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CNN Live Sunday

Terror Suspect in Italy Talking to Authorities

Aired July 31, 2005 - 17:00   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: ... right person to send to the UN at this time.
And Natalee Holloway's mother has returned home to Birmingham, Alabama. Beth Holloway Twitty has been in Aruba since shortly after her 18-year-old daughter disappeared two months ago. The search had recently focused on a drainage pond, but investigators say they found nothing significant.

First this hour, the race to track terrorists based across Europe after the failed London bombings. Reports out of Rome say the man being held as a would be London bomber is under interrogation and he's talking. And in Britain where officials cracked the case last week, the roundups continue. We'll go to Rome in a moment, but first to London where we find CNN's Jim Boulden. Jim?

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredericka. Yes. We've been told by London police they have made seven more arrests today. Those arrests taking place in Sussex, in a city called Brighton. That's on the south coast, south from here. We're being told that six men and one woman were taken into custody today. We're told however that armed officers were not involved in this operation, which leads us to believe that they have not found a mastermind or another cell, which of course, they're keen on finding if there are other cells here or if there is a person who might have been putting these men up to these bombings that we've seen and the failed bombings that we saw on July 21st.

Now we now know that 35 people have been taken into custody since the failed bombings of July 21st. Also of course, the British police are very tight lipped when it comes to telling us why they've taken people into custody. But we did get a little information on why these seven people were arrested today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASST. CHIEF GEOFF WILLIAMS, SUSSEX POLICE: What we have today conducted two searches at two addresses. At present, seven people have been arrested, six men and one woman. They've been arrested under the terrorism act and they are currently being interviewed as a police station in Sussex. Of course the key issue for us is the safety of the public is always paramount. And I will say that this was a low key operation. It was a planned operation and we would assess that there are no risks to the members of the public.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BOULDEN: Now we're not sure whether these arrests come from any information that was found on that dramatic day on Friday when two men were arrested in west London. We saw the pictures of those men on the balcony as they were arrested and also another man believed to possibly have been a fifth suspect bomber also arrested in London. Of course, as you heard, we are getting some information out of Rome of another would be bomber who is talking to the police there. We're not sure why these people were picked up in Brighton today. But the net is continuing to widen as the police are looking desperately to see if there are any more cells here in the U.K. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Jim Boulden in London, thanks so much. And now for more on that arrest made in Rome, let's go to CNN's Jennifer Eccleston with more on that. Jennifer?

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The judge that questioned the London bombing suspect Hussain Osman today validated his arrest and his detention under the extradition request from the United Kingdom and that means he'll stay in jail until a decision on whether the extradition will be processed. Now his lawyers tell CNN he'll reject the extradition calls, as that will delay any possible return to the United Kingdom by several months due to a lengthy appeals process.

Now we're also getting some insight into the mindset of Osman regarding the July 21st failed bombings. A judicial source close to the investigation tells CNN that Osman confessed to carrying out the London bombing, that he brought a bomb on the tube. But he said it was meant to be an attention grabbing strike, a protest he said against the Iraq war and he was emphatic that it was not meant to kill anyone. The source also said that Osman denied any links to the July 7th tube attack and that had no links to al Qaeda.

And the suspect told investigators there were five bombers and that Ibrahim Muktar Said (ph) who's in custody in London, gave Osman the backpacks with the bombs and instructed him where to put them one day before the attack. That would be July 20th. He also said there were no explosive in those bombs. Now he only said that they were there to make a noise. Our source also said that Osman goes by another name, which is Isaak Abu Tandi (ph) which is on an Ethiopian birth certificate. The source says the name Hussein Osman is from a fake Somali passport. We also learned today that police arrested the older brother of Hussein Osman in northern Italy on charges of destroying evidence and of course, another brother was arrested with him on Friday in Rome and he is being held on charges of carrying false documents. Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Rome.

WHITFIELD: Deadly attacks in Iraq have become daily routine. Four U.S. soldiers were killed today by a roadside bomb near the Baghdad airport. Earlier one U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad.

In another attack, a bodyguard of senior Iraqi official Ahmed Chalabi (ph) was killed. Chalabi, who is deputy prime minister, was not in the convoy which was traveling through the town of Latifiya when it was ambushed. Chalabi as you may recall had once been backed by the U.S. as the man to lead Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Well, he later fell out of favor with Washington, but still attained an important post in the new Iraqi government.

Farther south, an Iraqi police patrol was the target of a car bomb. That device was set off by remote control killing five people and wounding 10.

Against this bloody backdrop, the new Iraqi government is forging ahead with a drafting of a national constitution. That document is due to be ready by August 15th. A senior Iraqi official tells CNN that it's undergoing final revisions and will be finished on time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATL SECURITY ADVISOR: They're fine- tuning on the issue of Federalism, the extent of the authority of the Federal, state, and what are the role of the center as opposed to the regions and also the role of religion is still -- there is some fine- tuning on the drafting before we put it forward to our people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That official also said he agrees with U.S. General George Casey that American forces could begin leaving Iraq next year in large numbers provided Iraq's security and political situation improves.

NASA has a new problem with the space shuttle "Discovery." A couple of short strips of material used to fill the spaces between thermal tiles are dangling from the shuttle's underside. It's a problem NASA has seen before. So now engineers are trying to decide if astronauts should fix the hanging pieces or just let them be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL HILL, NASA LEAD FLIGHT DIRECTOR: As for the gap filler, we have a team of folks that are working aggressively at options to go and make that gap filler safe if we decide it's an issue. And we have a separate team of folks that are off looking at aero heating and the effects of leaving those gap fillers in place and protruding. We expect to have final results on aero heating and a decision on whether we need to do anything about the gap fillers on Monday. And we have various options that (INAUDIBLE) pulling the gap filler out, to trimming the gap filler or putting it back down into the gap. And those are actively being worked right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: NASA has already delayed Discovery's return to earth by a day so astronauts could do more work at the international space station. Landing is now scheduled for August 8th.

Could the gap fillers cause further delay in the shuttle's return? Joining us now to talk about Discovery's mission and the latest snag is Randy Avara, a former NASA senior aerospace engineer who spent 14 years working on the shuttle program. And you're also out with a new book "Memories of Columbia." There you see it right there. Good to see you.

RANDY AVERA, FMR NASA SR. ENGINEER: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. NASA is saying it's not a big problem. It doesn't appearing to a big problem right now, these dangling pieces of filler. Is this something to be concerned about?

AVERA: Let me show you what these fillers are. They're called Ames gap fillers. It's named after the NASA center in California, Ames Research Center, where these gap fillers were invented many years ago, about 25, 30 years ago. And what they do, they fill the spaces between the tiles. If you think of vertical and horizontal lines and gaps between two adjacent tiles. These are like shims or spacers that go down between two tiles to fill that gap.

WHITFIELD: The caulking that you might see on the tiles?

AVERA: More like a spacer to insert but fills that gap.

WHITFIELD: Gotcha.

AVERA: And the reason it has to fill the gap is to keep the aero thermal heating, the hot gases from getting down to the aluminum skin of the orbiter.

WHITFIELD: So upon reentry, you need all those pieces to be in place. The reentry being very aggressive, a lot of heat, might that stress on the shuttle cause any additional peeling of the tiles if you have gaps?

AVERA: Well, NASA certainly wants the vehicle to be on reentry in conformance with the design specification and the good news is we have these inspection techniques which have been performed over the past couple of days in orbit and that's how they detected these Ames gap fillers protruding very slightly from the surface of the tiles in which they fill the gap between.

WHITFIELD: They made those observations through that unprecedented kind of turnover?

AVERA: Yes and with the robotic arm that goes around doing the survey.

WHITFIELD: So is this a problem that the crew itself could repair? We saw some images of them doing some caulking or some sort of filling on the international space station. Is that something they can perform on the shuttle itself?

AVERA: Well, as we speak, NASA is still analyzing, is this a problem or not? One of the options is during an extra vehicular activity or spacewalk on a day or two from now, that the astronauts could actually go possibly trim off the part of the gap filler sticking out or possibly push the gap filler back down into the gap. But that remains to be decided by NASA because the aero thermal engineers at NASA are still analyzing, is it a problem? And it's important to realize if it's a local area, say, in the middle of the orbiter, there's what's called the viscous boundary layer. If it trips that viscous boundary layer, it can create not only a hot spot at that location, but also possibly downstream towards the rear of the orbiter from that point.

WHITFIELD: Hearing all of the challenges that NASA is now considering right now, still as you remind us, they have a few more decisions to make, a lot more evaluations to do. At this juncture, are you at all concerned about the mission right now? Or are these complications normal?

AVERA: Well, as a rocket engineer that helped build all five orbiters, we want the orbiter to look like its design, that's our goal. But what I am glad to hear or very happy to hear is that there's a detailed analysis going on based on the observations made in orbit, and realize until this mission, NASA did not have that capability and when you think back to April 12th, 1981 and two days later the reentry of Columbia for the first time. All of the materials were brand new, never tested. So it's really important that for future missions we learn from all these incidents so that we can design the best spacecraft in the future, not just the manned, but also the unmanned vehicle. We need a wide variety of space vehicles in the future and when we compare like the Apollo program, they only had 13 flights at the Saturn five. The space shuttle orbiter is reusable and it's flown over 100 times. So there's a lot of science and engineering here.

WHITFIELD: But still ongoing debate as to whether these shuttles have reached their peak, if they're too old, if it's time to retire these shuttles.

AVERA: Well, certainly not time to retire them. We're still learning from them and it's time to get ready to go back to the moon. But what we learned from the space shuttle is important in that mission as well.

WHITFIELD: Randy Avera, good to see you and your new book, your latest book, "Memories of Columbia." Thanks so much for taking the time.

AVERA: You're welcome, Fredricka.

The world tries to play catch-up in dealing with a catastrophic famine. What's being done to help the starving of Niger? We'll have a live report from the African nation coming up next.

And still to come, it's been a devastating week for the Boy Scouts of America. Find out how the president is now trying to lift their spirits. Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was right about all these women who are smart and forthright and intuitive. How could I possibly have let this happen? How could I not have seen it?

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: The author of "Waiting to Exhale" and "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" faces a real life personal drama. CNN's conversation with Terry McMillan coming up in 30 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Western India is getting exactly what it does not need today, more rain. The city of Mumbai is struggling to cope with the epic disaster which has already claimed 1,000 lives. In addition, floodwaters now hold tens of thousands of dead animals which threaten widespread disease. Local officials have besieged - have been rather besieged by angry residents who have been without electricity or fresh water for days. Last week Mumbai was engulfed by more than three feet of rain in 24 hours.

The African nation of Niger has had the opposite extreme, severe drought. That was followed by a plague of locusts. Now the country faces famine. CNN's Jeff Koinange joins us via video phone with an update. Jeff?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Fredricka. It's the worst famine to hit the country in a very, very long time. And aid agencies are saying that help has to arrive sooner rather than later. Some is trickling in mind you. It's not coming in as fast as they want, because a lot of people, thousands are pouring into the big cities from the country side. Despite this, the people of Niger are fighting back in one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE(voice-over): The village of Sarki Yamma on the southern edge of Niger is a place steeped in tradition and folklore. Religion plays an integral part of every day life. Traditions date back centuries. Time seems to have stood still. It is a place where men simply sit while women work the land, women like 42-year-old Bar Kasani (ph). The mother of six knows what it's like to go to bed hungry. Her country is facing its worst famine in recent history. Thousands have already died. Millions more are threatened. Kasani says every day is an uphill battle.

Life is very difficult these days. All we are doing is trying to live one day at a time she says. Kasani used to belong to a community of small skilled farmers who would take turns tilling each other's land and in that way share the profits, as well as shoulder the losses. Two consecutive years without rain and a devastating locust invasion last year made life for Kasani and her fellow farmers even more difficult than usual. We lost everything, everything, she says. Now she's back tilling her own plot of land aided by her children and in-laws.

Across this harsh and unforgiving land, many are living hand to mouth wondering when the rains will come, when the suffering will stop.

(on-camera): Now on an average year in any one of these typical fields, these millet stalks would be about two meters high, way above my head. Now, they're just below my knees, an indicator the famine is far from over. And in a country ranked among the poorest in the world, where illiteracy high, finding work outside the farms is tough. Many women collect firewood to sell as an alternative source of income, even though it buys just a little food. In the marketplaces of towns like Maradi, food is plentiful but many here simply can't afford to pay the high prices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is sad. It is difficult. It is really catastrophic.

KOINANGE: It is an on going irony in this land of contradictions. No rains, no harvests, no work, no money, a land where people farm despite the famine, people like Bar Kasani. Today she is making leaves from a local vegetable which she'll mix with powdered (INAUDIBLE) to make a stew. It is just enough to keep her six children smiling in a land where millions go to bed hungry every night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: And Fredricka, two late developments on this day. One, the United Nations said they may have to increase the number of people it was going to feed on the ground from 1.6 to about 2.5 million. It increased (INAUDIBLE) because they didn't anticipate so many people coming into the towns from the countryside. And UNICEF has appealed for $14.6 million. They want that to augment their program on the ground to make sure they can put this famine in check and as this country goes into another year of drought, they're going to need people on the ground in anticipation of that Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Jeff, in your piece, you talk about one of the ironies. There is food available in the markets yet no one can afford to purchase them. So who is setting the prices? Why is this irony taking place?

KOINANGE: You mentioned it at very start of the show Fredricka. You said there's was a drought this time last year, with a recurring drought and that locust invasion that's decimated the entire harvest in this region. That means the farmers couldn't go and buy even food crops. They couldn't sustain themselves. No one could afford anything, so the merchants, the retailers, they set their prices and what can we do? So it's an irony right there.

Here's yet another irony. You talked about the rains falling in Mumbai the last few days. Aid workers here are telling us that if the rains come and they are too heavy, that is not a good thing. That's because the aid trucks will not be able to get to the villages where they're needed most. So rain is needed in the next few weeks, but not too much, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so Jeff, if the aid trucks have a difficult time making it in with those supplies, is there any kind of wiggle room that perhaps those merchants who do have some of the food there, they might lower the prices if not at least temporarily so many of these people can get some kind of sustenance?

KOINANGE: That's a very good point and we actually asked government officials that. They said well, they can try and talk to the merchants. We actually went down into the streets and talked to the merchants. They said it's out of our hands unless we get some kind of sustenance from the government. That doesn't look like it's forthcoming. But you're right. That would probably be the best idea. Have the prices set at a lower level so that everyone can afford them and they could always increase the prices in the coming year if the outlets (ph) are there. It doesn't seem like it's going to happen right now. Mostly people are relying from aid from the west. It's not coming as soon as it should, but hopefully it will come sooner rather than later. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sad situation all the way around. Jeff Koinange, thanks so much from Miradi (ph). Appreciate it.

Tomorrow and Tuesday, CNN's Anderson Cooper will have live coverage from Niger on the famine and relief efforts. Be sure to tune in Monday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern for his special report.

Can a solution to the war on terror be found on college campuses? Still ahead, what these students are learning today could help protect America in the future.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kathleen Koch in Virginia at the national Boy Scout jamboree. Will the scouts get a merit badge for preparedness for tonight's presidential visit? I'll be back with more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's been a deadly and difficult week for the Boy Scouts of America. A lightning strike Thursday hit a Boy Scout group camping in California's Sequoia National Park, killing an assistant scout master and a 13-year-old scout. That happened just days after four scout masters were electrocuted while putting up a tent at the national scout jamboree in Virginia. Stifling heat and humidity at the jamboree later sickened hundreds of scouts as they stood in the sun awaiting the arrival of President Bush. Well, the president didn't make it to the jamboree that day. But thousands of scouts are hoping to see him tonight. Kathleen Koch is at the jamboree and joins us now. Hi, Kathleen.

KOCH: Hi Fredricka. Well, you know if the Boy Scouts were not prepared Wednesday, they certainly are prepared today. As you mentioned then, the temperatures were soaring well into the 90s with a heat index of over 100 and more than 300 scouts and leaders were just simply overcome by the heat. But today there is water, water, everywhere, water by the truck loads being brought in, water brigades pre-positioning water throughout this massive arena.

Now hundreds of Boy Scouts have already started poring in. There are buses positioned around the arena, air conditioned buses where they can go to cool off. There are also ambulances nearby, so that if anyone is overcome, they can get help immediately. But the scout leaders that we have talked to today insist that this event, unlike Wednesday's will go off without a hitch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was handled as well as it could be. It was just darn hot and we had a number of kids that were getting a little overheated, but I think that today it will be a lot better. Clearly, the weather up here is cooperating.

UNIDENTIFIED SCOUT: I think we're prepared. We were prepared then but we're a lot more prepared now. So I think it's going to be great tonight.

KOCH: With cooler temperatures prevailing here, temperatures only in the 80s today. The scouts were engaged in lots of outdoor activities. We saw scouts doing archery practice, also mountain boarding something that looks similar to skateboarding down a slope, also fishing, all sorts of activities and the Boy Scouts though are above all very excited about what will be President Bush's very first visit to a national Boy Scout jamboree. We're told that the president will not only honor the four Boy Scout leaders who died in that terrible accident Monday, but also he'll be talking about the importance of scouting and service. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Kathleen, what exactly is the president planning on talking about to these boy scouts?

KOCH: As I said, the president is going to speak quite a bit how important the organization, the Boy Scouts of America is in forming the new leaders of tomorrow. We look throughout his administration, the vice president, the secretary of defense, former Eagle scouts. Many, many young men who start out in the Boy Scouts do rise to positions of leadership, not only in politics, but also business, so the president believes this is very important. Also we're told, he's going to thank the Boy Scouts for their support of the troops who are involved in Iraq and Afghanistan and the conflicts there, Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Kathleen Koch thanks so much.

The jamboree in Virginia isn't the only game going on for the Boy Scouts right now. Across the Atlantic more than 10,000 scouts from around the world are gathered for a euro jam. Scouts from 57 different countries traveled to England for the 12 day international jamboree. Euro jam is the biggest scout and guide event to be held in Europe in a decade.

In some cases, language barriers are big obstacles in the war on terror. Up next, why hours of counterterrorism wiretaps are being left untranslated. What does it mean for America's security?

Plus, they've got money, influence and prestige, but who's got the most power when it comes to the women of the world? "Forbes" ranks the best of the best. We'll tell you came out on top and why.

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