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American Morning

How Safe Are We?; Baghdad Clashes

Aired June 23, 2006 - 06:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to Friday. It is June 23. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And that word just sounds so good, doesn't it?

S. O'BRIEN: I know.

ROBERTS: Friday.

S. O'BRIEN: A little enthusiastic there.

ROBERTS: I'm John Roberts in for Miles O'Brien this week.

Here's a look at what's happening this Friday morning.

S. O'BRIEN: There's a developing story to tell you about out of Miami. Seven terror suspects are going to appear in court today after a series of raids in Miami on Thursday. The men are suspected of plotting attacks on Chicago's Sears Tower and FBI officers in Miami.

ROBERTS: Right now you're looking at live pictures of Baghdad where an extended curfew is under way. No official reason has been given for it, but the move does follow a street battle between police and Shiite militiamen near a mosque. Smoke could be seen rising from that scene.

Another blow to al Qaeda in Iraq. We are just learning that the U.S. military has captured one of the terror group's senior members. So far, we do not know his name. They say that he was captured on Monday southwest of Baquba.

S. O'BRIEN: In Tallahassee, Florida, a special FBI review team is investigating that deadly prison shootout that happened on Wednesday. Federal agents were trying to arrest six prison guards on sex-for-drugs charges. One of the guards and an agent were killed.

In New York City, two former police officers convicted of being hitmen for the mob go back to court today. Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa are appealing their case. They claim their lawyers botched their defense.

ROBERTS: Flu vaccine makers are saying after years of shortages, we may see a surplus of flu vaccine this year. Doctors, vaccine makers and public officials are meeting in Chicago today. They are expecting record production, which in part could lead to the surplus. And in Arizona, firefighters are making some progress against that huge wildfire just outside of Sedona. Officials now say it's about 15 percent contained. So far, it has burned more than 3,200 acres.

Now for a look at how your weekend is shaping up, Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the forecast.

Good morning to you, -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Are you coming back to Atlanta, John, or are you staying in New York or D.C.?

ROBERTS: Well I live in Miami. Yes, I live in Miami.

S. O'BRIEN: No, you don't.

MYERS: In your head there.

ROBERTS: I took three Benadryl to get to sleep last night.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

ROBERTS: And now I'm back in 1989 when I did live in Miami.

MYERS: Welcome to my world.

ROBERTS: My god. No, I'm flying back to Washington, that's where I live.

MYERS: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: Right, right, that's where my family is, right, right, Washington.

MYERS: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm sure they appreciate that this morning.

ROBERTS: Which family are you talking about, -- Chad?

MYERS: Right.

ROBERTS: Yes.

MYERS: There will be an investigation later on today.

S. O'BRIEN: Lord, lord, lord.

MYERS: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: All right. S. O'BRIEN: Right now the FBI is conducting an operation against men they believe are part of a homegrown terror group. So far, seven men have been arrested, most of them in Miami, where they may have been plotting to attack the offices of the FBI. No weapons were found in a room -- raid, rather, on the group's base in a Miami warehouse. They are described as radical Muslims with no real ties to al Qaeda.

Another target may have been the tallest building in America, the Sears Tower in Chicago. We have some extensive coverage this morning, including two live reports with CNN's John Zarrella in Miami, Keith Oppenheim in Chicago for us.

John, good morning.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's begin with you. When will these guys appear in court? When we will have more details about what kind of charges they face?

ZARRELLA: Well, we're going to have that fairly quickly. It will be this afternoon in the early afternoon hours. Sometime around 1:30 this afternoon we expect that some or perhaps all of these men will be in court, in federal court, in Miami.

And I am, Soledad, standing in front of here, the warehouse in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami where the raid took place yesterday. About 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon, a couple of dozen FBI agents, SWAT team members, descended upon this warehouse. They actually went in and with torches cut through the steel covering on that door there to try and gain access. When they couldn't gain access that way, they came over to another door, which is behind me over here, and actually broke in through the locks.

According to the neighbors here, the agents did not find anyone inside immediately. And they came out and they began to show mugshots to the people here, asking them if they could identify any of the men. These mugshots they showed had pictures of men, some with dreadlocks, others with beards. Then they began to go in other directions to look for these men. Not known exactly where in fact that they picked them up.

What's important to note, though, is that the federal agents did not find any weapons or bomb-making materials here. They may or may not have taken out some evidence from this area. At least according to the residents, it did not appear they took much out of this warehouse.

And this neighborhood, Liberty City, it is the inner city area of Miami. It is a lower-income area in Miami. But this warehouse is in plain sight, right in a major intersection, a main corner. So in fact, Soledad, these men were -- whatever they were carrying out, they were carrying it out in pretty much plain sight -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: So they were part of a group. Tell me a little bit more about this group that I guess ran out of this warehouse.

ZARRELLA: It's interesting, because we talked to a man last night. Just before midnight he came up to us. He called himself "Brother Corey." And he claimed to be a member of this group. And he insisted that they were a peaceful group and that this was their temple, this was their place of worship. But he did also admit that they had some connection, at least a loose connection, to other members in Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"BROTHER COREY," "SEAS OF DAVID" MEMBER: We have connections to people in Chicago. You heard it?

ZARRELLA (on camera): Yes.

COREY: So, this is like we negotiate the help, the peace. We try to bring as many brothers in to help them out.

ZARRELLA: But you do have connections with people in Chicago, but not terrorists?

COREY: I'm not -- no terrorists. We are not terrorists.

ZARRELLA: But there were connections to other members of this group in Chicago?

COREY: Yes, we have soldiers in Chicago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Was interesting, Soledad, because he used the word, Soledad -- he used the word soldiers. And I followed up with that and asked him, you know why if you are a peaceful group do you use the word soldiers, you have other soldiers? And he really could not answer that for me. But he insisted repeatedly that they were a peaceful group and that this was just their temple, their house of worship -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: So they're a religious group? Are they Muslims? Are they a combination of Muslims and something else? What religion?

ZARRELLA: It's still pretty hard to figure out exactly what they are. They call themselves the "Seas of David," at least that's what this man calling himself "Brother Corey" said they were, the "Seas of David."

He spoke about the bible. At sometimes throughout the interview he talked about reading the bible. Did not make any reference to themselves as being Muslims, although that's what we have been told and what we've heard that perhaps they are a radical Muslim group.

So it's still a lot of unanswered questions, even from that interview, which probably raised more questions than it answered -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, thanks.

John Zarrella for us this morning.

Appreciate it, John.

Let's get right to CNN's Keith Oppenheim. He's in Chicago. As you heard, there might be a connection to Chicago in that group.

Good morning to you, Keith. Are you seeing greater security at the Sears Tower, which was mentioned as a target?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Honestly, no, Soledad. I'm standing right across the street from the base of the Sears Tower. And I was here late last night and I'm of course back here early this morning and we don't see anything unusual at all. Keep in mind that this building is very well guarded normally and has been so, especially since September 11.

We did get an interesting statement from Sears Tower building management. I'm going to read a very short section of it. They said, "Sears Tower security officials regularly speak with the FBI and local law enforcement authorities who track and investigate terrorism threats. Today was no exception. Despite new information, law enforcement continues to tell us that they have never found evidence of a credible terrorism threat against Sears Tower that has gone beyond criminal discussions."

So, Soledad, the implication, at least from Sears Tower management, that this was a plan that was in the talking phase but had not yet come to a plan of action -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: In a way the plot gets thicker. How are Chicagoans reacting to this news? Are they more nervous those you're talking to? Are they just considering it yet more information?

OPPENHEIM: Well the interesting thing about that is that they first have to know about it. We were here late last night. There was a ball game that had broken up between the White Sox and Cardinals, so there was some fans that were walking by this area. More traffic than you'd normally have. Many of them didn't know about it. But when they did hear about it, they were very glad to hear that federal authorities knew about the plan ahead of time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's pretty shocking to think about what's going on when you're going on and living your life and enjoying your life and people. But I'm pretty impressed that it was found before anything happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have been warned for so long that something is going to happen, and I do believe something will happen. Whether it's from outside or inside, I think something will happen. It doesn't shake me because I don't think there's safer places.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, I'm not sure any government can keep us safe. I mean there's too many people out there trying to do what they want to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: One other thing I'll point out, Soledad, is that the observation deck was open until 10:00 local time last night, and that's when it normally stays open. So again, no ostensible changes in terms of security here, but they are normally high.

S. O'BRIEN: And that's interesting in and of itself. All right.

OPPENHEIM: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Keith Oppenheim for us this morning.

Thanks, Keith.

We're expecting to hear more details later this morning. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and top FBI officials are going to discuss the alleged plot and the arrests at a news conference in Washington, D.C. That's scheduled at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

Then at 11:30 a.m., the FBI in Miami is scheduled to hold its own news conference on the terror raids there.

Noon Eastern, FBI Director Robert Mueller is going to talk about the threats of homegrown terrorism.

Be sure to stay with CNN for live coverage of all three of those events.

And you want to stay tuned, of course, to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

ROBERTS: Overseas, the U.S. military mobilized to help Iraqi police this morning after clashes broke out in central Baghdad.

Let's get right to CNN's Arwa Damon who is live in Baghdad this morning.

Good morning, Arwa. What's going on there on the streets?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, Iraqis living in central Baghdad this morning woke up to gunfire, smoke rising and helicopters flying overhead. This all happened on Iraq's Haifa Street, Baghdad's Haifa Street, at about 10:00 in the morning. What we're hearing from the Iraqi police is that members with the Mehdi Militia, that radical Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's armed group, apparently went to Haifa Street trying to set up their own checkpoint in an effort to secure a Shi'a mosque that is located nearby there.

Now this is a mosque that was attacked last week on Friday by a suicide shoe bomber. So apparently they went to Haifa Street, tried to block it off to prevent any further bombers or individuals that wanted to bomb that mosque from crossing through.

They clashed there with unknown gunmen. A firefight broke out. Iraqi security forces responded, as well did U.S. helicopters -- John.

ROBERTS: Arwa, is there an extended curfew in place there?

DAMON: Yes, that's right. The Iraqi government imposed a curfew that's going to start, actually just started at 2:00 p.m. here local time, that will extend until 6:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Now we are hearing from a senior official with Iraq's Ministry of Defense that this is because of the clashes that erupted earlier on Haifa Street. Even though the situation has been contained there, they do want to prevent further violence or an escalation of violence throughout the city. Saying that their main intention is to keep the civilians from coming to any further harm. This is a vehicle and pedestrian ban -- John.

ROBERTS: And, Arwa, the U.S. military claiming another success against al Qaeda in Iraq. This time in Baquba. What can you tell us about that?

DAMON: Yes, that's right. There's been a number of successes, according to the U.S. military, against al Qaeda in Iraq in the last few days. The latest, as you just mentioned, a raid that happened just southwest of Baquba. This occurred on Monday, although we're just getting the news today from the U.S. military.

They have detained a senior al Qaeda operative they say who was responsible for facilitating terrorist foreign fighter operations throughout central Iraq. He was detained. His name is not being released to us at this point, along with other suspected terrorists also linked to al Qaeda in Iraq. They found at that location an AK-47 and a number of ammunition rounds -- John.

ROBERTS: Arwa Damon in Baghdad for us this morning.

Arwa, as always, thanks very much. Good to see you.

DNA tests have confirmed the identity of two soldiers killed in Iraq last week. The bodies of Privates Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker were flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for those tests. The soldiers were found several days after being attacked at a checkpoint south of Baghdad near Yusafiyah. The military confirms that one and maybe both of the soldiers were tortured by insurgents. Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, we continue our extensive coverage of the Miami terror arrests. We have got teams on the scene in both Miami and Chicago. Stay tuned for the latest developments.

S. O'BRIEN: And could this be a sign that radical Islam is now successfully recruiting American citizens? We're going to talk to the former homeland security inspector general.

Andy Serwer has got business headlines this morning.

Hey, -- Andy.

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

Today is the deadline for GM's massive buyout offer to its employees. How many of them will leave the company? We'll tell you coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Happening this morning.

Seven terror suspects are set to appear in court after a series of raids in Miami on Thursday. They are suspected of plotting attacks on Chicago's Sears Tower and the FBI office in Miami.

An extended curfew is in effect in Baghdad today. The move follows a fierce gun battle between police, Shiite militia members and unknown gunmen near a Baghdad mosque.

And in Arizona, firefighters are finally making progress against that huge fire outside of Sedona. It is now 15 percent contained. The fire has burned more than 3,200 acres, though.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, we're talking to Bruce Springsteen. He's got a new album out focusing on the songs of Pete Seeger, really a tribute to the folk movement. We'll talk about the new album and also about his political stand. He is on tour, of course, now at Madison Square Garden last night.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN (on camera): Is it a political album? I mean are you -- is it -- are you sending a political message with this album?

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, SINGER: I always sort of -- I like it to be an organic part of what I'm doing. I think because I always search those in trying to explain the world and the times to myself. I search those elements out in the music that I like. And so it wouldn't -- I mean a Pete Seeger record without politics in it wouldn't feel right, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: We had a long and very interesting chat.

ROBERTS: And I am so jealous of you for doing that.

S. O'BRIEN: I just love me some Bruce, I'll tell you that.

My full exclusive interview with Bruce Springsteen is coming up at 7:40 a.m. Eastern Time.

ROBERTS: Looking forward to that.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow, we covered a lot of ground.

ROBERTS: I've been trying to interview him for like 22 years. Just walk in there last night, hey, Bruce, it's me. You want to sit down and chat?

S. O'BRIEN: I love him. He's great. He's great.

ROBERTS: Coming up to 20 minutes after the hour. Still to come, another blow to the housing market, inflation fears are driving up mortgage rates. Just how high and what kind of impact might that have on existing homes, homes for sale and new homes? Andy has got our business news coming up next.

Plus, we'll also bring you the latest on those FBI raids in Miami, including new details of the alleged terror plot.

Stay with us on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Thousands of auto workers have a big decision to make by the end of the day.

Andy Serwer is here with this morning's latest business headlines.

Morning, -- Andy.

SERWER: Good morning, John.

In March, GM announced that it was offering buyouts to all of its 113,000 employees, hourly employees that is, hoping that at least 30,000 of them would accept buyout offers. The deadline is today.

Published reports this morning suggesting that GM should easily make that number. In fact, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that 37,000 have accepted or will be accepting those offers as of the end of the day. This is both at GM and at Delphi, the parts company.

There are several different kinds of packages. In one case you can retire early with benefits. Another offer, if you have at least 10 years at the company, you can take $140,000 and sever all ties with the company. And so various options for employees there. But still, hundreds more deciding really down to the wire here.

ROBERTS: Interest rates going up as well. What's that going to do to mortgage rates?

SERWER: Well, mortgage rates are headed up, John. In fact, 30- year fixed rate is at a 4-year high. Check this out, 6.71 percent, which is the highest since May of 2002. And the real news here is how much it's climbed over the past 12 months, up from 5.63 percent, so over a full percentage point up. And that will really cost people money, especially when people are out there looking for new homes. And of course we've already seen the impact on the housing market which is starting to soften a little bit.

ROBERTS: What's happening with those ARMs that people have and...

SERWER: That is really ugly.

ROBERTS: ... what might that mean for the housing market?

SERWER: If people get really stretched and went out and got an ARM and they're up 100 basis points, which is one full percentage point, that is money and that could put them over the brink. And you may be seeing more foreclosures coming up.

ROBERTS: How is the market looking today?

SERWER: Well, the market today is going to be responding to yesterday's down day. It seems that we are in a topsy-turvy spell right now, one day up, one day down. Yesterday was a down day. So all we can expect today, John, is more of the same.

ROBERTS: An up day?

SERWER: Hard to say at this point.

S. O'BRIEN: Can expect one, might not necessarily get one.

SERWER: That's right. I mean we had the, you know, the correction since May 10 now and we seem to have settled down. We're looking at the you know Fed decision coming up over the next few weeks, so.

ROBERTS: Yes, and earnings reports are still trickling out, right?

SERWER: That's indeed what's happening.

ROBERTS: Yes. Yes.

SERWER: Yes.

ROBERTS: It's going to go up and it's going to go down as the markets normally do.

S. O'BRIEN: Was that your business prediction, well, then it's going to go down?

SERWER: That's my prediction and I'm sticking with it. S. O'BRIEN: I know.

ROBERTS: Quickly, what's coming up next?

SERWER: Coming up, we're going to be talking about a big price fixing case with airlines.

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

SERWER: So stay tuned for that next half-hour.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Andy.

S. O'BRIEN: All right.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Andy, thanks.

The morning's top stories are straight ahead, including our extensive coverage of that FBI terror raid. We're live on the scene in Miami with the very latest on the suspects.

And we're also following those raging wildfires out west. One fire only 15 percent contained at this point.

Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: A lie detector for cupid? In today's edition of "Welcome to the Future," new technology that just may change the dating game.

Here's Miles O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LORRAINE: Success as far as finding a romantic partner. In my dating history, I've dated all kinds of different people. I like to talk to people for maybe a week, then I want to meet them.

I find that there's a lot of deceptions. Like one gentlemen, he told me he was 35, and then when I met him, he turned out to be 50. I don't know how he thought he was going to pull that off, but he tried.

I love the idea of having a removable lie detector. I would like to know that you are just basically full of it and then I can move on and try to find someone more compatible with me.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): So who do these guys think they're fooling? Eventually, usually sooner rather than later, women like Lorraine will figure out the score. There's got to be a better way for singles to cut through the baloney and the anxiety of meeting new people. (voice-over): Sandy Pentland is with the MIT Media Lab. He says it's not what we say that matters when we meet new people but how we say it.

SANDY PENTLAND, MIT MEDIA LAB: I've been building software that can read other people. It's called Social Signaling. This is reading your tone of voice. It's reading your gestures.

M. O'BRIEN: As you talk, the software measures the tone and stress level in your voice. It lets you know if you're hitting all the right notes or striking out. Pentland says it is 80 percent accurate.

PENTLAND: If I were talking to young women, I might like to get a little feedback about how she's responding to it. Is she really going to say yes if I ask her out? So it's a cell phone that listens to the interaction and says, hey, she sounds interesting.

M. O'BRIEN: In the future, Pentland predicts it will be commonplace and we will all be able to measure the sincerity of others, as well as ourselves.

PENTLAND: If everybody has this, we won't have so many misunderstandings and failed expectations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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