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New York City's Penn Sation Partially Closed Amid Security Alert; Government Shows Its Concern Over Avian Flu Threat

Aired October 07, 2005 - 10:33   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And coming up on the half hour, I'm Tony Harris. Here's what's happening "Now in the News."
Six U.S. marines have been killed in Iraq by roadside bombs. Two were killed while on patrol in Qaim, the other four in a separate bombing near Karma. Both incidents took place in Sunni-dominated Anbar Province, where marines and Iraqi forces are continuing their anti-insurgent offensives today.

An early morning apartment fire in Lawrence, Kansas, has sent at least 19 people to the hospital. Many were injured when they were forced to jump from the second and third floors. A college student says he was awake when he discovered the fire and went door to door, waking up other residents. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Fire crews that made progress in a wildfire burning in San Diego County near the Mexican border. An evacuation order has been lifted for up to 200 homes. Officials hope for full containment of the 4,000-acre fire by tomorrow evening. The fire started in Mexico, but most of the damage was on the U.S. side of the border.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency and its head are this year's winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency were honored for their disarmament efforts. ElBaradei calls the win a shot in the arm, as the agency deals with nuclear crises in Iran and North Korea.

And we are following a developing story this hour at New York's Penn Station. One of the rail hub's main entrances has been sealed off and part of the Amtrak train station closed. At least four people in HAZMAT moon suits are at hand, but police are releasing no details. The incident comes amid official warnings that a terror plot targeting the underground rail system has been uncovered.

Let's get the latest update from our Alina Cho. Alina, good morning.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, good morning to you. What we can tell you is that the entrance right behind me, which is one of the main entrances. The northwest entrance is still sealed off at this point. It was cordoned off at about 9:30 this morning, which was about an hour ago. What we can tell you is that inside the Amtrak portion of this station, just around the ticket counter, we are told, is still sealed off. Now, at the same time, we are told that Amtrak trains are running. They are boarding. But so far, we are told, no new riders are being lead in or if they are, they are just now beginning to be let in. Nonetheless, there is a heavy police presence, a heavy security presence. And as you mentioned, Tony, at least four people in HAZMAT suits. They are checking out the situation there.

We are still trying to figure out exactly what's prompted all of this. But we can tell you that after yesterday, when city officials announced this terror threat, they made clear that they were going to be acting out of an abundance of caution. And it is entirely possible that this may turn out to be nothing, Tony. But, for now, they want to be more safe than sorry.

HARRIS: OK. And at this point, just to be clear, once again, no one is being asked to leave Penn Station, to get out, correct?

CHO: That's absolutely right. What we were told just a couple of moments ago, Tony, is that the Amtrak trains are running. It appears what is going that just a portion, around the ticket counter, in the Amtrak section of Penn Station, that portion of the station appears to be cordoned off. They are looking at something down there. We're not sure yet exactly what.

HARRIS: Alina Cho, thank you, appreciate it, for the latest there.

Security expert Mike Brooks is on the line with us. Mike, you there? Good morning.

MIKE BROOKS, SECURITY EXPERT: Good morning, Tony, how you doing?

HARRIS: Oh, good. Good to talk to you again, Mike. Four men in HAZMAT moon suits walking around the station there. What do you make of it?

BROOKS: Well, Tony, I'm hearing from law enforcement sources in New York City that they're checking out some type of liquid, some suspect liquid. And from my experience on the Joint Terrorism Task Force and also having been a HAZMAT tech myself, the kind of suits they have would be for low-level hazardous material. You see one of the officers there for emergency services wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus. The other ones have on a protective outer garment and a pesfillator (ph) type, which would say to me that they believe there is some kind of hazardous material that they're checking out.

And you also see the officers with a detection device that is used for hazardous materials. And if they thought it was serious enough, they would go ahead and shut down the whole station. And right behind Alina Cho's shot there, Tony, you can see the front end of an emergency services truck. That's the emergency services unit from New York. They are experts in hazardous materials and special weapons, but in this case, they had the hazardous material technicians down there, checking this out. And they may check it out. It might turn out to be something. But, then again, right now they're not going to take any chances whatsoever.

HARRIS: All right. Just to sort of get a better handle on the pictures that we're seeing, Mike -- we see the folks in the moon suits and then we see officers. There was a female officer there, standing beside -- near, very near the guys in the moon suit. There you see her right there. So we can assume that whatever liquid they're investigating is on the other side of the tape and down whatever walkway that is there, correct?

BROOKS: That's correct. It would be down that walkway and the only officers that would approach that hazardous material are the ones who are in that level B suit that they have on.

HARRIS: OK. Mike Brooks, security expert. Mike, thanks for the time this morning. Appreciate it.

The Bush administration is showing its concern over avian flu in two ways today. This afternoon, the president meets with vaccine manufacturers at the White House, and the State Department is hosting the second day of an international conference on bird flu.

CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel is covering that and she joins us now with an update. Andrea, good morning.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

This has been a priority for President Bush for months now. Back in May of this year, Mr. Bush signed an emergency appropriations bill, which had earmarked $25 million for the prevention and control of the avian flu. Now, the Bush administration recognizes that this is a highly contagious virus, something that has already turned up in ten countries.

It's especially prevalent in domesticated birds, usually chickens and ducks. And for that reason, they've convened today's conference and it has a number of goals that they've set out, that they hope to attain in coming months. And they include -- the first being building political momentum so that countries can and will coordinate.

They also want countries to quickly identify and respond to cases of avian flu. And ultimately, the U.S. wants to ensure it would be able to provide support for affected countries, because what we've seen in these 10 countries that have turned up with the flu in their birds, is that it's spread to more than a hundred people and killed at least 60 in four Asian nations.

Now, the U.S. is saying for today's conference that they're extremely concerned that so many countries around the world aren't aware of just how serious this kind of potential pandemic could be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE LEAVITT, HHS SECY.: The world is obviously unprepared, or inadequately prepared, for the potential of a pandemic. The enemy virus currently is H5N1, but I would like to suggest to all of us that our task is not simply battling H5N1; our task is to make broader pandemic preparations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Now, as part of the preparations for that possible pandemic, Mike Leavitt, the Health and Human Services secretary, is going to be joined by a senior State Department official. They're going to be heading out this weekend to southeast Asia to meet with top government officials there to really start the preparations for such possibility and to make sure really that they do communicate, as soon as they see the first sign of avian flu in one of these birds.

One official, Tony, likened it to fighting forest fires in the Western U.S., and said that it's one thing for the U.S. to be up on high when it can see smoke, but in fact, they need the people who are on the ground who see the embers beginning to let the U.S. know so they can get the aid there as quickly as possible.

HARRIS: Andrea Koppel at the State Department. Andrea, thank you.

We are monitoring the situation in New York, at Penn Station in New York City, the entire rail system on heightened alert in the face of a terrorist threat against the entire subway system.

We'll have an update right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: I want to update you on the situation. Live pictures now of Penn Station in New York City. As you know, the entire subway system is on heightened alert right now because of a terrorist threat against the entire system that was very specific to the subway system, the rail system in New York City. We can tell you that more, additional emergency services trucks have arrived on the scene right now. We understand that one of the main entrances, the northwest entrance of the station, has been closed.

Right now, there are four men, at least four men that we know of, in HAZMAT suits, those big moon suits, that are walking around, as you can see here, investigating what a security expert described as most likely a liquid of some kind. They're checking that situation out right now.

And the thought at least right now is that it may not be terribly serious, because we do know that there has not been a call for an evacuation of a station. So whatever is going on right now is still in a preliminary phase. We have more emergency vehicles that are arriving on the scene, and we have four men, at least four, in HAZMAT suits that are checking out the situation.

We'll continue to monitor that situation, to see if we can pin down exactly what is going on in this investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: See if we can get you set up for the weekend here with some entertainment. The holiday crush has not yet descended. The first chill of the season has crept in and the new TV season offers more misses than hits. So what better time to catch a movie? Joining us with us a preview of the week's new releases is our favorite movie critic, Russ Leatherman, AKA Mr. Moviefone.

Russ, good to talk to you.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": You know what, it's good to talk to you, too. I know there's a lot going in the world, but we still have to get out to see a movie every other weekend.

HARRIS: Can we? Can we at least attempt to lighten it up? Or at least give folks a plan for the weekend here? Can we do that?

LEATHERMAN: Well, we were going to lighten it up, but now we've got to talk about the Cameron Diaz movie. I'm kidding about that.

HARRIS: "In Her Shoes," huh, is that the name of it?

LEATHERMAN: Yes, "In Her Shoes." This is a chick flick, no doubt. I liked it. You're probably going like it, too. It stars Cameron Diaz. She plays a beautiful, oversexed, irresponsible party girl who moves in with her sister, Toni Collette, who is the polar opposite. But what happens is even Toni Colette has to throw Cameron out of her apartment, because she sleeps with her boyfriend. That's no good. Sisters shouldn't do that.

And here's what I can tell you about this movie. The supporting cast is really what makes it. Shirley MacLaine is terrific in this movie. Lots of really interesting characters. It's done by a well known, good director. So I think if you like this sort of movie, you're going to be into it. It's pretty good.

HARRIS: OK, Russ, "Two for the Money." This is kind of a sports movie, a sports betting movie. What is it?

LEATHERMAN: I like that look on your face. What is it? Well, here's what it is. It's Al Pacino doing the same thing we see him doing movie after movie. It is about sports betting, which is absolutely huge. This time he's with Matthew McConaughey, and he recruits Matthew to really talk over his gambling empire. But all of us know, that if you gamble, sooner or later you're going to lose, and that's what ends up happening in this movie.

I have to tell you, if you want to pay nine bucks to see "The Devil's Advocate 2," then go do it. It's your movie. You can go see this same movie again. It's not that it's a bad movie; I think we've just seen Al Pacino do this thing time and time again. So it's an OK movie; I'm not spending my nine bucks on it.

HARRIS: I've got to ask you, though. "The Devil's Advocate" was almost worth it just to see that great scene with Pacino at the end, names so many names. You remember that scene?

HARRIS: Do you get any moments like that in this film?

LEATHERMAN: Well, he's great to watch, no doubt about it. I just wish he was sort of doing something a little different. But it's not that this is a bad movie, I just don't know that I'm going spend nine bucks for it.

HARRIS: No, I got you.

LEATHERMAN: But, hey, it's your money, you do what you want.

HARRIS: OK, Russ. And "Wallace and Gromit."

LEATHERMAN: "Wallace and Gromit," that's right. You might know them from the short films. This is really a terrific family movie. It's very British in tone. I won't give you the plot of the movie, because it really doesn't matter. Here's what you need to know. You can take the entire family to see this movie. It's rare that you have a movie that's funny, entertaining, you can take your kids, parents, crazy Aunt Mabel. You can take everyone to see this movie, and they're really going to enjoy it.

So I would say if you're looking for something to do, there is a lot of serious stuff going in the world. Escape for a couple hours. Go see "Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit." Take the entire family. You'll have a fantastic time.

HARRIS: That's very good, because we've been looking for a movie for a while now to take the kids to, and it sounds like this is it.

LEATHERMAN: It is. And like I said, you can go see two for the money. It's not that it's a bad movie. And "In Her Shoes," you know, get inside your inner womanly self and go check that out.

HARRIS: OK, all right. Thanks for the advice. Russ, good to see you. Have a great weekend.

LEATHERMAN: All right, you, too, man.

HARRIS: Still ahead, what happened during a Rolling Stones concert wasn't very entertaining, that's for sure. Ahead, what put a temporary stop to the show? And when a pregnant woman screamed for help, one man, yes, one man actually answered her call. We'll give him the public praise he deserves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's take a look now at other stories making news coast to coast.

A Florida woman got a bite on the hand and a slap on the wrist after feeding an alligator. The woman was tossing slices of bread in a creek when the gator lunged out of the water and bit her. Wildlife officials gave the woman a written warning for violating a ban on feeding wild alligators. The Rolling Stones were forced to the take an unscheduled break during their show last night at the University of Virginia Scott Stadium. Several police officers and bomb-sniffing dogs took the stage. The first 20 rows of spectators were cleared. The show resumed a half hour later, after police finished their work.

A Burton, California, high school teacher is today's Good Samaritan. high school teacher is today's good samaritan. Biko Eisen-Martin heard a pregnant woman's cries for help in a subway stairwell. Now, most commuters ignored her, but not Eisen-Martin. He ran to call an ambulance and got back in time to catch the a three- pound baby girl with his t-shirt. The mother later delivered two other babies. Mom and the triplets are all fine.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: We've got much more ahead in the next hour of CNN LIVE TODAY. New York politicians are warning of potential threats. Police are searching bags and a main entrance to Penn Station is closed. How worried should we be? I'll ask a security analyst if enough is being done.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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