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American Morning

Heathrow Airport Back to Normal After Foiled Terrorist Plot; Politics of Terrorism; Personal Computer Turns 25

Aired August 11, 2006 - 07:30   ET

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


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. embassy in New Delhi, India, is alerting Americans of possible terrorist attacks in that country. And an e-mail from the embassy warning that militants could be planning to carry out bombings in New Delhi and in Bombay.
And that powerful typhoon that has devastated China, good news, it's weakening. But more than 100 people have been killed when Typhoon Somy (ph) slammed into the eastern part of China yesterday.

Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris in for Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about this foiled terror plot. British police say they have the key suspects in custody. They say more arrests are expected in the terror plot. So what's it like now for travelers in London and around there?

CNN's Adrian Finighan is live at Heath row for us this morning.

Hey Adrian, good morning.

ADRIAN FINIGHAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you. Well, there's an air of normality returning to Heathrow row today, at least as far as field operations are concerned. Aircraft, coming and going much as you'd expected at any other time of the year.

That's not to say that passengers still aren't facing difficulty. The lines just as deep as they were yesterday.

People though seem to have taken on the board the message that they can't take hand luggage with them on the aircraft. And the cues are moving much more quickly than they were yesterday. And flights are getting out of here, albeit with some delays.

With me, at the moment, is Jamie Bowden, who's a former terminal manager here at Heathrow Airport. He was once in charge of terminals one and four. And he's an aviation industry expert.

Jamie, how long would you expect these security measures that are causing so many problems for people at the moment to remain in force?

JAMIE BOWDEN, FORMER TERMINAL MANAGER, HEATHROW AIRPORT: Well, this afternoon there's a big meeting here in the U.K. between the transport minister of the British government and a lot of the airlines that fly out of the U.K.

I think the airlines are going to be asking that minister for some kind of reassurance, to find out whether this is going to be a short measure, maybe two or three days, or whether it's going to be a measure that all travelers leaving the U.K. are going to have to get used to over a longer period of time.

FINIGHAN: After the controlled chaos we saw yesterday, how long would you expect before Heathrow is back to normal?

BOWDEN: I think with the amount of cancellations we saw yesterday here, particularly on the European flights, it's probably going to take about three days for to get back to normal.

Stateside flights are not too bad, although there's been a few cancellations today. But I think the long-haul flights from Heathrow, particularly to the Eastern Seaboard and the Western Seaboard of the States are getting back to normal.

FINIGHAN: Do you think though realistically we're likely to see these restrictions, on hand luggage in particular, enforced for the longer term? Or is this just indicative of the day and age in which we live, that security has to be tight unfortunately?

BOWDEN: It may be. And I think certainly here in the U.K. and certainly in the States as well, people are now getting used to kind of a new way of travel, whether it's by air travel and, certainly here in the U.K., by train and tubes.

So that I think, although the airlines certainly don't want these kinds of restrictions, if they believe through government intelligence that it's much safer to fly like this, that may be a new way that people are going to have to get used to flying.

FINIGHAN: OK, Jamie, good to talk to you. Thanks for being with us here on CNN.

Jamie Bowden, who was once a terminal manager here at London's Heathrow Airport.

British airways flights, I suppose the worst affected, their base is here at Heathrow. And after yesterday's chaos, a lot of their planes were simply in the wrong place in the world. They've had to cancel several flights to the States. Six failed to leave this morning.

But on the whole, things slowly beginning to get back to normal here -- Soledad?

O'BRIEN: All right. Sounds like good news, considering some of those pictures you were showing us yesterday from Heathrow where it looked like a complete mess.

Thanks, Adrian.

Tony? HARRIS: Well, the alleged plot in Britain has many of the hallmarks of an al Qaeda operation. There is the Pakistan connection. And a source with detailed knowledge of the investigations says two of the suspected attackers made martyrdom tapes.

CNN's Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena is live in Atlanta with more on the possible al Qaeda connection.

Kelli, good morning.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. Well, we do have more information this morning from the U.K. It turns out that this whole investigation got started thanks to a tip from the Muslim community in London.

Someone was concerned about the activities of an acquaintance after last year's terror attacks there and let officials know. And so thankfully, a devastating attack was stopped.

And Tony, you mentioned that the Pakistan connection. That is definitely the most intriguing. When it comes to a possible al Qaeda connection now, according to government officials, two of the suspects met with an al Qaeda operative in Pakistan. And they recently had money wired to them from there as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (voice-over): Nearly all of the men arrested in Britain were British citizens, most of Pakistani descent. But were they al Qaeda? The short answer is maybe.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This operation is, in some respects, suggestive of an al Qaeda plot. But because the investigation is still under way, we cannot yet form a definitive could be collusion conclusion.

ARENA: Officials say arrests in Pakistan helped provide investigators in London with some specifics to move in on the alleged plotters. Those officials say at least two of the suspects recently traveled to Pakistan, and received money from contacts there.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: The fact that its British citizens of Pakistani descent is very reminiscent of the July 7, 2005 plot. Two of those guys went to Pakistan. They train there. They hooked up with al Qaeda.

ARENA: The alleged plot was sophisticated with plans to attack more than one target, an Al Qaeda trademark. It allegedly targeted airplanes, an al Qaeda obsession.

What's more, the British plot closely resembles a 1995 al Qaeda plan to bomb a dozen U.S. jumbo jets over the pacific during a two-day span.

Officials say al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Muhammad who oversaw the plot told interrogators he planned to use liquid explosives.

STEVEN SIMON, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: An attack on an American or British aircraft is an attack on those countries. Second, passengers on an airplane are helpless. They're utterly helpless.

ARENA: While the alleged plot looks like one hatched by Al Qaeda, this may be a prime example of the so-called home-grown terrorist threat.

Terrorism experts say al Qaeda is more of a movement these days than an organization. Instead of being official card-carrying members of al Qaeda, individuals share a common ideology, and act out on their own.

But still, al Qaeda remains a threat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA: You know, it is important to underscore that this investigation is very much ongoing. And that means that leads are still being uncovered.

Government officials say that at least two of the suspects made phone calls to the United States. Law enforcement officials say that those calls have been tracked down and, so far, there is no evidence that anyone in the United States was involved in this alleged plot -- Tony?

HARRIS: So, Kelli, what can you tell us about the tapes found in the search?

ARENA: The martyrdom tapes?

HARRIS: Yes.

ARENA: Well, there were two suspects that, according to officials, put martyrdom tapes together. And we know from past history that terrorists often do this. They put a message on a tape when they're heading into a suicide mission. It happened last year with the London terror attacks. Al Qaeda did release on the Internet some martyrdom tapes and the people who were involved in that plot.

So just one more piece of evidence that's suggesting that there might be an al Qaeda connection.

HARRIS: OK, our Justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, live in Atlanta for us.

Kelli, thank you.

ARENA: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: A little bit of good news to share with you about the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field in Alaska. Sort of think of it as maybe an oil barrel half full, not half empty, if you're the optimistic kind. BP is now saying it may be able to keep part of the field open while it repairs those corroded oil pipes. That attention is now turning to pigs, yes, pigs.

"AMERICAN MORNING's" Ali Velshi is in Alaska this morning. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You might think a bunch of pigs are calling the shots over at BP. But you'd be wrong. In fact, had BP spent more time listening to pigs, it might not be on the verge of halting shipments from America's biggest oil field.

Now, we're not talking about ordinary pigs here. We're talking about smart pigs. Although, even Alaska's governor isn't clear on the difference.

FRANK MURKOWSKI, GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: I don't know the difference between a dumb pig and a smart pig.

VELSHI: In the oil industry, this is a pig, in this case a dumb pig, used for cleaning out the inside of oil pipelines.

Smart pigs, on the other hand, are extremely rare. We couldn't find one in Prudhoe Bay, although we know they're there.

BP, which runs the place, flew us from anchorage to Prudhoe Bay, flying us roughly parallel to the 800-mile long Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

This is what we saw, a 700-gallon crude oil spill. Something like rust has burned tiny holes into the pipes. And this isn't the first time. In March, 200,000 gallons leaked for the same reason. That's when the government ordered BP to send a smart pig through the lines.

A smart pig is a high-tech probe that winds through the pipes looking for weak spots. It found 16 of them.

(on camera): All right, so once there was some sense that there was a problem with some of the pipes, they had to take the insulation off and then take a liquid like this that you'd use on a normal ultrasound and just paint portions of the pipe with it. And then, you take an ultrasonic measurement device, just like you'd expect at a doctor's office, and scan along the pipe to determine the thickness of the wall.

(voice-over): The diagnosis was severe. The pipe was pitted and had holes the size of peanuts. BP calls the corrosion unexpectedly severe.

More than half the 400,000 barrels a day that flow through the pipes are stalled until BP finds out how bad the problem really is.

But was it really unexpected? BP says it'll spend $70 million fighting corrosion this year. And the company admits being warned about corrosion in the pipes two years ago.

BP last smart pigged the pipes eight years ago and was due for another one this summer. Now, BP says, it will smart pig every five years.

For a company that made around $20 billion last year, it might be worth throwing a few more bucks at the pig.

Ali Velshi, CNN, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: And happening now in America, with the flip of a coin Alyssa Wright wins the Democratic nomination for state House seat in Groton, Connecticut. The daily of New London reports a provisional ballad tie between Wright and her political rival. According to state law, a coin toss can decide the votes. Wright now faces Republican Heather Sherman Bond on Election Day.

In San Francisco, 18 police officers are suing the city. They say they're victim of racial bias. The officers involved in this suite were suspended after making a Christmas video that mocked life on the force. It happened back in 2005. And at the time, the police chief said the tape was racist, sexist and homophobic.

It's a $20 million suite. The officers claim four Asian-American officers allegedly involved were not suspended, while they were. The plaintiffs include both men and women. And they are black, Hispanic, and white. The police chief is Asian-American.

And the mighty Mississippi, a Delta Airlines passenger jet got stuck in the mud after refueling in Jackson. More than 200 passengers were stuck on the plane for hours. The plane was originally headed for Atlanta but was diverted to Jackson because of bad weather.

I'll tell you what, as we go to Chad Myers at the CNN Center in Atlanta, if you are in the northeast this weekend, it's like hitting the weather lottery.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you won.

HARRIS: Yes.

MYERS: Exactly.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: I know you saw that little map pop up. Scotland, British Isles; there's France. Only a few little blue dots here on the map today. We showed you this map yesterday. Basically, nothing on the map yesterday.

A few planes are in the air, but not many out of Heathrow today. Back to you guys. We'll keep watching it.

HARRIS: Yes, Heathrow, yes, on and off. MYERS: Pretty slow.

O'BRIEN: All right, we'll watch it, too. Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: You bet.

O'BRIEN: Still to come, a whole bunch more on the alleged plot to blow up planes flying from Britain to the U.S.? Do you think the airlines are doing enough to keep you safe? We'll talk to an airline security consultant.

Also, we're learning some new details about how the plot was supposed to work. Stunning al Qaeda documents and training videos give step by step instructions.

HARRIS: And plus, the politics of terror. We'll look at the impact on the November elections and beyond. Stay with us on "AMERICAN MORNING."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Getting home safely, it's on your mind if you're at the airport certainly today or if you're planning to travel any time soon. And because it's on your mind, that means it's also on the mind of your lawmaker.

A look at the politics of terror this morning with CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the airport, it's hard to know whether the glass is half full or half empty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I suppose I felt more secure that the plot had been foiled; less secure that we live in such a crazy world.

CROWLEY: Nothing is more real or scary than terrorism. And nothing is more important to voters.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've taken a lot of measures to protect the American people. But obviously, we're still not completely safe. Because there are people that still plot and people who want to harm us for what we believe in.

CROWLEY: Politically, terrorism used to be his ace in the hole. But Iraq has zapped his strength everywhere. He needs a mojo infusion. And his party, looking like it could get rocked in November, could use a lifeline.

Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert would like to keep his job.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT, (R) SPEAK OF THE HOUSE: We have to do everything that we can to protect our people, to protect our nation, and that's where our fighting men are doing in Iraq.

CROWLEY: Conventional wisdom is when times get scary, people vote Republican. But an ABC News-Washington Post poll shows Democrats with an eight-point edge on terrorism.

The senate's leading Democrat, who'd like to trade up to majority leader, said the plot to bring down British and U.S. planes proves the need to change course in Iraq.

"The Iraq war," he said, "has diverted our focus, more than $300 billion in resources and creating a rallying cry for international terrorists."

Ditto John Kerry, '08 presidential possible, who took the opportunity to call Iraq a dangerous distraction.

The chairman of the Republican Party accused Democrats of focusing on political attacks.

Meanwhile, back in Connecticut, Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman, who lost his primary to anti-war candidate Ned Lamonte, was tuning up his new campaign as an independent.

SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (D) CONNECTICUT: And if we pick up, as Ned Lamonte Wants us to do, and get out by a date certain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England.

CROWLEY: Ned Lamonte, a newcomer, but a quick study, called for a serious discussion of security that is not bogged down in Iraq.

Meanwhile, back at the airport:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the back of my mind I thought should I wait a few more days to leave London. But I made it home safely, thank God.

CROWLEY: Getting home safely is the kitchen-table issue of the era. It's why terrorism and politics are so difficult to separate.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Candy, of course, part of the best political team on TV -- Tony? HARRIS: And up next, Andy is "Minding Your Business."

O'BRIEN: Part of the best business team on TV.

ANDY SERWER, CNN BUSINESS NEWS ANCHOR: Hello. Thank you. A business team of one at this point.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: It's a small team. SERWER: Yes. No, well, there's a whole bunch of other people who work here too, of course.

Retail stores, some big changes afoot. A new national powerhouse rolling out in the first week of September to tell you about, and who's big enough to push Wal-Mart around?

HARRIS: Come on.

AND: We'll tell you who that is.

O'BRIEN: China?

HARRIS: There's no such beast. China? Yes.

O'BRIEN: We'll talk about that. I don't know. I'm guessing.

HARRIS: Take a look. Take a look.

O'BRIEN: Just throwing it out over there.

OK, Andy, thank you.

SERWER: You're welcome.

Harris: And also ahead, the personal computer turns 25. It was supposed to dramatically increase productivity. But did it just get everyone hooked on solitaire instead? That's ahead on this "AMERICAN MORNING."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Heading to your office this morning to slave away at your computer, one last day, before the weekend begins? Well, think about this. The personal computer is turning 25. And without it, you wouldn't be slaving over your computer. You'd be typing, and it'd make your job a lot harder.

CNN's Daniel Sieberg takes a look back this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the late '70s, personal computer users were called hobbyists. Businesses dismissed the Apples, Commodores and Tandys as toys. Room-sized mainframes were still the serious tools.

Then came a marriage made in computer heaven, MS, and DOS. That's Microsoft and IBM's disc operating system.

TYCHO HOWLE, CEO, NUBRIDGES: Almost overnight, with IBM introducing the PC, it became OK to use that for a -- for real business applications.

SIEBERG: At the time, IBM was the 800-pound gorilla of the business world. They blitzed trade papers and TV to sell the message that the PC was for everyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: The IBM personal computer for smoother scheduling, better planning and greater productivity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIEBERG: Technology entrepreneur, Tycho Howle, remembers this once powerful new machine.

HOWLE: In 1981, I had an IBM PC, a two-floppy system. To give you a comparison, it would take ten of those floppy discs to be able to hold the music on one MP3 song.

SIEBERG: These first IBM PCs cost between $1600 and $6,000. The mesmerizing green screen usually first graced the desks of bosses, mostly as a status symbol.

But soon, software developers turned out tons of business useful business programs -- accounting, investing, word processing. Desktops and cubicles would never be the same.

CHRISTOPHER GARCIA, COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM: I'm a science fiction fan, where the computer was always presented as this evil thing that's going to put us all out of business. What's incredible is that the IBM PC, in particular, proved that with computers you have a need for more people?

SIEBERG: On this 25th anniversary, IBM isn't in the PC game anymore. It sold its PC division to Chinese company Lenovo back in 2004.

The other half of this marriage? Well, that hobbyist, Bill Gates -- you might have heard of him -- well, he's doing rather well. And what about that productivity thing?

GARCIA: It was really what allowed the greatest advances in slacking off to take place. You know, the invention of the computer solitaire game, Mahjong towers, all of these things really would never have happened if the IBM PC hadn't of burst onto the scene.

SIEBERG: Daniel Seiberg, CNN Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Happy birthday.

Federated Department Stores controls, what, about 25 percent of the nation's department stores' business. And it's aiming to change the way it does business?

SERWER: Yes. Here's what's going on, Tony. September 9 marks the date of a new big boy on the block in retailing.

What's going to happen at that point is that Federated is going to convert all of its Mays stores into Macy's. And Macy's, then, becomes an 800-store nationwide chain. There are a lot of implications.

First of all, what it has to do is get some pizzazz into Macy's, big time, wouldn't you say? They've got to have some exclusive merchandising. Their going to start selling iPods.

O'BRIEN: Get some sales people into Macy's.

SERWER: And sales people, Soledad suggests, perhaps.

O'BRIEN: I love Macy's. But there's no one to help you. You literally cannot give your money away. You're like, can I buy this? Can I buy this? Please, can you sell this to me?

SERWER: Well, listen to one other idea, Soledad, speaking of this point. They're going to introduce robotic vending machines.

HARRIS: Oh, come on.

O'BRIEN: Really?

SERWER: Yes. Maybe instead of sales people.

O'BRIEN: Good idea.

HARRIS: Is that a good idea?

SERWER: Well, Macy's is going to buy it.

O'BRIEN: Literally, no one will take your money.

SERWER: One big thing that's going to be going on though for the newspaper business is they're probably going to stop doing a lot of newspaper advertising and switch more to network and cable TV -- great idea -- and magazines -- great idea.

But newspapers could really be feeling a pinch, maybe $400 million of revenue going by the bye.

Let's switch over to another retailing juggernaut, Wal-Mart. You know, when the Chinese government says to a U.S. company "jump," they ask how high.

HARRIS: How high.

O'BRIEN: I was right.

SERWER: You were right, Soledad. You guessed it.

O'BRIEN: I want to be the business news assistant.

HARRIS: Oh, come on.

SERWER: You could do the whole thing. You're good at it. There are 60 stores, 30,000 employees that Wal-Mart has in China. And you've been hearing that slowly there have been unionizing activities going on. Some of the stores have gotten unionized. Not like a U.S. union. It's sort of a quasi-government organization.

And now, Wal-Mart says it will allow all of its stores to be unionized in China. In fact it's going to help. Remember, this is part of the Chinese government, this union. So how can we help you? How can we make our relationship even better?

O'BRIEN: It's an interesting definition of a union, isn't it?

SERWER: It is. It's definitely different from here.

O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: We've got to take a look at our top stories coming up right after this short break. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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