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American Morning
Terrorist Manhunt: 2 Suspects Reportedly Doctors; Hezbollah Training Shiite Militants; Flooding in 12 Kansas Counties
Aired July 02, 2007 - 06:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): On the trail of terror. New information about suspects in the U.K. terror spree. Two of them reportedly doctors.
PETER CLARKE, SCOTLAND YARD: New information is come to light hour by hour.
ROBERTS: Tight security at airports in the U.S. as reports warn al Qaeda plans a spectacular summer.
Live from London and New York, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: And good morning, and thanks for joining us.
It's Monday, the 2nd of July. I'm John Roberts, here in London.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry, here in New York.
Thanks so much for joining us on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
We have new information coming in all morning long on the latest developments in this U.K. terror plot. In fact, CNN reporting now that the same suspects accused in the failed London attacks outside of the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Haymarket also are responsible for the attack at the Glasgow airport.
We're following the latest developments on this, and that's why we have John right there in London today to bring us up to date.
Also, one quick note. We're going to be speaking with the Department of Homeland Security head, Michael Chertoff, coming up in just a couple of minutes, as well as New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly, about the impact and the fallout here in the states -- John.
ROBERTS: And on that point of the breaking news, let's get right to CNN International Terror Correspondent Paula Newton. She is live for us outside of Scotland Yard.
And what is this new theory that British investigators are working on, Paula, in regard to the connection between the attempted bombings here in London and the attack on the Glasgow airport?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL TERROR CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the reasons that our sources say that police are so confident about how this investigation is going is that they do believe that the two people who are responsible for planting those car bombs in central London are the same two people who attempted the suicide attack on Glasgow airport. What's very interesting now, John, is to try to follow that timeline and motive. When they planted those car bombs, what police are trying to figure out now is if that is true, and they planned to remotely detonate those two car bombs, they probably knew that sooner or later police would I.D. them.
When they went to Glasgow -- this is the inquiry that police are following -- did they always plan that perhaps to try and pull off a suicide attack, or were they then possibly so close to that airport to try and flee the airport -- through that airport and take an international flight out of the country? That is what police are investigating now.
But that's why when you hear authorities here speak so confidently about the fact that they believe the core of this group is already in custody and the fact that, yes, they are trying to make more arrests, but they are fairly confident that they have the investigation under control, that is why. They have arrested and are questioning accomplices as well, but at this point in time they are fairly confident that this line of inquiry, that the two people who planted the bombs in central London are the same two people that then attempted that suicide attack in Glasgow -- John.
ROBERTS: So what does that say potentially, Paula, about the size of this operation? When it was London and Liverpool and Glasgow, it seemed like it was quite an expansive network. Might it actually be substantially smaller than first anticipated?
NEWTON: It wouldn't be substantially smaller in the sense that we've seen cells anywhere from about four to five, to seven or eight. That's normally the size.
We have five people arrested right now. Authorities telling us they're looking for a few more suspects.
What is different about it is that CNN also has learned that two of the five are medical doctors, at least one of them already practicing legally in Britain. What, again, authorities are trying to look at -- and they're not sure about this yet, John -- but they are looking at whether or not this was a network of medical professionals here to work and/o4 study who had attempted this type of an attack -- John.
ROBERTS: And, in fact, Paula, apparently we have some breaking news up in Glasgow right now, where our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is on the scene.
Nic, more arrests today?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, we're just getting new information here yet to be fully nailed down and confirmed by us, but there are indications that the police here, the Strathclyde police, have arrested another two people in this area.
This is new information coming to us. We do need to run it down and fully confirm it ourselves, but trusted sources here very well connected with the police do say two more arrests. We know as well this morning that the two men who rented the property behind me here, it appears, that the police were on to them shortly before the attack at Glasgow airport, contacting the rental agency to try and find out if the rental agency had been in touch with them, if they knew anything about these particular people -- John.
ROBERTS: Nic, I have read reports that they were not only on them, but they were hot on their trail and may have only missed them by a few minutes before they allegedly took that Jeep Cherokee and smashed it into the front of the Glasgow terminal.
ROBERTSON: The police seem to be moving very, very quickly, because when they contacted the rental agency, it was actually before the attack. They weren't able to talk to anyone from the rental agency. The connection was never properly made between the police and the letting agency.
The police came back to the letting agency a few hours after the attack. The letting agency said, yes, we know those names you're talking about, they rented a property. In fact, they paid about $1,000 for the rental just last week.
We've also been in touch, in contact with the lady that owns the property. She says that one of the people renting the property was a doctor -- John.
ROBERTS: Right. OK.
And while the rental agent obviously, Nic, knows the names of those people, British police keeping a very tight lid on that information for now. We hope to learn more, perhaps, if not in the next few hours, at least in the next few days.
Nic Robertson for us, live in Glasgow.
Nic, thanks very much. We'll get back to you.
Right now, back to New York and Kiran.
CHETRY: Airports across the U.S. are responding to this British terror scare by beefing up security ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. And it means more uniformed, as well as plain-clothed officers, will be patrolling in and around airports. Bomb-sniffing dogs highly visible in the terminals, and, unfortunately for travelers, you can expect more delays, once again being asked to pack their proverbial patience.
We're going to be talking with Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff coming up at the bottom of the our. First, though, we have a CNN exclusive out of the Iraq. The U.S. military says a Hezbollah operative captured in Iraq revealing how Iran is arming and training Iraqi Shiite militias fighting American troops. And the military this morning confirming a CNN report of the involvement of Iran's elite Quds force.
CNN's Michael Ware is the one to break this story. He's with us from Baghdad with exclusive details.
And they are saying that -- at least the U.S. military is saying that senior Iranian officials are aware and have been aware that this was taking place.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kiran. You're right on the money there.
Indeed, if you understand the formation of this Iranian special forces unit known as the Quds Force, these are not ill-disciplined ragtag militia. This is like saying America's Delta Force acts without the orders of the U.S. military or the U.S. president.
Now, we know that that's their chain of command, but that hasn't been enough. What the U.S. military is now saying is that we know for a fact that the senior Iranian leadership knows what the Quds Force are doing in Iraq, trying to kill American and British forces. In fact, killing American and British forces.
And as the American general, the spokesman here in Baghdad, went further and said, it's impossible that right at the top of the tree, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would not know. So responsibility goes right to the top of the regime in Iran -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. So what's in it for Hezbollah?
WARE: Well, that's one of the great mysteries in this story. Now, certainly U.S. intelligence speculates that given that Iran and particularly the same unit, the Quds Force, are the principal sponsors of Hezbollah to the tune of tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, a year, then Hezbollah is indebted to the Iranians. And when the Iranians need assistance, Hezbollah must give it. They even suspect that Hezbollah might not be happy about it -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And Michael, what about the broader implications for Iran's involvement in directly fighting, if this is the case, U.S. troops?
WARE: Well, Iran is very savvy here. Yes, it has operatives in the country, actual Quds Force officers. But they've learned a very savvy trick.
If they travel on a diplomatic passport, even if they are detained, pressures come to bear from within the Iraqi government, a so-called American ally, and they are allowed to return pretty rapidly after detention. So to do the dirty work, they use proxies, guys who can be sacrificed. That's why this Lebanese Hezbollah commander, a special operations officer himself trained by the Quds, according to the U.S. military, was sent by Hezbollah to Iran, where he spent a year training Iraqis to go back home and kill Americans. And then he himself was asked by the Iranians to come here and lead the way -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Michael Ware reporting from Baghdad an exclusive report about the Hezbollah training the Shiite militants.
Thank you.
A state of emergency declared in 12 counties in Kansas now as folks in that state are dealing with record flooding. Much of Coffeyville under water at this hour. And to make matters worse, oil from a local refinery is now leaking into those floodwaters, swirling down city streets.
CNN's Reggie Aqui is live in Coffeyville, on the Oklahoma border. It's due north of Tulsa.
And the last time we checked in with you, Reggie, you were saying that just by standing in that, your clothes were smelling like oil. Is the situation any better this morning?
REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They were really smelling like oil, and they still are, actually. And you'll have to forgive me for not getting in this water and showing you how deep it is, but it's a health hazard. And right now we're told that there are health officials in the area who are trying to evaluate just how long it's going to be before these people who are evacuated just down the street are going to be able to return to their homes. Not just because the water is now flooding their homes, but because, as I mentioned, it could be a potential environmental and health hazard for them to go back into the house.
Take a look at what we're talking about. This refinery that leaked oil into the water yesterday, we still don't know how much it leaked because even the officials at the plant can't get into the room to show them just what the gauges look like today. So we were hoping we're going to find out information about that later today, but we just don't know. The governor of Kansas is going to be touring these flood areas later today.
I should let you know this area of Kansas and Oklahoma, it's not used to getting this much water. This isn't an area that floods all the time like in some other areas of the country.
We're talking about 10 feet over the flood stage right now, and that hasn't even come close to happening since the 1960s. That's how far back they have to go in the record books to look at people that need to be rescued from their houses, for example.
We're told that a third of the population is now under mandatory evacuation orders. There are still a few people, Kiran, who are deciding to stay at their homes. But there really isn't much there for them right now. There's not much access, other than a boat to get back there. And already the fire department and the police department, they've had to rescue 50 people from their houses.
CHETRY: What a mess.
Reggie Aqui reporting for us from Coffeyville, Kansas, this morning.
Thank you.
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CHETRY: We're going to go back out now to London, where John Roberts is following the latest development in the U.K. terror scare.
Hi, John.
ROBERTS: Hey, thanks, Kiran. And good morning to you.
We've been following breaking news all morning long here in London. Seven suspects now in custody, and CNN is reporting that two of the suspects, the ones who smashed that vehicle into the Glasgow airport on Saturday afternoon, appear to have been the same ones who planted the bombs which failed to go off here in London on Friday.
Joining me now with more on all of this is our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour.
And Christiane, are we learning, even though we don't know the names and police aren't telling us about that or their nationalities, are we learning anything more about these suspects?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically two more, according to police in Glasgow, have been arrested. They are 20 and 25 years old, according to one wire report. That brings, as far as we know, seven people in custody.
According to our Paula Newton at Scotland Yard, at least two of those who were in custody are medical workers, one of which may have been a medical doctor actually practicing here. So, implying that one of the lines of inquiry the police are following is that this could be some kind of network of medical professionals, which is extremely unusual.
ROBERTS: Is this something that we've never heard of before?
AMANPOUR: I don't recall it. You've been reporting, and we know that the Ayman al-Zawahiri, the godfather of al Qaeda, is a doctor, but I don't recall such a focus being put on a group of specifically medical professionals in some kind of terrorist attack like this.
ROBERTS: Do we know anything about nationalities? Yesterday police in Scotland were very firm in saying they are not Scottish.
AMANPOUR: Yes. And others have said they're not homegrown. In other words, maybe they're not British at all.
What we've been hearing -- and again, the police are very careful not to -- they're just not telling us about nationalities at the moment. But the buzz has been that they are of some kind of varied Middle Eastern origin. And right now I'm trying to track down one floating piece of information in the atmosphere about one of them who was arrested on the motorway yesterday who may, in fact, be a doctor from a specific country in which I'm trying now to track that down.
ROBERTS: Let me ask you this question. Why are British officials so tight-lipped with this information? In the United States we would have learned a lot about these suspects by now.
AMANPOUR: Well, I guess it's ongoing, their investigation. They don't want to prejudice -- and the laws here are a little bit different in terms of public disclosure than they are in the U.S., even in court cases and trials.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we do hope to hear more about them.
Christiane Amanpour, thanks very much. We will get back to you in a little bit -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, John. Thanks.
Well, what do we know about who was behind the failed terror attacks in Britain? Was it an isolated cell? Does it have links to al Qaeda? And should the U.S. be concerned about similar attacks here?
Joining me now, CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
So, we're learning a couple of new things, which is, of course, that two of them were doctors apparently.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Yes.
CHETRY: One was a woman. It doesn't seem to fit your typical terrorist, if you will.
BERGEN: Well, you know, I mean, conventional wisdom suggests that terrorists are sort of desperate and poor and impoverished, but, in fact, there's a wrath (ph) of academic studies to show, in fact, that terrorists tend to be middle class. Terrorism turns out to be a bourgeois kind of activity.
And, in fact, I've worked on five of the worst anti-Western terrorists attacks in recent history. You know, the Bali attack that killed 200, the embassy attacks in Africa, 9/11, the London attacks of July 7, 2005. And we found that 54 percent of the people involved had gone to college, which makes them slightly better educated than most Americans. Fifty-two percent of Americans go to college.
A number of people in our sample of 79 terrorists had Ph.D.s. Some of them -- of course, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is the number two in al Qaeda, is a surgeon.
So, you know, it's tempting to think that these -- that anybody involved in this kind of activity must be unemployed or desperate or poor. It turns out quite the contrary, that these kind of attacks are often usually carried out by people who are just like anybody watching this show.
CHETRY: What would be the motivation then?
BERGEN: Well, they're very angry about -- I mean, some of it is about British or American foreign policy. Some of it is, I think, you know, that if you're -- if you're living in Britain and you're a Muslim, often you're not as well integrated as you are in this country. American Muslims are better educated that most Americans. They have higher incomes, they -- the American dream has really worked for them, they don't live in ghettos.
That is not true in Britain.
CHETRY: So at the same time we are talking about people that are highly educated, two of them are doctors, yet you're also saying they are not as integrated into mainstream society in Britain.
BERGEN: Yes, because I think, you know -- I mean, I grew up in Britain. There is no British dream. There is an American dream. There's no EU dream, as far as a I can tell.
So, you know, it's just hard for -- and, you know, and this is not just a British phenomenon. It's also true in France and Spain and Italy and Germany, where Muslim populations are not being integrated in the same way that they are in the United States.
CHETRY: Which brings us to a report that's out today about the possibility. Apparently, there was a secret law enforcement report that was prepared for the Department of Homeland Security saying al Qaeda is planning what they're saying a "spectacular terror attack" this summer.
BERGEN: Yes. I mean, that's not surprising.
Al Qaeda has been planning a spectacular terrorist attack against the United States, you know, for years. So, I mean, what this report -- we don't have any real specificity about this report. You know, al Qaeda tried to bring down 10 American airliners, as you may remember, Kiran, last year with liquid explosives. That would have been a 9/11- style event. Lucky it didn't happen.
So, you know, that is their aim. They want a catastrophic attack against the United States. I think their ability to do that right now is -- you know, it's pretty constrained.
CHETRY: And is it because we're getting better? BERGEN: And is it because we're getting better? Our law enforcement, our intelligence is getting better at stopping them?
BERGEN: Yes, I think it's we're better -- you know, the government is better, the public is vigilant. Al Qaeda has been weakened. You know, all three of those.
CHETRY: So you believe that they may be planning it, but whether or not they would actually be able to carry it off is something entirely different?
BERGEN: Indeed.
CHETRY: Peter Bergen, thanks. Stick around. We'll be back with you coming up in our 8:00 hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
Three recent accidents raising some new worries about amusement parks nationwide.
The Playland Amusement Park in Rye, New York, says it wasn't following its own safety precautions when a ride operator was killed Friday. The park then added a second attendant to the Mind Scrambler ride three years ago after a 7-year-old girl was killed. However, there was no second attendant on duty Friday.
In two other accidents at two other amusement parks, teenage girls were critically injured.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Sean Callebs is live outside one of those parks where one of those accident took place in Dania Beach, Florida.
Hi, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Actually, just about a half hour or so north of Miami. And behind me you see a large roller coaster peering over the horizon. Well, the girl who is still hospitalized wasn't injured on that ride. In fact, it was something much more innocuous.
Want to take us inside the park. It's still closed. It doesn't open for a few hours. But if you look, there is a little tea kettle and some innocent looking tea cups. Well, the girl was riding in that when her head was hit by the handle of another teacup, and that landed her in the hospital.
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CALLEBS (voice over): Thirteen-year-old Natayzha West remains at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital just north of Miami. She was injured on this seemingly innocent ride called the Mini Teacup at Boomers Amusement Park.
Apparently dizzy, the girl leaned back. That's when the handle from another tea cup hit her head.
DONNIE JACKSON, NATAYZHA'S DAD: You know, she's still unconscious. She's still sleeping, heavily sedated. She responds to -- you know, when you say something, she will kind of open her eyes.
CALLEBS: Boomers' parent company, Palace Entertainment, says the teacup passed inspection just two weeks ago. We were unable to confirm that with the Department of Agriculture, which inspects amusement park rides for the state of Florida.
Natayzha's father, a motorcycle cop with the Broward County Sheriff's Office, says more oversight is needed.
JACKSON: I would like to see, you know, these rides that they're putting these kids on, they need to be more -- they need to be more closely supervised.
CALLEBS: Nationwide, three serious amusement park accidents have taken place in the past 10 days.
At Six Flags in Louisville, Kentucky, a cable on the Superman Tower of Power broke loose. The result disastrous, severing both feet of a 13-year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's scary. Like, I had seen that (INAUDIBLE) movie, and I've seen stuff like that, but when you see it in real life, it's just crazy.
CALLEBS: And north of New York City, an employee of a popular park called Rye Playland died after being thrown from a ride. Authorities are still investigating, but another worker apparently started the Mind Scrambler while 21-year-old Gabriella Garron (ph) was kneeling in one of the seats.
The International Association of Amusement Parks and attractions says 300 million people visit parks each year. The organization says the chance of an injury is one in nine million, but the group knows accidents like the one on the Mini Teacup that injured Natayzha won't soon be forgotten.
JACKSON: She looked -- you know, looked bad. I mean, it was -- it was scary. It's something you don't want to see happen to your kid.
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CALLEBS: You know, we asked the Amusement Park Oversight Organization if they believe they need to do something before the busy July 4th holiday to allay parents' concerns. The simple answer, no.
In fact, a lot of the onus nowadays is shifting toward people who attend these amusement parks, Kiran, something called the Riders Code of Conduct. And that puts the onus on the person getting in the ride. Now, 15 states have a Riders Code of Conduct, but none of the three involved in the recent accidents -- New York, Kentucky, or here in Florida -- Kiran.
CHETRY: It's also hard when you're dealing with young kids. I mean, you know, in some of those cases there was nothing anybody can do, and particularly the girl that was sitting on the ride when the cable split.
CALLEBS: Yes. That is the big thing that the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions said to us, that when these accidents do happen, quite often it is somewhat of a freak accident and it happens, basically, as they say, out of the blue.
CHETRY: Sean Callebs, thanks so much.
We have reports that al Qaeda is planning a "spectacular summer of terror". How prepared is the United States?
We're going to be talking with Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff. He joins us coming up next.
And also a little later, New York's City police commissioner, Ray Kelly.
That's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. It is Monday, July 2nd. I'm Kiran Chetry in New York.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Kiran.
I'm John Roberts in London. Welcome to a split addition of AMERICAN MORNING.
Two pieces of breaking news out of the U.K. this morning. The first one from Glasgow where police have made two more arrests in connection with the terror incidents on Friday and Saturday. A man 25 years old and another one 28 years old held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act here in the U.K. Suspected to be somehow connected.
And we also learned that the two men who rammed that car into the airport in Glasgow on Saturday, and here's a picture of one of them on the ground, very badly burned after that incident. Now police believe they are connected to the bombing plots here in London. They were the ones who set the bombs here in London, then raced to Glasgow where they smashed into that terminal.
Another picture for you here of a very alert off-duty police officer. That man had set himself on fire. Here he is hosing him down with a fire extinguisher.
Meantime, all of Great Britain on a critical terror alert. And that affects people's lives in that you see a lot more security in places like Heathrow, Gatwick, Glasgow airports, as well in Liverpool. Here in London on the tubes and the trains there has been increased security, increased random searches. People still, though, are going about their lives.
We're broadcasting all morning today from just on the other side of the parliament buildings here in Westminster, Abingdon Green. That's where we're going to be catching up with our CNN correspondents, as well as terror analysts, members of parliament and other people who will give us an interesting perspective on where this extremism comes from and where it may be headed in the future.
Kiran.
CHETRY: John, thanks so much.
Well, the U.S. terror threat level remains unchanged this morning, but the failed plot in London and the attack on the Glasgow Airport in Scotland have U.S. officials on guard for a possible attack here. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff joins us now from Milford, Pennsylvania.
Thanks for being here, Mr. Secretary.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Good to be on the show, Kiran.
CHETRY: There are reports this morning quoting a senior official who says that a secret law enforcement report that was prepared for your agency, DHS, warns that al Qaeda is planning a terror "spectacular" this summer. Can you confirm that?
CHERTOFF: Well, I'm not going to talk about specific documents or intelligence, but I can say to you things I frankly have said publicly for some period of time. We know al Qaeda is still very interested in carrying out attacks against the United States and western Europe. We know that there have been an increase in public statements by al Qaeda leaders recently which suggested they are raising some of their profile. And we know that traditionally the attacks that they've planned are very significant and intended to cause a huge amount of damage as witness the airline plot of last August which, had it been successful, would of resulted in the detonation of bombs on multiple airliners.
Finally, I would say, we have seen over the past two summers, and now this summer, an attack in England. All those things put together do cause us to be concerned going into the summer. But we do not have any specific information about a particular attack at this point.
CHETRY: The source in this story went on to say that it is reminiscent of some of the warnings and intelligence that we may have been getting prior to 9/11. Is there anything to indicate that the system is blinking red, as they say, like it was in the summer of 2001?
CHERTOFF: I don't think it's quite like the summer of 2001. That, of course, was a time when the Taliban controlled all of Afghanistan and al Qaeda really had a safe platform from which to operate. But I want to underscore that we have seen attacks over the past several years during the summer. We have seen an increase in the number of public statements. So we are mindful of all of this as kind of general background and it is causing us to be extra vigilant going into this summer.
CHETRY: And we talk about extra vigilance. However, there has not been a change to the terror alert level. You said over the weekend you didn't believe that was necessary. But what types of extra precautions are being taken and what other changes have been made that we would see in light of what's gone on in the U.K.?
CHERTOFF: Well, Kiran, first your viewers will remember that we did raise the level for aviation to orange last August and we've kept it there. And that's basically the highest level, other than what happens when you have an actual attack.
We have also taken some measures, people will see, some they will not see, in increased personnel. Some of them obvious, some of them plain clothes. Pushing out the security perimeter, not only with respect to airports, but also mass transit and train stations as well.
CHETRY: I'm sure you are being briefed consistently with your counterparts in the U.K. and we have some new information today. Seven now arrested. We learn that two of them were doctors, medical doctors, in Britain. What else do you know, if anything, about these suspects?
CHERTOFF: Well, I want to let the British authorities decide what they want to release and when they want to release it, because they have to conduct their investigation and we don't want to compromise it in any way. But you are correct that we are in very close touch with British authorities. Obviously, any information that we get from them, we factor into our own analysis. If that means we have to make adjustments with respect to our security or be on the lookout for particular people, we would take those steps immediately.
CHETRY: All right. We're glad that you were able to talk with us about this situation. Secretary Michael Chertoff, director of Homeland Security. Thank you.
ROBERTS: It appears that it was only by sheer luck and perhaps incompetence on the part of the bombers that there wasn't a significant loss of life here in London. Sources tell CNN that the bomb outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub was triggered but failed to detonate. That and the arrest of suspects have given investigators an absolute gold mine of intelligence and evidence with which to unravel the plot.
I went down to the target area with John O'Connor. He's a former inspector with the London police's famous flying squad.
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ROBERTS: When you look at the construction of this building with all the glass in front, a car bomb this close to this building, what kind of damage could it have done had it actually exploded?
JOHN O'CONNOR, FORMER SCOTLAND YARD DETECTIVE: I think you're looking at significant casualties. But the worst part of it, in my view, was that once -- if that bomb had gone off and people would have been evacuated from here and kept away from here and moved down in that direction to Coxburg (ph) Street, and that's where they had another one down there.
ROBERTS: So if this was a coordinated attack, it would have funneled all those people down in that area?
O'CONNOR: They would have gone down to Coxburg Street and then been blown up in Coxburg Street. But fortunately both devices failed to detonate.
ROBERTS: Today the explosives, very rudimentary. One day they will be sophisticated?
O'CONNOR: They could well be. They would well be. I mean all they need for sophistication is semtex or RXD. And once they can detonate that successfully, that would send out -- that would detonate the gasoline and it would detonate the gas canisters.
ROBERTS: What have investigators got in their hands with this case? A couple of cars. They have five people?
O'CONNOR: Yes, that's right. They've got three cars. They've got a massive forensic evidence. They've got the full details of the bomb makers signature, how he made the bomb. They will know what went wrong with it, why it didn't work. They'll be able to trace back the materials that were used. They'll be able to trace back the providence of the car. Was that was acquired. What the history of that car is. There's such a wealth of intelligence and information that will come out of there.
ROBERTS: Really, England dodged a big bullet here.
O'CONNOR: Yes, they did. But I think they've got more to come. And I think the mere fact that we've now put this -- the threat level up to the highest level indicate they are expecting more.
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ROBERTS: John O'Connor, a former inspector with the metropolitan police here in London.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks, John.
Violence in Iraq topping our "Quick Hits" now. The U.S. military says two U.S. soldiers were killed while patrolling Baghdad. American forces are increasing their crackdown on insurgents in the capitol city.
And an AMERICAN MORNING update for you now. The wife of a missing soldier in Iraq is now a permanent U.S. resident. You may remember the plight of Yaderlin Jimenez. She now has a green card and hopes to become a citizen and go to college. Her husband, that you saw a picture of there, was Army Specialist Alex Jimenez. He has been missing since May when his unit was attacked.
Well, it's a story that's touched hearts around the country. A close-knit group of friends, mostly high school cheerleaders. They had just graduated and they were killed in a tragic highway crash. We talked to their closest friends as they're leaning on each other in their grief. We have an amazing story of strength and optimism coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Record flooding tops your "Quick Hits" now. A state of emergency declared in 12 counties in Kansas. In Coffeyville, oil from a local refinery is leaking into the flood waters and that mixture is swirling down city streets. Forecasters say it could be days before rivers return to normal. It's forced hundreds of people out of their homes.
And firefighters are fighting wildfires in San Diego this morning. Several hundred firefighters tackling two fires. It started yesterday and have now spread to about 125 acres.
And a major bridge in New York is opened again this morning, the Tappan Zee Bridge, that was shut down for hours. A tractor-trailer burst into flames after an accident with two passenger cars. The driver of the truck was killed in that crash.
ROBERTS: Back here live in London with more on the breaking news this morning. Two more arrests in Glasgow. A man 25 years old, a man 28 years old arrested in connection with the attacks here, both in London, the attempted attacks that thankfully didn't go off, and then the attack on the Glasgow terminal there on Saturday.
A little while ago here in Abingdon Square, I got a chance to talk with the only Muslim member of Prime Minister's Gordon Brown's new cabinet. His name is Shiad Malik (ph). He is the new minister of international development. We asked him to get some perspective from him on the events of the last few days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Mr. Malik, you just recently had a briefing about the investigation. We have heard some new information the perhaps the people in Glasgow were the same ones that set the bombs here in London. What's the latest information that you have?
SHIAD MALIK, MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: I mean I can't confirm that. Inquires are still taking place. But the important thing is that people ought to be vigilant. They ought to be alert. But we don't want people to be alarmed.
The police and security services have got this thing -- there's no such thing as under control, because it doesn't matter how good your security or police is. If people are wanting to commit terrorist acts, eventually they will succeed. But thank the Lord, first of all, there is no lives that have been lost and nobody apart from some of the terrorists that have been injured.
ROBERTS: What do you make of this idea that it appears as those two of the people who were involved may, in fact, have been medical doctors? It doesn't fit the typical profile of the extremists here in Britain.
MALIK: We don't know what the profile is. This is the point. You don't really know. But what we do know is, the prime minister has, a few weeks ago, spoken about the whole issue of terrorism and security. And we're looking at a number of measures in this country.
For example, if you're convicted and terror is an element, we want to increase the tariff, the sentence. We're looking at pors (ph) charge questioning. Something we don't do in this country at this moment in time. We're looking at intercept evidence to be used in court to get convictions. And Gordon Brown has said that ultimately security and legislation will not succeed. We also need to win the battle of hearts and minds.
So it's a very interesting period. He's come straight in. We've got problems on our doorstep. We're at the highest state of alert in this country is at, but we're quietly confident that we're doing as much as we can under these very difficult circumstances.
ROBERTS: When I say that it doesn't fit the typical profile of what we know to be the extremists here in Britain, we hear mostly about disaffected youth who are living in ghettos and some of the major cities. Whether it be London. Whether it be Leeds. Whether it be Birmingham. Potentially even Glasgow. These are educated, intelligent people.
MALIK: I think what it tells us -- and I don't know who they are or were -- but what I do know is that the evil ideology that is at work here means that anybody is vulnerable irrespective of your background. And we must not start to try to pigeon-hole or stereotype potential terrorists. It could be absolutely anybody. And that's critically important.
But the most important thing is that these people might well believe they're doing it in the name of a religion. It might well be Islam. But their actions are completely against Islam. And some people believe, for example, the people who killed themselves in that heinous act on the 7th of July were martyrs, according to heaven. We've got to give a very strong message, I speak to the Muslims now, that these aren't martyrs going to heaven. These are sinners very much going to hell.
ROBERTS: Shiad Malik, thank you very much for joining us.
MALIK: A pleasure. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Appreciate your time, sir.
MALIK: Thank you.
CHETRY: And some "Quick Hits" now.
A San Francisco treat for Giants fans. Barry Bonds will be a starter in baseball's all-star game, which will be played July 10th in San Francisco. Bonds is just five home runs shy of Hank Aaron's all- time record.
NASA managers plan to meet at this hour to see and decide if the weather is clear enough to carry out the shuttle Atlantis -- to carry the mission to bring the shuttle Atlantis back to Florida. Atlantis began the trip from Edwards Air Force Base in California yesterday piggybacking on a 747. NASA likes to avoid the expense of carrying the shuttle this way. I think it costs them a million dollars every time they decide to do it. But Atlantis could not land at Kennedy on June 22nd because of bad weather.
It's a story that touched hearts around the country. We talked to a group of cheerleaders, their friends, after five of them were killed in a tragic accident, including some of the friends that were driving right behind them and witnessed the fiery crash. We're going to check in with them and see how they're doing and how they're getting through it with strength and optimism. It's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: It was supposed to be a week of graduation celebrations for one tight-knit group of young girls. They were upstate New York cheerleaders. But instead, a town is in mourning after five of these young girls died in a fiery car crash last week. I had a chance to travel up there and talk to their friends and their coaches who shared their memories and also relived the horror of that day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Such a cute picture.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh-huh. I took it, actually.
CHETRY: You did? Where were you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meredith's birthday party. We went line dancing at the Ritz (ph).
CHETRY: 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.
And you were actually driving right behind them, Riley.
RILEY HALL, FRIEND OF CAR CRASH VICTIMS: Yes.
CHETRY: What do you remember about that night?
HALL: We just were all screaming in my car, is that a truck? Is that 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: Their five friends swerved into the lane of an oncoming tractor-trailer. Bailey, Sara, Hannah, Meredith, and Katie all died in the crash.
SARA DASTIN, FRIEND OF CAR CRASH VICTIMS: There's no words to describe how -- what the feelings and emotions that you go through when you're told that your best friends aren't coming back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, COACH: As their coach, there's always something that I do to fix things. If we have problems, they look at me and they say, what will we do? And I say, I'll fix it. And I can't this time.
CHETRY: Is there a different amount of closeness that comes from being on the squad together?
DASTIN: You just knew that you had 32 best friends on your team. So it was just really comforting to know that we could all lean on each other when we needed to.
CHETRY: And they need to, now more than ever.
What helps is remembering their friends.
Who is the one you said was extremely competitive? Had to win?
GIRLS: 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: Bailey.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just remember her joking around a lot. Loving to get everyone laughing.
CHETRY: Sara.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She always called herself bossy, or the boss, because she thought she -- she liked to have control -- which 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 anytime I needed her, I just -- I knew to go to Katie because she was just always there for you.
CHETRY: What is helping you guys right now?
GIRLS: Being together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And I want to show you the picture again. This was a screen saver that many of them have in their telephone now. And it was a photo taken by one of their friends the day after the crash. He looked up and saw a cloud formation and felt that it clearly was an angel. And you can see the wings coming out on each side. He post the picture on the MySpace page that a lot of people have gone to, to post their condolences and memories. And a lot of the girls say that it really is a comfort to them. They believe it's a sign that their friends are in heaven looking down on them. That they're in a better place and that they are going to be OK.
Coming up in the next half hour of AMERICAN MORNING, we have advice for parents heading into this busy holiday travel week. How you can keep tabs on your teen when they're behind the wheel. It could end up making a big difference. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Well, it is two minutes before the top of the hour. Ali Velshi is off. And it's a good thing because if he was here he would just die of jealously because Polly Labarre is "Minding Your Business" and you have your hands on the iPhone.
POLLY LABARRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not my own, I have to say. It's under lock and key. I've got an armored guard out there who's going to take it away after this.
But you have to have been under a rock basically not to have know what was going on on Friday at 6:00 p.m., which is the release of the iPhone after six months of unprecedented hype.
CHETRY: Right.
LABARRE: And, you know, now in the cold, dark, hard light of Monday morning, we basically have to say, you know, did it deliver on its promise? And I think the answer is a qualified, yes. They sold almost 200,000 devices over the weekend. They're almost sold out in AT&T stores, but still available at Apple. And so let me just show you some of the amazing things here.
This is a cell phone, full-on e-mailer, web browser, iPod. And just an incredible piece of hardware in the sense if you just look at this display.
CHETRY: Did the display bother you or were you used to it quite -- because it's a touch screen?
LABARRE: I -- look at this. So we're looking at the web. We're looking at CNN's homepage. And if you wanted to look a little bit closer, you just double tap. You can actually even pull up an article. We're web browsing right now.
CHETRY: And you just -- and just by going like this on the page is how you move it up and down, which is pretty neat.
LABARRE: This is one of the unprecedented things here.
Well, let's go to another function. This is the only drawback here. The AT&T network, Edge Network, is one of the slower networks out there. So when you're not near a Wi-Fi hot spot, the web browser is going to be a little bit slower. Which is a shame because it is the most beautiful web browser I've ever seen.
Let's look at the iPod. And I can show you how some of this works. So we're going to call up an album here. You can flip through your albums with your fingers.
CHETRY: That is the neatest part for sure.
LABARRE: Then you click on it and we can play a song. The manipulation of your fingers is absolutely amazing. So we're playing a song or you can play a full on video player, YouTube, et cetera. OK, how do I turn that off.
CHETRY: Oh, man.
LABARRE: There we go.
CHETRY: Who is that, Chubby Checker?
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