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American Morning

TB lockdown: Patient Moved After Year in Arizona; War on Terror

Aired July 20, 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: Extreme weather. A water spout in the marking. Storms stretching from the upper Midwest to a tornado in New England.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, very close.

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ROBERTS: Was it magic?

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't peaked ahead and looked at the ending.

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ROBERTS: How some people already have their hands on the latest "Harry Potter," including us, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Ah, yes, we have it.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: But we're not going to take advantage of that power.

ROBERTS: Why not? We should reveal the ending. We should spoil it for everyone.

CHETRY: No way.

ROBERTS: Of course we wouldn't do that.

Hey, good morning. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks for joining us. It's Friday, the 20th of July. I'm John Roberts.

CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.

We begin with a possible new deadline to show progress in Iraq. America's number two commander in Iraq now says that November, not September, might be a better time to assess whether or not the president's troop buildup is working. General Ray Odierno briefed senators in Washington via video conference and then spoke in a news conference.

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LT. GEN. RAY ODIERNO, DEPT. U.S. COMMANDER IN IRAQ: As we give our assessment in September, it's important that we have a bit more time so we can do an evaluation of this progress. And I think it's important that we're allowed to do that because we want to be honest and forthright. We don't want -- we want to make sure that we provide accurate assessments to everyone out there and it's important to us that we do that.

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CHETRY: Well, senators on the Foreign Relations Committee did not take well to that news, including Senators Biden, Hagel, Kerry, Lugar. They all warned that time is running out in Iraq. Lugar even said that the focus should be on political solutions, as well as regional diplomacy.

And, meantime, some strong words from the Pentagon for Hillary Clinton this morning and her request that the Pentagon come up with plans to bring troops back from Iraq. In a stinging letter the Pentagon said that the request "reinforces enemy propaganda." Clinton serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has overnight over the Defense Department and its budget. Clinton's camp called the letter "outrageous and dangerous."

ROBERTS: Two new terror arrests just in overnight in Britain and a suspect in the failed London and Glasgow bombings will be in court today. CNN's international terror correspondent, Paula Newton, is live for us in London this morning.

And, Paula, these latest arrests unconnected to the bombing plot recently in Britain?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unconnected and authorities still don't know exactly how serious it is. But, of course, very alarming to the community in Bristol because police had gone into this property to search on a drug-related charge. Police found a substance that might be connected to terrorist activity. It's at the lab right now, John, and they're checking it out. We'll get more for you on that in the next few days.

In the meantime, Dr. Mohammed Asha, by all accounts a very talented neurosurgeon, now facing charges here this morning of conspiracy to cause explosions. John, this completes the circle in terms of all those arrests and investigation from that Glasgow incident a few weeks ago. Police do not rule out more arrests, but so far everyone in connection with this has either been charged or has been released. Again, investigators going with their central theory in that this was a doctor's bomb plot. They do believe at this point in time that Dr. Asha might have master minded all this in some kind of way.

John.

ROBERTS: Dr. Asha, Paula, was picked up on the M6 motorway about halfway between London and Glasgow. Do they have any idea -- or at least have they given us any idea why he was on that road?

NEWTON: No idea yet. He was headed north, but they won't speculate. Keep in mind, though, John, that he was really under the radar. He was traveling with his wife. He has a young child. At this point, they're working on the theory that, in fact, whatever hand he had in this, and they claim that he was a co-conspirator, that he was really staying under the radar and was not going to be involved very directly in any of those bomb attacks. That's the theory that police are going on right now. We'll wait to hear more. Again, we may not hear more about this whole incident until it actually moves to trial and that will be from some months from now.

John.

ROBERTS: Paula Newton for us live in London this morning with the latest on terrorism in Britain. Another couple of arrests overnight but unrelated to that bomb plot of a couple weeks back.

Other headlines new this morning.

Atlanta Falcon's quarterback Michael Vick will not be on the field next week when the Falcons open training camp. Instead, he will be in the courtroom scheduled to face dog fighting charges. The animal rights groups are pushing the NFL to suspend Vick immediately under the league's new conduct policy. The team's owner says he is, "saddened and distressed" by Vick's indictment. Vick is accused of training pit bulls for fighting on his Virginia property. He could get up to six years in prison if convicted. Nike is suspending the release of a new Michael Vick sneaker, though they are not suspending their endorsement contract with him.

And the allegations of dogfighting drew an emotional respond in the Senate from West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd. Byrd said he wasn't specifically commenting on Michael Vick's case but he said, "the hottest places in hell are reserved for those involved in such activities."

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SEN. ROBERT BYRD, (D) WEST VIRGINIA: Barbaric. Let that word resound from hill to hill and from mountain to mountain, from valley to valley across this broad land. Barbaric.

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ROBERTS: Well, Byrd has often spoken on the Senate floor about how much he loves his dog, Billy. He has also addressed Congress a number of times about animal cruelty, including the 2001 incident in California when a man reached into a woman's car, grabbed her dog and then threw it on to a busy highway.

CHETRY: Well, another death for wrestling this morning. Former tag team champion John Kronus was found dead in his home in New Hampshire. Kronus, who's real name is George Caiazo, retired from wrestling in 2002 after a career in the ECW extreme championship wrestling league. He was part of one of the most dominant and well- known ECW teams. The now defunct organization was bought by the WWE. Right now, the cause of death is unknown.

Former CIA operative Valerie Plame says she will appeal a federal judge's ruling dismissing hurry lawsuit against Dick Cheney and another top Bush administration official for leaking her CIA identity. Plame was outed in 2003 after her husband challenged the case for invading Iraq. The judge said that the suit raises important questions about the administration's actions but does not belong in federal court.

Hawaii is on an extreme weather watch this morning, bracing for a tropical depression. Here's the latest radar image. Heavy rain, winds and waves as high at eight feet are expected. There's a look right now. There's a flash flood watch in effect for many of the islands through tomorrow afternoon.

And western wildfires multiplying today, stretching resources to the max. Dozens of new fires started, including a rapidly growing blaze on the grounds of the Idaho National Laboratory. At least 12 states have been put on the highest fire alert level. Dry, windy weather with triple digit temperatures all forecast for the rest of the week.

Well, "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling is furious with newspapers that published reviews of the last book in the series, including crucial plot details which we won't reveal now. It's going to hit stores tonight at 12:01 a.m. "The New York Times" says it found the book in a shop on Wednesday. "The Baltimore Sun" says it acquired the book through, "legal means." And coming up in just a few minutes, we're going to be talking to the teenager who also had the same thing happen. She ordered the book online. She got it early and she's been reading it. So we're going to talk about that coming up.

ROBERTS: J.K. Rowling scowling all the way to the bank.

There's other important stories that we're following for you this morning with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents.

Concerns this morning about airborne asbestos contamination after that steam pipe explosion in Midtown Manhattan. Alina Cho downtown working this one for us today.

And good morning to you, Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John.

You'll recall that air samples in the area tested negative for asbestos, but some of the dust and debris tested positive. So one of the biggest questions now is, why weren't first responders and cleanup crews required to wear respirators?

Now we were there yesterday, saw for ourselves that there's simply no protocols. Some police officers had respirators. Others did not. The same for the firefighters. And we didn't see a single ConEd worker wearing one. One New York City police officer expressed his concerns to a local reporter.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're supposed to get the protective gear before you go into the spot where you need it at, not when you're there.

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CHO: Now CNN reached out to six different states, federal and local agencies. Some did not get back to us. But the ones that did said the use of protective gear is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Now just after 9/11, you'll recall that the EPA said the air was safe. It turns out that was not the case. And now thousands of rescue workers are sick. New York's health commissioner says you can't compare Wednesday's explosion to 9/11. He says that's because the contents of the plume on 9/11 was pulverized concrete. He says on Wednesday the bulk of the cloud was steam, water and that helped suppress any asbestos laden particles.

But, John, the big challenge now going forward is to make sure that asbestos, which was found in the dust and debris, doesn't get airborne once it dries out.

John.

ROBERTS: Right and the wind picks it up. And certainly we took note as well, Alina, the evening that that happened, we saw those emergency workers down there not wearing any kind of respiratory protection. Meanwhile, the steam and all of that mud and dirt and whatnot was blowing around the area.

Alina Cho for us.

Thanks very much, Alina. We'll stay on this story.

Amazing pictures of a waterspout on Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans. Chad Myers tracking extreme weather at the CNN Weather Center.

Good morning, Chad.

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CHETRY: And we have Ali Velshi standing by at the New York Stock Exchange. A lot of people wondering whether the Dow is going to hit the 14,000 mark yet again today.

Hi, Ali.

Oh, he's not there. We'll talk to him in a second. We'll just keep wondering for a couple more minutes.

But there is some new poll numbers released just minutes ago. South Carolina primary voters were asked what they think about the presidential candidates for 2008. This is the YouTube and CNN debate. The much anticipated debate for Monday is going to be taking place in Charleston. Joining me this morning with the new numbers, CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

Good to see you this morning.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good to be here.

CHETRY: So South Carolina painting a little bit of a different picture than the New Hampshire numbers that we had out.

SCHNEIDER: That's indeed right. South Carolina is going to have an early Democratic primary. That's where the debate's going to be.

So we asked South Carolina Democrats, who they would pick right now for their nominee. And the answer is a three-way race, really. Hillary Clinton comes in first, 39 percent, Barack Obama second at 25, and John Edwards, 15 percent. John Edwards won the South Carolina primary in 2004, but he's running third this time. And 10 percent are saying they'd hold out for Al Gore who has not indicated he'd be a candidate.

Now race always has a lot to do with South Carolina politics. And the reason the primary has been moved up is Democrats wanted to give African-American voters more of a voice. So let's look at the race among black and white voters in the South Carolina Democratic Party.

Among white voters, it's pretty close. Clinton, 30, Edwards, 27, with Obama running third. But notice among black Democrats in South Carolina, two candidates do noticeably better. Hillary Clinton picks up support and so does Barack Obama. So you've really got a race in South Carolina with Clinton and Obama competing for that black vote. Both of them do better among African-American voters there.

CHETRY: But she does still have a sizable lead (INAUDIBLE) over all Democrats and in the black vote.

SCHNEIDER: She does. That's right. She has a sizable lead in both cases. When we asked the voters there, do you think blacks would be better off if Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama were the next president. Forty-four percent said Clinton, 33 percent Obama. Clintan has always been a magic name among African-American voters and still is in South Carolina.

CHETRY: Yes, it certainly shows in that poll.

How about the GOP primary voters? Who are they liking in South Carolina?

SCHNEIDER: How about this, Rudy Giuliani.

CHETRY: Right, and they said he wouldn't play well in the south.

SCHNEIDER: The south. My goodness. Now, he doesn't have a big lead and there's no clear favorite here, but Rudy Giuliani is leading the field 28 percent. John McCain is holding up nicely, despite the troubles on his campaign. And look at this, Fred Thompson, who isn't a candidate at this point, expressing some interest in running, may get in after Labor Day, but Fred Thompson is showing up third in South Carolina. No one else is even in double digits. Rudy Giuliani -- imagine -- wrap your mind around this concept. Could the mayor of New York city carry a primary among Republicans in South Carolina? That would be sensational.

CHETRY: It certainly would be. All right. Well, we're going to talk much more about this. You have a long day.

SCHNEIDER: Yes.

CHETRY: You're joining us for the YouTube countdown at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time tonight, as well.

SCHNEIDER: I am indeed.

CHETRY: All right. Get some coffee.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

CHETRY: Thanks, Bill.

ROBERTS: What ever happened to Fred Thompson getting in on the Fourth of July? That kind of went by the wayside, didn't it.

She's emerging as a major force in the campaign trail and John Edwards' secret weapon. We're talking about Elizabeth Edwards. But is she using her own personal battle with cancer to help her husband get elected? We're looking into the controversy coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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CHETRY: And some news just into our news room this morning. Barbara Starr is in Germany. She's traveling with General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he broke a little bit of news this morning about plans to increase some military support to Pakistan.

Barbara, what are they talking about when they talk about this support for Pakistan?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kiran, we're here in Germany, with General Pace. He's meeting with troops and their families. The questions were supposed to be about Iraq and Afghanistan. But he was asked about Pakistan.

General Pace confirming that the United States, the Bush administration, is now offering Pakistan military assistance for its operations against that al Qaeda safe haven in its tribal region. General Pace saying publicly, the U.S. is offering the Pakistani both intelligence and, in his words, kinetics. That, of course, means U.S. fire power.

Now will the Pakistanis accept it? That is always the key question. So far, officially Pakistan does not accept U.S. military assistance. They do, of course, accept some of it very, very quietly. General Pace saying that that safe haven, the Pakistanis are sending more troops into the area. The agreement they had with the tribal leader these against al Qaeda, that Pakistani great, he said, is not working and that Pakistan has told the United States, of course, they are sending more of their own military forces to move against that al Qaeda safe haven.

I must tell you, there is always a lot of skepticism about whether Pakistan will live up to its promise, whether it will send the troops and will take aggressive action against al Qaeda. But this morning, General Pace is saying that the U.S. is offering military assistance to the Pakistanis and to President Pervez Musharraf in those military operations.

Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes, this is always something's handled and discussed very gingerly and I think the administration often time says, well this is a sovereign country so, you know, we can't go in there. But when they talk about the offer for more help militarily, does any of it sound like it could be U.S. troops?

STARR: Well, I don't think you are going to see U.S. troops on the ground in Pakistan. That is something that, of course, would put President Musharraf in a very difficult position. When General Pace just talked about kinetics, what he may be talking about is unmanned military drones with hell fire missiles. They have been used against al Qaeda inside Pakistan in the past. It's never been publicly acknowledged by the Pakistanis.

But what General Pace most likely is referring to is if the Pakistanis need intelligence, if they need some kind of assistance, some kind of last-minute U.S. help. If they get a good target, that the U.S. will be there to help them. Whether the Pakistanis will ever publicly acknowledged that, whether we will ever publicly see that military assistance, remains to be seen. But what General Pace is putting on the table this morning is that the two countries are now discussing it, the offer is on the table in terms of this latest Pakistani military operation against the al Qaeda safe haven along that border region.

Kiran.

CHETRY: Interesting news this morning for sure.

Barbara Starr traveling with General Peter Pace in Germany this morning. Thanks.

ROBERTS: A new political controversy is unfolding this morning. Elizabeth Edwards starring in the latest political ad makes a very personal plea for her husband's presidential campaign. But is she also using her cancer diagnosis for political gain? Take a listen.

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ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: It's unbelievably important that in our president we have someone who can stare the worst in the face and not blink.

JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm John Edward and I approved this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: CNN political analyst John Dickerson made the cancer connection in his latest column on slate.com and Elizabeth Edwards fired back at him. John Dickerson is with us this morning.

John, what was your takeaway from that ad?

JOHN DICKERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I looked at that ad, which is pretty ambiguous, and that last line you focused on, and I thought, when the campaign asked us to think about the worst in John Edwards' background, what are they asking? And the conclusion I came to and a lot of other people I showed the ad to was, they're either talking about her cancer or the death of their son back in 1996.

ROBERTS: So she fired back saying, no, it's not about that at all, it's about his time as a trial lawyer. And she encouraged you to read his book called, "Four Trials." She said, "yes, he has faced death and disease in our family, but the measure of his strength is the fight he has for his entire adult life voluntarily taken on, not just those that fate would not permit him to avoid."

So she's saying that this is really all about him fighting for the little guy, fighting for people like that young girl who had that terrible tragic accident on that pool intake. Did you ever get that idea from looking at that ad?

DICKERSON: Well, I didn't get it necessarily from the ad. Again, the ad is pretty ambiguous. And, you know, there is lots of ugliness that he looked at in his legal career. And her point was that I was too dismissive of that. What I was measuring is the extraordinary pain that he's been through in his private life. And when you talk about the worst, how do you compare the two? She so she said, well, I've been too dismissive of the legal part when she made her case.

ROBERTS: All right. Were you surprised that she responded?

DICKERSON: Well, a little bit, but she's responded to a number of other things and she certainly blogs and posts on all kinds of other different blogs. And so it has been in keeping with her behavior in the past.

ROBERTS: Yes, but this is really an unusual role for a candidate's spouse to take on, is this idea of rapid response or compare and contrast. It's usually left to campaign staff to do that and the candidate and their family flies above the fray.

DICKERSON: That's right. She, though, is a pretty compelling figure. She, obviously, works well for them. That's why she's in the ad in the first place in New Hampshire. And so it's a tight line for her to walk. She doesn't want to become the story and not the candidate.

ROBERTS: Yes. I'm wondering what kind of risk does she run by getting this deeply involved?

DICKERSON: Well, I guess she runs a little bit of a risk. Certainly judging from my mail and the reaction, she's doing just fine and her supporters don't mind her taking up this battle at all.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, John Dickerson, thanks very much for joining us. An interesting, political debate going on there. And it's always good to see you. Thank you my friend.

DICKERSON: Thank you.

CHETRY: All right. Well, excitement turned to anger as 30,000 people who thought they had won $1,000 were told, sorry, it was a misprint. So will the company behind the scratch-off promotion pay up or not? We're going to have that story next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Wow, what a beautiful shot this morning. That was right here in Columbus Circle in the heart of the upper west side. Right by, actually, where we are this morning in New York City. Seventy- three degrees right now. It's going to get a little hotter today.

Meantime, a scratch-off fiasco in New Mexico. This time, everybody wins. A car dealer sent out about 50,000 scratch-off tickets. They've gotten so far to 30,000 people. They scratch them off and, look, I've won $1,000. But hold on.

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JOHN FITZPATRICK, FORCE MEDIA GROUP: We've made a mistake. We have to tell these people in the community, first and foremost, that we're very sorry about the inconvenience that it caused to them and their families.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there's nothing in the fine print about a misprint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Yes, people are steamed about this. What happened is the promotion company accidentally had all 50,000 at winners instead of just a few, like it was supposed to be. The dealership is offering some additional prizes, consolation, but will not honor -- they say they will not honor the 30,000 winning tickets.

ROBERTS: Whoa.

CHETRY: Also "On Our Radar" this morning . . .

ROBERTS: Oh, my.

CHETRY: Also "On Our Radar" this morning, the ending to "Harry Potter." No one's supposed to know, including you, until at least 12:01 tonight.

ROBERTS: Give me it. I was almost done.

CHETRY: But it looks like we have our hands on the "Harry Potter" number seven, the "Deathly Hallows," as well as several other people.

ROBERTS: Whoa, I can't believe.

CHETRY: How did you get your hands on this? Because you weren't supposed to have this.

ROBERTS: I sent Niela (ph) out for it.

CHETRY: She's our producer. No. The reason is that there was actually some, I guess . . .

ROBERTS: A little bit of a screw up, let's say.

CHETRY: Mix-up, yes, on the part of a lot of these online distributors and they sent the book out early. In fact, we have a young lady here, this is her book, and she says that she got this book on Wednesday and it's actually ruffling a lot of feathers. There are threats of lawsuits and the publisher, as well as the writer, the author, J.K. Rowling, all very upset this morning at you.

ROBERTS: You're going to love this. You're going to love what happens here.

CHETRY: We'll have those stories when AMERICAN MORNING returns.

ROBERTS: Just incredible stuff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: There is a shot this morning coming to us courtesy from WPVI in Philadelphia. A shot of the Ben Franklin Bridge.

Traffic moving along at a pretty good clip at 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time. I think it's about 75 degrees right now if Philly. You're going to move up to about 81. It's going to be a sticky day, though.

ROBERTS: Yes. It still looks pretty muggy out there, a little wet.

Wow. How about that thunderstorm yesterday here in New York?

CHETRY: You could hear it.

ROBERTS: Well, actually, it wasn't a thunderstorm. It was just a rainstorm, wasn't it?

CHETRY: Well, you got caught in it, right?

ROBERTS: Totally. I had been roller-blading in the park and suddenly... CHETRY: I was going to join you, and thank goodness I didn't. Stayed inside.

ROBERTS: Thank goodness, yes.

CHETRY: Well, welcome once again.

It's Friday, July 20th.

I'm Kiran Chetly, along with John Roberts, here today.

And we have a lot to talk about, including another milestone for the Dow.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

ROBERTS: The hospital in Denver where Andrew Speaker, the TB patient, is being treated has welcomed another tuberculosis patient. An Arizona man who has been locked in a hospital for a year is now at the National Jewish Medical Center.

Our Thelma Gutierrez joins us now with more.

Thelma, what's this all about?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you, John, that Robert Daniels is now in a standard isolation room here at the hospital. I spoke with him last night on the phone because he's not yet allowed to have visitors. He told me that he's elated, he's very relieved to finally be in a hospital and not the jail ward of a hospital to receive his treatment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ (voice over): For the first time in nearly a year, Robert Daniels will see the sunrise from his hospital window.

ROBERT DANIELS, TUBERCULOSIS PATIENT: It's like, the first impression was hopeful, how the light looks like, finally. I can finally see far. I can finally see trees. I can finally, just, you know, see the colors of the world.

GUTIERREZ: Since last August, this 27-year-old from Arizona who was diagnosed with an extremely drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis had been kept in isolation in a cell within the jail ward of a county hospital in Phoenix, with no view to the outside world, no shower and no visitors.

DANIELS: I'm really mentally being killed here.

GUTIERREZ: Daniels was placed in the custody of the Maricopa County sheriff because he repeatedly went out in public without a mask. At the time, he was contagious. And though he was never charged with a crime, he says he was treated like a prisoner.

DANIELS: Even if I did make a mistake, it doesn't -- it doesn't give them the right to, you know, torture me like this.

GUTIERREZ: The ACLU agreed and filed a federal lawsuit against Maricopa County officials, alleging his civil rights were being violated. But before his case could be heard, Arizona officials transferred Daniels to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, the same hospital where TB patient Andrew Speaker is being treated.

Within the first hours of being admitted here, Daniels' medical treatment was changed, his diagnosis upgraded. And now he's learned he's a likely candidate for a life-saving surgery.

DANIELS: This is amazing that I'm going to have it, I'm going to get out -- get out of this hell alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Now, in an agreement reached between Arizona authorities and Colorado authorities, a guard will be posted outside of Robert Daniels' room 24 hours a day, seven days a week to make sure he doesn't leave. He will also wear an ankle bracelet to monitor his whereabouts. And if he does try and leave this hospital, authorities say he will be returned to Arizona, right back to that jail ward.

For now, though, Robert Daniels told me that he has learned his lesson, he just wants to get better, he wants to be released to see his wife and his son once again -- John.

ROBERTS: It sounds like he's going to be there for a while, though, first.

Thelma Gutierrez for us outside the National Jewish Medical Center.

Thelma, thanks. And Sheriff Joe Arpaio is going to join us live in our 8:00 a.m. hour, so stick around for that, if you can -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes, it should be interesting, for sure. Thanks, John.

Well, the war on terror on the move overnight in the U.K. Two new terror suspects arrested. And also, a suspect in the failed Glasgow and London bombings will be in court today. Now international investigators are growing more concerned about the possibility that terrorists will get their hands on so-called dirty bombs.

CNN's international security correspondent Paula Newton is live in London for us with more on this -- Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, you know, the threat of a dirty bomb is now more real than ever, with records from the International Atomic Energy Agency showing that illicit trafficking of radioactive material, those incidents have more than doubled since 2002.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (voice over): On both sides of the Atlantic, authorities simulate dirty bomb attacks.

SANDRA BELL, RUSI: We have to think that the dirty bomb is now a very real threat. It is a weapon that will cause disruption and it will cause disproportionate terror. It is a very, very clever weapon.

NEWTON: Clever because it won't just have the big bang of a conventional explosive. It's more than that.

A dirty bomb is one laced with radioactive material, spreading radiation and panic. And it's been tried before.

Darren Barod (ph), an al Qaeda operative, was sentenced to life in prison for what Scotland Yard calls a plot to wreak havoc in the United States and Britain. Among his deadly plans, exploding a dirty bomb at various targets, including financial sites.

(on camera): The alarming thing is, the scheme was so simple. Stockpile thousands of smoke detectors, harvest each one for the minute amount of radioactive material in them, and then simply burn them.

(voice over): A crude plot to be sure. But the radioactive material to make a bigger, more sophisticated bomb is as close as your nearest hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is the radioactive source somewhere.

NEWTON: Radioactive material is used all over the world for radiation therapy and more. Much of those sites are unsecured -- no cameras, no guards. A risk that takes on more urgency as medical doctors now face charges in connection with Britain's latest terror attack.

DAVID YORK, SECURITY EXPERT: I believe that there is a real threat of materials falling into the wrong hands. And based on the data that I've collected, I would say that it's a probability that some of the material has already fallen into the wrong hands.

NEWTON: Peter Zimmerman is a former chief scientist to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He says, given the lack of security, there's only one reason a dirty bomb hasn't gone off.

PETER ZIMMERMAN, FORMER SCIENTIST, SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: We've been lucky.

NEWTON: That's the only reason?

ZIMMERMAN: It's the only reason that I can give that I actually believe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And no wonder the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says that a radioactive source is lost or stolen in the United States every single day -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Paula Newton for us.

Thank you.

ROBERTS: While millions will have to wait a few more hours to get their hands on the latest "Harry Potter" book, some were lucky enough to get it early, a teenager and her mom who -- there they are. They join us next with their new read.

A little bit of late summer reading here next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, you know, Saturday can't come soon enough for millions of "Harry Potter" fans, because at 12:01 a.m., which is less than 18 hours from now, the seventh and supposedly final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," will finally be theirs.

Well, Danielle Sank does not have to wait. She already has her book. She ordered it from a Web site that jumped the gun on the release date.

Danielle joins us now, along with her mother, Deana Santoni-Long, who is also a big "Harry Potter" fan as well.

Thanks to both of you for being with us.

So you got your hands on this coveted book people are going to be waiting in line in bookstores all over the world for.

DANIELLE SANK, GOT "HARRY POTTER" BOOK EARLY: Yes.

CHETRY: You got yours accidentally on Tuesday. Tell us what happened.

SANK: I ordered it from online, deepdiscount.com, and it just said it was supposed to come in next week. And it came in on Tuesday and I was really excited, just tore open the box. And here I am reading it already.

CHETRY: Yes, you actually brought...

DEANA SANTONI-LONG, DANIELLE'S MOTHER: And we had no idea that it was even -- we didn't realize the hype was this big. And we had no idea that it was a big deal that we got it on Tuesday until we read an article in the paper and received a phone call from Scholastic asking Danielle...

CHETRY: The book publisher.

SANTONI-LONG: Yes. And they asked her not to please give the ending away, don't talk to many people about it.

CHETRY: So how did they know that you had the book?

SANK: I have no idea. I guess they were in touch with Deep Discount. Like, Deep Discount must have told them about the glitch because I wasn't the only one that got a book.

SANTONI-LONG: And then we got an article in our local newspaper about a person near our area that also received it. So I asked Danielle to write to the newspaper and explain the situation.

CHETRY: You know, it is interesting, because the publisher is actually threatening legal action against deepdiscount.com.

SANTONI-LONG: Right.

CHETRY: And I believe as well as the parent company for doing this, for sending these out early.

Did deepdiscount.com tell you anything about why it happened? Are they saying it's an accident?

SANK: They didn't even call us or...

SANTONI-LONG: We have not even heard from them.

SANK: I haven't had e-mail or anything, because that's who they got a hold of me, was, like, e-mail.

CHETRY: Wow. So it got into the right hands, because you're nice enough that you are not going to give away the ending, right?

SANTONI-LONG: She won't even tell me. I don't want her to tell me.

CHETRY: So you're protecting Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling's secrets?

SANK: Yes.

SANTONI-LONG: Absolutely.

CHETRY: How far through the book are you?

SANK: Only like halfway. There's about 700, almost 800 pages, so...

CHETRY: So you're halfway through?

SANK: Yes.

CHETRY: And how is it so far, without telling us too much?

SANK: It is a lot. It's -- I mean, you know, all of them are good, but this one just definitely tops them all so far.

CHETRY: Wow. All right.

Do you have any predictions as to what becomes of Mr. Potter?

SANK: I don't want to make predictions. I don't want it to end.

CHETRY: You don't want to get in trouble.

SANK: No.

SANTONI-LONG: And she can't tell me, either. So I don't want to know.

CHETRY: So, mom, you're a big "Harry Potter" fan, as well? You're going to read the book.

SANTONI-LONG: Not as big as she is, but she -- you know, she's given me the books that she has, and I get it next. I'm next in line.

CHETRY: So you ended up getting in the middle of a snafu that you had no idea about.

SANK: No.

SANTONI-LONG: No idea it was this big of a deal.

CHETRY: You were just trying to save a little bit of money by getting it online.

SANTONI-LONG: Yes.

CHETRY: And -- well, it's a big "oops" on the part of this company.

SANTONI-LONG: Yes.

CHETRY: But anyway, so they're sending you a $50 gift certificate, as well as a T-shirt?

SANK: Yes.

CHETRY: So you made out even better.

SANK: Yes.

SANTONI-LONG: And she's upset they didn't ask her size.

SANK: Yes. They didn't ask for my T-shirt size.

CHETRY: What did they send you? What size did they send you?

SANK: I don't know. I haven't gotten it yet.

CHETRY: All right. If you have to tell them if they're watching, what's your size?

SANK: Small.

CHETRY: Well, there you go. You're not giving away the ending, so they should get your T-shirt size right.

Danielle, as well as her mom, Deana.

Thanks for joining us.

SANK: Thank you.

SANTONI-LONG: Thank you.

ROBERTS: I'll tell you, she showed a lot of willpower to not give away that ending.

It's 46 minutes after the hour now.

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