Remarkable resiliency.

There is some collateral damage, if you will, in the financial market. The pound is at a 19-month low. But the pound had been weak lately anyway. Wall Street is actually an even more interesting story, I think, Soledad, because yesterday the markets were actually up. And at first blush, this is, you know, very encouraging. It really looks like an exercise in resolve, and I think there's something to that.

However, I think if there's another message here, and maybe it's a little bit more sobering, even troubling, because to me it suggests that the markets have accepted the fact that they're going to be terrorist incidents around the globe. And you know, this isn't complacency, but it is a level of acceptance, and I think another indication of that, is if you look at the stock market going back to before 9/11. You can see at 10300 on the Dow, we're really at the same level that we were before 9/11. And what that says to me is that terrorism is sort of priced into the stock market.

In other words, ordinarily the stock market goes up, say, 8 percent a year, we haven't really gone anywhere for almost four years now. And if we had gone up on a historical basis since before 9/11, the Dow would be almost at 14,000. So there's sort of a terror discount priced into the stock market.

S. O'BRIEN: That's kind of scary because, of course, after 9/11, a global downturn. We're not going to see it, which I guess is good news, but as you say, bad news.

SERWER: And I think the market still could take a hit if there was a catastrophic event here in the United States, I'm not suggesting that, but these events happen, and people have seemed to accept them to a certain extent.

M. O'BRIEN: Would you hazard a guess, as long as the war on terror continues, will the markets remain stagnant?

SERWER: I think that's probably right. I mean, there's a very good chance of that, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy Serwer, thank you very much.

SERWER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, investigators in London looking for leads in Thursday's deadly bombings. We heard a report just a little while ago out of Scotland Yard, there is real concern that there is an active cell still out there somewhere, and these were not suicide bombers. We're live with the latest for you on AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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