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More on the London Terror Attack; Flaming Car at Glasgow Airport

Aired June 30, 2007 - 11:00   ET

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

MOOS: When the mannequin visited one of the morning shows, he wore a different shirt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who is it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh.

MOOS: As for the mannequins who escaped unscathed, eventually they were reinstalled and finally ignited to demonstrate how sparklers can set someone's clothes or hair on fire. On July 4th, let's give the fireworks a hand and not this kind of hand.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news is unfolding live on this Saturday, June 30th.

Good morning, everybody.

I'm Betty Nguyen.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm T.J. Holmes.

Straight ahead this hour, manhunt in the U.K. The scene here in London -- live in London. Police keeping a close eye on thousands of security cameras, looking for suspects in Friday's attempted car bombing.

NGUYEN: It is anything but a normal weekend in London, as police try to figure out who planted two car bombs in the city's entertainment district. The first was discovered early yesterday in Piccadilly Circus. Here's a map. Now the second turned up hours later in Trafalgar Square. Even though neither car bomb exploded, the discovery sent shock waves through Britain and around the world.

ABC news reports that police have clear surveillance video of a suspect seen near the site of the first car bomb.

And NBC reports that Scotland Yard is seeking three men in Birmingham, England, in that area. And there is no official confirmation of either of these reports. But security patrols have been stepped up in London today.

HOLMES: And you see reporting there -- Betty, we've got some breaking news we need to get to.

A report here just in out of Glasgow in Scotland. And, again, we're just getting this word, we want to pass along that a car on fire has crashed into the airport there. And, again, my executive producer will make sure I have this right, because this is just getting in to us.

But a car on fire has crashed into the Glasgow Airport.

Alphonso van Marsh is standing by for us in London -- Alphonso, I take it you're just getting word of this here as well about this car on fire.

What can you tell us about it?

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J.

That's what we are understanding ourselves, that officials are confirming that, indeed, as you mentioned, that a car on fire has, indeed, smashed into the terminal area at Glasgow Airport.

of course, we've got people on this.

As soon as we get more details we will bring it to you.

But in the meantime, let's talk a little bit more about the other major development this weekend. Of course, that is those two car bombs that were defused by officials out here. We're talking about those two car bombs that were found in the central London area.

This news coming today as the prime minister -- the new prime minister, Gordon Brown, is meeting with his home secretary and foreign secretary. We did get a chance to hear a little bit from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. She wanted to reassure the public that the police here across all different government agencies are doing everything they can to keep the public safe.

Let's hear a little bit about what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACQUI SMITH, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: We were updated on the police operation and the prime minister took the opportunity to thank the police and the security services for all their hard work over the last 48 hours. The prime minister stressed that all parts of government have got to work together to combat the terror threat. I'm satisfied that across government and with the police and agencies we're doing all we can to protect the public.

The police are clear that the most important contribution that the public can make is to carry on reporting anything suspicious and to be vigilant. And I'd ask them to do that. But I must stress that we mustn't let the threat of terror stop us from getting on with our lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAN MARSH: Now, again, we just want to break back to that other breaking news story we've got out here again, that a car on fire has apparently smashed into the terminal area of Glasgow Airport. We're making calls to get more information on that. We're getting confirmation from officials out of Glasgow.

As soon as we get more information, of course, we'll bring that to you.

But let's talk just a little bit more about what we heard from the British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith about vigilance. This is a big weekend here in London. We've got the Wimbledon tennis tournament continuing on today. Also, we have the gay pride march and concert going on as we speak, as well as the memorial concert for Diana, Princess of Wales.

The British officials here asking members of the public to keep their eyes and ears open. Some people saying it was a stroke of luck that those two car bombs were, indeed, found and defused before they could do what police said could have been considerable damage to life here in the city.

If you want to have a good idea of what people are talking about, all you need to do is take a look at the newspaper headlines. "The Sun," for example, taking one particular perspective: Saved: Two Bombs Foiled in the West End."

And then at the opposite extreme, we'll take a look at "The Daily Mail. The question on a lot of people's minds: "Where's the Next Bomb?"

Officials saying they're doing everything they can to stop that from happening -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Alphonso van Marsh there for us with the very latest on a couple of developing stories and one breaking story that we have now.

We'll get back to you.

We're going to work more details on it.

Alphonso, thank you so much.

NGUYEN: Yes, at this point, though, there is no immediate reports of injuries in that car on fire that attempted to drive into the airport there in Glasgow. And speaking of all of these investigations that are underway right now, and the two car bombs that were found yesterday in London, I want to take you now to CNN's homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, who has some late breaking information that she's going to share with us.

She joins us now from Washington -- Jeanne, what do you have?

JEANNE MESERVE, HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Betty, a few nuggets from a senior federal official who is familiar with this investigation.

You have heard the reports that there is a crystal clear image of an individual associated with that first Mercedes that was found in London. According to this official, there is no crystal clear image, at least not yet. They do have CCTV images from those cameras in London. They are working to refine them at this point in time. But this official would not characterize their present state as being crystal clear.

Also, he took some issue with reports that they're -- they are looking for three individuals in association with these events. He says they are looking for individuals, but disputed the number three.

In addition, according to this senior federal official, they have determined -- investigators have determined that the two cars that were found in London were parked at the same time. Also, on that first car, they have been able to trace the ownership back. Apparently in Britain, a license plate is associated with a car when it is sold. They move together. They have found and contacted some of the previous owners of this car. But they have not identified the current owner, at least not yet. That investigation, of course, continuing, very intensely. They have a lot to work with here because they do have these cars and they are full of forensic evidence.

Back to you -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, Jeanne, let me just clarify something. We understand from officials that there is no crystal clear image.

But do they definitely have an image of the person who was driving that vehicle -- the car bomb that it turned out to be?

MESERVE: It's unclear to me whether this individual was driving this car or was seen near this car. But there is some kind of imagery. They are working right now to improve its quality. There's a lot that they can do technically with those images. That's what they're working on.

NGUYEN: All right.

And, of course, we're going to learn much more throughout the day as this investigation continues.

Jeanne Meserve with the latest breaking news coming to us here at CNN.

Thank you, Jeanne.

HOLMES: And, again, the investigation into yesterday's car bombing attempts continues.

Will Geddes is a security specialist and he's going to join us now and help us with this.

First, we're getting these reports out of Scotland about this car on fire driving into a terminal just -- and this is very early and we're just getting these reports.

But just -- kind of what goes through your brain when you hear that?

WILL GEDDES, SECURITY ANALYST: Well, actually, T.J. it makes me very nervous. Fingers crossed -- this isn't anything related to, obviously, what's happened in the last 24 hours. However, it does draw some immediate parallels in my mind, without wishing to sound alarmist, to all I've seen of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices when I've been in Iraq.

HOLMES: OK.

What -- what is going on with the investigation right now?

Do you think -- and I know you've got pretty good sources there among the London police.

What's happening with their investigation right now?

GEDDES: Well, at the moment, T.J. they're keeping it fairly quiet, and for obvious reason. They're trying to collate as much intelligence as they possibly can and they're going to be very, very careful about what information they're going to release. I mean we haven't had a formal statement today. And the particular reason for that will be to ensure that either they have the right information that the general public can act upon or maybe they have got that critical information which they're currently furthering out in their investigations before they actually make it public knowledge. Because there's a good possibility if they've had a positive trace from the vehicle registration number, that they will be trying to capture as many of the individuals connected as they possibly can before they make any comment.

HOLMES: How big of a treasure trove, if you will, just a gold mine of information, do they have now that -- since those bombs didn't go off, they've got the car, they've got the explosives, they've got -- they've got all that stuff.

GEDDES: Absolutely. And they've got two vehicles from which they can draw from. You know, there are going to be all sorts of things that we can only imagine they can use from only just the fibers of the individuals -- their clothing, their hair, even skin follicles. There are all sorts of things, as well as the devices themselves.

And the devices will tell us quite a bit, even though they were quite basic, about the signature. And the signature is really going to be the key, because it's going to be the composition -- how it was put together, in what component parts -- and it what give us an idea of the sort of -- the know-how, the expertise that was behind this.

HOLMES: How much should we know about the know-how and expertise since they didn't go off?

We heard other analysts say there's a good chance we're dealing with amateurs here. GEDDES: Well, only from my own experience, T.J. you know, there can be a lot of different reasons why a device doesn't go off. We can only hope that it was down to just an amateurish approach in construction.

However, from what we can only gather from the information we've got so far, we can speculate that because there seems to have been a cell phone used as a detonation device, that there could be all sorts of elements that obviously conspired against them in these devices actually actively detonating.

HOLMES: All right.

Is there a chance these were the only two?

Are you confident these are the only two and that this is a single plot and there is not a grander scheme going on here?

GEDDES: Well, I'm not confident these are the only two, if I'm absolutely honest. I think, you know, there is a good possibility -- if one's gone to the time and effort of getting all the resources and materials to create these two particular vehicle-borne devices and they were parked in such close proximity, there is always a possibility that there are going to be others that we may see or discover over the next couple of days. Hopefully, there will not be in any dangerous state.

HOLMES: Yes, certainly hopefully that is not the case.

Will Geddes, a security specialist, we appreciate your expertise and talking to us this morning.

Thank you so much, sir.

And we certainly want to let people know, as we watch that investigation in London, we're just getting word, just a short time ago, a story we're following now, that a car on fire has been driven into the Glasgow Airport in Scotland.

We don't have information on injuries. We don't have information on the explosion right now. But the initial report is simply that a vehicle attempted -- a car that was on fire attempted to drive through the front doors of a terminal there at the Glasgow Airport in Scotland.

Again, we are just getting this word in. We are working this story and trying to get as much information possible and pass that information along to you. So make sure you stick right here to CNN.

Now, we're going to see a lot more this weekend on our Special Investigations Unit, "The War Within."

That's tonight and Sunday at 8:00 Eastern. They're going to be talking the war within there, Home-grown terror, if you will, and Islamic extremism and how young people in Britain are being recruited sometimes to some of the more extreme elements. So stay tuned for that. Again, that's tonight and tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern.

NGUYEN: Well, let's talk now about the war in Iraq. A deadly suicide bomb went off north of Baghdad. At least 15 civilians and police recruits were killed in the attack at an outdoor market near a police station in Diyala Province.

And in Baghdad today, controversial raids in the Sadr City neighborhood. Coalition officials say 26 secret cell terrorists were killed and more than one dozen other captured. Iraq's prime minister says the raids did not have the proper approval.

HOLMES: Two American soldiers now face murder charges in Iraq. They're of killing three Iraqis in three separate incidents between April and this month. The killings happened south of Baghdad. Both soldiers are with a unit based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.

A big supporter of President Bush's Iraq policies is getting set for another visit Iraq. Senator John McCain plans to leave Monday on his sixth trip to Iraq. The Republican presidential candidate was last there in April.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I understand the sorrow of the American people. I visit the wounded quite often at Walter Reed and Bethesda. I'm going to Iraq on Monday. And I'm going to be proud. I would rather spend the Fourth of July with the men and women who are serving in Iraq than any place else in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, among McCain's stops in Iraq, a re-enlistment ceremony for American troops. McCain says they've decided to reenlist because they believe in the mission in Iraq.

NGUYEN: In Afghanistan, an investigation is underway into the alleged killing of dozens of people by coalition forces. Now reports from Helmand Province say as many as 130 people, including women and children, were killed Friday in a coalition attack on a village. A NATO spokesman says there may have been civilians killed, but it appears that militants were using them as human shields.

We want to give you a program note now. CNN correspondents discuss the training of Iraqi troops and the latest on the London terror alert.

CNN's Tom Foreman hosts "THIS WEEK AT WAR." That is tonight at 7:00 Eastern.

HOLMES: Well, straight ahead here in THE NEWSROOM, extreme weather, more heavy rain out West today.

Reynolds Wolf up next to talk about the continuing flood threat.

NGUYEN: Also, red carpet "Sicko". Michael Moore's controversial new movie is generating a whole lot of buzz.

But is his look at the health care system legit?

We'll get a fact check on his film.

Plus this --

HOLMES: The iPod -- oh, excuse me.

NGUYEN: The iPhone.

HOLMES: -- it's iPhone.

Excuse me, it's the iPhone Northeast. That frenzy in full swing now. We'll catch up with the gadget geeks -- sorry, guys -- who are waiting for their --

NGUYEN: Well, there you go.

HOLMES: -- high tech toy.

My point exactly.

NGUYEN: Yes.

HOLMES: That's coming up here in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

HOLMES: We want to tell you about this breaking story we are following and we want to clear some things up here and let you know what the reports are right now. And we are working to confirm this.

But the reports right now out of British media are that a car that was on fire has crashed into the Glasgow Airport, a terminal there at the Glasgow Airport. That is the report there.

No word from the British media reports of any injuries or anything like that. But the initial reports from British media are that a car has been driven into -- on fire -- a terminal there at the airport.

However, the A.P. Wire reports are reporting a little different here, that two cars crashed outside of the airport and one of them burst into flames, and that maybe one of those cars that burst into flames then collided or ran into the terminal there at the airport.

So we have a couple of conflicting reports, a lot of reports out there. But we do want to let you know what the information, at least that we are getting, and why. Certainly a concern right now, since we just had the reports out of London about the two cars that were packed with explosives, did not explode. But everybody is kind of on edge here. And you get a report that a car is on fire, so certainly it caused some concern -- a car on fire driving into an airport terminal. So conflicting reports right now.

At CNN, we are working right here to confirm the information as best we can.

But two different reports. We want to clear up what up we're giving you and let us know what's out there so we are -- we're (INAUDIBLE) --

NGUYEN: Well, you know, it very well could be, T.J. that there were two cars that collided, one caught on fire. It doesn't mean that a burning car went, you know, crashing into the terminal.

HOLMES: That's totally plausible.

NGUYEN: And what we do know is from the police spokesperson there on site, Lisa O'Neil (ph) -- this according to the Associated Press -- that one car -- this is a quote -- "is on fire." But it is not clear if it went inside the terminal building.

So, again, we do have those conflicting reports. We want to be completely transparent with you.

As soon as we get more information on this, we will bring it straight to you.

In the meantime, here's what we do know. In waterlogged parts of the Southern Plains, more rain is in the forecast and a big concern about more flash floods. Yes, warnings and watches are now in place from Texas to Missouri. And since last week, storms have killed at least 11 people in Texas. Hundreds of people have been driven from their homes by the flooding.

And those same concerns in much of Oklahoma. Just look at these pictures. That is a neighborhood. That state battered by strong storms and torrential rain. Among the hardest hit areas, Lawton in southwestern Oklahoma. With more flooding expected, new evacuation orders are in place for parts of that city. The flooding also affecting motorists in Lawton. A section of Interstate 44 was shut down last night after water just washed over the highway.

HOLMES: Ah, goodness.

Reynolds Wolf has been there to the area, actually, in Texas, Marble Falls.

And is Marble Falls, from everything we've seen, is that the -- the town, the actual area that's been hit worse than anybody?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, that's a good question. They have -- many of the tributaries outside of the town, like, say, Woodman Branch, that is just one small creek, if you will, that's it's nearly about a half mile away from the river itself, where there was widespread flooding -- a wall of water some 45 feet high that rushed through and caused a bit of damage in many spots.

However, one thing that's really good about the story, especially in Texas, is that the lower Colorado River Authority, which controls the hydroelectric dams along the Colorado River, was able to lower the river levels, especially in places like, say, many of the dams, like, for example, one near Lake Austin, where they had the floodgates open, four of them at one time. And as rain continued to drop, they would lower the level, which would kind of -- it was kind of a trade-off.

So as more water would come in, the water would continue to drop and that would keep much of the flooding.

But, still, we're see that possibility in parts of Texas.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Well, two trips -- they're supposed to be fun trips -- turned tragic. The latest on amusement park accidents in New York and Florida.

That's coming up in THE NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: Plus, America's newest millionaires. Take a good look at this couple. They are one rich couple. An Oklahoma couple is rolling in the dough after winning the Powerball lottery. That's a lot of zeros, folks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Across America now, two more amusement park accidents in the news today.

One at Playland just north of New York. Police say a woman died on the Mind Scrambler ride. It's a ride that spins people around in a darkened tent with flashing lights. A 7-year-old girl died on that same ride three years ago.

Now, the other amusement park accident happened in Florida at a Boomer's amusement park in Fort Lauderdale. A 13-year-old girl suffered a severe head injury on the Tea Cup ride.

Both the New York and Florida accidents come one week after a teenaged girl lost her feet, literally, on a ride at a theme park in Louisville, Kentucky.

NGUYEN: A man who was kicked off an Amtrak train in Arizona this week has been released from the hospital. The crew thought 65-year-old Roosevelt Sims was drunk. But his family says he may have been suffering from diabetic shock. Amtrak says the crew was turning Sims over to police when Sims broke loose and disappeared in the woods. He was found four days later wearing only boxer shorts and one sock.

An Oklahoma couple won -- get this -- a $106 million Powerball jackpot just in the nick of time. Don Harvey is a trucker and his truck broke down this week. That was before his wife Joyce realized she had a winning lottery ticket. Despite the lottery windfall, though, Harvey doesn't plan to retire.

Can you believe that? But he does plan to buy a new truck.

How about this?

Why don't you just go ahead, retire and spend that money?

And on to a serious story, though, that we've been following. Next in THE NEWSROOM, terror alert. We will get the very latest from London and from Scotland, as well, where there is chaos at the Glasgow Airport.

More on that in just a moment.

HOLMES: Also, Michael Moore says the American health care system is broken.

Is he right?

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta checks the facts on the controversial movie.

NGUYEN: And was the wait worth it?

Was it really?

We're going to check in on the iPhone frenzy. People love this little thing. We'll see if there are any glitches in the system a little later, right here it in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We want to get you some more breaking news on the situation in Glasgow, Scotland, there at the airport. We understand that there are reports -- in fact, conflicting reports on whether a car, which was on fire, rammed into that airport, or whether it was simply a case of two cars colliding and that happened very near to the airport and one of those cars did catch on fire.

But look at this video. We're going to show you some video from Sky News. You see the black smoke, the flames at the front of what we're being told is an entrance to the airport there. Now at this hour we have not heard about any injuries, but let's listen in to Sky News in London to see if they have more details.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... Section of the airport.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It must have been the departure end, because we had actually came out the arrival end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now we're hearing reports that there were two men driving the Cherokee.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I couldn't tell you anything about any men because we didn't see anything then.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. You must have seen a big police presence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are you now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm actually home at my mother's house right now. And as we left the airport, a bus was there and we just managed to get out before the police closed the door, and I don't think anybody (INAUDIBLE) the rest of the of the day, except it was getting closed off when we left. So we would actually (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how busy was it as well, Jane (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was really busy when police and ambulances and the (INAUDIBLE) services when we left. It was actually quite frightening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what about holiday makers, I'm sure it would be a busy Saturday afternoon there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) a lot of people are there, yes. Actually going on holiday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now you described...

NGUYEN: So that's just a little listen at Sky News in London as they're following the story as well. Again, we understand that there is a fire at the entrance of the Glasgow Airport there in Scotland. There is some conflicting reports as to whether a car rammed into that building, a car which was on fire, drove straight through a terminal at that airport, or if it was simply a case of two vehicles colliding in an accident, and one catching on fire very near the entrance.

So let's go to CNN's Paula Newton right now who is on the ground. And she joins us with the latest with what you know about the situation. Because from our end, Paula, it's a little confusing as to what exactly happened.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I wish it were a little bit more clear. Right now we have conflicting reports, and that's not just from media sources but from police sources. I just want point out here, Betty, that when you go into these airports, and BAA, the British Airport Authority, runs this airport in Glasgow along with several airports in London, the premises of that airport is actually governed by completely different judicial and police laws.

Even laws for arresting people and security, completely different once you're on the territory of the airport. And that's why it has been very difficult to get information from the proper authorities. Having said that, at least one car is definitely on fire. Many eyewitness accounts saying a very large man then staggered out of the vehicle.

Some reports say he was actually on fire and that one person had basically knocked him to the ground and then at that point authorities tried to grab him. What's at the heart of this, unfortunately, we still do not know or have any confirmation. You can imagine the worst fears though of people at this point.

In terms of speculating though, you know, this has always been a big problem, Betty, for many people, not just here in Britain but in the U.S. and other airports around the world. It is very difficult to protect the perimeter of an airport, simply because people have to be allowed to get off, get out of their cars, get out of their vehicles, take their luggage and get into the terminal.

Right now the reports that we have is that this fire actually took place just outside the terminal building, because earlier reports had said it actually penetrated the building. That seems to have not been the case. At the moment, again, we're not sure if it involved two cars or just one car. But definitely several reports saying that at least one man got out of the vehicle and then was taken into custody -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Paula, I think you make a very good point. And we were watching this in the video that we're being shown from Sky News. If you look very clearly right there on the right-hand side of your screen, they'll show it again in a minute, it does appear that that car is at the front entrance. It did not penetrate the terminal. At least from the video we are looking at right now.

So there, as you mentioned, were some earlier reports that it rammed through the terminal and was inside the airport. So I guess the question right now, as we're waiting for all of this information to come in, have you heard anything about any injuries?

NEWTON: There was one eyewitness account of one woman saying she had seen someone injured. Now again, we're unable to verify those reports. At this point certainly authorities inside the airport or with police are not saying that they know of any casualties whatsoever.

From the size of the flames, obviously the potential is there for people to have been hurt, but at this point we do not know at all if anyone was hurt in that situation. You know, Betty, it was just last week that we reviewed here at CNN the aviation security situation at Heathrow.

And I can tell you the perimeter situation is a problem. I mean, authorities from their perspective would see this as the defenses actually working because those terminals are designed so that someone cannot penetrate the building with something like a car bomb. And that's why you see it, it would have stopped just short of the terminal.

And hopefully at that point be able to actually keep down the number of casualties if there are any in this case -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, no doubt, nerves are on high right now. People are very nervous about the situation following the two car bombs that were found in London yesterday. And then to hear that a car has crashed into the airport, a car that was on fire, again, we don't know the exact details, if this was someone trying to deliberately crash into the airport or if it was simply a case of an accident right outside the front doors.

But when we look at a map of this airport, this is a fairly large airport. And I would imagine it would be very busy on a day like this.

NEWTON: Incredibly busy. And that's because the holiday season is under way. Glasgow Airport is the busiest airport in Scotland and it handles a lot of overflow traffic of people just trying to have their vacations in Scotland or even in England or Wales for that matter. A lot of flights from the United States, Betty, especially this time of year, because the charter companies are in full gear and they fly in and out of Glasgow Airport.

Definitely a very busy travel there -- day there today. Again, it is interesting though that BAA, the British Airport Authority, are the ones that run that airport. A lot of the same security procedures that you see at Heathrow, again the subject of at least a couple of terror threats over the years, are the same people that head up security there at that Glasgow Airport.

And a lot of the defenses that they've put up have really involved trying to keep that perimeter safe and trying to keep the flow of traffic, making sure vehicles move on, making sure that the building itself is fortified so that a vehicle trying to ram into the building can't actually make it through.

And you see a lot of cement posting, different kinds of pillars that can withstand this type of a crash, placed in those kinds of terminal buildings. At the same time, they need to try and temper that with obviously the flow of people coming in and out.

You know, Betty, you mentioned how unnerving this would be to people. We mentioned it all day yesterday, again today, how difficult it is to really prevent someone who's trying to use a car bomb, especially in any kind of a suicide attack. I want to stress here, we have no idea that that's what happened in this case.

We have no indication from authorities that this was linked to terrorism at all at this point. We are just basically interpreting what we see. There is a very clear picture that we're showing on the air right now. You can show -- you can see that car essentially burst into flames.

People describe it as a four-wheel drive type of vehicle, either like a Jeep Cherokee or Land Rover, a fairly large, robust vehicle. And you can see it there in that picture where it essentially looks like it has captured the point when it has burst into flames.

Amazing that whoever was in that vehicle then was able to get out, although people -- they've had conflicting reports on whether or not the car burst into flames as the man was getting out of the vehicle, or afterwards. Again, still, unfortunately, no clear indication from authorities about exactly what went on here. And that's not going to put anyone at ease anywhere here in Britain -- Betty. NGUYEN: No, especially considering the couple of days that folks there in London have had with those two car bombs. But when we look at this picture, and there are those reports that this may have been the result of an accident, the question is, where is the other car, if this was an accident?

NEWTON: Well, again, that's a good question. And we aren't sure from the vehicles that we're seeing at the scene exactly if there was another car involved. Because again, there are conflicting reports. Again, was this -- as this vehicle was trying to ram into this building, did it accidentally hit another vehicle that happened to be in the way? You know, or was it just a plain accident and the car happened to burst into flames?

Authorities just won't say at this point. What is really upsetting people at the airport is that a lot of people saw the person who staggered out of the vehicle, the man who happened to be quite large, then argue with police essentially and try and struggle with police who then took him into custody.

And I think from some of the eyewitness accounts that we are hearing is that people are pretty rattled at the airport, as you can imagine. But it does seem as if the fire at least at the airport is now under control. At least that's what authorities are saying. Still no reports on any casualties -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes. And you know, we are listening in for some more information on this. And I know that you're going to be working your sources, Paula. If I can ask you just for a minute to stand by as we listen in to Sky News to see what kind of information is coming in to their newsroom. Let's take a listen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... what did you see?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's correct. I was sitting just literally yards from the incident, where it happened. I was sitting waiting on a colleague to come at me. Fortunately he was delayed. And just sitting there. The airport has got two roads. One road is restricted to taxis and buses and your number plate is taken and you can't get through unless your number is recognized by the barrier.

At which point a car, the Cherokee comes speeding past at about 30 miles an hour in the inside lane. And I thought it was quite strange that he was getting in there, because he's not permitted to go in there. And then what he did is he approached the first door, he swung out to the right of the road so he could get a better angle so that he could hit the door square on and obviously tried to get right into the door.

So he swung out as he would if he was taking a sharp corner, and then cut back in and cut straight into the terminal door, obviously trying to get right through the doors to cause the most damage as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how far did the car get? It didn't look like it got too far. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. It got -- just maybe got his nose in. You know. And it wasn't on fire at that point. There was a bit of a scuffle at that point and there was people sort of trying to deal with it, people themselves, before the police got there. But then within about a minute or two it did catch fire. You know, at that point everyone started running.

I did a U-turn, and come out and went back faster and people were grappling with (INAUDIBLE). I also was -- as I (INAUDIBLE), I was still waiting on my colleague coming out, I was accosted by one of the officials at the airport and ordered to take him to another part of the airport because he needed to get there. And he did tell me that it was terrorists and one of the cars (INAUDIBLE) was on fire and the other one was apprehended by the police.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it clear how the vehicle caught on fire? How do you think it actually caught alight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was also told by the gentleman these men had petrol canisters or petrol bombs of some description on them throwing them about and trying to catch the vehicle on fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did they describe the canisters? I mean, were they big gas canisters? Were these men holding them and trying to turn them around?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't describe. He was really, really angry. And he just said they were throwing petrol about and they were obviously trying to cause the as much damage as possible. But also I think that maybe had (INAUDIBLE) fire. But there were a couple of explosions. And as your earlier caller said, maybe the petrol going off, it wasn't huge explosions, you know, there was obviously no bombs or nothing inside. But tires blown maybe and petrol explosions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. So a very, very distressing experience. I mean, how do you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was OK at first when I thought it was just a car crash. At first you don't believe that it is anything like this. And then obviously my main concern was to ring my colleague who was coming out with his young family. He would have been coming out that door had his plane not been delayed.

Fortunately -- another thing that's fortunate is, I sat there for quite a while because his bags were slow coming off. And there had been a -- what happens is you'll get a lot of people coming out for a flight at one point. Fortunately there was a lull at that point and people sort of started filtering (ph) out a little bit.

And maybe that's fortunate. If it happened 10 minutes earlier, there would have been fatalities because they would have been coming out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And, Scott (ph), you said that it was passersby, holiday-makers themselves or the public who wrestled these two men to the ground. Is that right? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it might have even been -- see, that is -- when that happened is also in the very back of the taxi rank and it may well have been some taxi employees even. But there was people -- you know, I didn't hear what they were shouting because I was in my vehicle. But they weren't too happy, put it that way.

And I didn't see -- at that point that was all I see. I drove (INAUDIBLE) as I got to the end of the terminal, and this gentleman who was obviously an airport official asked me (INAUDIBLE) and gave me some sketchy details of what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Indeed. Now there are reports one of certainly of one the men in the car caught on fire. We can't confirm that at the moment, but did you see anybody else get injured?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I didn't see anyone else get injured. I didn't see anyone else get...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you heard if anyone else has been injured?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't see that. Obviously if anyone was coming out that door, then there was trouble for them. You know, but, as I said, fortunately it was lull -- a lull in people coming out. There wasn't so many people coming out at that point. Because I was waiting for the big rush for my colleague to come out.

But fortunately he was going off (INAUDIBLE) straightaway and said, look, don't come out of the airport, head down to the far end of the airport. But, yes, it was pretty worrying.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Scott Leeson (ph), we really appreciate your views. Thank you for joining us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're welcome.

NGUYEN: And you've been listening to Sky News as they've been talking to folks on the ground there at Glasgow Airport and getting some eyewitness reports of what exactly happened. Because the information coming in to CNN has been a bit conflicting. But it appears, according to the reports that we've been listening to on Sky News, that a vehicle -- a four-wheel type vehicle has rammed into the main terminal there at Glasgow Airport, exploding into flames.

It wasn't able to actually penetrate inside, as can you see in the picture on your left. But according to that witness, that two men were inside the vehicle, one had a little scuffle with police immediately after the incident, and then another man actually was on fire and was badly burned. But both of them have been taken into custody.

The big question though is, was this an attempted bombing attack? Because as we heard with that witness there on Sky News, that there were some gas canisters that were in the vehicle and being used in this. Again, all of this is information that's very early in the stages right now and this investigation will continue. But at this point we have not heard of any injuries in this incident, and as soon as we get more information here into CNN and clarify some of the just many types of scenarios that are coming in to our NEWSROOM, of course we will pass that along to you.

HOLMES: And certainly this comes at a time when everybody is on alert, and even you could say on edge after the two unexploded car bombs were found in London in two very crowded areas. And still trying to figure out in that investigation who's behind that, who's responsible for that, what was the target.

So everybody is kind of on edge and heightened alert. And to have this come in today there at the airport certainly puts people -- takes people back just a bit here. Our Paula Newton has been working this story for us.

And, Paula, you know we've got reports that are really all over the place, from eyewitnesses, British media reports, wire reports. Do you have -- give us what you have as far as the best information you have. Don't know if I can call it definitive, but the official reports at least of what we do know has happened and is happening at the airport right now.

NEWTON: Well, unfortunately, if we go by the police reports that we have so far that are sketchy and then try and correlate them with the eyewitness reports that we have, it does seem that this was some type of a terrorist attack.

The problem here is, again, that the telltale sign, as I was saying earlier, is that security at British airports, there is always a buffer around the airport in terms of which vehicles can get in. If you go to a British airport, there is a line of traffic that you are allowed to drive up to, and that is several feet away from a lane that is used only for authorized vehicles like taxis and buses.

And then you are allowed into the terminal. It seems that from the eyewitness account this car definitely, at high speed, tried to get into that unauthorized lane. And that is how that vehicle then got access to the terminal doors.

The eyewitness then describing the fact that the car did not immediately blow up into flames, and that's probably a good thing at this point. And then he saw -- he describes certainly quite a confusing scene afterwards with two men. We had had reports of one man, but now he is saying two men, perhaps one who had caught on fire who was still in the vehicle and another man who was taken -- who came out of the car, staggering and then was apprehended by other people at that terminal door.

I have to say that, if this is correct in any way, shape or form, you can expect security, which is already incredibly high here at British airports, to be heightened further. Again, I cannot over emphasize how secure -- or how much of a priority security at these airports are. A lot of the intelligence reports about threats have been specific, especially towards airports in Britain, specifically Heathrow Airport. A lot of the same security procedures at this airport are the same as what's in Heathrow. That perimeter is supposed to try and keep incidents like this from happening.

You know, a lot of us are always concentrating on what's going on inside the aircraft. They've always known that this kind of an incident could happen. If you put this incident together with the incidents from yesterday, this will really turn a corner for everyone here. Not just the scenes, but also it will become very real in people's minds exactly what the danger is.

Not only that, unfortunately, how difficult something like this will be to prevent. I'm just off the London streets. Obviously thousands of cars, thousands of people at any given time. And this is what authorities are dealing with. It's interesting that airports have always been a target. We've seen that continually in the intelligence reports. We've seen that continually from credible threats that are presented to authorities, and from chatter on the Web.

And what the eyewitness described, if we go only by the eyewitness account -- and again, I want to say that we don't have any of that confirmed whatsoever, it does seem at this point in time that this was some type of a terrorist -- attempt at a terrorist attack at Glasgow Airport.

HOLMES: All right. Paula, thank you so much. Don't go anywhere. I know you're still standing by here for us. But we want to dip back in to some of the Sky News coverage that we've been watching and see what else we can pick up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... four by four, certainly a taxi driver was telling us a short while ago was driving erratically, doing over 30 miles an hour in this very narrow lanes which you can drive up to the airport terminal and departure buildings, driving over 30 miles an hour, made a very swift right turn to then drive through a barrier and into the airport building.

We then understand the vehicle caught on fire. We're not sure how. People have been talking to us about an explosion of some kind happening, whether it was the petrol tank catching on fire. But there are also reports -- again, unconfirmed at this stage, that there were gas cylinders either inside the car or gas cylinders which were taken out by the people inside the car, and then caught on fire.

We're also hearing that one of the people in the car subsequently caught on fire. There have been ambulances at the scene, and at least one person has been taken away. Let's just read out a statement that we're just having a look at from Strathclyde Police, the cooperation -- the communication department, I should say.

And it goes: "At 15:15 hours, at 3:15 this afternoon, a car was driven to the front of terminal one at Glasgow International Airport. Police and fire service were immediately summoned. Four people arrested and detained meantime. It is unclear if any person has been injured."

The statement also goes on to say: "Local roads have now been closed and police are advising members of the public not to travel to the airport, incoming and outgoing flights have been suspended until further notice. The airport has been closed. Strathclyde Police would like to reassure the public that it is unknown at present if this is connected with the incident in London as inquiries are still at an early stage. However, we would ask the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to the police."

Let's bring in now James Edgar (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. James, we spoke a few minutes ago, it is Alan King (ph), once again here. The latest information, I'm sure you heard, from the police there and as far as you're aware from what you saw when you spoke last time, does that all fit in with what you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. James Edgar, hope you're with us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it's Edgar Jones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Edgar Jones, I do apologize. We have a number of Edgars with us today. My apologies for that.

Edgar, you saw, I gather, the people actually being arrested. We're told now by the police four people under arrest. Tell us if you would what you saw.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) as quick as possible. (INAUDIBLE) it was like smoke and (INAUDIBLE) kept on going right to the end of the (INAUDIBLE). And I seen police at that time apprehend a guy just at the back of the police vehicle. And that's when I took a photograph of it. And right over there the road that one of the police, and that's where it was.

(INAUDIBLE) people running away from the scene. And (INAUDIBLE) there was a lot of smoke and things like that, you know. People panicking. You know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You say a lot of smoke and panic, but when you looked back at this and what you witnessed there, what was the general feeling? Was it one that the services had it under control?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Well, he was handcuffed and just (INAUDIBLE) at the back of the vehicle. As you can see from the photograph. There wasn't any panic from him at all. Just the policemen had to hold him and threw him into the vehicle. And (INAUDIBLE) that's what we seen there, you know. I didn't actually see any (INAUDIBLE) -- see him like running from there just (INAUDIBLE) handcuffed at the back of the vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had a few people telling us that it was a very unpleasant, very unnerving experience. How did you feel? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It was (INAUDIBLE) my wife was really stressed coming into (INAUDIBLE). And because when we came out, we didn't (INAUDIBLE) until -- you know, (INAUDIBLE) and the policeman, that's when they told one of the people (INAUDIBLE) there had been a bomb (INAUDIBLE). A bit of hysteria there, you know. The air (INAUDIBLE) panic and try to get away from it as quick as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Naturally enough. I mean, the latest -- while we're talking, Edgar, we have from the police is actually three arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I don't know (INAUDIBLE). The one that we seen was certainly handcuffed at the back of the vehicle and he was taken away. (INAUDIBLE) there was just one, the policeman across the road who said there was one of the people (INAUDIBLE) one of them had run away from the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can actually see, while we're talking, what 's left of frame, we can now put the picture, center of frame, the police car. We can see just to the left of our picture, in the distance, one of those men being arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes. That's (INAUDIBLE) the photograph. But then actually (INAUDIBLE) from out then because (INAUDIBLE) you know, the smoke and fire (INAUDIBLE), and it was (INAUDIBLE), you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was -- the gentleman we can see in the picture there, was he the one who was taken but was actually not on fire? I mean, it doesn't look from what we can see there as if his clothes are on fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. He was actually OK. He was just standing (INAUDIBLE) at the back of the vehicle. You know, to me -- you know, there was -- I mean, to be honest, (INAUDIBLE) didn't really (INAUDIBLE) a struggle or anything like it, you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just there has been quite a lot of emphasis on the back of this vehicle. And apparently one of the men trying to open the boot. Did you see any of that activity at all?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I didn't. You know, their flight came in at 3:05. And (INAUDIBLE), so we were escorted (INAUDIBLE) right away. Because, you know, by the time it was -- you know, the vehicle heading to (INAUDIBLE). So we were escorted right into (INAUDIBLE) -- you know, escorted as far away from as possible, you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell us what were you actually doing at the airport, how this has affected you today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) certainly come visit until you get (INAUDIBLE) a bomb or a terrorist attack (INAUDIBLE) concerning (INAUDIBLE). You just come back from your holiday, all your kids there, and people coming in, you know, they have been (INAUDIBLE). You know, (INAUDIBLE) I mean, that always (INAUDIBLE) but the bombs (INAUDIBLE) you know? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And presumably, I mean, you know, apart from travelers who are able-bodied, there must have been young people, children, older people around as well?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That's basically, you know, all the kids (ph). I mean, (INAUDIBLE). There was also our flight that (INAUDIBLE) all the people were getting their cases (INAUDIBLE) at the same time. (INAUDIBLE) these people (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. And was there anybody there from the -- either the airport or from the emergency services to help out, to deal with those people who were not as capable as obviously you are?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. There were all the police there, and they were helping people who (INAUDIBLE) getting the (INAUDIBLE) as quick as possible. (INAUDIBLE) greatly organized (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now it is a little while after it has happened, how are you feeling?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just sometimes wonder, you know, just think what happened, you know, you just -- (INAUDIBLE) and think what could have happened, you know? You know, you just (INAUDIBLE) you think you're in these airports and the people (INAUDIBLE), you know? They're just (INAUDIBLE), you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I suppose when you see these things on television...

HOLMES: You've been listening in here. We all have, trying to pick up as much information as we can. Details sketchy, at best, all over the place for sure, about what exactly has happened at the Glasgow Airport in Scotland. We'll tell you what we do know. We do know from these pictures here that a vehicle did crash into the terminal there and burst into flames.

Not sure yet if it was intentional, not sure yet how many people possibly were in that vehicle. But we have reports that we just heard from Sky News was that at least three people have been arrested. AP reports say two people arrested.

Also reports that one person got out of that vehicle, a man got out of that vehicle and was taken into custody there on-scene. Another report of another man who actually was on fire after this car crashed into the terminal.

Again, not clear just yet whether or not this was intentional, not clear just yet if this had anything also to do with the reports we saw in London yesterday about two cars being found there, packed with explosives.

Those -- everybody on alert because of that report out of London. And that investigation going on now. Something like this happened, certainly as our Paul Newton said, kind of puts this in a different kind of perspective and it becomes more real now that we actually see something. We see something on fire, we see smoke, we see this panic now at the airport.

Our Paula Newton is still with us. We're trying to work through all these reports and all these details. Right now, Paula, if you can -- and I keep asking every time we come to you, if you -- what do we know for sure, and it doesn't seem like we know much for sure just yet, right, Paula?

NEWTON: Yes, unfortunately, just keeping in mind that it is obviously going to be the immediate local authorities in Scotland right now that are dealing with this, even Scotland Yard has told us to hang on. They will get more information to us when they have it.

You know, they've closed the airport there. They've close the local roads around it for obviously reasons. As you were saying before though, this puts the -- a new urgency on the investigation here in London.

Up until now, authorities told us they were pretty confident about the direction that that investigation was going in. This is going to significantly change that. They will be -- and sometimes you see authorities who might actually ID a suspect and then perhaps even put them under surveillance for a few hours before they actually arrest them only because they hope to gather more intelligence on any other kind of plots that might be under way.

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