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Terror Attacks in Germany Stopped; Wildfires Across the Country

Aired May 11, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips. We start with breaking news and that we are getting word right now that terrorists apparently have been discovered in the advanced planning stages of an attack in Germany on U.S. personnel, military personnel, and also and/or possibly tourists in Germany. This word just coming through to CNN. We were able to confirm that through Jeanne Meserve who of course follows all our homeland security stories here for CNN. Jeanne, I understand that you just were able to confirm this information, tell us what you know?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well I talked to a senior federal official who called this a very real threat. I will caution however that CNN has also reached out to some other members of the intelligence community who say they feel that this threat lacks a little in specifics in terms of timing. But the senior federal official to whom I spoke said it involved attacks on U.S. interests planning for attacks, I should say, on U.S. facilities or military facilities in Germany. This individual said that there has been operational planning going on about this for sometime, that it involved bombs and the use of small arms against military facilities. When asked who might be responsible for this, I was told an al Qaeda affiliate franchise in Europe. And this person indicated -- this senior official indicated to me that although the planning had been going on for sometime, they were not sure that all of the people were in place to conduct this operation or that they had everything that they needed to conduct this operation.

We do know now that the U.S. State Department did send out a message on April 20th warning diplomatic and consular facilities in Germany, that the U.S. would be increasing their security posture, this, we presume, in conjunction with this threat to U.S. facilities and military installations in Germany. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, now Jeanne, as we continue to get information in. Just to remind our viewers, just even going back to 9/11, I mean that's where the 9/11 hijackers actually worked on operations that led up to 9/11, this has been a high-threat area. What do we know about al Qaeda activity in Germany and is this something that authorities overseas and here in the United States have been keeping their eyes on since 9/11.

MESERVE: Since before 9/11. Germany has always been seen as a hot bed of activity. And they've kept a very close, close eye on what's been happening there. As you mentioned some of the 9/11 hijackers went through there. There have been bombings in Germany in the past. So definitely a place they keep their eye on. They're also of course are substantial U.S. military facilities in Germany, it may be totally coincidental. But in fact this official tells me it is coincidental. But there was of course, also this week, the announcement of an alleged plot against Ft. Dix in New Jersey, another military facility.

PHILLIPS: Final question Jeanne, is anyone being evacuated? Do we know if military personnel and/or tourist areas are being cleared out or if a warning is going out?

MESERVE: No, the only thing we're aware of thus far is this alert that went out to U.S. consular and diplomatic facilities in Germany saying that security would be increased. This senior federal official tells me that German officials have called for enhanced police powers. He also tells me that there is extraordinary cooperation going on right now between the U.S. and Germany over this alleged plot that's unfolding.

PHILLIPS: All right, our Jeanne Meserve, once again staying on top of that story for us. We'll bring you more information as we get it. Right now terrorists possibly in the advanced planning stages of an attack on U.S. military personnel and/or tourists there in Germany. We'll follow it, bring you more information as we get it.

LEMON: The other big story we're following today, the fires. From the east coast to the west coast, the U.S. is burning at the edges. From swamping northern Florida to the islands off southern California the weather is dry, it is warm, it is windy and that spells trouble for the firefighters who are trying to get these blazes under control. Bigger trouble for hundreds of families fleeing and fearing for their homes. We have live crews stationed as close as possible to these fires and we're also awaiting an update. We're going take you live. That's California right there -- the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to hold a press conference at any moment now. And as soon as that happens, we'll bring it to you live. You're not going to miss any of it.

We want to go now to Catalina Island, 30 miles off the southern California coast, about 4,000 acres have gone up in smoke since this time yesterday. You can see our Ted Rowlands is there on the ground. Ted, you've been there all morning, how have conditions changed?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a real opening now for firefighters, mother nature cooperating, the wind is down, humidity is up. This fire has laid down to the point where they can really assault it from the air and that is what they're doing. Fixed wing aircraft and helicopters are attacking what is the leading edge of this fire. Last night, a wall of fire descended on Avalon here in Catalina. A small town which is nestled into the hillside here. Residents pulled what they could out of their homes, came down to the beach and watched in horror as these flames got closer and closer to the downtown area. And as the night progressed, the winds started to die down, and firefighters were able to get the upper hand and able to save these homes. They did lose a few structures but given what it looked like there for a while, everybody is breathing a huge sigh of relief. A lot of folks here are tourists. They, the bulk of them, left the island. They were ferried out throughout the night, constantly being ferried back to the Los Angeles area. About 3,000 people actually were pulled off the island. Meanwhile, coming onto the island via the U.S. military and hovercraft, firefighters from Los Angeles and fire rigs, they were able to bring enough personnel here to really get a handle on this. Right now, it is only 10 percent contained, but right now there is much optimism from firefighters that they're going to be able to take care of this in this window as long as the weather pattern doesn't change.

LEMON: Just to give us an idea -- a percentage of people, have people left the island, any parts of the island evacuated, Ted?

ROWLANDS: Evacuations last night were pretty much for everybody living on the island here in the area of Avalon. It is just literally carved out of a cove here. About 3,000 residents do live here and those folks were all evacuated down to the beach. Tourists for the most part left the island altogether. Residents for the most part stayed, waited it out. This morning, they're very pleased that their homes are still standing.

LEMON: CNN's Ted Rowlands joining us from Catalina. Thank you for that. We want to remind our viewers -- we're going to take you to a live picture now of the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, you see that press conference getting ready to begin there. As soon as that happens, he's going to give us some idea of how they're going to get a handle on all of these fires and just exactly what's happening with that. As soon as that happens we'll bring it to you live. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: As you know, we topped off the hour with that breaking news out of Germany. A U.S. official telling us that terrorists were discovered to be in the advanced planning of a possible attack on U.S. military and/or tourists in Germany. You may remember the 9/11 hijackers planned their operations out of Germany. This has been somewhat of a hot bed for al Qaeda activity. This word coming to us and confirmed through a U.S. military official. Jim Walsh on the phone with us now, one of our terrorism experts, we've talked a lot about the threat in Germany. As this information is coming across, Jim, have you heard anything, have you been able to get any other information?

JIM WALSH, TERROR EXPERT: Well in some ways it makes sense, Kyra. As you said, in 9/11, you had several of the al Qaeda members based in Hamburg attending universities recently as of I think it was last week, the final 9/11 Moroccan man who was living in Germany, helping the 9/11 plotters had his appeal refused and is now going to prison for his involvement in 9/11. It should be said that most Muslims living in Germany are of Turkish origin. They're not from Morocco, they're not from Pakistan, or not from other areas normally associated with al Qaeda. But people can travel there to go to school. That's what happened before. What is surprising to me about this -- and of course we don't know a lot yet is that it would be focused on a military site, on the one hand, that makes sense for them to attack the U.S. military, because of its affiliation with Iraq and it's an American target. But on the other hand, you would think that this would be very difficult for outsiders to gain access to.

PHILLIPS: Islamic groups have threatened violence against Germany for its involvement in those wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, correct?

WALSH: And of course other European partners have faced direct attack. There was the bombing of the Spanish trains. There have been attacks on Australians in Indonesia. And there have been threatened attacks -- several of the videotapes, several of the audiotapes issued by al Qaeda have mentioned Germany and other European allies as being on the target list.

PHILLIPS: And a particular concern, patch barracks, the headquarters for the U.S.-European command there in Germany. This is obviously a military facility that has been under constant threat and has been of concern for attacks like this, right, Jim?

WALSH: Yes, and historically, Kyra, going back even decades, when Europe suffered the wave of red terrorism with the Baider Meinhoff gang and the red army and you had groups in Germany and Italy. In Germany, there were terrorist groups, again, ideologically driven, not religiously driven, but ideologically driven who did attack U.S. bases in Germany. So it's not the first time that terrorist groups or others have targeted U.S. military facilities in that country.

PHILLIPS: And, Jim, what kind of efforts have been going on there in Germany to fight al Qaeda and to fight terrorism in that area?

WALSH: Well I think partly because you had some of the operatives -- original 9/11 operatives living in Germany, I think that that made it a home grown issue for the German government and for Germans. And that with all of our European partners, in particular, Germany, France and U.K., particularly at the level of intelligence cooperation. There has been a lot of work, a lot of concern, and a lot of cooperation with U.S. officials in trying to gain intelligence on potential infiltrators.

PHILLIPS: Our terrorism expert Jim Walsh. We'll continue to follow this story obviously out of Germany. Jim appreciate it.

LEMON: Several developing stories happening today. One in California. We want to get you to California now. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holding a press conference talking about those fires.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, CALIFORNIA: Coordinating so quickly and working together in order to contain the blaze. One L.A. County firefighter was injured and was flown off the island to safety. And currently, the 732 firefighters, 42 -- 44 engines, nine helicopters, and five air tankers that are all working with the navy and the air national guard to move resources as quickly as possible to the island and to contain the fire. Now, the fire has been contained 10 percent. But we don't know when it will be contained 100 percent because it depends on the wind and the weather conditions. 4,000 acres burned so far. One home was destroyed and six structures were lost. Firefighters are working hard to protect all of the homes and also the businesses over in Avalon. Yesterday, more than 3,800 people were evacuated by ferry from the island and we are now continuing to do everything that we can and everyone is working very hard to make sure that the people are safe and that the animals are safe. I urge everyone to take the greatest caution and to cooperate with the authorities for your safety and for their safety. If you have any questions, we can answer those questions about Catalina fire later on.

So I also want to thank everyone, as I said earlier here today to come out here and to talk about the Griffith Park fire and we were just taken on a tour. Let me tell you something -- someone who loves this park -- first of all I have shot a lot of my "Terminator" movies right here, one, two, and three. And to see this very same places where we were and where we filmed destroyed is unbelievable. It was very hard to take. Especially when you see, for instance, the nursery that started in the '40s to be burned to the ground and all of the scorched hillsides and the canyons. And how close the flames really came to wipe out the residential areas and how dangerous it really was. If it weren't for the great efforts of our chief, Doug Barry. Where's Doug Barry? Thank you very much. Give him a big hand for the great, great work that he has done. And then our Los Angeles city fire department would have been much, much worse. Fire crews worked around the clock, doing night drops, double shifts, in bringing this fire under control. I wanted to congratulate everyone from our state and local jurisdictions for working together to contain this fire as quickly and as effectively as they have done. Your great efforts saved the lives of people and animals and protected hundreds of homes as well as preserving some of the most treasured California landmarks, such as the Hollywood sign, the Greek theater, the Los Angeles Zoo, or the Griffith Observatory. I have directed my secretary of resources Mike Chrisman to work closely with the city and to determine what resources we have available to help restore this magnificent park. And we'll work with the legislator and we'll work with the city officials and with the city of Los Angeles and the people of Los Angeles to find resources from our recently passed bonds and other sources to prevent flooding, revegetate the hillside and restore this great, great nursery. Thank you very much and now I would like to introduce the great mayor of Los Angeles, Mayor Villaragosa.

LEMON: All right, governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger and stepping up to the mic now is the mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaragosa, they're talking about the effort that's happening there in California to try to contain these fires. So far, the governor said 4,000 acres have burned. They are 10 percent contained now. He also talked about what's happening on Catalina -- Catalina Island, where some 3800 people have been evacuated from that island of Catalina. Firefighters there working double shifts, he says working through the night. He commended them as well. Six structures lost, one home totally destroyed. We're going to continue to follow this developing story. Fires not only happening in California, but happening east here as well in Georgia as well as Florida. We're on top of it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to T.J. Holmes, he's got details on a hazmat situation developing -- where exactly is it, T.J.? T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: This is in Vista, California and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department is responding to this, giving us information right now. We understand that some 20 people have been affected by this. We don't have many details, but we know that at least 20 people have been exposed to some kind of chemical and at least 12 of them had to be taken to area hospitals. Don't know the severity of their conditions or their issues, but they've had to be taken to the hospital, complaining of breathing problems. Now, we are looking at these live pictures via our affiliate helicopter out there right now. Not exactly clear about exactly what we're looking at. We just see of course this building which we are told by the sheriff's department is some kind of a place that mixes chemicals. Local affiliates are reporting that this is what's called Prudential Overall Supply, which is on Ash Street there in Vista, California. But we know that some kind of an incident took place where at least 12 people now are complaining of breathing issues and had to be taken to area hospitals. Some 20 people exposed altogether. Here we go with this live picture, certainly identify there that there is a member of a hazmat team that has been brought out in full garb, protective garb to handle whatever has been going on. We're still trying to get details as we see more come out of this building now and get more details on exactly what -- what happened there. But it was serious enough that some people began to get a bit ill. Serious enough that those people, in fact, had to be taken to a hospital. Again, this is in Vista, California. We're keeping an eye on this situation and as we get more details, we will certainly bring them right to you. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll keep checking in. T.J. thanks.

LEMON: We're going to keep checking on this too, terrorist plot discovered against U.S. citizens or interests in Germany, that's according to U.S. officials. U.S. authorities have discovered the terrorist plot in advance stages of planning against U.S. citizens or interests in Germany's senior federal official told CNN that was just moments ago. The plot, they said, which had been planned for some time included the use of bombs and small arms. Now, when asked who might be responsible for this, the official said, an al Qaeda affiliate franchise in Europe. We'll have details on this throughout the day right here on CNN. We're going to take a short break. CNN NEWSROOM continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is 20 past the hour. Here are three of the stories we're working on right here for you in the CNN NEWSROOM. A wild fire has burned 4,000 acres and counting on Catalina Island off of the coast of southern California. Hundreds have cleared out of the resort town of Avalon. A bail hearing today for six men accused in a plot to massacre soldiers at Ft. Dix in New Jersey. All six are ordered held without bond. And one more trip to the United States for the outgoing British Prime Minister, Tony Blair will meet with President Bush next week at the White House.

PHILLIPS: Now to Florida where more than 200 wild fires are burning from panhandle to keys. One of the worst is along Interstate 10 near the Georgia state line. That's where we find our CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in Lake City, Florida. Jacqui, tell us about the conditions.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well conditions have changed pretty dramatically here, just in the last hour, hour and a half or so Kyra. The visibility has improved but that's because the inversion as we call it has been lifting, allowing the winds to mix things up a little bit. So the winds are picking up, the humidity is dropping, the temperature is rising and things are getting worse -- except for the visibility. Behind me here you can see there's a speed limit sign, 45 miles per hour, an hour ago, we couldn't even read that sign. So certainly you can see things are changing here very much and expected to do more so throughout the afternoon hours. Now, conditions this morning were actually pretty good. Our winds were very light. The humidity was very high and that kind of helped them prevent this fire from advancing as aggressively as it has in the last 24 hours. This fire has more than doubled in size in the last 24 hours and firefighters are telling us these are the worst conditions that they have ever seen. 600 families have been evacuated from their homes. We're on highway 441 right now which is closed north of here. I-10 intersects it, I-10 remains open but visibility is very poor when you drive into this area, signs are everywhere talking about the smoke and the fog issues. Now the fire is moving towards the south and to the west. So it's creeping up on I-10, and that has officials here very worried because Interstate 10 could have to close down as a result of that. And then the fire could jump then the interstate and move into Lake City which is where we are right now. There are hundreds of officials here on the scene. Firefighters from all over the state trying to help out. In fact this street behind me, just about an hour ago was lined double deep all the way along -- we counted at least 50 fire engines here from as far away as West Palm Beach. They have now been deployed out into the field and they're relieving the crews that have been fighting this thing all night long. 82,500 acres have burned and this fire is only 5 percent contained. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: And Jacqui you sent us an e-mail about the smoke and just looking behind you, you can see the obvious effects of this. Tell us about how it's playing on health conditions of the people in that area?

JERAS: Well it's happening -- I feel this myself right now. And the fire officials gave us these masks that we can wear in between our live shots. Because you can see the ash in the air, so that kind of filters it out a little bit. They're asking people to stay within their homes and not come out, especially the elderly and the young, people with respiratory. Air quality is unhealthy for everybody. You don't have to be real young or real old or have asthma to feel the effects of this. It makes you short of breath, it increases your heart rate, burns your eyes, and makes it very difficult, obviously to breathe. With all of the fires that are burning all over the state, not just here, all of the big cities are being impacted by this too. In Tampa Bay, Hillsborough County officials have asked people to stay inside, keep your windows closed and keep your doors shut. And if you don't have air conditioning, they're asking you to maybe head out to the mall or the public library so you're indoors and you stay a little safe. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Ok, Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much. We'll keep talking to you throughout the next couple of hours.

LEMON: And new details to come here in the CNN NEWSROOM of a terror threat against U.S. citizens and German interests in Germany. CNN will update you in the NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Busy day in the NEWSROOM, T.J. Holmes working details on another story for us. T.J.?

HOLMES: Yeah, we're taking you to Washington this time I believe and I'm not sure about the name of this town, but Tukwila, I believe is it. But this is a live picture we're seeing here, where there's been a three-alarm fire. This is at a business there in town. This is a live picture we're seeing here. You certainly see the -- you can't see the structure, you can't see the fire, you certainly see these firefighters working here. But this is a fire that happened a little after 8:00 this morning. We're hoping to get some taped pictures or at least, again, there we go -- the fire we're talking about here, really some amazing pictures. Again, this is right outside of Seattle. The town is Tukwila -- that's Tukwila -- forgive me if I'm not saying the name of that town correctly. But this is what we believe is the Far West Tire and Auto Service Shop. Now we have seen over time in covering fires and what not, certainly a place you don't want one is any kind of a body shop because there's so much stuff in there that can go up in flames. Those tires, the chemicals, the oil, the gas, all kinds of things in there. So the earlier pictures showed certainly how big of a fire this became.

This, now the live picture from our affiliate, KIRO, which shows -- it appears that the firefighters certainly do have this thing a little better under control. It looks like a lot of the flames are out -- I see a lot of the smoke. But it appears that the roof on this building might be gone. Again, the Far West Tire and Auto Service, what we've been able to determine is this business from pictures we've seen. No reports right now of any injuries, certainly a good thing. This fire happened -- reported around 8:00 this morning. Maybe nobody at work, nobody around at that time. But just some remarkable pictures to bring to you here of this fire. And, again, Tukwila, Washington, it's right outside of Seattle at a business there that appears to be pretty much gutted pretty good. And it looks like the roof possibly gone off of this building. We will try to get more details about exactly what this place was, how this fire started, and again, if any injuries are associated with it. So we'll get back to you when we get more information on that as well. Kyra? right now.

PHILLILPS: T.J., it's amazing how you can vamp about a tire fire. I am extremely impressed.

HOLMES: Yes, thank you.

PHILLIPS: It's the gear head in you, I think that's what it is.

HOLMES: Just trying to impress you, mama Phillips.

PHILLIPS: Thank you T.J.

LEMON: Mama Phillips.

PHILLIPS: All right, take it away Don.

LEMON: We know childhood obesity is an epidemic, a very serious subject here in America. But for families with roots in other parts of the world, the quest for good nutrition and health poses unique challenges. Here's CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he has more in today's "Fit Nation" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's supper time at the Yang's. Martin and Ingrid are immigrants from Taiwan. Now they make sure their kids eat traditional healthy meals but it's not always easy.

MARTIN YANG, FATHER: For kids' requests, we will make some western food, you know a very common meal we make for them just like spaghetti and sometimes we order pizza, but that is occasionally -- not our regular meal.

GUPTA: Those western foods are a real problem. Thin children are becoming overweight children in a short amount of time. According to the NIH, the Asian-American community is now the fastest growing population in the country when it comes to childhood obesity. Doctors say its lifestyle. Many Asian parents who come to the U.S. hold down two jobs in order to make ends meet. They turn to fast foods to feed their families.

DR. JUDY CHEN, UCLA: Suddenly, McDonald's is very -- you know, it's very popular. Suddenly fried foods are introduced into their diets. They're eating cheese that they're not used to eating.

GUPTA: Because these first generation youngsters are accustomed to low fat, low calorie foods, their bodies can't as easily handle American cuisine. And they begin to gain weight quickly. Making things worse, many Asian kids don't get enough exercise.

CHEN: The parents don't exercise the traditional -- be a good student, you know, don't go out and play too much.

GUPTA: California is trying to change that, sending notices to Asian media groups telling parents, obesity has become a problem.

KRIS PERRY, EXEC. DIR., "FIRST 5 CALIFORNIA": We want them to know that this is going on and start to give them suggestions of how to reduce the overweight and obesity trends in their community.

GUPTA: California hopes their new media campaign helps Asian parents make healthier choices for their kids. They want to share their ideas with other states to keep Asian obesity rates from climbing even higher. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: We've been telling you about reports of a terror plot against U.S. citizens or U.S. interests in Germany. Our Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has been digging for some more details. She joins us now with the latest. Hi Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi Kyra. We've talked to a number of intelligence officials who emphasize that this is not a new threat per se, that this is something that the Germans have been keeping their eye on it for some point in time. One senior federal official did characterize it as a very real threat, something that had been in the evolutionary stages for several months. According to this individual, this involved a series of potential attacks on U.S. interests and military bases in Germany, involving bombs, and small weapons. According to this senior official, they had the plans in place, but they did not have all of the people in place. It is unclear if the Germans have uncovered something particularly new that led to a ramp up in the press coverage of this. But the State Department back on April 20th had issued a warden message, it's called, upping the security at U.S. diplomatic and consular facilities, that's way back on April 20th. At the State Department briefing today, there was a question about it and here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: There was recently within the past couple of weeks, you can check me on the date, a -- a warden message that went out from our embassy asking people in country to exercise extra vigilance and caution. Although at that point, they didn't have a specific credible threat but they were quite concerned. I can't speak to just whether or not there is new information that has come in. Whenever we do have information that we believe is credible enough to act on, we -- we adhere legal requirements as well as moral requirement to pass along our best advice to our publics so that they can take steps to protect themselves.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: The senior federal official with whom I spoke said that no arrests have been made that he's aware of, but the understanding is that an al Qaeda affiliate in Europe might be behind this. I have spoken to the Department of Homeland Security and Russ (INAUDIBLE), the spokesman there issued a statement saying there is no indication of a nexus to the homeland and at present there is no credible intelligence to suggest an imminent threat to the homeland. So that's the latest. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, Jeanne Meserve, appreciate it.

LEMON: Let's check the markets now, Susan Lisovicz standing by at the New York Stock Exchange with the look. Hey, Susan?

SUSAN LISOVICZ: Hey, Don. Well you know one day after seeing the biggest one-day sell off in two months, we've got a nice rebound in motion, despite the fact that we got another lousy report on retail sales. This was from the government. Now you remember, we heard from retailers yesterday and stocks sold off. All of these concerns about consumers reigning in their spending. Today this was an even bigger picture. But what counterbalanced that, offsetting that, was the report showing inflation at the wholesale level tamer than expected. So we got a nice rally, not completely erasing yesterday's losses, but a good way there. The Dow is up 93 points, NASDAQ is up 22. Both of them up about 1 percent. That's the latest from Wall Street. In the next hour of NEWSROOM, all of those fires we're seeing in California, influencing one major insurance company. I'll tell you about Allstate's controversial move. Don and Kyra, back to you.

LEMON: Always a toll. Ok, thank you very much for that Susan. Cap, check, gown, check, state of mind? Well, that's an extra consideration for this year's graduating class of Virginia Tech. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, we'll hear from the student body president coming up in just a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: CNN is working the details of an alleged terror plot against Germany. Here is what officials are confirming here to CNN. It says U.S. authorities have discovered a terrorist plot in the advanced stages of planning against U.S. citizens or interests in Germany. And that's according to a senior federal official here telling our CNN. The plot which had been planned for some time included the use of bombs, and small arms, according to that same official on the ground for us in Berlin. Our Frederik Pleitgen there. Frederik, what do you know about this threat?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well I just talked to a spokesperson from the U.S. embassy and also from the German Interior Ministry. What they're saying is that they are not aware of any new threat. They said that the threat that they are hearing about is one that they had issued, a threat warning that they had issued, a general threat warning. They issued this about two weeks ago. And the American embassy here in Berlin was very much aware of this new threat level. What's been happening in the past couple of weeks is that buildings of the U.S. embassy, the U.S. consular buildings, but also U.S. military installations have been tightening up their security. In fact, there's one military installation near Wiesbaden in Germany, where we know that security has been up in the last week. So it does seem as though American personnel and American military, and also the American embassy is very much aware of the threat. Though right now they're telling us that this is -- what we're hearing right now is not really a new threat but one that they've been aware of for some time. And they say this is part of a general up in the threat level that they've been seeing in the past couple of weeks. And of course, having said that, we're very close to the G-8 summit here in Germany, which is going to happen in less than a month. And what we're seeing here in Germany, is we're seeing raids -- a lot of raids going on just in the past two days, over 40 people having been arrested. 900 police personnel having taken part in those raids. So we are seeing a lot of tightening of security in Germany. And the German interior minister has also said just a day ago has said that he's aware that Germany is very, very much a part of that threat potential.

LEMON: And, Frederik, according to officials there, this warning came on April 20. They issued that warning. And, again, according to this official, this warning came because of an al Qaeda affiliate franchise in Europe. That's who they're saying this warning is because of. Now, I would imagine that if they had been upping all of the security on facilities there and especially at the patch barracks facility, what is the reason behind that? An increase in al Qaeda chatter, are they saying why they increased this on April 20th?

PLEITGEN: Well they are saying that they had been seeing an increase in al Qaeda chatter. Now what they are also saying is that they were monitoring an al Qaeda group which they say could be Kurdish Iraqi militants that are operating somewhere inside of Germany. Now they say that this threat really is not as specific as you might think. That they've been monitoring al Qaeda on the internet. Have been seeing how al Qaeda people and terrorist cells have been communicating and that's really why they've upped this terrorist threat. But a lot of it is also the proximity to that G-8 summit. They are very much afraid that terrorist attacks could happen at this G-8 summit. They know that Germany is very vulnerable to terrorist attacks because basically the borders of Germany are not really secured by German police themselves, because it's within the European union where only the outside of the European Union is controlled by police. So they do know that people can get into Germany and they say they do know that there is terrorist activity. There is terrorist plotting going on in Germany. And right now, they're upping that threat level just to see that they can get on top of those terrorists maybe plotting an attack.

LEMON: All right, Frederik Pleitgen, find any more information, please get back to us. Frederik Pleitgen in Berlin. Thanks much.

PHILLIPS: Commencement ceremonies just hours away at Virginia Tech, a bitter-sweet end to the college careers of thousands of students still in the shadow of last month's campus massacre. Joining us now from Blacksburg, student body president Adeel Khan. Adeel, it's great to see you, how are you feeling and what's the mood on campus today?

ADEEL KHAN, STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT: The mood is a celebratory one. We're trying to honor the students who have accomplished probably the biggest achievement in their lives, while also trying to remember those students that we've lost. It's a really delicate balance but it looks like the university is handling it really well so far. There are some parents lined up at the memorials outside and the students are in lunches and in ceremonies for -- for pre-graduation awards.

PHILLIPS: Well this is a big day for you and your family as well, right? Your big brother is graduating?

KHAN: My big brother is graduating. We're very, very proud of him. He actually just received the distinguished business award for the business school here, so we're very proud of him.

PHILLIPS: Well I can see that you're going to move into the same -- I guess just say the position of being distinguished as you move on to be student body president. You have a lot on your plate. A lot to deal with. How is this going to affect your role as student body president. What happened in moving forward?

KHAN: One thing that we've already planned for doing for the next year is providing many events for students to come together and lean on each other and remember the incident, but also just be there for one another, because we realize -- we came to the realization that counseling only helps so much. Really the counseling between students is probably the best for them because we've all gone through this together and we're all going to be there for each other. So we're going to try to provide as many outlets for students to get together and be there for one another.

PHILLIPS: Well I think the first sign of that, the first sign of that unity was when the president came to speak at your university after this attack and all of you gathered and sang the fight song. Let's go for a minute and just take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Let's go hokies! Let's go hokies!

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Adeel that was an incredible moment. I think it moved not only everybody in that room but all of us journalists and everybody just watching it live on television. That spirit it continues to be tremendous on your campus.

KHAN: It is incredible. I mean the community has been amazing. Our student body is one of the most spirited you'll ever see. I can't tell you how much it's meant to me. For this to happen to any campus, Virginia Tech was probably one of the strongest communities it could have happened to in recovering from the incident. So, I'm very proud be a student at Virginia Tech and I think those degrees today are going to mean more to those students than they ever have before seeing the community come together like it has.

PHILLILPS: Is it giving some type of closure for families and for parents just knowing that their child, the lives lost, they're going to actually get that degree and be able to frame it and think of their child. How is it affecting the families?

KHAN: My parents were actually -- actually got to come down for the first time today. They went to be the memorial last night and that's really the time that it really sunk in for them. My mother started crying and she kind of realized that it really could have been any student here. She's just very happy. I mean she's been praying for us and she's been praying for the other students and it just goes to show all of these parents that they're so lucky to have their children and it just makes them even more proud that they're graduating and they still have their children.

PHILLIPS: Adeel, show me the t-shirts, tell me about the memorial fund and how we can all participate in supporting it.

KHAN: Right now, we're selling t-shirts, it's the only memorial t-shirt that's available right now. It's only $5 and it's being sold on-line for students around the country and also in local stores. It says "Hokies United" on the front and "We are Virginia Tech" on the back. There are really two parts of the t-shirt. All of the proceeds will go to the memorial fund. But also the t-shirt is a very symbolic thing for students. For most students they'll be going home for the summer, especially the freshmen, sophomores and juniors. They're not going to be back in the university for about two months and we really want to show them that the entire nation supports them, not only Virginia Tech students. I think it's a very powerful thing when someone completely unaffiliated with the university is wearing a t- shirt to show their support, I think it's going to be a very powerful thing for the students going home this summer.

PHILLIPS: Virginia Tech student body president, Adeel Khan. Great to see you today and congratulations to all of the graduating seniors.

KHAN: Thank you.

LEMON: U.S. authorities have discovered a terror plot against U.S. citizens or interests in Germany. Why this plot? What is the German government saying about it? We're going to have details for you on this story, this breaking news story, straight ahead right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Friday's are usually pretty slow on Capitol Hill, if not completely dead. But when it's the Friday before mother's day and the subject is postpartum depression and Brooke Shields comes to town to talk about it, well people show up, including us. And our Brianna Keilar is live in Washington with all of the details on that. Hi Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Don. This event was about a senate bill, the mother's act, it was introduced today. And women who have struggled with post-partum depression, including Brooke Shields, showed up there on Capitol Hill to bring awareness about this legislation, just a couple of days ahead of mother's day. Now most of them, including Shields, said their doctors didn't warn them about postpartum depression and that after the births of their children when they complained about symptoms, their doctors really just chalked it up to so-called baby blues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE SHIELDS, ACTRESS: Ignorance is a potentially deadly, deadly thing and the knowledge of postpartum is a tool that I believe all women deserve. And this bill represents that tool and it's an easy gift to give to women everywhere. I mean I wish that when I was going through my pre-delivery that some professional had sat me down and informed me.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The mother's act proposes giving grant money to states so that they can educate new mothers about PPD before they leave the hospital so that they can screen them and then also give them necessary treatment should they need it. And, Don, it also aims to increase research about postpartum depression.

LEMON: And I'm sure they gave out some information. Did they talk about the symptoms at all? What are the symptoms if they talked about them?

KEILAR: Oh that's right, and looking at some of the symptoms, it's really a continuum of symptoms and disorders here. If we're looking at postpartum depression, some of them include hopelessness, lack of interest in the baby, also being maybe overly concerned about the baby. Now this is somewhat different from baby blues. You've got baby blues, which many women suffer from, up to eight in 10 women suffer from that and it's somewhat minor. And then you've got this, actually we're looking at psychosis symptoms now, we'll get on to that in just a moment. But postpartum depression, the symptoms last a little longer than two weeks. And then you've got psychosis -- postpartum psychosis which is very serious and only about one in 1,000 women suffer from this. It includes symptoms as you see there, delusions, hallucinations, and maybe obsessive thoughts, sometimes about the baby. And you may recall Don, postpartum psychosis that really got a lot of play -- it really came into play with the trial of Andrea Yates because her lawyer said that's what she was suffering from when she drowned her five children in 2001.

LEMON: Yes, I'm wondering, are certain type of people more prone to this?

KEILAR: Yeah there are, there are certain risk factors. For instance, if you have a family or a personal history of mental illness or maybe if you're a younger mother, and if there's a lack of support from friends and family. Also, if there have been problems with a previous pregnancy or birth that could be complications that could also be previous postpartum depression or baby blues. Those people are at particular risk for postpartum depression.

LEMON: CNN's Brianna Keilar. Thank you, Brianna.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, more on the fear of a terrorist attack in Germany on U.S. assets. Our Jeanne Meserve is following the story for us, she'll bring us more right after the break.

LEMON: And also, Kyra, wild fires are on the loose all over the U.S. and there, you can see, Catalina Island. We'll update you on what's happening in California as well as here in the east, coming up after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Catalina is burning. Hundreds of Californians fleeing their homes and the island as high winds push a fast-moving brushfire toward the harbor town of Avalon. Who are you going to call to help fight this fire? Well equipment 25 miles off land to California. U.S. marines lending a hand in that and the hovercraft has shuttled badly needed trucks to Catalina Island.

PHILLIPS: This is Catalina Island as seen from the mainland, usually a bump on the horizon, now a smoky mess. Thanks to amateur Videographer and i-Reporter Glenn Nakamura in Newport Coast, California for sharing his view of the island. This was about 8:00 last night. Glenn said he couldn't smell the smoke yet, only see it and plenty of it. We want your photographs and video too. Send them to us by going to cnn.com and clicking on i-Report.

LEMON: And CNN is continuing to follow the details on a terror plot in Germany against U.S. citizens and interests. Our Jeanne Meserve will have the very latest on that and she'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: And as we go to break, let's take a look at the big board, live from the New York Stock Exchange, Dow industrials up 80 points. Susan Lisovicz following all of the business news for us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips, bombs, small arms, real threat or old news? A top U.S. official tells of a terror plot against U.S. interests in Germany.

LEMON: But the State Department says that's really not new, they cite a warning sent out three weeks ago. We'll piece it all together for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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