Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Baghdad Bombing; London Terror Update; Rove Under Fire

Aired July 13, 2005 - 09:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Who are they and how did they do it? British authorities learn new details about the four men believed to be behind the terror attacks.
A shocking attack by insurgents in Iraq. Children greeting U.S. troops, more than two dozen people now dead. Many more injured.

And the countdown is on. Just under seven hours until the Space Shuttle Discovery crew blasts off for the first time since the Columbia disaster. We're live at Cape Canaveral for the historic moment on this special split edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: This is AMERICAN MORNING with Miles O'Brien at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Soledad O'Brien in New York.

S. O'BRIEN: And welcome back, everybody, to our special coverage of the Shuttle Discovery launch. Miles is over at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Good morning to you, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad.

3:51 Eastern Time, that is the scheduled time for Discovery's launch. We'll see the shuttle's crew for the first time today in about an hour's time. That's when they'll have that little snack, you know, the customary kneel picture that you always see before flights. There they are, a still picture taken sometime ago.

And then, of course, they'll go for a check of the weather. And assuming it looks good enough to head out to the launch pad -- and it probably will -- they will start strapping in around noon Eastern, and then we'll hope for the best.

We'll talk about what's going through their minds right now, this morning, with one of their colleagues in just a little bit, a man who has been there a couple of times before and is on his way in another year. Astronaut Jim Reilly will be our guest. That's ahead.

Right now, back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. Thanks.

A suicide car bomber attacked a U.S. military Humvee this morning in Baghdad. That's as soldiers were handing out treats to Iraqi children. Twenty-seven people at least are dead, including seven of them as children. Twenty-five others injured. Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad now.

Aneesh, is there a sense these kids were actually the targets?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, it appears so. The U.S. military issuing a statement that this was a deliberate attack on Iraqi citizens. The Iraqi police telling us now that a majority of those 27 killed are, in fact, Iraqi children.

The attack took place around 11:00 a.m. this morning in a poor neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. It happened as a U.S. convoy, as you say, stopped. And the troops were out mingling with the kids, handing out candy and treats. They try to do this often to try and bridge the cultural divide here on the ground. At that point, an SUV with a suicide bomber exploded.

Parents in that neighborhood now within hours beginning to bury their dead, confronting this disastrous situation, and the fact that their children now are the latest casualties in this insurgency -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: So sad. Let's talk also, Aneesh, about the word of the capture of a significant operative, as the words that are being used in Baghdad by the military. Who is this?

RAMAN: Yes, his name is Abu Abed al-Aziz (ph). And he's known by the military as a leading figure of al Qaeda in Iraq, the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. They also say he was in charge of Baghdad operations.

They say this is, as you say, a significant capture. We don't know the specifics of how he was apprehended, whether it was intelligence, how they planned the strike. But as you can tell from today, the violence goes on, the insurgency goes on. They are able to always adapt and continue their attacks -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman for us. Aneesh, thanks.

Well, London's terror attacks could be the first case ever of suicide bombings in all of western Europe. Police have now identified four suspects and have found evidence that they died in the blasts. The investigation begins in Leeds. That is 200 miles north of London.

And John Vause is there.

John, good morning. First, what are you learning about the suspects, not only who they are, but sort of where they're from?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

We are learning a little bit more about at least one of the suspects. The uncle of Shahzad Tanweer, the young 22-year-old man who lives in this house behind me, he says that his nephew went to Pakistan last year, that he spent time at a religious school or a madrassa in Lahore. But this uncle had denied some reports that his nephew, Tanweer, actually went to Afghanistan. As far as Tanweer's family is concerned, his uncle says they are, of course, devastated by this news. He says they believe they can no longer stay in this community with all of the publicity, with all this evidence growing that Tanweer could be one of four men responsible for the first suicide bombings in Britain.

Now, police are basing a lot of this evidence on forensic evidence gathered from the scene. They say the state of the bodies of the four men would indicate that they are -- they were, in fact, carrying explosives at the time of the blasts.

Surveillance tapes from King's Cross Station show four men carrying backpacks. Now, police say the bombs only weighed 10 pounds. They would have easily fit into those backpacks.

Now, a short time ago, Prime Minister Tony Blair made an appeal for calm in all of this, even though many Muslims in this community fear that there will be a backlash, although so far it has been relatively calm here -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: John Vause for us with an update. John, thanks.

Other news now. Top Democrats say that President Bush should fire his chief political adviser Karl Rove. Rove's name is certain to come up at a federal grand jury hearing today.

"TIME" reporter Matthew Cooper is going to be called to testify. You'll recall he wrote an e-mail naming Rove as the source of a White House leak that unmasked a CIA operative.

Elaine Quijano is live for us at the White House.

Good morning, Elaine.

You know, the last we heard from President Bush, he was sort of ignoring reporters' questions. Any chance we're going to hear something about it from President Bush today?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Bush, Soledad, does have one event on his public schedule today, and that is, this morning, he'll be meeting with members of his cabinet. It is very likely that at the end of that he will be asked about Karl Rove. Of course, whether or not he chooses to answer is a different matter altogether.

But yesterday, neither the President nor his press secretary, Scott McClellan, could escape the questions about Karl Rove. There was another contentious White House briefing the second day in a row that Scott McClellan, press secretary, was peppered with questions about Mr. Rove. In fact, some 30 or so questions centering on the topic.

Now, McClellan would only say that any individual who works at the White House has the president's confidence. But beyond that, he continues to insist that he will not answer questions because of the ongoing investigation. Now, for about two years, though, the White House has said Karl Rove had nothing to do with the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. And now, with the White House remaining quiet on the issue, and some Democrats calling for Rove to be fired, the Republican National Committee is jumping to Rove's defense, chalking up all of the questions and the media attention to partisan politics.

Meantime, we should tell you that Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, tells CNN that his client is in no way threatened by Matt Cooper's impending testimony. As you mentioned, we expect it is scheduled to take place sometime today -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. And we will see what the President has to say later today. Elaine Quijano at the White House for us. Elaine, thanks.

And now time to take a look at some of the other stories making headline. Let's go right to Fredricka Whitfield. She's is at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Hey, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks again. Hello, Soledad.

Well, this a CNN "Security Watch." The Department of Homeland Security is expected to get a major makeover. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is set to announce changes today. Chertoff ordered a review of the agency back in March. He's expected to highlight transportation and border security as some of his top priorities.

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

It's judgment day for the former head of WorldCom, Bernie Ebbers. This is new video just in to CNN of Ebbers arriving at the courthouse. He apparently pushes a photographer out of the way, you see. And Ebbers was found guilty in an $11 billion accounting scandal. He's set to be sentenced soon and is facing up to 85 years in prison.

During some comments to CNN, Ebbers described his situation as completely bizarre.

Pakistan's president is offering his condolences to the families of those killed in a massive train accident in southern Pakistan. Railway officials say missing signals at a station caused a deadly chain reaction that led to the collision of three trains. At least 107 people were killed, 800 others wounded.

Tropical Storm Emily is packing winds of about 60 miles per hour. The Windward Islands are feeling the effects right now. The National Hurricane Center says Emily is bringing heavy rains and possible flash flooding. It's also picking up strength and could be upgraded to a hurricane by tonight.

Back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks a lot. We're going to continue obviously to watch that story, too.

Let's go now back to Miles. He, of course, has got his eye on the lunch of the shuttle for this afternoon.

Hey, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Hey, Soledad. A little more than halfway through that fueling process, half a million gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, please. Make it high test. And so far so good for the Space Shuttle Discovery. All systems appear to be go.

Everybody's telling me -- the term here is loops, all the discussions between the controllers. Strangely quiet. That's good news. That's good news when there's quiet.

Astronaut Jim Reilly has flown into space twice on space shuttles, three space walks to his credit. He's got a flight coming up in a year. He's joining us here right now.

Take us inside the world of an astronaut on a day like today. Just like a cat on a hot tin roof?

JIM REILLY, ASTRONAUT: Well, it depends on the person, of course. But I think most people are pretty calm. You know what I mean?

At this point, you're kind of relaxed, you're kind of getting ready for the game, really. I mean, it's just like getting ready for the big game. So...

M. O'BRIEN: So focussed.

REILLY: Right now, the crew is just packing the last bit of their bags and their clothes away and getting ready to go don their flight crew equipment here in another hour and a half or so. And got a photo-op and lunch here in about an hour. So they're just kind of getting ready to go.

M. O'BRIEN: What are the kinds of things that you recall thinking about in the day? Were they odd things, or are they focussed on your task at hand?

REILLY: Pretty much focused on the task and what's coming up, you know, about what we were going to be facing on the ascent portion of it, what kinds of things could happen, and what we're trained to be able to respond to. And also, you think about your family a little bit, because you said good-bye to them yesterday. And then, of course, there's the astronaut's prayer we talked about earlier, and that is, you know, "Please god, don't let me mess this up," you know, that kind of thing.

M. O'BRIEN: Always keep that one handy. But when you think about your family, do you try -- you almost have to push that out to stay focused on the job? Because that's got to be an emotional thing when you start thinking about your children and your wife.

REILLY: Yes. I think most people probably think about it at two different levels.

You know, there's the technical part of your mind that's working on the job, you know, what are we going to do, where do we need to be? You know, all that, and what are we going to do as soon as we get to orbit, because it's going to be a really busy day.

Once that eight and a half minutes is over, then you have to convert this rocket ship into your spaceship. And that's a lot of work that has to get done within a couple hours. So...

M. O'BRIEN: Of course, add to all this what you went through, and now this crew coming off an accident. Can you imagine what's going on with them right now?

REILLY: They actually -- probably what they're thinking is that they are so ready to go they want to go right now. And they've been waiting a long time for this to happen.

O'BRIEN: Of course the training began before Columbia for many of them. And so this has been quite a long deal.

Let's talk a little bit about the countdown. We told you no engineering issues that we can see right now.

As you look at a picture of the launch pad out there, it's a beautiful day here. We've got some clouds that are kind of coming in. And I wanted you to point out one thing.

We've been talking about these thunderstorms within 35 miles of the launch pad being a problem. But also, because there are about 105 cameras trained on this shuttle in the wake of Columbia and the concerns about debris, it's important that they have a view. So there could be a problem with just plain old cloud cover, not thunderstorms necessarily, right?

REILLY: Exactly. In fact, one of the things that they'll be deciding, the launch control team will be looking at, will be how many cameras can see the vehicle at any one time. And they have a fixed constraint, and they'll be working around what they can see and what they can't see depending on how the clouds cover -- cover the trajectory for the vehicle as they leave today.

M. O'BRIEN: So that could be a situation where it's an otherwise benign day but the cameras can't see well enough and you'd have to wait until another day?

REILLY: That's correct. And that's kind of a sliding criterion depending on what's happening with the clouds and what's happening with the cameras. But as you mentioned, we have 107 different sensors that are going to be watching this vehicle. And the idea is to get the best possible three sensors looking at any one time, at any one distance. There's close in, there's intermediate distance and far distance cameras that will be focused. And they'll be looking and mapping out what coverage is available right up until the time of launch.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Jim Reilly is going to be with us all day today. And during our 3:00 p.m. special, Soledad, he will be guiding us through that -- the point they call terminal count, inside nine minutes, which is a particular tense moment as they get ready to do the launch.

3:00 p.m. Eastern is when we begin our special coverage. And as you know, that launch is planned for 3:51 p.m. Eastern.

And, of course, Chad Myers knows precisely what the weather is going to be like then, right, Chad?

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Here it was a beautiful day here, and they said, you know, "We can't take off because we can't see the runway in Morocco." And I remember there were a lot of Russian space dignitaries here that day, and they thought, you Americans are very strange, what's the deal with this. You know?

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. We're going to have much more from where you are this morning.

Also, still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, you'll recall reporter Judith Miller. She's the one who went to jail, "New York Times" reporter went to jail a week ago for refusing to reveal a confident source. Kelly Wallace has some new details on Miller's life behind bars. We'll bring that to you.

Also, more on the investigation into the London bombings. Authorities think now suicide bombers might be to blame. We'll tell you why that's significant up next on AMERICAN MORNING..

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: You're looking at pictures of Matt Cooper, the journalist. He's arriving at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. He is going to testify today before the federal grand jury that is investigating just who leaked the identity of a CIA operative, Valerie Plame. Unlike Judith Miller of "The New York Times," Cooper, of "TIME," has avoided jail by agreeing to testify before the federal grand jury.

We're going to continue to follow this story, obviously, as it continues to emerge.

Another thing that's emerging, a theory emerging in London on the suicide bombers who may have attacked three underground trains and a bus last week. If the four men seen by security cameras are responsible, then that means that the terrorists were home grown.

Terrorism expert Sajjan Gohel is live in our London bureau this morning.

Nice to see you again. And let's get into a little bit more about what we know about these four suspects now. Do you believe -- authorities stopping short of saying they are suicide bombers. Do you believe they are?

SAJJAN GOHEL, TERRORISM EXPERT: Indeed, Soledad, authorities have been reluctant to confirm they were suicide bombers, but it does increasingly appear that these -- this was the first ever attack on western Europe by suicide bombers. These four individuals came down to London, went on separate transportation systems, and launched their detonators, in which created one of the worst mass casualty atrocities Europe has seen.

It is a worry new dimension, because we've not seen this before. British individuals have gone abroad to become terrorists and suicide bombers, but not on the homeland, not on the society that they live in.

S. O'BRIEN: I guess you highlight, I think, two really important things there where you say it's worrying. One, home grown. Two, the fact that they are potentially suicide bombers. A different strategy that's seen.

What are the wide-ranging implications of both of those things?

GOHEL: What is particularly worrying, Soledad, is that these were just four individuals, foot soldiers. They obviously had to be recruited by an individual or a number of people. They were indoctrinated, they were brainwashed, they were given the guidance to become martyrs for their terrorist cause.

These individuals had no care about their own lives, let alone anybody else. And what is worrying is that there could be more out there.

We've only uncovered one cell. If these four individuals could be so easily recruited, there has to be more -- there could be potential ticking time bombs, not just in Britain, but in Europe as well.

Europe has altered from being the playground for the terrorists. It could become the battleground. The Madrid train bombings, the London terrorist attack, has changed the equation totally.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you know, or do you suspect who recruited these four?

GOHEL: What is so worrying about this, Soledad, is that we don't actually know who the main handlers, the recruiters are. We still don't know who recruited Ahmed al Masaed Sheikh (ph), the British Pakistani that killed and beheaded Daniel Pearl, the U.S. journalist. We don't know who recruited Richard Reid, the shoe bomber.

These individuals have become the invisible enemy, the people that can't be identified that are dispersed into the fabric of society and reappear to organize a terror cell. But they're very clever. They have been able to provide the logistics, the financing, but they don't take part in it. Therefore, their role is forgotten.

And they hope that they just disappear and the authorities don't pay attention. But this is the now the biggest concern for the British authorities, finding out these guys before more terror cells are activated.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I would imagine. Three of the four suspects from Leeds, about 200 miles north of London. Do you expect, predict, a backlash? Many, obviously, minority communities living in Leeds.

GOHEL: I think inevitably there might be small pockets where there could be a backlash against the Muslim population. But the U.K. has always been an open, liberal, tolerant society. And the most -- the majority of the people will not react to it.

Ultimately, the Muslim community has got to isolate these people, expose them for the terrorists that they are, and show that these individuals are hijacking a religion. If they can do that, then ultimately race religions can remain under control and there won't be any problems. But that's going to have to be done, because what we're seeing is that a lot of these individuals of Pakistani origin are proving a threat to their own country that they live in. It's very worrying and is a depressing dimension.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a tough conversation today. Sajjan Gohel, a terrorism expert with the Asia-Pacific Foundation. Thanks, Sajjan. Appreciate it.

Still ahead, much more from New York, and also Miles at the Kennedy Space Center. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: The White House defending one of the president's closest advisers. Democrats want Karl Rove fired. The current controversy surrounding Rove goes back more than two years. And like any big Washington scandal, there are many layers and many players.

Bill Schneider has got our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): He's been called Bush's brain. President Bush called him the architect of his re-election strategy. But Tuesday, President Bush avoided answering questions about his deputy chief of staff, Karl Rove, and Rove's involvement in a growing White House controversy.

The controversy goes back to January 2003, two months before the Iraq war, when the president made this statement in his State of the Union speech...

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

SCHNEIDER: Enter Joseph Wilson. It was six months later. Saddam Hussein had fallen. The former ambassador wrote an op-ed piece revealing that he had gone to Africa in 2002 at the CIA's request. He said he found no evidence to support the president's claim.

Enter Robert Novak. A week after Wilson's op-ed, the syndicated columnist called Wilson's credibility into question, saying the CIA regarded Wilson's report as less than definitive.

"Wilson never worked for the CIA," Novak wrote, citing two senior administration officials, "but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction." It's a crime to identify someone intentionally as a covert agent if the government is trying to conceal that agent's identity. Wilson charges it was political retribution by Karl Rove.

In September 2003, the CIA asked the Justice Department to investigate the leak. The president's response?

BUSH: If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.

SCHNEIDER: In December 2003, the attorney general appointed a special prosecutor. Throughout 2004, the prosecutor subpoenaed White House officials and reporters to probe for leaks. Karl Rove's name came up. The White House dismissed the charge. Rove himself offered a carefully-worded denial.

KARL ROVE, WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: I didn't know her name and didn't leak her name.

SCHNEIDER: It's now 18 months into the investigation. "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller refuses to testify about her sources. She goes to jail.

"TIME" magazine reporter Matthew Cooper does agree to testify after getting permission from his source. "Newsweek" identifies the source as Karl Rove. Rove's attorney confirms it.

So where are we? Three unresolved issues. Was there a crime? That could be hard to prove given the specific requirements of the law.

Did the White House deliberately mislead the public for the past two years? And why wasn't Rove fired if the president knew he was involved?

Last but not least, is it appropriate for a White House official to try to discredit a critic of the president, in this case Joseph Wilson, by leaking inside information on what the reporter called "double supersecret background"?

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: We've got much more after a short break on this special split edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We're coming to you live from New York and shuttle launch at the Kennedy Space Center.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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