Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Suspect in London Bombing Attempt Arrested; Discovery Astronauts Check Shuttle for Damage; Congress Wades Through Roberts Documents; East Coast Slammed by Heat Wave; Commanders Say Some Troops May Head Home in Spring; Iraq Veterans Suffering from Undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress; North Korea Ups the Ante
Aired July 27, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZAIN VERJEE, HOST: Happening now, new details about the London terror plot. Days after the devastation, how many more bombs were found? Ready for use? Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE (voice-over): Terror in London. Arrests in Birmingham. Police use a stun gun to nab one of the suspects.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was happening hundreds of miles away from my home and then wake up at half past 5 in the morning to find that this is happening on your doorstep. Right, you know? It's very, very frightening.
VERJEE: Exit plan. A commander sees light at the end of the tunnel for U.S. troops.
GEN. GEORGE CASEY, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCES: I do believe we'll still be able to take some fairly substantial reductions after these elections in the spring and summer next year.
VERJEE: But a high-ranking visitor says the Iraqis will have to do their part.
Scanning the shuttle. Was Discovery damaged during the launch? The astronauts do a very careful in-flight inspection.
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Wednesday, July 27, 2005.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Zain Verjee. Wolf has the day off.
We begin with a major arrest in Britain. The man suspected of trying to bomb London's Warren Street Underground station last week is in custody. Sources say Yasin Hassan Omar is being held in a high security prison following raids in Birmingham, England.
CNN's Robyn Curnow has our story from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Swooping on these quiet Birmingham streets in early morning raids, a breakthrough for police.
One of the four men they arrested is Yasin Hassan Omar, believed by police to be one of the failed suicide bombers. Twenty-four-year- old Omar came from Somalia in 1992 and is a legal permanent resident in the U.K. He's linked to the attempted bombing at Warren Street Station.
Police say the primary suspect, believed to be Omar, was arrested at a separate property to the other three, and that he put up a fight. Police had to use force.
STUART HYDE, ASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLE, WEST MIDLANDS POLICE: We had to use a police Taser in order to effect the arrest of the individual here. But he is now safe in custody.
CURNOW: Police confirm the primary suspect, Omar, is being held at London's high security Paddington Green Station while the other three remain in custody in Birmingham.
Meanwhile, police say they found a suspicious package during the Birmingham raids, forcing them to evacuate situated (ph) residents from nearby homes as the bomb disposal units prepared to carry out a controlled explosion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was very, very frightened. Because, I mean, you know, this is a quiet area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were just told to evacuate the house because there was a bomb or something, somewhere near our road. So we were just told to get out of the building as soon as possibly we could.
CURNOW: Intense police activity across the country. Two other raids reported in London, and two men also arrested at a station in Lincolnshire, north England. They had been on a train en route to London's King's Cross Station, the scene of one of the July 7 blasts.
(on camera) The manhunt is no longer only focused on London, but still the British capital remains on high alert. Although police believe they have one of the failed bombers in custody, there are still deep concerns that the other three would-be bombers want to finish what they started on July the 21st.
Robyn Curnow, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: The initial July 7 transit bombings in London could have been even more deadly. Sources tell CNN five days after those bombings, more than a dozen unexploded bombs were found in a car linked to the attacks. The car was parked in the Luton train station in north London. Investigators say the July 7 bombers boarded a train at the Luton station and traveled to the King's Cross Station in central London, where they split up to begin their bombing spree.
The focus today for the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery, the shuttle itself. NASA and the astronauts used lasers and cameras really to scour the shuttle for possible damage from yesterday's liftoff.
CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien joins us now from New York with more details of what they found -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, even as we speak, the key mission managers for the Space Shuttle Discovery mission are poring over reams and reams of images, trying to determine just how much damage there is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): There is no such thing as a flawless launch, and this time, NASA engineers are learning that lesson more vividly than ever. During Discovery's rocket ride to space, a heat- shielding tile at the edge of the forward landing gear door lost a one-inch chip or maybe a chunk. No one is sure.
Shuttle engineers tell me the damage to the thermal protection system or TPS appears to be minimal, a maintenance issue, not a threat to the crew. But the shadow of Columbia hangs heavily over this first mission back.
PAUL HILL, FLIGHT DIRECTOR: The last flight ended in catastrophe and we lost seven friends of ours because of TPS damage. So even when we're talking about tile damage that is clearly within capability, that's going to get all of our attention, and all of us are going to get concerned about it.
O'BRIEN: No fewer than 200 engineers are poring over images generated by more than 100 cameras on the ground, in the air, attached to the shuttle and by shutterbug astronauts, and they are seeing damage. Not a surprise. Since day one 24 years ago, every orbiter that made it home safely returned with dozens and sometimes hundreds of damaged tiles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mission and liftoff. Atlantis begins another space voyage.
O'BRIEN: In December of 1988, Atlantis came back with more than 700 damaged tiles, 300 of those dings larger than an inch. The commander said it looked like his spacecraft was blasted by a shotgun.
The accident board that investigated the loss of Columbia concluded all those foam strikes bred a dangerous sense of familiarity with the problem. So when a large piece of foam struck Columbia's wing, they assumed it was not a danger to the crew. This time NASA says it is making no such assumptions.
HILL: We aren't prepared to say that this doesn't need to be repaired. We're not prepared to say it does need to be repaired. What we are prepared to say is we've seen some things in ET video and some of the other -- some of the other imagery that causes some concern amongst the experts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: The tile in question is sort of wedge-shaped. It's about eight inches by seven inches by five and it's about two inches thick. It's on one of the places on the orbiter that gets the hottest, about 2,000 degrees, give or take, and is very near right at the edge of that landing gear door. It's quite possible that a repair on it, which occurred a couple of missions ago, might have broken free, causing that chip. There have been damaged tiles in this area in the past, and the crews have lived to tell the story -- Zain.
VERJEE: What are some of the other problems, Miles, that NASA is seeing with the images?
O'BRIEN: Well, perhaps more troubling is what they've discovered as they've looked at the external fuel tank. The engineers have found much larger pieces of foam that have fallen off that external fuel tank, looking at some of this imagery, than they anticipated.
Now, this foam did not strike anything and cause any damage to the orbiter, but it does call into question the redesign effort, which was, after all, aimed at trying to limit the amount of foam falling off that tank -- Zain.
VERJEE: Miles O'Brien, thanks a lot.
The debate over Supreme Court nominee John Roberts turning into a paper chase. The White House released thousands of documents yesterday, but some Democrats say that's not enough.
CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux standing by -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, of course, the big question today is what do these thousands and thousands of pages of documents reveal about Judge Roberts?
On the one hand, you can that you look at the formal writings and perhaps they reflect the administration's view at that time. But if you take a look at some of the handwritten notes, they may give us a better sense of his thinking.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): On John Roberts' first day at the Justice Department in the summer of 1981, the 26-year-old lawyer was assigned to prepare Sandra Day O'Connor for her Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Roberts, who would be poised to succeed O'Connor on the court nearly a quarter century later, advised her -- quote -- "avoid giving specific responses to any direct questions on legal issues." Some legal scholars believe Roberts will take a similar tact. EDWARD LAZARUS, FORMER SUPREME COURT CLERK: These memos indicate that he's got very strong convictions and very strong beliefs, and that he's going to be extremely direct in saying, I'm not going to answer those questions.
MALVEAUX: On judicial activism, documents show he discouraged it, supporting Republican legislation instead, that would limit the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over abortion, busing and school prayer.
LAZARUS: It will be very curious to see whether someone who's about to go onto the Supreme Court has the same view of limited Supreme Court power that he espoused 23 years ago.
MALVEAUX: On affirmative action, Roberts rejected a positive report about the program by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, saying, "There is no recognition of the obvious reason for failure. The affirmative action program required the recruiting of inaccurately prepared candidates."
On school desegregation, Roberts questioned the efficacy of busing in a draft letter for the attorney general, saying, "We do not believe busing is necessary to provide the equal educational opportunity mandated by Brown," the Supreme Court decision that made segregation of public facilities unconstitutional.
And on sex discrimination, Roberts advocated limits to the law affecting gender equality for college sports.
Meanwhile, back on Capitol Hill, Democrats are focusing on the documents they haven't seen.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT), SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: The White House is eager to supply documents it selected and certainly provided with great fanfare. But we have yet to receive the documents that we have in fact requested.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And those documents he's referring to are Roberts' time at the solicitor general's office. But the White House has said that that is -- falls under attorney-client privilege -- Zain.
VERJEE: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reporting from the White House.
A secret trip to Iraq. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld inspecting U.S. troops. Details of his surprise visit.
Also, hopes for tens of thousands of American forces to be home by spring. We'll show you what could derail that plan.
Plus, teens and the Internet. Results of a new survey that may surprise parents.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: Power grids are straining and records are falling along the East Coast, sweltering under dangerously high temperatures this afternoon. Heat warnings and advisories are posted from Georgia all the way to New York, with temperatures soaring into the 90s.
But it's the heat index that's making life miserable. It feels like 101 in New York City, 106 in Boston, 101 in Philadelphia and 105 in Washington.
We've got two reports for you. CNN's Kimberly Osias is here in the nation's capital. But we begin with CNN's Ali Velshi, melting in New York -- Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The minute I finish talking to you, I'm running back inside to the air conditioning, Zain. Good to see you.
A little hot talk here in New York. We are at Columbus Circle, middle of rush hour, obviously. And Columbus Circle is right across from Central Park. So I brought a thermometer out here to get a sense for myself of how hot it actually is. It's registering 98 on this thermometer. But over at LaGuardia Airport, 100 degrees on the thermometer. That's not what it feels like. That's what the temperature is actually recording as.
Now, back in 1966, July 3, 1966, New York hit 107 on the thermometer. It's not the hottest it's been, but it is pretty hot. When people are getting into those subways, and Kimberly will tell you about getting that, too, it is getting hard to deal with.
Now the electricity strain in New York is the highest that it's been in a long time. Today is a record draw on energy, although there have been only -- there have been less than 100 reported outages, individual outages in New York. The -- Con Edison, the electricity supplier saying that's actually not a very big deal.
We just checked in with the New York Fire Department. FDNY saying they are standing by, but there are no reported deaths as a result of the heat that's going on right now.
Now the weather is starting to cool off. As you know, about -- we're expecting some thunderstorms in here to bring in some cooler air. But right now, New Yorkers are still sweltering through this sort of thing.
We are keeping municipal pools open in New York for an extra hour tonight for those people who don't go home to air conditioning. But it's another tough day here in New York -- Zain.
VERJEE: Ali Velshi in New York, get in the shade. Just for a few minutes longer in the heat, let's check in with CNN's Kimberly Osias here in Washington -- Kimberly.
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Zain.
Well, I'll tell you, we certainly envy you in the comfort of the studio and the air conditioning there. But it is incredibly oppressive here. And I am doing precisely what you shouldn't be doing, and that is wearing dark colors. I've been out in this two days. And just, of course, when you think you're going to get inside, it keeps continuing. Absolutely incredibly high temperatures.
And as you mentioned, Zain, of course, with that heat index, it is even more uncomfortable here in D.C. You've got that humidity factored in. Very, very tough.
Still excessive heat warnings in effect until 8 p.m. tonight.
And Ali mentioned sort of the relief coming in. Yes, it's coming in, but it's not as great as it sounds. Then there are some storm warnings that are in effect. Thunderstorm warnings in effect for this area, in fact, till 10 p.m. There could be some tornadic activity that may come down. Seventy mile per hour winds expected for this area then in Maryland, New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania, possibly, as well. So really a veritable sort of one-two punch if you will.
The power company, when folks actually do get relief, whether they go outside, they drink water, they try and hydrate, do whatever they can outside. But when they go inside, they really try and get a cool down or to sit in air conditioning. And that has really certainly taxed the local power companies, the grid here.
They called, in fact, earlier today for some conservation, really cutting back, pulling the blinds down, putting those thermostats to a more moderate level. They have seen some success with that and they are hoping for this -- that this storm actually won't create more problems, but they've got extra crews ready if that does happen -- Zain.
VERJEE: Kimberly Osias, thanks a lot.
Coming home. What could prevent tens of thousands of U.S. troops from leaving Iraq?
Also, the silent disease afflicting some Iraq veterans. We'll show you what's being done to help them.
Plus, an ambitious plan to save millions of people facing starvation in Niger. We'll take you there live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: There was no letup today from Iraq's insurgents. A mortar round landed at Baghdad's bus terminal. Iraq's interior ministry says three people were killed and dozens were wounded.
A suicide bomber set off a car bomb near an Iraqi police checkpoint in western Baghdad. Four police officers were wounded.
The committee drafting Iraq's new constitution is back at work after a boycott by Sunni Muslims. But there was a new snag today when a Kurdish leader insisted Iraqi Kurds will never drop demands for a federal state and will never disband their militia.
The chairman of Iraq's constitution committee said today members will decide next week whether to ask for a six-month extension. That would push elections back till the middle of next year, which is when U.S. commanders would like to start pulling troops of Iraq. That timetable was hinted at again today by the top U.S. general in Iraq.
Let's go live now to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, that top general has been careful not to set any deadlines or announce any timetables. But today he did express his hope that he'll be able to bring tens of thousands of U.S. troops home by early next year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): Iraq's future and America's exit strategy hinge on troops like these, Iraqi special forces putting on a show for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who whisked through Iraq Wednesday on a one-day unannounced inspection tour.
Rumsfeld pressed Iraqi leaders to meet the August 15 deadline for a new constitution, the other critical linchpin behind hopes to significantly cut U.S. troop levels in Iraq by early next year.
CASEY: If the political process continues to go positively, and if the development of the security forces continues to go as it is going, I do believe we'll still be able to take some fairly substantial reductions after these elections in the spring and summer of next year.
MCINTYRE: Casey said the same thing four months ago in an interview with CNN, but recently Pentagon officials and military commanders have been hinting at details of the draw down option.
The idea is to turn over large parts of Iraq's relatively peaceful southern and northern provinces to Iraqi forces, while concentrating a smaller U.S.-led coalition force in the four provinces, including Baghdad, where more than 80 percent of the terrorist attacks take place. Initial plans call for a cautious troop cut of roughly 25,000 to 35,000 troops, still leaving about 100,000 American forces in place.
LT. GEN. JOHN VINES, U.S. ARMY: It would probably be somewhere in that range. That would be my guess. A huge, bold shift that injects a lot of risk into the situation is probably not a wise course of action.
MCINTYRE: But everything depends on Iraqi forces who are able.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: Recently, the Pentagon has released a couple of reports casting doubt on the ability of Iraqi military and police forces to carry the fight to the insurgents without being propped up by the U.S. But the Pentagon insists that's changing day by day and they insist that the exit strategy will work as long as the U.S. doesn't pull out too soon. VERJEE: Jamie, there's also another issue at play here. And that's the Iraqi security forces are mostly made up of Shias and of Kurds, and that makes the Sunnis in Iraq uncomfortable. How is the Pentagon approaching that?
MCINTYRE: Well, of course, they're saying that this is something that's going to have to be sorted out by the Iraqi government. But it's true. Just as they need to reach out to the Sunnis in the political process, the military and army forces need to be seen as representative as well. And there has to be confidence in both the government and in the troops. And that's one of the things they're going to have to look at over the coming months as at they make this decision whether or not it's appropriate to bring U.S. troops home.
VERJEE: At the Pentagon, CNN's Jamie McIntyre.
Many troops who have come home from Iraq and from Afghanistan are not able to leave the war behind them. That's been the subject of hearings over the past two days on Capitol Hill.
CNN's Brian Todd joins me now -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brian, this is an age-old problem with returning war veterans that has only in recent years been addressed: post traumatic stress disorder. And there are still gaps in diagnosis and treatment. That's illustrated by one widow's dramatic story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Stephanie Pelkey says her husband Michael left for Iraq in March, 2003, a happy and proud feather just three weeks after their son Benjamin was born.
She says in the four months he was in Iraq with the Army's 1st Armored Division, he saw people killed and experienced the anxiety and fear so many soldiers go through. When he returned home, Captain Michael Pelkey was a different person.
STEPHANIE PELKEY, WIDOW OF PTSD VICTIM: He did not understand what was happening. I did not know what was happening to my husband.
TODD: About six months after his return, Pelkey says her husband became more anxious and forgetful, felt chest pains and began sleeping with a loaded gun under his pillow.
At two bases where he was assigned, she says, long waiting lists and other gaps in the system kept him from getting adequate treatment.
Stephanie Pelkey says her husband then began having violent nightmares. The Pelkeys finally got a civilian doctor who diagnosed posttraumatic stress disorder. That was one week before Michael Pelkey put a gun to his chest and pulled the trigger.
PELKEY: He looked as if he were sleeping peacefully except for the wet spot on his chest. His pain was finally over. No, he wasn't in Iraq, but in his mind, he was there day in and day out.
TODD: Stephanie Pelkey has joined members of the U.S. military's medical branches on Capitol Hill, calling attention to the numbers of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with emotional scars.
COL. CHARLES HOGE, U.S. ARMY PSYCHIATRIST: Fifteen to 17 percent of service members surveyed three to 12 months post deployment met the screening criteria for post traumatic stress disorder.
TODD: Stephanie Pelkey and military officials say that until recently, returning servicemen were given only a questionnaire to fill out regarding their emotional state with little follow-up.
But Pentagon officials say a program has been in place since January, three months after Michael Pelkey's death, to screen all troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan for post traumatic stress within six months after their return.
WILLIAM WINKENWERDER, ASSISTANT DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have a series of periodic screenings and assessments that are designed to identify mental health problems early so that they can be addressed. These screenings occur throughout a service member's career or their time -- their whole time in the military.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Now Stephanie Pelkey adds that since her husband's death, mental health services at one base where they were assigned have improved with better staffing and more streamlined diagnosis, Zain.
VERJEE: The service members themselves, Brian, actually coming forward and seeking the treatment?
TODD: Not enough. Stephanie Pelkey and also military officials say that there's a huge stigma attached to this. Soldiers, Marines and others doesn't want to admit that they have a problem. It's -- sometimes it's a macho thing with male service members, and they're just reluctant to seek treatment. Sometimes the diagnosis comes way too late.
VERJEE: Brian Todd, thanks.
TODD: Sure.
VERJEE: Good to see you.
North Korea may be raising the stakes at those six-nation talks targeting its nuclear weapons program. CNN's Stan Grant has the story from Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Day two, and far from any signs of a breakthrough, North Korea ups the ante. It will reportedly -- quote -- "liquidate its nuclear weapons and open up to international inspection if the United States drops what North Korea claims is the Bush administration policy to topple the Kim Jong-Il regime.
It adds another layer to already fragile six-way talks, talks the U.S. says have no immediate end in sight.
SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We have not set an end date for these talks. We are there. Ambassador Hill had a great quote the other day and he packed some extra shirts.
GRANT: China is hosting the discussions and digging in, as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Everyone cherishes this opportunity. So by not fixing a date, we can fully use this time and opportunity for thorough and in-depth talks.
GRANT: It took more than a year to get North Korea back to negotiations. The United States, for one, says it does not want to see the process drift again.
The latest North Korea demand comes despite U.S. envoy Christopher Hill telling the talks the United States recognizes North Korean sovereignty, stressing the U.S. has no plans to attack or invade.
The other countries in the talks urging Pyongyang to make the strategic decision to give up its nuclear weapons program.
North Korea badly needs aid and wants its security guaranteed. For each step it takes to disarming, it wants a reward. The U.S. says it will respond -- quote -- "with action for action." China, Japan, Russia and South Korea all say the direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea are crucial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I believe the main talks will be between North Korea and the U.S. We will observe their talks carefully.
GRANT: Tensions are emerging between Japan and North Korea, Japan insisting on raising the issue of its citizens abducted by North Korea. Japan says it's an issue of trust. North Korea is refusing even to meet the Japanese delegates one-on-one.
(on camera) Not only does North Korea say the U.S. must declare it has no intention of toppling the Kim Jong-Il regime, it claims the United States has nuclear weapons of its own in South Korea and must remove them before any progress can be made.
It shows, for all the one-on-one meetings and talk of good will, on the fundamental issues, the two sides remain far apart.
Stan Grant, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Suspected terror bomber arrested, but will he help nab the other suspects before they can strike again? We'll get the latest on the investigation from London next.
Plus, the governor of New York makes a big announcement concerning election year 2008. Our own Mary Snow has a full report coming up.
And later, it's an accessory that might be hard to coordinate with your outfit. Our picture of the day just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: Welcome back. Six days after the botched bombings in London, police are raiding homes and arresting suspects. We're going to go live to London for an update.
But first a quick check of other stories "Now in the News".
It's another day of punishing heat for much of the eastern United States. Heat warning and advisories are in place for nearly a dozen states and the District of Columbia. But some relief is on the way with cooler temperatures expected the rest of the week. Across the country, more than three dozen deaths are blamed on hot weather.
Philadelphia police are looking for a missing pregnant woman. Latoyia Figueroa, a 24-year-old restaurant worker hasn't been seen in more than a week. She's five months pregnant. She's also the mother of a 7-year-old daughter. And an uncle says she's not the kind of person to disappear.
Algeria says two of its diplomats abducted in Iraq last week have been killed by their kidnappers. An Internet statement posted today in the name of al Qaeda in Iraq says the group killed the two men. The Algerian government calls the killings a horrible crime. Both diplomats were kidnapped on Thursday in a Baghdad neighborhood.
The man convicted of planning to blow up Los Angeles International Airport gets a 22 year prison term. A judge in Seattle sentenced Ahmed Ressam today. Ressam, a native of Algeria, was trained by al Qaeda. He was arrested in 1999 while trying to enter the United States from Canada with a load of explosives. The plot called for bombing the Los Angeles airport on the eve of the millennium.
Back now to our top story. A major arrest in the London terror investigation. The man accused of trying to bomb London's Warren Street Underground station, 24-year-old Yasin Hassan Omar, was arrested in Birmingham, England, early this morning.
CNN's Jonathan Mann joins us now from London.
Jonathan, tell us about the arrests today.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it happened before dawn -- 4:30 a.m, in Birmingham, England's second largest city, about 100 miles north of London. Police came to an apartment where they found, as you say, Yasin Hassan Omar, a 24-year-old Somali who they blame for one of the botched bombings last Thursday. Omar was surprised, but he didn't give up easily. It took a Taser gun to subdue him before police could grab him and bring him here to London where he's now being interrogated at Paddington Green Police Station just behind me -- Zain.
VERJEE: As you say, you're in front of Paddington Green. Tell us a little bit about it, Jonathan. Why is that place particularly significant in who it keeps there?
MANN: Well, it's no surprise that he was brought here. He is now the sixth suspect to be brought for questioning here. This is the highest security police station in London. And it's where they take for interrogation, for example, the IRA suspects of years past. And the Guantanamo Bay prisoners, the Britons who were held in Cuba, who were subsequently released, they came here for questioning before they were subsequently let go.
Paddington Green is also across the street -- you can't see it, but I can from where I'm standing -- from Edgware Road tube station, one of the subway stations that the first set of bombers hit. Six people died and a bomber in that subway station on the day when 52 innocent Londoners also lost their lives -- Zain.
VERJEE: From London with the latest on the investigation, CNN's Jonathan Mann.
Back in the United States today, a political announcement by one of the nation's best known governors. New York's George Pataki won't be running for reelection. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean though we've heard the last of him.
CNN's Mary Snow here to explain -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Zain. Well you know, political observers here in New York had been waiting for an answer from George Pataki. Today, they got it. He said he is not going to seek reelection, and that he's ready to move out of the governor's mansion once his term expires. The question now is, is he looking to move to the White House?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SNOW (voice): After 10-and-a-half years, George Pataki has decided his third term would be the charm as New York's governor.
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI, (R) NEW YORK: I am announcing that I will not seek another term as your governor.
SNOW: He won the office, a political dark horse who beat Democrat Mario Cuomo in 1994. Pataki was governor during 9/11, and became nationally known.
But his popularity has waned as the state's budget deficit has gone up. He's taken a back seat to Democratic challenger, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in polls for the 2006 governor's race. And political observers say Pataki's time had come. STU ROTHENBERG, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: After being on the governorship for more than a decade, he finds himself not particularly well liked in the state and facing a very formidable Democratic opponent in 2006.
SNOW: The question now is whether Pataki is eying a presidential run. That's something he did not address in his brief statement.
PATAKI: Come 2007, I will follow a new path, find new challenges.
SNOW: But political observers took note of a recent trip to Iowa for a National Governor's Association meeting. It was seen by some as testing the waters in a crucial state on the campaign trail to the White House.
FRED DICKER, STATE EDITOR, "NEW YORK POST": Well the general thinking, based on what his aides are saying is that he's exploring a race for the presidency.
SNOW: His observers say his support of abortion rights and gay rights could make it difficult to secure broad Republican support. And then there's the Rudi Giuliani factor. The former New York City mayor hasn't said he'll run in 2008, but there's certainly speculation.
ROTHENBERG: As long as Giuliani is in the mix for 2008, it really makes it difficult for Governor Pataki to get traction on a national campaign.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: And adding to all the speculation, Pataki is set to meet with fundraisers tonight here in New York -- Zain.
VERJEE: How are the Republicans there reacting to his announcement?
SNOW: Well, they are sending out warm messages to him today. But in terms of what will happen now, the Republicans are now looking for a candidate for governor. This is something that behind the scenes they were saying that they wanted him to come out and state his intentions so that they could come up with a new candidate. But in terms of a presidential run, some of the Republicans are pointing out that some of his views are seen as moderate and that may clash with conservatives. So, it could be a tough road.
VERJEE: CNN's Mary Snow.
From PDAs to cell phones to desktops, you may be shocked by how tuned-in to technology your teen really is.
But first, dying with without dignity. That's what many Africans suffering from starvation are worried about. CNN's Jeff Koinange reports live from a refugee camp in Niger, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: Coming up, at the top of the hour, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT. Lou is standing by in New York with a preview. Hi, Lou.
LOU DOBBS, CNN HOST, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: Hi, Zain. Thank you.
At 6:00 p.m. Eastern tonight here on CNN, we'll have the latest for you on what is a deadly heat wave that's gripping many parts of this country.
And British police have arrested a suspected radical Islamist terrorist who may have planted a bomb in a subway station. We'll have that live report for you from London.
And President Bush goes to Capitol Hill pushing a so-called free trade agreement with Central America. Congressional Republican leaders however, are planning to do the nation's business in the dead of night, planning a midnight vote.
My guests -- two Congressmen on opposite sides of the CAFTA debate. And I'll be talking with one of the world's leading economists, Noble Prize Winner Joseph Stiglitz, about so-called free trade and the energy bill.
And the successful launch of the Shuttle Discovery left some of the orbiter's heat tiles damaged. How many? How critical? We'll have a full report for you.
All of that and a great deal more coming up at the top of the hour here on CNN. Please join us. Now back to you, Zain.
VERJEE: Thanks, Lou.
The United Nations today said it'll begin air lifting 44 tons of food to the West African nation of Niger. Tens of thousands are staving there and million may be at risk.
CNN's Jeff Koinange is in a refugee camp in southern Niger. He joins us now live.
Jeff, what is the situation at the camp that you're at?
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, today was a particularly tough day. We walked into this displacement camp -- basically they call it here a nutrition center -- and we saw hundreds of starving mothers who had brought their starving and malnourished children, a lot of them with diseases, everything from cholera to pneumonia to malaria.
Some of them had to walk hundred -- literally hundreds of miles to get to the center. Also at the center, hundreds of other patients, mostly children under the ages of two, a lot of them suffering from these diseases. The doctors there telling us many of them will die in the coming days, in the coming weeks, if help doesn't arrive on time. It seems, Zain, for the most part, help has come too little, too late.
VERJEE: What triggered this crisis?
KOINANGE: It was twofold, Zain. First of all, there was a recurring drought in the area for a long time and this is why the aid agencies kept saying the world needs to pay attention to Niger. And then this time last year, a locust invasion across the entire Sahara that decimated the entire harvest, leaving these people without any food crops, without anything stored.
So what happened is, what could they do? Well, they stayed for a while, hoping that they would get help in their villages. When help didn't come, they started walking to the closest town, sometimes 100 or so kilometers away. A lot of them, we understand, in this camp that we were in today, those were the lucky ones. The unlucky ones are the ones still in the countryside, still in the villages too weak to walk and too weak to cry out for help, Zain.
VERJEE: The aid, as you report, now beginning to come in. How many people that are in need of the aid are actually receiving it?
KOINANGE: Right now, Zain, less than a quarter of the people who really need the aid are getting the aid. Why -- this is a huge country and the various aid organizations can only go so far. There are ambulatory services that go into the villages, but again they cannot get everyone. So a fraction of those who should get aid are getting aid.
The United Nations estimates that three-and-a-half million people will starve if help does not arrive on time. Out of that three-and-a- half, 150,000 children will die if help doesn't arrive on time, Zain.
VERJEE: How difficult is it to get the aid to the people that need it? I mean, the infrastructure of Niger isn't good.
KOINANGE: As you well know, Zain, this is the second-poorest country on Earth. So you're right. The infrastructure is not good at all. Planes have to land in the capital, Niamey, and then drive the 600 kilometers. That could take -- once the supplements, once the sacks are unloaded off the planes, that could take anywhere from several days to several weeks. And along the way, these trucks could break down, there could be all kinds of incidents.
So, you are absolutely right. By the time the aid actually gets to where it's needed most, according to aid agencies, a lot more people will die. The situation will get a lot worse before it gets any better -- Zain?
VERJEE: On the ground in southern Niger, CNN's Jeff Koinange reporting.
Well, if you're wondering what your child is up to right now, our Daniel Sieberg thinks he knows what lots of kids are doing. When we come back, he'll tell you what's keeping many busy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: Here's a question for parents of teenagers, do you know what your kids are doing right now? Well, according to a new survey, there's a good chance that they're on the Internet.
Here's CNN's technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A group of kids enjoy a pickup game of basketball on a hot summer day in Atlanta, but chances are, most of them spend more time tapping on a keyboard than shooting hoops.
(on camera): How many hours a day, honestly, do you guys spend on the computer?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, God, during the summer, unless someone beats me out of the house, I'll end up just glued to it.
SIEBERG (voice-over): That supports a new survey by the non- profit Pew Internet and American Life project, which says that 87 percent of U.S. kids aged 12-17 use the Internet via computer, cell phone or PDA. Just five years ago, a similar Pew survey found 73 percent of teens were online.
KIPLING GILLESPIE, STUDENT: Just because the technology allows us to plug in, because now that we have high speed DSL and cable Internet access, we're able to do everything much faster. So, it's much easier to do.
SIEBERG: We found some plugged in teens at -- no surprise here -- a computer camp, the iD Tech Camp going on this summer in Atlanta. Here, teens and preteens learn everything from robotics to video game creation. One thing most kids don't need a lesson in, instant messaging.
(on camera): How many of you use instant message every day ? Just a show of hands.
(voice-over): The Pew survey says 75 percent of online teens use instant messaging. And nearly one-third of all U.S. teens use IM every single day.
DARSHAN CHELLERAN, STUDENT: I almost always have it open, but I'm usually not chatting except like half an hour or one hour a day.
WILL MCCALL, STUDENT: I'm probably on at the minimum 30 minutes, but on usual during the school year, probably about three or four hours.
ABBEY LATTS, STUDENT: It's just a convenience. You're already typing. You're already looking at the screen. So you can still talk to your friends without having to try and struggle with a phone like this, you know.
SIEBERG: Despite IM's increasing popularity, e-mail is still the biggest reason teens go online, followed by visits to entertainment Web sites, playing games and getting news. Instant messaging comes in fifth.
(on camera): What do you do typically on the Internet? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Play games.
CROWD: Play games.
(CROSSTALK)
LATTS: The comics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Online comics.
SIEBERG: Do your parents know what you are up to online most of the time?
LATTS: Well, usually. I've learned how to delete my history pretty good.
SIEBERG (voice-over): Meaning, she's savvy enough to know how to cover her digital tracks if she needs to. And the Pew survey says older girls like 17-year-old Abbey are driving much of the growth in teen Internet use. They're more likely to use e-mail and look for information on the Web.
(on camera): The survey's authors do say wired teens get outside for other activities on occasion, albeit with a little coaxing. And here at the camp, they are required to get away from the computers for at least an hour a day.
Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE
VERJEE: Driving to work is about to get very interesting. Check this out. It's our picture of the day.
But first, today's edition of CNN 25. We profile crime fighter John Walsh. Here's CNN's Miles O'Brien.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN WALSH, AMERICA'S MOST WANTED: Welcome to "America's Most Wanted."
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's best known as the driven host of "America's Most Wanted." John Walsh began his mission to track down criminals after becoming a victim himself. Walsh's 6-year-old son Adam disappeared from a Florida shopping mall in 1981.
WALSH: He's our only child. A beautiful little boy. And we just want him back.
How many of our children are missing.
O'BRIEN: John Walsh turned the grief over the abduction and murder of his son into a purpose.
WALSH: With 1.8 million children missing, it's damn time somebody did something about it besides me.
O'BRIEN: Walsh's congressional testimony and public pressure helped establish the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
"America's Most Wanted," the fifth longest running TV show in history, has helped capture hundreds of fugitives around the world.
WALSH: Didn't want to be on television. Didn't want to hunt men down. But you know what? My wife always said it to me. Let's make sure Adam didn't die in vain.
O'BRIEN: Walsh has two children now in college. He's currently pushing for a crime victims' rights amendment to the constitution, and still clutching for justice on behalf of his lost son.
WALSH: I don't have any closure. My son was murdered. I say that I have a deep wound that scabs sometimes and something will break it open, it will bleed. But it never heals.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: Our picture of the day, a vehicle that you wear. Now, that's how Toyota describes its new i-Unit. It's designed to move people, both inside and out. In walking mode, it keeps the passenger at eye level, moving up to about four miles an hour. In speed mode, it becomes a car where the top speed of 36 miles per hour. The i-Unit is a concept car not currently in production.
Don't forget, Wolf's new show THE SITUATION ROOM, starts on the 8th of August. It airs from 3:00 to 6:00 pm Eastern.
Thanks a lot for joining us. I'm Zain Verjee in Washington. Here's Lou Dobbs.
END
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
