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Dennis Not Done Yet; Top Member of Lebanon's Government Target of Apparent Assassination Plot

Aired July 12, 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: I'm Soledad O'Brien. Dennis not done yet. The storm is bringing torrential rain and severe floods, swallowing up homes and businesses, and even this roller coaster on its path to the heartland. We've got a live report just ahead.
And another storm is on the horizon. Tropical Storm Emily is getting stronger and faster, and it's headed toward the Caribbean.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. Breaking news in the Middle East to tell you about. A top member of Lebanon's government the target of an apparent assassination plot. He survived a powerful explosion. Others do not.

S. O'BRIEN: And overnight developments in the London bombing investigation, homes raided in northern England as police try to track down the killers. We're live with the very latest on the investigation on this AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning. We'll have those stories in just a moment.

S. O'BRIEN: But first we're going to start with the developing investigation coming to us out of Washington.

M. O'BRIEN: Behind closed doors at the White House, President Bush is meeting with four top lawmakers. The agenda, who should replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court?

Bob Franken is at the White House.

Bob, tell us about the meeting.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Democrats have said they want to be consulted, and the Democrats are invited this morning. They're arriving now for breakfast with the president. The Democrats include the Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid, who is of course a potential problem for the administration when a Supreme Court nominee, or nominees, are named. Also somebody would could always be a problem, the Republican Arlen Specter, who's chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His Democratic counterpart on the committee, Frank Leahy. And the majority leader of the Senate Bill Frist, his job is to herd the cats that are the U.S. Senate.

Now they're talking about the replacement. They know of one that's going to be needed, and that is for Sandra Day O'Connor. The possibility exists that there could be a second. This town has been rife with rumor, rife, Miles, that there's going to be a second vacancy, and that would be the resignation of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. That hasn't happened yet. Under the rules of the game, that could actually mean three confirmation hearings. And remember that the Supreme Court reconvenes in October, so time's a-wasting.

In any case, the senators are going to have breakfast with the president. We have a camera at the spot where they normally come out, the driveway stakeout position, if you're keeping track. And when they come out and report on the breakfast, well, we'll be here to show it to you live, if possible. If they come out and have anything to report about what they talked to the president about, and a few names that were bandied about. That type of thing -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Bob. Washington also rife with discussion about Karl Rove and what role he might or might not have played in exposing the CIA operative. I assume that's going to come up today one way or another. Perhaps you'll be asking a few questions about that.

FRANKEN: Positively rife, Miles. Yes, Karl Rove, the president's deputy chief of staff, his political strategist par excellent, is somebody who is now named in the investigation on who outed Valerie Plame, the undercover CIA agent. The investigation has been going on for a long time. Matthew Cooper of "Time" magazine in his e-mail notes has said that he did talk to Karl Rove during the critical weekend of July 2003.

Now Rove's lawyer, who confirms that happened, says nevertheless, Rove did not break any laws. He did not name Plame. He did not intentionally identify an undercover CIA officer. However, the president, over the months, and his press spokesman Scott McClellan have all said that if the White House personnel are involved in naming of Plame, that person or persons would be fired. When it came up yesterday, there was what the diplomats like to talk of between reporters and Scott McClellan, the press secretary, a frank and open exchange of questions and answers, except there were questions, but very few answers. McClellan refusing to discuss the matter, saying it's under investigation -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, their parsing their language carefully in Washington. Thank you very much, Bob Franken -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A developing story out of Lebanon this morning. Just hours ago, a top member of the government barely escaped an apparent assassination attempt. Lebanon's outgoing deputy prime minister one of 12 people wounded in a bombing that targeted his convoy. Two people were killed. It happened in a predominantly Christian neighborhood, just north of Beirut.

Freelance journalist Anthony Mills reports from the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY MILLS, JOURNALIST: Standing here on the incline where the explosion took place, I can see windows smashed in from the surrounding buildings, shops, residences and offices, and the two villas on either side of the road here where the explosion happened had their facades ripped off, their windows blown in, the furniture in front rooms shredded. So a very powerful explosion and one that we're told has killed two people, at least two people, and injured 12.

Among the injured, or in addition to those 12 injured, of course outgoing deputy prime minister, Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Elias Murr. His injuries, we're told, are not life threatening.

S. O'BRIEN: The investigation into the attacks, the bombing that took the life of the former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is still under way. Does this bombing seem to have all the same hallmarks?

MILLS: There's one crucial difference between this bombing and the bombings that preceded it over the last few months here in Lebanon. All of the preceding attacks targeted anti-Syrian figures, whether there were journalists or politicians. This bomb attack has targeted for the first time a pro-Syrian figure. Someone who is also a former interior minister, he's the son-in-law of the staunchly pro- Syrian Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, and certainly a pro-Syrian figure. So a very marked difference in the pattern here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Deputy Prime Minister Elias Murr said he is doing fine in a radio interview that took place after the bombing.

M. O'BRIEN: Now to London, and the investigation into last week's terror attacks. This morning, British police are searching homes in northern England with potential connections to the bombings on three subway trains and a double-decker bus last Thursday.

Let's get right Paula Hancock's, who outside the King's Cross Station, site of the bloodiest of the attacks.

Paula, how much progress are investigators making.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, this is actually the first significant police action we've seen, on day five since those Thursday bombings. We do know that five homes have been raided earlier this Tuesday morning, up in west (INAUDIBLE), about 200 miles north from London, and they are all saying that there have been no arrests made at the moment, or at least they're not announcing publicly that any arrests have been made.

So this is the first significant police action. Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police commissioner saying that it is directly linked to Thursday's bombings, which, as far as we know so far, has killed at least 52 people, injured 700-plus more. Also, he did say, back on Sunday that there were three arrests of people coming into Heathrow from elsewhere, but those people have been released, and that is said to be nothing to do with these bombings.

So this really is the first significant development we do have. Also, this morning, we're having many reports talking about the actual explosives used. We heard last week there were about 10 pound bombs. So everyone was thinking that they were quite rudimentary. We're finding out now that they are far more sophisticated than that. We're finding out from some reports that they could be military quality, which means they could either have been taken from a commercial premises used for precision bombing, for example, at demolishing bombings or in mining. Or they could have been taken from military stockpiles. So that' a very worrying development -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Paula Hancocks in London, thank you very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Let's take a look at the damage from Dennis. Utility crews are now working to try to restore electricity across the storm's path. At its peak, more than 850,000 customers lost power. Many of those problems, though, have been fixed. The storm is now being blamed for five deaths, four of them in Florida, one in Georgia. Initial estimates of the financial cost from Dennis are still being calculated. Dennis is also responsible for, as Rob said, lots of flooding. Parts of the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, all affected by the heavy rains. And Georgia really specifically.

Take a look at some of these pictures. Hundreds of people forced to evacuate their homes on Sunday and on Monday. Some counties in the western part of the state recorded more than eight inches of rain in just 24 hours.

And then, look at this. This picture here, it's muddy water, and it's taking over the Scream Machine roller coaster at the Six Flags amusement park in Georgia. Wow, all that brown stuff is water that has flooded out that park.

Let's get right to Denise Dillon. She's with our Atlanta affiliate WAGA. And she's live in Powder Springs, Georgia, which is just outside of Atlanta.

Denise, good morning to you. How is it looking today?

DENISE DILLON, WAGA REPORTER: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, some areas are looking a little better. The water has started to recede. Other areas, it may be another couple of days. Well, the rain has stopped right now, at least for now. That's good. But still the problems from Hurricane Dennis are fully existent.

Obviously, you can see this police car behind me. Many roads throughout the Atlanta metro area are closed. The problem, the water is just so high that trying to drive through it would be a really bad idea.

Now, yesterday, when the Sweetwater Creek expanded over its banks, homes pretty much vanished. All you could see was the rooftops. We came across one couple who tried to hide out in the loft of their barn. And they had to stay there until they, along with their family pets, were rescued.

One of the biggest problems around here is homeowners, a lot of them don't have insurance. Well, some areas are prone to flooding. This area has never been like this before. That's according to long- time residents, and they simply thought they did not need flood insurance. So the next few days will be a matter of cleaning up, drying out, and praying that Emily doesn't come this way.

Live from Cobb County, Georgia -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Denise, I got to tell you, we're looking at those pictures and they're absolutely shocking. Look at that, cars underwater. The water buffalo, I guess, were being rounded up. Maybe the water buffalo are actually comfortable in water that high. But certainly not the people who are at the top of that barn house there.

Denise Dillon, reporting for us from our affiliate WAGA, thanks for the report.

DILLON: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: The pictures pretty shocking -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, the storm still lingers, and its aftereffects, too.

Still to come, new questions about America's long-term plans in Afghanistan. We'll go live to the Pentagon for details on the sudden deployment of more troops there.

S. O'BRIEN: Also, a shootout takes the life of a 19-month-old girl. Did police mishandle the situation?

M. O'BRIEN: And more to tell you about on those London terror attacks. Two American sisters seriously wounded in the bombings beginning their long road to recovery. We'll talk to their surgeon, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Police in Los Angeles are still reeling from a tragic shootout Sunday that led to the death of a baby girl.

As CNN's Thelma Gutierrez tells us, it was a hostage situation that ended in the worst way possible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One day after 19-month-old Susie Lopez was killed in the middle of a ferocious gun battle, the baby's devastated mother searches for answers. Lorena Lopez says Los Angeles Police did not respect her baby's life. She says she begged police not to shoot at the baby's father, 34-year-old Jose Raul Pena, during a two-and-half-hour standoff with Los Angeles Police. The police say they had no choice.

CHIEF WILLIAM BRATTON, L.A. POLICE: On three separate occasions, he opened fire on officers. Officers have the right to protect themselves, their fellow officers, and innocent bystander bystanders and have the right to shoot back when faced with that danger.

GUTIERREZ: Pena, who was holding his 19-month-old daughter in his arms, fired 40 rounds at police, injuring one officer. Police returned fire 90 times. Pena and 19-month-old Susie were killed.

Lorena Lopez wants justice. She says she wants to know how her baby ended up in the crossfire.

BRATTON: My heart goes out to the child's mother and to the family. Unfortunately, in this instance, the suspect's actions left the officers no choice.

GUTIERREZ: Until an autopsy report is completed, it won't be known whose bullets killed the baby, her father's or those of Los Angeles Police.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: That's quite a story. Don Clark is a former FBI special agent in charge. He joins us from Houston, Texas to talk about this standoff, what might have went wrong.

And let's be real clear here, Don Clark is looking at this as an expert with really no inside information. So we just want to make sure viewers understand that.

As an expert, based on what you've seen here, Don, it looks like they deviated from the textbook on how to handle a hostage situation.

DON CLARK, FMR. FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Well, you know, Miles, there are some rules and regulations that you go to in any of these types of situation.

Now clearly, until an after-action report has been taken, we won't know all the facts as to what took place here. But I can tell you one thing that, whenever law enforcement is involved in those types of tactical situations, first of all, the public safety is number-one concern. Any hostages certainly are a concern, because you don't want to have any hostages injured. And then certainly the protection of the law enforcement. And hostages usually measure up right up there at the number one top of trying to keep them alive and well.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. So with that all in mind, couple things you do. You probably don't try to provoke a gun battle, right?

CLARK: Well, certainly, you don't ever want to provoke a gun battle. Even when law enforcement officers, their stages escalate, from maybe police officers on the street to some type of a SWAT type of operation to tactical operation, but what you want to do is bring the situation to a conclusion as calmly as you possibly can. So that means using negotiators and every other type of technique and tactic that you should have been trained to use. M. O'BRIEN: And one of the things I've heard time and again, and I think you said it, is it's important for the police to sort of hang back and not be as aggressive as they could be.

CLARK: Well, you're right. Hang back is probably a good term. But what you want to do is make sure that your plan that you develop includes a tactic that allows you to perhaps pull back, but make sure that your people are protected, and make sure that, when you shoot, that fire is under control, and that somebody is in charge of saying when to and when not to shoot. I don't think it's good enough to just say they shot at us, so we shot back in all cases.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. And you talk about protection for the officers, because one of the officers did get hit in the shoulder initially, and that, of course, changes things for officers when one of their people is down. That probably was a key moment, wasn't it?

CLARK: Well, you bet that was a key moment. I mean, make no question about it. Any time that you're involved in a law-enforcement or military action and one of your own is shot or taken down, then the emotions sort of moves to another level.

But you know, Miles, that's where training comes in, and particularly with SWAT team operations, because you are really trained to know how to control those emotions and follow through with your procedures and your control measures, because the last thing you want is to escalate the situation where some innocent person, innocent bystander, a for sure hostage, is taken in one of these cases.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course, there's nothing more innocent than a 19- month-old little girl.

Let me, you know, ask you this, if this had been an adult hostage, sort of a classic hostage scenario, do you think it would have been different?

CLARK: Well, it shouldn't be different. A hostage is a hostage. If the hostage is not complicit with the people that you're going after, then they should be given that same type of safety and protection and regards there.

Miles, even in the FBI, we encountered some of those things. You might recall Ruby Ridge, where we had a very difficult situation over there, and a hostage was killed. And we suffered from trying to rebuild our tactics and our structures from that as to how we go into this situations. And police departments with SWAT teams that's doing the same type of tactics as the FBI should be able to follow and have those set of guidelines. I'm not saying that they didn't, but they should have them and they should follow them.

M. O'BRIEN: Don Clark, thanks for your words. Good insights. We appreciate it. Former FBI special agent in charge Don Clark this morning -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: As we continue here, we've got a look at business news just ahead. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: On the business front, a little good news/bad news. One comic book stock is taking a super leap. That would be the good news. And some plunging profits for a Hollywood high-flyer. That would be the bad news. Andy Serwer has both as he minds your business.

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.

It's really tale of two entertainment companies this morning to tell you about this morning. First of all, the worst of times. Well, not really that bad. But the bad news comes from Dreamworks, the animation studio that's brought you "Shrek" and "Shark Tale," yesterday telling Wall Street and the rest of Hollywood, in fact, that DVD sales for "Shrek 2" were disappointing. Now they still did $35 million in sales in DVDs and VHS's, but that's not enough. That's not what Wall Street was looking for. Also yesterday announcing the Securities and Exchange Commission is beginning a probe into stock trading at that company. So that's some serious stuff.

S. O'BRIEN: Really two movies a year pretty much, so they both have to be gangbusters.

SERWER: And right. And Madagascar was slightly disappointing, you may remember as well.

The other thing about DVDs, Soledad, is we're really wondering if that market is starting to get saturated, because it has been such an avenue of growth in Hollywood, but a lot of people have a lot of DVDs.

Now for the good news. This comes from Marvel, of course the comic book company, really benefiting from the great release of the Fantastic Four. That did $56 million in ticket sales, only looking for $30 million. So really streaking there. That stock way up. Dreamworks stock way down yesterday. So some good news.

S. O'BRIEN: I love that Jessica Alba. I haven't seen that movie. It's supposed to be good, though.

SERWER: It is. That's what I heard. I haven't seen it either.

S. O'BRIEN: Market recap.

SERWER: Yes, let's talk about that. Yesterday kind of interesting day to talk about, and of course confounding Wall Street experts, and yours truly, the market continues to go up, has been up for three days in a row. Look at that on the Dow, even with the bombings and the hurricanes we're moving up. And the big news is that the S&P 500 is now in positive territory for the year, so a big move there.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, good news, too. Thanks, Andy -- Miles.

SERWER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, still to come, it's panda-cam time. Let's show it. Shall we show it so we can see the panda? Does anybody see the panda?

S. O'BRIEN: Kind of.

M. O'BRIEN: You see the panda? Where is it, Andy?

SERWER: Down there by that white line there, Miles. See it? In the back.

M. O'BRIEN: That's what I mean. Panda cub is what I'm saying. The cub, Andy.

SERWER: No, the cub I don't see, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: No, I see that panda.

SERWER: No, I don't see the cub.

M. O'BRIEN: We're going to get an expert on and try to find the panda, among other things. It's a big deal at the National Zoo. We'll check in on how everybody's doing as AMERICAN MORNING rolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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