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The news conference on the disrupted terror plot at JFK International Airport and the suspects involved. The candidates on the campaign trail comment on the alleged terror plot disrupted at JFK. The profitable world of animal smuggling.

Aired June 02, 2007 - 14:30   ET

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

KELLY: Just a week ago, we had Syed Hashmi, who was extradited from the U.K. - another person who adopted New York - who is accused of giving material support to al Qaeda, as is Mohammed Babar, another New Yorker.
So, what this all says is, we have to remain vigilant.

It's understandable that New Yorkers - we've become a little complacent. We haven't had another attack here in 5.5 years. But I can assure you that law enforcement and the law enforcement community, particularly here in New York, is not going to be complacent.

We're going to remain vigilant. And we urge the public - again, you've heard this before - if you see something, say something. Look at your world through the prism of September 11. Use your eyes and ears to keep law enforcement informed.

Thank you.

MICHAEL BALBONI, OFFICE OF NEW YORK PUBLIC SAFETY: When Governor Eliot Spitzer took office, the first case that we were briefed on was this one. And it is a sobering reminder that the plots continue, and that, as the commissioner said, New York state and New York City is in the target zone.

But it also reminds us that the threat changes. This was not something that came overseas in a coordinated fashion. It was formed here.

And that is why the agencies that you see standing here form the firewall between the threat and the public. And it is absolutely crucial, as the 9/11 Commission pointed out, that we break down those walls. And that is represented here.

The joint terrorism task force concept works. And it works because people are willing to share intelligence, resources and effort.

And what is remarkable and should not be overlooked, is this is a year-and-a-half investigation. There were no compromises in security. There were no leaks. This was done in an incredibly efficient, professional manner across many agencies.

This is what the public expects, demands and deserves. And it's been an honor to be able to stand and watch these professionals coordinate all of these agencies.

I guess the last lesson here is not only about vigilance, but there's also the realization that the threat can come from anywhere. And that makes it absolutely imperative that our law enforcement have the best intelligence sources they can.

And in that regard, I'd like to congratulate the FBI and the City of New York, who have some of the best intelligence, not perhaps only in this nation, but in the world.

Thank you very much.

ANTHONY SHORRIS, NEW YORK PORT AUTHORITY: Good afternoon.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) I think we all understand what's happened here. This is another demonstration of the close cooperation between law enforcement across this region, and it's exactly what we want to see happen and have seen happen over and over again under the stewardship of some of the leaders you've seen here today.

The port authority is very proud to work very closely with the bureau, with the NYPD, with the other elements of law enforcement, both to our own police force, and because, obviously, we have special motivation here.

No one understands better than the folks at the port authority the importance of these issues. No one understands it, because of what we have experienced as an agency, what we experienced as a region. And no one understands it, because no one has more facilities that are subject to this kind of attention than our agency.

Because the reason we have spent some $3 billion since 9/11 on security, and why we are committed to continue the investment in improving security, both operationally and in terms of our infrastructure over many years to come.

We have been a close part of this effort throughout, and we owe many thanks, particularly, as you heard, to the bureau and the NYPD and other members of law enforcement.

I would like to offer some special thanks to your superintendent, Sam Fomerai (ph), and deputy superintendent, George Johannsen (ph), as well as to the port authority's own police team, who are working so collaboratively with the other law enforcement officials to turn this episode to a completion.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO)

TONY HARRIS, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: And there you have it, the news conference from a short time ago by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Boy, you have heard just an amazing narrative, it must be said, offered by law enforcement officials in New York as they describe the alleged plot by four individuals, including a former member of parliament of Guyana, and a former airport cargo worker at New York's JFK Airport, to blow up JFK's major jet fuel supply tanks, pipelines, underground pipelines, by targeting a 40-mile fuel line from Linden, New Jersey, to JFK, to LaGuardia Airport, as well, to blow up a pipeline that reached through several boroughs in New York.

Our Jason Carroll was in the room. He joins us now live.

Jason, this was extraordinary.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK: Absolutely, Tony. And I want to be able just to recap just a little bit of what was said upstairs, because I don't want this to get lost in translation, so to speak.

Basically, FBI and members of the terrorism task force described this group as being determined. They were a determined group.

They said that this cell had a very clear signature, and that was persistence - persistence in the way that they surveyed JFK Airport with pictures, with videotape, by using the Internet to get satellite images of JFK Airport.

Let's just recap very quickly, if we can, those suspects who are in custody, and the one man who is still at large.

We have Russell Defreitas. He is a former JFK employee. He is a U.S. citizen, but he is also a native of Guyana. He was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, yesterday. And, in fact, he's about to be arraigned any minute from now.

We also have Abdul Kadir. He is also a citizen of Guyana. And he is the one, Tony, you had mentioned who had served in the Guyanese parliament. He was also a local mayor.

We also have Kareem Ibrahim. He is a citizen of Trinidad.

Both of those men - Abdul and Kareem - are in custody at this point.

Still at large, we have Abdel Nur. He is a citizen of Guyana. And he is believed to be residing someplace in Trinidad at this point.

According to the criminal complaint - and I just want to go over just a little bit of this - which began - the surveillance of these men began in January of '06 and continued all the way up until this month. These defendants conspired to destroy buildings, fuel tanks and fuel pipelines at JFK with explosives.

Now, Tony, I read a little bit of this to you a little earlier. What was particularly chilling to those who were surveying this case, were some of the phone conversations between Defreitas and another man.

He said, "Any time you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy - wow. They love John F. Kennedy - like, he's the man. If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice."

In a later conversation, he went on to say, "Even the Twin Towers can't touch this," in reference to the plot, adding, "This can destroy the economy of America for some time."

In discussing the plans, one of the other suspects, Kadir, stressed the goal of causing economic damage and trying to minimize the killing of innocent men and women. In particular in one conversation that Kadir had, he had discussed the need to disable the airport control tower and from which he said that that's where the airport security monitors these fuel tank locations.

So, once again, the way that these men, this cell was described as being determined, as being very vigilant and how they were seeking to do what they wanted to do.

As for a motive, Tony, when asked about why these men were doing this, what was the possible reasoning behind it, they said, based on taped phone conversations, it was a hatred for the United States and a hatred for the West in general - Tony.

HARRIS: Well, Jason, there was a lot there to digest. Let's sort of work it. We've got time, so let's take that time to work through this.

I'm curious, first of all, about the two men, one a U.S. citizen, a native of Guyana, and the former member of the parliament of Guyana.

Do we understand yet their connection and how they came to know one another? One seemingly - Defreitas being the operational guy here, and, as described by the U.S. attorney from Brooklyn, the former member of the parliament of Guyana seemingly being the facilitator.

CARROLL: That would be Abdul Kadir, once again, a citizen of Guyana, who also served as a local mayor there.

HARRIS: Yes.

CARROLL: You know, some were describing him as the possible ringleader in all of this. But once again, a lot of this information is just unfolding at this point. There were certain things they were not willing to reveal at this point.

But certainly, he seemed to be one of those who was actively involved in the planning of this plot.

HARRIS: OK. Jason, I know you're following that. And let's come back to you in a short time. There's a lot to digest here, and we'll give you time to do that, and we'll come back to you shortly.

Let's go to Kathleen Koch now in Washington, who has been following this story with us throughout the afternoon.

And Kathleen, you heard the news conference, just as we did. What was striking in it to you? KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON, D.C.: A couple of things. I think it's interesting to look at the fact that, apparently, the plot was generated - the idea originated from Russell Defreitas, because he was this former cargo worker at JFK, apparently, then, his idea to target the airport for the reasons that Jason mentioned, reading that quote about hitting JFK.

But it really does illustrate the danger when you have someone like this. He was one of some 800,000 workers around the country - airport workers - who have these badges that give them access to all the secure areas of the nation's airports. They don't undergo very much security screening.

Now, granted, they do background checks, they get their fingerprints taken. But if this had been carried out - and again, we were told they were very far from anything operational. They had no explosives. Though they were determined, they hadn't really come to a point where they were about to carry this out.

But when I talked to an airport - a federal official, a federal aviation official not long ago - he talked about the potential for a chain reaction, though he said that jet fuel, in and of itself, is not that explosive, which is surprising to me.

He said, you know, you could have a chain reaction with the vapors in this network of pipes at JFK, and then also with the fuel that is active in the tanks there, that you could potentially - now, as they said, the targets were not just these fuel tanks, but they said aircraft and terminal buildings - you could have a chain reaction that could spread underground through this web of pipes, all the way up to aircraft that were being fueled, aircraft with passengers in them, sitting there, thinking they were about to take off.

So, this could have been not only a very dangerous, deadly situation, but it also could have taken that airport out for many, many months.

HARRIS: Boy, just an amazing - were you struck by it - just this amazing narrative as it unfolded, as the officials in New York were telling the story.

Did it strike you as just being just amazing?

KOCH: Well, it's chilling. And again, how they were very carefully organizing this, very carefully moving ahead.

And our sources have told us they decided - the local officials - decided to move ahead and make these arrests right now, because apparently at least one of these men - and I didn't hear them elaborate - was planning on traveling some time soon. So, that was why they went ahead and made these arrests.

Now, when it comes to these airport workers, the Transportation Security Administration has been trying to crack down somewhat, conducting these spot checks randomly at airports, so just swooping in, searching airport workers as they're coming and going from doing their jobs.

But just a few minutes ago, I spoke to two different pilots. One said he never sees these checks. Another one said he sees them rarely, that they do have them. But as he put it, they don't find good things.

And he actually mentioned to me one situation where the TSA official actually left a note in a cockpit - now, I don't know if this was a commercial passenger plane or if this was a cargo plane - but saying, hey. I've been here. Look, I got access to your plane and your cockpit.

This isn't good.

So, they're trying to close some of these loopholes. But again, when you have 800,000 people with these badges, they can come and go pretty freely from the airports, Tony.

HARRIS: Kathleen, thank you. Thank you for your work on this story all afternoon long for us. Appreciate it.

We will have more on this story. And we're gathering new information even as we speak. We will bring you the update, coming up in just minutes here in the NEWSROOM.

Still to come, protestors gone wild in Germany. Another story we're following for you today in the NEWSROOM. Demonstrators clash violently with police at the site of G8 meetings.

Details are next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Again, just moments ago, we heard this amazing narrative - the only word I can come up with at the moment to describe it, offered by law enforcement officials in New York as they described the alleged plot to cause some serious damage - a plot that carried the potential for a significant loss of life - to JFK International Airport's pipelines, fuel pipelines, the fuel infrastructure, the underground network, the fuel farms.

Pat D'Amuro, our CNN security analyst is on the line with us right now.

And Pat, you heard the news conference. What struck you?

PAT D'AMURO, CNN SECURITY ANALYST (by telephone): Well, Tony, I think this goes to show, intelligence agencies have known for some time the ability of these terrorists to collect this type of intelligence. There's so much information out there available for these terrorists from the Internet.

This is not the first time we've seen fuel facilities targeted. Al Qaeda has targeted fuel facilities in Saudi Arabia and other places across the globe. So, it's not unusual that they're able to access this type of information through contacting people on the Internet and learning how to collect this type of intelligence.

HARRIS: What about the international links of this? The New York police commissioner, Ray Kelly, pointedly said, look. Let's start to pay attention to the Caribbean.

D'AMURO: It's a point, Tony, that we should talk about. We've known for some time - when I say "we," the FBI and intelligence agencies - have known for some time that al Qaeda has tried to use other methods, other locations of sending people into the United States.

They've tried to select individuals that are not Muslim males. They tried to get Jose Padilla, for example, Hispanic males to come in, and utilize other areas of the globe to access the United States.

HARRIS: Forty miles - targeting a 40-mile fuel line from Linden, New Jersey, to JFK, encompassing LaGuardia, as well, to blow up the pipeline that reached through several boroughs in New York.

I know you said a moment ago that al Qaeda and other organizations have wanted to target fuel infrastructure. But have you ever seen anything as described in this complaint?

D'AMURO: Well, absolutely. It goes to show you that, you know, energy companies are having to pay more and more attention to terrorist activities.

Terrorists know, by attacking the infrastructure, the fuel infrastructure in different parts of the globe, they're going to have significant impact on the U.S. economy, as well as other economies.

HARRIS: Hey, Pat, you know, we're going to be asking this question over the next couple of days. I'm going to put it to you right now.

We're going to be asking the airlines, the airports: Look, what more can you do to better screen your employees?

What's the answer to that?

D'AMURO: You know, Tony, it's a good question.

When you conduct a due diligence investigation, when you conduct an investigation into somebody's background, there are a lot of different things to look at.

It's not just a matter of accessing public databases. You have to go deeper than that when individuals have access to such critical, key infrastructure areas.

And it's something that I think - it's extremely expensive to do, but it's something that has to be done. These are part of the changing environment of security that we're seeing today. Technologies have to improve. Background checks have to improve.

We're going to have to look at this country and the national identity card, making sure that every individual is really who they claim they are.

HARRIS: You can't - you can't analyze people's thoughts. And you run the risk of civil liberties groups saying, look, you're stereotyping, you're profiling. You can't test and screen for angry Muslim. I mean, come on.

How do we get here?

D'AMURO: Well, Tony, you're right. And civil liberties unions are going to complain about this. But we've got Third World countries now that are more advanced than the United States when dealing with national identity cards. We have to take a look at this type of issue.

It ties into the border issue. It ties into who's coming in and out of the country. We have to be able to give law enforcement and intelligence services more information, real-time information about who is trying to access certain things in this country, who's trying to come in and out.

HARRIS: Yes. Pat D'Amuro, great talking to you this afternoon, Pat. Thanks for your insights and your information. It has certainly brought some clarity to this story.

Pat, thanks.

Riot police and protestors the other story we're following today, battling it out in the streets of Rostock, Germany. Take a listen.

This scene certainly a disturbing one for world leaders as they get ready for the upcoming G8 summit. The gathering of the world's leading economic powers gets underway Wednesday at a German resort near Rostock.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is at the scene of those protests.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, ROSTOCK, GERMANY (via broadband): For hours now, German police have been clashing with protestors here in Rostock at the first big anti-G8 demo.

And if you look over in that direction, you can see that the police have brought water cannon trucks into position. They've been using those trucks very frequently all throughout the day, blasting the demonstrators with water. And there is teargas in that water.

The demonstrators themselves have been throwing rocks at the police. They've been throwing bottles at the police. And what we're hearing from police officials is that at least 100 police officers have been injured in these clashes, and some of them have been injured severely.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Rostock, Germany.

(END VIDEO)

HARRIS: And again, just moments ago, New York law enforcement officials offered a disturbing narrative describing the alleged plot by four individuals, including a former member of the parliament of Guyana, to target, to blow up the major jet fuel supply tanks and pipeline to JFK International Airport, targeting a 40-mile fuel line from Linden, New Jersey, to JFK.

That alleged terror plot disrupted by New York officials, by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. More on this story to come for you in the NEWSROOM this afternoon.

But still ahead, it is hard enough just getting to the places that today's CNN hero goes, much less cleaning them up. We will tell you his amazing story. It really is, too. That's next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris in for Fredricka Whitfield.

What makes someone a hero? All this year, CNN is answering that question by introducing you to some incredible people. Not only are they making a difference in the communities where they live. Their own stories are pretty amazing, as well.

They are CNN heroes, and we want you to meet a young mountain climber from Japan who has taken it upon himself to make some of the world's most beautiful summits truly beautiful.

Ken Noguchi is today's CNN hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

KEN NOGUCHI, ALPINIST AND CNN HERO (voice of interpreter): Before I was known for being the youngest one to climb the highest peaks.

But recently people say, oh, it's the garbage guy.

I started picking up trash on Everest eight years ago.

NOGUCHI: My name is Ken Noguchi, and I am alpinist, and also clean the mountain.

NOGUCHI (voice of interpreter): When I first climbed Mount Everest, it was full of garbage, especially Japanese garbage stood out. Many European alpinists reproached me saying, "You Japanese have bad manners."

I really felt terrible. It's obviously Japanese garbage. Anyone can see that.

So I thought, if it's so obvious, we should clean it up.

Cleaning Everest is especially tough. Many times I thought I would quit, because it was so hard. But if I stop, all I've endured loses its meaning.

On Mount Fuji we clean year-round. First we teach the volunteers how to separate for recycling. But then, the important thing is to explain to them why we are picking up the garbage.

When I find this dangerous garbage, I feel the sense of crisis first hand. I do this because it's my social responsibility.

With such a mission, rather than doing it quietly, it is better to advertise. So, if I become a hero and lots of people start coming, then being a hero is a good thing, isn't it.

(END VIDEO)

HARRIS: If you'd like to learn more about helping Ken Noguchi, please visit our Web site. You can get information on cleaning up some of the world's most famous summits, or nominate someone you think deserves special recognition as a CNN Hero.

You can find all the details at CNN.com/heroes.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

HARRIS: We have been bringing you developments on today's dramatic story from New York involving an alleged plot against New York's Kennedy Airport. Authorities held a news conference a short time ago.

Here's part of what the FBI had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

MARK J. MERSHON, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE OF NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE, FBI: We're here today to advise the public that the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force has disrupted a terrorist cell, which had clear designs and completed numerous acts to further their plot for an explosives attack on certain facilities at JFK International Airport in Queens, New York.

This investigation was initiated in January, 2006. It balanced the importance of intelligence and evidence collection designed to determine the full scope of the plot and the membership of the cell with public safety imperatives that hopefully are obvious to all of us here.

The enforcement action that we're announcing today was taken to prevent the terrorist plot from maturing into a terrorist act.

This is a very determined group that engaged in precise and extensive surveillance, surveillance that included physical surveillance, photographic surveillance, video surveillance, even the use of the Internet to obtain satellite photographs of the JFK facility.

They engaged in extensive conversation and international travel, furthering and refining their conspiracy.

The federal charges announced today identify terminal buildings, aircraft and bulk jet fuel storage and delivery systems as their targets.

The defendants, Russell Defreitas, also known as Mohammed, is a U.S. citizen from Guyana. He will be arraigned today. He's in custody in New York.

Kareem Ibrahim, also known as Amir Kareem, is a citizen of Trinidad. He is in custody in Trinidad, to be brought back here.

Abdul Kadir, citizen of Guyana and, interestingly, a former member of their parliament and a former local mayor.

Lastly, Abdel Nur is a citizen of Guyana. He in fugitive status and believed to be in Trinidad.

One clear signature of this cell was its persistence. They consistently worked to refine their plot. They took extensive measures to seek expert advice on finances and explosives.

The bottom behind is that we believe that this threat has been fully contained.

TONY HARRIS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Our Jason Carroll was in the room for this news conference this afternoon. He joins us now live.

And, Jason, I have to tell you, one of the most telling moments of that news conference, as we heard it here at CNN, came from Rosalynn Moskov, I believe, she's the U.S. attorney for Brooklyn. She said, at the top of her remarks, she described the plots as one of the most chilling plots imaginable. Got everyone's attention here in the room.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It most certainly did. It certainly got my attention. One of the other things that got the attention of many of us in the room was when we heard about some of the audiotaped conversations between Russell Defreitas and another man. Quite chilling.

He says, quote, "Any time you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow. They love John F. Kennedy, like he's the man. If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like, you can kill the man twice."

And then, Tony, later in another conversation, he goes on to say, "Even the Twin Towers can't touch this. This can destroy the economy of America for some time."

One of the other suspects, Abdul Kadir, also according to the criminal complaint, is alleged to have said that -- to have stressed the goal of causing economic damage with this plot and suggested ways minimizing the killing of innocent men and women.

The complaint also goes on to allege, Tony, that there are no al Qaeda connections between any of these men, but that the plot tapped into an international network of Muslim extremists in the United States, in Guyana and also in Trinidad.

Quite chilling once we got some of the details of what they were able to learn.

HARRIS: Yes. And, Jason, it's worth repeating again the sort of cautionary tale or the cautionary note sounded by Ray Kelley, the New York police commissioner, saying, "Look, let's pay attention, now, to what's going on in the Caribbean."

CARROLL: He had a couple of cautionary notes. That was one of them. Most certainly, he had said that this was an area that was of concern to them and that needed further looking into.

He also had stressed the need -- which as a New Yorker, you hear repeatedly. You hear it over and over again. You actually see it on subways, be vigilant, keep your eyes and your ears alert for anything that might be suspicious.

He was basically echoing that again, saying that all of us need to be vigilant in how we look at the city and that the city really needs to be looked at through the prism still even now of 9/11 -- Tony.

HARRIS: And he also pointed out -- they all pointed out that this is -- this seemed to be an example of that vigilance, a little luck, with the recruiting here of an informant, FBI or police informant.

But, also, the fact that, yes, folks need to continue to be vigilant but there are still some vulnerabilities that need to be sealed up.

CARROLL: Correct. And one of the points that they were addressing was that pipeline, that 41-mile pipeline that runs from New Jersey through several of the boroughs, Queens, running all the way out to JFK.

And certainly once after federal officials learned about this alleged plot, what basically happened is they did a reevaluation of the pipeline through air and on the ground, looking at its vulnerability.

So certainly a lesson in some of the key areas in the city that might be vulnerable to people who want to do the United States harm.

HARRIS: What a story. Great work on it today. Jason Carroll for us in New York. Jason, thank you.

Still to come this afternoon in the "NEWSROOM," the Democratic debate is a day away. We'll check in on where the candidates are and what they're likely to say. That is next in the "NEWSROOM."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The candidates on the campaign trail are starting to comment on the news of the day, the alleged terror plot disrupted for targeting New York's JFK International Airport.

Here is Democratic candidate and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson from a short time ago campaigning in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL RICHARDSON, NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR: Well, I commend the administration and Homeland Security for making this arrest. We got to be vigilant. We do have al Qaeda that is trying to hurt our country, and we should stop them in every way. I'm glad that the security procedures are working.

But we have got to have -- enhance the Homeland Security at our airports, our ports, our subways. We have to be prepared, because there is a threat. But I commend the Homeland Security officials for making these arrests.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Democratic presidential candidate and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson commenting on the news of the day, the disruption of the alleged terror plot in New York -- targeting New York's JFK International Airport.

Republican Fred Thompson looking more and more like a presidential candidate. The Senator-turned-actor has filed paperwork in his home state of Tennessee creating a fund-raising committee. Sources tell CNN that Thompson is ready to enter the testing-the- waters-stage to determine how much support he'd have if he entered the race.

Tomorrow night, the weekend's big event. Eight Democratic presidential candidates debate in New Hampshire. You can see it here on CNN at 7:00 p.m. eastern time.

What should you be looking for? CNN's Joshua Levs has a reality check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSHUA LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While the candidates have been slugging it out, the states in which they stump have been in a battle of their own, a race for relevance. And the winner is a date -- February 5, now one of the most important dates in next year's political candidate. All these states moved primaries or caucuses for at least one political party up to February 5. And all these states are considering doing so, which is how it got the extremely official sounding nickname Super Duper Tuesday.

Florida moved its primary for both parties even earlier, January 29.

The goal for each state is to get candidates chasing voters by making promises to help the state and by spending precious campaign cash.

They can't constantly campaign hard in person everywhere, so expect a ton of TV ads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm John Edwards and approve this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: But debates are an inexpensive way to reach people all over the country. Given the new calendar, the candidates need to reach you fast.

Expect more push and pull than you'd otherwise see, concise messaging and an intense effort by candidates to set themselves apart while avoiding something like this, from 2003 when Howard Dean was defending his remarks about reaching out to people with confederate flags on their cars.

HOWARD DEAN, (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I make no apologies for reaching out to poor white people.

LEVS: One brief remark that placed bad politically could have seismic repercussions. And in the shortened campaign season less time to overcome it.

So expect these folks to duke it out while watching out for political land mines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Sunday, join the best political team on television beginning at 5:00 p.m. eastern time for a pre-game lineup of the players, their weaknesses and who's expected to shine.

At 7:00 eastern, Democratic candidates square off and, for the first time, take questions from the voters.

Then immediately following the debates, who scored, who stumbled. Join Larry King, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, John Roberts and the Democratic candidates themselves live for raw politics, a post debate breakdown. It all starts right here Sunday night at 5:00 eastern time. Still to come, they're not the most notorious criminals, in the world, but that doesn't mean they're not making plenty of money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED NEWCOMER, FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENT: Wildlife crime is a huge, huge business. It is ranked immediately behind drug smuggling as one of the most lucrative illegal activities in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Illegal fortunes are being made under the nose of all of us. A huge arrest shines light on the world of animal smuggling.

And baseball brawls are nothing new. But a pitcher hitting his own catcher? We'll find out what was behind an ugly episode in the Chicago Cubs' dugout. You're in the "NEWSROOM."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Father's Day will be here before you know it. Harris children, are you listening? In case that special dad in your life is a technophile, CNN's Reynolds Wolf gets some gift tips from Bryan Cooley, editor at large with the tech website cnet.com.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know it's a dilemma we face every single year, what to give dad for father's day. Thankfully, we have Bryan Cooley from cnn.com with us. He has an idea what to get the dads who love the gadgets.

What do you have?

BRYAN COOLEY, EDITOR AT LARGE, CNET.COM: Sure fire hits, Reynolds. First of all, inexpensive an iPod. Believe it not. IPods tend to be thought of as expensive. The Shuffle is not. Really cool device, one megabyte, holds about 250 songs. For $80 you can't go wrong.

This is called the Sling Catcher, same folks who make Sling Box. It's a new one, just about to come out. It lets you bounce Internet video from the computer over to the television so you can watch online video, like YouTube or whatever, sitting on the sofa. That's a cool new trick.

Here's a cell phone for the dad who loves smart phones. If he's on Cingular this is called the 8525. It runs a version of Windows.

WOLF: That is incredible.

COOLEY: Love the keyboard. It's a real keyboard, e-mail, web, all over a super high-speed Internet connection. And it's got a two megapixel camera, which is actually pretty darn good resolution.

Finally, if he wants an NAV device. Look how thin this Garman NAV 660 is. These used to be bulky things. Now they're almost like a pocket size. Great big screen. Touch screen, very bright. It also has Bluetooth and a built in card slot for media abilities. So it's more than a NAV device. It's a complete hands free and music and photo gadget.

WOLF: Bright, useful and wonderful. All great ideas.

Bryan Cooley, thanks so much for your time.

COOLEY: You've got it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's talk about butterflies, huh? Well, they're beautiful to look at. But believe it or not, some butterflies are also targets of an underground smuggling network.

Cara Fenstrom (ph) takes us into that world through one of the undercover agents who helped bring it down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARA FENSTROM (ph), CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brilliant butterflies, they're living jewels that command cold cash in the underground work of wildlife smuggling.

ED NEWCOMER, FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENT: This particular pair I paid $8500 for.

FENSTROM (ph): But he is no criminal. Fish and Wildlife Agent Ed Newcomer works undercover, bringing down the kingpins in wildlife smuggling. We're blurring his features to protect his identity.

(on camera): How big of a problem is this? I never heard of smuggling butterflies.

NEWCOMER: Wildlife crime is a huge, huge business. It is ranked immediately behind drug smuggling as one of the most lucrative illegal activities in the world.

FENSTROM (ph) (voice-over): Newcomer says smuggling everything, from insects to tigers, generates $10 billion a year for criminals.

He's taking us inside this covert trade, revealing a three-year sting that netted one of the world's most notorious butterfly smugglers, Japan's Yoshi Kojima.

NEWCOMER: The word we heard was Yoshi Kojima could get his hands on insects nobody else in the world could get.

FENSTROM (ph) (on camera): This is where it all started?

NEWCOMER: Right. The Museum of Natural History is the first time I met Yoshi. FENSTROM (ph) (voice-over): The occasion, the museum's 2003 Bug Festival.

Kojima had set up booths at past festivals. Even the museum's bug expert was suspicious.

BRENT KARNER, ENTOMOLOGIST, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: I know some of the butterflies that most collectors tell you, you can't get very easily anymore. Yet, he'd have a specimen, sometimes two or three.

FENSTROM (ph): Newcomer introduced himself to Kojima as a rookie collector.

NEWCOMER: He brought me a box of butterflies that he wanted to give me to start my collection.

FENSTROM (ph): It also started the relationship critical to this sting.

The trust-building that led to this, bag after bag of legal dried butterflies.

NEWCOMER: These are the decoys on the top.

FENSTROM (ph): With the true jewels in the midst.

NEWCOMER: This is about an $800 butterfly, right there.

FENSTROM (ph): Newcomer says all this showed the scope of Kojima's business.

But check out the ultimate evidence, Internet videoconferences from Japan.

NEWCOMER: He actually showed me endangered butterflies and offered to sell them to me.

FENSTROM (ph): Newcomer secured an arrest warrant. And in a surprise twist, this married man set up a date in the U.S.

NEWCOMER: There was some type of sexual attraction to me on his part. That always makes undercover work difficult. But ultimately, it worked out as a lure.

FENSTROM (ph): Kojima pled guilty to multiple felonies, including smuggler, and is serving 20 months behind bars.

Agent Newcomer's new focus, busting Kojima's real clients.

(on camera): The whole point of these investigations, to protect butterflies like these, and to keep those that are endangered from becoming extinct.

(voice-over): Newcomer's fear, with the natural habitat of butterflies shrinking, and the black market thriving, smugglers like Kojima could help make glass boxes the only place to find many winged wonders.

Cara Fenstrom (ph) for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: We've all had a bad day at work, right? But this bad? Look at this. We will tell you what set off this minor league manager. And it is a story you don't want to miss. We'll have if for you right here -- oh, let it fly -- in the "NEWSROOM."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Quickly now, let's get you to Reynolds Wolf. And it's a -- it's been a long afternoon, Reynolds.

WOLF: It really, truly has.

HARRIS: Weather Center. Good to see you, sir. You've got an update for us on Barry.

WOLF: Absolutely. And we really have good news with the system. It's weakened considerably. That's good. We don't want any damage from this. This storm actually doing beneficial things to parts of northern Florida and South Georgia.

Tony, how often have we been talking about fire dangers and issues with lack of rainfall in this part of the world? Thankfully they're getting quite a bit of rainfall. Now, the rain is spreading into portions of South Carolina and almost into the Outer Banks. They will get there before long.

Now let's give you some hard numbers. How much rain have we experienced from this system? The biggest rain I guess received would be Melbourne with well over five inches of rainfall. That breaks a record for a June day in Melbourne, Florida.

For St. Petersburg well over three inches of rainfall, same in West Palm Beach, Tampa as well as Flagler Beach.

The question, where is Barry going to go? The latest projected path we have from the National Hurricane Center brings the storm a bit more to the north and northeast off the Georgia coast, moving into the Carolinas, expecting to strengthen to a tropical storm with winds around 45 miles per hour. And then the forecast brings it, by Sunday evening, through the Outer Banks and back out along the eastern seaboard by Monday.

Again, it's going to bring some rough surf. It's going to bring some damaging winds, possibly to parts of the coast but, at the same time, that rain, that's exactly what they need.

HARRIS: And is that what the doctor ordered? The weather gods ordered?

WOLF: You bet.

HARRIS: Hey, Reynolds, stick around.

WOLF: OK.

HARRIS: I have some hijinks for you.

We know that baseball has this long history of fights between opposing teams, all kinds of storied rivalry. How about teammates duking it out? Let's roll the videotape.

That happened in Chicago yesterday in a game between the Cubs and the Atlanta Braves. Look at that. Cubs' pitcher Carlos Zambrano and catcher Michael Barrett mixing it up. This, after Barrett committed a passed ball. OK, that's an error. And then a throwing error, that's two, during the Braves' five-run fifth inning.

Now, Zambrano split Barrett's lip, sending him to the hospital. And the manager, Lou Piniella, fire plug himself, says both of the men will be disciplined.

OK, let's roll into this next one, because this is unbelievable. Shenanigans of a different sort at a minor league game at Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The fireworks started when a manager of the Mississippi Braves was rejected for questioning balls and strikes. Look at this. He had a couple of things he wanted to say before he left the game, like covering home plate with dirt. OK. Pulling third base from its moorings and tossing it into the outfield. Speed it up. Let it fly.

And then there's this. The crawling like a snake towards the mound where he tossed the rosin bag toward home plate.

You know, at this point he's saying, "Look, I'm never going to make it to the majors. I've been doing this job as a minor league manager for 20 years. Just fire me now." It didn't end there. He headed toward the outfield...

WOLF: See, Tony, I was told all this happened because they ran out of cotton candy in the concession stand. That really caused this whole -- exacerbated the entire thing you're seeing here. I mean, if they had cotton candy, this never would have happened.

HARRIS: Way to go. It's better than the story I have.

There he is, blowing kisses. "Bye-bye, I love you. Farewell. Everyone, be good."

All right, Reynolds, thank you.

WOLF: Anytime, man.

HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Coming up next, the "Anderson Cooper 360," special report, 27 Chicago school kids shot, suffocated or stabbed. Is racism to blame for this wave of violence? An "AC 360" special, "Deadly Lessons: 24 Hours in Chicago," starts now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com

KELLY: Just a week ago, we had Syed Hashmi, who was extradited from the U.K. - another person who adopted New York - who is accused of giving material support to al Qaeda, as is Mohammed Babar, another New Yorker.

So, what this all says is, we have to remain vigilant.

It's understandable that New Yorkers - we've become a little complacent. We haven't had another attack here in 5.5 years. But I can assure you that law enforcement and the law enforcement community, particularly here in New York, is not going to be complacent.

We're going to remain vigilant. And we urge the public - again, you've heard this before - if you see something, say something. Look at your world through the prism of September 11. Use your eyes and ears to keep law enforcement informed.

Thank you.

MICHAEL BALBONI, OFFICE OF NEW YORK PUBLIC SAFETY: When Governor Eliot Spitzer took office, the first case that we were briefed on was this one. And it is a sobering reminder that the plots continue, and that, as the commissioner said, New York state and New York City is in the target zone.

But it also reminds us that the threat changes. This was not something that came overseas in a coordinated fashion. It was formed here. And that is why the agencies that you see standing here form the firewall between the threat and the public. And it is absolutely crucial, as the 9/11 Commission pointed out, that we break down those walls. And that is represented here.

The joint terrorism task force concept works. And it works because people are willing to share intelligence, resources and effort.

And what is remarkable and should not be overlooked, is this is a year-and-a-half investigation. There were no compromises in security. There were no leaks. This was done in an incredibly efficient, professional manner across many agencies.

This is what the public expects, demands and deserves. And it's been an honor to be able to stand and watch these professionals coordinate all of these agencies.

I guess the last lesson here is not only about vigilance, but there's also the realization that the threat can come from anywhere. And that makes it absolutely imperative that our law enforcement have the best intelligence sources they can.

And in that regard, I'd like to congratulate the FBI and the City of New York, who have some of the best intelligence, not perhaps only in this nation, but in the world.

Thank you very much.

ANTHONY SHORRIS, NEW YORK PORT AUTHORITY: Good afternoon.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) I think we all understand what's happened here. This is another demonstration of the close cooperation between law enforcement across this region, and it's exactly what we want to see happen and have seen happen over and over again under the stewardship of some of the leaders you've seen here today.

The port authority is very proud to work very closely with the bureau, with the NYPD, with the other elements of law enforcement, both to our own police force, and because, obviously, we have special motivation here.

No one understands better than the folks at the port authority the importance of these issues. No one understands it, because of what we have experienced as an agency, what we experienced as a region. And no one understands it, because no one has more facilities that are subject to this kind of attention than our agency.

Because the reason we have spent some $3 billion since 9/11 on security, and why we are committed to continue the investment in improving security, both operationally and in terms of our infrastructure over many years to come.

We have been a close part of this effort throughout, and we owe many thanks, particularly, as you heard, to the bureau and the NYPD and other members of law enforcement. I would like to offer some special thanks to your superintendent, Sam Fomerai (ph), and deputy superintendent, George Johannsen (ph), as well as to the port authority's own police team, who are working so collaboratively with the other law enforcement officials to turn this episode to a completion.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO)

TONY HARRIS, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: And there you have it, the news conference from a short time ago by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Boy, you have heard just an amazing narrative, it must be said, offered by law enforcement officials in New York as they describe the alleged plot by four individuals, including a former member of parliament of Guyana, and a former airport cargo worker at New York's JFK Airport, to blow up JFK's major jet fuel supply tanks, pipelines, underground pipelines, by targeting a 40-mile fuel line from Linden, New Jersey, to JFK, to LaGuardia Airport, as well, to blow up a pipeline that reached through several boroughs in New York.

Our Jason Carroll was in the room. He joins us now live.

Jason, this was extraordinary.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK: Absolutely, Tony. And I want to be able just to recap just a little bit of what was said upstairs, because I don't want this to get lost in translation, so to speak.

Basically, FBI and members of the terrorism task force described this group as being determined. They were a determined group.

They said that this cell had a very clear signature, and that was persistence - persistence in the way that they surveyed JFK Airport with pictures, with videotape, by using the Internet to get satellite images of JFK Airport.

Let's just recap very quickly, if we can, those suspects who are in custody, and the one man who is still at large.

We have Russell Defreitas. He is a former JFK employee. He is a U.S. citizen, but he is also a native of Guyana. He was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, yesterday. And, in fact, he's about to be arraigned any minute from now.

We also have Abdul Kadir. He is also a citizen of Guyana. And he is the one, Tony, you had mentioned who had served in the Guyanese parliament. He was also a local mayor.

We also have Kareem Ibrahim. He is a citizen of Trinidad.

Both of those men - Abdul and Kareem - are in custody at this point. Still at large, we have Abdel Nur. He is a citizen of Guyana. And he is believed to be residing someplace in Trinidad at this point.

According to the criminal complaint - and I just want to go over just a little bit of this - which began - the surveillance of these men began in January of '06 and continued all the way up until this month. These defendants conspired to destroy buildings, fuel tanks and fuel pipelines at JFK with explosives.

Now, Tony, I read a little bit of this to you a little earlier. What was particularly chilling to those who were surveying this case, were some of the phone conversations between Defreitas and another man.

He said, "Any time you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy - wow. They love John F. Kennedy - like, he's the man. If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice."

In a later conversation, he went on to say, "Even the Twin Towers can't touch this," in reference to the plot, adding, "This can destroy the economy of America for some time."

In discussing the plans, one of the other suspects, Kadir, stressed the goal of causing economic damage and trying to minimize the killing of innocent men and women. In particular in one conversation that Kadir had, he had discussed the need to disable the airport control tower and from which he said that that's where the airport security monitors these fuel tank locations.

So, once again, the way that these men, this cell was described as being determined, as being very vigilant and how they were seeking to do what they wanted to do.

As for a motive, Tony, when asked about why these men were doing this, what was the possible reasoning behind it, they said, based on taped phone conversations, it was a hatred for the United States and a hatred for the West in general - Tony.

HARRIS: Well, Jason, there was a lot there to digest. Let's sort of work it. We've got time, so let's take that time to work through this.

I'm curious, first of all, about the two men, one a U.S. citizen, a native of Guyana, and the former member of the parliament of Guyana.

Do we understand yet their connection and how they came to know one another? One seemingly - Defreitas being the operational guy here, and, as described by the U.S. attorney from Brooklyn, the former member of the parliament of Guyana seemingly being the facilitator.

CARROLL: That would be Abdul Kadir, once again, a citizen of Guyana, who also served as a local mayor there.

HARRIS: Yes. CARROLL: You know, some were describing him as the possible ringleader in all of this. But once again, a lot of this information is just unfolding at this point. There were certain things they were not willing to reveal at this point.

But certainly, he seemed to be one of those who was actively involved in the planning of this plot.

HARRIS: OK. Jason, I know you're following that. And let's come back to you in a short time. There's a lot to digest here, and we'll give you time to do that, and we'll come back to you shortly.

Let's go to Kathleen Koch now in Washington, who has been following this story with us throughout the afternoon.

And Kathleen, you heard the news conference, just as we did. What was striking in it to you?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON, D.C.: A couple of things. I think it's interesting to look at the fact that, apparently, the plot was generated - the idea originated from Russell Defreitas, because he was this former cargo worker at JFK, apparently, then, his idea to target the airport for the reasons that Jason mentioned, reading that quote about hitting JFK.

But it really does illustrate the danger when you have someone like this. He was one of some 800,000 workers around the country - airport workers - who have these badges that give them access to all the secure areas of the nation's airports. They don't undergo very much security screening.

Now, granted, they do background checks, they get their fingerprints taken. But if this had been carried out - and again, we were told they were very far from anything operational. They had no explosives. Though they were determined, they hadn't really come to a point where they were about to carry this out.

But when I talked to an airport - a federal official, a federal aviation official not long ago - he talked about the potential for a chain reaction, though he said that jet fuel, in and of itself, is not that explosive, which is surprising to me.

He said, you know, you could have a chain reaction with the vapors in this network of pipes at JFK, and then also with the fuel that is active in the tanks there, that you could potentially - now, as they said, the targets were not just these fuel tanks, but they said aircraft and terminal buildings - you could have a chain reaction that could spread underground through this web of pipes, all the way up to aircraft that were being fueled, aircraft with passengers in them, sitting there, thinking they were about to take off.

So, this could have been not only a very dangerous, deadly situation, but it also could have taken that airport out for many, many months.

HARRIS: Boy, just an amazing - were you struck by it - just this amazing narrative as it unfolded, as the officials in New York were telling the story.

Did it strike you as just being just amazing?

KOCH: Well, it's chilling. And again, how they were very carefully organizing this, very carefully moving ahead.

And our sources have told us they decided - the local officials - decided to move ahead and make these arrests right now, because apparently at least one of these men - and I didn't hear them elaborate - was planning on traveling some time soon. So, that was why they went ahead and made these arrests.

Now, when it comes to these airport workers, the Transportation Security Administration has been trying to crack down somewhat, conducting these spot checks randomly at airports, so just swooping in, searching airport workers as they're coming and going from doing their jobs.

But just a few minutes ago, I spoke to two different pilots. One said he never sees these checks. Another one said he sees them rarely, that they do have them. But as he put it, they don't find good things.

And he actually mentioned to me one situation where the TSA official actually left a note in a cockpit - now, I don't know if this was a commercial passenger plane or if this was a cargo plane - but saying, hey. I've been here. Look, I got access to your plane and your cockpit.

This isn't good.

So, they're trying to close some of these loopholes. But again, when you have 800,000 people with these badges, they can come and go pretty freely from the airports, Tony.

HARRIS: Kathleen, thank you. Thank you for your work on this story all afternoon long for us. Appreciate it.

We will have more on this story. And we're gathering new information even as we speak. We will bring you the update, coming up in just minutes here in the NEWSROOM.

Still to come, protestors gone wild in Germany. Another story we're following for you today in the NEWSROOM. Demonstrators clash violently with police at the site of G8 meetings.

Details are next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Again, just moments ago, we heard this amazing narrative - the only word I can come up with at the moment to describe it, offered by law enforcement officials in New York as they described the alleged plot to cause some serious damage - a plot that carried the potential for a significant loss of life - to JFK International Airport's pipelines, fuel pipelines, the fuel infrastructure, the underground network, the fuel farms.

Pat D'Amuro, our CNN security analyst is on the line with us right now.

And Pat, you heard the news conference. What struck you?

PAT D'AMURO, CNN SECURITY ANALYST (by telephone): Well, Tony, I think this goes to show, intelligence agencies have known for some time the ability of these terrorists to collect this type of intelligence. There's so much information out there available for these terrorists from the Internet.

This is not the first time we've seen fuel facilities targeted. Al Qaeda has targeted fuel facilities in Saudi Arabia and other places across the globe.

So, it's not unusual that they're able to access this type of information through contacting people on the Internet and learning how to collect this type of intelligence.

HARRIS: What about the international links of this? The New York police commissioner, Ray Kelly, pointedly said, look. Let's start to pay attention to the Caribbean.

D'AMURO: It's a point, Tony, that we should talk about. We've known for some time - when I say "we," the FBI and intelligence agencies - have known for some time that al Qaeda has tried to use other methods, other locations of sending people into the United States.

They've tried to select individuals that are not Muslim males. They tried to get Jose Padilla, for example, Hispanic males to come in, and utilize other areas of the globe to access the United States.

HARRIS: Forty miles - targeting a 40-mile fuel line from Linden, New Jersey, to JFK, encompassing LaGuardia, as well, to blow up the pipeline that reached through several boroughs in New York.

I know you said a moment ago that al Qaeda and other organizations have wanted to target fuel infrastructure. But have you ever seen anything as described in this complaint?

D'AMURO: Well, absolutely. It goes to show you that, you know, energy companies are having to pay more and more attention to terrorist activities.

Terrorists know, by attacking the infrastructure, the fuel infrastructure in different parts of the globe, they're going to have significant impact on the U.S. economy, as well as other economies.

HARRIS: Hey, Pat, you know, we're going to be asking this question over the next couple of days. I'm going to put it to you right now.

We're going to be asking the airlines, the airports: Look, what more can you do to better screen your employees? What's the answer to that?

D'AMURO: You know, Tony, it's a good question.

When you conduct a due diligence investigation, when you conduct an investigation into somebody's background, there are a lot of different things to look at.

It's not just a matter of accessing public databases. You have to go deeper than that when individuals have access to such critical, key infrastructure areas.

And it's something that I think - it's extremely expensive to do, but it's something that has to be done.

These are part of the changing environment of security that we're seeing today. Technologies have to improve. Background checks have to improve.

We're going to have to look at this country and the national identity card, making sure that every individual is really who they claim they are.

HARRIS: You can't - you can't analyze people's thoughts. And you run the risk of civil liberties groups saying, look, you're stereotyping, you're profiling. You can't test and screen for angry Muslim. I mean, come on.

How do we get here?

D'AMURO: Well, Tony, you're right. And civil liberties unions are going to complain about this. But we've got Third World countries now that are more advanced than the United States when dealing with national identity cards. We have to take a look at this type of issue.

It ties into the border issue. It ties into who's coming in and out of the country. We have to be able to give law enforcement and intelligence services more information, real-time information about who is trying to access certain things in this country, who's trying to come in and out.

HARRIS: Yes. Pat D'Amuro, great talking to you this afternoon, Pat. Thanks for your insights and your information. It has certainly brought some clarity to this story.

Pat, thanks.

Riot police and protestors the other story we're following today, battling it out in the streets of Rostock, Germany. Take a listen.

This scene certainly a disturbing one for world leaders as they get ready for the upcoming G8 summit. The gathering of the world's leading economic powers gets underway Wednesday at a German resort near Rostock.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is at the scene of those protests.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, ROSTOCK, GERMANY (via broadband): For hours now, German police have been clashing with protestors here in Rostock at the first big anti-G8 demo.

And if you look over in that direction, you can see that the police have brought water cannon trucks into position. They've been using those trucks very frequently all throughout the day, blasting the demonstrators with water. And there is teargas in that water.

The demonstrators themselves have been throwing rocks at the police. They've been throwing bottles at the police.

And what we're hearing from police officials is that at least 100 police officers have been injured in these clashes, and some of them have been injured severely.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Rostock, Germany.

(END VIDEO)

HARRIS: And again, just moments ago, New York law enforcement officials offered a disturbing narrative describing the alleged plot by four individuals, including a former member of the parliament of Guyana, to target, to blow up the major jet fuel supply tanks and pipeline to JFK International Airport, targeting a 40-mile fuel line from Linden, New Jersey, to JFK.

That alleged terror plot disrupted by New York officials, by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. More on this story to come for you in the NEWSROOM this afternoon.

But still ahead, it is hard enough just getting to the places that today's CNN hero goes, much less cleaning them up. We will tell you his amazing story. It really is, too. That's next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris in for Fredricka Whitfield.

What makes someone a hero? All this year, CNN is answering that question by introducing you to some incredible people. Not only are they making a difference in the communities where they live. Their own stories are pretty amazing, as well.

They are CNN heroes, and we want you to meet a young mountain climber from Japan who has taken it upon himself to make some of the world's most beautiful summits truly beautiful.

Ken Noguchi is today's CNN hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO) KEN NOGUCHI, ALPINIST AND CNN HERO (voice of interpreter): Before I was known for being the youngest one to climb the highest peaks.

But recently people say, oh, it's the garbage guy.

I started picking up trash on Everest eight years ago.

NOGUCHI: My name is Ken Noguchi, and I am alpinist, and also clean the mountain.

NOGUCHI (voice of interpreter): When I first climbed Mount Everest, it was full of garbage, especially Japanese garbage stood out.

Many European alpinists reproached me saying, "You Japanese have bad manners."

I really felt terrible. It's obviously Japanese garbage. Anyone can see that.

So I thought, if it's so obvious, we should clean it up.

Cleaning Everest is especially tough. Many times I thought I would quit, because it was so hard. But if I stop, all I've endured loses its meaning.

On Mount Fuji we clean year-round. First we teach the volunteers how to separate for recycling. But then, the important thing is to explain to them why we are picking up the garbage.

When I find this dangerous garbage, I feel the sense of crisis first hand. I do this because it's my social responsibility.

With such a mission, rather than doing it quietly, it is better to advertise. So, if I become a hero and lots of people start coming, then being a hero is a good thing, isn't it.

(END VIDEO)

HARRIS: If you'd like to learn more about helping Ken Noguchi, please visit our Web site. You can get information on cleaning up some of the world's most famous summits, or nominate someone you think deserves special recognition as a CNN Hero.

You can find all the details at CNN.com/heroes.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

HARRIS: We have been bringing you developments on today's dramatic story from New York involving an alleged plot against New York's Kennedy Airport. Authorities held a news conference a short time ago.

Here's part of what the FBI had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

MARK J. MERSHON, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE OF NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE, FBI: We're here today to advise the public that the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force has disrupted a terrorist cell, which had clear designs and completed numerous acts to further their plot for an explosives attack on certain facilities at JFK International Airport in Queens, New York.

This investigation was initiated in January, 2006. It balanced the importance of intelligence and evidence collection designed to determine the full scope of the plot and the membership of the cell with public safety imperatives that hopefully are obvious to all of us here.

The enforcement action that we're announcing today was taken to prevent the terrorist plot from maturing into a terrorist act.

This is a very determined group that engaged in precise and extensive surveillance, surveillance that included physical surveillance, photographic surveillance, video surveillance, even the use of the Internet to obtain satellite photographs of the JFK facility.

They engaged in extensive conversation and international travel, furthering and refining their conspiracy.

The federal charges announced today identify terminal buildings, aircraft and bulk jet fuel storage and delivery systems as their targets.

The defendants, Russell Defreitas, also known as Mohammed, is a U.S. citizen from Guyana. He will be arraigned today. He's in custody in New York.

Kareem Ibrahim, also known as Amir Kareem, is a citizen of Trinidad. He is in custody in Trinidad, to be brought back here.

Abdul Kadir, citizen of Guyana and, interestingly, a former member of their parliament and a former local mayor.

Lastly, Abdel Nur is a citizen of Guyana. He in fugitive status and believed to be in Trinidad.

One clear signature of this cell was its persistence. They consistently worked to refine their plot. They took extensive measures to seek expert advice on finances and explosives.

The bottom behind is that we believe that this threat has been fully contained.

TONY HARRIS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Our Jason Carroll was in the room for this news conference this afternoon. He joins us now live.

And, Jason, I have to tell you, one of the most telling moments of that news conference, as we heard it here at CNN, came from Rosalynn Moskov, I believe, she's the U.S. attorney for Brooklyn. She said, at the top of her remarks, she described the plots as one of the most chilling plots imaginable. Got everyone's attention here in the room.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It most certainly did. It certainly got my attention. One of the other things that got the attention of many of us in the room was when we heard about some of the audiotaped conversations between Russell Defreitas and another man. Quite chilling.

He says, quote, "Any time you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow. They love John F. Kennedy, like he's the man. If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like, you can kill the man twice."

And then, Tony, later in another conversation, he goes on to say, "Even the Twin Towers can't touch this. This can destroy the economy of America for some time."

One of the other suspects, Abdul Kadir, also according to the criminal complaint, is alleged to have said that -- to have stressed the goal of causing economic damage with this plot and suggested ways minimizing the killing of innocent men and women.

The complaint also goes on to allege, Tony, that there are no al Qaeda connections between any of these men, but that the plot tapped into an international network of Muslim extremists in the United States, in Guyana and also in Trinidad.

Quite chilling once we got some of the details of what they were able to learn.

HARRIS: Yes. And, Jason, it's worth repeating again the sort of cautionary tale or the cautionary note sounded by Ray Kelley, the New York police commissioner, saying, "Look, let's pay attention, now, to what's going on in the Caribbean."

CARROLL: He had a couple of cautionary notes. That was one of them. Most certainly, he had said that this was an area that was of concern to them and that needed further looking into.

He also had stressed the need -- which as a New Yorker, you hear repeatedly. You hear it over and over again. You actually see it on subways, be vigilant, keep your eyes and your ears alert for anything that might be suspicious.

He was basically echoing that again, saying that all of us need to be vigilant in how we look at the city and that the city really needs to be looked at through the prism still even now of 9/11 -- Tony.

HARRIS: And he also pointed out -- they all pointed out that this is -- this seemed to be an example of that vigilance, a little luck, with the recruiting here of an informant, FBI or police informant.

But, also, the fact that, yes, folks need to continue to be vigilant but there are still some vulnerabilities that need to be sealed up.

CARROLL: Correct. And one of the points that they were addressing was that pipeline, that 41-mile pipeline that runs from New Jersey through several of the boroughs, Queens, running all the way out to JFK.

And certainly once after federal officials learned about this alleged plot, what basically happened is they did a reevaluation of the pipeline through air and on the ground, looking at its vulnerability.

So certainly a lesson in some of the key areas in the city that might be vulnerable to people who want to do the United States harm.

HARRIS: What a story. Great work on it today. Jason Carroll for us in New York. Jason, thank you.

Still to come this afternoon in the "NEWSROOM," the Democratic debate is a day away. We'll check in on where the candidates are and what they're likely to say. That is next in the "NEWSROOM."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The candidates on the campaign trail are starting to comment on the news of the day, the alleged terror plot disrupted for targeting New York's JFK International Airport.

Here is Democratic candidate and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson from a short time ago campaigning in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL RICHARDSON, NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR: Well, I commend the administration and Homeland Security for making this arrest. We got to be vigilant. We do have al Qaeda that is trying to hurt our country, and we should stop them in every way. I'm glad that the security procedures are working.

But we have got to have -- enhance the Homeland Security at our airports, our ports, our subways. We have to be prepared, because there is a threat. But I commend the Homeland Security officials for making these arrests.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Democratic presidential candidate and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson commenting on the news of the day, the disruption of the alleged terror plot in New York -- targeting New York's JFK International Airport.

Republican Fred Thompson looking more and more like a presidential candidate. The Senator-turned-actor has filed paperwork in his home state of Tennessee creating a fund-raising committee. Sources tell CNN that Thompson is ready to enter the testing-the- waters-stage to determine how much support he'd have if he entered the race. Tomorrow night, the weekend's big event. Eight Democratic presidential candidates debate in New Hampshire. You can see it here on CNN at 7:00 p.m. eastern time.

What should you be looking for? CNN's Joshua Levs has a reality check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSHUA LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While the candidates have been slugging it out, the states in which they stump have been in a battle of their own, a race for relevance. And the winner is a date -- February 5, now one of the most important dates in next year's political candidate.

All these states moved primaries or caucuses for at least one political party up to February 5. And all these states are considering doing so, which is how it got the extremely official sounding nickname Super Duper Tuesday.

Florida moved its primary for both parties even earlier, January 29.

The goal for each state is to get candidates chasing voters by making promises to help the state and by spending precious campaign cash.

They can't constantly campaign hard in person everywhere, so expect a ton of TV ads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm John Edwards and approve this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: But debates are an inexpensive way to reach people all over the country. Given the new calendar, the candidates need to reach you fast.

Expect more push and pull than you'd otherwise see, concise messaging and an intense effort by candidates to set themselves apart while avoiding something like this, from 2003 when Howard Dean was defending his remarks about reaching out to people with confederate flags on their cars.

HOWARD DEAN, (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I make no apologies for reaching out to poor white people.

LEVS: One brief remark that placed bad politically could have seismic repercussions. And in the shortened campaign season less time to overcome it.

So expect these folks to duke it out while watching out for political land mines. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Sunday, join the best political team on television beginning at 5:00 p.m. eastern time for a pre-game lineup of the players, their weaknesses and who's expected to shine.

At 7:00 eastern, Democratic candidates square off and, for the first time, take questions from the voters.

Then immediately following the debates, who scored, who stumbled. Join Larry King, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, John Roberts and the Democratic candidates themselves live for raw politics, a post debate breakdown. It all starts right here Sunday night at 5:00 eastern time.

Still to come, they're not the most notorious criminals, in the world, but that doesn't mean they're not making plenty of money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED NEWCOMER, FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENT: Wildlife crime is a huge, huge business. It is ranked immediately behind drug smuggling as one of the most lucrative illegal activities in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Illegal fortunes are being made under the nose of all of us. A huge arrest shines light on the world of animal smuggling.

And baseball brawls are nothing new. But a pitcher hitting his own catcher? We'll find out what was behind an ugly episode in the Chicago Cubs' dugout. You're in the "NEWSROOM."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Father's Day will be here before you know it. Harris children, are you listening? In case that special dad in your life is a technophile, CNN's Reynolds Wolf gets some gift tips from Bryan Cooley, editor at large with the tech website cnet.com.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know it's a dilemma we face every single year, what to give dad for father's day. Thankfully, we have Bryan Cooley from cnn.com with us. He has an idea what to get the dads who love the gadgets.

What do you have?

BRYAN COOLEY, EDITOR AT LARGE, CNET.COM: Sure fire hits, Reynolds. First of all, inexpensive an iPod. Believe it not. IPods tend to be thought of as expensive. The Shuffle is not. Really cool device, one megabyte, holds about 250 songs. For $80 you can't go wrong.

This is called the Sling Catcher, same folks who make Sling Box. It's a new one, just about to come out. It lets you bounce Internet video from the computer over to the television so you can watch online video, like YouTube or whatever, sitting on the sofa. That's a cool new trick.

Here's a cell phone for the dad who loves smart phones. If he's on Cingular this is called the 8525. It runs a version of Windows.

WOLF: That is incredible.

COOLEY: Love the keyboard. It's a real keyboard, e-mail, web, all over a super high-speed Internet connection. And it's got a two megapixel camera, which is actually pretty darn good resolution.

Finally, if he wants an NAV device. Look how thin this Garman NAV 660 is. These used to be bulky things. Now they're almost like a pocket size. Great big screen. Touch screen, very bright. It also has Bluetooth and a built in card slot for media abilities. So it's more than a NAV device. It's a complete hands free and music and photo gadget.

WOLF: Bright, useful and wonderful. All great ideas.

Bryan Cooley, thanks so much for your time.

COOLEY: You've got it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's talk about butterflies, huh? Well, they're beautiful to look at. But believe it or not, some butterflies are also targets of an underground smuggling network.

Cara Fenstrom (ph) takes us into that world through one of the undercover agents who helped bring it down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARA FENSTROM (ph), CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brilliant butterflies, they're living jewels that command cold cash in the underground work of wildlife smuggling.

ED NEWCOMER, FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENT: This particular pair I paid $8500 for.

FENSTROM (ph): But he is no criminal. Fish and Wildlife Agent Ed Newcomer works undercover, bringing down the kingpins in wildlife smuggling. We're blurring his features to protect his identity.

(on camera): How big of a problem is this? I never heard of smuggling butterflies.

NEWCOMER: Wildlife crime is a huge, huge business. It is ranked immediately behind drug smuggling as one of the most lucrative illegal activities in the world. FENSTROM (ph) (voice-over): Newcomer says smuggling everything, from insects to tigers, generates $10 billion a year for criminals.

He's taking us inside this covert trade, revealing a three-year sting that netted one of the world's most notorious butterfly smugglers, Japan's Yoshi Kojima.

NEWCOMER: The word we heard was Yoshi Kojima could get his hands on insects nobody else in the world could get.

FENSTROM (ph) (on camera): This is where it all started?

NEWCOMER: Right. The Museum of Natural History is the first time I met Yoshi.

FENSTROM (ph) (voice-over): The occasion, the museum's 2003 Bug Festival.

Kojima had set up booths at past festivals. Even the museum's bug expert was suspicious.

BRENT KARNER, ENTOMOLOGIST, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: I know some of the butterflies that most collectors tell you, you can't get very easily anymore. Yet, he'd have a specimen, sometimes two or three.

FENSTROM (ph): Newcomer introduced himself to Kojima as a rookie collector.

NEWCOMER: He brought me a box of butterflies that he wanted to give me to start my collection.

FENSTROM (ph): It also started the relationship critical to this sting.

The trust-building that led to this, bag after bag of legal dried butterflies.

NEWCOMER: These are the decoys on the top.

FENSTROM (ph): With the true jewels in the midst.

NEWCOMER: This is about an $800 butterfly, right there.

FENSTROM (ph): Newcomer says all this showed the scope of Kojima's business.

But check out the ultimate evidence, Internet videoconferences from Japan.

NEWCOMER: He actually showed me endangered butterflies and offered to sell them to me.

FENSTROM (ph): Newcomer secured an arrest warrant. And in a surprise twist, this married man set up a date in the U.S.

NEWCOMER: There was some type of sexual attraction to me on his part. That always makes undercover work difficult. But ultimately, it worked out as a lure.

FENSTROM (ph): Kojima pled guilty to multiple felonies, including smuggler, and is serving 20 months behind bars.

Agent Newcomer's new focus, busting Kojima's real clients.

(on camera): The whole point of these investigations, to protect butterflies like these, and to keep those that are endangered from becoming extinct.

(voice-over): Newcomer's fear, with the natural habitat of butterflies shrinking, and the black market thriving, smugglers like Kojima could help make glass boxes the only place to find many winged wonders.

Cara Fenstrom (ph) for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: We've all had a bad day at work, right? But this bad? Look at this. We will tell you what set off this minor league manager. And it is a story you don't want to miss. We'll have if for you right here -- oh, let it fly -- in the "NEWSROOM."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Quickly now, let's get you to Reynolds Wolf. And it's a -- it's been a long afternoon, Reynolds.

WOLF: It really, truly has.

HARRIS: Weather Center. Good to see you, sir. You've got an update for us on Barry.

WOLF: Absolutely. And we really have good news with the system. It's weakened considerably. That's good. We don't want any damage from this. This storm actually doing beneficial things to parts of northern Florida and South Georgia.

Tony, how often have we been talking about fire dangers and issues with lack of rainfall in this part of the world? Thankfully they're getting quite a bit of rainfall. Now, the rain is spreading into portions of South Carolina and almost into the Outer Banks. They will get there before long.

Now let's give you some hard numbers. How much rain have we experienced from this system? The biggest rain I guess received would be Melbourne with well over five inches of rainfall. That breaks a record for a June day in Melbourne, Florida.

For St. Petersburg well over three inches of rainfall, same in West Palm Beach, Tampa as well as Flagler Beach.

The question, where is Barry going to go? The latest projected path we have from the National Hurricane Center brings the storm a bit more to the north and northeast off the Georgia coast, moving into the Carolinas, expecting to strengthen to a tropical storm with winds around 45 miles per hour. And then the forecast brings it, by Sunday evening, through the Outer Banks and back out along the eastern seaboard by Monday.

Again, it's going to bring some rough surf. It's going to bring some damaging winds, possibly to parts of the coast but, at the same time, that rain, that's exactly what they need.

HARRIS: And is that what the doctor ordered? The weather gods ordered?

WOLF: You bet.

HARRIS: Hey, Reynolds, stick around.

WOLF: OK.

HARRIS: I have some hijinks for you.

We know that baseball has this long history of fights between opposing teams, all kinds of storied rivalry. How about teammates duking it out? Let's roll the videotape.

That happened in Chicago yesterday in a game between the Cubs and the Atlanta Braves. Look at that. Cubs' pitcher Carlos Zambrano and catcher Michael Barrett mixing it up. This, after Barrett committed a passed ball. OK, that's an error. And then a throwing error, that's two, during the Braves' five-run fifth inning.

Now, Zambrano split Barrett's lip, sending him to the hospital. And the manager, Lou Piniella, fire plug himself, says both of the men will be disciplined.

OK, let's roll into this next one, because this is unbelievable. Shenanigans of a different sort at a minor league game at Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The fireworks started when a manager of the Mississippi Braves was rejected for questioning balls and strikes. Look at this. He had a couple of things he wanted to say before he left the game, like covering home plate with dirt. OK. Pulling third base from its moorings and tossing it into the outfield. Speed it up. Let it fly.

And then there's this. The crawling like a snake towards the mound where he tossed the rosin bag toward home plate.

You know, at this point he's saying, "Look, I'm never going to make it to the majors. I've been doing this job as a minor league manager for 20 years. Just fire me now." It didn't end there. He headed toward the outfield...

WOLF: See, Tony, I was told all this happened because they ran out of cotton candy in the concession stand. That really caused this whole -- exacerbated the entire thing you're seeing here. I mean, if they had cotton candy, this never would have happened.

HARRIS: Way to go. It's better than the story I have.

There he is, blowing kisses. "Bye-bye, I love you. Farewell. Everyone, be good."

All right, Reynolds, thank you.

WOLF: Anytime, man.

HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Coming up next, the "Anderson Cooper 360," special report, 27 Chicago school kids shot, suffocated or stabbed. Is racism to blame for this wave of violence? An "AC 360" special, "Deadly Lessons: 24 Hours in Chicago," starts now.

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