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American Morning

Plane Diverted to NYC; Al Qaeda Comeback; Watercraft Safety

Aired July 12, 2007 - 06:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: War report on two fronts. The war on terror. Al Qaeda is back and worse than ever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: There is increased risk. It's a good time to take a deep breath and stay sharp.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Plus, where we stand in Iraq. Mixed grades on military progress and a political stalemate. The report card is out on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And welcome. It's Thursday, July 12th. I'm Kiran Chetry, along with John Roberts. And we have some breaking news for you this morning.

ROBERTS: We've been working this story for the last couple of hours. You're waking up this morning to an apparent security breach aboard an American Airlines flight. It's Flight 134. It was going from Los Angeles International Airport to London, but diverted to JFK Airport here in New York City.

CHETRY: Certainly surprised a lot of passengers. The pilot came over the loud speaker and told passengers, the plane doesn't have enough gas so we're going to make an emergency landing at Kennedy. Well, once they landed there, security boarded that plane and detained a man of middle aged dissent, we're being told. And they also questioned, apparently, the woman who was sitting beside him. It certainly made for some confusion for the passengers. One of them talked to CNN Radio from the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY LOYNES, PASSENGER ON AA FLIGHT 134: We saw police around the landing gate and the police came on and took away one of the passengers in the business class, the last row of the business class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So how did this whole thing come about? Well, apparently a flight attendant on board spotted this passenger and remembered that she had seen this passenger on board an employee only bus, most likely from the parking lot to the terminal, that he did not have an I.D. badge. He was actually in the gate area, left to check a bag and then came back in. So they thought that there was a security breach and that's why they diverted this aircraft.

CHETRY: So it's important to remember, we still don't know the circumstances or what, you know, they are possibly suspecting. But, wow, what an eagle-eyed flight attendant to be able to notice that and remember.

We, by the way, scrambled a CNN crew. Our Alina Cho is heading out to JFK right now. And as soon as we find out more details, we will bring them to you.

ROBERTS: And we've also got Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff coming up in about 29 minutes time. So we'll ask him all about in as well this morning.

All of this is coming to light at the same time a secret intelligence report is revealed saying that al Qaeda is now at its strongest level since 9/11 and is ready for new attacks. We're also expecting President Bush to deliver a progress report on Iraq, perhaps as early as this afternoon.

We're covering it from all of the angles this morning. Justice correspondent Kelli Arena is in our Washington bureau. Elaine Quijano is at the White House. And Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.

Let's begin with Kelli Arena and this chilling terror assessment.

Kelli, this report is called "al Qaeda: Better Positioned to Strike the West." You interviewed Michael Chertoff yesterday. We know that a couple of days ago he said that he believes that the United States is at increased risk of attack. How does this all fit together?

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, that report, which remains classified, basically says that al Qaeda has been rebuilding itself and that it is stronger than it was a year ago and that, in fact, it's the strongest point that it's been since it was taken down by the U.S., since the U.S. started bombing and taking some of its leaders into custody.

I don't know if that report will ever be made unclassified, but we are expecting the National Intelligence Estimate to be released soon and that, of course, is a compilation of all that the intelligence community knows about the threat to the homeland and we are expecting that sometime soon.

John.

ROBERTS: So, Kelli, when they say that al Qaeda is at its strongest level since the war on terror began, are they quantifying that in any way, saying what it's capable of?

ARENA: Well, you know, there are some new developments that we're seeing that are disturbing. And basically what they are is, number one, al Qaeda has a relatively safe haven in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The group has been rebuilding itself there, training, raising money. It's also starting to form some new alliances, John. We just saw it hook up with a terror group in Algeria. They're also releasing a lot more video messages. We just saw one yesterday from Ayman al- Zawahiri, al Qaeda's number two. Now Chertoff and others suggest that this shows that al Qaeda may be feeling more bold, more comfortable. All in all, it's like they're getting a second wind.

ROBERTS: And in that videotape that was released yesterday, Zawahiri calling for jihad against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, already under pressure, perhaps. This does not bode well for his future.

Kelli Arena in our Washington bureau.

Kelli, thanks.

ARENA: You're welcome.

ROBERTS: And again, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is going to be joining us at the bottom of the hour. We'll put all of this to him, including this apparent security breach onboard American Airlines Flight 134 from LAX to London, diverted to JFK because of a suspicious passenger.

CHETRY: Meantime, the president's progress report on the war in Iraq could be sent to Congress as early as today. Of the 18 benchmark goals that the president set out for the Iraqi government, there are signs of both military gains, but also political setbacks. Elaine Quijano is in our Washington bureau with more details on this.

Hi, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kiran.

That's right. According to senior White House officials, as early as today, as you noted, the president will release that interim report on progress in Iraq. One thing here, his official said, the results are going to be mixed. His officials estimated about a 50/50 split. Roughly half of the 18 benchmarks or political and security goals for the Iraqis, get a satisfactory and others get an unsatisfactory rating.

When yesterday, after meeting with President Bush at the White House, Senator John McCain said the report will show some success on the military side, but on the political side, Kiran, Senator McCain did not mince words. He said point-blank, "there is none."

Kiran.

CHETRY: So what does it mean for Maliki's government and whether or not there needs to be or should be or even will be a change there?

QUIJANO: Well, there's only so much the United States can do on that front. But all along, this is a White House that has understood the future, essentially, of Iraq does hinge on Prime Minister Maliki's ability to bring the country together. And this is why the political benchmarks are so important. But as we heard from Senator McCain, and as we have seen, the Iraqi government has been unable to come together and achieve some of those political reconciliation goals that were laid out. That is only going to increase the pressure on the Bush administration to change course in Iraq.

Kiran.

CHETRY: Elaine Quijano at the White House for us. Thanks so much.

And we continue our coverage of this assessment that is possibly due out today. CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon with more on the military.

They say it's a mixed bag, but if they had to show the bright spot, it would be certainly with the military successes as opposed to any political ones.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, indeed, Kiran. At least some military successes.

One, sectarian violence is down. Some of the Sunni on Shia killing has been reduced. But overall violence levels are not down.

In fact, al Qaeda continues to stage spectacular attacks across the country and that is one of the major problems. Security, security, security. Without it, there will not be the political progress that needs to be seen in Iraq.

In fact, just yesterday, a top U.S. intelligence official gave a fairly grim assessment on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR THOMAS FINGAR, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE FOR ANALYSIS: It has not yet had a sufficient effect on the violence, in my judgment, to move the country to a place that the serious obstacles to reconciliation can be overcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: That's the intelligence community's assessment of the effect of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq, of course. So what about that political progress? What still needs to be done?

Well, constitutional reform, debaathification (ph), the oil revenue sharing law, all the things that are so critical that simply will not happen, according to the experts, unless there's a significant reduction in the violence.

Kiran.

CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon with that part of the story. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Coming up now to seven minutes after the hour. A quick little correction here. It's American Airlines Flight 136, not 134, 136. Had a little bit of conflicting information there.

Another security gap to investigate this morning. How easy is it to build a dirty bomb? Congressional investigators found that they could get enough radioactive material to build one by setting up a bogus company and buying construction equipment. They did it all within 28 days. The results are going to be presented in a Senate hearing today.

A roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan overnight hit a U.S.-led convoy. It happened in southeastern Afghanistan. No Americans were killed. Six Afghani police died, though. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for that.

New pictures are in of the bombarding of a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon this morning. The Lebanese army attack just before dawn. Up to 10 artillery shells per minute slammed into the camp. It's the army's latest assault on militants said to have connections to al Qaeda.

America's largest firefighters union is blasting former New York City mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. The International Association of Firefighters has released a 13-minute long video titled "Rudy Giuliani: Urban Legend." It accuses Giuliani of causing needless firefighter deaths by being woefully unprepared for the September 11th attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They attacked us in '93.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And yet eight and a half years later, New York City firefighters, the greatest fire department in the world, we're using the same radios that we knew didn't work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have remains of dead heros out at the garbage dump because of Giuliani and his administration. And they're still there today and they won't remove them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Giuliani's presidential campaign has denounced the video, saying the union is a partisan group with a history of supporting Democrats.

CHETRY: Well, it's time now to get a check on some of the other big stories with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents.

"Fortune" magazine's list of the world's biggest companies is out and retail giant Wal-Mart comes out on top. We're going to check in with Ali Velshi with more on that.

Ali, is that a surprise?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A bit of a surprise. Wal-Mart's been at the top in the past, but Exxon Mobil has been hogging that spot for the last year. So Wal-Mart's back on top. But, six of the top 10 companies are oil companies and three of the top 10 are car companies. Let me show you the list.

Wal-Mart in number one in 2006. It had $351 billion in revenue. Exxon's number two. Shell, number three. Then, BP. And, believe it or not, beleaguered General Motors comes in in the number five spot.

I should tell you, though, this is not profitability. This is revenue. The amount of money they take in. When you actually count profitability, Wal-Mart drops down to number 24. Exxon Mobil is still the most profitable company in the world. At least the most profitable public company in the world. I probably don't need to explain why that's the case, do I, Kiran?

CHETRY: No. You'll make a lot of people mad this morning as they fill up their gas tanks.

VELSHI: Yes, exactly.

CHETRY: All right, Ali Velshi, thanks so much.

Well, we're following severe weather this morning. Chad Myers is in the CNN Weather Center.

And, boy, Chad, yesterday up and down the East Coast, that thunderstorm that blew through, pretty scary.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: Well, one boater is still missing in Lake Michigan, two rescued. The hidden dangers that you might not think about as you head out into the water. Well, our Greg Hunter is in Washington for us with more.

Hi, Greg.

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran.

You know, 700 people a year die in the water. Sun and fun, but, you know, there's some fatalities. And of those 700 people, most of which aren't wearing life preservers. Well, why? Well, look at this. This is what I'm wearing around my neck, a life preserver. It will save your life. But a lot of people don't like to wear them. So we're going to be talking about how to stay safe on the water and some of the latest technology in self-inflating life preservers that are, well, stylish.

Back to you, Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Sounds good. Thanks, Greg.

ROBERTS: Twelve minutes after the hour now. We're going to take a short break. We'll be back with the latest on American Airlines Flight 136 bound from LAX to London and it was diverted to JFK because a flight attendant on board spotted a suspicious passenger. The pilot engaged in a ruse, telling passengers at about 3:30 this morning that they didn't have enough fuel to make it to England, landed the plane. The man was taken off the plane. We'll have the latest on the investigation coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Updating you on breaking news that we're following here in New York City this morning. A plane diverted to JFK Airport overnight and one passenger on board detained. It is American Airlines Flight 136. It was traveling between Los Angeles and London. It was supposed to be a non-spot stop flight. They ended up making an emergency landing in New York City around 4:00 a.m. The pilot told passengers at the time that the plane didn't have enough gas. However, once it landed at Kennedy, security boarded the plane and took off a man of middle eastern descent and they also questioned the woman who was sitting beside him.

Joining us right now to explain a little further how this really works is Larry Wansley on the phone. He is from Washington, the former head of security for American Airlines between 1992 and 2004. And he's now with Infinite Security, which is a transportation security firm.

Larry, thanks for being with us this morning.

LARRY WANSLEY, AMERICAN AIRLINES FORMER HEAD OF SECURITY: You're quite welcome.

CHETRY: It's interesting as we're finding out a few details, not many, but about how this was noticed in the first place. And according to an American Airlines spokesperson, one of the crew members observed that this particular passenger, the one they detained, had traveled on the employee bus to the terminal in Los Angeles. Explain how that works.

WANSLEY: Well, obviously there was a security breach of the controls accessing the employee buses. There are standard security procedures that apply. People are supposed to wear certain I.D.s. Apparently one of those components of that equation broke down because that person should not have been on the bus.

CHETRY: And how does -- the employee bus carries you past any type of security checkpoint, the ones that I would be waiting in or you and I would be waiting in at the airport?

WANSLEY: Well, the parking area is secured and it requires specific access to access the employee parking lot. There are certain badges that allow that person access. It's checked by a guard. And actually getting on to the bus once inside the parking facility, getting on to the bus, that critical is also checked.

CHETRY: OK. So you need some sort of credentialing. And you also say a uniform. So how would this passenger, then, possibly be able to sort of slip into that situation and get on this bus unnoticed?

WANSLEY: Well, I think that's a question that certainly bears some further investigation. CHETRY: It's also interesting that, you know, it was really the sharp eye of a crew member who noticed, you know, I think I saw this person sitting on a bus, an employee bus, where he should not have been. And I'm just wondering how vital it is that everyone keep an eye out. It seems that many times when we've seen disaster averted, in the case of Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, was again a flight attendant who noticed him trying to light up matches.

WANSLEY: That's right. And I would commend that employee. And you mentioned Richard Reid. That was a classic case of employee dedication and involvement and being very, very alert as to what was going on in the environment.

I would also say that since 9/11, that is really the norm among employees and it, obviously, worked today. People are much more observant. They're much more concerned about their environment, their surroundings and what have you.

CHETRY: Right.

WANSLEY: And when they do notice something that's not quite right, they do react.

CHETRY: Yes.

WANSLEY: In years past, that may not have been the case.

CHETRY: Well, you know, that part works, but keeping this employee parking lot secure obviously didn't. So we'll have a lot of questions about that today. But thank you for putting that into perspective for us this morning.

Larry Wansley with American Airlines security for a number of years.

WANSLEY: You're quite welcome.

ROBERTS: You've got to have a sharp eye to see somebody on a plane and remember back to say, I saw that person on a bus. So good for the flight attendant on that front.

A progress report on Iraq may be released today and is reportedly going to say that limited progress has been made in security and that the Iraqi government has failed to meet more than half of the benchmarks set by Congress. The report is sure to cause a stir in Washington, but what does the military think about it? Brigadier General Jim Huggins is deputy commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq. He joins us now from Camp Victory in Iraq.

General, this White House report says apparently satisfactory progress has been made by the Iraqi government on not quite half of the benchmarks that have been set. But I'm wondering, has the Iraqi government achieved any of the benchmarks?

BRIG. GEN. JIM HUGGINS, DEP. COMMANDING GENERAL, 3RD ID: Well, John, first, thanks very much for letting us tell this story. I would tell you that the government itself are not our primary focus. I can talk, in particular, about the Iraqi security forces and the benchmarks they're trying to work for in conjunction with the surge that's ongoing.

ROBERTS: Right. So where are the success on that front?

HUGGINS: And I can tell you there's some progress . . .

ROBERTS: Go ahead. Where are the successes on that front?

HUGGINS: What we've seen is, we've been able to focus in areas that were previously sanctuaries before the surge. We now have enough forces where we can go into these sanctuaries where typically the extremists are, mostly the al Qaeda in Iraq organizations, and we're able to attack their networks and cells. And as recently in the last two weeks, in our particular operating environment, our battle space south of Baghdad, we've been able to capture five high-value targets, which were associated with IEDs, ethnic killings, sectarian violence and things of that nature. And that makes a big difference in terms of the overall security and allows us then to improve the security conditions.

ROBERTS: And, General, what about the performance of the Iraqi security forces? Because this has been a consistent problem that they are not up to speed enough that you can turn over complete control to them.

HUGGINS: Yes, John, great question. And again, part of our major focus is to help set those security conditions to let the Iraqi security forces be able to deal with what's there. I can tell you that the Iraqi army that we deal with is in very good shape. As always, we would like more. I think General Petraeus has also (ph) commented on that, too. More time and more forces. The Iraqi army is doing well. The Iraqi police in our battle space has some challenges. They've got to do the rural security in the small towns. It's just hard to get out there in the numbers they need to. ROBERTS: As you know, General, there was extraordinary time pressure now on this so-called surge. How long do you think you need to make it work? Some people are talking about now in terms of a year or two.

HUGGINS: I would stick pretty much with -- the surge began on 15 June in full earnest. I believe we need a few more months to determine the effectiveness of that surge. It's too early to tell, but it's also too early to say it won't work. I just -- I believe about until September we can give a much better assessment in terms of what the long-term picture for security is in the country.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, as they said, lots of pressure in Washington these days. Don't know if you've got that time.

But Brigadier General Jim Huggins, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

What about the fight over the war here at home? A check of what's next from Congress, next on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: President Bush will be trying to take a glass half full approach in today's report assessment coming in from Iraq. But his critics in Congress will say that there is pretty much nothing in the glass. Joining me now to talk about the war over the war is the congressional reporter for Politico.com, Carrie Budoff.

Thanks so much for being with us this morning, Carrie.

CARRIE BUDOFF, THEPOLITICO.COM: Hi. Thanks for having me, Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. So the assessment's coming in and really, I mean, just even in reading the different articles, there seems to be a few different takes on whether or not Iraqis are, a, meeting some of these crucial benchmarks that have been laid out, and also what defines success.

BUDOFF: Exactly. And there's going to be a lot of parsing of this report in Congress today. A lot of senators yesterday on The Hill were saying, I want to wait and hear from the president on Thursday. They're going to be looking at this closely. There's a lot of senators have strong opinions right now. They're kind of holding it close to the vest. They're going to look at it today. And I think you may see some senators giving up a little bit more of where they're going on this issue.

CHETRY: Well, we've seen some real high profile defections on the part of GOP senators. There was a group of I think four or five who said they may be seriously considering signing a binding resolution to begin some sort of redeployment as they call it. Will this, in your opinion, bring more of those senators in the GOP who have stood by the president so far to the other side?

BUDOFF: You know, that's unclear right now. I think what you're going to see is senators inching their way down this road. Though I still think that the pressure is on them to wait until September. President Bush has been hitting that point consistently. You see sympathy among Republics in the Senate to give this another two months.

Though I had a conversation yesterday with a senator who has been a staunch supporter. He is willing to give the president until September. But the question was asked, so what happens when September comes? It's almost two months away. And really, quite frankly, he had a blank look. It's a very hard thing to call.

CHETRY: Yes, you're right. And apparently the White House is sending heavy hitters like Stephen Hadley, as well as others, to talk with some of these senators. Is that having an effect?

BUDOFF: Not really. There were senators who came out of that meeting yesterday who said, one said, we all have our opinions, they're well-known and they're not changing. There are senators in that room, senators who have been to Iraq in the last month, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, who are trying to tell their colleagues, I was there, I saw some progress, give it a chance. But it's a very tough argument to make right now to a lot of Republican senators.

CHETRY: Carrie Budoff, a congressional reporter with Politico.com. Thank you.

BUDOFF: All right. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Coming up now to 27 minutes after the hour. We're following two big security stores stories for you this morning.

A plane diverted to New York City overnight and a suspicious passenger pulled off.

Plus, a new report saying that al Qaeda is as strong as it was or stronger than it has been since September 11th. We'll talk about both with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back. It is Thursday, the 12th of July.

I'm John Roberts, along with Kiran Chetry.

We're following some breaking news right here in New York City for you this morning. American Airlines Flight 136, it's a Boeing 777 from Los Angeles to London. It was diverted and forced to land at JFK airport just a couple of hours ago. The middle of the night, really.

Security quickly boarded the plane and detained a man who passengers describe as being of Middle Eastern descent. They also questioned a woman sitting next to him.

There are reports just coming into our newsroom that the flight landed after the crew reported that they had seen this man on an employee bus and he did not have I.D. The flight attendant spotted this fellow while the plane was in mid air, she brought it to the pilot's attention, and the pilot created a ruse to say to the passengers -- and this, again, is in the middle of the night, they should have been high over Canada on their way to London -- the pilot said, "We don't have enough fuel to make that trip. We're going to divert to JFK."

All of this, again, a ruse to keep the passengers occupied while they security ready. All of this has made for some confusion, no doubt, for the passengers. One of them talked to CNN Radio just a little while ago.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ANTHONY LOYNES, PASSENGER: We saw police around the landing gate, and the police came on and took away one of the passengers in the business class, in the last row of the business class.

(END AUDIO CLIP) ROBERTS: We have a crew that's on its way to JFK. Alina Cho should be up and running in just a couple of minutes.

We're working this story for you. We'll bring you the very latest.

We don't know what the level of threat was, only to say that this flight attendant reported to the pilot that she saw this passenger onboard an employee-only bus and that he was not wearing an I.D. tag. So the same person she had seen hours earlier suddenly she sees on the aircraft and calls the alert to the captain.

We're following the story for you. We'll have the latest on it just as soon as we possibly can -- Kiran.

CHETRY: And speaking of this, we're lucky and fortunate right now to have Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff with us from Washington.

Secretary Chertoff, can you shed any light at all on this situation that's going on? This diverted plane that was headed for London ended up having to make an emergency landing in New York City, and they did detain a passenger of Middle Eastern descent. That's what we know right now.

Do you know anything else?

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Kiran, let me say that, again, I think they're still in the process of sorting this out. I have gotten a report that the individual in question was, in fact, an employee who was traveling in a private capacity.

I think the good news here, of course, is an alert crew sees something that's anomalous or seems a little bit questionable and they take action. It may very well turn out that this is nothing more than a misunderstanding with an employee who used an employee bus to get on a plane for a private flight.

CHETRY: OK. So you're saying that what you're hearing is there is a great possibility this was -- this suspicious person, as they were calling him, was an employee?

CHERTOFF: That's correct.

CHETRY: And that's how that person was able to get the clearance through that employee parking lot?

CHERTOFF: That's what American Airlines is telling us right now.

CHETRY: OK. Well, that's certainly more heartening than if somebody had been able to bypass security as just a passenger looking to do harm. So hopefully...

CHERTOFF: But the good news here is that you have somebody who is alert on the crew, and they're taking appropriate steps at that point to deal with what might be a potentially dangerous situation. That's exactly what we are asking people to do, when you see something, say something.

CHETRY: You're absolutely right.

Well, there's a leaked classified intelligence report that came out, and it revealed a chilling assessment of al Qaeda, that this group, this terror group that we've been fighting for six years now, is as strong as it's been since pre-9/11.

Can you shed any light on that classified report for us?

CHERTOFF: Well, obviously, Kiran, I'm not going to talk about a classified report. Normally when they do issue intelligence estimates, there's a declassified version that eventually gets released.

But I can tell you just talking -- based on public information, public source information, that we are concerned about elements of what al Qaeda is doing. We're concerned about the increased scope.

We saw a bombing in Algeria yesterday. We've seen bombings in North Africa, we've seen activity in Somalia, and, of course, in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We're concerned about training camps in South Asia.

So, all of these things are creating heightened concern on our part as we move forward.

CHETRY: Well, we've made a lot of changes since September 11th. I mean, they created this Department of Homeland Security that you're now in charge of. We've done significant things to change. And then to hear, at least according to this report that we may find out more about today, that al Qaeda has been able to maintain its strength or rebuild its strength, do we need to make more changes?

CHERTOFF: Well, we always need to make more changes. I think the real lesson here -- and it's something we saw, for example, during the Cold War -- is that we can never rest on our laurels.

We have done a lot to secure this country over the last five years, and we've been fortunate, but also we've reaped the harvest of that in that we have not had a successful attack here. But the enemy is continuing to change and adapt. And we cannot be static. And that's why as we go forward into this next year, I'm really urging people to take a close look at some of the additional security measures we're trying to put into place here.

CHETRY: The other thing that a lot of people ask about a lot is this -- we always hear about al Qaeda being able to still maintain a very big presence along this Afghan-Pakistan border. And while we view President Musharraf of Pakistan as an ally on the war on terror, it seems that we have not made nearly enough ground in wiping out those safe havens.

What's the status of that?

CHERTOFF: Well, a senior intelligence official testified yesterday on the Hill. Obviously, we're constrained in our ability to operate in the area which is controlled by a sovereign country. So we are looking closely at how we can cooperate with Pakistan in dealing with training camps that are in parts of Pakistan, just as much as we're concerned about platforms in Iraqi or other parts of the world where al Qaeda might be training.

We're also looking at Europe. One of the points I've made over the last several months is that the growth of homegrown terrorists, so to speak, coming from Europe poses a threat to us because Europe could become a platform for an attack against this country.

CHETRY: You talked about this gut feeling you had when you spoke to the "Chicago Tribune" editorial board. A lot of people are saying -- criticizing you, including the governor of Massachusetts, saying, you can't just say gut feeling if you're not going to give us anything specific.

Do you want to expand on that?

CHERTOFF: Well, actually, what I told the "Tribune" editorial board -- and they released the transcript yesterday, which I guess a lot of people didn't read -- is I laid out a number of specific strategic elements that led me to the conclusion that we do face a period of increased risk. Part of it is what you just said, the issue of increased training activities. Part of it is the volume and frequency of public statements we've seen in the last few months. Part of it is a history in recent years of summertime attacks.

So, I actually laid all of this out before I drew my conclusion. It's all public source information, it's available to anybody who follows this. Obviously, my opinion is one that's informed by my having worked professionally in the area of counterterrorism now for most of the last six years.

CHETRY: Sure, it is, you're right.

So, you know, I think people wanted to know a little bit more specifically if there's anything they can do. Because you hear this and, you know, as the average person, you think, well, what should I be worried about?

CHERTOFF: Well, first of all, Kiran, let me say, there's no specific threat that we're looking at right now for the near term or imminently at the homeland. This is more of a general strategic statement. But I think what people can do is exactly what was done on that flight overnight that you reported on earlier.

If you see something suspicious, you've got to say something about it. If you look back a couple of weeks ago in London, the reason that car bomb was discovered was because an ambulance driver...

CHETRY: Right.

CHERTOFF: ... reported that to the police. Time and again, the citizen who sees something funny and reports it turns out to be a very effective tool in fighting terrorism. CHETRY: Certainly vital for our country as well.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Thanks.

CHERTOFF: Good to be on.

CHETRY: So we just heard from the Homeland Security secretary about al Qaeda's growing threat. But is the terror network really capable of pulling off an attack in the near future?

We're also going to talk to a terrorism expert coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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ROBERTS: Forty-one minutes after the hour now. And updating you on our breaking news this morning.

That American Airlines Flight 136 from LAX to London diverted to JFK because of a suspicious passenger. According to Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, it may have been an employee who was traveling on personal business, and that it may have all been a misunderstanding.

A flight attendant spotted a passenger on an employee-only bus and didn't notice that he wasn't wearing an I.D. badge. He may or may not have been. Called that to the attention of the pilot, the pilot diverted the flight in mid air -- it should have been way up over Canada -- to land at JFK.

This fellow was taken off of the plane. The passenger next to him questioned, as well. But now, according the secretary of Homeland Security, it may have all just been a misunderstanding that this was an employee potentially traveling on personal business.

Al Qaeda is now the strongest that it has been since 9/11. A new American intelligence says it may have regained the capacity for pulling off new attacks.

Are there growing signals that al Qaeda is gearing up for a major attack perhaps here in the United States?

Sajjan Gohel is a terrorism expert from the Asia-Pacific Foundation in London and joins us now from our London bureau.

Sajjan, when we talk about al Qaeda gaining strength, in practical terms, what does that mean?

SAJJAN GOHEL, TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, John, after September 11th, the U.S., through the FBI and the CIA, were able to make a number of very key important arrests of senior members of al Qaeda, including, say, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was the organizer of the 9/11 atrocity. What you saw was that al Qaeda began to evolve from being an organization. It became an ideology, where its doctrine and ideas where being advocated by affiliated terrorists groups around the world.

What is happening now is that the group seems to be reconstituting itself, it's rebuilding its resources inside Pakistan, and it actually has now the ability to directly control and orchestrate terrorists attacks around the world, as we've seen in the case of the U.K., with the July 7th attacks, followed by the plot two weeks later with the 21-7 bombers. It is a huge concern that al Qaeda has been able to replenish its ranks and has now the ability to actually carry out new attacks.

ROBERTS: The fact, Sajjan, that al Qaeda is able to replenish its ranks, carry out attacks the world over, despite all of the effort, the money and the lives that have been thrown into this war on terror, does it suggest that the war on terror, at the very least, is not being won, and at the very worst, being lost?

GOHEL: Well, one of the biggest problems was that for every individual, every terrorist being captured or killed, there are at least another five coming along the assembly line. We don't really tackle the recruitment in trying to prevent people from joining terrorist groups.

And what we also saw is that other issues, other events, like Iraq, had detracted the attention off the international powers and it enabled al Qaeda to basically spend time to rebuild, to reconstruct itself. And what is a huge concern is the fact that they've been able to operate so freely and openly inside Pakistan, which has now become their central base. As we've seen, a huge number of major plots like the 7-7 bombers, they traveled to Pakistan, where they were basically given the ideological guidance and the skills to equip to carry out an attack.

ROBERTS: So, in terms of its capability of launching attacks here in the United States, would it be a sophisticated operation as we saw during 9/11? Might it be something on the scale of the Madrid bombing? Or might it be a loose organization of people who don't quite have their act together, as we saw in London a couple of weeks ago?

GOHEL: Well, keep in mind that since 9/11, there have been some major terrorist plots that have been planned in the U.S. but have been thwarted by the authorities there. Al Qaeda will always want to reserve its most spectacular devastating attacks for the U.S. They may not be able to orchestrate something similar along the lines of September 11th, but they will want to strike at some point.

I think many people feel that it's over five years since 9/11, that maybe al Qaeda doesn't have the ability to carry out an attack. The reality is, that for them, time is eternal.

They will plan and plot when they think time is right, where they think the complacency is right. And also, keep in mind that the fact is that they will want to recruit from within the U.S.

Adam Gadahn, who is the al Qaeda media chief, he's the one that makes all the videos that we see on the TV and on the Internet, he's an American convert. And he has appealed directly to Americans to try and join al Qaeda.

And that's the thing, they're not going to fly in like with the September 11th hijackers and come into the country. They will be recruited from within U.S. society, as has been the case in the U.K. and Spain and other parts of the world.

ROBERTS: And as counterterrorism officials consistently point out to us, the terrorists only need to get lucky once.

Sajjan Gohel, thanks very much for joining us this morning. Good to see you.

GOHEL: My pleasure.

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CHETRY: Most people involved in boating and individual watercraft accidents are out on the water and they're not doing something right. They don't have the proper safety training, for one.

Greg Hunter is looking at some of the biggest safety concerns. He's live in Washington.

Where are you in Washington, by the way? That's beautiful. A beautiful shot behind you, Greg.

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're at a marina just outside the capital right here on the water. It's beautiful.

And, you know, to talk about people not doing the right thing, you know, 500 people a year on the water in America drown. And of those 500 people, nine out of 10 are not wearing life preservers.

With me now is Marine Healy (ph). She's with the Personal Watercraft Association. You know, there's an NFL football player that died recently, and, you know, there's a lot of contributing factors to that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Greg, there are many miscues along the way, but priority number one, wear one of these, a life jacket. And it probably would have saved his life.

HUNTER: OK. So, here's what most people look at, something like this. It's kind of bulky, it's kind of geeky looking, but it will save your life. And a lot of people don't want to wear them.

So, the industry is pushing to do things to make them more, you know, palatable, easy to wear. And you have one there for kayakers. What does it look like?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kayakers, canoers. It's all about accessorizing these days, Greg.

HUNTER: OK. Light that candle. Let's hope it works. So there you go.

And this is one that you have to self-inflate, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

HUNTER: Or you have to, you know, pull it and it will automatically inflate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go.

HUNTER: Ah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And pull it up over your head.

HUNTER: OK. And then there you go. There you go.

You guys get the idea. It inflates automatically for you.

But I know what you're thinking out there. What happens if you fall in the water and you hit your head? Well, we have automatic inflation there.

I know everybody's probably sitting thinking there, yes, he falls in. But watch this. You put this in the water.

Watch. You see how this is? It's just really thin, right? Really thin, nice, wearable. You know, trendy, stylish.

You hit the water, watch what happens? There's a (INAUDIBLE) down there in the thing. And guess what? Voila, it opens right up.

And this stuff is a -- you know, this costs a couple hundred bucks. Of course, this water jacket here will save your life. This is a few bucks. But this is where the industry is going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

HUNTER: So this is a technology they had for pilots, right, for years? And this is where the personal industry is going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. The personal watercraft industry mandates that we wear life jackets when we're out riding on the water, and we encourage everybody when they're out boating to wear life jackets.

HUNTER: OK. And this one just fills up with a tube like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A cartridge. They recommend though, Greg, that you check and change the cartridge every year.

HUNTER: OK. Thank you so much.

Marine Healy (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

HUNTER: Back to you guys in New York.

CHETRY: That's awesome, Greg, the one that when you hit the water it inflates, the rest of the time it's very, very thin. Because sometimes you can't do what you want to do on the boat. You can't really get around because of that bulky life preserver. So pretty neat.

We'll check in with you a little later, Greg. Thanks.

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