Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia Dead; More Arrests in London Terror Probe

Aired August 01, 2005 - 07:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien. Breaking news out of Saudi Arabia. King Fahd, a key ally of the United States, is dead. The Saudi kingdom is mourning today. What this means to U.S.- Saudi relations and Saudi's role in the war on terror. We've got a live report straight ahead.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. Discovery astronauts on their second space walk as we speak, while NASA prepares to announce a risky, unrehearsed repair mission for them. We'll tell you what has shuttle managers a little bit nervous.

S. O'BRIEN: And more arrests in the London terror probe: 21 people now in custody in Britain and Italy. Have police cracked open an international terror network? On this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's Monday.

M. O'BRIEN: It's Monday, a happy Monday, no such thing. But we're busy this morning. The Discovery astronauts are busy right now in space. We're watching that for you.

But we begin with breaking news, the death of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd. With the Saudi kingdom sitting on a quarter of the world's oil reserves, King Fahd was one of the richest and most powerful men in the world.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has traveled to Saudi Arabia numerous times. He has met King Fahd, reported extensively on the royal family and its role in the war on terror.

Nic, this -- he had been ailing for many years but had a tremendous impact in the Middle East and the world at large.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. He's widely regarded as the man that very much helped form the modern Saudi state, bringing the infrastructure of roads, the modernization of hospitals, of social services, of government ministries, of putting the country into the position it's in today. He had really been incapacitated since the mid-1990s, since his stroke in 1995, and it is Crown Prince Abdullah, now King Abdullah, who's largely run the country for the last 10 years. That transition from King Fahd to King Abdullah, a seamless one. This is the way the Saudis planned it. This is the way that they wanted it. In Saudi Arabia, they say that it takes a king to bury a king, and that is why once King Fahd was announced as dead, pronounced dead, King Abdullah was immediately pronounced as king. The funeral will take place on Tuesday, we understand -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Nic Robertson, thank you very much. Of course the Saudi Royal family is particularly close to President Bush and his family. National correspondent Bob Franken at the White House this morning.

Bob, any official statements or word from the White House yet?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Not yet. This is going to be something that's going to be carefully vetted, even though there's been a cordial relationship between the two countries, a relationship that has suffered quite a bit of complications certainly since September 11th, with the heavy involvement of Saudi nationals in the attacks on the United States.

We are told the White House was notified almost immediately after the death of King Fahd and the ascension of Crown Prince Abdullah. Abdullah has visited the United States, most recently was at the Ranch in Crawford, Texas with President Bush in April. They had a discussion mainly about petroleum prices and petroleum production. Crown Prince-then Abdullah had always been an advocate of stabilization and was a leading spokesman in OPEC. And he is expected to continue those policies.

The man who will become crown prince is Prince Abdul, who has been the person who's head of the Saudi Defense Forces. The United States has had quite a complicated relationship between Defense Forces. It is the U.S. that has allowed the Saudi armed forces to modernize, but at the same time the fundamentalists in that country are among those who have been the toughest critics of the involvement.

As a matter of fact, Osama Bin laden, a Saudi Arabian, used that as his main criticism when he ordered the attacks on September 11th. But the United States relationship between the two countries is expected to continue the way it has. Now King Abdullah is an advocate of warming up those relationships. Interestingly, it was just last month, just a week or so ago, that the long time ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar, resigned. He is soon going to be replaced with somebody unnamed yet who will be primarily responsible for continuing the relationship as it is now under a new monarch -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken at the White house, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: The city of London is on high alert this morning. Thousands of police marksmen are positioned on streets and on rooftops throughout the city after warnings of a possible third attack there. And British officials now are waiting to hear about an extradition request for Hussain Osman. He's a suspect in the July 21st bombings, and he's being held in Rome. Live team coverage this morning with Jennifer Eccleston. She's in Rome for us. Chris Burns in London for us.

Jennifer, we're going to begin with you this morning. What information has Hussain Osman been able to provide to Italian authorities? JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, we had some more information this morning just a short while ago, from the Rome's chief anti-terrorism officer. That's Carlo Di Stefano, who provided further details of that Friday arrest of Hussain Osman. He, of course, is the suspected London bomber. They praised Scotland Yard over the high-profile capture and praised the cooperation against an attack here in Italy.

They also announced some 2,000 non-E.U. citizens had been questioned in Italy in relation to the investigation. Some of them were subsequently arrested. They talked of the cell phone that tracked Osman's movements here, and proved that he had contact with the East African immigrant community across Italy, specifically with another Ethiopian here who was arrested and who was later determined to be his brother.

They were also able to identify Osman's identity by a leg wound. Now Scotland Yard had tipped off the Italians about this cut. They said it was caused during his escape from the tube when he jumped over one of the turnstiles. Now they also confirmed that extensive searches across Italy, specifically in northern Italy, led to the arrest of his older brother, whom Di Stefano said lied about his documentation and was subsequently arrested.

And they confirm that family and friends helped Osman make his way from London to Rome, and they're still looking into the possibility that Osman and his family could be a party of a wider network of criminal activity here in Italy. But right now, they say, it doesn't appear he and his family are part of a wider network of terrorists. And this will come to a greater relief to people here in Italy, who are being constantly reminded that their country is the next target for terrorists -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, thanks, Jennifer. Jennifer Eccleston for us. Let's go to Chris Burns. He's live outside of Scotland Yard.

Chris, good morning to you. At one point, there were almost three dozen people in custody in connection with this case. What are those numbers now?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, we're down to about 18 at this point. There was an arrest last night, but that person was later released. Among those 18 are the three other so- called accused rucksack bombers from the failed attacks back on July 21st. And authorities have -- really the clock is counting down against them, because they have only 14 days before they have to either charge them or release them. These are people they arrested over the weekend, seven more over the weekend. Also the others last week.

So the pressure is on, and the pressure's also on because they say they would like to try to find out if there are other people out there planning attacks, and they're also going after the logistics behind those -- the July 7th deadly attack that killed more than 50 people and also the failed attack on July 21st, trying to see if there's any relation, trying to see who built those bombs, trying to see who financed them. So there are a lot of questions that officials are trying to solve right now, and running against time as well -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Also some concerns about this potential third attack in London. So what's going on in London today that authorities are doing to, I guess, prevent, if they can, any third attack?

BURNS: Well, Soledad, we wake up in the morning to headlines like this, where they say that the city is in complete lockdown. There are police, sharpshooters on the roofs and so forth. I haven't personally seen any sharpshooters yet, but there is a great sense of concern. The British media is quoting security officials here, saying that they are anticipating an attack, unless they can head it off. So there are -- there is a lot more security out here on the streets. You look back at last Thursday, when there were some 6,000 police, half of them armed to the teeth on the street, which is extremely unusual for London, and that could happen again this Thursday, because those last two attacks were on a Thursday. But every single day they're extremely tight security. Even though people are on the street here, taking buses, taking subways, they're also very cautious -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Chris Burns at Scotland Yard for us this morning. Chris, thanks for the update -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A pair of space shuttle astronauts on their second space walk, been about two-and-a-half hours now. They've been in the void. The main objective of this second space walk of this mission is to change out a bulky gyroscope on the exterior of the International Space Station. Take a look at these pictures. These are still pictures coming down right now from space. Just lost the signal there. There you see the orientation of the spacecraft, and they're just over Australia and on their way toward New Zealand right now, as they continue this mission 220 miles above the planet.

In any case, this is an important step for the space station because those gyroscopes are very important to sort of keeping it flying straight and level, as it should.

What's also very important today is what's going on in Houston, as mission managers look through the possibilities of changing their tasks on their next space walk. There you see some video which came down just a little while ago, as space walkers Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi made their way outside the space walk and into the payload bay of Space Shuttle Discovery.

In any case, the engineers are assessing whether some bumps, a couple of bumps in the nose section of Discovery are enough of a problem, would create enough of an additional heating problem on re- entry when Discovery comes home, that it would be worth it for the space walkers to spend some time -- there you see some protruding so- called gap fillers between the tiles. There are 20,000 tiles on the shuttle, and each of them have those gap fillers between them. The question is, is it worth their time to go out there and either trim the protruding gap fillers or pull them out because of concerns that they might create sort of a blow torch effect during the heat of re- entry?

I'm told it's very likely that NASA will announce a little later today that their next space walk, space walk number three, will include that task. We'll be watching it for you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: In India now, Miles, more heavy rains to tell you about. It's adding to the devastation from this year's deadly monsoon season. Another eight inches coming down in the last 24 hours alone. That's on top of the three feet that they got last week. The death toll from these record-breaking storms is now at 1,000.

Satinder Bindra is live for us in Mumbai, India, where residents, of course, are being urged to stay indoors. He joins us by videophone.

Satinder, thanks for talking with us.

Give us a sense of how it is now, and if there's any relief on the horizon.

SATINDER, BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, I guess the only consolation is that it's not raining quite as heavily as before. Residents here describe this rain (INAUDIBLE), because the accumulated effect of all this rain, a dam which is located just southeast of Mumbai has started to overflow. Officials are also releasing water from this dam, and purely as a precautionary measure, police have evacuated some families in that area. Here in Mumbai, a team of municipal workers is removing the bodies of animals from the city. They're also trying to clear up tons and tons of garbage. The big priority is to get food, water and medication to those neighborhoods that are still flooded. All schools are shut today, and many offices closing early so commuters can get home on time.

But guess what, Soledad, the bad news, there's still very heavy rain predicted in the next 24 to 36 hours.

Back to you now.

That is bad news. Satinder Bindra for us with an update on what's happening in Mumbai, India.

Thanks, Satinder.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Tora Bora and Osama Bin Laden. Why one former CIA officer says the agency is keeping his tell-all book under wraps.

And next, how hard would it be to fix the Shuttle Discovery in space? We'll talk to a veteran space walker about that.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) M. O'BRIEN: Space shuttle astronauts in the middle of a second space walk of this mission. And there you see some pictures. This is helmet-mounted camera video of their effort to replace a bulky gyroscope on the exterior of the International Space Station. Every 45 minutes you go from sunlight to darkness in space, and this is one of those dark passes, but of course they've got lights on their helmets to take care of that so they can continue doing their work.

You see all the tethers they have to use their, and those inflated gloves making their tasks very difficult.

Just a little while a ago, I spoke to veteran space-walker Scott Paryzynski about what they're up against and what lies ahead on a possible risky repair mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Scott Paryzynski is a NASA astronaut and a veteran space-walker and a man who flew with a certain Senator John Glenn a few years ago.

Scott, good to have you with us. Tell us what's going on in space right now?

DR. SCOTT PARYZYNSKI, NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, thanks, Miles. Good to be here.

This is a very exciting day for us. This is the EVA of SGS-114. They're in the process of transferring the new -- or actually returning the failed CMG from the International Space Station, brining it down into the payload bay, and then the crew is going to remove a new CMG for installation up on ISS.

M. O'BRIEN: And these gyros are obviously important for the space station to sort of maintain straight-level attitude.

PARYZYNSKI: That's correct. They're fundamental for attitude control. And if we didn't have them, we'd have to use a lot of propellant, which is very inefficient. So getting a full string of CMGs, or gyroscopes, up on the station is really important.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course a lot of talk this morning about some unplanned space walk activities, which seems like they lie ahead right now. And that is to fix a couple of protruding gap fillers on the shuttle's tiles, on Discovery's tiles. First of all, let's talk about those sticking-out pieces there. What is -- why is that such a big problem?

PARYZYNSKI: Well, there are two small protuberances, about an inch in fight. And of course the shuttle is a very streamlined vehicle. It comes through the Earth's atmosphere at very, very high speeds. And any little protuberance causes additional heating, so we're concerned with these two protuberances because they're out of family, from what we've seen on prior flights. So a very large group of people is off analyzing the situation, trying to decide whether or not the additional heating is of sufficient concern that we'd want to go out and remove them.

M. O'BRIEN: And out of family, in this case, means bigger than you've seen before, right?

PARYZYNSKI: Yes, that's probably NASA-speak, but that means a larger step into the wind than we have typically seen. So it's not unreasonable to consider going out and either trimming them or removing them. They're accessible via the robotic arms that we have. We'll probably use the space station robotic arm if the mission- management team decides they'd like to go address this, and either try to pull it out or cut it out.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, you mentioned the space station robotic arm. Would that be preferable to using that long, extended robotic arm on the shuttle?

PARYZYNSKI: Well, we have actually three choices on this flight, which is really remarkable, I think. We have the space station arm. We have the shuttle's arm. And we have the OBSS boom. I haven't seen all of the work-site analyses to conclude which one has got the best reach. But I have heard that the very stable SS arm, the space station arm, will reach these work sites. And as it is our most stable platform, I think that would be the choice if the crew does go out and do this on their third EVA a couple days from now.

M. O'BRIEN: And that's certainly, when you look at that extended arm that we're showing right now, that probably would be a little more -- a little less stable platform to work from.

PARYZYNSKI: That's correct.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm curious about this, though. Any time you put somebody those bulky suits next to something as fragile as those tiles, people have to get a little bit nervous. I mean, the concern would be, I suppose, that you could do more harm than good.

PARYZYNSKI: Well, of course, the mantra first, do no harm. Obviously, any time we work around a delicate structure, we need to be very, very careful. This isn't the only delicate structure that space walkers work around. We work around solar rays, radiator panels, other very critical instrumentation on the International Space Station, as well as the shuttle.

So we do know how to do this. I think, particularly if we're able to use the space station arm to get here, we'll have a stable work platform. And the crew will approach the work site very, very slowly. They'll have a very well defined communication protocol, such that if com were to drop out, the arm operator would stop immediately, and they would reassess. So I think we can do this very safely, if need to.

M. O'BRIEN: NASA astronaut and veteran space walker, Scott Paryzynski, thanks for your time.

(END VIDEOTAPE) S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, the death of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd affecting oil prices. Andy is "Minding Your Business." That's straight ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. What impact is the death of the Saudi King Fahd having on the price of crude oil, and what kind of influence could it have on the markets today? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.

I think it's safe to say there's some mild jitters in the energy markets today. King Fahd ruled Saudi Arabia for 23 years. He was the head of the most powerful and richest family in the world, I think that's safe to say. Twenty-five percent of all oil production comes from Saudi Arabia, the world's oil supplies. And this morning the price of crude is up 56 cents to $61. Although, though, Saudi spokesman are saying that the policy that King Fahd pursued will continue. Here's a chart of the price of oil over the past year. You can see it's up a lot.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, they had succession clearly in place. And also, he was sick for a while. So it's not like this is some huge surprise.

SERWER: I think that's absolutely correct. You know, there will be some negotiating and some intrigue, you know, behind the scenes. And the Saudi royal family is rather inscrutable for Western analysts, for the Bush administration. It's a completely unique government. I mean, I think that's very fair to say.

S. O'BRIEN: How about the impact on the market?

SERWER: Well, I think what's going on here is the oil prices up a little bit. Price of gasoline up. But mostly this morning, because, you know, that big refinery in Texas City, Texas, the British petroleum one, they've shut that down again to look at that. So that is having actually a bigger impact this morning than the situation in Saudi Arabia.

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting. All right, Andy. Thank you.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, tracking terror. The suspects in the July 21st attempted London bombings. Are they connected to larger terror cells? We've got a closer look at that question, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com