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American Morning

Terror Plot Foiled For Los Angeles; Wind, Water And Waiting In Mississippi; Minding Your Business; Gifts For Valentine's Day

Aired February 10, 2006 - 07:29   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The president was talking terror yesterday, and lifting a veil on a thwarted al Qaeda attack that aimed to fly a hijacked airliner into a L.A. skyscraper in early 2002, as part of his campaign to get Americans on board with the Patriot Act and the warrantless wiretapping.
Fran Townsend is assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. She joins us now from the White House.

Mr. Townsend, good to have you back with us.

Why was the president talking about this now?

FRAN TOWNSEND, HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: You know, Miles, as you do know, the president has a regular dialogue and talks regularly with the American people about the war on terror. It's difficult to talk about thwarted plots, because oftentimes we get operational leads from them. In this case, it took a period of time to wrap up and make sure they were in custody, the members of the cell, the known members of the cells. So it takes time, but we were able to declassify it, and we think it's really important for the American people to understand sort of the plotting, the texture of the plotting and that our enemies are still looking to attack us.

O'BRIEN: Well, imagine the surprise if you're the mayor of Los Angeles watching that speech. He happened to be watching CNN. We're glad he was doing that. And he finds out about this plot for first time. Let's listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, (D) LOS ANGELES: Nowhere near the level of detail that was shared with the public today was shared with us, and there was no direct call to my office. I'm not expecting that the president of the United States would call me directly, but certainly somebody from his office would call us directly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. That came from Wolf Blitzer's "Situation Room." We appreciate that.

Miss Townsend he's saying he didn't expect a call from the president, but I think he was kind of implying he expected a call from you. Why didn't you call him? TOWNSEND: Well, his office was contacted through the Department of Homeland Security and the L.A. Police Department. It's the usual way that we exchange information. It's operational information that we share, the details of it. It doesn't come from the White House, it comes from the agencies responsible.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, so is the mayor lying when he says he wasn't notified?

TOWNSEND: His office was notified, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: OK. But he says he was in the dark. I mean it seems like an important thing like that you'd want to get to a very high level to the mayor, right?

TOWNSEND: I would think so.

MILES O'BRIEN: OK. But -- so why wouldn't perhaps somebody from the White House make a direct call just to cut through all that?

TOWNSEND: Well, because it's important that we use the understood way of contacting his office and we went through that. There was somebody in his office who was notified through the police department by the Department of Homeland Security.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the president making this speech. Part of his campaign to get Americans on board for the warrantless wiretapping campaign and The Patriot Act. I find it interesting that he's using this particular case as an example because it was thwarted in the context of a time when The Patriot Act was just emerging. It was passed in November of 2001. Warrantless wiretapping had not really begun. You could certainly make a case that this was thwarted without a change in the new rules and it could be a strong argument for not changing the rules at all.

TOWNSEND: Miles, I don't know why you would say that this speech was meant to support both The Patriot Act and the terrorist surveillance program. In fact, what it was meant to highlight was the importance of international cooperation. It's a global war. This is not just America's fight, but it's a global war. And because there were four other countries involved in this disruption, it was meant to highlight that piece.

MILES O'BRIEN: But this particular plot was, in fact, thwarted without changing the rules. In other words, maybe the whole issue is not changing the rules, maybe the issue is that people were paying more attention and are paying more attention now, they don't need a rule change.

TOWNSEND: No, that's not the case. You know, I was working these issues before The Patriot Act and really saw firsthand the trouble with information sharing before The Patriot Act. The Patriot Act really has broken down walls and it's a vital tool. You know, we haven't talked about the tools we use to thwart this plot because we don't want to explain that to our enemies, but we used various sources and methods in the intelligence community to undertake these sorts of successful operations.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this. If it were, in fact, the case that the wiretaps did play a factor in this, would you tell us?

TOWNSEND: No. No. Because I wouldn't want to real veal that to our enemies about what techniques we used.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Let's -- I want to get Senator Clinton in here for just a moment. She's talking about the overall issue of the war on terror. Let's listen to her for a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) NEW YORK: I take a back seat to nobody when it comes to fighting terrorism and standing up for national and homeland security. But even there, we could have done a better job than we have done. You cannot explain to me why we have not captured or killed the tallest man in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN: Why haven't we gotten the tallest man in Afghanistan?

TOWNSEND: You know, I find Senator Clinton's comment extraordinary given that she's been to Afghanistan and seen the terrain there and how difficult an operating environment it is. We have put every asset we have, military, law enforcement, intelligence, financial, all against -- and diplomatic, all against this target. And I'm confidence that he will be captured or killed.

MILES O'BRIEN: But in talking about thwarted plots, does the president -- is he attempting to shift our attention away from that fact.

TOWNSEND: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. The president has talked -- he talked yesterday about bin Laden. He talked about Zawahiri and Zarqawi. They're all major targets that are still out there. He hasn't shied away from that.

MILES O'BRIEN: Fran Townsend, White House Homeland Security Adviser. Thanks, as always, for being with us.

TOWNSEND: Thanks, Miles.

Let's get to Carol Costello who has some headlines.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do. Good morning, Miles.

Good morning to all of you.

Neil Entwistle is expected to be extradited to the United States within the week to face murder charges. Entwistle appeared in a British court in the past hour. He's suspected of killing his wife and baby daughter in Massachusetts. We're hearing the killings may have actually been a failed murder/suicide plot.

Turning to Iraq. A car bombing today has left at least seven people dead. The explosion went off near a Shiite mosque in Southern Baghdad. More than 20 others were hurt. The bomb detonated just as Friday prayers were set to begin.

And new word this morning from the U.S. military that two marines have been killed. They died from wounds sustained in a roadside bomb attack near Falluja.

Yet another twist to the CIA leak case. Court documents indicate Lewis Scooter Libby told a grand jury he got the OK from his superiors to give secret information to reporters. No word on who those superiors are. But, as you may know, Libby is Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff.

Brownie could spill the beans this morning. Former FEMA Chief Michael Brown set to testify before a Senate panel probing what went wrong in the wake of Katrina. This on the heels of a report that officials were given an early warning about breaches in the levees and flooding in New Orleans. We'll have live coverage of the hearing. It is set to begin at 9:30 Eastern.

Oh, the cracks in the ice for the great one. We're talking about Wayne Gretzky and a gambling ring his wife apparently took part in. Inside sources tell the Associated Press about wiretaps that allegedly show the Hall of Famer knew about the gambling ring but Gretzky denies he ever made any bets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE GRETZKY, COYOTES COACH: I'm not going anywhere. I'm still going to coach the Phoenix Coyotes. I've done nothing wrong or nothing that has to do with any sort of on the lines of betting. That's just never happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Gretzky's assistant coach, Rick Tocchet, is suspected of bankrolling the gambling ring. He is likely to be charged later this month. So his best friend's allegedly involved, so is his wife, and Wayne Gretzky says, I didn't know anything about it. So the plot thickens, Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Carol, thank you.

What's the difference between wind and water? If you're in Biloxi, Mississippi, it's about $20 million. Months after Hurricane Katrina left the city in ruins, officials there are still waiting for insurance help all because of a surprising technicality. CNN's Sean Callebs has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): You're looking the punishing storm surge from Hurricane Katrina that rolled through the heart of Biloxi, Mississippi. Mayor A.J. Holloway watched the devastation from this vantage point at city hall.

MAYOR A.J. HOLLOWAY, BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI: I'll never forget it, I'll guarantee you. I never want to see it again either. I never in the world thought anything would come like this.

CALLEBS: Biloxi's chamber of commerce was here. Nothing is left now. It's one of more than 100 city-owned buildings damaged or destroyed. But so far, Holloway says, the city hasn't been paid any insurance money for the devastation, so rebuilding hasn't started.

HOLLOWAY: It's frustrating, you know. It's -- we want to get back as quickly as we can. We want the residents to get back here.

CALLEBS: The insurance holdup is a frustration felt throughout the Gulf Coast region. Biloxi's various insurance companies have to decide what was damaged by hurricane winds and what was destroyed by flooding before they'll pay out. Wayne Tisdale is the insurance industry's broker for Biloxi.

WAYNE TISDALE, INSURANCE BROKER: It's the frustration. You know, and the time, it is five months. You know, it should have been settled, in my opinion, by now. But, I mean, that's just something that's beyond my control. And beyond everybody's control.

CALLEBS: Beyond everyone's control because of the sheer scope of the devastation. Biloxi city leaders have been told their $10 million flood insurance policy will be paid in full, but say that no decision has been made on how much of the $20 million wind damage coverage will be paid and Mayor Holloway says a lot of insurance adjustors and engineers are taking measurements and poring over the damage.

What does it tell you that a lot of suits are bringing in engineers to take a look at all this?

HOLLOWAY: It tells me they're looking for a way out.

CALLEBS: Tisdale says it's easy to demonize the insurance industry in times of a catastrophe.

TISDALE: In defense of the industry I will. Nobody wants to talk about insurance until there's a claim.

CALLEBS: Tisdale believes Lloyds of London and others insuring Biloxi will begin writing checks for wind damage in a month to six weeks. The mayor says the city is counting on it. Without the money, the city can't move forward.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Biloxi, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: We want you to keep in mind that we're only talking about city-owned buildings here. That doesn't even take into account all the privately owned homes and businesses that were destroyed by Katrina. Some of those people are still waiting for insurance money as well. Let's check back on the weather with Chad Myers at CNN Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: Andy's "Minding Your Business." What's it like, a blizzard here in New York City? I'm not (INAUDIBLE) event.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're actually . . .

VERJEE: Is it that pretty so it's worth it or it's just a real pain and miserable?

SERWER: It's beautiful. It's fun. I don't know if you brought any cross-country skis with you.

VERJEE: No, I didn't.

SERWER: You did not. But a lot of people like to go cross-country skiing in Central Park, which is a real treat. I like to do it. The kids get out there. You know, it's a lot of fun.

VERJEE: All right then.

SERWER: Let's talk about what's coming up on business. Commercial space travel, Zain, is only about 23 months away. Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING, we'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: You know, I think you would gladly forsake your time just to listen to that song this morning.

SERWER: I like that song.

MILES O'BRIEN: Should we just keep playing the song?

SERWER: It's a Donnie Hathaway did that duet with her.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: I believe so.

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, very good. One of the best. It takes us right back to a certain -- we are of a certain vintage.

SERWER: Yes. We're showing our age, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: A little dust on our corks these days, if you know what I mean.

SERWER: Yes, I do.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's talk about space travel, shall we.

SERWER: A subject dear to your heart. MILES O'BRIEN: I'm all in favor.

SERWER: Yes, I think you are.

MILES O'BRIEN: I'm all in favor.

SERWER: And it's coming quicker than you think, folks. Norm Mineta, the secretary of transportation, yesterday telling reporters and the assembled peoples down there that space travel, commercial space travel for folks just like us, could happen in 2008. Now according to my calculations, that could be as soon as 23 months, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, a math major.

SERWER: Right. Yes. So whose's projects would this be? I mean you know all about this.

MILES O'BRIEN: This is the big one here, of course. This is the Burt Rutan designed SpaceShipOne. A derivative of this, a larger one, SpaceShipTwo we'll call it.

SERWER: Du (ph).

MILES O'BRIEN: Du. Financed by Richard Branson. Virgin Galactic is the name of the thing.

SERWER: Of course.

MILES O'BRIEN: Is a leading contender. But there are others out there. To numerous to mention, quite frankly. There are quite a few ideas.

SERWER: Is Paul Allen from Microsoft behind one of those as well?

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, no. Actually Paul Allen financed the SpaceShipOne.

SERWER: Oh, OK.

MILES O'BRIEN: He has kind of bowed out of this latest round. But, you know what, he is such an enthusiast and has such a hangar full of toys that I wouldn't be surprised if he gets involved in something as time goes on. It will be interesting to see. You know, they're talking about $150,000 to $200,000 for just a couple of minutes.

SERWER: Right.

MILES O'BRIEN: A minute or so of weightlessness. That is definitely an expensive ride.

SERWER: And what about some of these people who have already gone up? Like that Russian entrepreneur.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, you know, that's a whole different level. That's the $20 million ticket to get up to the Space Station.

SERWER: I see.

MILES O'BRIEN: And that is a, you know, high in the stratosphere. The $200,000 is the bargain deal.

SERWER: Right. OK.

MILES O'BRIEN: And that's what they're going after, the bargain. They say there's quite a business out there for -- there's a lot of people who have that kind of money who'd love to be at a cocktail party so say, hey, I've been to space.

SERWER: I went to space.

MILES O'BRIEN: I went to space, right.

SERWER: Well, some of us can say that anyway, I mean living . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: But the FAA regulation, that's a key -- starting to be serious.

SERWER: Showing our age again. Sorry.

MILES O'BRIEN: The FAA regulations are key in all this because -- and what Norm Mineta is addressing is, how do you regulate something like this and make it save when it isn't, you know, it's a risky thing.

SERWER: Yes. I mean, it's not like riding on a bus or a train, obviously.

MILES O'BRIEN: No. No, it's not.

All right. What else? Anything else?

SERWER: I think we're just going to moving on here.

MILES O'BRIEN: Did we burn all our time? Did we burn all the time?

SERWER: Yes, we did. Yes, we did, which is fine.

MILES O'BRIEN: I just took all your time for your second . . .

SERWER: That's fine. Well, we were discussing space travel. It was good.

MILES O'BRIEN: It was a good segment. It was one of my favorite, Andy Serwer.

SERWER: I bet it was.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right, coming up on the program, what foods will you keep in peak -- will keep you in peak -- I'm not eating the right foods, obviously. I can't read the prompter.

SERWER: Eat your veges, dude.

MILES O'BRIEN: If you want to read the prompter at 7:47 Eastern, what do you eat is my question. Our health series for people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s is ahead. And I will be paying attention. We hope you will, too.

Plus, you know, flowers are good and, you know, those little pink bears you get at the drugstore. Women love those, right?

SERWER: Not.

MILES O'BRIEN: Not.

We have some better ideas for you and, believe me, Andy and I are going to be taking notes on this one.

SERWER: Yes. Copious.

MILES O'BRIEN: Danielle Romano in the house. He's with dailycandy.com and she's always got good ideas. So stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Tuesday is Valentine's Day and the clock is ticking on that special gift that you're going to buy someone, right, Miles?

MILES O'BRIEN: A little bit under the gun.

VERJEE: Under the gun?

MILES O'BRIEN: A cracker thrower is looking really good because it happens to be in my hand.

VERJEE: We've been admiring this.

DANIELLE ROMANO, DAILYCANDY.COM: Humoring my loves.

MILES O'BRIEN: Danielle Romano.

VERJEE: Danielle Romano.

MILES O'BRIEN: Good to see you.

ROMANO: Good to see you too.

VERJEE: So we've got lots of exciting ideas here, you know, because people still struggling, thinking what's inexpensive but creative. What do you have? Let's start with this. OK. How about this?

ROMANO: This year Daily Candy wrote an anti-Valentine's Day segment, but they told me Miles today is a hopeless romantic. So I had to bring . . .

VERJEE: Miles, I didn't know that.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, yes, what can I tell you.

ROMANO: Something. Miles, I ripped out my heart. This is for the - - so we tried to get creative and unusual.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.

ROMANO: Be a little thoughtful and you'll always be OK. But I liked your point earlier, why this one day?

VERJEE: Yes, it's too much work. It's too much pressure, you know.

ROMANO: But I'm here -- I'm here to help you. You've got to do something. You can't win if you just ignore.

VERJEE: OK. Right.

ROMANO: This is from mybeatingheart.com and it is, in fact, my beating heart.

MILES O'BRIEN: Does it beat? Really?

ROMANO: This is for the jealous lover who won't be happy until you rip out your heart and give it to them. It's actually sort of an art piece.

VERJEE: All right.

ROMANO: It beats.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let me see.

ROMANO: And if you hold it against you, Miles . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, my gosh.

ROMANO: You'll find that your own heart sort of syncs up to that beating. I'm sorry you can't feel the beating heart audience at home.

MILES O'BRIEN: Be still. Yes, it's kind of hard, but you can imagine a beating heart.

ROMANO: Here's a secret, Miles. A homemade valentine, like you used to make in third grade . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes?

ROMANO: It would be real key to her heart. So Paper Source has these awesome supplies.

VERJEE: Oh.

ROMANO: Oh.

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, won't that do it for her.

ROMANO: These office supplies to make your own.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's see.

VERJEE: But, listen, why make it yourself if you can get someone else to do it for you?

ROMANO: That's usually a good point, and I totally agree when it comes to almost anything. But . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: But it says to Miles on it. It's not to Miles, it would be from, right?

ROMANO: You can cross it out. That's a little something I came up with.

MILES O'BRIEN: Unless you're thinking I'm in love with myself.

ROMANO: You don't even have to go online to find something good. You found this chocolate obsession. This is from a San Francisco chocolate peer. Things you create and savor.

VERJEE: Right.

ROMANO: So it's sort of the gif that keeps on giving.

VERJEE: So cooking.

ROMANO: You get them this cookbook . . .

VERJEE: Right. OK.

ROMANO: Which anyone, man or female, a male or . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: And then you say, now honey, get in the kitchen and mix me up some bon bons, right?

ROMANO: No, make these and I can enjoy them.

MILES O'BRIEN: That's really romantic.

VERJEE: But why buy a book if you can just buy the chocolates themselves?

ROMANO: We're really being thoughtful.

VERJEE: Oh, right. OK, thoughtful. OK.

ROMANO: This is the gift that keeps on giving. Teach them how to fish, that whole thing.

VERJEE: OK.

ROMANO: You know, this is for years and years and year.

VERJEE: I am interested in this. We're all quite intrigued, as a matter of fact.

ROMANO: This is from the Daily Candy anti-Valentine's Day. This is what you would call a cracker thrower. You can buy it at crackerthrower.com. And this is for the sportsman in your life. So you . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: It's really for clay pigeons, isn't it?

ROMANO: For skeet shooting, right?

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes. Right.

ROMANO: But they do this for practice. I learned a little bit about this and I thought Valentine's Day was the right time to tell you about it. So you just like place the cracker, see, like that, and then you can tell I'm a sports nut.

MILES O'BRIEN: I am dying to see how this goes.

ROMANO: And then you wing it into the air. Look how far it went.

MILES O'BRIEN: Very nice.

ROMANO: At least (INAUDIBLE).

VERJEE: But why would anyone want this? I'm so confused.

ROMANO: To practice their shooting.

VERJEE: Shooting. Shooting.

ROMANO: It's like if you have a sportsman in your life. We're talking to America. There are lots of sports fanatics out there.

MILES O'BRIEN: Right. There we go.

ROMANO: So instead of skeet, practice crackers.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right, Fred (ph), you ready?

ROMANO: It says I love you.

MILES O'BRIEN: Ready? Ready? (INAUDIBLE). There you go.

ROMANO: And we get to throw things.

But one more . . .

VERJEE: What's this?

ROMANO: A traditional thing, Crummy Brothers Cookies. So this is if you don't feel like sticking yourself in the kitchen and making -- crummybrothers.com. These cookies are all organic, so they're supposedly healthy, and they have the most amazing flavors.

MILES O'BRIEN: I mean, I'm sorry I . . .

ROMANO: (INAUDIBLE) chocolate, chocolate, chocolate chips.

MILES O'BRIEN: Danielle, healthy cookies? That in and of itself is a bad idea.

ROMANO: Not healthy, organic. So they're not filled with oversweetened chemicals, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: What's a healthy cookie?

ROMANO: Miles, Miles, Miles.

VERJEE: Miles.

ROMANO: That would have been so delicious. Well, I'll just keep these to myself then.

VERJEE: Well, listen, Danielle, you have anti-valentine necklace? Tell . . .

ROMANO: I do, indeed.

VERJEE: What's that about?

ROMANO: This is a saw and a hatchet, you know, just to say how I really feel on Valentine's Day.

VERJEE: So you're telling us love, compassion, thoughtfulness, but really you're wearing a hatchet?

ROMANO: Well, it's a little bit subliminal but Daily Candy is always here to help you with good things. It's just my own -- I'm crying on the inside, Miles.

VERJEE: No, it has been very helpful. No, it's good. We (INAUDIBLE).

MILES O'BRIEN: What you say is, I saw you over there, ax me for a date. How's that? It's love. See.

ROMANO: It is. I am going to pay you for this kind of advice. It's awesome.

MILES O'BRIEN: See, it's love.

ROMANO: But Happy Valentine's Day. I hope we've inspired you with some creative ideas.

VERJEE: Thanks, Danielle.

MILES O'BRIEN: I'm not sure what you did, but you've confused me (INAUDIBLE).

VERJEE: No, no, she did (ph). No, no, no, you know, we've got some ideas that we haven't thought of before. ROMANO: Inspiration.

VERJEE: And we got to throw a few things. That woke us up.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. We axed and we saw it. Thank you. Danielle Romano, always a pleasure.

VERJEE: Happy Valentine's Day.

ROMANO: Happy Valentine's Day. Thank you.

MILES O'BRIEN: In a moment, what should you be eating in your 30s, 40s, 50s? How about healthy cookies? No we've got some actually . . .

VERJEE: Not those on the floor.

MILES O'BRIEN: No. We have some tiptop things to keep you in prime shape. You are what you eat, you know? That's ahead.

And later, that much ballyhooed makeover for the Ken doll. I guess you could call it plastic surgery. His fashion sense never been much to write home about but does his new look do him any favors? We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee in for Soledad.

MILES O'BRIEN: On the hill with more than a hill of beans to spill, former FEMA Chief Mike Brown may be ready to spill the beans on government missteps post-Katrina. We're live in Washington.

Scooter Libby may not have acted alone. New information now that may link the vice president to information in that CIA leak case. We'll take you live to the White House.

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