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American Morning
U.S. Embassy Attack; War on Terror; Hurricane Florence
Aired September 12, 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. It's Tuesday, September 12. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien.
Here's a look at what's happening this morning.
In Syria, a brazen midday terrorist attack at the doorstep of the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. Witnesses say the attackers drove up, started shooting at the Syrian guards and then blew up a car. The Syrians say they killed four attackers.
S. O'BRIEN: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is in Iran this morning. He's meeting with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The talks are expected to focus on security and political relations. It's al-Maliki's first official visit to Iran since he took office back in May.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Midnight approaches in New York, the five- year mark of the September 11, 2001.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: ... sanctions on North Korea for its missile tests back in July. That's according to a senior South Korean official. That official says, though, that could change if North Korea returns to talks on its nuclear program.
M. O'BRIEN: At least seven are dead after gunmen attacked a Shiite mosque northeast of Baghdad. Police say the attackers fired six mortar rounds then detonated explosives around the mosque.
The American al Qaeda operative and spokesman to face more charges here in his home country. Adam Gadahn has appeared in several al Qaeda videos, already faces a sealed indictment for supporting terrorism. Sources telling us the FBI might charge him with treason.
S. O'BRIEN: In Bermuda, cleanup under way after Hurricane Florence skirted right past the island chain on Monday. Florence downed trees, knocked out power, but authorities say there were only a few injuries and, fortunately, no deaths to report.
Brings us right to our severe weather expert Chad Myers who is at the CNN Center this morning.
Hey, Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
A couple of pretty good wind gusts on elevated platforms. They have a lot of these towers around Bermuda for communication. Commissioner's Point had a gust to 110 and Saint David's Tower (ph) 111 miles per hour. So this was no little storm as it went by, an awful lot of wind with it, although the heaviest core of the wind did just go just to the west of the island and that saved a lot of damage there, because if the wind was only in the ocean and along the reef there just to the west of the island, that wasn't too bad.
Have another one. There's Gordo, Tropical Storm Gordon this morning. It formed in the overnight hours. There goes Florence. It's going to stay to the east now of the Atlantic-Canada area. It's going to just skirt by Newfoundland there.
But look where it goes. They're the British Isles over here. Now it's not going to be a tropical storm by the time it really gets there. It will be what we call extra tropical. It will just be a low. But certainly some wind could happen in there in the British Isles from this storm.
Here's Florence -- I'm sorry, here's Gordon here. The storm is now -- there's the Leeward Islands. It is going to miss Bermuda. Do you know what? I don't mind. We could have 27 hurricanes this year if they all miss everything. That would be all right. Just kind of sit there and spin in the Atlantic Ocean, that wouldn't be so bad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Back to you guys.
S. O'BRIEN: I like that, two weekends in a row.
MYERS: Yes.
All right, Chad, thanks.
MYERS: You're welcome.
Let's get right to some breaking news out of -- excuse me -- Syria this morning. There's been a bombing and a shoot-out near the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. There is still no word on just who the attackers were. Four of them, though, were killed by security forces. Nobody at the embassy was hurt. The U.S. maintains an embassy in the diplomatic section of Damascus, even though relationships between the two countries are strained.
Want to get to journalist Salma Touma. She's on the phone near the scene this morning.
Salma, good morning. What can you tell us?
SALMA TOUMA, JOURNALIST: Yes, hi. I'm standing at the scene right now. And what I can see is that they just removed the third car that they thought was suspicious and had explosives under it. So far, people are evacuating all the area, cars are not allowed in. They're cleaning all the glass, the shattered glass on the floor. And people are standing, watching what's going to happen. Kids are just coming out of the school, because they weren't allowed to go out before, they thought it was unsafe for them. The security.
S. O'BRIEN: Any word on who exactly is or could be responsible for this attack? Any word of a motive at this point?
TOUMA: Well, they're saying that the attackers were very irrational. And the security stopped them here. They stopped two of them. One of them is injured, two of them are dead. One security -- one Syrian security got shot, caught in the gunfire between the attackers and the security. We don't know exactly who they are, but we know that what they wanted to do is get in the embassy and start shooting inside.
S. O'BRIEN: Journalist Salma Touma joining us by phone this morning.
Salma, thank you.
Security tightly controlled this morning. There is violence there sporadically though.
Let's get more from CNN's Anthony Mills. He's reporting from Beirut, very familiar with this area though.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The attack on the United States Embassy in Damascus, in a residential neighborhood of Damascus, doesn't appear to have the hallmarks of the kind of massive attack, well-planned attack that we've come to associate with al Qaeda. But it does fall within the context of a series of clashes, especially within the last year and a half or so, between the Syrian security services and fundamentalist Sunni Muslim groups in Syria. There have been sporadic reports of clashes between the Syrian security services and those groups.
And what the attack effectively does is it kills two birds with one stone. On the one hand, it is directed against United States interest in the heart of one of the Arab world's most prominent capitals. It is a daylight attack, even if not a massive one.
And at the same time, it makes the Syrian security services look vulnerable. For years the Syrian security services kept a very tight grip on all kinds of political activity. And this may well fuel speculation that's rife among some analysts that Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, does not have the kind of iron grip on power that his father, President Hafez al-Assad, had. And that there are the rumblings of revolt, not just within the old guard, but also among these fundamentalist Muslim groups. Anthony Mills for CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: The war on terror is the calling of our generation. That's how President Bush described it last night in his 9/11 anniversary address. The president defended the war in Iraq and said we are in a war that will set the course for this new century.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We face an enemy determined to bring death and suffering into our homes. America did not ask for this war, and every American wishes it were over. So do I. But the war is not over. And it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious.
If we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons. We're in a war that will set the course for this new century and determine the destiny of millions across the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Now in defending the war in Iraq, the president defended -- he said that the safety of Americans depends on what happens on the streets of Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Osama bin Laden calls this fight the third world war. And he says that victory for the terrorists in Iraq will mean America's defeat and disgrace forever. If we yield Iraq to men like bin Laden, our enemies will be emboldened. They will gain a new safe haven. They will use Iraq's resources to fuel their extremist movement. We will not allow this to happen. America will stay in the fight. Iraq will be a free nation and a strong ally in the war on terror.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: President Bush said Americans need to put aside their differences, because, he said, winning the war on terror will take a unified country.
It is primary day in several parts of the country today, nine states and the nation's capital holding elections today. A lot of political eyes watching Rhode Island. Incumbent U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee, considered by many to be a liberal Republican, is facing a challenge by the more conservative Steve Laffey. Chafee has been at odds with the White House over Iraq, abortion and taxes, but he retains the support of the GOP. Party leaders fear a Chafee primary defeat could cost the Republicans a Senate seat in November -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Five years after 9/11, an update now on the real roots of terror.
Anderson Cooper is just off of an embed. He joins us from the Afghan-Pakistani border this morning.
Anderson, good morning.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
You know one day after the commemorations of 9/11, the fight here continues. It was a day unlike, really, or just like just about every other one, went out on a patrol as we did yesterday. The focus of these patrols really is interdiction. They're trying to stop foreign fighters, Taliban and militants, from crossing over the border in Pakistan.
As you know, Soledad, Pakistan has signed a cease-fire agreement with Taliban militants in the border regions on the Pakistan side of the border. These militants, frankly, don't even recognize the border as a legitimate border. They see no difference between that part of Waziristan in Pakistan and this part of eastern Afghanistan.
So what the soldiers here are very concerned about and intelligence sources we talked to are concerned about is an uptick in fighting and an uptick in cross-border incursions. And they are being very vigilant now in monitoring any cross-border incursions that they see. They will then tell the Pakistan military exactly when people are crossing, who is crossing and they will wait and see what the Pakistan military can do about it.
But it's a frustrating situation. They can't pursue al Qaeda fighters or Taliban militants across the border into Pakistan. Pakistan has made it very clear they will not allow U.S. troops to operate in their sovereign territory. It makes the fight here all the more difficult. And that is something we see every day.
When you go out on patrol, Soledad, the enemy is around. You can see markings of them. I can't go into too many details of how you know they are there, but it is very startling when you go on patrol just how close these fighters get and how many of the enemy there are in this whole region -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Anderson, a quick question for you, when you were on our air yesterday, there was some kind of rocket attack. And as everybody started running in, basically, you started going in.
Something going on behind you? It's all right.
COOPER: Yes, I should have...
S. O'BRIEN: OK.
COOPER: It's odd that you say this. We're fine.
What is happening is they have received some intelligence of some movement of foreign fighters or Taliban militants, I can't say exactly where, but they have a sense that they are on the move. They're receiving some intelligence.
So this Howitzer unit, it's a 105 millimeter Howitzer. There you see they're loading the 105 millimeter shell. This kind of thing happens, frankly, several times throughout the day as the intelligence comes in. They're going to get ready to fire this. And we won't actually see the impact zone. The range on this Howitzer is about 12 miles, so it can fire this shell a great distance. They'll also then wait to hear if it's had the desired impact that they want.
Again, Soledad, this kind of thing happens really throughout the day. Usually as they get incoming rocket fire, they coordinate the exact position of the rocket battery and then they return fire. In this case, again, it was not incoming, they just got some intelligence that they are responding to. So, Soledad, it is an every day occurrence.
And that 9/11 commemoration, which you saw yesterday, which was interrupted by incoming fire, a total of six rockets and mortars were fired at this forward operating base, they did, in the end, in the evening decide to continue with the commemoration ceremony. Despite the danger, all the soldiers still gathered here in this exact spot and they had a very simple, but a very somber and emotional service indeed.
It looks like they're going to be repositioning the Howitzer, Soledad, and they'll probably be firing yet again.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Anderson, stay safe, please. Thanks a lot.
We should mention everybody can catch more of Anderson Cooper. He's reporting from Afghanistan, obviously. "ANDERSON COOPER 360," 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN.
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come in the program, Bermuda turns out to be as tough as it is beautiful. We'll have pictures of how the island survived Hurricane Florence.
And a free recliner to watch the Bears. Thousands of dollars in free furniture for the faithful.
And Carrie Lee here this morning with business headlines.
Hello, -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Hello to everyone.
Bristol-Myers Squibb may be forced to fire its chief executive officer today and Congress is now asking Hewlett-Packard to turn over records on possibly illegal media leaks. We'll have those stories and more coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning in Syria, a brazen midday terrorist attack at the doorstep of the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. Witnesses say the attackers drove up, started shooting at Syrian guards, then blew up a car. The Syrians say they killed four attackers.
In Baghdad, the second trial of Saddam Hussein is under way again. Hussein is accused of ordering the killing and gassing of more than 180,000 Kurds in the late 1980s. Hussein still awaiting a verdict on his first trial where he faced charges he killed dozens in reprisal for an assassination attempt.
And the first of three space walks of the Atlantis mission is under way, a pair of astronauts to attach a 17-and-a-half-ton truss and solar array to the International Space Station.
S. O'BRIEN: Hurricane Florence largely spared Bermuda. One reason, the eye never came closer than 60 miles away from shore. Also, Bermuda has very stringent building codes. Bermuda is roughly 660 miles due east of Roanoke, Virginia.
It's where CNN's Karl Penhaul is for us this morning.
Hey, Karl, good morning.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, Hurricane Florence had been expected to come past here as a Category 2; but in the event, it never strengthened any higher than the Category 1. That means, though, that there were still gusts of up to 105 miles an hour, although sustained speeds were about 90 miles an hour. But as you say, veered off west and that spared loss of -- there were no injuries reported and there was no significant damage to any buildings here either.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL (voice-over): Waves pound Bermuda's coastline. Hurricane Florence is churning past, whipping up winds in excess of 100 miles an hour. Palm trees threaten to snap. Driving rain mixes with sea spray. But the homes on the island are built to strict standards, tough enough to weather this beating.
And in the calm after the fury, yachts strained at their moorings in Hamilton Harbor, but there were no signs of damage. Government workers made short work of clearing uprooted trees and branches.
MAURICE TROTT, GOVERNMENT WORKER: Just got a few trees down here and there in certain areas which are just blocking the road, nothing really that major.
PENHAUL: Authorities say the hurricane knocked out power to around a third of Bermuda's residents. Most were reconnected just a few hours after Florence drifted away into the north Atlantic.
David Dunkley, Mayor of Bermuda's capital Hamilton, took a scooter ride to survey the debris.
DAVID DUNKLEY, HAMILTON MAYOR: And everybody was well prepared ahead of time for this storm. So, if your awareness is very high, that means people pay attention. So it's been very well, I believe.
PENHAUL: Several residents, like Kevin Smith, lent a hand to cleanup workers in an effort to get Bermuda shipshape fast.
KEVIN SMITH, HAMILTON RESIDENT: I mean tomorrow we'll be back in action. All cleaned up.
PENHAUL: And by late afternoon, tourists were back on the beach, hoping tomorrow would be another lazy day in paradise.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And if we look behind me, Soledad, you can see that the sun is now coming up, the skies are clear. It really does look like it's going to be another nice day at the beach -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Good news on that front and good news, as well, that the hurricane didn't do much damage.
Karl Penhaul for us in Bermuda.
Thanks, Karl -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, a workday in space. A pair of shuttle astronauts steps into the void, ready to make the space station a more powerful place. We'll have the shocking details.
Plus, what to name a little prince? The boy who may one day be emperor gets a name today. And given its meaning, he has a lot to live up to. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Drug companies in the news this morning.
Carrie Lee here with that.
Hello, -- Carrie.
LEE: Thanks, Miles.
We're talking about Bristol-Myers Squibb. The company's board meeting today, and they may be forced to fire their Chief Executive Officer Peter Dolan. A couple of things happening here. First of all, the company is operating under a certain agreement with the U.S. attorney general in New Jersey following a $2.5 billion scandal at the company involving overloading wholesalers with inventory to push up its sales numbers. So that's the first problem.
And then also the company has -- they've been involved in delaying a generic drug to its -- for the competitor for one of its best-selling drugs, the blood thinner called Plavix. So two things happening here.
There's an outside person involved with the company who has recommended that Mr. Dolan be fired, because if the company does not fire him, they could face charges in connection with the probe. So a couple of reports on this. That is the latest on Bristol.
And then secondly, Congress.
Here's a look at Bristol's five-year stock chart and you can see that the company has lost a lot of ground since Dolan took over in May of 2001. Shares are down 56 percent.
Now on to Hewlett-Packard. Congress is now asking HP to turn over its records in a possible illegal media leak scandal. This has been going on for a couple of days. Board of directors deciding whether Patricia Dunn should be leaving the company. She is the one who asked for this probe. And basically, private investigation firms, separate firm, pretending to be journalists and other people in getting phone records. So a lot happening here. The bigger picture involving the Hewlett-Packard scandal.
The FCC now plans new rules by the end of October for phone companies to strengthen their procedures and close loopholes. This is called protecting (ph). We've talked a lot about it. Basically it seems to be not that difficult for people to make impersonations and get somebody's phone records and their track (ph) record.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, as I understand, the key was when they called up the phone company to get the records, they had these people's Social Security numbers.
LEE: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: Once you have that, you have a lot.
(CROSSTALK)
LEE: That's pretty much the key.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
LEE: You can get that information if you're a private investigation firm, you're experienced in doing this, and that's pretty much the key to unlocking all this information.
M. O'BRIEN: Boy.
LEE: It's pretty scary. Some "Wall Street Journal" reporters...
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
LEE: ... and a lot of people involved with this.
M. O'BRIEN: Got to protect that number.
LEE: Absolutely.
M. O'BRIEN: OK.
LEE: A quick check on stocks, though, a little action yesterday on September 11. The Dow little changed, up about 5 points. And this morning, futures are looking a bit weak. We have the Federal Reserve meeting next week. Later in the week, we'll get numbers on retail sales and consumer prices.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Carrie Lee.
S. O'BRIEN: OK then, thank you.
LEE: OK.
M. O'BRIEN: See you later.
S. O'BRIEN: A look at the morning's top stories straight ahead, including an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. We'll tell you there -- tell you how it was carried out.
Also, a home improvement project, shuttle Atlantis astronauts are doing a little add-on to the space station. We'll show you how the work is going there.
And the Bears beat the Packers, so what's that got to do with a furniture store? There is a connection. Worth a lot of dough, too. We'll explain just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Five years and one day now since the attacks on our country, leaving many Americans still afraid of what's next. How safe are we? And what are the threats we face in the future?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's definitely in the back of my mind all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're always going to have terrorism no matter how peaceful the world claims to be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could be anywhere. I think that's the scariest thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I worry about my grandchildren's futures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe not in our lifetime, but something will happen again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think you'll ever again feel real, real safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten years from now what will this be like? Boy, I have no idea.
M. O'BRIEN (voice-over): Brian Michael Jenkins, with the Rand Corporation, says al Qaeda remains America's biggest threat.
BRIAN MICHAEL JENKINS, RAND CORPORATION: Their ability to communicate, to radicalize, to recruit has not diminished. We haven't dented their determination.
M. O'BRIEN: There is no doubt they are determined to try something even bigger, more shocking than 9/11. And while they wait and plan, they are fighting a relentless campaign against the U.S. in Iraq, turning that country into a terror training camp.
JENKINS: What you see today in Baghdad is going to be the model of terrorist attacks that we see worldwide in the next 5 to 10 years.
M. O'BRIEN: So how do we win? Well, if the objective of terrorists is to scare us, victory may be as simple as living our lives without fear.
JENKINS: Education and engagement will go a long way to reducing the alarm that terrorists hope to create. If we provoke cynicism in our society, then we will weaken and destroy ourselves. I believe that no foreign foe can bring this country down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning in Syria, a terrorist attack outside the U.S. Embassy in Damascus to tell you about. Witnesses say the attackers drove up, shot at the Syrian guards, then blew up a car.
More violence in Iraq to report, at least seven people are dead after an attack on a Shiite mosque near Baghdad. Police say the attackers fired six mortar rounds and detonated explosives around the mosque.
And in Bermuda thousands of people are without power after Hurricane Florence skirted the island chain on Monday. Authorities say there are only a few injuries and no deaths to report.
Good morning. Welcome back, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
A brazen attack aimed at the U.S. Embassy in Syria just a little while ago in Damascus. A homemade bomb set off right near that embassy, a gun battle, as well. Reports of other bombs that have been discovered in vehicles nearby.
Ibrahim Hamidi is live on the phone with more.
Ibrahim, what can you tell us?
IBRAHIM HAMIDI, REPORTER: I'm standing in front of the American Embassy. What happened is, like, a group (INAUDIBLE) tried to attack the American Embassy by using hand grenades and using automatic guns. And then there were clashes between the security and the Islamists, which led for, like, the death of three of the attackers. Three Islamists were killed, and the fourth one was injured. Now he's under investigation. And two policemen, two policemen were killed. And according to (INAUDIBLE) sources, one of the Marines was injured.
Now the Syrians -- now the -- now the Syrian -- now the Syrian authorities are cleaning up that area. I saw bloodshed everywhere. I saw body parts on the ground. And you can smell the -- like the -- you can smell the blood, because of the -- like the bodies who were killed. Three of them were killed according to...
M. O'BRIEN: Ibrahim, can you clarify a couple of things for me. First of all, you said one Marine was injured. Were U.S. Marines guarding that embassy, or were there Syrian guards, or a combination of both?
HAMIDI: You know, according to the official -- official statement, two policemen, Syrian policemen, were killed, and some Syrian citizens were injured. According to my own sources, (INAUDIBLE) sources, that one Marine was injured. One Marine was injured.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. How heavily fortified is that U.S. Embassy there? They all are built like fortresses these days.
HAMIDI: I'm sorry?
M. O'BRIEN: How heavily fortified is the U.S. Embassy there?
HAMIDI: I'm sorry, it's very noisy around here. I cannot hear you.
M. O'BRIEN: OK.
HAMIDI: Could you repeat it again?
M. O'BRIEN: Is there -- is it -- is the U.S. Embassy there built like a fortress, like a lot of these embassies are these days?
HAMIDI: Yes. The U.S. Embassy here is -- it's an area called areas of the embassies, next to the American Embassy, next to many other embassies. It's well-guarded and well-secured by Syrian authorities. But don't forget, this is the first time ever which some Islamists, some terrorists attacked the American Embassy by using -- by using guns, automatic guns and hand grenades.
M. O'BRIEN: And inside that compound, was anybody injured?
HAMIDI: Some Syrians, yes. Some Syrian citizens were injured, but none of -- none of the American diplomats was injured as far as I know. And as I told you, two policemen were killed -- were killed by the Islamists. And because of the clashes.
M. O'BRIEN: But the Syrians that were injured, were they inside the walls of the compound? In other words, how far did the attackers get? HAMIDI: No, the American Embassy here, it's not within compound. It's just buildings, very well secured, well secured.
M. O'BRIEN: Right. So...
HAMIDI: So the whole area is open. It's very different to -- like, to the embassy in Baghdad, very different to the embassy in Beirut. So the embassy is next to many other embassies, and it's open for public, and it's easy for anybody to drive around and to walk around.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And the reports that there may be other bombs that have been found by the authorities there in vehicles, what do you know about that?
HAMIDI: Yes, that's correct. I mean, Syrian security found car bombs with -- with a timer, and then the Syrian security was able to dismantle this car. But other cars was exploded because of the hand grenades which were used by the attackers.
M. O'BRIEN: Ibrahim Hamidi live with us on the line from Damascus.
Thank you very much.
CNN's Anthony Mills joining us from Beirut but very familiar with the situation there in Damascus, Syria.
Anthony, first of all, tell us, I'm a little confused as to how well fortified that U.S. compound is there. On the one hand, Ibrahim was saying it's built like a fortress. On the other hand, he was saying there's access to it, which surprises me a little bit.
Why don't you shed some light on that for us.
ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not situated within a large compound or exterior compound, as are some U.S. embassies elsewhere, such as Baghdad, or here, for example, in Beirut, where the U.S. Embassy is up on a hill and really set back from a street. It is in a part, a residential part of the city, an upscale residential part with shops and restaurants and so on through which people can move freely.
So, effectively, it was possible for the attackers to get up close to the U.S. Embassy. They wouldn't have had to break through an exterior compound wall far removed from the actual embassy itself. But, of course, the embassy itself is well fortified, and that effectively explains the actual security situation with respect to the embassy -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Anthony, give us a sense, because, you know, we -- the whole society of Syria is so opaque to us. If you were to come up with a short list of groups or suspects that would be focused on the U.S. Embassy, I mean, we would immediately think of al Qaeda. Is al Qaeda operating alive and well on the streets of Damascus? MILLS: Well, Miles, this particular attack, although it appears to have been carried out by a fundamentalist group, a group with strong animosity towards the United States, doesn't bear the hallmarks of the kind of really well-planned massive attack that we've come to associate with al Qaeda. However, over the last year and a half or so, in Syria -- and Syria's a strongly controlled security state -- in Syria the security services have fought with what they have said were fundamentalist groups and sporadically clashed with them with deaths among the Syrian security services and also deaths of members of these fundamentalist groups. So today's attack comes within the context of this eruption, if you will, especially within the last year and a half of clashes with these groups.
Now they are obscure groups. They have names that are unfamiliar to people around the world. They are not well-publicized names. Although it's not possible at this stage to say what kind of link they may have with al Qaeda or whether they're simply influenced by al Qaeda, inspired by al Qaeda. That's not clear at this stage -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Anthony Mills in Beirut helping us understand what's going on in Damascus.
Thank you very much -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: President Bush is calling for a unified front on the war in terror and in Iraq. Not just among coalition partners, but among the American people, as well. It was all part of his Oval Office address last night on the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
Brianna Keilar has more from Washington this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Five years ago, this date, September the 11th, was seared into America's memory.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The White House had said President Bush would address the nation last night in a way that would unify Americans. The president did talk about unity...
BUSH: Winning this war will require the determined efforts of a unified country.
KEILAR: ... but on the heels of a new message from al Qaeda warning that new events, read (ph) attacks, are on the way, the president made no distinction between the war on terror and the war in Iraq. He said pulling out of Iraq would make America vulnerable to an attack.
BUSH: They will not leave us alone. They will follow us. The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad.
KEILAR: By the end of the president's address, some Democrats were fuming. Senator Edward Kennedy released this statement: "The president should be ashamed of using a national day of mourning to commandeer the airwaves to give a speech that was designed not to unite the country and commemorate the fallen but to seek support for a war in Iraq that he has admitted had nothing to do with 9/11."
(on camera): President Bush said last night, whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if U.S. troops pull out, Americans would be safe.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: A work day in space under way right now. Let's take a look at what's going on right now.
The 70th spacewalk on the International Space Station, and the first construction spacewalk on the space station since loss of Columbia, now three and a half years ago. And there you see, it is now night time.
You get a sunrise and a sunset about every 45 minutes in space. And what we're seeing there is Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper and Joe Tanner there in the darkness as they work on a $372 million solar array and truss, which is being attached to the International Space Station. Basically, they're working today like electricians, connecting a series of cables, 13 major umbilicals that they have to connect.
It has to be carefully choreographed with the ground because you don't want the power on in those cables as they are reconnecting them. And so they're closely going through and making sure that the cables are dead, connecting them, and when all is said and done here and all this is connected and those solar arrays are unfurled -- and this is the first of three spacewalks for this mission, there will be some more work done on all of this -- the power production on the International Space Station will be about double.
This is just from a little while ago. They've been out for about an hour and 10 minutes now in this spacewalk, coming out of the hatch there, the egress hatch, as they call it there, for the International Space Station and the airlock there.
And Joe Tanner, the veteran spacewalker who spent some time, you see him right there working on the Hubble space telescope, along with a rookie. Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper having her first opportunity to enjoy a spacewalk.
They call it work, but it really isn't, Chad. I would -- I would say that's not a bad way to work.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm sure it's quite a bit of work.
M. O'BRIEN: It's a good view. Good view.
MYERS: I do have -- I have a question for you.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes? MYERS: On that 45-minute sunrise, sunset...
M. O'BRIEN: Yes?
MYERS: ... is that really eclipsing, like the Earth gets in the way of the sun and then it gets on the other side? How does that work?
M. O'BRIEN: Well, they're just -- they go around about 90 minutes, right? So, you know, half of it's sun, half of it's darkness. And, so, yes, as you go around you just get keep getting those sunrises and sunsets.
MYERS: OK.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. You get a lot of them.
S. O'BRIEN: It sounds quite right.
MYERS: So, are you getting older?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's -- that's the question. There's a big question, when they come back are they older?
MYERS: Right. I guess they're supposed to be younger.
M. O'BRIEN: In theory, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: Hey. Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: Back to you guys.
S. O'BRIEN: Until the weekend. Can't wait for that. All right, Chad, thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, he's only six days old. Japan's new prince finally gets a name. We're going to tell you what you can call the baby who's now third in line to be emperor.
And a long shot pays off. The outcome of one of the weekend NFL games means hundreds of thousands of dollars of freebies for some.
We'll explain ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Here's a look now at stories that CNN correspondents around the world are covering today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Cal Perry in Baghdad, where Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is on his first state visit to Iran. All this while the Americans continue to accuse Iran of influencing the events here on the ground, both fueling and providing insurgents with weapons.
All of this at odds with an Iranian offer to help train Iraq's security forces. Something many here see necessary if American troops are ever to return home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Morgan Neill in Havana, where the non-alliance summit is under way. More than 50 heads of state are expected to attend. Among them, the leaders of Iran, Venezuela, Syria, and other sharp critics of U.S. policy. But much of the attention is focused on whether ailing president Fidel Castro will make an appearance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: I'm Robin Oakley, reporting from Britain, where today Tony Blair faces a rough ride from the country's trades union leaders. Promising last week this would be his last appearance at a trades union congress before he quits office next year, Tony Blair said that would be a relief both to him and to them.
Trade union leaders generally support Blair's Labour Party, but they don't like the way he's reforming public services. Some are expected to walk out when he speaks, and the general secretary has condemned the battle to succeed Blair as a distracting soap opera.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Atika Shubert in Tokyo, Japan, where an ancient ceremony has taken place to give the new addition to the royal family a name: Prince Hisahito. Hisa is the Chinese literary character for everlasting serenity, and hito is a name traditionally given to princes meaning of the highest moral standard. The name was written on a handmade piece of paper, placed in a wooden box by the baby's pillow, and he was also given a personal crest that will be used to mark his belongings.
Now, the ceremony traditionally takes place seven days after a royal birth, and is especially important since Prince Hisahito is now third in line to inherit the throne.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: If you want any more information on this story or any of our top stories, go right to our Web site at cnn.com. We've got a short break. We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: How do you make a bunch of Chicago Bears fans even more fanatical than they already are? Offer them free furniture.
Dane Placko from our Chicago affiliate WFLD explains how a risky business move turned into a big win for 206 lucky customers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDY GONIGAM, OWNER, WORLD FURNITURE MALL: Bears fan, through and through.
DANE PLACKO, REPORTER, WFLD (voice over): Not only is Randy Gonigam a huge Bears fan, he also happens to own a huge furniture store in far west suburban Plano. So after reading about the vaunted Bears defense a few weeks ago, he got an idea to drum up business over the Labor Day Weekend.
GONIGAM: I thought, "There's something that would be fun." I knew the Bears were playing the Packers in the first game of the season up at Lambeau, and I thought, "You know what? Let's put that on the line."
PLACKO: So Gonigam sent out 30,000 direct mail pieces, promising that any furniture sold over the Labor Day Weekend would be free if the Bears shut out the Packers. Mind you, Brett Favre has never been shut out in his 15 years as Packers quarterback.
The sales pitch must have worked, because Gonigam sold $300,000 worth of furniture to more than 200 customers.
(on camera): Of course you know what happened. The Packers folded like this lovely brown leather Berkline recliner, only $799. But it could have been yours free if you'd believed in the Bears.
(voice over): Final score, Bears 26, Packers nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
PLACKO: Dottie Stanford was napping when the game ended.
DOTTIE STANFORD, FURNITURE WINNER: My husband's standing at the door and he's going, "Five, four, three, two, one!" And I thought he was nuts. Nuts. So then he told me and I didn't believe it.
PLACKO: Bears fans Doug and Kathy Cress bought $5,000 worth of furniture.
(on camera): Anything you want to say to the Bears defense?
KATHY CRESS, FURNITURE WINNER: I just think they're wonderful. Of course, I always have.
PLACKO (voice over): Lucky for Randy, he did buy insurance to cover some of his losses.
GONIGAM: The first thing I did was I went to my online bank account and made sure that the check for the premium on the insurance had cleared.
PLACKO: It had. So he avoided yet another sack by the Monsters of the Midway.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: That was Dane Placko from our Chicago affiliate WFLD reporting.
Best stand-up ever.
M. O'BRIEN: Sit-down, actually.
S. O'BRIEN: Could be free.
M. O'BRIEN: That was excellent.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up at 9:00, we're going to talk to the owner of the store you saw in that piece and one of the lucky customers who got $5,000 worth of free stuff.
M. O'BRIEN: So he was insured for this before he put this offer?
S. O'BRIEN: He was insured.
M. O'BRIEN: That was smart. That was a smart move.
S. O'BRIEN: Up to $300,000. So he had to make sure -- he got to the point where he thought he might even have to close the store down.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow. OK. Well, anyway, Andy Serwer is here.
ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": That's good stuff.
M. O'BRIEN: What you got this morning?
SERWER: Hey, Miles. Why is Starbucks being sued for $114 million? No, it's not because the coffee's too hot.
Plus, how a shortage of helium could take the wind out of your little kiddy's party this fall.
We'll explain that coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Well, Starbucks could be in a latte trouble. Andy Serwer is here with that and more.
Hello, Andy.
SERWER: Good morning.
This is from the frivolous lawsuit hall of fame, if you ask me.
S. O'BRIEN: Our favorite hall of fame.
SERWER: Yes, it really -- it is a favorite of mine. And of ours.
You remember this promotion we told you about a couple weeks ago, where Starbucks sent an e-mail out to employees saying that friends and family could come in and get a free large drink. And, of course, this is really stupid of Starbucks, because it was by e-mail, so it just got forwarded basically to almost everyone in the United States.
M. O'BRIEN: Except me. I did not get one.
S. O'BRIEN: And I didn't get one.
SERWER: It was in the Southeast.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
SERWER: And our friends down in Atlanta didn't forward them to us. But anyway, guess what? A woman is suing Starbucks for $114 million...
M. O'BRIEN: Whoa, whoa, whoa.
S. O'BRIEN: For one drink?
SERWER: Well, this lawyer -- her lawyer wants to turn this into a class action lawsuit. The calculation is the average cost of one cup of Starbucks a day for all the people turned away for the 38 days that the offer was valid.
But, of course, right now there's only one plaintiff, a young woman here in New York City, a 23-year-old, and her lawyer says that she feels betrayed that she didn't get a drink. Now, at the risk of becoming a defendant in this case, what happens when her boyfriend is unfaithful?
You want to know what betrayed feels like? I mean, this is really...
M. O'BRIEN: That will be a class action lawsuit. I'll tell you that.
SERWER: Yes. You know, this is -- why don't they just -- Starbucks is going to have to have some kind of relief here. And I think the relief is a free cup of coffee for everybody. Have free cup of coffee day for everyone who feels betrayed in this horrible case.
"Clearly, Starbucks chose to initiate a viral marketing campaign" -- this is the lawyer -- "to counteract their slumping sales." That's not true. Their sales are not slumping.
M. O'BRIEN: You said the promotion was in the Southeast. This woman is in New York.
SERWER: That's a problem. That's a problem for the plaintiff.
M. O'BRIEN: So is she an injured party?
SERWER: Yes -- well...
S. O'BRIEN: Who's the lawyer? This is...
SERWER: The lawyer is a gentleman, according to this AP story, named Peter Sullivan, who's rather ingenious, I think. It's interesting.
S. O'BRIEN: Sullivan and Cromwell?
SERWER: No, no. They could sue us. They're big.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, lordy. All right.
SERWER: We're going to have to leave it at that, I think, right now.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, we do?
SERWER: More good stuff, yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh. We'll save helium for later.
SERWER: We'll save helium for later, because that's also a good story.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, there's a tease, yes.
M. O'BRIEN: OK. Thanks. We'll see you.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Andy.
SERWER: OK. Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get a check of the forecast. Chad's got that at the CNN Center.
Chad, did you get free coffee and you didn't pass it along to us?
SERWER: Yes, he was the one who knew about this.
M. O'BRIEN: He got one.
SERWER: He did.
MYERS: You know, those ads were all over the place and I never went down to get one. It was so hot.
SERWER: You were betrayed.
S. O'BRIEN: You could win $114 million.
MYERS: I know. Just one of those things. You know?
It's here. It's like, I looked at that thing for, like, a week. And I was, like, "Oh, I've got to go down there." Then I never did.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING does start right now.
M. O'BRIEN: A brazen attack at the U.S. Embassy in Syria. We're live with the latest.
S. O'BRIEN: Iraq's prime minister goes next door for his first official visit. What are the leaders of Iraq and Iran talking about today?
M. O'BRIEN: And you can call it home improvement in space. Astronauts right now outside the space station putting on an addition.
The birth of an idea. Now you can really see that light bulb go off when you have an idea. We're mapping the brain in our special series, "What is Genius?"
S. O'BRIEN: And a free furniture deal 14 years in the making. Now some happy Chicago Bears fans are ready to collect.
Those stories and much more ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to some new developments out of Syria this morning.
The U.S. Embassy in Damascus has been attacked. No word on who the attackers were, exactly what their cause is.
A homemade bomb went off in a car outside the embassy. Syrian security shot and killed four of the terrorists. Nobody at the embassy has been injured. Two more cars filled with bombs have been cleared from the street. The State Department says the attack is now over.
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