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British Terror Plot; Airport Security Increased; Flooding In The Heartland

Aired July 02, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Updates us live this hour.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. military says Hezbollah is behind the killing of Americans in Iraq. And officials say Iran is pulling the strings.

HARRIS: Soaked and soggy. Parts of the heartland under water this morning.

It is Monday, July 2nd a you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: Great Britain on its highest terror alert right now. We do have some new developments to tell you about in the search for suspects. Here they go. Security sources tell CNN, the same men may have been behind the wheels of two unexploded car bombs in London and the Jeep that slammed into the Glasgow Airport. Two of the seven in custody are said to be medical doctors. In fact, sources say police investigating the London car bombings were tracking two of the men just before the attack on the airport.

And in the United States, tighter security is in place at airports, but the overall terror alert level in the U.S. has unchanged.

Let's begin now with our coverage in Scotland. CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us on the phone from Glasgow.

And, Nic, you just witnessed a police operation at the hospital in Glasgow. What's going on there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, we have a developing situation here right now. The police have just rushed a bombs disposal vehicle into the grounds of the Royal Alexandra Hospital. They've been increasing security here over the last couple of hours, searching the accommodation provided for doctors.

It is widely believed here at the moment that at least one of the men involved in that attack on Glasgow Airport was a doctor working at this particular hospital. Now the police have rushed in quite literally in the last few minutes, rushed in a bomb disposal vehicle. They have cleared the public out of the area, stopped traffic on the main road outside of the hospital, forced all the media back out of the hospital area.

Police here have suddenly increased their numbers. The situation at the moment is very tense at the moment.

Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, let me ask you, they've brought in this bomb disposal vehicle. Is there any particular area? Is it inside the hospital or outside the hospital that they're really focusing on?

ROBERTSON: Not clear at the moment, Betty. We can still see that bomb disposal vehicle parked on the hill on the road approaching the main part of the hospital, approaching the main access (ph), an emergency area. Just to the other side of the vehicle, however, is the accommodation area that the police were searching in the last few hours. The doctors' accommodation area.

This is not the first time in the last couple of days that the police have had to bring in a bomb disposal team here. Yesterday they performed a controlled explosion on a vehicle parked here. We also understand from the police that this is the very same hospital where the injured attacker, burned as he tried to slam her car into Glasgow Airport on Saturday afternoon, this is where the injured attacker is also being held in the hospital.

But again, just to reiterate the details we've learned today, it is understood that one of those two attackers, not clear if it's the one that's injured or the one that's in police custody, but one of those attackers at Glasgow Airport was a doctor working in this particular hospital.

Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. So to be clear that one of those two that rammed in to the airport was a doctor at that hospital. And one of the two is also being treat at that hospital for burns. And yesterday a vehicle underwent a controlled explosion at that hospital. Do you know any more about that vehicle?

ROBERTSON: At the moment, the police have released no further details about the vehicle. The only vehicle the police have asked the public for help with so far in locating its movements over the past week was the vehicle used in the attack at Glasgow Airport. They publicly announced and called for people to provide any information they could, revealed the registration plates of that vehicle, which is relatively unusual in these situations. The vehicle in the controlled explosion yesterday, on Sunday, not clear about that. No new details on that from the police so far.

Betty.

NGUYEN: OK. And very quickly, Nic, we're looking at video of -- well we were just a second ago, of people putting on their suits. I imagine that was part of the bomb disposal vehicle and the team that is accompanying it. Tell us again what is happening there with that disposal vehicle.

ROBERTSON: Well, the vehicle is still sitting parked on the hill in the approach to the airport. And quite literally now the police are pushing everybody further back, further back from that particular area. We've been asked to move further away.

It's not clear at the moment where that vehicle -- where the bomb disposal vehicle is going to be deployed in the hospital. Is it going to go to the accommodation area that the police have just been searching? Is it going to go to another part of the hospital? Not clear. But again, this is not the first time that a bomb disposal team has been called in here in the past couple days.

Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson with the latest there on the ground, at a hospital called the Royal Alexandra, which is near Glasgow.

Thank you, Nic.

HARRIS: Terrorists, they can strike any time at in any place. Words of caution from President Bush. He is in Maine today meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Bush went out of the way to praise Britain's response to the terror threats, specifically the leadership of Britain's new prime minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It just goes to show the war against these extremists goes on. You never know where they may try to strike. And appreciate the very strong response that the Gordon Brown's government has given.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The British attacks came during Brown's first days as prime minister. In the United States, the terror alert level is unchanged, but travelers are seeing more security at U.S. airports. CNN's Jim Acosta is at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

Jim, good to see you.

OK. So you traveled by plane two weeks ago. You're traveling today. What's the noticeable difference?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, Tony, you're going to see a noticeable difference at the airport. It depends on where you're going, how much time you give yourself before getting to the airport and so forth. People who give themselves plenty of time to get to the airport are going to make their flights. There aren't any major delays as a result of this security.

But they're going to see a bigger police presence at the airport. Take a look behind me. You can see the folks here at this American Airlines terminal at LaGuardia Airport getting ready for their flights. And we have seen throughout the weekend and today the lines get long from time to time, but that's essentially from the busy holiday travel season and so forth. There might have been some delays during certain points over the last couple days because of additional baggage screening and so forth, but not anything too out of the ordinary.

In terms of the visibility of law enforcement, we've seen police officer roaming the terminals with assault rifles. You see that from time to time. But we're seeing it's more prevalent now. You're seeing bomb-sniffing dogs. You're seeing police officers much more aggressive in terms of hustling people who are parked in front of the terminal, getting those people to move along so they don't linger to long in front of the terminal.

And that's essentially what law enforcement is saying, is that you're going to see more of us out here during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. And under we get through this period and security officials feel that it's OK to sort of let this visibility subside. But in the meantime, they want people to do more than just tolerate these lines out here. They want people to keep their eyes and ears open. That old adage, if you see something, say something.

HARRIS: And, Jim, it sounds like if you allow yourself a little more time, you may get through just fine. You may be hassled a bit, but not unnecessarily.

ACOSTA: I think that's right. And most of the people we talked to, you know, we're reasonable folks, we Americans, right, Tony?

HARRIS: Sure.

ACOSTA: I think if we show up at the airport, we expect security in this day and age. We expect lines. And most of the people we talked to said, you know, look, we've been doing this for years. We're all pros at this now. I think folks are pretty OK with long lines and security at this point. And at this point, we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary that has been too stressful for travelers.

Now at JFK International yesterday, a terminal for American Airlines was temporarily closed off to the public because of a suspicious package that turned out to be a bag with some cologne inside. That did inconvenience travelers. It also happened in California yesterday. But again, nothing too out of the ordinary.

HARRIS: OK. CNN's Jim Acosta for us at LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

Jim, good to see you. Thank you.

U.K. terror investigation. Fast-moving developments this morning. New British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will update us. Her briefing live in the NEWSROOM, 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

NGUYEN: Well, it is being dubbed the lobster summit. President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin talking today at the Bush family home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Mr. Putin, flowers in hand, dropping in for two days of informal talks. And they have plenty to chat about. Washington's plans for a missile defense shield in Europe. Mr. Bush's criticism that Russia is back sliding on democratic reforms, and the expansion of NATO. Again, a lot to talk about. And we may hear from the two leaders a little bit later this morning.

Wand you to take a look at what is happening. Parts of the American heartland just swamped with flood waters. Right now the situation is especially critical in eastern Kansas and western Missouri. In disaster declared across much of that region. And you can see why. In Coffeyville, Kansas, the high water has flooded a refinery and fertilizer plant. Homes and businesses also under water. Evacuations were ordered, but authorities say many of the town of 3,000 refuse to leave their homes.

Also another hard-hit area was in a Kansas town. The National Guard rolled in to help with mandatory evacuations there.

HARRIS: So why don't we get another check of weather. The plains and the rest of the country. Chad Myers, there he is, in the Severe Weather Center.

Good to see you, Chad. Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, investigating the origins of terror. Britain's fast-moving terror probe. We will talk live with a former Scotland Yard commander.

NGUYEN: Also, the U.K. terror investigation. There are fast- moving developments this morning. New British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will update us. We have her briefing live in the NEWSROOM. That is at 10:30 Eastern.

HARRIS: From Lebanon to the front lines in Iraq, Hezbollah operatives backed by Iran, the U.S. military confirming a story first reported exclusively on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, welcome back, everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Betty Nguyen.

We do have an eyewitness to terror. Many ran from the attack in Glasgow, but one airport employee grabbed his camera and then went to work. We are going to talk to him live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We want to get you the latest on the U.K. terror investigation. Near Glasgow right now, at a hospital, The Royal Alexandra Hospital to be exact, we have learned from our international correspondent, Nic ,Robertson that a bomb disposal vehicle has been sent to that hospital. It has cleared the public of the area and actually stopped traffic.

Now, here are two, key points about that specific hospital. One is that one of the doctors that had been taken into custody, one of the seven, used to work for that hospital. Also, one of the two men who rammed into the airport in Glasgow was taken to that hospital and currently is in that hospital suffering from burns in that attack.

So that very hospital, The Royal Alexandra, right now a bomb disposal vehicle has been taken to the area. The officials there on the ground have cleared the public out of the hospital in the vicinity. They've also stopped traffic. We don't know any more details to what exactly they're looking at. But apparently it is on high alert. And we will, of course, continue to follow the investigation and bring you the latest just as soon as we know more.

HARRIS: Britain's terror investigation, fast-moving developments, as you know. John O'Connor is a former Scotland Yard commander. He joins us live from London.

John, good to talk to you.

JOHN O'CONNOR, FORMER SCOTLAND YARD COMMANDER: Hello.

HARRIS: If you would, could you put this together for us. Maybe paint us a narrative of Friday, of Saturday, the developments that we're learning today. What do these events all mean to you? What do they say to you about what is happening right now in London and throughout Britain?

O'CONNOR: Yes. Well, the first thing that one's going to do, having arrested your main suspects, the perpetrators, you are going to go into their accommodation, home addresses, get their computers, get any material or information which might lead you to potential other suspects.

Now at the same time, they'll be getting through the results of the forensic examination of the three crime scenes. That is the three vehicles. And you'll be looking to confirm through fingerprints and DNA the identities and so on.

I suspect what's happened here is that one of the two suspects that's been apprehended in Glasgow is probably talking to the police. And I suspect that he's indicated that there may be explosive devices somewhere in the hospital, in the doctors' quarters. And it's quite likely if you've got access to maybe unoccupied doctors' quarters that you are going to store materials there. It's either that or they've done a search of any of the accommodations that any of these suspects have had access to and they've found something suspicious there.

I mean they're being very concerned. For example, there's not an anti-handling device there which is designed to take out the bomb disposal people, which is why they've put this on the highest alert. I mean that was a tactic that was often used by the IRA and quite clearly the lessons that have been learned from dealing with that degree of terrorism are being implemented here.

HARRIS: I asked this question of Christiane Amanpour. Let me ask you the same question. Do you believe Scotland Yard, and help us here in our understanding, is making progress at getting at command and control, at financing, at the strategy at work here?

O'CONNOR: Probably not, because I don't think that al Qaeda can have everything laid at its doorstep. I mean it certainly seems to me that if you're a strategist working on international terrorism, you are not going to waste people like doctors who can be a far greater use to you and could cause far greater harm in a structured plan, long-term terrorist attack, against public health.

These people are going to have access legitimately to all kinds of material. They're going to have access to radioactive material, they're going to have access to toxins, poisons, gases, all sorts of things legitimately. So it seems to me to use them as street bombers and to get them wiped out like that is just -- doesn't make any sense.

I think rather than using the all-embracing term of al Qaeda, I think you should be using the term Jihadist, which I think makes more sense. Because although they may share common purposes with al Qaeda, I don't think that al Qaeda has the control to operate something like this. They could operate a major terrorist outrage, but I think it would be more professionally run.

I mean this was a hopeless, incompetent terrorist attack. I mean when you see the ludicrous situation where none of the bombs were able to be detonated, and these guys are then trying to set fire to petrol, when all they did, they didn't get a detonation at the doors of the airport lounge, all they got was a bomb fire. They set fire to fuel.

Well that, in its own way, is not going to detonate the gas cylinders and it's not going to cause an explosion. It was just a fire. I mean, that is so incompetent as to be almost laughable.

HARRIS: Former Scotland Yard detective John O'Connor.

John, thanks for your time.

O'CONNOR: My pleasure.

REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're getting darker here in Coffeyville, Kansas. But the water on the ground, and we're talking 10 feet above flood stage, that water's not going anywhere. I'm Reggie Aqui. A live report is coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: U.K. terror investigation. Fast-moving developments this morning. Understatement of the morning. Man, things are happening quickly. New British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will update us. Her briefing live in the NEWSROOM, 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. About seven minutes or so from right now.

NGUYEN: Well, flood waters, they are on the rise in the American heartland today. Parts of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, all reeling from days of heavy rain. CNN's Reggie Aqui is in Coffeyville, Kansas.

And, boy, it's not just the water, but it's also what's in the water.

Reggie. AQUI: It is. They're dealing with some oil that's in that water because there's a nearby refinery and that refinery also got flooded during this flood. And so what happened is well, that oil mixed with the water and now it's behind me. And right now we don't know exactly how much of that oil is in the water. They're still trying to figure that out, today. But we do know that there are officials here from the state and the EPA. They're going to be looking at this to see what sort of danger that poses.

And right now I have the mayor of the town with me, Virgil Horn. And he has an incredible story to tell us.

Because not only are you looking out for your fellow citizens here, you're also really affected by what happened with this water. Tell me about what your house looks like right now.

MAYOR VIRGIL HORN, COFFEYVILLE, KANSAS: My house is totally submerged under water and we've lost everything. That's the picture. Not only myself, but all in the neighborhood, those who are in that area, more than displaced, we've lost everything.

AQUI: In addition to not having material goods right now, a lot of people not knowing the state of their houses, and we're talking about, what, 2,500 people who were evacuated along with you, you've also got this environmental and health hazard. Tell me about how concerned you are regarding what's in this water.

HORN: I'm very concerned. It's chemicals mixed with water. And so the city has that barricade and blocked off until the water recedes and then we'll have to check to see if it's safe to go in to even see what the damages are to the homes.

AQUI: Mayor Horn, talking to some of your fellow neighbors and citizens, how are they doing, dealing with the fact that they're now displaced out of their homes, they don't know what's left. You're saying some of them have everything gone.

HORN: It's devastating. It's seriously disturbing. Individuals work all their lives and then overnight it's gone. You've heard that story before . . .

AQUI: With the hurricane and other things like that.

HORN: With the Hurricane Katrina and what have you. It's a real story. It's a hurting story. It's a mind-disturbing story. But I do want to say this. That God is able and that he will -- he will do thing for us that we can't do for ourselves.

AQUI: Mr. Mayor, thank you so much.

The mayor, I should also mention, is a local pastor here. His church is also in the affected evacuated flood zone.

Betty, the only hope that we really have now is the rain has kind of stopped for the moment. And we're hoping that that forecast is going to be a little friendlier for the next couple of days. NGUYEN: Yes, we can all hope. Reggie Aqui joining us live today.

Reggie, thank you.

HARRIS: Hezbollah expanding operations to include Iraq? The U.S. military says it's so with a little help from Iran. A story you saw first on CNN.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Christiane Amanpour outside parliament.

Soon the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, in a few minutes will address parliament, tell the country where it stands on its footing for terrorism, it is at critical right now, when we return to NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Bottom of the hour, good morning, everyone, welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Tony Harris.

NGUYEN: Yes. And I'm Betty Nguyen. Great Britain on its highest terror alert right now, and we're expecting an update from the British home secretary, Jacqui Smith, at any minute now. We're going to bring that to you just as soon as it happens.

But first, here are the new developments this morning. Security sources tell CNN the same men may have been behind the wheels of two unexploded car bombs in London, and the Jeep that slammed into the Glasgow Airport. Two of the seven are in custody and they're said to be medical doctors.

And just a short time ago our Nic Robertson reported that authorities mobilized a bomb disposal unit to the hospital where police say one of the suspects is being treated. One of the suspects is believed to have worked there in that hospital.

And in the United States, tighter security is in place at airports, but the overall terror alert level in the U.S. is unchanged.

Well, developments are coming in at a quick pace. They've been doing that all morning long. So we'd like to get you more on the terror investigation in Britain right now. CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joins us live from London.

Help us understand what has happened overnight, because there have been a lot of new developments -- Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there have. Fast and furious. And from the beginning, almost, the Scotland Yard counter-terrorism experts and officials have been sounding confident that they would soon know the full details of this plot, the motivation, the network, and they have not now got quite a few answers, at least enough that they're putting out in public. For instance, they're saying that it is a clear link between what happened in London on Friday, that those two potential car bombs were set, and a clear link between that and the Jeep Cherokee that was run into the Glasgow Airport terminal and set on fire there.

They're saying -- they're working on the assumption that the two people who did the car bombs in London, which did not go off, are the same two people they believe who tried to drive a car and perhaps make it a suicide attack into the Glasgow Airport. So they're working on that assumption.

They also now have seven people in total in arrest. As far as we know, that's the latest information from the police. We're also told that sources in Jordan are confirming that one of those people who was arrested yesterday on the motorway, the M6 motorway in England, was a man of Palestinian origin, who had done his medical residency in Jordan between the years 2004 and 2005. And he then two years ago came over with his family to England.

Now we're going to go to the Parliament where Jacqui Smith, the new home secretary, is briefing Parliament and the country. Sitting right behind her, the prime minister, Gordon Brown.

JACQUI SMITH, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: ... concerning details of what is still a fast-moving investigation. The facts as they've been reported to me by the police and other agencies are as follows.

In the early hours of the 29th of June, an ambulance crew reported a suspicious Mercedes vehicle outside a nightclub in the Haymarket in central London. The vehicle contained significant amounts of petrol, gas cylinders and nails. Explosives officers from the Metropolitan Police Counterterrorism Command were called and manually disabled the means of detonation.

During the course of their investigation on Friday, police learned of a second Mercedes vehicle that was issued with a parking ticket at about 2:30 a.m. on the 29th of June. The car was parked in Cockspur Street, London, close to the location of the first vehicle. The second vehicle was taken to a pound in Hyde Park at about 3:30 a.m. that morning.

The vehicle contained similar materials to those found in the first, including a significant amount of fuel, gas canisters and a quantity of nails. As with the first device, the vehicle was quickly made safe by explosives officers. And police quickly confirmed that the vehicles were linked.

Further examination will reveal additional detail about the impact these devices may have had if detonated, but at this teenage police believe these were potentially viable devices that could have caused significant injury or loss of life.

At 15:15 on the 30th of June, a Jeep Cherokee drove into a front door at the check-in area of the terminal building at Glasgow Airport and caught fire on impact. One member of the public sustained minor injuries in the immediate aftermath of this incident. Police have confirmed that the incident at the airport was linked to the vehicles discovered in London.

The investigations into these incidences have involved police forces across the United Kingdom. To date, six individuals have been arrested in connection with the events, one at Glasgow Airport, a further two in Glasgow, two in Staffordshire, north of Junction 16 on the M6, and one in Liverpool.

One further individual of interest remains in a critical condition in hospital. Searches have already been carried out in at least 19 locations, but as I've already said, Mr. Speaker, this is a fast-moving investigation.

I'm sure the House will want to join me in thanking all those involved in the response to these incidents.

PARLIAMENT MEMBERS: Yea!

SMITH: The ambulance crew whose vigilance potentially averted an attack. The police, particularly the explosives officers...

PARLIAMENT MEMBERS: Yea!

SMITH: ... who manually disabled the device in the Haymarket. And the security service.

In addition, the response from the public and business community, including staff at airports, has been excellent in support of the police and other emergency services. I would also like to thank colleagues in Scotland and internationally in the United States and in Europe for their messages and offers of support.

Since Friday morning, the government has held four meetings of Cobra, chaired by the prime minister and myself, and attended by ministerial colleague from key government departments and the police and intelligence agencies. Our priority has been to coordinate the necessary responses to protect the public.

And turning now to that response under way across the country, the police have substantially set up protective security measures, including high visibility patrols, including armed response vehicles.

The increased use of stop-and-search powers for vehicles and pedestrians, an increased physical protection around airport terminal buildings, including tighter controls on access roads and installation of new barriers in conjunction with airport operators and the department for transport.

As ever, these measures are designed to maximize public safety while minimizing disruption to normal life. This action supplements the substantial program of work already under way to protect high-risk locations. Police counterterrorism security advisers have already advised a range of crowded places in recent months, including 450 major sporting venues and around 400 shopping centers.

As the House will be aware, the U.K. national threat level was raised from severe to critical on the Saturday, the 30th of June, by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre. The JTAC sets threat levels based on a comprehensive analysis of all intelligence relating to international terrorism.

Mr. Speaker, terrorism is a serious threat to us all. We must ensure our resources, capability and legislation support our common endeavor to defend the shared values of this country from terror. To that end, we have doubled expenditure on counterterrorism since September 2001.

Work as part of the current comprehensive spending review will further assess the expenditure necessary. We have started a full consultative review of counterterrorism legislation with a view to a bill later this year. This process will continue.

We have refocused the Home Office, developed the Office for Security and Counterterrorism and have established a weekly security board, chaired by myself to coordinate the efforts of key departments and agencies. Across government, ministers will work together to oversee the delivery of this complex package of measures.

Let us be clear, terrorists are criminals whose victims come from all walks of life, communities and religious backgrounds. Terrorists attack the values that are shared by all law-abiding citizens. As a government, as communities, as individuals we need to ensure that the message of the terrorists is rejected.

I very much welcome the strong messages of condemnation we've heard throughout the weekend from community leaders across the country. It is through our unity that the terrorists will eventually be defeated.

Mr. Speaker, in closing my statement, I would also like to express my admiration and thanks to members of the public in this country and all our communities for their patience and measured response to these events.

My aim as home secretary is to allow the British public to live their lives as they would wish within the law. The fact that people have been prepared to go about those lives as normally as possible this weekend sends the strongest message to those who wish to destroy our way of life and our freedoms that we will not be intimidated by terror.

PARLIAMENT MEMBERS: Yea!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May I start by...

AMANPOUR: So that there is the new home secretary, Jacqui Smith, who has now addressed Parliament. You saw the prime minister, Gordon Brown sitting beside her. And she started by recapping the events that already have been in the public since Friday, the 29th of June.

Basically talking about the two cars, the first one that was found in the Haymarket, containing a significant amount of petrol, gas canisters and nails. She also confirmed that it had been manually disabled -- the means of detonation had been, by the explosive unit who was called in.

She praised the vigilant ambulance crews who had been the first to see the suspicious vehicle and call in the police and the explosives unit. She went on to confirm that another car had been found nearby, had been given a parking ticket and had been towed away.

And it had been also found with a significant amount of petrol, gas canisters and shrapnel. She said that the police had very quickly confirmed that both of these vehicles had been linked.

Then she said that on Saturday, as we know, a Jeep Cherokee had driven into -- tried to drive into the airport terminal in Glasgow, and had caught fire, again saying and describing what we know has happened.

There was nothing much new in what Jacqui Smith told parliament, but again saying that very, very quickly police had also linked the airport plot to the London plot. She confirmed that six people are under arrest in a very fast-moving investigation. She confirmed that there is one other individual "of interest" in critical condition in a Glasgow hospital.

And she also said that up-to-date, 19 locations have been searched in this investigation and it's an investigation that is ongoing -- Betty.

NGUYEN: So let's look at that a little bit deeper, if we will, Christiane. Nineteen locations being searched, you've got six suspects, one person of interest, and of the two people that they're looking at -- there are the seven people total that they're looking at, two of them are doctors. Does this create a whole new dimension when we look at the terror threat?

AMANPOUR: Well, look, it is very interesting, this notion that at least two of those who are either in critical condition in the hospital or under arrest are apparently doctors. And one of the theories that Scotland Yard is working on, according to our Paula Newton, is the theory that perhaps there might be some network of medical professionals from abroad who have come over and have been now involved in this attempted terrorism, and this attempt to blow up cars and to perhaps create a suicide bombing attack on the Glasgow Airport.

So that is one of the theories that they're working on right now. Of course when she says "a person of interest," it's a bit of a euphemism. Because that person of interest who was found in flames, having dowsed himself during that car attack on the Glasgow Airport. And he is now, as we have said, and as has been reported, in the Glasgow hospital -- Betty.

NGUYEN: That very hospital which is under investigation and a bomb disposal vehicle has been activated to that scene. So obviously a lot of fast-moving developments. Christiane Amanpour, our chief international correspondent, joining us live from London. Christiane, we thank you.

HARRIS: And still to come this morning in the NEWSROOM, from Lebanon to the front lines in Iraq, Hezbollah operatives backed by Iran? The U.S. military confirming a story first reported exclusively on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: On the trail of a new enemy in Iraq, U.S. military confirming a story first reported by CNN, Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon aligning with Iran's Quds Force special unit there to coordinate attacks on U.S. troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. KEVIN BERGNER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE IRAQ SPOKESMAN: Quds Force, along with Hezbollah instructors, train approximately 20 to 60 Iraqis at a time, sending them back to Iraq organized into these special groups. They're being taught how to use EFPs, mortars, rockets, as well as intelligence, sniper and kidnapping operations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: The capture of a high-level Hezbollah operative is shedding light on the group's involvement in Iraq. U.S. intelligence officials say they believe that he played a key role in a January raid on a military compound in Karbala. Five Americans died in that attack.

HARRIS: Let's get you to our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, he is outside of Glasgow.

Nic, I understand you have new breaking developments to share with us.

NIC ROBERTSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I do, Tony. Outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital, we just heard an explosion, this is about 45 minutes to an hour after the police brought in a bomb disposal team. It appears at this stage as if the police have performed a controlled explosion on some sort of suspicious device within the hospital compound.

We don't know what the device was, we don't know what alerted the police to this particular device. They closed the roads around the hospital, the roads remain closed. They evacuated staff from within the hospital, got people out of the area, both residence and people within the hospital moved out of the immediate area. That controlled detonation going off just in the last couple of minutes -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. And I'm assuming that's all we know at this point. Can you sort of backtrack the story for us, Nic, and give us an indication when authorities arrived at that hospital and perhaps, you may not know this, what information they were acting on, and what ultimately led them -- how long ago was it when the bomb team rolled into that area?

ROBERTSON: Well, the bomb team rolled in here about an hour ago. About three hours ago, the police began investigating the doctors' accommodation at the hospital here. There's a strong indication of a link between the investigation going on at a house close to the Glasgow Airport where two -- what neighbors describe as foreign men were living, one of the men living there is reported to have been a doctor at this house.

They were renting -- a doctor at the hospital. The house that was being rented, according to the woman that owns the house, one of the men renting it was a doctor at this particular hospital. The indications are that the two men renting that house may be, may be, and this is not confirmed by the police, may be the two attackers who attacked Glasgow Airport.

This -- there is a second controlled explosion I have just heard of them talking to, Tony. That has come about four minutes after the first controlled explosion. The situation here is still quite tense, and the police where we're standing here, looking on from quite a distance away from where the bomb disposal team was.

But the police have increased their interest at this hospital through the day, searching doctors' accommodations. There seems to be an indication that the house they were searching yesterday is linked to a doctor at this hospital.

He may, he may, and this is at this time not confirmed by the police, may have been involved in that attack on Glasgow Airport -- Tony.

HARRIS: And, Nic, if you would, back us up even further. There was plenty of activity at that particular hospital over the weekend, wasn't there?

ROBERTSON: This is the hospital that the police brought the injured attacker -- one of the attackers in that car bomb fireball that was driven into the Glasgow Airport. One of the attackers was very badly burned, in critical condition. He was brought to this hospital for treatment.

The other attacker is in police custody in a police station in the center of Glasgow. There was on that first night -- on Saturday night when that burned attacker -- that burnt attacker was brought in, there was a bomb scare alert. At that time -- the police, again, at that time, cordoned off the hospital, evacuated the area.

And again on Sunday, just yesterday, the police performed a controlled detonation of a vehicle parked inside the hospital grounds, again not clear what triggered the suspicion in that vehicle, but there seems to be an increasing amount of police attention on the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the connection that one -- possibly, possibly one of the attackers may have been a doctor working here.

HARRIS: And once again, just to wrap this up, Nic, how many controlled detonations at that hospital to report?

ROBERTSON: Today we have heard two controlled detonations, those going off in the last 10 minutes, one of them while I was talking to you. We're at a distance of a couple of hundred meters away, a couple hundred yards away from the hospital, and we can hear those detonations quite clearly.

The bomb disposal team arrived here about an hour ago, immediately after the police closed the roads and forced an evacuation of the area around the hospital -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, on the phone with us, and we'll continue or coverage of the Great Britain terror plots right after a quick break. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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NGUYEN: Let's get you up to speed on the breaking news out of the United Kingdom. Today there have been two controlled explosions at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. We were on the phone with CNN's Nic Robertson just a little bit earlier, and you could hear that second explosion in the background.

Those explosions were about two minutes apart. A bomb disposal vehicle team has been sent to the hospital and conducted those explosions. Now this is why this is important, because two of the men that police are looking into relating to this U.K. terror investigation have connections to that very hospital.

One of the men who was arrested today is a doctor at that hospital, and another man, who was involved in the attack on the Glasgow Airport on Saturday is being treated at that hospital for severe burns. So today we have learned that a bomb disposal vehicle was sent to the hospital, the area has been cleared, traffic was stopped and just moments ago we heard at least one of the two controlled explosions dealing with a suspicious device.

Now we don't know exactly what was detonated, but of course that information will be coming in to CNN. But again the breaking news that two controlled explosions have been carried out at the Royal Alexandra Hospital which his near Glasgow, which is in the very city where the recent attacks occurred on the Glasgow Airport.

So as soon as we get more information, we'll bring that straight to you. You don't want to miss it. There is much more to come here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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