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FAA Confirms Bomb Threat Made Against Flight at LaGuardia Airport; O.J. Simpson in Court; Pakistan in Crisis
Aired November 08, 2007 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: O'Hare to LaGuardia was the route. They were supposed to land at LaGuardia, and now the FAA is confirming a bomb threat against a flight.
We go now to Alina Cho, who joins us now from New York with the very latest on that.
What have you learned, Alina?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just to confirm what you just said, Don, the FAA has confirmed that there was a "bomb threat" against this flight. We're talking about American Airlines Flight 382 from Chicago to LaGuardia in New York.
As you can see, there are some bomb-sniffing dogs taking a look at the luggage which is strangely strewn about the runway there at LaGuardia. But we can tell you we've just gotten off the phone with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. As part of standard procedure, the plane was moved to a secure location.
All 170 passengers were deplaned, moved to the terminal. There were five crew members on board. We're told the plane is an MD-80. It left Chicago at 9:31 a.m., we're told, landed as scheduled at 12:39 p.m., so just about 90 minutes ago.
The American Airlines spokesperson also confirming there was a "security issue" related to this flight. Again, the FAA confirming a bomb threat against American Airlines Flight 382 from Chicago to New York's LaGuardia.
The plane has landed safely on schedule. The passengers have deplaned and, of course, federal and local authorities are now looking into this -- Don.
LEMON: Alina Cho on top of this story.
Alina, thank you for that. We're going to continue to follow this.
And just to tell you, there were 170 passengers on board that plane. They have been deplaned and they are being bussed, we're told, to terminal five, which is at LaGuardia airport. And as Alina said, an MD-80 plane.
Alina also referenced Mary Francis Fagan (ph), who is an American Airlines spokesperson, who said that there was a security issue on this flight. The flight is 382.
CNN is working on getting more information on this. We're told that it's a credible bomb threat -- or a credible threat, I should say, against this plane from the FAA.
Details to come right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures now inside the courtroom. A familiar seen, isn't it?
Remember this about a decade ago? But O.J. Simpson was facing charges of murder. As you know, he was acquitted.
Ever since then, there have been years of doubts and questions. Now it's a familiar scene, where he's sitting in a courtroom, but this time facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, kidnapping, and robbery.
What was he going after? Witnesses coming forward saying sports memorabilia, tens of thousands of dollars in sports memorabilia. But is there enough evidence to send O.J. Simpson to trial?
CNN's Dan Simon at the courthouse in Las Vegas.
Can we say media circus, Dan?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it's a media circus all right. Not quite maybe what we expected, but still a number of reporters here, some 60 reporters in the courtroom. So, yes, you can call it a media circus.
Kyra, on the stand right now is a gentleman named Bruce Fromong, describing a very chaotic scene when Simpson and five others allegedly burst into that hotel room back in September. Fromong's testimony is critical because he is saying that O.J. Simpson and the others were armed when they went into that hotel room. Now, Simpson specifically wasn't pointing a gun, but some of the alleged accomplices involved did have weapons, pointed those guns at him and another collector in the room.
Let's hear now from what Fromong had to say just a few minutes earlier. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE FROMONG, SPORT MEMORABILIA DEALER: When he came in he kind of stopped for just a second and looked at me, and I kind of looked at him. And there was a lot of yelling and screaming going on, and the first thing that I really remember from that was a statement made by Mr. Simpson saying, "Don't let anybody out of this room. Nobody leaves."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: Eight people in all expected to testify over the next two days. The hearing, of course, taking place today and tomorrow. This is a preliminary hearing, and so the purpose is to determine whether in fact there's enough evidence to carry this case over for trial. Simpson, of course, facing some very serious charges here, some 12 charges, the most serious being kidnapping. If he's convicted on that charge alone, he's looking at a possible life sentence behind bars.
Also expected to testify at some point today or tomorrow are three co-defendants who took plea deals. They pled guilty to some lesser charges in exchange for their testimony.
Their testimony, of course, going to be critical because O.J. Simpson contends that there were no weapons involved in this incident back in September at the Station Palace Hotel. But the three turncoats, if you will, are expected to say that there were guns and that O.J. Simpson asked them to be armed -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Dan Simon, we'll continue obviously to follow the court proceedings and be checking with you throughout the afternoon.
LEMON: CNN is always on "Security Watch," and today we have good reason to be, because we're hearing about a possible threat during the holiday season.
Kelli Arena on top that story for us.
The last thing the economy needs, even if it's not a credible one. Not sure if it is. So Kelli, fill us in.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don.
Well, I can tell you the bottom line is that we're hearing from several intelligence and law enforcement officials that the threat is not credible, but here's what we -- here's what we know.
FBI obtained intelligence recently that al Qaeda may be planning attacks against shopping malls in the Chicago, Illinois, area and Los Angeles, California, area. There were no specific malls that were mentioned, no exact time frame mentioned.
The intelligence is described as very raw intelligence, which means that it's from one source who may or may not be credible, and there hasn't been any corroboration of that information. So why does the FBI send this information out?
Well, number one, it didn't send it out to the public. It sent it out to its law enforcement and intelligence partners just to say, look, we got this information from a source. We don't know if it's real or if it's not real, but check this against all of your sources, all of your informants, let's see if we have anything going on here, and if we do then we can build on it.
This is information that was leaked to the media, and so we're just trying to put it in some sort of perspective for our viewers. Obviously this is also information that goes out to shopping mall owners, retail stores, so that if they feel that they have anything that they need to do to up security, or even to just review their security procedures, now is the time to do it -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Kelli Arena, thank you for that report.
ARENA: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Now to Pakistan, where President Musharraf says he will give up his military post and he will hold parliamentary elections no later than February 15th. The White House is pleased, but opposition leaders including Benazir Bhutto wants to see more. Bhutto is still planning a huge rally tomorrow and a showdown with Musharraf's government.
CNN's Dan Rivers is in Lahore.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): First it was the lawyers. Now small groups of students are also daring to speak out, adding their voice to the protests against martial law. Some too nervous to show their face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel extremely bad because it's a one-man show. What he wants to do and what he thinks is best for the country is being done.
RIVERS: Others were bolder, though, defying the ban on political protests. But this campus hasn't exactly been overrun by radicals. Around the rally, a drawing class continues. Many just standing impassively amid the chance to hang the president.
(on camera): These student leaders are making their point forcefully about the state of emergency, but so far they lack the numbers or the organization to make any real challenge to General Musharraf.
(voice over): The only person who seems capable of doing that is this woman, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. She says she's fighting for democracy, but her critics accuse her of corruption, incompetence and of selling out after she struck a controversial power-sharing deal with President Musharraf, a deal that has now apparently fallen apart. She's threatening to bring tens of thousands of supporters onto the streets on Friday, a showdown with her rival unless her demands are met.
But General Musharraf appeared to offer some concessions after a high-level meeting in Islamabad. Officials confirming martial law will only last a month, that elections will take place before February 15th, that the general will step down as head of the army.
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: The issue of elections, there is no doubt in my mind elections must be held as soon as possible now that we have calculated all the actions. Elections in Pakistan must be held before 15, February 2008. RIVERS: But it might not be enough. General Musharraf's opponents are incensed, claiming hundreds of lawyers, human rights activists and opposition politicians have been arrested.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one believes this president anymore.
RIVERS: The United States has seen General Musharraf as a key ally in the war on terror, a bulwark against extremism. Now, though, he's looking increasingly isolated and desperate as he tries to tough out the next few days and defuse an increasingly volatile situation.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Lahore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Let's get up to speed now on the major players in Pakistan's splintered opposition.
President Musharraf led a 1999 coup that overthrew the elected government of this man, Nawaz Sharif. Sharif still leads a top opposition party but lives in exile in Saudi Arabia.
One of his rivals, Benazir Bhutto. She also leads an opposition party and returned to Pakistan just last month after years of exile. She too is a former prime minister. Her homecoming resulted from a delicate agreement with Musharraf negotiated before the state of emergency.
Finally, there's Imran Khan. He rose to fame as a cricket player and he too leads an opposition party. Today he blasted Bhutto's leadership as "dubious" because of her talks with Musharraf.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And the latest now that we can bring you from LaGuardia airport. This flight, American Airlines Flight 382 that was leaving Chicago, apparently there was some sort of security issue. We're now being told there was a bomb threat that was made.
So the plane landed in LaGuardia there in New York City, 170 passengers were deplaned. It's an MD-80, but now you can see the bomb squad with the bomb-sniffing dogs going through each piece of luggage to indeed try and confirm if there is any type of explosives in those bags.
We're on it.
(NEWSBREAK)
LEMON: Prosecutors in Las Vegas are laying out their case this hour against O.J. Simpson. The judge will decide whether the evidence even warrants a trial.
Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney in Cleveland, takes us through this case.
Avery, I've been sitting here listening, but first of all, thank you for doing this for us.
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Oh, of course, Don.
LEMON: Sitting here listening to Bruce Fromong on the stand, who right now appears to be the prosecutions key witness in all of this. We listened in on testimony just a little bit ago, and if we're judging from what he says, I'm not an attorney, but it would appear that he has some pretty damning evidence.
FRIEDMAN: Well, that's exactly right, Don. Remember, this is only a probably cause hearing. It's a very low threshold. So what we're going to see today, Bruce is the first of probably eight witnesses that will testify.
And you're exactly right, the prosecution is starting off with a bang. They are putting on Fromong because he was there and he's identified O.J. He's identified Charles Stewart. He's identified other defendants. So he actually kicks the show off, and for the next two days we're going to be hearing from these individuals directly involved in the case.
LEMON: OK. And what he seemed to say, what Fromong seemed to really get down to the crux of all of this, he said -- he talked about guns because there's 12 charges, including kidnapping, which would sort of -- if you can't get away, if you have guns, most people would think you can't get away.
FRIEDMAN: Right. Right.
LEMON: Armed robbery, guns. Assault with a deadly weapon, guns. Conspiracy and coercion. He also talked about that, and just alone a kidnapping conviction could result in the sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. And then armed robbery conviction could mean mandatory prison time in all of this.
FRIEDMAN: Right.
LEMON: It seems like he got all of those points out right on.
FRIEDMAN: You sound like a lawyer. You nailed it. It sounds like a closing argument.
The bottom line is that's exactly what the prosecution has to do today in Judge Joe Bonaventure Jr.'s courtroom. And it's brief testimony.
This is nothing like the trial, but what's important also to understand, Don, is that it gives the defense team the first opportunity to get a handle on the kind of witnesses, both quantity and quality. So this proceeding is very important for both sides.
LEMON: OK. So, Avery, do you think just judging from what you've heard so far from Mr. Fromong, is this enough evidence to actually proceed with a trial?
FRIEDMAN: There is enough right now, Don, to send this on. There's probable cause.
The prosecution, however, is not going to take the chance, and you're going to see some -- I think Dan Simon called them turncoats...
LEMON: Right.
FRIEDMAN: ... but some of the other defendants who have entered pleas, we're going to hear testimony from them. But there's enough right now and we're going to see more.
LEMON: Yes. They've entered pleas and you're going to hear testimony from them. But some of those -- some of those people who are going to enter those pleas, they have been convicted on other crimes. They have criminal records.
FRIEDMAN: Yes.
LEMON: They have a background.
How are they going to be considered credible witnesses? Is the prosecution going to even risk this?
FRIEDMAN: Well, at the trial that's going to be a bigger issue. If you total up all the witnesses here, you can fill up the slime ball hall of fame. I mean, these people are horrible. Some of them not even sure are invertebrates.
But the fact is this is not an opportunity for a trial. There's going to be some cross-examination to try to knock some of the testimony out, but there's enough to meet the probable cause standard.
LEMON: OK. I've got to ask you this, because sitting here -- and I'm sure I'm not alone and I'm sure you're going to agree and most people -- I felt like I was back in 1994 sitting here watching the O.J. Simpson trial on and on and on, on television. It seemed what appears to be 24 hours a day, O.J. Simpson shaking his head, no, no, yes, and reacting to whatever -- whoever was on the witness stand.
Here's what I have to ask you though. Does this judge -- I know each case is individual. Does he consider or do you think he feels any pressure in all of this to sort of make up for what some felt didn't happen back then? Can O.J. Simpson get a fair trial in all of this?
FRIEDMAN: Well, I think you nailed the very theme of what the defense in this case is going to be. They are going to say that he's being prosecuted because he got off in 1994 when everyone was watching, that it's merely a vendetta to bring him, get him convicted, irrespective of any evidence.
So you nailed the issue. That's what the theme is going to be. However, there's an awful lot of evidence right now.
LEMON: I need to go get my juris doctorate then, don't you think?
FRIEDMAN: I think you deserve one, man.
LEMON: All right.
Avery Friedman, civil rights attorney joining us from Cleveland, Ohio. He'll be joining us throughout this day and probably throughout this pre-trial hearing if it goes on and if the case does happen to go to court.
We thank you for that, sir.
PHILLIPS: A state of emergency in Pakistan. So what's the big deal? From bin Laden to nuclear weapons, my next guest will tell us why this matters to America.
(NEWSBREAK)
(BUSINESS REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Back to court goes O.J. Simpson. This time it's to hear what evidence prosecutors in Las Vegas have against him. He and two codefendants are charged with robbing two sports memorabilia dealers in mid-September. The first witness on the stand, one of the dealers, a longtime friend of Simpson's.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE FROMONG, SPORTS MEMORABILIA DEALER: The second man came in with a drawn semi-automatic which was pointed at me. Two other gentleman that I saw for sure came in and flanked him on the right- hand side, and there was a scream put your phone down. Put your phone down. Get off the phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you recognize these other individuals who came into the room?
FROMONG: By name or anything like that, there was only one other person that I -- well, two other people. One would have been Tom Riccio, that came in and then O.J. Simpson.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The hearing is expected to last until tomorrow. The judge will then decide if there's enough evidence to send the case to trial.
PHILLIPS: Pakistan looks headed for a showdown in the streets. Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto plans a massive rally tomorrow in defiance of a government plan or government ban on political rallies. Today President Pervez Musharraf pledged to step down from his military post but he didn't say when. He did say parliamentary elections would be held by mid-February. Let's get some insight now from Eric Margolis, he has covered Pakistan and Benazir Bhutto for years. He joins me now from Toronto. Good to see you Eric and why don't we just start out with your conversation with Benazir Bhutto. I know that you talked to her on the phone. Tell me about that discussion.
ERIC MARGOLIS, FOREIGN AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well she tells me that events are very grim in Pakistan, that her supporters are being arrested even while some other aides of hers are still in discussions with General Musharraf's people regarding some sort of power-sharing. She feels personally threatened. She feels there may be another attempt on her life made, either tomorrow or next week when she's called out a very big march across the country.
PHILLIPS: Now a lot of people -- no doubt she's a very smart woman and has had incredible leadership skills in that country, but also at the same time, Eric, we can't forget that she was immersed in a corruption scandal, a lot of allegations surrounding her. She eventually moved out of that position. How do the people know that this is a trustworthy person that they can get behind and support? How does America know that and U.S. leaders?
MARGOLIS: Distrust for all politicians is very high in Pakistan. These corruption charges which she dismisses as political motivated still dog her. In fact I uncovered one corruption scandal over a decade ago regarding her family but she denies them. None have been proven. The real problem with her in Pakistan is too many Pakistanis feel that she's Washington's woman and she's been sent by the United States to provide democratic window dressing for a continuation of the Musharraf military dictatorship, this time in civilian form. Nevertheless, she is still Pakistan's most popular politician and commands the largest political party.
PHILLIPS: Eric, stay with me. I don't want to lose this discussion, but we've got to just dip in real quickly, O.J. Simpson back in court. This time to hear what evidence prosecutors in Las Vegas have against him for alleged robbery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- testimony to the police he said take my stuff, leave his stuff here. He wasn't there to take your stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is incorrect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. Let me go to your statement, page 35 of the statement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which statement are we talking about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your first statement to police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could I see a copy, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. I'll give you -- I don't want to bring it all over, but let me give you a couple pages before so that you can hear the context.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's on page 35.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, I don't have a copy of page 35 here. I have 59 through 62.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sorry. You're looking --I'm sorry, you're looking at the date stamp on it. The date stamp, that's just the total --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, up here at the top, I'm sorry, I didn't understand you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, that's ok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you said page 35?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Read that to yourself. It's probably highlighted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok, so let me grab that back.
PHILLIPS: Right now you're listening to testimony from a sports memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong, longtime friend actually of O.J. Simpson. Also the man that is involved with the accusations here saying that O.J. Simpson came in to try and take hundreds of thousands of dollars of memorabilia from him, a lot of it memorabilia involving O.J. Simpson and other athletes. We're going to continue to follow this and listen to what evidence is being presented to see if indeed this can even go to trial. Let's listen in once again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: O.J. did say get my shit and leave the other stuff alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe he made that statement at one time, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, it's true, he made that statement?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get my stuff. The only one time we're dealing with here is the one time in the room, is that correct?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He made other statements as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok, but he did say get my stuff and leave the other stuff alone. Right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stuff that he believes was his.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stuff that he believed was stolen from him correct, isn't that correct?
UNIDENTIFIED: I'm not talking about what you thought.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell you what he thought. UNIDENTIFIEDM ALE: Or what the reality was but you said, well you just told me, stuff he believed was his.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's what he believed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because you have no doubt in your mind, do you Mr. Fromong, that O.J. was there to get things that he believed were his, that belonged to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea what his thought was.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well ---
UNIDENTIFIEDM ALE: I wasn't in his head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you knew enough to say on CNN that you knew these things were heirlooms and you would have given them back to the O.J. Family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. We could have worked out a compromise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's because you have guilt about the fact that you know these things are stolen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's incorrect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok, well, when you sell things -- you're a power seller on eBay, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people know what that means, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which means I sell over a $1,000 worth of memorabilia per month for a consistency of three months in a row.
UNIDENTIFIEDM male: Ok. So eBay is very regulated and if you mess with weird things or whatever, they are going to shut you down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They may remove that item. They have the ability to remove that item and give you a warning or to shut you down that is correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And some of your memorabilia is on eBay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is correct.
UNIDENTIFIEED MALE: These items were being sold out of a motel room, isn't that true?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were there to meet with a private collector which we do quite often.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But, these items were not, were not on your eBay site.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is correct, because eBay is a bottom basement to sell cheap stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. I didn't get that, cheap stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We call it a bottom basement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was cheap stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why it wasn't on eBay. No, it is not cheap stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait a minute. You would never have seen those items on eBay that at one time belonged to O.J.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The things that one time belonged to O.J. we've established were not put by you on eBay?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is correct, nor have they ever been.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. And what is this bottom basement deal?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It means stuff sells cheap on eBay, something that may be worth $500 on one market might only sell for $150 or $200 on eBay, and if you would like an example I can give it to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok, well, I'm not too worried about the example but what I'm worried about is are you saying then that these items were not on eBay because they weren't -- they were too expensive to sell on eBay?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The value of them would not bring what I wanted, that is correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. They wouldn't bring $100,000.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They aren't worth $100,000.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Didn't you say to the police that this stuff was worth $100,000.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm talking about the entire contents in that room and on a full retail value.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what percentage of the $100,000 would you say was the O.J. stuff?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of that stuff could possibly run from -- can I take another look at the items so I can tell you exactly. I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want a specific item by item thing. I'm just looking to ask you -- you said all this stuff together and I'm going to get into your statement on that. But all the stuff together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, everything together, the items I had here, we had approximately -- may run $10,000, $12,000. One of the balls that is on here was offered in an auction, and it would not bring the minimum price of $1,000. Which I had paid more than that for it to Mr. Gilbert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok, now --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could bring more, it could bring less.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. So your testimony is that eBay is only used to sell cheap memorabilia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it's used to sell memorabilia below its actual retail price.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok.
PHILLIPS: I'm going to attempt to make a smooth transition to go from O.J. Simpson in court back to a discussion on Pakistan so I'll do the best that I can. We're following right now the court proceedings for O.J. Simpson. Right now we're listening to evidence that's being presented. This gentleman right here you see on the screen is a sports memorabilia dealer, Bruce Fromong. He says that O.J. Simpson attempted to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of sports memorabilia from him. O.J. Simpson right now charged with robbing two dealers in mid-September there in Las Vegas, also being charged with kidnapping, conspiracy and assault with a weapon. We are following these proceedings to see if indeed he does head to trial.
Now, let's get back to our discussion on Pakistan, the state of emergency obviously that was set in on Saturday. The president of that country now being asked to turn in his military uniform and to hold elections in a couple months. We want to bring back Eric Margolis, foreign affairs analyst who has written a lot on this subject matter. We were talking Eric just a little while ago, we were talking about this conversation you had with Benazir Bhutto. I asked you about the fact that she's really been lifted up as this sort of martyr coming back into this country in many ways, but we haven't talked a lot about the fact that she was surrounded by these corruption charges back when she was in office. You actually investigated her, uncovered a number of things but she has stuck to her guns and said, no, I haven't been involved, correct?
MARGOLIS: That is correct. And the charges I uncovered dealt with her in-laws, not with her directly. So she has never been convicted of anything yet but she's also struggling against the perception in Pakistan that the deal that she has been discussing with Musharraf is really an unseemly one and it undermines her democratic credentials and her claims to be restoring democracy because it will tend to reinforce or to perpetuate what is a dictatorship in some form.
PHILLIPS: When she did leave that country, what were her strengths? What did she do that made her such a popular leader? MARGOLIS: Her party, the Pakistan people's party, is a very populous party. It speaks to the poor. It's adored by the mainly illiterate, very poor people particularly in southern Pakistan and sends (INAUDIBLE) her power base. She and her father (INAUDIBLE) Bhutto had the reputation of fighting for the little people and opposing the futile landowners even though they were futile landowners themselves. And generally having a charismatic image, but she also had many enemies, particularly in Punjab, among the Islamic parties, and also among the army. I remember the generals when I used to speak to them in Pakistan, or used to refer to her as that girl.
PHILLIPS: That's such an American expression. Speaking of Americans. What is happening in Pakistan right now. Make sense of it for those that are trying to absorb this story and understand why they should care about what's happening in Pakistan and how it relates to the U.S., I mean aside from the fact that the U.S. gives the military there millions and millions of dollars which leads to another question about what is the U.S. getting for that money when there's such a concern about terrorism in that country and throughout the region. But back to my initial question, affecting Americans. What could happen here?
MARGOLIS: Kyra Pakistan is a caldron. Most of the anti-American violence that we call terrorism here in the west and it stems from Pakistan and America is increasingly hated and disliked in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden is now the most popular figure in Pakistan. Pakistan is a nuclear armed country. The weapons are still in control of the army, which is very disciplined. But Pakistan is 165 million angry people who are increasingly turning against the United States and could spark off a major regional crisis and leave our troops in Afghanistan cut off because 75 percent of the supplies for U.S. forces in Afghanistan and NATO forces come through Pakistan, and about 80 percent of the air cover that's flown to protect them and keep them there also come from Pakistani bases used by the U.S. Air Force.
PHILLIPS: Eric Margolis, always good to talk to you, appreciate it.
MARGOLIS: A pleasure.
LEMON: You won't believe the latest concern over a Chinese import, a popular toy linked to a date rape drug.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Breaking news just into the CNN NEWSROOM. We've been telling you about this flight from Chicago's O'Hare to New York's La Guardia Airport. A credible bomb threat according to the FAA. Now the TSA, Transportation Safety Administration, they are saying that it is an all clear. So apparently the sniffing by all of these dogs here to the luggage and the equipment on this plane turned up nothing. Just to give you a little bit of background about this, this plane took off this morning from O'Hare Airport 9:31 central time, landed at La Guardia in New York at 12:39 p.m. 117 passengers on board, all of them carted off, plus five crew members so that makes a total of 122 people. All of them taken off. No injuries. Apparently nothing has turned up, that is according to the TSA. If we get any more details about this and the situation changes we'll bring it to you right here in the NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Also Fredericka Whitfield working details on another developing story for us out of the newsroom. Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well Kyra, seven astronauts on board the space shuttle "Discovery" and the International Space Station are all back on U.S. soil now and to greet them for their arrival after their two-day journey from space and back to U.S. soil right there, President George Bush shaking the hands of all the seven astronauts and their family members there at Ellington Field there in Houston, Texas. While these astronauts were at the International Space Station since October 25th, they had quite a few ambitious tasks if you recall our Miles O'Brien and others reporting while they were on their journey there. They had to move a massive solar power tower while at the international space station. They also had to install what is tantamount to a school bus-sized module which will be used for future ports. And their biggest challenge, if you recall seeing over the weekend, we're able to show you live pictures of a pretty courageous and very dangerous spacewalk. And that was to repair one of the new power wings that had ripped when it was being unfurled. They were able to carry out a repair mission on that pretty risky spacewalk, and you see right there now on the right-hand side of the screen the arrival of this space shuttle "Discovery" crew there at Ellington Field and on the left hand what happens when you finish that mission. You get a chance to meet the president there in Houston, Texas. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right, pretty cool sight to see.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, it is.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Fred.
LEMON: A popular toy, one that very well could be in your home, why it's being linked to a powerful date rape drug, a story parents need to see in the NEWSROOM.
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PHILLIPS: Well, it comes in a box just like this, and within that box tiny beads that look a lot like high-end jelly beans, but if your kid happens to swallow an aqua dot you're in for a world of trouble. CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us about a dangerous toxin in this popular toy.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This story is about as strange as they come. Talking about these aqua dots as they are known in the United States and Bindeez beads as they're known in Australia. Severe side effects we're seeing in children, about two children in the United States, we have documented reports, where they have had severe side effects including seizures, including coma. One child is hospitalized for five days. Another child had some of those same symptoms but made a full recovery. Three children as I mentioned in Australia are also hospitalized as a result of swallowing these beads. Now first of all, you look at these toys and they are really designed for children four and older. So the children in the United States, one o them was almost two years old, got their hands on some of them and actually swallowed them, which in and of itself is troubling, swallowed a dozen of these beads and immediately felt light-headed, vomited them and then fell into a coma. That's sort of the pattern that we're seeing here, similar sort of patterns in Australia as well. What seems to be the culprit here is something known as GHB, as it was mentioned, gamma hydroxyl butyrate. People know it as a date rape drug. It's also being called fantasy. In low doses, this drug can cause euphoria. As you get into higher doses, it can actually cause something known as hypotonia, where all your muscles go flaccid. It can cause amnesia that makes you forget everything that's about to happen to you and it can put you into a coma.
And that seems to be the problem here and that's incidentally why it's also called the date rape drug. Now, it doesn't appear that this was intentionally done. It appears to be sort of a bizarre side effect. One of the chemicals that's actually on the toys, if it is swallowed, actually is metabolized into this GHB, a sort of bizarre thing, but it seems to be what's happening here. That was discovered by an Australian biochemist who started looking into this. Obviously these toys are being recalled for now and it's being investigated a little further. We talked about the five children who'd been most immediately affected, we'll bring you more details as they come forward but for now this is what we're learning about aqua dots and GHB. Back to you.
LEMON: Armed robbery and kidnapping, those are the charges facing O.J. Simpson, but will he go to trial? An expert guides us through today's hearing right here in the NEWSROOM.
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PHILLIPS: A navy psychologist serving in combat hospitals in Iraq moved the world with her famous list. The list of things that were good and not good about serving there.
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VOICE OF DR. HEIDI KRAFT, U.S. NAVY PSCYHOLOGIST: Watching the helicopter with he big red cross on the side, landing at our pad. Telling a room full of stunned marines in blood soaked uniforms what their comrade that they had just tried to save had died of his wounds. Washing blood off the boots of one of our young nurses, while she told me about the one who bled out in the trauma bay.
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PHILLIPS: Dr. Heidi Kraft has written a wrenching book about the brutal impact of war on the bodies as well as the psyches of service men and women. She'll be taking your questions tomorrow when she joins us live in the CNN NEWSROOM. So e-mail us your questions about war trauma or post traumatic stress at cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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