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CNN Live At Daybreak

Emily Tears In; Rove Conversation; Getting Tough on Terror

Aired July 18, 2005 - 5:00   ET

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

BETTY NUGYEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is Monday, July 18. Hurricane Emily turns a tourist Mecca into a tourist mess. We're talking about heavy rains, lashing winds and high storm surges. Mexico's Caribbean coast is usually a nice place to visit, but not today.
Plus, the Iraqis take action against the former dictator. What is next for Saddam Hussein?

And Tiger Woods shows his claws and sinks his teeth into the history books.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is DAYBREAK with Betty Nguyen and Chad Myers.

NGUYEN: Well, good morning, everyone. We will have more on the hurricane in just a moment.

But also ahead, getting tough on terror. That is the new focus of the U.K. government just after the attacks in London. We will bring you the latest.

And lots of controversy surrounding Karl Rove. What did he know? What did he say? He's the subject of our email "Question of the Day."

But first, "Now in the News."

Victims of convicted bomber Eric Rudolph will get a chance to confront him. They'll speak at his sentencing today in federal court in Alabama. Now, under a plea deal, Rudolph will eventually get four life terms for deadly bombings in Alabama and Georgia.

Taiwan is being battered today by a powerful typhoon, packing winds over 100 miles per hour. It has shut down the island and has caused some bridges to collapse, as well as some flooding, mudslides and power outages.

There's also some wet weather right here in the U.S. Heavy rains turned roads into rivers -- look at this -- in northern New Jersey. Flash flood warnings were issued all across the region.

Speaking of weather this morning, it is a Monday, Chad. What a mixed bag. We've got hurricanes to talk about, flooding to talk about. What else do you have?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, still working on Emily here.

NGUYEN: Yes. (WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: All right, Chad. We'll check in with you soon.

MYERS: All right.

NGUYEN: CNN is your hurricane headquarters, and this morning we are tracking Hurricane Emily. It is turning a usually mild and a sunny tourist spot into a wet and windy mess. Emily has just been weakened to a Category 2 storm, but it is still pummeling Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula with 110-mile-an-hour winds.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is in Playa del Carmen and he joins us now by phone.

What kind of damage have you seen so far, Karl?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've spent the last the last few hours, Betty, severely battened down in a room in a beachfront hotel. The hotel workers simply boarded up the room that we're in and then left for the -- for the night. We've emerged only slightly now.

The winds are still very strong, but certainly the hurricane itself has passed. This is just the backlash of tropical storm-force winds.

From what I can see from the little that I've ventured out, there are a lot of trees, there's a lot of foliage out in the streets. But there doesn't seem to be anything in terms of major structural damage.

It seems that when the storm hit here, and as Chad was saying, more or less the eye of the storm passed very close to Playa del Carmen. And it seems that most of the damage is from a lot of the rubber trees here. The rubber trees aren't particularly stable trees, and the winds have brought a lot of those down.

In the last few moments, also, I've talked to the director of civil protection in Cancun. And he told me that in Cancun hurricane- force winds were not felt. That was tropical storm-force winds there. And he says up and down the coast so far he has no reports of any damage to human life. And the main problem is at the moment trees and some power posts down.

Of course it would have been a tough night for the thousands of tourists up and down the so-called Mayan Riviera here. But again, hotels we saw yesterday taking very strong measures to protect their guests and moving them away from rooms into solid structures inside their hotels -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Karl, now you have mentioned that you are inside a room in a hotel, everything is boarded up. But we were learning yesterday that some 130,000 tourists on the Yucatan Peninsula have been asked to evacuate. Where have many of them gone?

PENHAUL: Well, in fact, because the airports shut about mid afternoon, some of them who were due to leave and wanted to leave weren't able to leave. About 200 emergency shelters had been set up, up and down the coast. A large number of those in Cancun. In the event that Cancun wasn't as hard hit as they thought it may be, then a lot of the guests simply stayed in their hotels.

Here, down in Playa del Carmen, about 40 emergency centers. Some of the guests were, some of the tourists were bussed to those emergency centers. Others, though, simply stayed inside their hotels, battened down the hatches. And in the coming hours, as it starts to get light, we would expect them to emerge and start to assess what damage has occurred.

MYERS: Karl, I've been to Playa del Carmen, and I know that not all the hotels are as strong as the one that you were in. Any reference yet, any knowledge about those weaker hotels that were really beachfront in Playa del Carmen?

This is really an up and coming little town. You take the ferry from Cozumel over to Playa Car -- Playa del Carmen, and then you drive on up to Cancun. Very large, well-built structures there. Literally five-star hotels up and down that coast. But there are many one and two-star hotels that started out back in the '50s and '60s.

How have they fared?

PENHAUL: Well, you're absolutely right there, Chad. I mean, certainly some very giant hotel resort structures here.

We, it must be said, stayed more in the one and two-star hotel categories. That's partly because we couldn't get any rooms in the five-star hotels when we showed up yesterday. Nobody wanted any responsibility for anymore guests.

But as I say, it seems that the storm moved pretty far over the top here. And things are good here. I talked to the police at Playa del Carmen, and they say they have absolutely no reports of significant damages to structures and no reports of any casualties at this stage -- Chad.

NGUYEN: That is definitely some good news. Karl Penhaul reporting now from Playa del Carmen. We'll check in with you a little bit later this morning. Thank you, Karl.

And for the latest updates on where Emily is going and where it's been, keep it tuned to CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

Well, a hurricane swirls around the White House as well. You know, the one involving political adviser Karl Rove and the naming or not naming of that CIA agent.

"TIME" magazine reporter Matt Cooper is talking about that now infamous discussion he had with Rove two years ago this month. Our Elaine Quijano fills us in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "TIME" magazine reporter Matthew Cooper says until he talked to Karl Rove in July of 2003, he had never heard anything about former ambassador Joe Wilson's wife.

MATT COOPER, "TIME": After that conversation I knew she worked at the CIA and worked on WMD issues. But as I made clear to the grand jury, I'm certain Rove never used her exact name. And certainly never indicated she had a covert status.

QUIJANO: In the latest addition of "TIME," Cooper gives his account of that conversation two years ago, a conversation he testified about last week in front of a grand jury investigating whether Bush administration officials leaked the identity operative Valerie Plame. Cooper says he vividly remember a reaction from Rove at the end of their discussion.

COOPER: Well, he said, I've already said too much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think he meant?

COOPER: Well, at the TIME I thought well, maybe he meant he'd been indiscrete. And then said something important. Later, I thought, well maybe it was actually more benign like, I've said too much, I've got to get to a meeting.

So, I don't really know what he meant. But I do know the memory of that line has stayed with me for a couple of years now.

QUIJANO: While Cooper may be talking publicly, the White House is not commenting.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They were not involved.

QUIJANO: Two years ago, press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters Rove and Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby, were not involved. But Cooper now says both were sources.

According to Cooper, he asked Libby if he'd heard anything about Wilson's wife sending her husband to Niger to investigate claims that Iraq was trying to buy uranium.

Cooper says, Libby told him, "Yes, I've heard that, too." It is not clear how Cooper's testimony fits into special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation. Fitzgerald isn't commenting. But some say the fact Rove spoke to reporters at all about the matter, raises concerns.

JEFFREY SMITH, FMR. CIA GENERAL COUNSEL: Any senior government official who talks with a member of the press and the identity of a CIA officer emerges in the course of that conversation, a red flag ought to go up. And the government official ought to pause and think before he or she says anything to confirm the identity of that individual as being employed at the CIA. QUIJANO (on camera): Democrats are continuing their calls for Karl Rove to be fired or for his security clearance to be pulled. Republicans accuse Democrats of partisan politics.

And while President Bush isn't commenting, the administration is sending clear signals that Karl Rove continues to be part of the president's inner circle.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: And you know we had to go there today. Karl Rove, we want to know what you think. Should he be fired, resign or stay put? Go to DAYBREAK@CNN.com and email us your answers. This should be an interesting morning -- Betty.

NGUYEN: It happened here in the United States after 9/11, and now it is moving into that direction in the United Kingdom, getting tough on terror. Live now to London and our Jennifer Eccleston with the latest there.

Hi, Jennifer.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty. Well, Britain's home secretary, Charles Clarke, is set to introduce tough antiterrorism legislature later this day. It is there to better enable police and security officials to prevent any future attacks on London and, indeed, the rest of the United Kingdom, like those attacks which took place on July 7, which killed now upwards of 55 people.

And in that legislation, he will offer that it would be a crime to incite, to foster or to glorify terrorism. And he is presenting that legislation today to his opposition counterparts. They will have an opportunity to review it, and then it will go before the parliament after their recess some time in September.

Now, on to the investigation.

After the weekend release of CCTV pictures of those four bombers just one-and-a-half hours before all four of them detonated their bombs, police are calling on the public to examine those photos and to contact the authorities if they saw any of the men in the weeks, in the days and the hours before that deadly attack. Now, the police say they've taken over 800 witness statements and received over 3,000 calls on two antiterrorist hotlines. They've also viewed tape from over 6,000 CCTV cameras throughout London, and the investigators are now examining the evidence from property searches near Leeds and Elsbury (ph) -- that's north of London -- and the two hometowns of the bombs.

One of the houses under surveillance, that is being searched in Leeds, is purportedly linked to that Egyptian biochemist, Magdy el- Nashar. He was arrested in Cairo as part of the inquiry into the London bombings. But so far, through Egyptian authorities, he has denied any involvement in that July 7 attack -- Betty. NGUYEN: Bottom line, a lot of information coming in. We'll see how it all sorts out. Jennifer Eccleston in London. Thank you.

Still to come here on this Monday morning, Iraq's new government gets its legal machinery up and running. First on the docket, deposed dictator Saddam Hussein and his former henchmen. We will get a live report from Baghdad.

Plus, police in Aruba take their jailed teenage suspect back to a particular stretch of beach. We'll update the search for Natalee Holloway.

And this Tiger opens up to CNN after he tears up the old course at St. Andrews.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Taking a look, the international markets are a little mixed right now. Tokyo's Nikkei is down nearly six points. The London FTSE up 22 points. And the German DAX is up 15.5 points.

Your news, money, weather and sports. The time right now, 5:16 Eastern. And here's what's all new this morning.

Hurricane Emily has weakened to a Category 2 storm, but it's still giving Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula a pounding. Emily is now packing winds of 110 miles an hour.

About five hours from now, President Bush meets with India's prime minister. The two will talk about antiterrorism efforts, as well as India's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

In money, a lot of money. "Harry Potter" is a best seller already. The sixth book in the series sold nearly seven million copies in the first day alone, and that is just right here in the U.S. Sales of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" are averaging 250,000 copies every hour.

In culture, the happiest place on earth is 50 years old. Thousands of fans waited for hours to take part in Disneyland's 50th birthday party. They were even given golden Mickey ears to wear for the celebration.

And here's a bit of Disney trivia for you. A ticket on that first day cost just one buck. Now it is $56.

And in sports, Tiger Woods ran away from the field to win the British Open by five strokes. It was his second career British Open win. With that, he is third in overall major victories. This marking his 10th major. He trails only Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus.

Let's talk a little about weather this morning. Chad Myers joins us with a look at that. Boy, what a busy day.

MYERS: A little bit, Betty. Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Thank you, Chad.

We do have some breaking news that we want to tell you about right now. And for that, we want to go to Nic Robertson in London with the latest now on the terror investigation there.

Nic, what have you learned?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, we've learned today from Pakistani intelligence and immigration officials a very strong connection connecting three of the suspect bombers with Pakistan. Two of the suspect bombers, Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shahzad Tanweer, were seen photographed going into Karachi Airport in Pakistan on the 19th of November last year.

They are believed by these intelligence and immigration sources in Pakistan -- they are believed to have stayed in Karachi for a week and then taken the train to another Pakistan city, Lahore. They stayed in the country about a total of three months, we understand. They left on the 8th of February, just about four months ago -- four months ago from now.

We've also learned from the same sources that another of the suspects -- suspect bombers also traveled to Pakistan. He arrived there in July of last year. It's not clear how he'll -- how long he stayed in the country.

Also, it's not unusual, it has to be said -- and many people have reminded us of this -- it's not unusual for Britons of Pakistani descent to go back to their families in Pakistan. However, it has been widely, widely rumored, not confirmed yet, not at least by CNN, that perhaps while these men were in Pakistan that they attended some of these radical madrassas, radical religious schools where -- where quite an extreme version of Islam is taught.

That is not confirmed at this time, but this is the first concrete link that CNN has now linking three of these suspect bombers to Pakistan. Three of them visiting there last year, spending some time. Not clear, Betty, yet exactly what they did while they were there.

NGUYEN: Nic, let's take a look at the cities where they traveled to: Karachi and Lahore. Now, you mentioned these radical religious schools. Are they known for being in those particular areas?

ROBERTSON: One of the schools has been talked extensively about in the British media. Again, not confirmed by CNN. But one of those -- one of those religious schools is fairly close to the city of Lahore. And it is believed that that could be the school that perhaps they visited. Again, we do understand that -- again, this is reported in the British media -- that investigators, British investigators, Pakistani intelligence officials, have visited some of those religious schools in the area of Lahore. Again, it's not confirmed to us at this stage, but this is the first concrete confirmation that we've received, photographs recorded by immigration officials, all the suspect bombers arriving at Karachi Airport. The first time they can concretely be linked with Pakistan -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Nic, you also mentioned there is still that possibility that they just went to visit family members there in Pakistan. Do they have known family members in Pakistan?

ROBERTSON: Certainly Shahzad Tanweer. We've talked to his family while we were in Leeds last week. They told us that, yes, that he certainly does have family members living there. His -- within his family they have said that he had gone back to Pakistan, his uncle confirmed that he had gone back to Pakistan last year. He said to visit family members.

His uncle had said he wasn't aware of what his nephew, Mr. Tanweer, had been doing through all that time in Pakistan, who had met. And it's certainly believed to be a very strong line of inquiry that British officials have been following to try and find out, A, if these men went to Pakistan -- that's now confirmed for us -- and B, what they did while they were there.

It's not clear if Mr. Khan or Mr. Hussain were visiting relatives or had relatives there. But certainly at CNN, we have talked to Mr. Tanweer's relatives, and they say, yes, he does have relatives in Pakistan and he had gone back to visit them, they said.

NGUYEN: A new development in this investigation. Nic Robertson, thank you for bringing us up to date.

You're watching DAYBREAK. We have so much more to come. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MYERS: Getting your ideas on e-mails this morning about Karl Rove. Should he be fired, resign or just stay put? Go to DAYBREAK@CNN.com and give us your opinions. Many of you already have.

E-mails are flying in. Keep them going. We'll read them for you in a few minutes.

NGUYEN: Yes, no doubt this is a hot topic. Can't wait to hear what folks are saying out there today.

Moving on to sports, Tiger Woods went hunting over the weekend and came home with yet another trophy. His second career British Open title also gave him 10 major victories. And that is third for all time victories.

Now, after the win, Tiger sat down with CNN's Don Riddell to talk about the future and the past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tiger, congratulations on winning at St. Andrews again.

TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: Thanks.

RIDDELL: Has it sunk in yet?

WOODS: Yes and no. Yes. You know, the trophy is right here, which is pretty cool. And I came out on top. But as far as the pure celebration of it yet, we haven't started yet.

RIDDELL: What does it mean to you to win here at the home of golf twice?

WOODS: Two win two open championships -- well, to complete basically the two career grand slams for me at the home of golf, it doesn't get any better than that. I mean, this is where it all started.

For me to do that here on this venue, you look at that leader board today going out there. I mean, it was a who's who pick 'em. You know what I mean? Toss 'em a hat and pick 'em.

It was a going to be a battle out there. And that's what -- it's just so much fun to go out there with that excitement.

RIDDELL: You just must be hoping Jack Nicklaus can keep coming back and retiring.

WOODS: He needs to keep coming out, mean. I mean, he can't hang up the clubs now. I mean, just come out to major championships. That would be cool.

RIDDELL: What means more to you, winning this twice, the second career slam, number 10? What's more important?

WOODS: Ten.

RIDDELL: Why's that?

WOODS: Ten. Ten. Ten. I mean, to go from nine to 10, to have double-digit major championship victories, I mean, that's -- you're in elite company when you get to that point.

RIDDELL: And do you now think Jack's total is achievable? Does it feel that much closer, having broken double-digits?

WOODS: Well, I always thought it was achievable, but it was going to take a long time. It was -- it's not going to take, you know, five, six years. I mean, it would take an entire career. It took him 25 to get that point.

So if you think of it in terms like that, it' going to take a while. So you've just got to keep giving yourself opportunities.

No one has ever played the game at a level like Jack. And he put himself there in the major championships more than anyone else ever has.

And he won 18, 19 seconds. That's even more impressive than 18 wins, is that he was there so many times. And, you know, in the 15- year span here, he finished in -- what, the top six 15 straight years. I mean, that's ungodly. You know, hopefully I can be that consistent in the future.

RIDDELL: Just finally, what will be in that claret jug this evening?

WOODS: Anything and everything. That's alcoholic.

RIDDELL: You deserve it. Thanks very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Anything and everything he says.

Here's what's all new in the next half-hour.

We meet the woman behind the images of "Harry Potter" and all those best-selling novels.

Plus, we haven't heard about Saddam Hussein for a while. What's his legal status, and when will he be going on trial? We go live to Baghdad for the latest on that.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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