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American Morning
Times Square Car Bomb Suspect Arrested; A Look at Suspect's Pakistan Connection
Aired May 04, 2010 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: It's 7:00 on the nose here in New York City. Thanks for joining us.
We're following the latest on the foiled Times Square car bombing. What you're looking at right now is video of emirates plane, flight 202, where authorities boarded yesterday as the plane was taking off to arrest Faisal Shahzad. This happened at 11:45 last night. He is the only suspect right now in connection with the terror plot.
This flight by the way, 202 departed within the last hour after seven hours of delays as police authorities and federal authorities were doing their detective work on the flight.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Those pictures courtesy of WABC in New York. Welcome back to a special edition of "AMERICAN MORNING." I'm Jim Acosta in for John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. We're following the latest on the breaking news in the Times Square bombing attempt to get you updated. Overnight they made the arrest, the suspect Faisal Shahzad nabbed just two days after authorities believe he abandoned an SUV filled with fuel fertilizer, and firework in a crowded street in the heart of Times Square
Attorney General Eric Holder held a press conference this morning about the evidence that led to the arrest. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Earlier this evening, Faisal Shahzad was arrested in connection with the attempted car bombing in New York on Saturday. Mr. Shahzad, an American citizen, was taken into custody at JFK airport in New York as he attempted to board a flight to Dubai.
Since the plot was first uncovered on Saturday night, the FBI, prosecutors, intelligence lawyers in the national security division of the Justice Department, which Mr. Chris heads, and the United States Attorneys' Office in Manhattan and Connecticut, along with the New York Police Department have worked night and day to find out who was responsible for what would have been a deadly attack had it been successful. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, this morning we have team coverage of reporters, analysts, and experts ready to go. We begin with our special coverage from Jason Carroll live from Manhattan where the suspect is expected to be arraigned later today.
Jason, tell us where he is right now. We talked about him being taken from the plane just before midnight last night in JFK.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this point, Kiran, it's unclear where exactly Faisal Shahzad is at this point. We can tell you we are waiting for the U.S. Attorneys' Office to make some sort of statement in terms of what exactly Shahzad will be charged with and when he will be arraigned later today.
First let's recap about what exactly happened last night. It was about 11:45 when investigators finally caught up with him. That's when they made their arrest. Shahzad had boarded the Emirates airline flight 202. It had -- was bound for Dubai. It had backed off from the gate and brought back to the gate so authorities could end up making their arrest.
Investigators believe that this is the same man who purchased that Nissan Pathfinder used in the failed Times Square bombing plot. Authorities at this point from the joint terrorism task force still trying to determine whether or not this man acted alone, Kiran, or whether or not he had help. That will be part of their investigation as they move forward.
At this point, still waiting to hear from the U.S. Attorneys' Office in terms of what exactly this man will be charged with and when. We're expecting that to happen sometime later today. Kiran?
CHETRY: We'll follow the latest developments and check in with you as we get more information. Thanks so much, Jason.
ACOSTA: There's also been a lot of activity in Bridgeport, Connecticut, this morning. Deb Feyerick is live this morning. Deb, you broke the news of Shahzad's arrest on CNN for us. We understand some bags may have come out of that house behind you down the street there. This apparently was one of his last known addresses.
What can you tell us about the latest down there on the scene, Deb?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Neighbors who have been monitoring the house all night say they saw law enforcement authorities taking bags and boxes out of the home.
While federal agents were taking off the plane in New York, others were here in Connecticut executing searches of any property that he may have been affiliated with, one of them a house he owned a year ago. We're told he lived there with his family.
Now they are looking at this house just behind me. You can see the vehicles back there. There was a convoy of FBI agents and forensic teams that came about 4:00 this morning to search that home to see what was inside.
They do have a search warrant and have a list of things they are looking for specifically related to that Nissan Pathfinder and the bombing materials that were inside.
The head of the FBI here in Connecticut said that, in fact they were concerned that the area may not be secure. That's why when we arrived here in the middle of the night. We can tell you there were police cars all over blocking all access roads leading to the house. We were winding our way to get as close as we possibly could.
At one point once the house was being secure, all of the police cars pulled away. But right now the agents are inside and looking to see what is there.
And also, when you think about it, a lot of things were happening in Connecticut. This was the area that he seemed to have been working in. It's the area where he picked up that Nissan Pathfinder three weeks ago buying it online on Craigslist and also where he got a license plate for that vehicle, again, that license plate not belonging to the car.
All of this within about 20 minutes of each other. So there's been a lot of activity here in Connecticut. Jim, Kiran?
ACOSTA: Deb Feyerick, live for us this morning in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Keep us posted on what happens out there, Deb. We'll be in touch with you as well.
CHETRY: And we are learning more this morning about the alleged terror suspect and how authorities caught him just as he was trying to leave the country. Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve has been following the latest developments throughout this. She's live in Washington this morning. Good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. There are some conflicting interpretations of what happened this individual was removed from this flight. You heard the attorney general say earlier he was attempting to board. Other officials have told us he was onboard the flight and one even said the jet way had been pulled back from the aircraft when authorities then decided to go on board and take off this individual. We're still trying to sort out exactly what the story is there.
We've learned more about him. He's 30 years old. He has told people he is married -- not known what the citizenship of his wife is. But he was born in Pakistan and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in April of 2009.
That is useful because at that point in time he had his picture taken and probably was fingerprinted as well. And the photograph we know was instrumental in this investigation -- it would be a surprise if the fingerprints hadn't been. Here's why -- when they took the VIN number off the car and able to trace the transactions involving the Pathfinder, they discovered this Craigslist transaction you heard about that this vehicle had been sold by an individual.
So they went to that individual who sold the Pathfinder with that picture from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the seller was able to identify that person as the person who bought the car. So that was one of things that helped them hammer in this case.
In addition, we do know he did some traveling shortly after he became a citizen. He left the country in June of 2009 and didn't run until February of 2010. He flew in and out of Dubai. But whether or not that was his final destination is unclear.
They are looking at the fact, law enforcement sources tell me, that he did make international calls in the weeks prior to this event taking place. They clearly are trying to look at that very carefully to see who he contacted, whether they were personal family calls or something else more sinister. Back to you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us, thanks so much.
We also want to bring in national security contributor Fran Townsend who's been with us this morning as well.
ACOSTA: That's right. She is in Orlando this morning and has been working her contacts all morning. And Fran, you know how this works inside the White House. We understand from talking to our Dan Lothian covering the White House for us this morning, the president was briefed six times yesterday about the investigation and then was notified of the arrest of Faisal Shahzad at 12:05 this morning.
As you know, all of this by John Brennan, the counterterrorism official. This is a case where the president has to be kept abreast of all of these developments as they are moving forward.
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely, Jim. No question John would have had direct access to President Obama and keeping him apprised of the development, not only at the federal level, but what was the NYPD doing, how was the FBI supporting that?
And in particular the feds will be focusing on the international connections. Jeanne was reporting this suspect spent eight months overseas. One of the things that the federal government will do to support this investigation is work their contacts to ask the Pakistani authorities to help them understand where in Pakistan was he.
Was he in the tribal areas? Was he with known or suspected terrorists inside Pakistan, the tribal areas, all of those pieces. What were these phone calls? Who were they too? Were there computer communications and who were they to? All of those international pieces are the sort of the bread and butter of what this federal investigation will focus on.
CHETRY: While we have you on, and we are talking about some of the other implications for the White House. When you have two things that really involve the Homeland Security Department and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on here yesterday also dealing with this major, major catastrophe off the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi, the huge oil spill.
And then you have this enormous situation, this terror investigation taking place in the nation's largest city.
TOWNSEND: Absolutely, Kiran. I was struck that when the president made his trip down to the Gulf coast there was a photo released, and who's standing behind the president but John Brennan. Imagine while John is trying to help the president manage the federal response to the Gulf Coast tragedy in the oil spill, he's also trying to monitor and coordinate the federal interaction with state locals in the Times Square case.
And so this is a busy time for John Brennan and that White House staff because they've got to support the president and they've got to make sure that they are the conduit to the most recent information developing to the president to be sure he's fully informed and briefed, because we know how many times he's stepping in front of the camera and public each day. He can't be caught off guard.
CHETRY: A big job on many levels. Fran Townsend, we'll be checking in with you throughout the morning as well.
In the meantime, we're going to take a quick break, and when we come back, we'll speak to Brian Jenkins, a terrorism analyst with the RAND Corporation. A lot of questions right on how they sort of chase down potential international ties. Right now at least this suspect, the only suspect in custody in the Times Square attempted bombing, is saying he acted alone.
ACOSTA: That's right. And we'll have all of developments that we've been working on overnight. A team of correspondents have been working up anything they can find on the investigation all night. So we'll be in touch with all of them as well.
Stick with us. It's 12 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to "AMERICAN MORNING." It's 14 minutes past the hour.
And if you're just joining us, we are following the latest developments this morning in the arrest ion the failed Times Square car bomb plot. We want to update you on all that we've learned and has developed throughout the morning.
The suspect is 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent. Shahzad is believed to be the person who drove the car into Times Square as well as the individual who purchased it through Craigslist from a buyer in Connecticut. The White House says President Obama was notified of the arrest shortly after midnight.
ACOSTA: And law enforcement officials tell us Shahzad is the person who bought that Nissan Pathfinder in cash. The SUV was packed with explosives and found smoking on 45th Street and Broadway Saturday afternoon in Times Square. And these developments have been moving very quickly in the last 72 hours, Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, Shahzad was nabbed at JFK Airport. It happened around midnight, tried to leave the country on a flight to Dubai. A source also tells us that even though he was already on the plane, that he was under heavy surveillance and some law enforcement officials tell us he was going nowhere.
ACOSTA: That's right. And we understand from talking to Jeanne Meserve that Shahzad was one of three people removed from that flight to Dubai. But according to law enforcement officials, the suspect claims he acted alone.
CHETRY: Brian Jenkins right now is joining us to break down of this. He's a terrorism analyst with the Rand Corporation and joins us now on the phone from Orlando, Florida, this morning.
Thanks for being with us, Brian.
BRIAN JENKINS, TERRORISM ANALYST, RAND CORPORATION (via telephone): Thank you.
CHETRY: I know we don't have exact specifics yet on the investigation and where it's going. First, there was a lot of information sharing and now at least according to some of our reporters, they're worried that too much is getting out there. But as we tried to sort of make sense of what happened and how our law enforcement ultimately were able to get their hands on the suspect, there seems to be two different narratives, about whether or not they actually intentionally let him get as far as he did, or whether or not he was not on a flight manifest and that he was caught in the nick of time as that plane was actually pulling away from the jet, jetway (ph).
JENKINS: Right. But I'm not going to comment on any aspect of the current investigation which is moving very, very rapidly, and we'll just have to wait and see those developments as they unfold.
But let's try to put this suspect that they have identified in the context of what we have seen in previous cases of homegrown terrorism in the United States. That is cases involving U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents who have been radicalized and recruited into terrorist violence. And in that particular case, so far what we know about this individual, he fits the profile fairly well.
ACOSTA: And, Brian, we want to mention to our viewers that we have live pictures of the FBI in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Our Deb Feyerick who was on the ground there has reported, and I think we can confirm now by looking at these pictures that the FBI in Connecticut has pulled some items out of this address where Faisal Shahzad was believed to have been staying at some point prior to his arrest. And that is why the authorities are on the scene there.
If you look at these pictures now, you can see what looks like some cardboard boxes sort of opened up and laid out on the street, perhaps in a back alley and then a number of items spread out across those pieces of cardboard. Some yellow marking tags there and some blue plastic bags potentially there to preserve some of the evidence pulled out of that scene.
And, Brian, you know, you mentioned the term "homegrown terrorist." But correct me if I'm mistaken here, but Faisal Shahzad wasn't exactly home grown, if I'm not mistaken there. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen as of only a year ago. So in many ways he was imported and then perhaps cleansed through the process of becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen.
JENKINS: We won't know that for a while.
ACOSTA: Yes.
JENKINS: Because what we'll find out during the day, and I imagine there are probably right now hundreds of reporters that are tracking down everything that they can find out about this particular individual and his biography. So probably by the end of the day, we'll know more about his personal life. But in that case, I mean, look, what we have not seen thus far in this country, it will be interesting to see if this case turns out to be differently, are actual individuals sent from abroad --
ACOSTA: Right.
JENKINS: -- with the intention that they will establish themselves here and carry out attacks. We just haven't seen that. What we have seen are individuals living here who radicalize themselves while they are here and then may go abroad and connect with one of these groups where they receive some type of instruction. And then come back and, you know, and thus far have been arrested plotting to carry out attacks.
CHETRY: Brian, what stands out to you the most about what we know so far in this case and this arrest?
JENKINS: I beg your pardon?
CHETRY: What stands out to you the most about what we know so far in the pieces that have been put together?
JENKINS: So far they say it -- and so far it is -- you know, first of all, the investigators have done a splendid job on this. What is interesting is that if this individual did receive a training in some type of terrorist camp abroad, that's certainly is not evident in the quality of the device that he built. At least what has been publicly reported about that device, it appears to be fairly crude. That doesn't mean it can't be lethal, but nonetheless a crude device.
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: And, Brian, one thing we just want to mention very briefly, though, is, as we're talking about all of this, just a few moments ago, we showed you pictures of what appeared to be FBI agents going through some of the evidence from this address in Bridgeport, Connecticut. We now see an image on our screen courtesy of our affiliate WABC of a balcony at that address where there are other law enforcement officials combing through evidence, combing through whatever they're finding in the back of that apartment there. So, obviously, the authorities there are making progress, but this, Brian, as you know, is a painstaking process.
JENKINS: It is. And it's going to proceed down several different paths concurrently. I mean, one will be following the leads that are provided by the forensic evidence. Now that they have identified an individual, there will be investigative leads in terms of with whom he may have been connected. They'll be following through on those.
That information will be put in the context of what other intelligence information the FBI and local police departments may have. And since there is clearly a connection overseas in this, both our intelligence services overseas, as well as those of other countries will be putting together as rapidly as possible all the information that they can connect with this individual. One thing we have certainly seen since 9/11 is the unprecedented focus and cooperation among the intelligence services and law enforcement agencies around the world.
ACOSTA: We saw them all come together there. That's for certain in these last hours.
CHETRY: Yes. All right. Well, Brian Jenkins, thanks so much for joining us this morning. Terrorism analyst with Rand Corporation on the phone from Pakistan. We appreciate -- sorry, on the phone from Orlando.
We're going to be talking about the Pakistan connection coming up. We're live from Islamabad with Reza Sayah after the break. We're also going to get an update on the weather conditions and whether or not today is going to be a better day in the containment efforts after that enormous oil spill at the gulf coast.
ACOSTA: Important story. Absolutely.
CHETRY: Thanks so much. We'll be right back.
Twenty-two minutes past the hour.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHETRY: Twenty-four minutes past 7:00 here in New York. And welcome to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
We are following the latest details about the suspect in the botched Times Square bombing. We know now that he is a Pakistani- American, became a citizen last year and he was just back from a trip to Pakistan and apparently headed back to that country as well. He was pulled off a plane and arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport late last night.
And now the question that authorities are trying to answer is whether or not he had any help. Is he connected to the Taliban in Pakistan? And what role is the Pakistani government playing in helping us get to the bottom of this investigation.
Right now, we're tapping into the global resources of CNN. Reza Sayah live for us in Islamabad this morning.
And you had a chance to get some reaction from Pakistani officials this morning on this arrest. What do you know this morning?
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we now know that there is going to be an investigation into Faisal Shahzad here in Pakistan. And that investigation is moving very rapidly. We're starting to find out a little bit more about who this man is.
We just spoke to the interior minister here in Pakistan. And he tells CNN that Faisal Shahzad was born in Pabi (ph). This is a village in the district of Nowshera (ph). Nowshera (ph) is in northwest Pakistan right next to Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border, safe haven for Pakistani militant groups. The interior minister telling us that Shahzad also has a Karachi I.D. Karachi, the southern port city in Pakistan, Pakistan's largest city.
The interior minister telling CNN Faisal Shahzad also has a residence in Karachi and family members in Karachi as well. We don't know exactly who those family members are, but the interior minister was very confident in talking to CNN and saying that he has -- the government has a lot of information about this man.
The interior minister was contacted by U.S. officials earlier today. We spoke with a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy and he tells us the ambassador here in Islamabad met with the interior minister, discussed this matter. So the investigation under way here in Pakistan into Faisal Shahzad. And again, a lot of new information coming in, but certainly a lot more questions to be answered.
First and foremost, is he connected to any of these militant groups, the many militant groups in Pakistan? Or was he working alone? And it looks like Pakistani investigators will be helping U.S. investigators in answering some of those questions, Kiran.
CHETRY: Reza Sayah for us this morning from Islamabad, Pakistan, thank you.
ACOSTA: And we want folks to stick with us because coming up next, we're going to be going live to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where FBI agents are conducting a search of that residence out there that could be connected to the suspect in this case. We have some live pictures you're looking at right now of the investigation as it's happening and we'll be getting more on that in just a few moments.
It is 26 minutes after the hour.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHETRY: We're coming up on 7:30 here in New York. And this is a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We're following breaking news for you this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ACOSTA: And I'm Jim Acosta in for John Roberts. We have breaking news on the Times Square bombing attempt. Lots to tell you about this morning. If you're just joining us, an arrest has been made in the failed Times Square bomb plot.
Here's what we know right now. Attorney General Eric Holder identifying the suspect earlier this morning. His name is Faisal Shahzad. Shahzad was nabbed at JFK Airport around midnight trying to leave the country on a flight to Dubai. He is a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent naturalized just over a year ago.
CHETRY: Yes, law enforcement tells us that they had a photo of him because of the recent status change. They showed it to the person who then sold him the Nissan Pathfinder. The seller identified Shahzad as the man who bought the car. It was a transaction that originated on Craigslist for $1,800 cash. There was no formal paperwork involved in that sale.
ACOSTA: And we're keeping an eye on activity in Bridgeport, Connecticut, this morning. Law enforcement officials are executing a search warrant with the help of a bomb squad.
Deb Feyerick is live in Bridgeport, Connecticut this morning. And Deb, in the last 15 to 20 minutes, we've been watching live pictures from our affiliate WABC of a search that's going on behind that residence. What can you tell us? What's happening out there right now?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, Jim, while you're keeping an eye from the bird's eye perspective, the helicopter up in the air, we're keeping an eye on the front door. We're seeing a lot of FBI agents, members of the JTTF and NYPD going in and out of that house searching for some things in the backyard. What they've done is spread out some huge canvas and they are looking closely at some of those items.
Again, they got a search warrant that they have and they were issued that. Certain things they were able to look for and certain things that they think they may find in the house. Usually when those search warrants are drafted, they are drafted with the understanding of what it is they may find or at least that they are hoping to find in that home.
Now we can tell you that Faisal Shahzad was taken into custody at JFK Airport last night. He was questioned for about three hours before being brought into Manhattan where he's going to make an appearance later this morning. We don't know what he said but we do know from one law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation that apparently he's claiming that he in fact acted alone.
Now, there's a lot of suspicious as to whether or not that's true. And law enforcement are going to run down whatever lead they can, certainly looking at his cell phone records, his computer, to determine who he may have been in contact whether it's here in the United States or perhaps overseas in some of the areas where he was planning on traveling, where he was planning on going.
Also, how he figured out how to put this bomb device together. That's always sort of critical because sometimes that leads one to identify who the person is talking with. Now, we did speak to a source yesterday who basically told CNN that the bomb had no known signature. And by that they mean it's really not associated to any particular terror group.
Usually you can identify the person and their philosophy by the kind of bomb they are building. Well, this doesn't have that sort of clear signature. So by looking through some of these elements, by looking through some of the manuals that they find or papers -- I shouldn't say manuals but really, you know, papers, they'll come to a clear understanding of what's going on.
We can tell you the agents have been here through the night, into the morning and they still got some work ahead of them. Jim, Kiran.
ACOSTA: And Deb, there are some compelling images coming in as you noted from our affiliate WABC, some helicopter shot of what's happening in the back alley. And we just want to show our viewers as many times as we can that this cardboard boxes have been opened up, laid out on the street and some items that have been brought out of that home and just sort of splayed out on the asphalt there.
They are marking some of these items with yellow tags and putting some in what appear to be plastic bags. It's incredible that we're able to see this with such rich detail. Deb, this is going to be going on for quite a while. I mean, they're going to go through everything in that residence, is that right?
FEYERICK: Sure, because you got really skilled forensic teams that are right now doing this. I mean, these people are trained on what to look for and how to look for it and how not to compromise certain pieces of evidence. So this is a very pain staking sort of process. By which, they really -- it's almost looking for a needle in the haystack.
They've got a lot of things they have to look for but they know what it is they are looking for because they know what they are hoping to find. So kind of an interesting dynamic that's going on inside that home right now.
ACOSTA: Deb Feyerick, live for us in Bridgeport this morning. Deb, thanks so much. The authorities are going to be working there for a while. I guess you will as well. Appreciate that. Thanks, Deb.
CHETRY: And officials will be looking into the suspect's past. Again, we know that he is a native of Pakistan and that became an American citizen in April of last year.
ACOSTA: There's the fact that he was trying to take a flight to Dubai when he was arrested. For more on the international connections in this investigation, let's bring in Drew Griffin, our Special Investigations Unit correspondent. A lot of detective work went into making this arrest overnight. We're seeing some detective work going on right now at that residence in Bridgeport, Drew
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and just real quickly, you know, presumably 48 hours ago they didn't even know who this guy was or 72 hours ago. And now we're all over this guy. We're trying to track down where he was in Pakistan. How long -- he was away for eight months this past year. Where was he? You heard Reza saying, you know, the Pakistani authorities are cooperating.
ACOSTA: Looking at a resident in Karachi and saying that he has family members in Karachi.
GRIFFIN: Yes. So again, we talked about this earlier, where was the tipping point for this guy? Where did he become radicalized as it were? Was it here in the United States? Was it during this trip? Or was this some kind of a sleeper cell that he's been planning this for years.
CHETRY: When you take a look at what ultimately he was able to accomplish, which is the purchasing of this SUV and seemingly being able to gather this material which included fertilizer and as Ray Kelly described yesterday, this box that was loaded with -- a locked box, on top of that, the MD-88, which would be the igniter, I guess some sort of firecracker, which obviously proved not to be effective in this case, simply smoking and getting the attention of others but being able to load that thing up as best as he could and drive it into Times Square. A target as we know, a huge target of terrorists, what does that say about the difficulty in tracking people who are clean, whose records are clean when it comes to this lone wolf scenario?
GRIFFIN: Yes, it's almost the scariest thing for any of these investigators or these police departments that are trying to protect any city. We live in a free society you can't. If you're pretty much clean, you can buy, everything he bought, you can buy legally. So there's --
CHETRY: In some places. I mean, you can't buy fireworks in New York, you can get them in Pennsylvania.
GRIFFIN: Right.
CHETRY: But very careful about checking cars that go over the line but yes, you're right, relatively easy to get your hands on.
GRIFFIN: Right. But no one is going to stop you coming out of Pennsylvania and ask if you have an M-88. You know, it's not legal to have that here in New York. You know, it's that kind of freedom that we have that you can just drive -- you know, nobody checked the back of his truck when he was coming into Manhattan.
ACOSTA: And what about the detective work over the last 72 hours? I mean, it's extraordinary how we got to this point, as you said. At the top of this segment, we didn't know a whole lot about this guy. Nobody knew that he existed potentially until all of these unfold. GRIFFIN: New York is the target in all of these terror attacks. The JTTF Force here is the best there is because of this. They are constantly -- they are not training, they are constantly being threatened. And there are threats all the time that they are dealing with and tracking down and chasing many we don't know about. But this is what they do for a living.
You know, this one I think, eventually they'll go back and try to figure out, how did it get this far --
ACOSTA: Right.
GRIFFIN: And what can we do to prevent that from happening?
CHETRY: Well, time and time again, I mean, the front line of prevention seems to be everyday citizens, and yet a T-shirt vendor, a former Vietnam vet who said, you know, when he was asked about see something, say something, which is the slogan originally of the MTA, if you see something strange in the wake of 9/11 on a bus or on a train, tell somebody.
GRIFFIN: And Kiran, it usually is the first line of defense that would help this. You know what, where does this guy live? Did somebody see him dragging a gun case into the back of his Nissan? Was he acting weird? Is this a weird guy suddenly carrying propane tanks? You know, that's the tip that we needed in this one.
Now, we did get the tip because the vehicle was smoking. But the real tip was we need a nosy neighbor to check this guy out and say hey, something is wrong with junior down the street here.
ACOSTA: And we haven't heard from any of the neighbors out there from Bridgeport, Connecticut to tell us exactly what this guy was like. And I'm assuming -- I think we're going to be hearing that -- that will probably be the next shoe to drop here in the next several hours. Deb Feyerick down there for us. So, we'll hope for the best down there.
But thanks, Drew. Appreciate that.
CHETRY: Good to see you, Drew.
Well, we're tracking other stories new this morning as well. We have new aerial pictures of the oil spill, off the Gulf Coast and the damaged rig. Our own Rob Marciano was able to get to the air. He was able to take a helicopter ride and get a closer look at what is going on there. Officials say it could still be more than a day before they have a possible fix in place.
BP is waiting for concrete and steel containment boxes to try to actually finish construction of them, to try to siphon the gushing oil on to barges. Experts say that the spill is headed towards the so- called loop current which could pull the spill like a conveyor belt, it's being described around the gulf.
ACOSTA: And meanwhile, Kiran, Nashville is waking up to destruction this morning, caused by that flooding down there. Major landmarks in the historic city are completely under water. The Grand Ole Opry, the country music Hall of Fame and the Opry Land Hotel, that's what we're seeing here. And there is a desperate race right now to save Nashville's only working water treatment plant from the ever-flowing Cumberland River.
Inmates from the nearby jail are filling sand bags and helping workers file them around the plant. They are (inaudible) are urging residents to only use water to cook and drink. Severe storms have killed 27 people across the southeast, 18 in Tennessee alone.
CHETRY: Well, the only surviving gunman, a Pakistani convicted in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India is scheduled to be sentenced today in India. He faces either life in prison or the death sentence. Our Sara Sidner is tracking the latest. The judge has yet to give any ruling decision on the sentence.
Security forces killed nine other gunmen during that three-day siege. More than 160 people were killed during in the attacks.
ACOSTA: And flights between Ireland and the rest of Europe will resume by 8:00 Eastern this morning, that's 1:00 in the afternoon in Dublin. Officials say a new cloud of ash, get this Kiran, from Iceland's volcano no longer a threat, more than 200 flights were grounded.
As you remember millions of travelers around the world were stranded last month for more than a week. We all remember those pictures, and all of those delays quite well.
CHETRY: Yes, in Ireland, the last one to finally be able to open things up again. Boy, tough times for Europe after that happened.
ACOSTA: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, we're going to be speaking with Peter Brookes, live after the break, continuing the investigation right now and just getting a little bit more insight on the angle of law enforcement and where the investigation might lead them as they seek to determine whether or not the suspect now in custody in connection with the Times Square bombing scare acting alone or not?
ACOSTA: That's right. It looks like great detective work broke this case, we'll have that in just a few minutes. It's 40 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. 44 minutes past the hour right now. We're getting you updated on the latest developments and there have been many this morning overnight in the Times Square bomb plot.
There is a suspect in custody now. He's been identified as 30- year-old naturalized citizen Faisal Shahzad. ACOSTA: That's right. Officials pulled him off a flight that was headed for Dubai. For more, we want to bring in Peter Brookes. He's a former CIA officer and former deputy assistant secretary of defense. Peter, good morning, thanks for joining us.
PETER BROOKES, FORMER CIA OFFICER: Good morning. Good to be with you.
ACOSTA: I guess, you were telling one of our procedures just before the segment got going, that when you put this attempted attack in perspective, the numbers are quite staggering in terms of what this country has been up against since September 11th?
BROOKES: Well, you know, this morning when I started thinking about this, I just written an article from the "Armed Forces Journal," where I detailed about 10 or so attempted attacks or attacks including the Fort Hood attack over just the last year.
ACOSTA: Wow.
BROOKES: And so this is a troubling trend. I think if you go back and look at the numbers, we've looked at about 30 foiled attacks in the United States since 9/11. So, 10 within just the last year, it was the Christmas day bomber, Ft. Hood, Denver, Chicago, northern Virginia, Minnesota, Boston, Dallas, Springfield, the North Carolina case and Little Rock. I mean, this is troubling and it really shows is that we cannot be complacent about this threat because obviously we're still in the crosshairs of a number of terrorist groups.
CHETRY: When you lay out so many things like that, I mean, you take a look at the case of Major Nadal Hasan. He was somebody who lived in America for years --
ACOSTA: Right.
CHETRY: He was, you know, he was a member of our Armed Forces, a psychiatrist tasked with helping others who were going through post- traumatic stress.
And then, in this situation, you have somebody who recently became a citizen of the United States, wanted, you know, to be identified as an American. So how do you, in this case, look at who and who may not be potential threats?
BROOKES: That's really tough, you know, Kiran. In fact, I was -- I was thinking about it just earlier this spring. I think it was Senator Feinstein had a hearing on our threat assessments and hearing with our intelligence chiefs asked whether their chiefs (ph) that they expected there would be a terrorist attack in the next three to six months, and they all agreed that there would be and they were right, unfortunately.
But the fact of the matter is this is a very difficult issue. We're nine years out from 9/11 and we still have these things -- sort of things going on. There are many things now -- a lot of people are going to focus on the aspects of -- of this individual, getting him to court, all of that sort of stuff, but we have to figure out the other issues.
How was he radicalized? Was he trained overseas? The international aspects.
In fact, some analysts, Kiran, have said that there may be as many as 100 individuals in the United States that have been trained in Pakistani camps. Now, I can't substantiate that, but that's a pretty frightening figure.
So, there's still a major national security problem in front of us and this incident in Times Square, I think, lays that out for us.
ACOSTA: And, Peter, we have different categories of threats at this point because you have the foreign national who tries to penetrate our national security structure and carry on an attack. You have the homegrown terrorists like the case in Fort Hood. And here you have potentially a different category because you have somebody in Shahzad who was only a naturalized citizen as of a year ago, and, according to our reports from Pakistan, has family in Karachi.
BROOKES: Right. Well, you know, what I worry (ph) about here is that this person was sent here on purpose, a mole, a sleeper. You know, I don't know that from anything we've been told so far. That's why we're all going to be so interested in his biography.
ACOSTA: Right.
BROOKES: But he could have been sent here, although his travels back in Pakistan certainly may have raised a red flag for, you know, intelligence officials. But that's something --
Another thing, are there sleeper cells in the United States? And that --
ACOSTA: But he's not quite a homegrown terrorist. I mean, that's not necessarily the case in his -- in his case.
BROOKES: Well, I mean, it depends how you define homegrown terrorist. Where was he radicalized? I mean, was he radicalized over the internet in place in the United States?
Some people may call that a homegrown terrorist. He doesn't have to have been born here to be a homegrown terrorist. The fact is is where did he decide to -- to undertake these sort of terrorist actions? And so, it depends on exactly how you define that.
But that's, you know, that's a very good question here, and it's something that we're going to have to do a lessons learned issue as well, finding out what we should have seen that we didn't see, because, obviously, this individual was able to place a car in Times Square with explosives in it. So we didn't prevent it.
CHETRY: Right.
BROOKES: Luckily, it was a bumbler. It didn't happen and we're -- we're great in the forensics and getting him afterwards. What we really need to be is, you know, 24 hours, 48 hours, six weeks ahead of that and taking this guy off the street before he even gets to put the first propane tank in the back of a -- of a van or a truck.
CHETRY: Right. And so then, you look at how many lines lead back to Pakistan. I mean, you just brought it up yourself, talking about the -- the threat of terror and threat assessments that were taking place in the Capitol.
We spoke to Paul Cruickshank, terror analyst, as well who says that Pakistan is the hot bed right now for radicalization and where the problem is -- is in, I mean, in terms of assessing threats, not necessarily Yemen, not necessarily Somalia, although there are areas concerned.
But Pakistan as being his breeding ground and is a place where people can go. And, according to our reporting, this was the final destination of this suspect.
BROOKES: Well, you're right, Kiran. I mean, I think Pakistan still is the epicenter of this radicalism, and it shows how important it is to get our policy in Pakistan right.
Now, I'm not convinced that this individual is necessarily tied to al Qaeda or the Taliban or even al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. We don't know that yet. That's something we're going to have to -- we're going to have to find out.
One of the intriguing aspects here is that the Taliban has claimed responsibility for this. Now, they've -- they've had some spurious claims in the past, but that would be a significant thing because the Taliban has often -- their goals have often been considered to be regional, focused on Pakistan --
CHETRY: Right.
BROOKES: -- and Afghanistan, although their leader seems to have survived the drone attack on him, and now he's saying he's going to attack the United States. So we have to take that all into context.
Once again, we're very early on in this investigation and there's so much for us to learn.
ACOSTA: A lot to chew on.
Peter Brookes, former CIA officer, former deputy assistant secretary of the Defense. We appreciate your thoughts this morning. Thanks for joining us.
And coming up in just a few moments, we're going to be live from the White House, how President Obama is staying on top of this arrest. It's coming up in just a few minutes.
You're watching breaking news coverage on AMERICAN MORNING here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: It's just eight minutes now before 8:00 here in New York, and if you're just joining us, we are all over the breaking news this morning, an arrest today in the failed Times Square car bomb plot.
We want to give you an update now on all of the new information that we've learned about this suspect. His name, Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen of Pakistani descent.
ACOSTA: Right. Law enforcement officials tell us that he is the person who bought that Nissan Pathfinder and drove it into Times Square while it was loaded with propane tanks and fireworks.
CHETRY: Also, Shahzad nabbed at JFK Airport. It happened around midnight, just as he was trying to leave the country. He was on an Emirates flight to Dubai.
Authorities tell us that three people in all were taken off of that flight.
ACOSTA: And we're waiting to hear from a -- a response from the president this morning. We know he learned of the arrest just after midnight.
Our Dan Lothian is live at the White House with the latest. Dan, I guess we know a little bit about what's been happening with respect to the president and how he's been notified and kept on -- on top of this. What can you tell us?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Not a whole lot of information, but White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, telling us that the president was notified at 12:05 A.M. He was notified by John Brennan, his top counterterrorism adviser.
And, according to Gibbs, the president was briefed by Brennan six times yesterday, so that's how he's been getting all of the information on the investigation and, of course, told of the arrest at 12:05 A.M.
What we're waiting now is to find out if the president will come to the mikes at any time this morning and address the arrest publicly. I can tell you that this administration in the last few days, dealing with this and also the oil spill in Louisiana, has been very forthcoming, trying to be out in front to show that they are -- they are focused on these various critical issues. And so, perhaps we'll see the president later today.
The only public event on his schedule right now is a meeting with the business council at 11:05 here in Washington. Perhaps there'll be something said then, perhaps even sooner. We don't know. We're still trying to find out, Jim.
ACOSTA: They -- they must be very relieved at the White House, with this suspect having been on the loose for 72 hours, to have been caught last night, almost the last second according to our reporting from Jeanne Meserve. Dan Lothian live at the White House this morning. Thank you for that.
CHETRY: And so, you know, Eric Holder, our Attorney General, with his comment saying it was clear the intent behind the terrorist attack was to kill Americans. But just how close was this suspect of pulling this off?
We're going to be talking much more about that and the investigation that's continuing as we speak out in -- in Connecticut as well, where we have some live pictures and our Deb Feyerick on the ground there at the last known address, Bridgeport, Connecticut.
There's a shot right now as -- as federal forensic teams go through -- comb through inch by inch the last known residence of this suspect.
We have much more for you ahead this morning.
ACOSTA: If I'm not mistaken, Kiran, I think they've moved up to the top level of that apartment building. It appears that they've moved from one level below there to the top level there.
So it look -- looks like they're draping something over that balcony, perhaps to give them a little more privacy as they do their work there in Bridgeport, but we'll be following that as well.
CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. Our continuing coverage in just a moment.
Fifty-five minutes past the hour.
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