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CNN Live Sunday
London Bombing Suspects Talks; NASA Extends Discovery's Mission
Aired July 31, 2005 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SUNDAY: Unfolding this hour, dramatic new developments in the London terror investigation. One of the suspects is reportedly talking and authorities in England make several more arrests. We're live with details.
Also, NASA decides to extend the mission of the shuttle Discovery. This hour, you'll hear from the astronauts in space.
And on the CNN security watch, thousands of intelligence documents going unchecked. Why? A shortage of translators. We'll examine what's going on. Welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Those stories ahead, but first now in the news.
In the Middle East, a warning to Palestinian militants. Israel says it will launch a massive ground operation if militants fire on Israeli troops and settlers during the upcoming pullout from Gaza. Israel plans to evacuate all 21 Gaza settlements and four more in the west bank beginning in Mid-August. The withdrawal is scheduled to last about four weeks.
Just weeks before Afghanistan's parliamentary elections, security forces there have seized a massive cache of weapons. A raid in central Afghanistan uncovered thousands of rockets, mortars, artillery shells and other weapons. Government officials say the Taliban and al Qaeda forces planned to use the weapons to sabotage the September 18th elections.
Here in the United States, Oregon is a step closer to becoming the first state to require a prescription for many cold and allergy medicines. The state Senate has approved a bill that makes it harder to obtain key ingredients used to make methamphetamine. The measure now goes to the Oregon house.
New developments this hour in the London terror bombings. One of the focal points now is in Italy where a suspect in the July 21st failed bombing attempts is reportedly talking with interrogators. We begin in Rome with CNN's Jennifer Eccleston. What is the latest, Jennifer?
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Fredricka. Well, CNN has learned that the judge who questioned the London bombing suspect Hussain Osman here in Italy today validated his arrest and detention under the extradition request from the UK. That means he will stay in jail until a decision on whether to proceed with the extradition is reached. Now that could come in a matter of days. However, his lawyer tells CNN that he will now reject the extradition. This would delay any possible return to the United Kingdom by several months due to a lengthy appeals process. We also learned today that police arrested his older brother in northern Italy on charges of destroying evidence. As you know, another brother was arrested with Osman on Friday here in Rome. However, he is being held on charges of carrying false documents.
Now as you mentioned earlier, we're beginning to get some insight into the mind of Osman regarding the July 21st failed bombings. Sources close to the investigation tell CNN that while under intelligation (ph) -- interrogation rather, Osman confessed to carrying a bomb on the London tube, but claimed it was meant to be just a statement -- a grabbing attention statement and not meant to kill anybody. This is according to a judicial source. Now, Osman denied having any links to the July 7th tube attacks which killed 56 people, including four bombers and had no links, he says, to al Qaeda.
Now the suspect is alleged to have also told investigators that the ring leader of the failed attacks was Muktar Said Ibrahim. He's now in custody in London and that they organized the bombings from a gym in central London and that the central motivation for the attacks was anger over the war in Iraq. Now the judicial source also tells CNN that Osman also goes by the name Issac Abdul Hamdi. This is the name that appears on his Ethiopian ID. He is of Ethiopian descent but he is a naturalized British citizen.
And finally, our source tells us that Osman never ever was told how to make a bomb. He said that was not involved in any of that aspect of the attempted terror attacks in London on July 21st. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Jennifer Eccleston, thanks so much from Rome.
Well, there are also new developments in England where six more people have been arrested. CNN's Jim Bolden is following those developments from Scotland Yard. Jim?
JIM BOLDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka, yes. Six more people were arrested at two locations in Sussex. Now that's a county south here of London. Those arrests came this morning. Scotland Yard has confirmed however that there were no armed policemen involved in that arrest. Still, we're being led to leave that these are not particularly significant as far as top prime suspects or as far as it may be concerned about finding a master bomber or a mastermind behind these attacks.
But it does bring to a total of 13 people now arrested since the failed bombings on July 21st. We've also seen 17 other people arrested and also released. It's not surprising, though, as this net widens that we're seeing other people being arrested. Some people here have been arrested for harboring some of these suspects. Other people may be for letting them escape originally. So these arrests are continuing, but as of now, of course, the five main suspects arrested in Friday, four here in London and one in Rome and the six people arrested this morning, we're being told as of now, do not look to that significant, but you don't know what the police might find in their homes. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right. In London. Thanks so much, Jim Bolden.
In Iran a potentially troubling new development in the standoff over that country's nuclear program. Tehran says it will resume some nuclear activities if a proposal by the European Union does not meet its demand. It's given the EU until tomorrow to respond. Iran's nuclear activities apparently would not include uranium enrichment. The EU, which is represented by Britain, Germany and France, has been trying for months to get Iran to halt its nuclear activities.
In Iraq, insurgents are keeping the pressure on as the deadline for drafting a constitution is fast approaching. For more American soldiers were killed last night in a roadside bombing near Baghdad's airport. And today, five people were killed in a car bombing in Hilla about 40 miles south of Baghdad. The blast wounded 10 other people, including two police officers.
The Discovery astronauts get orders to stay another day in space, despite news that the shuttle has been given a clean bill of health for its now August 8th return to earth. CNN's space correspondent Miles O'Brien spoke with the astronauts a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EILEEN COLLINS, DISCOVERY COMMANDER: Miles we hear you loud and clear. Welcome aboard the space station.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: It was a day of euphoria and then the bad news about that falling piece of foam. What's it been like because you've had really a successful mission once you got on orbit, but in the back of your minds you have that problem to deal with when you get back on the ground.
COLLINS: The launch was fantastic. It was very smooth and it was, you know from on board the shuttle -- the Discovery shuttle systems looked fantastic. Once we got on orbit, we did hear from the ground that that piece of foam had fallen off the area of the tank. We were very, very surprised to hear that. We were disappointed because we didn't think that we were going to lose foam from the area. We didn't even decide to do any work on that area prior to this flight. So we all feel that this needs to be fixed before the shuttle flies again.
O'BRIEN: John Phillips, I'm curious how important that extra day of shuttle dock time means to you. What sorts of things are you going to scavenge out of the shuttle?
JOHN PHILLIPS, INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: We don't really scavenge much out of the shuttle Miles except a little food and some paper for the printer, just kind of consumable things like that. We're also going scavenge electric lights from the multi-purpose logistics module Rafael and we're looking forward to having the guys stay with us just because it's good company. It's nice to have nine people up here instead of two. But there's also a lot of work they can do to help us get ahead on the post-shuttle squaring away of our lab. O'BRIEN: What is your feeling on how realistic an on-orbit repair will be for tiles or reinforced carbon-carbon the heat shield in general?
PHILLIPS: It comes down to two things. One is the material properties of the material that you're actually applying to the damage and the other is the kind of stabilization that you can give to the crewmen who is putting it on. We were trying out, at least the materials properties yesterday, for a couple of experimental techniques.
O'BRIEN: Is it your sense, does your gut tell you, you're good to go for re-entry?
COLLINS: I think as of right now, we have done all the inspection, unless the ground asks us to do more. We're just waiting for it to be analyzed. And the tiles have been cleared. We're still waiting for the wing leading edge to be cleared and we're still waiting for an answer on the gap fillers. So I believe the gap fillers are similar to what we have seen on some previous flights. It's definitely not a big concern to me right now. What we looked at during the inspection up through yesterday looked pretty good to us through the camera lenses.
O'BRIEN: Eileen Collins, Steve Robinson, John Phillips and Soichi Noguchi, sorry we didn't get you Soichi. Thanks for your time and continued good luck on your mission.
COLLINS: Thank you, Miles. It's always great to talk to you.
WHITFIELD: Following a tragic week, the Boy Scouts get a visit from the president. Mr. Bush is hoping to address the scouts' jamboree this evening. We'll get a live update, next.
And the weather is taking a deadly toll in India. Just ahead, the latest on weather conditions and if they're expected to improve any time soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: After two postponements President Bush again will attempt to attend the Boy Scout jamboree in Virginia. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the jamboree in Fort AP Hill, Virginia. Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, they do say the third time's a charm. And we have good news to report from here today. As you can see, it is cloudy. It's overcast. The temperatures are probably only in the 70s. So it's very comfortable. The 42,000 plus Boy Scouts, leaders and volunteers who have gathered have been very busy and happy to be busy outdoors today, engaged in sports, all sorts of other activities. Of course it being Sunday morning, there were numerous religious services all throughout the grounds of Fort AP Hill, Virginia, where the jamboree is going on.
It happens here every four years. A lot of the boys obviously were reflecting during the services about the tragic deaths of the four leaders from Alaska that occurred here on Monday. They were electrocuted when a pole from a dining tent that was being erected struck a power line. Now then there was also what happened on Wednesday. There was some 300 plus scouts and leaders who were overcome by the heat while they were in a very large field and waiting for President Bush to come and speak. Of course, that visit as you mentioned canceled because of the weather. The boys we have spoken with this morning say while it's been rough, they're really looking forward to tonight's visit from the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SCOUT: The first couple of days, the heat stroke and all, it was pretty scary with like, 300 kids going to the hospital and all. The rest of the week, though, it's been pretty much like Maine weather. It's pretty enjoyable.
UNIDENTIFIED SCOUT: It was just really humid and real cramped. Everybody was passing out water everywhere. And (INAUDIBLE) as soon as, like, they came in, they just like fell over.
UNIDENTIFIED SCOUT: It's going to be awesome. There's going to be twice as much. They're going to try and cram both shows into one. They paid for the stuff, why not use it? So it's going to be a lot of fun.
KOCH: So President Bush will be speaking here again this evening at about 7:15 about and again, they will be following the very same procedure that they did on Wednesday, all 42,000 plus scouts, leaders, volunteers, will be crowding into an open field. It's a process that takes several hours to get everyone there and in place. They'll be bringing plenty of water. But again Fredricka, because of the cooler temperatures and there's a great breeze blowing right now, they certainly don't expect any of the problems they had on Wednesday.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kathleen Koch, thanks so much.
In flood-stricken western India, a serious new concern, monsoon conditions again in the region around Mumbai. That's where a thousand people have been killed by floods and mudslides. We get the latest now from Satinder Bindra in Mumbai.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been raining nonstop in western India almost for a week now and the death toll here has crossed 1,000. It was as raining so heavy in Indian's financial capital Mumbai this morning that the police were forced to put out an advisory warning people to stay indoors. Even Mumbai's airport had to be shut down for a while. And many of the flights that were scheduled to land here were diverted to the country's capital New Delhi. The airport is now open but the city's rail transportation system has also been badly affected.
The worst affected area in Mumbai is the northern part of the city where water levels rose alarmingly this morning. In some parts of the north, water levels almost reached seven feet. Many residents are getting angry. They're also concerned. They still don't have power and many residents also don't have access to safe drinking water. Economic losses in this city are now almost $200 million. Satinder Bindra, CNN, Mumbai.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The devastation, epic in proportion, the relief effort, extreme in purpose. Right now the African country of Niger is ground zero in the battle against hunger with many nations trying to stop a humanitarian catastrophe. If more than one million people don't receive food soon, they could die of starvation. And because this is such an important story, CNN is devoting many resources to cover it. Tomorrow and Tuesday, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will report live from Niger. Watch him on Anderson Cooper 360 beginning tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
They are a rare commodity. Next, find out what the U.S. government is doing to make sure it has enough qualified translators to fight in the war on terror.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The Federal government appears in dire need of Arabic translators. CNN's Sumi Das has more on an alarming report from the Justice Department in today's security watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over 8,000 hours of wiretaps acquired through counterterrorism efforts are left untranslated as of this past March. This according to a Justice Department inspector general's report on the FBI's translation program. Director Robert Mueller faced questions this week from Congress.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, (D) VERMONT: All of us have this horrible sinking feeling what happens if there's plans for an impending attack that we don't translate the audio until sometime after the attack?
DAS: The report acknowledges progress, stating the FBI has begun to identify counterterrorism cases with significant backlog and achieved 56 percent of current hiring goals. But key deficiencies remain, including a continuing backlog of un-reviewed material and some instances where high priority material has not been reviewed within 24 hours in accord with FBI policy.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: We have triaged and prioritized intelligence intercepts reviewed generally within 24 hours. And this prioritization and triage process has helped us to reduce that accrued backlog.
DAS: The FBI is learning that a good linguist is hard to find. Since 9/11 the bureau has hired almost 900, but it needs more. Language students offer one source for translators. At Georgetown University, enrollment in Arabic classes has nearly tripled since 9/11. JACKIE FABRIZIO, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: After 9/11, it was just how could I do something about this? Like, how can I get in and, you know, hopefully have a positive impact on the security situation in the United States.
DAS: Director Mueller says 95 percent of FBI linguists are native speakers with --
MUELLER: ... not only a firm grasp of colloquial and idiomatic speech, but also heavily nuanced language containing religious, cultural and historical references.
DAS: But native speakers often don't make the cut. According to the FBI, 90 percent of applicants don't meet strict hiring requirements.
MATTHEW LEVITT, WASHINGTON INST. FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: We're talking about a lot of dual nationals and there are a lot of people who have relatives broad, traveled a lot abroad and it takes a very long time to go through those security clearances and in many cases people don't pass their security clearances for a variety of reasons.
DAS: Scrutiny of the FBI's foreign language translation program seems likely to continue. As the Justice Department report concludes, it's a matter of national security. Sumi Das, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.
Checking some other stories making headlines across America now. Firefighters in eastern Oregon are on the front line this weekend in a battle against some major wild fires. The biggest blaze, known as the double mountain fire, has already charred at least 19,000 acres. So far no word of any evacuations in that region.
In Florida, a St. Petersburg golf company is getting ready to make life a little bit more enjoyable for some American troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Tour links is sending portable putting greens to both countries. The company's president says he hopes the greens will help American troops fight boredom during their down time.
"Reliable Sources" is just ahead here on CNN. Let's check in with Howard Kurtz for a preview of today's program.
HOWARD KURTZ, CNN ANCHOR, RELIABLE SOURCES: Coming up, with American casualties mounting day after day, are the media suffering from Iraq fatigue and putting the daily suicide bombings on the back burner? And how depressing is it to report from Baghdad?
Also the frenzy over Natalee Holloway. The latest in a long line of missing white women. Is race a factor?
Plus a "Miami Herald" columnist fired after a former city official commits suicide and how the White House delayed a controversial story on Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. All that and more ahead on "Reliable Sources."
WHITFIELD: Also coming up, a new planet in search of a name. We'll have the latest on what it takes to become a planet after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In boxing he's known as the Hitman. Last night, Thomas Hearns, trying to make a comeback, won by a technical knockout. The 46-year old Hearns fought 35-year-old John Long in Detroit. It wasn't the seniors tour but both fighters probably could qualified. Hearns is a seven time world champion so he decided to make a come comeback over the objections of many of his friends. After winning, Hearns says he plans to fight for, quote a long time.
In the outer reaches of our solar system, a stunning new discovery. Astronomers in California have found what they say is the tenth planet, an icy and rocky body bigger than Pluto. The discovery is sure to stir the debate over the definition of a planet. Here's CNN's Carol Lin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL BROWN, PLANETARY SCIENTIST: We found -- we found a planet.
CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It doesn't look like much here. But Cal tech scientist Michael Brown says the circled white dot is a tenth planet in the farthest reaches of our solar system. These new time lapse images show the object gliding across the sky. It's three times farther away from the sun than our farther known planet, Pluto and scientists say it's big.
BROWN: We know that it's bigger than Pluto and we know it's no more than twice as big as Pluto. We can't pin down a precise size yet without some further observations.
LIN: But it's too early to start rewriting text books. The problem is, there's no definitive definition of what a planet is and whether this new discovery would qualify. It may be big, but so are other objects. Saturn's moon, Titan, for example, is bigger than Pluto. It even has an atmosphere. So, if it were orbiting the sun instead of another planet, it might count. In fact, some say if Pluto were discovered today instead of 75 years ago, it wouldn't make the cut.
BROWN: Officially, according to the International Astronomical Union, Pluto is indeed a planet. And if Pluto's a planet, it seems pretty reasonable that something that's bigger than Pluto and further away than Pluto should be called a planet, too.
LIN: Scientist announced Friday that they are referring to this cold hunk of rock and ice by the very unromantic name 2003 UB 313.
BROWN: I just named it this afternoon and I can even remember what they called it. It's such a stupid name.
LIN: Brown says he has a better name picked out which he'll reveal once it's been approved by the International Astronomical Unit. In the meantime, scientists have their own working name for it. They're calling it Xena, in honor of the warrior princess, so popular on TV when the scientists began their search for the planet. Carol Lin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Up next, "Reliable Sources." Is the media suffering from Iraq fatigue? Then on "Late Edition," Wolf Blitzer will interview Iraq's national security adviser. And at 2:00 Eastern, "People in the News" profiles Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.
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