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Police Kill Man At London Subway Station

Aired July 22, 2005 - 08:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's the top of the hour.
Let's bring you up to date on what's going on in London.

It's been about three hours now since a dramatic scene at the Stockwell tube station, about a mile south of the Oval station, where yesterday that series of bombings occurred, three of them underground, one of them on the surface.

At the Stockwell Station, 5:00 a.m. Eastern time, a little after noon local time, undercover police officers, heavily armed, we're told, which in and of itself is a rarity in London, if you understand how the London police force and authorities operate, were pursuing a man who was described as of South Asian descent. There's some indication he may, in fact, be of Pakistani descent. Pursuing that person, wearing padded clothing on this sort of mid to cool day, perhaps not in and of itself suspicious.

Nevertheless, pursued him into the Stockwell station. He jumped a turnstile and then subsequently tripped, and then was shot dead by those officers.

We have reports from our sister network, Independent Television, in Great Britain, that there is, in fact, a link here to the bombings of yesterday, if not perhaps, perhaps the bombings of July 7th, although we can't draw any conclusions just yet on all of that.

But clearly it has the looks of a person who was being surveilled by the authorities for some time, perhaps made his way toward the underground, at which time the officers took some action.

Meanwhile, we had a report earlier of a situation at a mosque in East London. It appears to have just been a dialed in bomb threat. There was a police cordon there. But we have no reason to believe there's any other significance there, other than it was some sort of hoax.

We have reporters all over the streets of London this morning following this story for us.

CNN's Nic Robertson is as close as you can get to the Stockwell station. There's still quite a bit of distance between him and the tube stop itself, as police continue their investigation -- Nic, what are they telling you?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, they are saying that the man was -- that they chased into the station. They did give him a warning. They did shoot him and they pronounced him dead at the scene. An air ambulance was called in. Another ambulance came in. We haven't seen those vehicles leave this area yet, an indication the man's body may still be lying there.

But if I step out of the way, you can get a better idea of what's happening at Stockwell tube station.

If you look down the road past the cordons there, you can see at least two or three white police vehicles. They are parked right outside of Stockwell tube station.

Eyewitnesses say that they saw the man being chased in there this morning by the undercover policemen. They say that the man who appeared, as you say, to be of South Asian descent, jumped over the ticket barrier, went inside, jumped onto the train, tripped as he went in. Various reports of whether he was tripped or whether he was pushed to the floor by the police. All accounts, however, agreeing that the man was shot and was he shot three times or six times, as some people have said, that's not clear. But he was shot and the police have pronounced him dead.

We also know, if you look down that road, there is a veterinary clinic very, very close to the tube station down there and the police are holding witnesses there at that veterinary clinics, witnesses they will very, very likely begin to interview to find out exactly what happened.

This is what took place yesterday, that the eyewitnesses to the attacks yesterday were interviewed by the police. Security camera was analyzed by the police from the scenes of those attacks yesterday. The police yesterday saying that they expected very quickly to catch the would be bombers from yesterday. One media station here now at least, as you say, our sister network, ITN, linking the man shot today with the attacks yesterday. Again, the political have not yet confirmed that, but they did say yesterday a huge amount of information they expected to gather about the attackers yesterday. Was this man being followed into the tube station? That's not clear. But he was -- he did not stop when he was challenged by the police and he was shot and killed -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, and we should point out that the police were optimistic that they would have some luck getting the suspects in this case because it appears these bombs were misfires or duds, and, as a result, there was a lot of forensic information that was left behind.

ROBERTSON: That's right. And that forensic information, if the police can tie that in and use that with the earlier attacks, then it will perhaps help them catch the people behind the attacks who helped plan the attacks two weeks and should certainly give them much more forensic evidence than they had last time.

Of course, the attack two weeks ago, the bombs detonated, burnt up. This time, the bombs didn't fully detonate, didn't go off. That will leave the residue there that will tell the police what type of explosives were used. It might tell them some of the components that were used in building those explosives. There will be identifying features, perhaps, on some of the bags that were used. Again, that will be information the police can use.

So they were, the police yesterday, if there was one thing that they could take out of the attacks yesterday that they said they were pleased about was this much bigger haul of potential forensic information than they had in the attacks two weeks ago -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson in London, near the Stockwell station.

Thank you very much.

Certainly the ride on mass transit in London has been different since July 7th. It's really been different everywhere in the world, if you think about it. And specifically this morning in the City of New York, people might be getting some interesting questions from the authorities -- can we see the contents of that bag?

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly joining us now to talk about what is a big shift, unprecedented, asking people to show the contents of their possessions. So far, how has it been going?

RAY KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: So far it's been going well. We've only done it, really, for an hour now. But positive feedback so far.

I think the public understands that we live in changed times and this is just another tool to add to our toolbox, so to speak. It's not a panacea, we know that.

O'BRIEN: But...

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: At what point did you decide to do this?

KELLY: It was decided yesterday because obviously with the events in London, it's obvious that terrorists were continuing to focus on the transit system. This is not something new, but we wanted to add this. We thought it would also give a certain comfort level to our ridership.

COSTELLO: Now, you talk about the comfort level, I was just wondering why this wasn't instituted before, because there were bombings on trains in Madrid, right?

So why not -- why didn't you do it then?

KELLY: Well, again, I think, you know, kind of the confluence of events. And you had yesterday's events that show that there was still activity in the transit system. I think it's going to be for some time to come. I believe it's a prudent move.

O'BRIEN: How effective will it really be, though? Four and a half million people ride the subway system in this city. Talk about a needle in the haystack.

And if, in fact, there is a determined suicide bomber among them, would this really thwart them? KELLY: Well, if we find that needle, people are going to be appreciative. I think it gives potential terrorists something to think about. As I say, it's not the total solution. We know that. But it's an additional step. It's another layer of security. We're doing a lot of other things here in this city and it's just something additional.

O'BRIEN: Yes, but the thing about it is...

COSTELLO: And...

O'BRIEN: ... it seems as if a lot of this is after the fact, almost knee jerk reactions.

Do you have the sense, do you have the sense, though, that in general, mass transit has taken a real holistic, kind of big picture approach to keeping things safe and still making them convenient for people to use?

KELLY: Well, there are a lot of challenges in protecting mass transit. Just the very definition of mass transit means we move a lot of people quickly. So, you know, people are -- it's not like an airport, where you can control it much more readily. So there are a lot of challenges there.

When you say a holistic approach, some people say that's kind of backing off, that we haven't done enough for mass transit. I think this is a reasonable step to take.

COSTELLO: As you were looking at events unfold in London this morning, like police shoot a man. They shot at him five times. They killed this man in the subway station. Don't know what he was up to. They think it was something really bad.

Does that change the security measures? Will it change it today, here?

KELLY: No. We change what we do virtually on a daily basis. We do lots of things. We try to change the face that people see. I don't think this particular event will necessarily change anything. But it underscores the changed world that we live in.

O'BRIEN: What about the issue of profiling? We had former Mayor Rudi Giuliani on here just a little while ago and he said, you know, profiling is something that needs to be done. It just can't be racial profiling.

What are you instructing your officers here to look for?

KELLY: We're using a numerical criteria. The supervisors will go and make a determination we're going to stop one in 10 individuals, one in five. A lot of that will depend on the traffic flow...

O'BRIEN: But does that...

KELLY: ... to that part of... O'BRIEN: But does that really make sense? Is that really going to go after the likely suspects? If the tenth person is a proverbial 85-year-old little old lady, is that the person really to...

KELLY: Well, that's what we're going to do absent specific information. If we have specific information, then it changes the ground rules because then you may have a reasonable suspicion, which changes the criteria.

O'BRIEN: And is there...

KELLY: So what we're saying absent knowing specifically, you know, what we're looking for or who we're looking for, yes, we're going to continue to use a numerical formula.

O'BRIEN: And have you had specific intelligence that would indicate that the subways and buses here in New York are a target?

KELLY: No. No. We have no specific information. But obviously we have to look at what's happening in London and react accordingly.

COSTELLO: They didn't have specific information that that was going to go down either. So I suppose that's a factor, too. But Miles brought this up before. By the time you ask a potential suicide bomber to open his bag, isn't it too late? Couldn't he just detonate himself or herself right in the middle of the station?

KELLY: Well, it depends on what the station looks like, who's on the station. I think, quite frankly, we're more concerned about an enclosed subway train. It has, you know, certainly a greater significance. The station is a more open area. In fact, we may be doing some of these on the street. It depends on the configuration of the station.

We have 468 stations here in New York City.

O'BRIEN: All the focus on aviation security, all the money spent, billions of dollars, when weighed against the money that has been spent up to this point on mass transit it just completely dwarfs it.

And do you think that that's been a bit of a mistake? Should there be more emphasis, more focus on mass transit security?

KELLY: Yes. I think there should be more money on mass transit, without taking away from aviation security. I don't think enough money is spent on it. You know, basically the fight in Washington is over, right now, $3 billion, which is really pocket change in the big picture, as far as homeland security funds are concerned.

So I don't think there's enough spent on homeland security in total, in general. And certainly more should be devoted to transit systems, subway, rail lines.

COSTELLO: Commissioner Kelly, thank you for joining us this morning.

KELLY: Good to be here.

COSTELLO: We appreciate it.

We want to head out to the street now.

Allan Chernoff is at the 72nd Street subway station.

Are they checking bags there yet -- Allan?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, no, they're not. As we've told you before, there are two officers here based at 72nd and Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. They've been here since 6:30 in the morning. They have not checked a single bag.

I spoke with the officers and they said that's not their assignment today. Normally, actually, they're based up in Harlem. So they have come down here. They're here for the morning, they say possibly the entire day. But they're just on a regular patrol, not checking the bags.

We have been checking, though, with the New Yorkers who have been coming in and out of the station, an informal poll. Seventy percent have told us they are totally in favor of this bag checking; 12 percent have said they're opposed. One said, "I feel as if I'm in Russia now." And 18 percent were simply too busy to stop to talk to us. And that certainly is a bit of a challenge for the police department here, because New Yorkers are almost always in a rush.

However, they are going to have to stop if they do want to get into the subway, if the officers want to check their bags. If they refuse, people will be allowed to simply leave the station, won't get onto the subway cars.

But clearly this is a controversial issue in New York, even though it appears the vast majority of New Yorkers are very much in favor -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Allan Chernoff live in New York this morning.

Thank you.

O'BRIEN: As we've been telling you, it could be a significant break in this case in the sense that police in London this morning, just a few hours ago, pursued what may, in fact, have been a suspect involved in those bombings yesterday, into a station and ultimately he was shot dead. But perhaps it could lead to other suspects. Maybe that net is being cast even as we speak.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour on the streets of London this morning, this afternoon there, giving us a sense of where authorities are and, for that matter, where people are in the wake of all this -- Christiane. CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, where authorities are is that they are going to hold a press conference within the next half hour, we are told. And what we hoped to hear is whether there was any direct link between the suspect, the person they shot today and the bungled bombings of yesterday.

Apparently, according to some British television reports and British press reports here, police sources are saying there was a connection. Scotland Yard is not yet saying that officially for the record. So we're waiting to hear about that.

In terms of commuters and people, you know, again, this is not a city that's ground to a halt. This is not a city in mass panic. This is not a city where everybody has suddenly decided not to come from the outer suburbs or their homes to come to work. Things are proceeding. The train system, the subway system is still working. Obviously, there are certain lines that have been affected that have been closed down.

But there is, from what I can detect, a rising sense of certainly anxiety, a little bit of fear, obviously, and anger. People now are getting angry about this. And, of course, London has been the only state, the only city in this wave of now several years of terrorist bombings, to have got it several times in such quick succession.

So this is something that people here are asking, are we going to have to learn to live with this? Is this going to be bad -- to the bad old days of the IRA, when everybody here was on alert for decades, really, because of those things?

But, they're saying now that these al Qaeda bombers make the IRA look like fairies. That was a quote from one that I had spoke to today -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Christiane, in the wake of all of this, what it really does, more than anything, I think, is point out the vulnerabilities. Because after all that was said after July 7th, and presumably done, I say presumably done, but we can only assume security was upped as they said it would be, the bombers, even though they bungled it, were able to get in position to do the deed. And that's got to shake people a little bit.

AMANPOUR: Well, that is absolutely true. I mean really, Londoners think today that they got off -- they were extremely lucky yesterday. But for a bungled batch of either explosives or detonators, there could have been the same carnage on the underground and the bus that there was two weeks ago.

So, again, still waiting to hear the precise nature of those devices that apparently were left at the scene by these attempted bombers yesterday, but certainly people are feeling how could this have happened again in such short succession, even though the police had warned, after July 7th, that this could happen again and they could strike again.

You know, the standard answer we get is that, yes, they did raise security, that we saw with our own eyes security was increased since July 7th. People who travel the underground, people who travel on the streets saw more police presence, sniffer dogs and that kind of thing. But the fact is that three million people use this open system every single day.

And the mayor has said that there is absolutely no way to screen everybody. The technology -- the only technology that can do that is airport technology. That would add untenable lengths of time to people's journeys. And it would also be impractical because they can't fit that equipment in many of the subway stations, which are very small and cramped.

However, today certainly on call-in radios and others, people are saying well, perhaps if that's the price it takes to improve our security, we'll just have to get used to much longer travel times. This is all, you know, people thinking, a work in progress, as people try to figure out whether this is something they're going to have to learn to live with and whether life is substantially going to change here in this city.

O'BRIEN: Christiane Amanpour, that's a troubling thought, to think you'd have to go through a metal detector to get on the subway. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Thank you very much.

We are going to continue our coverage.

We have people all over the City of London right now in the wake of these bombings, significant events today, what appears to be a suspect linked to those bombings shot dead by police.

We have details for you and further coverage after a brief break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Just about 24 hours and about a mile away from where those thwarted or bungled bombing attempts occurred yesterday in the City of London, a dramatic scene at a tube station there, a subway station, at the Stockwell station, just south of the Oval station, where it all began yesterday.

British authorities, heavily armed, pursuing a man described by some as of Pakistani descent, perhaps, wearing padded clothing, pursued him into that subway station. He jumped the turnstiles, made his way to the train, tripped, fell and then was shot dead. And there are reports this morning from our sister network, Independent Television News in Great Britain, that he is, in fact, linked to those bombings of yesterday, if not, perhaps, the July 7th bombings, although we haven't made any links along those lines just yet.

We are expecting a briefing from authorities at Scotland Yard within this hour. And you, of course, see it live here on CNN.

In the meantime, we have reporters all over the City of London watching this story for you as it unfolds. CNN's Nic Robertson is at the station where that dramatic police pursuit and shooting occurred, Stockwell.

He joins us now live -- Nic.

ROBERTSON: Well, Miles, the police haven't yet confirmed whether or not the man was linked to -- whether or not the man who was shot dead was linked to the bungled attacks yesterday. Certainly, as you report, our sister network, ITN, has said that, and I think this gives us an indication of how seriously the police must have taken the threat that this man posed, because if they, in their minds, had already linked him to the attacks yesterday, clearly for them he would have posed and been a very rich source of information for their inquiries. So they would have weighed that up against whether or not to shoot him and how to tackle him and how to deal with him.

The fact that eyewitnesses said he appeared to be wearing a padded, thick jacket, perhaps put in their minds he may have been wearing some kind of suicide bomber's jacket -- that would likely have gone through their minds.

But if we look at the information that's coming to us now, without trying to speculate too much, in the policemen's mind, as they approached this man, gave him a warning and chased him into the station, they must have thought that he posed a very serious, very real and very immediate danger to shoot him, particularly knowing that potentially he might have had very, very important information.

Of course, in the investigation so far into the attacks two weeks ago, the police have only arrested one man. Four bombers died in their attacks two weeks ago. The four bombers from yesterday apparently escaped. Perhaps one of them killed here now. But, of course, it's the bombers themselves and the people associated with the attack who have all the information that police are looking for -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Nic, there were some early reports which seemed to indicate there might have been a backpack involved. And now I think they're backing off of those reports, correct?

ROBERTSON: Again, the reports we're getting from eyewitnesses, most of what we're hearing tends to indicate that the man wasn't carrying any bags with him, at least when he got onto the train, which is where we have most of the reporting from the eyewitnesses. So it would seem that the attack -- from what we know about the attackers yesterday and the attackers two weeks ago, they carried backpacks. This man didn't appear to be carrying one, did have a heavy padded jacket, as it's been described by eyewitnesses, at least so far -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: And that heavy padded jacket, of course, could be, you know, we've heard of these suicide bombing vests that you see in, throughout the Middle East wherever you see these attacks.

Nevertheless, today in London, was the temperature such that just somebody wearing a heavy padded jacket would arouse suspicion? ROBERTSON: I think, and this is where this is a sort of a scientific answer, if you will, Miles, today is slightly cooler than other days. This is a multi-cultural society. People come here from all over the world and they have different feelings on how hot and cold it is. I think a Scotsman might have been in a t-shirt today. Other people here might very well have chosen to have worn heavier clothing.

So very difficult to judge why somebody would want to wear a heavy padded jacket, but...

O'BRIEN: All right, so, it's not...

ROBERTSON: ... on average, for today, a little warmer than normal.

O'BRIEN: So it's not as if there was some tremendous heat wave underway this morning and that just in and of itself would have caused suspicion.

The sense we're getting here, though, Nic, and see if you can bear this out for us, is that this person was being watched for a period of time, probably a long time prior to his arrival at the tube stop.

Is that accurate to say at this point?

ROBERTSON: It would be reasonably accurate to say, from the pieces of information we have. Again, if you base it on the fact that there were armed police involved, undercover police at the station, we know that police have stepped up security at stations around London, but it would be unusual, certainly, in the least, to have police, armed police on the stations as part of normal procedure.

So the very fact that police were there, the fact that eyewitnesses say that the man was chased in, perhaps indicates that he was coming in from somewhere else. Perhaps the police, Miles, had been propositioned there. Perhaps they knew the identity of this man. After all, this was only one tube stop away from one of the attacks yesterday. Perhaps the police were aware that he potentially lived in the area and that if they waited at the tube station, he may well come through and they may well catch him.

These details we may learn from the police in a little while.

But, again, the fact that the armed police were there and ready an indication that perhaps they knew of this man in advance.

O'BRIEN: And for -- help us out with an American audience here on this point. As most British police officers are not armed, what they do is they have small teams, three person teams typically that are brought in when you have particularly dangerous suspects that need to be apprehended or, for whatever reason, the need to have some firepower. And so, as you point out, it would be some coincidence if they were just happened to be there. Perhaps this, as you say, leads us to the conclusion that this person was being pursued for quite some time.

ROBERTSON: Absolutely. What we've seen on the streets is an increase in the presence of the police. But typically you will see two policemen together. They often are now wearing very fluorescent green jackets. It really seems to be a statement to the general public here that you can see the police. That there are a lot of police around. So making themselves very visible.

So normally you would see them in twos, perhaps threes. They would normally be unarmed. There are special armed response units.

But, again, undercover police with weapons, again, an indication that perhaps they did have some idea. In London, police generally aren't armed. Most of the bobbies on the beat you see here would not have a weapon with them -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: And a final thought from you at this juncture, Nic.

This is your home. You woke up. You probably used the tube this morning yourself. Millions of Londoners did, as well.

What -- was it significantly different this time, given the sense of such vulnerabilities of the system were pointed out by this attack yesterday, two weeks after July 7th?

ROBERTSON: Actually, this morning I didn't ride the tube. A couple of days ago I rode down on the train system, the same line that the bombers took. Certainly -- this is a bombers two weeks ago. Certainly people are concerned and the second attack has right in that -- heightened that anxiety. And certainly the incident of today will raise it further. It will make people very aware that potentially something could happen to them on their way to work.

But really, for most people who would normally use the tube, there really aren't many other options. The roads are very slow. The city is congested. Traffic is bad. The quickest and easiest way to get to work is the underground system. And for many people, they have no other choice.

So it is carry on as normal. But certainly people are concerned.

Again, I would balance that to -- against what we saw last night. A lot of people on the streets of London, in the pubs, in the evening, relaxing after work, really not terribly concerned about what had happened.

But I think once people get on the tube to take that ride home, they're very aware now that there is a potential that something could happen to them -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson, thank you very much.

He's at the Stockwell station.

We'll check back with you shortly -- Carol. COSTELLO: And we want to remind you once again, we are expecting a news conference from Scotland Yard. We expect it to start at any time. And when that begins, of course, we'll bring you there live.

You can see the room. They're still waiting for that news conference to begin.

Right now, we want to bring in Dan Smith.

He's a senior intelligence analyst from AKE Limited.

Good morning, Dan.

DAN SMITH, INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: You've been listening to details of this shooting inside the Stockwell station. The man was wearing a padded jacket, supposedly. He jumped a turnstile. He tried to get on the train. The police were chasing him.

What does all of that tell you about this suspect?

SMITH: Well, I suspect it was a highly intelligence, that operation. The police were undercover, they were plainclothes detectives. What I suspect, after yesterday's attempt bombings that went wrong -- incidentally, one of the attacks was near Oval station, which is actually quite near Stockwell station.

I suspect immediately after that attack the police would have gone in and received pretty good CC-TV pictures. And from that, they would have deduced a list of suspects they probably would have thought could have possibly carried out attack. And I suspect this guy was actually one of those identified. And since then, police in the area have been looking for this gentleman. And I guess this morning he probably bolted. And unfortunately for him, he was killed by police.

COSTELLO: But if he is connected to the bombings in some way, to go back the very next day, knowing that security is really tight, what kind of psychology is at work here?

SMITH: Yes. Well, if he was actually a suicide bomber, which we're supposing they were yesterday, they don't actually book return tickets as such. He would have assumed he would have been dead yesterday afternoon. So his escape, exit strategy, would have been quite limited and they probably didn't even discuss it within his cell, how he was actually going to get out of there.

So I would imagine last night he had a pretty rough night somewhere in the immediate area and was trying to work out some way to get out of the area. As I said, this morning bolted. But, of course, that's obviously speculation and we are waiting on the police conference to confirm some more details on that.

COSTELLO: We certainly are. And Scotland Yard hasn't confirmed that as of yet. Let's talk about the bombings yesterday. Were they the work of amateurs or were they connected to a terrorist group like al Qaeda?

SMITH: Well, I mean the connections to al Qaeda are difficult to say at this early stage. I mean, they bear striking similarities of those of the 21st of July, in terms of the targets they chose and also the means of delivering. Now, from police sources and also media speculation after the event, we're led to believe the devices bore similarities to those of the 21st of July. And from that we can probably conclude they were made up of a homemade device, possible acetone peroxide, which was what was used on the 21st -- sorry, the 7th of July, I beg your pardon.

So there's a similarity there. I'd guess they are a jihadist, Islamic group. And for that reason, there is a strong possibility that they are linked in some way to al Qaeda or influenced by Osama bin Laden and that particular extremist thought.

COSTELLO: One of the reasons experts feel that these bombs didn't explode -- in fact, they believe the ones that did explode, maybe just the detonators exploded, was because the explosive material was old. And, also, because all four bombs malfunctioned, does that point to one person as assembling each of these explosive devices?

SMITH: I would have thought so. Typically, I mean, if the two cells were carried out, the 7th of July and the 21st of July attacks are linked in some way, they would almost certainly not have different bomb makers, as such. Bomb-makers are really quite valued within a terrorist group and they'd be quite well-protected. So I suspect it's one bomb maker gathered the parts, either assembled it himself or gave clear instructions to these individual cells on how to assemble the actual bombs.

COSTELLO: Why do you think that these bombs are being placed on subway trains at the noon hour?

SMITH: That's the possibly the most puzzling thing about the attacks of yesterday. Now, clearly, the 7th of July attacks were designed to disrupt commuter traffic. I'm not sure if you're aware, but in London, at lunchtime, the tubes are more often than not empty. And certainly the tubes -- the tube trains they attacked yesterday were in a part of town which would have caused, quite honestly, minimal chaos if they had gone off properly. So why they chose those ones is an intriguing aspect of the investigation. And at the moment, there is no definite answer why they did so.

COSTELLO: I guess if there is any bright note, and I even hate to term it that way, but, of course, investigators have a wealth of clues. I mean, they have the unexploded bombs and now they've killed this man in the Stockwell Station. That might also provide them clues.

SMITH: Well, yes, you're absolutely right. It's pretty harsh to look at yesterday in anything but unpositive light, but we have to take the positives from it. These devices failed to go off. We have reasonably good CCTV footage of the men who planted these devices, who also have the devices themselves. Now, when a bomb goes off, valuable forensic information is lost. Because these devices didn't go off, stuff like hair, the actual precise construction of the devices, and so on and so forth, might actually still be intact. But from that, police should be able to find out some pretty good clues.

COSTELLO: Dan Smith, senior intelligence analyst from AKE Limited. Thank you for joining us this morning.

SMITH: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Let's bring you up to date on what we now. About three and half hours ago in the city of London, less than 24 hours after those bombing, which occurred two weeks after the July 7th attacks, London police, undercover, plain clothes police, pursued an apparent suspect in those attacks of yesterday at the Stockwell Tube Station, about a mile south down the line from the Oval Station where the attacks all began, a little after noon yesterday. In the course of that pursuit, that suspect jumped a turnstile, made his on way to a train, tripped, fell and then was shot dead by the authorities.

Now, this link between the bombings and the suspect is reported by our sister network, Independent Television News. We do expect a police briefing. Metropolitan police at Scotland Yard, momentarily. And as soon as that happens, of course, we'll bring it to you. And perhaps we'll be able to say something more definitive about any apparent link to those bombings of yesterday.

In the meantime, we've been hearing from witnesses as they described, really, a wild scene, a scene right out of Hollywood, inside that tube stop at Stockwell this morning. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... shouting. Everyone was, you know, running into the station. And the actual passengers -- some of them were crying. They were scared. They didn't know exactly what was happening. And as soon as the policemen or the marked men were shouting, open the gates, open the gates, the underground man was just standing, you know, looking at them. They didn't know what to do.

And, eventually, they -- you know, they managed to open the gates. The police just went into there. They cleared the station and they close it and that's it. So I said, you know, let me get the bus to get to Hucksell (ph). (INAUDIBLE), and it stopped. So I have to make all the way, you know, go around the area to get into the office. And I'm a bit late today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was the reaction of the passengers around you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it's -- everyone was surprised, shocked. All the ladies that I've seen there, they were kind of just basically crying. They didn't know what was going on. And, obviously, the police tried to clear, you know, the station. And it was chaotic. Everyone, you know, the buses were just, you know, standing in the middle of the road. They didn't know where to go and everyone just came off the buses and just moved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me ask your name, please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The name is (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... tube train. It hadn't pulled out the station at this time. The doors were still open. But a lot of shouting, get down, get out. I looked to my right. I saw a chap run on to the train, Asian guy. He run up to the train. He was running so fast he half-sort of tripped. But he was being pursued by three guys. One had a black handgun in his hand, left-hand. And as he sort of went down, sort of dropped on to hold him down, and the other one fired. I heard five shots, basically.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that in front of the -- on the train?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was about maybe four or five yards along from where this actually happened. I watched it. I actually saw it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So the train had pulled into the station and someone had come on to the train?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the train was sitting in the station, with the doors open, waiting to pull out. It seemed to be taking quite a long time. And then I heard all this, get down, get out. And I as I said, I looked to my right, saw the guy run on to the train. He was running so fast, he half-tripped. And bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Five shots.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was going through your mind?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was quite surreal, really. I think I hung around longer than I should, because by this time, most people would have got off. But there was a sort of elderly woman sort of large-built, and she was having a -- she couldn't move very fast. So I tried to watch her along, help her along, get her up the escalator. As I was getting up the escalator, there must have been 15, 20 police coming down, all of them armed, sub-machine guns, pistols.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: What an amazing witness account. He certainly has an eye for detail and we appreciate that. It helps us understand quite a bit about it. We have that briefing coming up momentarily. There you see the room. As soon as that briefing begins, we get some more details from the authorities as to what happened. Although we're just hearing potentially it might be a little bit later. Yesterday, a similar situation. Obviously they had their hands full there, trying to get their hands wrapped around what happened. As soon as it happens, you will see it live here on CNN, of course -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Of course you will.

Taking a look at security here in the United States. Extra security measures are being taken on transportation systems around the U.S. Dan Lothian, live in downtown Boston this morning. Tell us more, Dan. DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. We are at Government Center. This is one of the busy stops in downtown Boston. Law enforcement officials have been paying a lot of attention to security here since the original bombings in London. But, obviously, after what happened yesterday, there's even more concern.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice-over): A public warning across Boston's transit system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you see something, say something.

LOTHIAN: It's been part of a security campaign since the first London bombings triggered an orange alert.

JOHN BLANCHARD, TRANSIT PASSENGER: I keep my eyes open a little more just because, you know, I'm worried.

LOTHIAN: Now, a stepped up effort.

DAN GRABAUSKAS, MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSIT AUTHORITY: We have deployed, at this point, additional personnel. If you want to think of it as sort of orange alert plus.

LOTHIAN: In New York City, starting today, police will begin conducting random searches of bags and purses carried by passengers entering the subway system.

RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: For every certain number of people will be checked. It won't be done on a, certainly no racial profiling. It is primarily focused on the subway system, but we reserve the right to also do it as people get on buses, as well.

LOTHIAN: There's a heavier than normal law enforcement presence on the water, streets and around subways. MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: We just live in a world where, sadly, these kinds of security measures are necessary. Are they intrusive? Yes, a little bit. But we're trying to find that right balance.

LOTHIAN: In the nation's capital, extra sweeps of trains and buses. And defiance from subway passengers unwilling to surrender to terrorists.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you don't take the ones that we have, you let them win. That's just not right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not going to let it affect my life.

LOTHIAN: Federal, state and local officials are trying to reassure Americans.

GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R), MASSACHUSETTS: And we don't have any reason to believe that our transit system is under threat. LOTHIAN: Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney hopped onto the so- called T line in Boston to reassure some nervous commuters that public transportation is, indeed, safe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: We saw a transit officer here patrolling the station using dogs. Now, the governor says there's no way to make the system 100 percent safe, but he says one way of getting at that is getting at a terrorist long before he decides to strike -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Dan Lothian, live in Boston this morning.

O'BRIEN: We are live in Boston, and we're live all across the city of London, we're live in New York as we follow the upshot of that bombing yesterday and some police activity in London. We do expect a police briefing. It's just been delayed as we referred to just a few moments ago. About an hour and 20 minutes from now is when we expect to hear from Scotland Yard, and whenever it happens, you will see it here live on CNN.

Stay with us as our coverage continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back to our continuing coverage as we track the upshot in the wake of those bombings in London a little more than 24 hours ago now. Authorities there with an apparent pursuit of a suspect that may have some link to those bombings, ultimately chasing him into a subway stop that was not far from where this all began to unfold yesterday, jumped over a turnstile into the carriage of a train and ended up shooting him dead there.

Once again, that link to the bombings. At this point, we are hanging that on the Independent Television News, our sister network. We expect a briefing from the authorities shortly, where we hope to hear a little bit more about any possible link.

COSTELLO: Yes, you know, the rub here is that people are wondering if British undercover officers were following this man. He seems to be from South Asia. We don't know for sure, but that's what he looked like. They were following him into the Stockwell Station. For some reason he jumps the turnstile, runs down the escalator, actually makes it on to a train, and that's when police shot him dead.

O'BRIEN: Which raises a lot of questions, because clearly we have heard from witnesses that he apparently did not have a backpack with him. So we may not have been witnessing necessarily another attempt at a suicide bombing, but had some heavily padded clothing as well. So all kinds of possibilities, all kinds of questions to ask authorities about the surveillance and the pursuit of this the person who is an apparent suspect at this point. Once again, we'll find out more when that briefing begins. Looks like there's some activity there now, but we're told it's going to be at least another hour before we hear from the authorities there. COSTELLO: And we were talking to authorities here in New York City. Because of the bombings yesterday in London, there's increased security now at subway station in Boston and New York and Washington D.C. We spoke with the former Mayor Rudy Giuliani about security measures here. Apparently the police will randomly ask you to check your bag. So don't be surprised if you into a subway station in New York this morning, and somebody says, hey, we need to look in your bag.

O'BRIEN: It's unprecedented. It's the 4th Amendment in the Constitution. The Bill of Rights talks about unreasonable search and seizure. The question is, what -- where do you draw that line in this day and age? People can refuse to have the authorities open the bag, but they also will be walking to work and not getting access to the subway system. So that is the day and age in which we live. The question is, does this really afford an added measure of safety. It certainly affords an added measure of inconvenience?

COSTELLO: Do we have some sound from Rudy Giuliani? Because we talked to him earlier, and Miles, you talked to him about racial profiling, if this would mean that.

Here's his response:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FMR. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Oh, sure. Well, first of all, there are vulnerabilities. You're dealing with possible suicide bombers. We're all vulnerable. Any place is vulnerable. You can't watch everybody. That's physically impossible. It would have an enormous impact on human liberties if you did that. So you have to use selective techniques. And selective techniques are going to have openings. You have surveillance. You have intelligence. You have technology. But then, you know, there's so many possibilities in a place like London, like New York, Washington D.C., that we're all vulnerable. This is something we're vulnerable, too. So we kind of have to do what that woman in London said. It's a stress. We have to live with it, and then, as they say in England, move on.

GIULIANI: It depends what you're profiling. If it's racial, ethnic, or religious profiling, gender profiling, or whatever, that's illegal, wrong, inconsistent with our notion of human liberties. However, if you're profiling characteristics that fit the criminal. You know, if it's reported that a 6'2" man that's has just committed a murder, you don't go look for 5'1" women; you go looking for 6'2" men. So if what you're profiling, or what you're looking at or what you're focusing on are the characteristics that fit, what validly would describe possible terrorists, well, then, that isn't. That's sensible -- it would be almost irresponsible not to use that as some factor in determining how you're going to narrow it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So they're randomly searching people's bags here in New York. They're randomly searching people's bags in Boston, but not in Washington D.C., although there are added security measures there. Let's head to Union Station in D.C. and check in with Kimberly Osias.

Good morning.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Carol and Miles.

Well, they are not doing any kind of random searches of bags here yet. However, officials are keeping a close watch on,000 things go in New York. And I sort of took a random informal poll of commuters just inside, a very mixed bag. Some people saying it's an invasion of their civil liberties, an invasion of privacy, and other people saying they feel OK with it. Of course we are outside Union Station, very busy, rush hour right now, this Friday. We are outside because of security concerns. They won't allow us to video or be present inside. We have been at an orange level, a very high alert level for the past two weeks. That continues.

However, metro transit authority took an unusual step of actually ratcheting up security even more so last night, shutting things down, not allowing any kind of maintenance crews to come in so they could have the bomb-sniffing dogs out and police present. There are some 700,000 passengers that travel on these lines each and every day, second in volume only to New York City. They are an extra set of eyes for officials here. Today people feeling a mixed bag of nerves as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a little strange coming out of metro today and have been machine gun kind of waiting for you after you put your card in and, you know, on your way. There's more of a presence, I think, of the police, but not enough so that I feel uncomfortable, or any more comfortable I think in some ways.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was pretty calm. I mean, I looked around and, like, for a brief second I tried to, like, spot people around me. But, like, for the most part, people were calm. People weren't very tense. It's been just as busy and hectic as it has for the rest of the week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: ... infusing an extra $200 million into the Homeland Security Bill. However, some outspoken senators, like Charles Schumer, saying that is simply not enough for vulnerable rail -- Miles, Carol.

COSTELLO: Kimberly, you know what this reminds me of. I was in Washington when that plane hit the Pentagon on 9/11 and, you know, you heard military helicopters flying overhead all the time, and you often saw police carrying machine guns around the city. So it probably is an unpleasant reminder to many people there.

OSIAS: Very much so. I mean, people say it's obviously disconcerting, but certainly indicative of the world that we are living in. COSTELLO: Kimberly Osias, live from Washington, D.C. this morning.

O'BRIEN: The witness accounts of what happened this morning at the Stockwell tube stop, the underground station, are really quite dramatic. One witness told the BBC that the suspect who was ultimately gunned down by the authorities looked like a cornered fox, said he looked petrified. Another was talking about how this -- there were machine guns and shouting and some people crying, open gates. Didn't know what to do, managed to open the gates. People running in, people were shocked. People wanted to get out of those carriages. You can only imagine the sense of panic that people must have felt on those subway trains this morning.

CNN's Nic Robertson is very near the Stockwell tube station where this all unfolded -- Nic.

ROBERTSON: Well, Miles, let me bring you up to date on what's happening at the tube station here. A helicopter has come in. In the last few minutes, we've seen an ambulance leave the area. We know that an ambulance was called in after -- responding to the shooting of the man at the station. But also, we have seen the police now increase their presence here. A lot of police, motorcycle riders, came in. That was followed shortly after by a large police truck that had police control unit written on the side of it, along with another police vehicle.

It appears as if the police are bringing in more resources here, getting a more substantial presence, perhaps bringing in this truck to process some of the eyewitnesses that they have collected at a veterinary clinic very close to tube station. We're looking down the main road here. This road would, of course, normally be busy. We're looking down this road, towards the center of London.

On the left of the picture is where the station would -- is where the station is. And high in the sky, just above the station, I don't think we can go up and see that, but if you go a little bit above the station, you can see the helicopter circling above the station. Not clear exactly what the helicopter is doing. It's appeared the area in the last few minutes, Miles.

But again, the information, the clarity from the police about what happened today -- our sister network ITN reporting that the man shot at the station here today was linked with the attack yesterday. The police haven't said that. A police press conference, where we're expected to get more details on what happened here, on what took place, that's been delayed for an hour. And an air of increased activity. More police presence here at this station right now -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Nic, a couple things here. First of all, the ambulance. Do we have any reports of anyone else being injured in the crossfire or ricochets or anything like that? Or is that presumed to be, perhaps, carrying the body of the suspect?

ROBERTSON: That would seem to be the logical conclusion at this time. There were no other reports of injuries. We know that one ambulance, one ground ambulance, was called in, one air ambulance called in. This is the first ambulance we've seen leave. The windows were darkened. Obviously, we tried to take a look in to see what we could see, but we couldn't. It was impossible to tell if there was somebody inside, how many people, dead or injured, not clear. But it would seem and it would be a logical supposition that the ambulance was taking away the body of the man killed. But, still, that is not clear and not confirmed by the police -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Of course, it could have been an ambulance who was called to the scene just in case. And that leads me to my next question. I would assume that the authorities might have reason to believe that this body in that train might very well be carrying some sort of explosives. Do you have any indication as to whether the bomb squad is there and whether they're treating that scene as if there is an explosive device?

ROBERTSON: From where we're standing, Miles, we haven't seen the bomb squad go in. Generally, they're quite easily identifiable because the bomb squad here is part of -- is a unit deployed from the British Army. So they're reasonably easily distinguishable. We haven't seen them go in. But there certainly was speculation that the man may have been -- may have been wearing some kind of suicide vest. People described him wearing a padded jacket.

And as we analyze what has taken place here today, if the police were chasing this man, as our sister network here is saying, because he was connected to the attacks yesterday, the very fact that they would have -- there's a lot of public around here, apologize for the man walking through. That if they shot him, they were very, very seriously concerned that he was a threat to people's safety because, of course, if he was a suspect, they would have known that he would have had very useful information that could lead to finding the other people behind the attacks and lead, perhaps, to the masterminds behind the recent attacks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and that explains something that's been a little bit troubling to us here, as we've been thinking about this. The fact that he was apparently become watched by the authorities and, even in spite of all that, got all the way into the carriage on the train before they used the deadly force. Presumably, they were thinking -- I'm just getting inside their head here -- but presumably they're thinking if we can get him alive, we're better off.

ROBERTSON: That's what one would expect. Again, I think the keys to understanding what happened is going to be knowing what happened before this man got to the station, what the police knew about him before they saw him. Were they waiting for him? Was he identified by witnesses, by security camera video, at the station -- just the next station down the road, just a mile or so away, which is where one of the attacks was yesterday?

Was he identified from there? Were the police -- did the police know he was living in the area? Were they waiting for him at the station? Did they chase him in there? What did they know about him? Did they know, for instance, that perhaps he was planning another attack? Did they have that sort of information? So I think it's going to be very critical to know what led them to be chasing him. How much information they had about him, to know, therefore, why that they would use lethal force when, perhaps -- and this is speculation -- perhaps there were other options open that could have been beneficial to the investigation as a whole -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Nic Robertson, we will leave it at that for now. And we appreciate your insights there. We do expect a police briefing in about an hour's time, where many of these questions we have will be answered a little more definitively -- Carol.

COSTELLO: At least we hope so, huh? Two weeks ago on July 7th, two American sisters were on board a train in London when the bombs went off then. This morning, they are making steady progress after being wounded in those bombings. Now Katie and Emily Benton are speaking publicly for the first time about their ordeal, just as doctors in North Carolina give them a green light for the next phase in their recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does it feel to be going home?

KATIE BENTON, SURVIVED LONDON ATTACKS: Oh, my gosh. I can't wait to get home.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Home for Katie Benton and her sister Emily is Knoxville, Tennessee, a world away from London, where they were injured two weeks ago in the London terror attacks. Now being treated at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, they were stunned to hear about more chaos in London on Thursday.

EMILY BENTON, SURVIVED LONDON ATTACKS: I guess I just kind of shocked, you know, that it happened again this soon after. And it was just sad to see. You notice everyone in a state of panic, once again.

K. BENTON: Lightning did strike twice. But I just -- yes, I really do feel like, please, please give London a break. Just let them get back to life as normal.

COSTELLO: On July 7th, the 20 and 21-year-old sisters were sightseeing in London and were just ten feet away from the bomb that exploded in the Edgware Road tube station attack.

E. BENTON: We were only on the train for just half a minute. It wasn't -- we had just sat down. The train had just taken off. We didn't have time to look around at what other people looked like or who was on there or anything. And then the explosions went off.

I felt like I went into, like, the fetal position and just, like, crouched down and I felt like I was being electrocuted. And I felt like I was on fire and I was burning. I could feel my skin like, peeling off. Everything had just been, you know, ripped. The windows had been blown out. You know, the chairs, some of the chairs, the seats had been, you know -- come off. And there were poles and debris everywhere. K. BENTON: There was a wide range of injury level. The person next to me who had been seated close to me was lying on the floor and they were dead. And then there was another man that was like completely piled in rubble. And then there were Emily and I that kind of had, like, the middle of the range -- like, I guess we were on the lesser side of the more seriously injured. But then there were people that had, like, a cut on their forehead.

E. BENTON: Yes.

K. BENTON: So, I mean, there was a huge range of injuries on the car. And I think that's because it was a fairly small bomb.

COSTELLO: The sisters know they're lucky to be alive, but they say they're not angry at their attackers.

K. BENTON: I found out on the train that it was a bombing. I did not know whether -- I did not know it was a suicide bombing. I just knew it was a bombing. And honestly, my heart just broke for the bombers and the bombers' families. And I actually sat there and prayed for them. Just that -- it's just so horrendous. And for anybody to be so mislead to think that that could possibly be positive. Like, that's just -- it just saddens me so much, for their sake.

E. BENTON: It's so sad, you know, that that many people have been injured for just something that, you know, was meaningless. Nothing was accomplished by that.

COSTELLO: Now, after treatment, first in London, and then North Carolina, these sister survivors are eager to move on with their lives.

K. BENTON: Emotionally, physically, doing surprisingly well for the situation.

E. BENTON: I feel great. And emotionally, I feel great. I'm so excited to be going home. I can't wait.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That's an understatement. The Benton sisters are scheduled to be released from the Duke Medical Center later this evening and both Emily and Katie say they hope to eventually return to London.

Yes. They're going to go back.

O'BRIEN: Wow. They are quite a pair. Quite a pair. Good for them. I mean, just to hear them describe the range of injuries just around them. It is truly horrifying thought to be in the midst of all of that.

Let's get people up to date at the top of the hour now. It's a little after 9 Eastern Time. Right now, and if you're just waking up, if you're just tuning in, it's been a wild morning in London, on this, 24 hours after those bombings which we told you about yesterday, those bungled bombings. Three of them Underground, one of them on the surface.

Police pursuing an apparent suspect with links, according to our sister network, Independent Television, with links to those bombings of yesterday, pursuing the suspect at a tube station, Underground subway station, near where it all began, the Oval Station, pursued this suspect deep into the station, over the turnstiles he went, onto a train carriage.

He tripped, and at that point the British authorities executed, as they say, deadly force, and lots of questions this morning about his apparent links to the attacks. Maybe, maybe not. We're going to hear from authorities in about an hour's time.

But nevertheless, once again, a very unsettling morning for folks in London, and, really, for that matter, all around the world. Anybody who spends a little bit of time on mass transit. Let's listen to one of the witnesses who saw this wild scene unfold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK WHITBY, WITNESS: He was Asian. I put him in his mid to late 20s. Quite sort of chubby build and had a baseball cap on. He did have sort of quite a thick, padded jacket, which I thought was unusual for this sort of weather.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNIDENTIFIED MALE)

WHITBY: Didn't see any weapons (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNIDENTIFIED MALE)

WHITBY: No. He looked horrified, though, absolutely. I saw his face for a split second. He looked absolutely horrified, and then he was on the floor and -- dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: No rucksack, no knapsack, which, of course was the method of dispensing those bombs in the case of July 7 and apparently yesterday as well, but a padded jacket, which has some people wondering about that possibility, that there could have been some sort of explosive capability.

Nevertheless, no bomb went off in all of this. This suspect, if he is, in fact, linked to these bombings, that was pursued by police, was shot dead.

CNN's Nic Robertson is very near that station where it all unfolded this morning. Nic, what's the latest from there?

ROBERTSON: Well, Miles, a police helicopter, or what appears to be a police surveillance helicopter, is still in the area. It came in about 15 minutes ago, and it seems to be hovering above the station, looking at the area around the station. We saw the police take in a police control unit van, appearing to be on their way to set up an investigation crime center. At least that's what it appeared to be.

We also know that behind me, down there where Stockwell Tube Station is, down the main road here, down this main road that would normally be busy with traffic that goes into the heart of London, that there's a battery clinic full of witnesses to the shooting. We're expecting, or would expect the police to be talking to those witnesses to find out from in what they saw happening, to get the sequence of events.

But has we do know from here, and what the police have confirmed, is that they did issue a warning to a man who they chased, who armed police chased into the station. And that after issued that warning, they shot him, and he was pronounced dead at the station.

We have seen an ambulance leave here. It is not clear if that ambulance was taking the dead man's body away.

And certainly the people that have been coming here to look, the local residents have been coming to look and see what's happened, have been expressing a lot of surprise that this would happen here. But again, for a lot of people, really reaffirming for them what they've seen in London over the past number of weeks. That the possibility of attack is very, very real now and that it's happen on their doorstep right here, Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Nic Robertson, who is right near the Stockwell Station. CNN's Jennifer Eccleston is near another tube stop, a very busy one indeed.

And that -- what Nic was just talking about, Jennifer, that whole notion of this attack and the fact that it occurred two weeks after the July 7 attack, weighing very heavily on people's minds this morning there?

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, without a doubt. There has been a change in the ideas, in the minds, of people who have been traveling into London. Those who live here and who are commuting to work and also those who are visiting here. There's a little bit of skittishness, a little bit of nervousness.

We've not seen as many people coming in to work today. The top commuting hours this morning, we saw a fairly small number of people traveling in to work. And those that I spoke to, Miles, said indeed there was a bit of anxiety on the tube this morning and also on the buses. People looking around, making sure they're having eye contact with all passengers. And those who are carrying rucksacks, backpacks or other bags were being asked whether or not those bags belonged to them.

And many of them saying, "Look, this is now going to become a facet of our lives. We're not happy about it, but this is what we're going to have to live with, most likely, and we're going to have to be vigilant." But it's not just for those that live here that it presents a fairly scary picture. It's a very multicultural city. It's one the top tourist destinations in the world. And we have a lot of people from across the globe coming to visit London. And I've got one of them with me right now who's come to London with his young family here from Libya.

How do you feel about now traveling, being in London during this rather tense period?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It's very difficult to be with the children and the family here and using the Underground and the buses. So we are afraid about this. If it continues like this, we have to leave London it go somewhere else for our holiday. Otherwise, we cannot continue like this.

It happened once. We thought that that's all. But it's continuing all the time now, two weeks later, and you never know what's coming up.

And we don't feel like it's so secure. We cannot see the checking of police points or anything. You can go everywhere, you can go down, you can go up. It had to be controlled much more seriously about this. Otherwise, it's scary. You know?

ECCLESTON: What about your children? Have they been -- have they been expressing any of those fears to you? They've seen -- there is a bit of police presence here. You can see them on the corners. There are a lot of security cameras, as you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are talking about the subject all the time. We are losing our holiday, you know, just looking at that, looking at this, look at this bag, looking at that. So that's annoying us, and we are really scared.

ECCLESTON: Would you ever have imagined that during you summer holiday you would have to put up with this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not in London. Not in London. London was very a very safe place all the time. We've been here many times. We've never found this. We traveled all Europe. But I think this is the first time happened to us in London here.

ECCLESTON: Will you come back?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will think about it. I will think about it. But I'm not sure. Not sure.

ECCLESTON: All right. Well, enjoy the rest of your holiday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.

ECCLESTON: Hopefully, it's a safe one.

Well, there you have it. Not only from a tourist here who has his young family with him, a little nervous about traveling in the streets of London, a little nervous about getting on the tube, wondering whether or not it, in fact, is this is the right destination to be at this stage.

But it's also the people here in London who have to live here every day, who have to go to work echoing the same sentiment. Is it really safe? Do we really have the right protection? Are we really having the best protection for ourselves in the Underground network? Many people saying, yes, actually. Those who travel here every day, seeing the police presence now being beefed up, it is a small comfort to those.

But, again, today the incident at Stockwell, the shooting of a man, although we don't know the circumstances around it, has definitely led to the increased anxiety and tension among those who have to travel by the transport system not only here in London but across the U.K. -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Yes. I think, Jennifer, the most reassuring picture I've seen this morning is over your left shoulder. As you've been talking, about 25 people just kind of made their way down into the tube there at Oxford Circus. Looked like a normal morning. That's nice to see, at least.

ECCLESTON: Absolutely. I mean, people do have that general sense of getting about their lives, and the tube is an important aspect to that. So we're seeing, you know, people going in and out. Not as many as you might imagine. Normally, I'd be jostled back and forth if I were sitting here during normal rush hour lunchtime period, because it usually is that busy. But they're coming. They're coming in smaller numbers, but they're still coming and getting on with it.

O'BRIEN: Jennifer Eccleston in the heart of London. Thank you very much -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And of course what's happening in London has had repercussions here. There are added security measures at metro stations in Washington, D.C., in Boston and in New York City.

Let's head out to the 72nd Street Station. Allan Chernoff is there. A question for you. I know they've instituted these extra checks on people's bags coming into the metro stops here into New York City, but was it -- is there any specific link to the London bombings as to why they've added security at New York subway stations?

CHERNOFF: Well, you might say the latest London bombings were perhaps the final straw. This is something that the police had been considering for awhile, and it's the next step that they can take in trying to make the system a bit more secure.

But as a good example of how it is simply impossible to secure the entire system, this morning we do have three police officers here. Typically, there are no officers here in the morning. But we have three officers here. As far as we've seen, they have not checked a single bag. They tell us that's not been their assignment this morning. Now, in other stations around town, there have been some bag checks. They've been doing random checks. The police say they are not doing any racial profiling, not singling out, for example, Pakistanis, Arab-Americans. They're trying to do it very randomly, every 20 people or 30 people or so.

They're also checking backpacks, any large items where potentially there could be a bomb.

We've been talking with many New Yorkers coming in and out of the station, and the majority say they are very much in favor of this bag checking. Some, however, say they feel it's a violation of their civil rights. One person said, "I feel as if I'm living in Russia."

But the police commissioner told CNN this morning, this is something New York -- New Yorkers are going to have to live with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY KELLY, NYC POLICE COMMISSIONER: There are a lot of challenges in protecting mass transit. Just the very definition of mass transit means move a lot of people quickly. So you know, people are -- it's not like an airport, where you can control it much more readily. So there are a lot of challenges there. We say a holistic approach. Some people say that's kind of backing off, that we haven't done enough for mass transit. I think this is a reasonable step to take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: And to keep it in perspective, too, there are 468 stations around the city. So it's very difficult for the police to be everywhere. They're having a show of force right now, and at least that is making many New Yorkers feel more secure -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, Allan, something else Commissioner Kelly said. He says that this is really, it adds to the comfort level of people, but certainly not a fail-proof method of security, though?

CHERNOFF: Everybody here recognizes that. People know that when they step down into the subway, they're taking a risk, but this is part of the way New Yorkers live. This is part of your daily life, and there are hardly any New Yorkers willing to change their lives.

Those who really were fearful after 9/11, really fearful, simply moved out of town. But the vast majority, the vast majority, of course, are just going around their daily business.

COSTELLO: Allan Chernoff, thank you, live from the 72nd Street Station here in New York City.

We're going to head to a break -- actually, we're going to go to Miles, because you have an update.

O'BRIEN: We just got a little bit of information which we should share with folks. According to the authorities at Scotland Yard, four suspects have been identified in yesterday's attack -- of course, there were four attacks, three underground, one on the surface -- using that CCTV system that we've been telling you so much about. About a half million cameras all throughout the city of London, closed-circuit television, which was, of course, instrumental in coming up with the identities of the attackers on the July 7 attack.

Four suspects have been identified. The piece that we can not tell you definitively just yet as we await this briefing from authorities of Scotland Yard, is was one of those four the person who was shot dead this morning by police? We will have that briefing for you inside an hour's time from now, we hope.

COSTELLO: Hopefully so. We're also going to check in with the White House, and we'll also head back to London to check in with Christiane Amanpour. We're going to take a short break now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, we just told you a little while ago, authorities are telling us out of Scotland Yard that four suspects have, in fact, been identified, using that extensive closed-circuit television system in London. Four suspects linked to those bombings of yesterday.

The question is, are there any links between those suspects and the suicide bombers of July 7? Another important connect the dots piece that we're looking at. As well as was one of the four identified by the closed-circuit television the person who was chased down by undercover British authorities, heavily armed, and shot dead inside a subway station this morning, about four hours ago?

In the meantime, what's happening here in the United States this morning is a very different commute for a lot of people. Here in New York City, a lot of people are having their bags inspected, randomly, they say, by authorities. You have the right to say no, but if you do that, you're not going to be riding on the subway system or the buses this morning in New York City.

Similar situation at mass transit locations all around the country, including Washington, D.C.

And meanwhile, at the White House, further concern. Questions about the possibility this morning. Will there, in fact, be some decision to raise the national threat level?

CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House. She has more on all of this -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles.

No word on that particular issue just yet, but a White House official says that President Bush's homeland security adviser, Fran Townsend, and other senior Bush administration officials have been in touch with their British counterparts, and are assisting in any way that they can.

Now, just a short time ago, we saw President Bush leave the White House. He is on his way to Atlanta for a scheduled conversation, as they call it, on Medicare, and also Social Security. But still unclear at last check, according to aides, whether or not President Bush will make specific reference to these latest events in London.

Now, yesterday, during a speech, we heard the president make some general comments about the war on terrorism. At that point, not much was known about the events that were still unfolding. It was only about an hour and a half, an hour and 45 minutes after the president had received an initial briefing on it, that he made his speech.

So he did not make specific reference at that time, but, again, striking a very defiant tone, as we have heard President Bush do time and time again, saying that ultimately, the U.S. and its allies will prevail over terrorists.

But the White House continuing to watch the situation very carefully -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Elaine, on that threat level issue, of course, after the July 7 attack -- by the way, we're looking at live pictures now of Andrews Air Force Base as the president makes his way from Marine One to Air Force One. On he goes down to Atlanta, Georgia, for that previously scheduled town hall meeting on the subject of Medicare reform.

Elaine, on that issue of elevating the security threat, after July 7, it was specifically elevated for the transportation sector. Do you have any indication whether it's a discussion at this point, to raise it more broadly?

QUIJANO: Well, undoubtedly, those kinds of conversations, or at least the idea, is perhaps being raised. Unclear, though, whether or not the White House, whether or not the Homeland Security Department is feeling the need at this particular point to move.

Remember, in the wake of the bombings two weeks ago, there was no specific intelligence, nothing to indicate any kind of threat to here, the United States. That raising of the alert level was merely done as a precaution out of what the White House says was an abundance of caution. And at this point still too early to tell. We are finding ourselves in much the same situation that we did this time yesterday. That is, information still developing. A lot of details yet to be sorted out -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thank you very much -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You heard Miles telling you about these four suspects that have been identified by London authorities using all of those video cameras they have all over the place in London. You've got to be -- you've got to expect their pictures to be slapped up publicly for people, hopefully to help identify them, tell police who they are.

Christiane Amanpour has been talking to the folks at Scotland Yard. She joins us live from London once again.

What are you hearing, Christiane?

AMANPOUR: Well, actually, some of our producers are down there talking. And they're the ones who have been telling us that their police sources are saying that they have identified four through the CCTV footage. And this, of course, is very similar to what happened after July 7, when they identified the four bombers through CCTV footage and then further identified them through raids in Leeds and elsewhere and nailed down exactly who were the ones who planted these explosives. And in that case, obviously, two weeks ago, they were suicide bombers.

In this case, they're still at large, potentially. Although we do not know whether one of those suspects that they've identified is the one that they shot today. We're still waiting for official confirmation on that.

So in terms of the investigation, a little bit more information, but no formal word from Scotland Yard as yet.

COSTELLO: Christiane, do you have any more information at all about this man who was shot by police at the Stockwell Station?

AMANPOUR: No. And we're just waiting and waiting. Some British news organizations are reporting that their police sources have said that he is linked to what happened yesterday.

Eyewitnesses have talked about seeing someone run out, or, rather, being challenged by police inside the tube, and then being shot dead. Some people have described the person in question as being panicked, as looking like a cornered rabbit.

But that's basically it for the moment. We don't have any more formal information on that.

COSTELLO: You know, there is speculation out there that undercover officers were actually following this guy. We were curious as to why, if they were indeed following him, that they allowed him to get all the way onto a train.

AMANPOUR: Well, hard to tell, and, you know, that's, again, as you said, some speculation that's being put out there, and there is a lot of that. And we're just having to wait and get confirmation when we actually hear from the police.

We do know, because we saw it and heard it ourselves, in the late evening hours last night, throughout the night, that there was a massive manhunt, obviously. We heard a lot of police sirens in several different parts of London, and it was ongoing, and even into this morning. So there is a huge manhunt out.

But I think what is extraordinary is that the incredible presence of CCTV cameras all over this city has yielded results, has yielded results this time and last time. And we'll see whether they can actually get these guys.

COSTELLO: As far as how the metro or the subway system is operating now, are all of the stations, except for the exception of the Stockwell Station, opened and running?

AMANPOUR: Seems to be the case, yes, exactly. Yesterday, again, the subway system did not come to a complete halt, but those lines that were affected yesterday did. Those stations have been treated for many, many hours and into this morning as crime scenes. And so for a long time, those lines were closed, but we understand in Stockwell right now, it's closed.

COSTELLO: As far as politically, how Tony Blair is handling all of this? He did come out and speak yesterday morning. Might he be expected to speak again this morning?

AMANPOUR: You know, he hasn't yet, and he did much earlier in the situation yesterday. I think, you know -- he has found himself increasingly on the defensive. Not just politically, because of the increasing drumbeat of criticism from people, saying that the Iraq war and his support for the Iraq war for the United States, the presence of U.K. troops in Iraq, has put Britain much higher at risk. And of course, two-thirds of the British people polled believe that that's the case.

The British government, of course, denies that. They say it's got nothing to do with Iraq. But most people I'm talking to here, even those who supported the war say there is no doubt that that has caused us to be at greater risk. And these questions are being increasingly put to Prime Minister Blair, and he is increasingly having to fend them off and is described as being on the defensive.

In terms of security and how to deal with this, politically and in a security manner, he's also having to tread a fine line. Do they go into a series of deportations, for instance, of people they find who may not be directly involved in terrorism, but who may be peripherally involved? Do they really clamp down on civil liberties, in order to achieve better security? So there's an ongoing debate on how to deal with this.

And, then, in the Muslim community itself, there is increasing tensions. For instance, today after this shooting, there's been a lot of worried calls for Muslim leaders about -- about whether there is now a shoot-to-kill policy in England against people who are -- who are Muslim?

And so this is a situation which is very delicate right now.

COSTELLO: Yes, and there was also a bomb threat called in to a very large mosque. It was called the East London Mosque.

AMANPOUR: That's right.

COSTELLO: That turned out to be false, but you can tell how worrisome that would be to the Muslim population.

Another question for you. We heard Elaine Quijano say just a short time ago that the homeland security officials here are offering help in any way they can to British authorities. Are British authorities welcoming that? AMANPOUR: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I think British authorities have been working with many different authorities, intelligence services, from their allies, and elsewhere, in connection with this, and in connection with what happened two weeks ago. I think that is not an unusual situation when these kinds of things happen. All those who can and who do pool their resources for as much information and help as they possibly can.

COSTELLO: Christiane Amanpour, live in London. We'll get back to you. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: As we've been telling you, the extensive closed-circuit television system -- they call it CCTV there -- half a million cameras all throughout the city of London, has once again proved instrumental in allowing authorities to identify suspects in this bombing.

You, of course, remember, it was those closed-circuit television cameras that helped them identify the suicide bombers on July 7.

One of the big questions we have is links between the two sets of people and, of course, links to the shooting, which we saw unfold several hours ago at a tube station in London.

CNN's Henry Schuster, our investigative producer, is near Scotland Yard, where there will be a briefing very shortly, and he's been working on his sources on getting these links, connecting these dots.

Henry, what can you tell us?

HENRY SCHUSTER, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER: Hi, Miles.

What I can tell you is that police sources now say that they have identified four men based on those CCTV pictures. They were release stills of those pictures, we're expecting, at the press conference, which they're expected to hold shortly. They were going to hold it at the last half hour, but they said that it was delayed for ongoing operational reasons. They refused to be more specific.

When I asked those sources whether they could link the man who was shot today in Stockwell with those four pictures, the answer was, not yet but they certainly hope so.

O'BRIEN: All right. Henry -- say, when you say ongoing operational reasons for not having this new conference, as we expected, couple that with the fact that Nic Robertson saw a heavy amount of police presence there at Stockwell, above and beyond what you would expect for just a forensic scene. In other words, helicopters, that kind of thing. Getting some indication that further arrests might be under way right now?

SCHUSTER: They're not saying at this point, Miles. The fact that they're planning on releasing four stills indicates that they might feel that these men -- some of these men are still at large.

But they've been playing things close their vest. This was the pattern that happened two weeks ago, when they had information and they moved in, up in the Leeds area, without, you know, basically without putting out those pictures first. So it's not clear at this point whether this means that more arrests are taking place right now.

One thing they did indicate is that there is obviously a heavy after-action investigation into the shooting itself. Shootings by police officers are very unusual because, of course, most police officers are not armed. So there will be an immediate investigation into all the circumstances at Stockwell this morning.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Use of deadly force is unusual there. Henry, is it your understanding they have faces or faces and names for the suspects?

SCHUSTER: They haven't said names yet. They've certainly said faces. They said they've made the identification.

O'BRIEN: Made the identification. So they've been able, in other words, to link the faces, at the very least, to the people who were involved in the bombing?

SCHUSTER: Right. These are the four men they believe were the men who were involved in yesterday's abortive attacks.

O'BRIEN: OK. So it's possible they may want to get these pictures out and try to get some people to give them a tip, which could lead to further arrests?

SCHUSTER: Absolutely. In fact, that's often the practice with the CCTV pictures here in London.

O'BRIEN: All right. And how soon do you expect the briefing to begin? Are you getting any indication yet?

SCHUSTER: No. They just said it was delayed. They said sometime this afternoon, U.K. time, but they said, just stick around and wait and basically, it could happen at any minute, but they still have to bring the -- they have to bring Sir Ian Blair, who's the head of the metropolitan police, and the -- Andy Hayman, who's head of the special operations branch of the metropolitan police, over here from Scotland Yard. Apparently, that's where they are at the moment.

O'BRIEN: CNN investigative producer Henry Schuster, who is there at the scene of that briefing, which could happen, as he says, momentarily, perhaps in the next half hour. Regardless of when it happens, you'll see it here.

Once again indicating at the very least, four faces have been identified using those closed-circuit television cameras. Further links to the incidents, names, all of those other things are, I guess, going to be forthcoming at this briefing, or so it is hoped.

Back in a moment.

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