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American Morning

Iran In Iraq; Glasgow Terror Plot; Terrorist Manhunt; Kansas Flooding; U.K. Terror Plot; America Votes 2008; Airport Security

Aired July 02, 2007 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: On the hunt.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're all learning a great deal about the people who were involved.

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ROBERTS: Reports this morning that two doctors are among five people in custody for the U.K. terror plot.

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MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Reasonable possibility that it's either al Qaeda or people who are associated with al Qaeda.

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ROBERTS: Beefed up security at airports around the world.

Live from London and New York, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And good morning to you. It is Monday, the second of July. Thanks very much for joining us. I'm John Roberts in London.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry in New York.

We have a lot of new developments this morning in the U.K. terror plot, which is why John is in London for us.

We're also following the latest on the impact here in America. I'll be talking to the chief of Homeland Security, as well as New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, coming up throughout the three hours.

John.

ROBERTS: Just to sort of set the scene for you here today, Kiran. London authorities, British authorities have five people in custody. All suspected to have some sort of connection with two bombs here in London and then that attack on the Glasgow air terminal on Saturday. A couple of these people are said to be doctors, which would really put them sort of outside of the realm of the normal type of extremists that they see here in Britain. Police are gathering all kinds of evidence because they've got two bombs intact. They've got that third vehicle as well from Glasgow. And that attack in Glasgow provided some incredible pictures. Take a look at this.

This is the person who was believed to be the driver of that vehicle. Sets himself on fire. Apparently also went around to the back of the vehicle trying perhaps to uncork some propane tanks in were in the back of the vehicle, try to make them explode. Along came a fireman and put him out with a hose.

That man is in the hospital. He is in serious, serious condition. We don't know if officials have been able to interview him yet, but certainly they've been able to interview other people that they have detained.

Londoners woke up this morning to new restrictions on tube and train travel here, but they don't seem to let it get in the way of their daily business. The streets of London are crowded again today. People just really sort of standing up to this idea that terrorism is not going to get them down.

Where we're going to be for the next three hours is here on Abingdon Green. It's just on the other side of the street from the houses of parliament. That's where the new British prime minister, Gordon Brown, will be today. He'll be addressing members of parliament and the House of Commons, as well as the home secretary. And we hope to have the deputy home secretary for national security here with us in just a little while as well.

Kiran, we've got all of our terrific CNN correspondent. A real well-rounded look at what's going on here in Britain and what this means for the future.

First, Kiran, back to you.

CHETRY: Thanks, John.

And the developments are breaking this morning fast and furious as well. In fact, we got word, speaking of the airport bomb suspects in Glasgow, that police were actually on their tail just moments before that attack took place. This according to a house rental agency. They were possibly able to track some cell phone calls that were made from those to failed car bomb attempts in London, to a home that possibly these suspects were renting, in the moments before the Glasgow attack. So we will have much more on that as well.

But first, a CNN exclusive this morning. Evidence that Iran is arming and training Shiite militias fighting American troops in Iraq. The military this morning confirmed a CNN report on the involvement of Iran's elite Quds force and the Iranian backed Hezbollah from Lebanon.

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BRIG. GEN. KEVIN J. BERGNER, U.S. MILITARY SPOKESMAN: Quds force, along with Hezbollah instructors, trained 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.

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CHETRY: CNN's Michael Ware broke this story and he is with us from Baghdad with exclusive details on it.

Michael, how does the U.S. know that Hezbollah is involved?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Kiran.

Yes, the U.S. military knows that Hezbollah is involved in Iraq principally through the arrest of one of Hezbollah's own Lebanese top special operations commanders here in this country. He was caught with the Iraqi commanders who plan and executed the attempt to kidnap five American soldiers, which unfortunately ended in the execution of those poor G.I.s.

Now, once they got this guy, they didn't know they had him for weeks. He played a deaf mute, not wanting to give away his Lebanese accent. Eventually, some of the Iraqis started to roll on him. They started to identify him. Finally he confessed.

Then the Americans went off using electronic intelligence that intercepting communications. They got other corroborating material. As the general this morning said, we know it's him. This is a senior Lebanese-Hezbollah operative.

Kiran.

CHETRY: And the question also, why would the Quds force depend on Hezbollah in Iraq when they, as we've seen before with being able to cross over the border quite easily, could do it themselves?

WARE: Well, there's a number of reasons for this, Kiran. I mean this is an extraordinarily glimpse that we were able to obtain into the proxy war, one of the four wars being fought here in Iraq. This is the war between America and Iran. And Iran is fighting with it proxies. Precisely like Lebanese/Hezbollah this advisor.

Now it's long been established that Iran is funding, training and equipping Shia militia forces both involved in the government and on the streets who are attacking U.S. forces to serve Iranian interests. Now the reason they use a Lebanese Hezbollah as a guy to go in there and get his hands dirty, is that this protects the Iranian officers. We saw seven of them arrested over Christmas here in Iraq.

That was a bit bruising to the Iranians. So they like to use others to do the work so they can maintain plausible deniability. Don't forget, Iranians are Persians. They speak Farsi. Lebanese Hezbollah, that's Arab. So this guy was able to mix in much better and still give the Iranians room to deny his existence if ever he was killed or captured, just like this.

Kiran. CHETRY: You know, it will be interesting to see your reporting on this and what the implications now are for about a broader war with Iran or whether or not the war on terror would end up heading in that direction given this news.

WARE: Yes. Well, I mean, it's the scary thing, that what triggered last summer's war in Lebanon, between Lebanese Hezbollah and the Israeli defense force, is the kidnap of Israel soldiers. Now this is precisely what this Lebanese Hezbollah guy came to Iraq with, a specialist skilled in kidnapping soldiers. So it could trigger anything.

Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes, it really -- the implications seem like they are very vast.

Great reporting. CNN's Michael Ware breaking this story from Baghdad. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Now we want to go back to the latest on the British terror investigation and up to Glasgow where our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is following the investigation.

And, Nic, you have some new information this morning about the house where two of the suspects had taken up residence?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, that's the assumption being made here, that two of the suspects did live at the house that's being investigated by the police here. What we have learned this morning from the rental agency that rented it to the two people is that 15 minutes before the attack at Glasgow Airport, the police called somebody at the rental agency and asked, how do you call this mobile phone number? And the person said, well I call lots of mobile phone numbers, so I don't know.

Two hours after the attack, the police called back the same person at the rental agency and said, OK, we talked to you about that mobile phone number. Here are a couple of names. Do you know these names? And the person at the rental agency says, yes, we rented a property to these people. That's the property right behind me here in this quiet village.

The police then, within a few hours of that, began their investigations at the rental property here. The rental agencies say that the people who rented this property, one of them was a professional man. They say that he recently paid his rental for the property, about $1,000, paid that about a week ago.

Now the lady that actually owns the property says that the man renting the property was a doctor. We've heard a lot about doctors being arrested by police. At least two of the suspects arrested by police so far we know to be doctors.

We also understand as well that the investigation of the people of this property here is linked to these arrests further south in England, with at least one doctor arrested further south of there. We also understand as well that one of those men that was arrested at Glasgow Airport, believed to have been living here, was taken to a local Glasgow hospital. It is now understood, by at least the lady that owns the property here, that the man at that hospital is where the doctor who rented this property actually worked. So it does seem that at least one of those people under investigation for that attack at Glasgow Airport being treated for critical burns at a local Glasgow hospital. The same hospital that the doctor here lived at as well.

John.

ROBERTS: And are they putting out any names at this point, Nic?

ROBERTSON: John, we don't have any names given to us here publicly at the moment by the police. The police tend to keep these details very closely guarded. So we're not aware of those names at this time.

John.

ROBERTS: All right. Well I'm sure that that's going to come out very soon.

Nic Robertson up there in Glasgow for us.

Nic, thanks very much. We'll get back to you.

We want to go now to CNN's international security correspondent Paula Newton. She is following developments from Scotland Yard this morning.

And yesterday, Paula, Scotland Yard was saying that the connections between Glasgow and London were becoming clearer by the moment. They have made a significant connection now, have they not?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, CNN learned last night, in fact, from police and security sources close to the investigation, that the reason -- Nic was talking about the reason that it is so significant about this house being so close to the airport and the fact that police had already called the letting agency, the people who rent out that house before the attack in Glasgow, is that they are now connecting the two London car bomb incidents to these same two men who basically tried to attack that airport in Glasgow. So again, they're now looking down a line of inquiry, John, which would tell you that the same two people that planted those car bombs in central London are the same two people that attempted to attack the airport in Glasgow.

And that is what has really unhinged this entire investigation, in terms of really trying to get to their motivations. What were they trying to do? We know, in fact, from police already that those two car bombs in London were set to go off remotely. We learned that they used two mobile phones. The mobile phones were called. They failed to detonate.

After that, police now suspect that those same two suspects drove north, about five or six hours north, and then tried to launch this suicide attack in the airport. That is the live in inquiry right now that they're investigating. And we're waiting for police -- I just want to say again, John, that we're not going to get very much information from police really for quite a while. And the reason is they won't want to prejudice any court proceedings going forward.

John.

ROBERTS: Right. And as they get closer to charges, they tighten the information flow down even more.

But let me ask you this question, Paula. Is there a sense that the Glasgow attack was out of frustration for the bombs here in London not going on or was the plan to set bombs off here in London and then, as well, conduct the Glasgow operation?

NEWTON: This is key. And this is what they're trying to figure out.

Let me points something out again. These two people, we know them to be intelligent, educated. They would have known that CCTV cameras were basically spying on them the whole time that they were trying to plant those car bombs in central London. They would have to know that within at least 24 to 48 hours the police would have had a positive ID on them.

This may be why they decided months ago to try and rent this property just five minutes, John, from the airport in Glasgow. They're trying to determine if they rented that house close to the airport so that they could flee the country perhaps very quickly after an attack, or if they had attempted all along to try and stage some type of an attack on the airport the day after a suicide attack, thereby being able to actually have two car bomb go off in central London and then end it with a suicide attack on that airport.

John.

ROBERTS: Wow. Well, a significant, new development for us.

Paula Newton at Scotland Yard, thanks very much.

We'll be back here from London with more on this continuing story. This news continuing to break even this morning.

But, Kiran, right now, back to you in New York.

CHETRY: Right. And we're following another threat, not terror, but really severe weather and a state of emergency declared now in 12 counties in Kansas as folks in that state are dealing with record flooding.

On the Oklahoma border, due north of Tulsa, much of Coffeyville under water at this hour. Oil from a local refinery is leaking into the flood waters, swirling down streets in that city. CNN's Reggie Aqui is live in Coffeyville for us with more.

REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. It's a nasty site right there because of that oil that you're talking about. The governor is going to come here later today and survey some of this damage. What we're talking about is a third of the population, usually living over there, can't. They're in hotel, they're with friends. Twenty-five hundred people not exactly sure when they're going to be able to go back home. When they're going to be able to see just how much water is creeping into their homes.

Take a look at this aerial video that we have and we'll show you the problem. We're talking about a local refinery that also makes fertilizer. And apparently, some time very early yesterday morning, some of the oil in that refinery leaked out into this water.

How much? The plant doesn't even know. That's because the water apparently is keeping employees out of the area where they can measure the gauges to show just how much oil was lost.

I can tell you this. I was in this water yesterday and my clothes stink of oil. So people are very concerned about the environmental impact and the health impact. We're told that Kansas health officials are in the area right now trying to figure out what sort of threat this poses to the residents.

There are some other threats too, today. We're told there's a 40 percent chance of rain. There's also going to be a survey done by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Verdegrus (ph) River is the river that is now 10 feet above flood stage in this area. And we're told the Army Corps of Engineers may have to release some of the flood gates.

And, Kiran, of course, that means more water coming into the streets. And just overnight I can tell you that about five hours ago I was about that far out into the water and it was only up to my knees. Right now it would be much further up. One man told me his house is completely submerged. All he could save were his houseplants.

Back to you.

CHETRY: Oh, what a mess there. Reggie Aqui reporting for us in Coffeyville, Kansas, this morning. Thank you.

Traffic now is moving again on New York's Tappan Zee Bridge. It reopened early this morning after a deadly three car crash had it shut down all night. Police say that a car rammed a tractor-trailer. The truck then hit another car and burst into flames, killing the truck driver. Engineers say there are no structural problems to the bridge.

And there are funerals today for four of the five teenagers killed in a car crash last week in upstate New York. More than 1,000 mourners crowded into the Fairport High School gym where the victims were once cheerleaders. I talked with their close friends over the weekend, including some who actually witnessed the crash that took the lives of their best friends. We're going to have their personal memories and how they're coping coming up in our next hour.

And a deadly wildfire topping your "Quick Hits." It's burning right now about 100 miles east of Salt Lake City and spreading fast. Forty-six square miles wiped out. Three people working in a hayfield were killed in this fire Friday.

And in southern California, firefighters gaining ground on a wildfire burning along rugged canyon walls. That's in Santa Barbara. Four hundred eighty-two acres of brush wiped out near some popular campsites and swimming holes. Right now that fire is just 60 percent contained.

Senator Barack Obama setting a fund-raising record. What $31 million means for his presidential hopes and the hopes of his competitors. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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ROBERTS: Picture of Big Ben here at Westminster. It's 20 minutes after 11 here in London, Twenty minutes after 6:00 on the East Coast. Welcome back. John Roberts, with the most news in the morning here on AMERICAN MORNING, live from London this morning as we continue to follow the breaking news about the terror attacks and the terror plot that is slowly unraveling here in terms of the investigation.

Finding out more information all the time, including new information that came to us from Paula Newton just a few minutes ago that it appears as though the people who crashed the car into the airport in Glasgow may indeed have been the same people who planted the car bombs here in London. Britain remains, of course, on its highest security alert this morning, critical. That's had an effect on air traffic flying out of Heathrow and Gatwick and other airports across the country, as well as transport on the tube and other trains as people try to get to work here in London.

As investigators learn more about those attacks and the failed attacks here and more about those who were involved in it, joining me now is our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour.

What do you make of this significant new news that Paula reported, that the guys may have set the bombs here in London then high tailed it to Glasgow?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it sort of gets the heart racing, because you sort of see a picture emerging. Now we're playing amateur detective, at least I am, when I say that it looks like they may have intentionally, obviously, run away from the bomb in London, the two cars, put it on some kind of time or some kind of IED, and then rushed to Glasgow, if this turns out to be correct, which the police are saying now, got into this car and determined then to have a suicide attack. Because we know that they doused themselves with gasoline. And had it exploded, there was no real way of surviving that.

So if they have those two, and one of them apparently is in hospital, they pretty much have the nub of it. And we've heard the deputy at Scotland Yard, Peter Clarke, basically sounding a very confident tone since yesterday, that they know that in the next days or weeks, they will have the answers about who did this, what the motivation was, who the network is, and a lot of answers. Not just do they have the people, but they have all the forensic evidence

ROBERTS: What do you expect about the threat? Has the immediate danger passed?

AMANPOUR: No.

ROBERTS: Gordon Brown certainly has said that the threat will last for a long time.

AMANPOUR: And he's put the country on critical. That means the threat has not passed. That means they expect another one. They don't have a specific warning for another one, but they expect another one could be imminent. Gordon Brown has been roundly praised for his handling, very calm, very meticulous, put the country on critical. But the British, as you know, continue to go about their work.

ROBERTS: Christiane, you have done extensive investigation of the growth of extremism here in London. And, for the most part, we see disaffected youth who are joining up with the extremist movement. Here we have a couple of people who are believed to be doctors. It's not that doctors don't become terrorists, Ayman al-Zawahiri is one, but it doesn't fit the typical profile here in London.

AMANPOUR: It doesn't fit the profile. And I'll say one more thing. Just when we think we're getting a handle on this, something come in to throw a spanner (ph) in the works. Because, according to most of the comments, including the first minister in Scotland, these were not British born and bred. At least the people that they believe created this Scottish attack. It appears, according to Alex Salmond, that these people had only just arrived not very long before the attack. So these are not indigenous born and raised Muslims or people from England.

ROBERTS: So where do you expect the investigation is going to go from here?

AMANPOUR: Well, we were talking about this on Friday. We're going to see if there are more, if there is a bigger network, if it was just this localized. And then the question is, you know, who were they? Who do they belong to? Is it al Qaeda? Is it not?

ROBERTS: Christiane Amanpour, our chief international correspondent, thanks.

And Christiane will be joining us throughout this morning. But right now, let's go back to New York. And here's Kiran.

CHETRY: Thanks, John.

And coming up, Senator Barack Obama's fund-raising record and the latest moves for Hillary and Bill Clinton. It's all next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. There are some new numbers out this morning shaking up the campaign for president. No doubt Senator Barack Obama raised a record $31 million between April and June for his primary campaign. That's compared to $21 million for Hillary Clinton. John Edwards raised $9 million in the second quarter and Bill Richardson $7 million.

So what do the record numbers mean for the Obama campaign? John Dickerson is chief political correspondent for slate.com and joins us from Washington this morning.

Hi, John.

JOHN DICKERSON, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, SLATE.COM: Hi. Good morning.

CHETRY: He did a great job in the first quarter, but this time shattering fund-raising records across the board. Were you surprised?

DICKERSON: Well, a little bit. I mean, we knew he'd do well, certainly. But this is really extraordinary. And it's extraordinary for three reasons. One is the big money number. That means they'll have the resources they need to keep lights on, run ads. The second is the number of people, actually, who were involved. Campaigns always say they want to bring new people into the process. Obama has done that rather impressively. And then third . . .

CHETRY: And, yes, let's get to that point quickly, because just so people understand it, Hillary Clinton with $21 million had about 60,000 or so donor. Barack Obama with $31 million had a much larger pool. He had 250,000 plus people contributing to his campaign. Why is that significant?

DICKERSON: Well, it's significant because you want to be able to grow the pie, as they say. You want to be able to expand the number of voters you can bring in because then you're not limited to existing voting blocks. You can bring in people who haven't been involved in politics. And in this case, you get these stories of people who come to these Obama events and say, I haven't much been interested in politics, but, here, I'll give you the money out of my handbag. That gives a sense of momentum. It gives a sense of movement. And that's just very exciting for any campaign.

CHETRY: And you said there was a third reason why you felt this was extremely different and important.

DICKERSON: Well, for Obama, they just started this campaign. I mean this is late starting. You know, Hillary Clinton has been planning very carefully for a long time. Obama was late starting and this shows that they have some sense of tactics and strategy to be able to put this together the way they have.

CHETRY: Speaking of Hillary Clinton, her husband, our former president, Bill Clinton, is going to be joining her for their first major campaign appearances. This taking place in Iowa. What kind of impact do you think the former president will have on her campaign? DICKERSON: He'll have a big impact. He is very popular. He was the rock star in the Democratic Party before Barack Obama became a rock star in the party. He's quite popular. And he can also talk about her story in a way that she can't and really nobody else can talk about her history in public service and about her other dimensions. And it can be quite a compelling package for Democratic voters.

CHETRY: People always ask this. Is there a chance that he could overshadow his wife? But how much of an impact do you think that really could have?

DICKERSON: There's probably some small chance. He's quite a smart politician and they know about that possible liability. So they probably will be able to avoid it. And so I think it's probably all a huge plus for Hillary Clinton.

CHETRY: All right, John Dickerson. We're going to have you back in the 8:00 hour and we're going to be talking about Mitt Romney's dog. So people will want to stay tuned for that. A very puzzling situation, story that's going around.

John, thank you.

DICKERSON: Thank you.

CHETRY: Still ahead, two suspects in the U.K. terror plot, reportedly doctors. We're going to get the latest from John in London when we come back.

And also, looking for higher ground in the Midwest. Record flooding and little relief in sight. In fact, a big chance of rain again today. Security also stepped up at airports around the country. CNN's Jim Acosta with that side of the story coming up.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, American airports are on guard. Does that mean delays for travelers? Take a look. The answer coming up as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

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CHETRY: And good morning once again. It's Monday, July 2nd.

I'm Kiran Chetry in New York.

ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts in London.

Welcome to a split edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

We're here in London following the investigation into the two bombs that were planted, the car bombs planted here in London on Friday, and then that attack on the Glasgow airport on Saturday. The investigation is moving very, very swiftly, and now police here in Britain say that they believe that there is a definite link between the London bombings and the attack on the Glasgow airport in that the same people who planted the car bombs here in London then, according to police, may have raced to Glasgow and carried out that attack on Saturday afternoon.

Kiran, we're going to keep watching the investigation. We've got our CNN correspondents at Scotland Yard up there in Glasgow. We have got other people here to talk to as well, members of parliament, terrorist analysts, and we'll bring you all of that throughout the morning here from London on AMERICAN MORNING.

CHETRY: And we're also going to be speaking with Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff here in the U.S., as well as New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly coming up throughout the morning as well.

Meantime, airports across the country are boosting security measures ahead of July 4th.

Jim Acosta is live at New York's LaGuardia airport for us.

Of course we have this big holiday coming up, a really heavy holiday travel season as we head into this part of the summer, but also in light of what happened in London, are they making changes, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some changes, yes, Kiran. And American airports, including here in New York, are on high alert once again. And that has meant some delays as authorities are willing to shut down these terminals if anything looks suspicious.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice over): At New York's JFK International, police stopped all passengers from entering this terminal for an hour on Sunday after finding a suspicious package that turned out to be harmless. Over at LaGuardia airport, massive lines of anxious travelers who nearly missed their flights due to slowdowns at baggage screening.

REBECCA BLAKE, AIR TRAVELER: This is not security though. This is poor, poor management.

ACOSTA: But many passengers say they're willing to wait to stay safe.

MARCELL PEVSNER, AIR TRAVELER: In their case, they have about, what, a one-hour flight? We'll be on line for two hours to take a one-hour flight. It's almost like Disney World.

ACOSTA (on camera): The line is longer than the ride?

PEVSNER: Exactly.

ACOSTA (voice over): Armed police officers and bomb-sniffing dogs will stay visible at air terminals across the country until after the Fourth of July. One New York public safety official told CNN Saturday's attack at the Glasgow airport caught U.S. security experts off guard.

MICHAEL BALBONI, NEW YORK DEP. SECRETARY OF PUBLIC SAFETY: The way it was done really truly is bizarre.

ACOSTA (on camera): Not in the chatter, as it's called in intelligence?

BALBONI: We saw -- we didn't see anything that -- with a specific mention towards that.

ACOSTA (voice over): Despite the stepped-up security, we found this car sitting unattended outside departures for more than 10 minutes before the driver came along. We saw another vehicle left outside the terminal for several minutes. The pickup was nearly towed by police until the driver showed up just in time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And as for that suspicious package over at JFK, it turns out it was just a bag containing a bottle of cologne -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Jim Acosta, thanks so much.

We're going to head back out to London and John Roberts.

Hi, John.

ROBERTS: And more breaking news this morning, Kiran. According to our international terror correspondent, Paula Newton, she has found out from Scotland Yard that police are now operating on the theory that the same men who planted the bombs here in London on Saturday were the ones who carried out the attack on the Glasgow Friday -- are the ones who carried out the attack on the Glasgow airport on Saturday.

Let's bring in our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour.

Christiane, even though the series of attacks span the country from south to north, some 350 miles in between, that it may have actually been smaller than first thought?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly suggest that they've got the body of evidence that they need for these attacks. But, for instance, they've got the people -- that they're in hospital -- they've got the cars and the forensic evidence, and the pictures on CCTV.

But what they don't know -- what we don't know, actually, is what kind of support group, what is the network? What is the supply? What is the financing. If is there a bigger group around them, who are these other people who are under arrest and right now being questioned in Paddington, not too far from us?

ROBERTS: The fact that two of the people who were involved in this are believed to be physicians, medical doctors, what does that say about the network from which they group?

AMANPOUR: Well, again, it's interesting. You know, a lots of the people -- for instance, the homegrown terrorist, so-called, of 7- 7, some of them were professionals. The doctor is slightly different, and of course it goes against the grain when you think people who are sworn to uphold human life can do this kind of thing. But the real thing is -- well, one of the things I think is interesting is these are probably unlikely to be British born and raised, which is what the British police have been operating on since 7-7.

ROBERTS: It's another rainy day here in London. You can see the water coming down. But we also should point out, Christiane, that of course just because you're a doctor doesn't mean you can't become a terrorist, because Osama bin Laden's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is a doctor form Egypt -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right, John. Thanks so much.

It's 37 minutes past the hour now. We're going to check in with Chad Myers.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Back here now live in London as we continue to cover the breaking news of the investigation into the bombing and terror plots here both in London and in Glasgow, Scotland, on Saturday afternoon.

Our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, is with us now.

And this is having quite an effect on the lives of people here, particularly in London.

AMANPOUR: It is, although as you can see, traffic is moving here in the heart of London. But a much more visible police presence, not just on the streets, but on public transport, the tubes, that kind -- train stations. They're talking about now doing many more stations, whereas before it was a smaller, more limited number. We're at critical here, so that means they expect another one, although they have no specific mention that there will be another one.

ROBERTS: There was the concert for Diana last night at Wembley.

AMANPOUR: That's right.

ROBERTS: Which thankfully went off without a hitch. Wimbledon starts up again today, after a day off yesterday.

AMANPOUR: Well, exactly. And they're even talking about excess security at Wimbledon.

What they're looking at obviously is big, crowded high-profile places. And they know that with the airports now being very jammed and very, very long lines, and apparently cars not being able to take passengers right up to the actual doors, they have to move -- you know, drop them off further away. Long lines, a lot more security at airports, and they know that people will start -- well, hopefully will start taking public transport, and they're beefing up security there as well.

ROBERTS: Christiane, you have covered in depth this idea of extremism, particularly homegrown extremism here in the U.K. Is it worse now than it was prior to the attacks of 7-7 in 2005?

AMANPOUR: Well, what can we say? We haven't had another attack like that one in 7-7.

ROBERTS: With the exception of the liquid bombing plot of the airlines.

AMANPOUR: Exactly. Even that, still -- you know, we're still not -- really don't know the full particulars of that, although security was really beefed up there. But we haven't had final trials and convictions. But clearly, the police have been looking at this homegrown terrorism phenomenon, all the time mentioning, which we have to, that the majority of this is incredibly large Muslim minority here is peaceful, moderate and condemns these attacks.

What they told us before this was that they're monitoring something in the region of 30 cells, something in the region of more than 1,000 people. What we believe to be true is that this attack was not on their radar -- not on their radar. So this appears, according to comments that have come out from various ministers and officials now, not to be so-called homegrown terrorism.

ROBERTS: Right.

AMANPOUR: And Paula Newton has reported, which I think is critical, is that one of the things that police now are looking at is potentially, this could be an alliance of medical professionals, a network of medical professionals...

ROBERTS: So, again...

AMANPOUR: ... came in here, visas and work permits to do the medical studying and working, and maybe -- maybe this is a terrorist network of medical professionals. That's one of the theories.

ROBERTS: So, again, the paradigm of possible terrorism in this country shifts yet again.

Christiane, thanks. We'll get you back in just a few minutes.

Right now, let's go back to New York and Kiran.

CHETRY: All right, John. Thanks.

It was supposed to be a week of graduation celebrations for a tight-night group of upstate New York cheerleaders. But instead, the town is in mourning after five teens died in a fiery car crash.

I had a chance this weekend to talk with their friends and coaches who shared memories and also relived the horror of that day. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Such a cute picture.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I took it, actually.

CHETRY: You did? Where were you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meredith's birthday party. We went line dancing at The Roof (ph).

CHETRY (voice over): It was a school year filled with fun, laughter and triumph. These best friends, most of them teammates on the Fairport High School cheerleading squad, had won the American Open Championship. Their future never brighter before a tragic night last week.

They were heading to vacation in the Finger Lakes, just days after graduation.

(on camera): And you were actually driving right behind them, Riley (ph). What do you remember about that night?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were just all screaming in the car, "Is that a truck? Is that a truck?" And then I slammed on my brakes. We ran to the car, but, like, we couldn't even get close to it the fire was so big.

CHETRY (voice over): Their five friends swerved into the lane of an oncoming tractor-trailer. Bailey, Sara, Hannah, Meredith and Katie all died in the crash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no words to describe how -- what the feelings and emotion that you go through when you're told your best friends aren't coming back

CHETRY: What helps is remembering their friends.

(on camera): Who was the one you said was extremely competitive, had to win?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meredith.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meredith.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was so full of life. She just wanted to experience everything, no matter how crazy the idea was. She just wanted to do something.

CHETRY (voice over): Bailey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just remember her joking around a lot, loving to get everyone laughing.

CHETRY: Sara.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She always called herself the bossy or the boss because she liked to have control -- in a good way.

CHETRY: Hannah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That girl never stopped smiling. Her smile went so far in life. She touched so many hearts, people she didn't even know.

CHETRY: And Katie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know I could trust her with all my secrets, and any time I needed her, I just knew to go to Katie, because she was just always there for you.

CHETRY (on camera): What is helping you guys right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being together.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being together.

CHETRY (voice over): And also what they consider a sign from their friends that they're OK.

(on camera): Oh, my gosh. You're right. It does look like an angel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sends chills through my body, and it just, like, tells us that they're looking down on us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: That picture that we saw of the clouds, and it looked pretty distinctly like an angel, is a picture that one of their friends took the day after the five girls died in that car crash. And many of them say they keep it as a screen saver on their telephone because it lets them know that their friends are OK and in heaven.

By the way, funerals for four of the five teens are set for today. Coming up, we have some information for parents about how to keep your teens safe on the road and how new technology may be able to help you in that.

That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. John Roberts reporting live this morning from London, England.

Britain is on its highest alert level following the three terror plots here. Scotland Yard says that the investigation is moving very quickly. And just moments ago, our Paula Newton reported that police now believe the men who carried out the attack in Glasgow on Saturday afternoon were the same men who attempted the attacks Friday here in London.

Tony McNulty is Britain's minister of security and counterterrorism. He joins us now live from Westminster.

Minister McNulty, thanks very much for being with us.

What can you add to this part of the investigation, as we said that Paula Newton just reported, which is that the two men who were involved in the attack in Glasgow may have been connected to the attacks directly here in London?

TONY MCNULTY, U.K. MINISTER OF COUNTERTERRORISM: Well, as you know, in the first instance, reporting these matters are for the police rather than the government. But my colleague, Jacqui Smith, the new homeland secretary, will make a statement to the House of Commons later on this afternoon at half past 3:00. But operations matters such as those you just described that Paula's reported really are a matter for the police to report to the public in the first instance.

ROBERTS: And what will the home minister be -- the home secretary be reporting to members of parliament today?

MCNULTY: She'll be essentially setting out broadly the facts as we know it, as routine in this sort of statement, and the police and the authorities response to what's gone on over the last couple of days, and reiterating what the government's line is generally in terms of a range of other matters, resources for intelligence services, legislation, and other matters, including, by the by, recognition that we have had enormous officer support from our colleague, not least in the USA.

ROBERTS: Right. Can you, Minister, confirm that two of the people who are in detention are medical doctors?

MCNULTY: No. I really would be very firm and say, I cannot confirm any speculation about the profession of individuals or any other aspect of the arrest.

This really is at this time a matter for the police, who will reports to the wider public and the (INAUDIBLE) in due course. It really is my job to ensure that -- with the home secretary that parliament knows what's going on, and it's my job to ensure that the public stays as vigilant as they have been...

ROBERTS: Right.

MCNULTY: ... and allow the police and authorities to do their work.

ROBERTS: Well, then, Minister, let me go directly to your area of responsibility, if I could. Do you believe that the danger has passed, or is there an urgent threat still out there?

MCNULTY: I think the threat level remains at critical and will do until JTAC, the center that determines these things, declares otherwise.

You may remember that this time over last summer, it was some four or five days after the heightened response to the alleged airline plot before the threat level moved down from -- down to severe from -- from critical. And that's as it should be.

So, for now, we remain under threat. It is an enduring and sustained threat, and the threat level will stay critical until the powers that be and the authorities determine otherwise.

ROBERTS: Of course, Minister McNulty, this has presented quite a challenge for the new government, which only was formed late last week. But let me ask you this question. Britain is famous for its surveillance of potential extremist -- potential terrorists in this country. Is it troubling that this one slipped in under the radar?

MCNULTY: Well, again, with respect, we don't know the full details of the individuals, the networks, the support mechanisms concerned. But you can be assured that we will learn every lesson from this attack, as we have done with every attack in the past.

We are very, very keenly aware that the British intelligence services are second to none, as you say, in terms of surveillance, in keeping up with those who would do murder. Whether this one slipped through or not, whether they were people that the authorities knew about, are questions for a later date, rather than now while the operation is still so live.

ROBERTS: Tony McNulty, he is the new home officer minister for security and counterterrorism.

Minister McNulty, thanks very much for joining us. Appreciate your time, sir -- Kiran.

MCNULTY: Thank you.

CHETRY: All right, John. Thanks.

A CNN exclusive coming up at the top of the hour, evidence that U.S. troops in Iraq are facing militants armed and trained by Iran. That exclusive report ahead, next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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