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American Morning
Terror Arrests in Germany; Senator Craig Reconsiders?; Search Continues for Steve Fossett
Aired September 05, 2007 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Breaking news. Terror arrests bust up a plot to attack Ramstein Air Base and Frankfurt International Airport.
Plus, not ready to resign?
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: It is my intent -- intent to resign from the Senate.
ROBERTS: Larry Craig's change of heart. And the voicemail you weren't supposed to hear.
And Mattel's made in China nightmare, a third recall of tainted toys. Meet the mother who drove to company headquarters and demanded action on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: There is a lot of breaking news this morning and we're here to bring it to you all.
Good morning. Thanks for being with us. It's Wednesday, the 5th of September.
I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
8:00 a.m. on the East Coast. It's 2:00 p.m. in Germany, and that's where we're following the latest developments on a major breaking news story, a terror plot against Ramstein Air Base, the American air base in Germany, and Frankfurt International Airport, busted up today.
Three men arrested in an overnight raid. And this is the first picture. This is actually only one of the suspects.
The one to the left, the suspect. The one to the right looks to be the undercover arresting officer who probably had his face covered because they don't want to be identified.
Germany's defense minister says there was "an imminent threat," that the men were very close to carrying out the attacks. The suspects accused of planning to bomb Frankfurt International Airport. It is the busiest airport on the European continent. Ramstein Air Base is a crucial post for the U.S. military.
The arrests coming just days before we mark the sixth year after the September 11th attacks. Many of the 9/11 leaders were based for a time in Hamburg, Germany.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is at Frankfurt International Airport and joins us now on the phone.
Frederik, you had some really intriguing details from German authorities when we last heard from you, including what they were trying to use to carry out these terror attacks.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kiran. Apparently, these terrorists had acquired 1,600 pounds of hydrogen peroxide that they were looking to make into bomb-making material.
Now, the German interior minister says that they were actually very close to achieving that when they were caught. And the reason why the German authorities decided to arrest them at this point is because they were so close to actually being able to make bombs out of this material.
Now, another very interesting piece of information that we just got from German authorities, they say that they had been monitoring this group since the end of last year. So they say they've been monitoring this group and that they decided to arrest them now because the plot had gone so far forward and because they believe that these attacks could really be imminent, especially with the anniversary of 9/11 so close, only in a couple of days.
Now, they say that two of the suspects are actually German citizens who converted to Islam and the third is a Turkish citizen. And all of them -- and this is very interesting -- German authorities said all of them were trained in Pakistani al Qaeda camps, and apparently the order to conduct these attacks in Germany came directly from al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan -- Kiran.
CHETRY: The other interesting thing, some of the reporting saying they had an extreme hatred for America and wanted to launch these types of attacks. What would have been the target then at Frankfurt International Airport to try to attack there in Germany?
PLEITGEN: Well, there were several places that these people apparently scouted out. One of them, as you said, is Frankfurt airport.
Now, apparently, they were planning to use car bombs to try and bomb all of these places -- Frankfurt International Airport, the Ramstein Air Base, as you said. But the German authorities say that they actually came upon this group, noticed this group as it was scouting out the different American military installations around the Frankfurt area.
They're not telling us which one it was, but apparently they were scouting out American military installations in particular. But not only that, they were also scouting out bars, clubs and pubs in the Frankfurt area which they believe were frequented by American nationals. So certainly on the one hand, they say, that it was a deep hatred for America, but not only America, also for Germany being an ally of America in the fight against terrorism -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Frederik Pleitgen reporting from Frankfurt International Airport today on the latest in these terror arrests.
Frederik, thank you.
ROBERTS: New developments today in the senator sex scandal.
A spokesman for Idaho Republican Larry Craig says he is reconsidering his decision to step down at the end of this month. Craig said on Saturday it was his "intent to resign." It turns out that he carefully chose that word.
The Capitol Hill newspaper "Roll Call" obtained a voicemail message that Larry Craig accidentally left on the wrong phone Saturday morning. He apparently thought he was leaving the message for his attorney Billy Martin. In it, Craig says support from one colleague has inspired him to fight.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CRAIG: I am willing to fight. I've got quality people out there fighting in my defense. And that this thing could take a new turn or a new shape, has that potential.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ROBERTS: What he was talking about were statements made by Senator Arlen Specter, who said, yes, I could see that he would probably be within his rights to fight this and that he should fight it. Well, Craig may decide to stay in the Senate if he beats that conviction.
CNN's congressional correspondent Dana Bash was in Boise, Idaho, all last week, was there for that announcement. She's back on Capitol Hill this morning.
And can you characterize how this news has landed there on Capitol Hill this morning, Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you listen close enough, you can hear the thud. That is exactly how this news has landed, especially, and, of course, with the Republican leadership that so swiftly and abruptly and, frankly, in a really harsh way, forced Senator Craig out.
Now, a spokesman for Senator Craig, John, is now making an effort to remind us that Senator Craig is attempting to overturn the guilty plea that he signed admitting to misconduct in that airport men's room. And if he is successful, his spokesman says he may -- and emphasizes "may" -- not resign.
Now, this whole idea of pulling back from that, as you said, does appear to stem from a phone call that Senator Craig got from Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican, the one Republican who has come out in support of Senator Craig. Now, the newspaper here on Capitol Hill, "Roll Call," did obtain some -- a voicemail that Senator Craig apparently left for his attorney about Senator Specter's call.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CRAIG: Yes, Billy, this is Larry Craig calling. You can reach me on my cell.
Arlen Specter is now willing to come out in my defense arguing that it appears by that all he knows that I've been railroaded and all of that. Having all of that, I've reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my intent to resign on September 30.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BASH: Now, CNN has learned that Senator Craig has been calling to other Republican senators here on Capitol Hill now that they're back, trying to gauge other support beyond Senator Specter. Unclear what he learned, but as I mentioned, John, the reaction among Republican leaders who just yesterday said and declared that this episode is over, they are not happy. The whole idea of -- behind pushing Senator Craig out so fast is to get beyond this scandal that they -- was a political nightmare for them. And the idea of Senator Craig even suggesting he might stay keeps this story alive, and that is exactly what they were trying to avoid.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, it looks like they spoke too soon.
Dana Bash on Capitol Hill for us this morning.
Dana, thanks.
Here now live with more on the fallout from Washington is CNN political analyst John Dickerson.
John, as Dana mentioned, they threw this guy under the bus so fast. Is there a chance now the Republican leadership may put the bus in reverse and try to run over him again?
JOHN DICKERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think so. I think the problem now for Republicans is this: it's not only bad for the party image, but there are a lot of people who write checks to the Republican Party and support these senators who are up for election in 2008. And they're looking for a little competence from their leadership. And the leadership moved very quickly last week to show these folks that they could take care of it, now they've got another issue. And so, when we see Senator McConnell go in front of the cameras later this afternoon, we should look to see something from him that tries to push back against what Senator Craig seems to be up for -- up to here.
ROBERTS: But really, what can he say? I mean, he is within his legal bounds to fight this, and if he does get it overturned -- and nobody knows what the chance of that is at this point. Apparently, they haven't even filed any kind of a motion for reversal on this and they've only got 25 days left -- how can McConnell if he gets this reversed not welcome him back with open arms?
DICKERSON: Well, that is the big trick here. And I think we saw Senator McConnell say previously, before this story broke, that they had turned the page, that they've moved on. And it's a tough balance here because, of course, he doesn't want to get into a huge public fight with Senator Craig. And now -- and we'll see what role Senator Specter now has to play.
Is Senator Specter going to fight Republican leadership which moved so quickly and is so anxious to have this Craig story go away? So, you're right. It's a quite delicate balance here.
ROBERTS: I mean, could they really make life difficult for him? Could they get nasty with him in the next few days to say, look, just stay home?
DICKERSON: Sure, they could get nasty and, of course, they could put pressure on the state's governor to name his replacement right away and show that the page, in fact, had been turned and that we should all welcome a new -- a new senator to Washington. That's one piece of pressure they could put on him.
Of course, the governor in Idaho is a friend of Senator Craig, so maybe he might not be willing to do that. But the party here is trying to apply a lot of pressure. They've done it quietly and behind the scenes. They may now have to do it publicly.
ROBERTS: All right. John Dickerson for us this morning from Washington.
John, thanks.
DICKERSON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the latest developments now in another breaking story today. And that's the search for missing adventurer Steve Fossett.
He has not been seen since taking off on a small plane on Monday in the Nevada desert. He was scoping out a place where he could attempt to break the land speed record in a car. He filed no flight plan. It was not required to. But Civil Air Patrol is still searching that general area.
Last hour, we spoke to Steve Fossett's friend, Sir Richard Branson. He was on the phone with us. He says he still believes Fossett is alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BRANSON, CHAIRMAN, VIRGIN GROUP: If he's landed and he's not too badly hurt, he's the one person in the world who will -- you know, who will be mentally and physically equipped to get out of there. So -- you know, so if anyone is going to end up, you know, walking back up the ranch and apologizing for (INAUDIBLE) the Hilton's plane, it's likely to be Steve Fossett.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So, again, he is still -- Richard Branson is still holding out hope.
And we get more now on the search from CNN's Ted Rowlands, who is live in Minden, Nevada.
Hi, Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
A lot of hope here as well. In the next few hours at first light, 7:00 Pacific Time, they will be back up in the air searching for Steve Fossett. They have a huge area that they've mapped out where they think he could possibly be.
He had about four hours of fuel in that single-engine plane when he took off. You mentioned there was no flight plan. So they really had to open it up.
They did a lot of work yesterday. Weather conditions weren't ideal yesterday. They expect to improve. In fact, the winds should be lower today, helping them to see better. They're basically going up in teams, a pilot and then two people on each side, looking down and looking for any signs of Steve Fossett.
As Mr. Branson mentioned, this is the one guy that you would think would be equipped mentally to handle something like this if he is OK. This plane that he was in had an emergency beacon which has not been heard from.
It's a bit concerning, because he would be able to, Fossett, deploy it manually if he -- if he did land the plane safely and was in good health. The other thing is that it didn't deploy automatically, which is good news, because if there had been a significant crash it would have deployed. So they're not sure really how to feel about that one.
A lot of optimism. On the same token, boy, it's been now three days, and there is a lot of concern for Mr. Fossett. They will be up in the morning here and continue to search all day today hoping to find something.
QUESTION: And quickly, Richard Branson also mentioned something about a watch that Steve Fossett wore that also could send a signal about where he was located. Did you hear anything else about that?
ROWLANDS: Well, nothing that they have heard from that watch or from any other communication, and that is concerning, because they haven't heard anything. Obviously they are look at that. They're also looking at radar for any clues in that. He didn't have to file a flight plan, so he wasn't in communication, but he may have been picked up by radar. There could be some clues there. They're looking at everything and, unfortunately, they haven't found anything yet.
CHETRY: All right.
Ted Rowlands for us in Nevada this morning, where the search is set to resume quite soon.
Thank you.
ROBERTS: Just turning 13 minutes after the hour. And time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new that we're following this morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: You know, everybody is talking about ways that they can prevent cancer. Can you take certain vitamins, eat certain foods? Well, we're now learning that there's some good news about Vitamin D, our old friend in milk and sunshine.
Sanjay, what is the story on that?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's really interesting. Sort of two simultaneous stories going on there.
One is that they show that Vitamin D in adequate concentrations can actually slow down the growth and re-population of cancer cells. So that's obviously something that could be very effective against, A, trying to prevent certain kinds of cancer, specifically colon and breast cancer.
They've also shown that people who live at certain altitudes, altitudes where you get more sun, as you alluded to, they actually have lower rates of certain kinds of cancer as well. So that was sort of interesting. Two sort of simultaneous things going on there.
Now, the concentrations of Vitamin D that you might need to actually thwart cancer, that's a little bit more controversial. They say it's around 55 in the body. Typically, most people get about 5 to 10 on any given day just from drinking milk or being out in the sun for adequate amounts of time. So you apparently need a lot more Vitamin D to actually prevent the cancer in the first place -- John.
ROBERTS: When you say 55, 5 to 10, we're talking milligrams here?
GUPTA: The units is actually micrograms, and it's micrograms per deciliter.
ROBERTS: OK.
GUPTA: So it's a little bit of an unusual measuring system there.
ROBERTS: But of course you can get too much Vitamin D, right? Because it's not a water-soluble vitamin. And if you're exposed to the sun for too long to try to get Vitamin D, that raises a whole other set of problems.
GUPTA: Yes, right. So that's a big concern.
Obviously, one of the ways, again -- and people may not always put this together, but just actually being out in the sun converts some of the things in your body to a usable form of Vitamin D, which is why that actually increases your levels of Vitamin D.
And we're talking about a few minutes out in the sun. Maybe a little bit more if you're darker skinned.
The concern that a lot of dermatologists will immediately cite is you don't want to do it long enough where you're obviously putting yourself at risk of a different type of cancer, skin cancer. But you can also get it from drinking milk, for example. You can get 2.5 micrograms per cup of milk.
You can take too much. And that is why, you know, it's not necessarily one of those things where more is better. It can cause nausea, it can cause kidney problems. And those are things that can be longer-term problems for people as all.
ROBERTS: All things in moderation again. Right.
GUPTA: Just like the popcorn. Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks very much.
GUPTA: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Three bags a day for 15 years -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes. Also, the third major toy recall from Mattel to tell you about this morning, and one mom who says she's had enough. She actually stormed over to Mattel's headquarters demanding action. Did she get any results?
We're going to talk with her next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Just about 20 minutes after the hour. Several big stories breaking right now on AMERICAN MORNING.
First, terror arrests in Germany. A major attack broken up against Ramstein Air Base and Frankfurt International Airport. We're following that for you.
And a major turn of events for Senator Larry Craig, possibly considering taking back his resignation. A spokesperson for the Idaho Republican says he may not step down after all. CHETRY: Well, then there's this developing news. Mattel announcing its third major toy recall in the last month. Again, toys made in China. And again, the culprit, lead paint.
Our next guest is a mother who took matters in her own hands. She grabbed the kids, rounded up the toys, threw them all in the car and went straight to Mattel's headquarters for answers.
Dana Laine Parker joins us now from Los Angeles.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
DANA LAINE PARKER, CONFRONTED MATTEL: Thank you. Good morning.
CHETRY: You know, I'm sure like a lot of parents, you're fed up hearing about these recalls, three just this month alone. So what did you do?
PARKER: Well, after the second recall, I -- as chaotic as it is in the house with the kids and with work, so I grabbed my kids, I packed a suitcase and a whole bunch of trash bags of toys. I've got hundreds of them. My mom and we loaded up the car and drove to Mattel, and I just went into the lobby of Mattel headquarters and I said, "I need you guys to inspect my toys because I can't do it."
There's just too many little numbers that you can't see, the model numbers on the bottom of those toys are practically invisible. And to match up hundreds of toys with lists, I don't trust the lists are up to date, I don't want to miss anything. And so I just spoke up.
CHETRY: So clearly frustrating for you.
So you went to the headquarters in El Segundo. And so when you got there and told them -- you know, you call up to the front, to the security guard when you get to the front, and say, hey, I need someone from Mattel to come down here and check out my toys, how is that received?
PARKER: Well, you know, they were nice.
They sent a security guard down to wait with me, which I understand. And then they were very nice.
They sent two very nice representatives down, and they brought me into the conference room. And they went through every one of my toys and they checked off every one of my toys with their list. And it probably took them, you know, a tenth of the time it would have taken me.
It took me a long time just to find which is Mattel and Fisher- Price toys, versus all of the other brands. But they off the bat knew this was not on the list. And thank god, none of my toys were on the list.
CHETRY: So all of those toys they looked at, none of them ended up being recalled?
PARKER: No, thank god.
CHETRY: That's pretty amazing.
PARKER: Because -- well, my son is at the age where he is teething and everything is in his mouth. So I would have been a nervous wreck if there was. But thank god, nothing was on the list.
CHETRY: Yes. And Mattel issued a statement, by the way. "We promised consumers that we'd tell them efficiently and openly if we found any additional affected toys, and that's what we are doing today."
Has this experience changed how you feel about Mattel and about the dangers, the potential dangers in our kids' toys?
PARKER: Well, yes. I've always had a false sense of security with kids' products. And I just assumed that when my child is gnawing on a toy, that as long as it's clean, it's safe.
But -- so I -- it has. I've actually started rounding up a lot of the toys that I have in my house. I realize he doesn't -- they don't need as many toys as I have, and it might be a little easier -- the more we have these recalls, it might be a little easier if I maintain the amount of toys that I have. And they don't need all of the toys, and so I'm just looking for more organic products.
CHETRY: It's hard. It's hard to find them. Eighty percent of the toys sold in this country are manufactured in China. That's where the problems have been, at least up to now.
PARKER: Right.
CHETRY: So I know it's tough.
PARKER: Right.
CHETRY: But you were certainly very enterprising. And hopefully your efforts were rewarded. At least you got some peace of mind.
PARKER: Just a concerned mom, but yes, I did. Thank you.
CHETRY: All right. Dana Laine Parker, thanks for telling your story.
PARKER: Thanks.
ROBERTS: FEMA needs help planning for disaster, and it is getting delivered by UPS.
Our Ali Velshi is going to explain what's going on coming up in our business hit.
And first he pleaded guilty, then he said he intends to step down> Now he is trying to take back both. The fallout from Senator Larry Craig's sex scandal and his last-ditch effort to stay in Washington, that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-seven minutes after the hour. Ali Velshi here now "Minding Your Business".
We see a lot of people from the private sector going into government. Usually that's a permanent position, but now you've got a temporary one.
ALI VELSHI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is a great idea. UPS is loaning a logistics expert to FEMA for nine months. And I think that's a fantastic idea.
You'll remember after Hurricane Katrina, a lot of America's companies, particularly UPS, FedEx, Wal-Mart, a lot of these companies that have very strong logistics operations, were ready to get in there and help. And actually proved a great deal of expertise.
UPS has since been involved in the earthquakes in Pakistan, the tsunami in southeast Asia. So there's this veteran UPS logistics expert who is going to be working with FEMA. UPS is going to continue to pay his salary. He has expertise in transportation, supply chain management, warehousing, distribution, things like that.
CHETRY: Wow.
VELSHI: This makes sense.
CHETRY: It does. When you think about the tracking numbers, I mean, you can go on your computer these days, they'll...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: That's exactly right. And during the hurricanes and times like that -- for instance, these -- Home Depot, another perfect example. They track exactly how much wood is on the trucks going to the stores that they need.
So it's really smart that the government engages these companies that have this expertise. It's good for the companies, obviously, because not only is it good for their reputation, but they also get to share the expertise that they've learned. There's no point in one company or a few companies understanding this better than everyone else.
ROBERTS: But here is the question. He is probably great at doing all of that with UPS' infrastructure.
VELSHI: Right. And I think he's going to consult with FEMA to say, here is the infrastructure you need, here's the decision-making.
One of the thing that America's companies succeed on in disasters is very fast decision-making capability. They empower the people who control the trucks to say, get the trucks where you need them to go. UPS is hopefully going to have some influence on FEMA in this case. ROBERTS: Well, now instead of, "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie," it will be, "You're doing a heck of a job..."
VELSHI: Brown.
CHETRY: That's your best line yet.
VELSHI: That's good. That's good.
CHETRY: Write that one down.
VELSHI: Thanks.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
ROBERTS: OK. Now I can leave.
CHETRY: Yes, leave the building. Quite while you're ahead. We only have about 30 more minutes in the show.
Well, the attorney representing Senator Craig joins us live. He is going to talk about what type of defense does Senator Craig have after possibly trying to backtrack from the announcement that he is resigning. That guilty plea, what can they do about it?
Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. It is Wednesday, September 5. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you. I'm john Roberts.
All kinds of breaking news for you this morning. It's an incredibly busy day.
CHETRY: We will hear from the attorney for Senator Larry Craig in a couple of minutes.
First, we want to get you up-to-date on another breaking story. Authorities in Germany foiling a major terrorist attack. They're calling it an imminent threat that was aimed at civilians and U.S. servicemen.
Officials say they arrested three men in an overnight raid. This is the first picture we're getting of one of the men. He is on the left, the suspect, an unidentified man in handcuffs believed to be the terror suspect; he's being led away at the German federal court in Carlsberg. This is southern Germany.
They say they arrested three Islamic terrorists from a group with, quote, "profound hatred of U.S. citizens" and that they were plotting a massive bomb attack on U.S. facilities. As we heard, Ramstein Air Base mentioned as one of them, in Germany. Two of the suspects, Germans, who converted to Islam and another a Turkish national.
Again, they reported attended terror camps in Pakistan and had recently acquired 1,500 pounds -- here you see some of these containers -- of hydrogen peroxide. As we've been talking, hydrogen peroxide, some of the substances, the chemicals that were found in one of the failed attacks in London. The 7/21 attacks that were foiled before they happened. But, again, the capabilities to do a lot of damage, the hydrogen peroxide.
Some of the other targets, Frankfurt International Airport which is the busiest airport in Europe. Again, prosecutors say this morning that the suspects do have a strong hatred of America.
We're hoping to get more details. CNN is all over this story. And right now, we're going to go to CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve.
Clearly, U.S. officials are also going to be dealt in, if they aren't already, on somewhat going on in this investigation.
JEANE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, you bet. One U.S. government official calling this the real deal. The U.S. is closely monitoring events as they unfold overseas and will be checking e-mails, phone records and other evidence for possible threads leading back here.
Right now, Homeland Security Spokesman Russ Knocke says, "At this time no credible information telling of us an imminent threat to the homeland. But we do believe that we continue to be in a period of increased risk."
German officials at a press conference this morning talked about the alleged plotters and their motivation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JURG ZIERCKE, GERMAN FDRL. CRIMINAL POLICE OFFICE: (through translator): This organization was in close contact with Al Qaeda. The main motivation of the group in Germany is hatred against American citizens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: The counter terrific official describes these individuals as having a broad, loose connection to Al Qaeda. More than wannabes, but not directed by Al Qaeda central. One U.S. law enforcement official says the U.S. has been working with the Germans from the earliest stages of this investigation. U.S. officials say these arrests are linked to the warnings last spring about possible terror attacks against U.S. military and diplomatic facilities in Germany.
In fact, one U.S. counter-terror official says the plot was the basis for those warnings. German officials decided the plot was close to the end game at this point and decided to, as the U.S. counter- terrorism official put it, lance the boil. There's no indication this official says that the alleged plotters were timing their attacks to coincide with the anniversary of 9/11 -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Scary stuff. And the officials are also looking at the arrest in Denmark, 48 hours ago.
MESERVE: Yes, eight men arrested there in a bomb plot. U.S. officials very concerned about that one. Saying this was not a small- time operation. U.S. officials say the men in Denmark had connections to Al Qaeda but there is no evidence of a link to this country at this point. Though, of course, the investigation into those arrests and those German arrests still ongoing -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us in Washington on this. Thank you.
MESERVE: You bet.
ROBERTS: Senator Larry Craig announced his intention to resign after pleading guilty in a men's room sting, but now we're hearing he is reconsidering that. Craig made a phone call before his news conference in Idaho on Saturday. The Capitol Hill newspaper "Roll Call", obtained a voice mail message from Craig and apparently it was intended for his lawyer Billy Martin but left on somebody else's phone. Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: Yes, Billy this is Larry Craig calling. You can reach me on my cell.
Arlen Specter is now willing to come out in my defense arguing, uh, that it appears for all he knows I've been railroaded and all of that.
Having all of that, I've reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my intent to resign on September 30.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Very carefully worded language that might allow him to take it back. The senator hired Billy Martin to fight a disorderly conduct charge, to which he already pleaded guilty.
A Senator Craig spokesman had this to say, quote, "He is fighting these charges and should he be cleared before then," -- that's September 30 -- "He may, and I emphasize may, not resign."
Stanley Brand is an attorney representing Senator Craig in the Senate Ethics Committee investigation. He joins us now from Washington.
Stanley, what do you know about this idea he might not resign?
STANLEY BRAND, LARRY CRAIG'S ATTORNEY: Well, my job was to take on the complaint that was filed by the Republican leadership and the Ethics Committee. And if you look at the unbroken line of the cases in the Senate over the 200 odd some years, you will not find a single case in which a senator was disciplined for private misdemeanor conduct, that has nothing to do with performance of his official duties.
ROBERTS: Back to the statement that he made on Saturday, it was support from Arlen Specter that he said he was aware of that changed the language to say instead I am going to resign on the 30th, I intend to resign. Here is what Arlen said just after that. Take a quick listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARLEN SPECTOR (R) PENNSYLVANIA: He's got his life on the line and 27 years in the House and Senate and I'd like to see him fight the case because I think he could be vindicated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So Arlen Specter thinks he could be vindicated. Do you believe he could be vindicated? And if he does overturn that guilty plea, if he does reverse it, does that pave the way for him to stay in the Senate?
BRAND: Well, I think it would. And I think that the circumstances surrounding the arrest and the interrogation are now coming out. And the nature of the case, in some sense has changed.
As far as the Senate Ethics Committee is concerned, again, I don't know that that matters in that, again, what the Senate has disciplined people for is treason, bribery and high crime, misdemeanors and financial, you know, skullduggery -- and not private misdemeanor conduct.
ROBERTS: Right. But a couple of things the Senate Ethics Committee is going to be concerned with -- and this came from the Senate leadership -- this idea of when Senator Craig allegedly passed his card to the arresting officer, Sergeant Karsney (ph) and said, "What do you think of that?" And also the Karsney (ph) arrest report and the audiotape that followed it seems to go beyond he said, he said. How do you deal with all of that?
BRAND: Well, in the Senate Ethics Committee it's easy to deal with it, because whatever it is, it's a misdemeanor. And the Senate simply hasn't taken cognizance of that. As to his status as a U.S. senator, that is hardly a secret. I saw the interview with the police officer and he understood, obviously, who he was dealing with.
ROBERTS: There's also this idea of if he does fight this, if he does manage to get it overturned, if he beats the Senate investigation, is it a pyrrhic victory for him? Let's listen to what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had to say about Larry Craig's resignation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY) MINORITY LEADER: I think the episode is over. We'll have a new senator from Idaho at some point in the next month or so and we're going to move on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator McConnell says we're going to move on. Senator Craig has lost support among his Senate colleagues, the White House, many Idahoans. Even if he overturns this and does survive the Senate Ethics investigation, would he be welcome? Could he be effective?
BRAND: I don't think it's ever a small matter when someone can vindicate their legal interests by reversing a conviction that may have been flawed to begin with. I think at that point the senator will evaluate whether he could be effective, and whether he should continue to stand for election.
ROBERTS: Yeah.
BRAND: My job is really to clear the legal slate and I think that's what we have a good shot at doing.
ROBERTS: One real quick question, you only have 25 days left to do this before the deadline of the 30th. Can you do it?
BRAND: Theoretically, we can. As I say, because the precedence are so clear, it doesn't seem to me it would take much for the Senate to simply recognize what they've recognized historically.
ROBERTS: It will be an understatement to say we will be watching. Stanley Brand, who is the attorney for Senator Larry Craig, handling the Senate Ethics investigation.
Thanks for joining us this morning. We'll see you soon.
BRAND: My pleasure.
CHETRY: Up ahead, what may have caused the rage that led pro wrestler Chris Benoit to kill his wife, and his young son, before killing himself. Shocking new findings of a brain scan, a researcher saying his brain looked similar to those of Alzheimer's patients. How all of the dead brain cells within there not something you would see in a typical 40-year-old. Very puzzling this morning. Doctor Sanjay Gupta will join us live to break it down when AMERICAN MORNING comes back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up to 16 minutes before the top of the hour. Rob Marciano down in the Weather Center in Atlanta.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: CNN "Newsroom just minutes away. Tony Harris is here with a look at what is ahead.
Good morning, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hey, John, good morning to you. Terror arrests on the NEWSROOM rundown for you this morning. Three suspected militants jailed in Germany this morning. Officials say they were close to carrying out attacks on Frankfurt Airport and a U.S. air base.
Well, maybe not. Larry Craig's spokesman says the senator may not quit over that men's room sex sting.
And the search for world record aviator Steve Fossett and his small plane, we expect it to resume in Nevada in the next hour.
Breaking news when it happens. You're in the "Newsroom" top of the hour right here on CNN.
John, back to you.
ROBERTS: Tony, we'll see you then. Thanks.
Folks in America's biggest city may need a comfy pair of sneakers this morning because some cabbies are on strike. What's the situation down on the street? Kiran has gone down to find out firsthand. She'll join us next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ten minutes to the top of the hour. More breaking news about pro wrestler Chris Benoit. You remember that he killed himself, after killing his wife and his young son. Well, there is has been an autopsy done on what remained of Benoit's brain and the results are nothing short of startling. Our Sanjay Gupta, who is a neurosurgeon, joins us now from down in Atlanta.
Sanjay, what is it about this brain autopsy that is so surprising?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They were trying to figure out for some time, John, what exactly happened to his brain, were there changes in the brain that they might be able to attribute to steroids? Were there changes that they might be able to attribute to multiple concussions?
Dr. Julian Bales, who is the head of neurosurgery at West Virginia was the one who was actually given the brain. The university was asked to look at the brain and conduct an investigation. He talked a little bit about that on "Good Morning America" this morning.
What he said he found was several areas around the brain cells, where the brain cells had died, had just sort of died away. It was extensive, as he described it. It involved several lobes of the brain and the brain stem itself. The types of findings that you might more typically see in someone who had advanced dementia. Some one who had Alzheimer's disease, for example. Those are the sort of findings that he saw.
He believes, at least on his pathological examination of the brain, just looking at the brain itself, this may have been due to multiple concussions. So repeated blows to the head; unlikely or less likely to be due to chronic steroid use. This is what he found. Again, a lot of cell depth, a lot of brain cells that just no longer seemed to be functioning in several different parts of the brain, John.
ROBERTS: So, quickly, Sanjay, could that lead to violent tendencies or perhaps depression that might then lead to suicidal tendencies?
GUPTA: A lot of people have gone on to say when you see these sort of findings they have been linked to people who have gone on to commit suicide. They've had depression. Things like that. But it is very hard -- as you might imagine, John -- to draw an absolute cause and effect. To say, these brain cells died and therefore he would go into a violent rampage of some sort. That is going to be a much harder connection to make.
ROBERTS: Very surprising news this morning at any rate.
Doctor Sanjay Gupta, thanks very much.
GUPTA: Thank you.
ROBERTS: By the way, if you have a question for Sanjay Gupta, don't forget his mailbag, every Thursday just go to CNN.com/Americanmorning. Write down your question for Sanjay. And he will be around on Thursday to answer it for you.
There is a taxi strike among some taxis in New York City. How much -- is it causing a lot of problems? Kiran is down Columbus Circle live with a cabbie to talk about this.
Hey, Kiran.
CHETRY: Hi. We are out here on Columbus Circle.
I had been looking around and just from checking it out there seems to be fewer cabs on the street today. They decide the 5:00 a.m. this morning, many of them were going to strike. It's not over fares this time. It's actually over a controversial move by the city wanting them to install global positioning satellite, credit card machines, among other things. Technology, they say, will end up costing them thousands of dollars.
We're here with one cab driver, Melissa Plaut, she is one of the city's few female cabbies.
Good to see you. I said I never see cab drivers like you. You also wrote a book called "Hack" about your life and your very interesting experiences with the cabs.
First, let's talk about the strike. You decided to be one of the 1,000s today that wanted to strike. Your cab is behind us. It is not open today.
MELISSA PLAUT, STRIKING NYC CAB DRIVER: No.
CHETRY: Why?
PLAUT: I'm off duty and I'm on strike. I disagree with the GPS systems. Not -- I think the GPS could have been a great idea. I don't think it's being implemented well. It has no navigational abilities. It's just a tracker. It's just a point on the map, which is what any New Yorker can -- the same information they can get from looking out the window.
And it blares ads and causes -- it radiates heat into the driver's back for 12 hours and costs a lot of money. And it doesn't have enough enhancements to be worth the money. The credit cards could be great, but there's already a way to put them in that is much, much less expensive.
CHETRY: One of the things that Mayor Bloomberg said it was part of an agreement. You guys got a 26 percent fare hike and that part of it was the agreement that you guys would agree to add -- expand the technology to help the person in the fare. So are you guys breaking your end of the deal by not supporting this?
PLAUT: No. I think most cab drivers believed it was just going to be a credit card slide, which is much less expensive. And a lot of cabs have them right now. Not all because everything keeps getting stopped along the way. They want the GPS in instead of just the credit card. And they want a whole new system with all of these bells and whistles. What we're having to do is pay back a raise that we got after eight years of no raise. So it's sort of an unfortunate state of affairs. He's not really working for the working person in New York right now.
CHETRY: Do you buy the argument there is a pretty good majority of Muslim cab drivers some of them say this amounts to racial profiling and want a GPS to track these drivers?
PLAUT: I don't know about that. I mean, I can't speak to that. What I can say is that it's certainly speaks to the city's lack of faith in its taxi drivers, that they want to track us. I don't know if it's a racial thing or if is just that New York doesn't believe in its cabbies, that we're honest people, or most of us. Not all maybe, but most of us are honest people but they want to track where we're going.
CHETRY: Before we let you go, you do really have a fascinating story. How did you decide I want to end whatever career I have, and drive a cab some.
PLAUT: I got laid off from my office job and realized I didn't know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. So I decided to start having a series of adventures and just, you know, see where that took me. And the first adventure was to drive a yellow cab in New York.
CHETRY: How long have you been doing it?
PLAUT: Three years.
CHETRY: What do you think? PLAUT: Oh, it's a tough job, but it's definitely been an adventure to say the least.
CHETRY: Wow. So, you're on strike today, you guys are on strike tomorrow. if things don't change after this, are you going to go back?
PLAUT: I'll go back to work. Everybody is going back to work. Hopefully we will have a voice in the city, if nothing else.
CHETRY: Melissa Plaut, great to meet you and good luck with everything. Can you get me for a ride? I only live a couple of blocks away.
PLAUT: I'm not on duty, sorry!
CHETRY: Just kidding.
John, back to you.
ROBERTS: Kiran, she's on strike! Remember that.
Quick look now at what CNN "Newsroom" is working on for the top of the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM. Three suspected Islamic militants in custody in Germany. Police say attacks on Frankfurt Airport and a U.S. military base were imminent.
A spokesman for Larry Craig says the senator may not resign after all.
In Nevada, the search for multimillionaire aviator Steve Fossett resumes with daylight.
Mattel recalling more toys made in China. The culprit? Lead paint. Newsroom just minutes away at the top of the hour on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Obviously, you took a cab back upstairs?
CHETRY: They were on strike. I had to run.
ROBERTS: Good practice for going home today.
That is going to do it for us today. Thanks very much for joining us. We'll see you again tomorrow.
CHETRY: Meantime, CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins starts right now.
HARRIS: Good morning. Are you in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris. COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM, live on Wednesday September 5. Here's what's on the rundown.
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