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American Morning
Suspected Car Bomber Confesses: Court Docs Allege Suspect Trained in Pakistan; Clean-Up and Containment Efforts in the Gulf
Aired May 05, 2010 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Wednesday morning to you. Thanks so much for joining us on the Most News in the Morning on this 5th day of May, the Cinco de Mayo. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here are the big stories we're telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
First, the latest on tracking down the terror suspect. This morning, we're learning that authorities who were tailing the Times Square bomb suspect, Faisal Shahzad, lost him as he made his way to New York to JFK Airport, and his arrest is also exposing a gap in nation's aviation security system. How is a person on the no-fly list able to board a flight to Dubai?
ROBERTS: Bracing for impact, a massive oil slick reaches the mouth of the Mississippi moving ever closer to shore in the Gulf of Mexico. We're going to talk to BP's chief operating officer about their oil drilling disaster and how far the company is willing to go to pay for economic damages.
CHETRY: And a warning out there this morning if you give your kids cold or allergy medicines. The Food and Drug Administration is slamming conditions at a facility that made children's Tylenol, Benadryl, and Motrin. Just how safe is the medicine in your cabinet? We'll talk to a retired FDA consumer safety officer coming up.
ROBERTS: But first, was it a no-fly list failure, another one? We're learning more about the lapses and luck that led to the capture of a man accused of trying to place a car bomb in Times Square.
CHETRY: In the span of just 53 hours authorities found the SUV smoking and identified their suspect, Faisal Shahzad, placed him on the no-fly list, and then chased him to a departing flight to Dubai.
ROBERTS: But there are some serious questions this morning about lapses in security. How was a suspected terrorist on the no-fly list still able to buy a ticket and board a plane? Our special investigations correspondent Drew Griffin joins us now. And he has some personal experience with this because for a long time you were on the no-fly list. DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: That's right. There are lapses on getting off, I can tell you that for sure.
But he was put on the no-fly list Monday afternoon. So there's this period of time where the emirates would have to actually download, get that material, and put it on their no-fly list because it's not automatically updated as it was supposed to be by the beginning of it year. They are still working out that program. So that's number one.
Number two is that customs border and protection was at the airport. They were checking the manifest, and they knew there was a security hole. They kept updating and checking everybody on every international flight on JFK, and that's where they eventually found out he was.
ROBERTS: So Emirates didn't update the no-fly list. But hadn't TSA sent out a bulletin saying we have a name you should look at, update your no-fly lists, and they still didn't do it?
GRIFFIN: John, clearly there is a lapse here. Keep in mind he's under arrest and confessing and nobody got hurt in all this. But you do have to go back and say we did have a hole. This is a hole.
There's a lot of instant things not clicking. You have to figure out why and make them better and tighter. And I think when a person gets put on a no-fly list by the FBI in Washington D.C., he should be on the no-fly list in every airport in the country instantly.
CHETRY: And the other question is about how you're able to boost the priority. Is there one overall alert? Or can you prioritize that? This should have been a top priority if they thought he was the suspect in an attempted terror attack on Times Square. That should reach a different level.
GRIFFIN: I totally agree with you. Apparently we don't have the system in place. We don't have that system where you automatically send out the alert that this is the top guy in the country everybody is looking for. So I think that's where the system needs to drastically improve.
ROBERTS: When you look at, and Mayor Bloomberg said this yesterday, we came very close. How close did they come to losing him?
GRIFFIN: That's hard to say, John. People have been caught on planes as the planes are up and have been turned around. Dubai, that's a long flight. We have plenty of time to get to Dubai. So how close were they? He was on board the plane and the door was shut when they took him off.
Interestingly enough, when the plane is leaving, they thought we have two more guys on the plane we want to talk to. This is what happened. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your right position, actually, I have a message for you to go back to the gate immediately. So make the left turn when able.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turning left here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make the left turn on to echo west alpha, you can call your company for the reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: They called the company all right, but there was two more guys on that plane they wanted to check. They turned out to be false alarms, but that plane was taxiing out and heading towards the runway of JFK.
CHETRY: There was a different narrative yesterday that perhaps this was intentional, that they let him get on the plane and waited to see whether he made a phone call to somebody using a cell phone, maybe to Dubai or Pakistan, "I'm here." So yesterday as more of the story unfolded, that was not intentional letting it come down to the wire?
GRIFFIN: No, it wasn't. I think that was maybe speculation and some hope that that is what was happening. But now we understand there was some kind of a screw up here that allowed them to get onto that plane, which they have to figure out what went wrong and why it went wrong and fix it.
ROBERTS: As you say, if they put somebody on the no- fly list, it should automatically update everywhere.
GRIFFIN: And take them off, automatic as well.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Like thousands of Americans, Faisal Shahzad and his family were recently forced from their home after the bank moved to foreclosure. The suspected Times Square bomber had serious financial woes when he allegedly attacked the country that just awarded him citizenship.
Our Deb Feyerick is live this morning in Shelton, Connecticut. There's a lot of police activity there. This was the home of Shahzad that he once shared with his wife and two small children. What's the update this morning, Deb?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kiran, one of things that authorities are looking for is what changed in the life of Faisal Shahzad to make him do what he did. This was a young man whose life appeared to be on track. He arrived in the United States on a student visa, gone to the University of Bridgeport, getting two degrees from there. At the time he is working as an in-house financial analyst at a major marketing company. Then about a year ago in June his life appears to have started to unravel. He quit his job. He was behind on his mortgage payments and lost his home. His wife was forced to sell some of their belongings and move away.
It was at that time that Shahzad went to Dubai and then on to Pakistan. He's telling authorities now that he spent part of that time at a Jihadi training camp.
When he returned in February he bought a nine millimeter automatic rifle and the bomb component and building allegedly that bomb. Now his wife had given a neighbor a computer. That computer was seized yesterday. Here's how the neighbor described the family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a very private person, kept to herself. She liked to come out at night and wear all black and go jogging. His wife didn't speak much English. His daughter played with my daughter, his eldest daughter. I didn't suspect he would do something like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Shahzad did waive his right to remain silent. He's talking to investigators. And one of big things they want to know, for example, is how did he make his way to this jihadi training camp and who did he meet with?
And that's really important. Not only the leaders, but what other young men may have been training, people who have passports who can travel easily throughout America or even in Europe. Also, what kinds of plot were they discussing at this jihadi training camp?
If this all works out for investigators, maybe they'll figure out exactly what was going on in his mind and what really is at stake or in play, what the jihad is are thinking about.
But Kiran, when you think about this, again, a young man seemingly on track, and it begins to unravel. And we saw that the with Detroit plane bomber and with the young man who went from Denver to New York. So it's happening, they are looking for something. Kiran?
CHETRY: In less than ten minutes we'll find out a little bit more about this. Deb, thank you so much. We'll talk about Shahzad and his possible accomplices when we're joined by Nicholas Smidle who worked as a journalist in Pakistan for two years, also and Peter Brookes, a former CIA officer who once served as deputy assistance secretary of defense.
ROBERTS: Good weather and calm seas this morning in the Gulf of Mexico giving crews more time to protect the coastline from that massive oil slick. Federal law capped BP's liability for economic damages in the Gulf oil disaster at $75 million. Senate Democrats, however, want to change that law and raise the limit fairly dramatically to $10 billion. BP is picking up the tab for cleanup cost which could run as much as $14 billion.
CHETRY: A Washington Post report said that BP's Gulf of Mexico drilling operation was exempt from environmental impact study that was conducted last year. It cites government documents showing BP's lease on deep water horizon got a "categorical exclusion from the analysis."
The report says neither federal regulators or the company anticipated an accident on the scale we are seeing now unfold in the Gulf of Mexico.
ROBERTS: And officials say the Gulf oil slick could spread to the Florida Keys in the coming days. If it gets cut in the loop current it could empty out into the ocean through the Florida Keys. Officials in the Keys are bracing for the potential spill impact and preparing to protect the prime tourist territory there.
The calm ocean waters expected to keep the oil slick at sea for next couple of days, but it is already lapping up against the shore and threatening marine life and wildlife. The oil forecast has it at the mouth of the Mississippi River and inching ever closer, the massive slick grazing the shore of Louisiana's barrier islands.
In some coastal communities cleanup efforts are underway even before the oil arrives.
Rob Marciano is live in Gulfport, Mississippi again for us this morning. And Rob, how much longer are weather conditions expected to remain favorable?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Several days, thankfully. But then you have currents in the Gulf and Mississippi River dumping into the Gulf complicating matters even more.
What we saw a couple days ago was the oil did infiltrate the Chandelier Islands and Sound getting dangerously close to the wetlands of extreme southeast Louisiana into the mouth of the Mississippi. The delta itself, we didn't quite see that. It will get very close, if not into the delta over the next few days.
As you mentioned, there are preps being done on the beach in the northern Gulf before the oil even gets close. The theory here is that if you clean the beach of debris, if oil does land on the sand, that sand will be easier to clean up.
Contracted workers by BP are out there yesterday during the day. Also yesterday hosted by BP and other entities were safety training courses to train volunteers that want to get out and do the same thing. A lot of nervous energy. People are scared and want to put the energy to work, so they are taking courses to volunteer themselves. But quite honestly a lot of people here wanted to get their questions answered by BP. There were not BP officials there although it was officially hosted by them.
At sea the work continues, 200 vessels continuing to lay boom. Almost 400,000 feet of boom laid, they have a million left that they have at the ready to help out there.
Also C-130s have been brought in to attack this thing from above. But the good news is some of this dispersant seems to have been working. So the slick, even though it continues to leak, the slick itself doesn't seem to be getting bigger. But the untold damage out there at sea has been done.
The forecast, light winds. It may drift it farther to the west towards the Mississippi delta. As far as getting down to the Keys, that is way too far away to tell. Winds will not be onshore in the northern Gulf for the next several days, if at all.
But the Mississippi delta and certainly the west coast of Florida, long term is system not out of the woods, so to speak. John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks so much. You mentioned, Rob, that people have a lot of questions to ask BP. Coming up in ten minutes time, we'll answer those questions. We'll talk with Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production.
CHETRY: Music City is facing a long recovery after getting four months of rain, the equivalent of that in just two days. The rivers are now receding and revealing the misery in Nashville this morning.
ROBERTS: At 7:38, the Gulf oil spill putting thousands of fish and birds at risk. What's being done to prevent more? We'll get together with two experts who will tell us.
CHETRY: Also still ahead, at 7:52 eastern time, just how concerned should you be if you give your kids well-known brands of cold and allergy medicines? Numerous violations have been found at a facility used to make children's medicine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 14 minutes after the hour.
Happening now, tensions over Greece's growing debt crisis boiling over in the streets of Athens. Witnesses say police fired tear gas at protesters. The crowds are striking over the government's decision to accept painful cuts, like reducing salaries and imposing higher taxes on alcohol and cigarettes.
Today's strikes have shut down hospitals and schools and tourism sites.
CHETRY: The feds say Times Square bomb plot suspect Faisal Shahzad is admitting he got explosives training in Pakistan's dangerous Waziristan region. And court documents also claim that he was getting phone calls from his country in the days leading up to the failed attack.
For more now, let's bring in two experts on this topic, Peter Brookes, former CIA officer and former deputy assistant to the secretary of defense, and also Nicholas Smidle. He spent two years in Pakistan as a journalist and he's now with the New America Foundation. Welcome to both of you.
Peter, I want to start with you, because you spent a lot of time with us yesterday as these developments are coming out. We now learned Faisal Shahzad admitted to the feds he got bomb-making training in his native Pakistan, that he spent five months there.
What does this tell you about the threat of a naturalized U.S. citizen being able to go back to Pakistan under the radar?
PETER BROOKES, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Yes, I mean, that's the thing. I mean, people are talking about the success of preventing him from leading the country, arresting him.
But he got very, very close, Kiran, to getting that bomb going off. He traveled to Pakistan, went to a training camp, reentered the United States, gathered materials, put them together, drove them into Times Square. I mean, they were 99 percent correct -- he was 99 percent positive in getting to making that thing explode.
I mean, this is really, really bad news. Everybody seems to be focusing on the fact that, you know, the no-fly list, which is important, and the fact that we arrested them. But there should be no back slapping going on here.
CHETRY: Right. So what is the biggest concern in your mind? What sticks out to you, then, Peter?
BROOKES: I really want to know who is behind him, who gave him his training. He talked about Waziristan, but once again, you know, Waziristan is really broken up into South Waziristan where the Pakistanis have been operating, and North Waziristan, which may now be a safe haven for groups like the Taliban, Al Qaeda, some of the other groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (ph), Jaish-e-Mohammed (ph). So I really want to know where he got his training, who was behind this. Remember, the Taliban is claiming responsibility and that would be a new threat vector towards us here in the United States.
CHETRY: And, Nicholas, I want to ask you about that. What do you make about any possible ties between Shahzad and the Taliban in Pakistan? Because intelligence officials, at least in Pakistan, have been a little bit skeptical of these claims. They said they need to be taken with a grain of salt this morning. Pakistan's army, in fact, saying they have doubts that there was this connection.
NICHOLAS SCHMIDLE, FELLOW, THE NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: Right. Well, I think the question is whether the Pakistani-Taliban are capable of doing such a thing, pulling off such a sophisticated transnational operation. But I think that we're also underestimating the Pakistani-Taliban.
The Pakistani-Taliban and the Afghan-Taliban that we routed from Afghanistan 10 years ago are two totally different beings. And the Pakistani-Taliban has been in much closer cohabitation with Al Qaeda over the course of the past 10 years. And we have to remember, they are the ones who ran the double agent that infiltrated the CIA base and killed eight CIA and Blackwater officers back in late December. So this is a sophisticated operation and they do have global ambitions.
CHETRY: Yes, and so that's the question now because we're hearing reporting from CNN's Nic Robertson, Nicholas, that there were more arrests today in Pakistan in connection with Shahzad. How strong of a partner will the Pakistani police and law enforcement be in helping us determine how much involvement there may have been from the groups that we're talking about?
SCHMIDLE: Well, the Pakistani government over the course of the past several months has really had an about-face in terms of its counterterrorism cooperation with the United States. They've arrested several top Taliban officials in major cities, including Karachi. They stepped up their operations. There's been military operations in Swat (ph) in South Waziristan. There's a pending one in North Waziristan. So this is -- also, this is a very different Pakistani government than the somewhat as one that we have been dealing with for the past nine years. So I think that we can actually expect a pretty good amount of cooperation.
CHETRY: And, Peter, how effective? I mean, there is a couple of articles today highlighting the effectiveness of these drone strikes that the U.S. doesn't officially acknowledge. But in that Waziristan area and in fact some reporting that perhaps this may have been, at least what, Faisal Shahzad may have been telling some law enforcement is, you know, pay back for those that attacks that have killed some of the top insurgents in Pakistan?
BROOKES: Yes, I think we still have to continue to press the offensive in those regions, working with the Pakistanis, but this is a fabulous asset we have here to go after these top leaders. And we've got a lot of top Al Qaeda leaders as well as we thought we had the leader of the Taliban who just resurfaced. But I think it's still a very important element, not the entire -- our entire program or entire policy, but it's a very important element of our counterterrorism strategy in that part of the world.
CHETRY: Bottom line, Nick, do you think there's other out here like this? Other people who became naturalized citizens that have this desire and intent?
SCHMIDLE: Yes, it would be hard not -- I mean, we have to have some imagination and we have to be able to imagine things that are previously unthinkable. So that there are other naturalized citizens floating around certainly seems plausible.
CHETRY: And, Peter, how do we tackle that?
BROOKES: It's a real challenge. I mean, I don't think we're looking our best after this one went down. And so I think we're going to have to tighten things up and look at things and understand that complacency is one of our biggest enemies in dealing with this threat.
CHETRY: All right. Peter Brookes and Nicholas Schmidle, great to talk to both of you this morning. Thanks.
BROOKES: Thank you.
SCHMIDLE: Thanks for having us.
ROBERTS: BP feeling the heat over the gulf coast oil spill. Will the company go the extra mile to pay for damages from the disaster? A BP executive joins us coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-three minutes now after the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Cleanup and containment efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, now a race against time. But BP says it's doing everything it can to try to bottle up the disastrous oil spill and minimize the damage.
Doug Suttles is the company's chief operating officer for exploration and production. He joins me now on the telephone.
Mr. Suttles, thanks so much for being with us. Yesterday on Capitol Hill, Dave Rainey, your vice president of Gulf of Mexico production, told Congress that this well which is thought to be leaking about 5,000 barrels a day could dramatically increase the amount of oil it's putting out. What kind of figures are you potentially looking at here?
DOUG SUTTLES, COO, EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION, BP (via telephone): Well, John, thanks for the opportunity to join you guys. What Dave described yesterday to members of Congress was in, if in certain conditions, and this is all in the permit to drill and the permit to explore, but under certain conditions the rate could go higher if, for instance, the blowout preventer was completely removed in if the well wall (ph) was completely free.
ROBERTS: And that figure he stated yesterday to Congress could be as high as 60,000 barrels a day. What would happen in the gulf if it started leaking at that rate?
SUTTLES: Well, John, it's hard to know. It's hard to know and none of us would want that to happen. And I think that all of us are doing everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen. I don't think anyone believes it's very likely. But clearly, it's the sort of thing we all need to be prepared for in case it did occur.
ROBERTS: Now, in terms of doing everything you can, the latest attempts here will be to put these -- I guess they're very much like coffer dams down over top of the wellhead and the other leaks to try to collect that oil. It's almost like an upside-down funnel, I guess, and pump that oil back up to the surface. These have been tried in shallow depths, but to my knowledge never at the depth that you're going to try them at now. What's the likelihood that it's going to work?
SUTTLES: Yes, John, well, you nailed the challenge -- absolutely nailed the challenge. I'm confident we're going to do everything we can to make it work. We've got the best people in the world working on this. We -- the coffer dam will leave port this morning or late morning around noon, we think, and it will take about 12 hours to get to the scene and then a couple of days to get to the bottom. But I think what could happen here is it will be a bit frustrating at the beginning, but I'm confident we'll find a way to make this work.
ROBERTS: Yes. A question comes to mind that if you're going to drill at those depths, and, you know, we're talking 5,000, 6,000 feet. Some wells drill even deeper than that. Is it not incumbent upon the company to practice these contingency plans in case of something like this so that you're not just experimenting when it comes to trying to shut off the flow of oil?
SUTTLES: Well, John, you know, with the contingency plans which are in place for us and others in the industry, we actually do drill with the agencies. But I think what's happening here is, unfortunately, we're learning about the new science that we need and the things we need to develop. I'm sure once this is complete, that thinking will move a long way. The requirements that had to be there were in place, but clearly we need to do more.
ROBERTS: Now in terms of the amount of money that BP is going to end up paying -- and I know it's going to be a huge amount of money, probably billions of dollars in the cleanup, but the economic damages by federal law are capped at $75 billion. Is BP going to hold to that cap or will BP go beyond -- will they try to be, you know, a good neighbor, a good corporate citizen and go beyond that cap in terms of the potential economic damages?
SUTTLES: Well, John, you know, we've said since the beginning that we'll meet our responsibilities. And I think our behavior since the very beginning, we've shown that. And that any impacts that are legitimate and created by this, we'll meet those responsibilities and I think we've shown that since the very, very beginning.
An example of that was the thing we did just two days ago with the $25 million state grants to unlock the process. I mean, we're going to do what we need to do here, John.
ROBERTS: All right. I know you say legitimate claims. And how will you measure what a legitimate claim is? And would you, again, go beyond that $75 million cap if you find these claims under whatever terms that you're about to apply to them to be legitimate?
SUTTLES: Well, John, I don't think the $75 million cap is going to be the issue. And, of course, things that where there's impact from this, from this event, this spill, whether they be economic impact or whether it be environmental impact, we'll have to meet those responsibilities.
And just an example of that right now, you know, people can call our hotline. They could file a claim and they'll actually get their money. We want it to get to them quickly because we know this is having impact on people today.
ROBERTS: All right. Doug Suttles from BP, thanks for being with us this morning. And, you know, certainly a lot of people are wishing you luck in getting this thing shut off.
SUTTLES: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Twenty-seven minutes after the hour. Following the terror trail, our Nic Robertson live in Pakistan where the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing was headed when he was arrested. What is his family saying? We'll find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Half past the hour right now. It means it's time for our top stories. Parts of Tennessee still totally stunned after getting four months' worth of rain in just a two-day span. Rivers are receding and damaged furniture is piling up on the curb as people recover from storms that killed at least 28 people across three states. 10 of those deaths in the Nashville area alone where the Cumberland River swamps some of the cities biggest landmarks and homes but also including the Grand Ole Opry House.
ROBERTS: Trying to stop the black tide, BP, the company that owns the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico now plans to place a 100-ton containment dome over the spill to seal it off. It may be the best short term solution, but something experts say has never been tried so deep.
CHETRY: And also the arrest of the accused Times Square bomber leading to the (INAUDIBLE) to his native Pakistan, where his family still lives. Pakistani officials today say they have made a number of arrests connected to the plot even though Shahzad says he acted alone.
Our Nic Robertson is live for us in Karachi this morning with the latest. Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, we have an update for you. The two people arrested last night, we know who they are, one is the father-in-law, (INAUDIBLE) the father of Huma Mir (ph), and another is a close friend of Mr. Shahzad. Now both of these arrests came last night. Further arrests today, not clear on the numbers arrested today (INAUDIBLE) in and around this area of Karachi. Of course, his family home where his father is believed to live is father north of (INAUDIBLE) country, closer to the (INAUDIBLE) city --
CHETRY: Looks like we lost Nic there, we're actually going try to get him on the phone in just a minute. But the news out of Karachi this morning as Nic was telling us is that this suspect, Faisal Shahzad, his arrest here leading to raids in Pakistan and led to the arrest of his father-in-law, as well as his close friend.
Other arrests today as well, Nic, saying they are not clear on the numbers. But indeed these investigation is continuing. And Nic, now that we have you on the phone.
Sorry, we had a little bit of trouble with your live shot there. You were telling us that it's not clear on the numbers today, but you know there were more arrests. What else do you know?
ROBERTSON (on the phone): Well, what's very interesting here, Kiran, is that these arrests are coming around Karachi and because we now know that his father-in-law was one of those arrested, it does seem to sort of focus on that side of his family and his old friends rather than where we understand his father is or at least was until very recently, which is close to that town of (INAUDIBLE) where the northwest frontier province of sort of lawless tribal border area with Afghanistan.
The police have been very, very close-lipped here. Normally in Pakistan in situations like this, little bits of information slip out. Security sources give away information. Right now it's very, very and very little information coming indeed. We've been checking on some of Mr. Shahzad's past here, calling one source, he said look, "we've been told just not to say anything right now."
It's pretty clear the government is trying to keep a lid on the details of what happened and of course, why would they want to do that? Because they don't want to limit and impact further arrests that they might be about to make. Kiran.
CHETRY: You know, and there's also questions today about whether the Pakistani Taliban would be behind this. There were claims of responsibility. But this would be the first time if indeed they are behind this, that they reach inside the borders of the United States, as we know tied to the situation that happened to the CIA base in Afghanistan.
But is the threat of the Pakistani Taliban potentially changing?
ROBERTSON: I think the assessment has to be yes, and experts are saying, don't be surprised by this -- the Pakistani experts are saying don't be surprised by this. What we're being told by the Pakistani Army spokesmen is that they don't see any direct link with the Pakistani Taliban now. But the Pakistani Taliban threat internationally.
We do know that they've attempted to strike inside Europe. We do know that they are becoming more -- working hand in hand when it comes to training and executing missions. The case of the Jordanian doctor who went into that, the CIA camp in Afghanistan and killed seven CIA officers. Was a case where it appeared the Pakistani Taliban were working closely with Al Qaeda.
So when you look at how the groups are operating -- and of course, they are side by side. They are in the same mountainous area. They're using often sometimes sharing the same camp. This is a history that we're seeing with the camps in this area that one group will use for some months and another group will use them for other months. The fact that the Pakistani Taliban might now -- they claim at least, pose a threat, in fact, the United States, should not come as a surprise and many will see it as an escalation and perhaps their retaliation for strike they see happening against them from drones operated from inside the United States, Kiran.
CHETRY: Nic Robertson with the latest information from Pakistan, from Karachi for us this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Just ahead, the gulf oil slick begins to impact wildlife. How critical is the emergency facing the region's birds, sea turtles and marine mammals right now? And what's being done to head off a catastrophe? We'll hear what two experts fear. Coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. 37 minutes past the hour right now. And unfortunately we're seeing more pictures from the gulf coast oil spill that we were all hoping that we wouldn't see. A sea turtle pictured here swimming in the slick. One of the first signs of just how much trouble could be in store for the hundreds of thousands of marine animals and wildlife that live there as this 60-mile wide oil spill closes in on the coastline.
Joining me now from New Orleans, Randy Pausina. He is from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Also, he's in Ithaca, New York, Ken Rosenberg, the director of Conservation Science at Cornell University. Both of you gentlemen, thanks for being with us this morning.
And Randy, I want to start with you that video of the sea turtle was taken by our David Mattingly. He had a chance to get out there with some of the crews, some of the boats that were assessing any of the impact of the oil spill on wildlife. How anxious are you as you watch and wait and see just how big of an impact this will make on the wildlife there in the gulf?
RANDY PAUSINA, ASST. SEC. FISHERIES LOUISIANA DEPT. OF WILDLIFE & FISHERIES: Well, just, as was mentioned earlier by the BP rep, you know, we prepare for the worst. We have to prepare for the worst. And we have all of our teams, our sea turtle and mammal straining network is fully activated and ready to go.
As of last night, there was no related sea turtle strandings or injuries due to the oil.
CHETRY: But you expect that to change?
PAUSINA: We hope that it doesn't change. But again we expect the worst and we will be prepared for it.
CHETRY: And Ken, how can 200,000 gallons of crude oil gush into the water a and had not make a major impact? I mean, what are we talking about in terms of the toxicity and the long term effects on the sea life and this region? Ken? Can you hear me?
KEN ROSENBERG, DIRECTOR OF CONSERVATION SCIENCE, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. Well, the timing couldn't be worse for the bird populations in this region. It's the peak nesting season for thousands of brown pelicans which have recently come off the endangered species list, lots of other colonial nesting, water birds all along the coastline on the beaches, in the coastal marshes and it's also peak migration time for a lot of birds that are coming long distances from central South America, need to strop and replenish themselves at the north end of the Gulf of Mexico. And our fear is that they are going to find a lot of oil when they get there.
CHETRY: And Randy, also we talked about a lot of these animals spending, at least some part of their life cycle in the gulf, the fish eggs, the shrimp eggs, obviously, they're going to be impacted. But could the potential could go far beyond from what we're just talking about in the initial spill, in the initial slick but for years to come?
PAUSINA: Well, what's important to remember. Let's pretend by some miracle, the spill never touches the shore of Louisiana. But just like you said, these animals have to complete a life cycle. So if some part of some of these animals life cycles involves going out into the ocean and coming back in and vice versa and that's interrupted, that effect will be for years to come.
CHETRY: And Ken, I want to ask you, Ken, about these dispersant chemicals. They are being used to break up oil in the ocean. The environmentalists are still looking at these with a leery eye saying that well, they may be breaking up the oil. There are unintended consequences as well because the dispersants by nature are also toxic to the sea life, to the fish in the area. What is your feeling about -- I guess, juggling the two things, the lesser of two evils, the oil or the dispersant?
ROSENBERG: Well, that's exactly right. We're either trying to prevent the oil from getting on shore where we'll know there will be a lot of devastating consequences that are going to be highly visible and these dispersants are keeping the oil out in the water and down under the water. And we don't know a lot about the toxicity of these chemicals. It's being debated but almost certainly it is going to have major effects down in the water to the marine life.
And ultimately this is the same marine life that the birds and animals on the surface are dependant on. So just because we're not seeing oil washing ashore does not mean there aren't major effects happening out in the water and that these chemicals are contributing to that.
CHETRY: And as we speak, I mean, the oil still coming out, if not found a way to plug it yet and it could be some time. So we all just have to wait and see but certainly people are bracing for devastation. Randy Pausina as well as Ken Rosenberg, thanks to both of you for joining us this morning.
PAUSINA: You're welcome. ROSENBERG: Thank you.
CHETRY: And to find out how you can help the clean-up efforts, head to cnn.com/impact, you'll find a list of reputable organizations that are accepting volunteers.
ROBERTS: Jacqui Jeras has got your morning travel forecast right after the breaks and good weather along the east coast. I'll say this is going to be a nice day from Florida all the way up to New England. Stay with us. 42 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Now, there's a beautiful skyline if ever we saw one. Sixty-three degrees and lots of sunshine in New York right now. Later on today, the sunshine will continue and the high will get up into the low 80s.
It's going to be beautiful in the Big Apple today.
CHETRY: Enjoy it while we can. It could change.
Forty-six minutes past the hour. Let's get a check of this morning's weather headlines for us. Jacqui Jeras is in Atlanta where things aren't too shabby for you guys either today.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know. I'll tell you, up and down the East Coast it is absolutely gorgeous. But here in Atlanta, we're still kind of dealing with some high water.
Check out these pictures that we have from Roswell, Georgia from yesterday, a high water rescue had to take place here across a dam. You can see some teenagers who say it would be a good idea to walk across it. Not so much.
The rescue workers had to come in, they threw a big life ring to them and were able to pull them safely to shore, so nobody hurt in this case, but just a good reminder that even though it hasn't rained in about two days now across the mid-South and the Deep South, the water is still running very, very quickly and you just don't want to get in and stuck.
All right, the big weather maker today across the upper Midwest, and we're looking at some showers and thundershowers from the Great Lakes stretching down into the Midwest. We've got some rain pulling into Milwaukee. This should be here in about a half an hour, and Chicago will get some of those showers a little bit later on this morning.
Now, some of the thunderstorms could be severe later today, and we'll be watching places like Detroit, down towards Cleveland, into Indianapolis, even (INAUDIBLE) large hail and damaging winds will be the primary concern. We're not really expecting rotating thunderstorms today.
Ahead of this system, look at that. We've got that nice southerly flow here. That's bringing in the warm temperatures and it's almost, dare I say, getting a little muggy out here. High temperatures are going to be way above average. We're talking about 10 to 20 degrees above where you should be for this time of the year.
So, yes, 80s for New York City; upper 70s for Boston; D.C. about 81; Atlanta looking for a high around 86, and if you want to talk warm, well, check out Southern Plain States, 90 in Dallas today; 92 degrees in the Houston area.
Travel overall should be good, we think, across the country today. We'll watch for maybe some delays in San Francisco as well as Chicago and Detroit because of those storms.
But if you're traveling overseas, we've got some delays from that E15 volcano once again, so there are some flights canceled in Scotland as well as Ireland. And we're watching this northerly flow, guys, because we could start to watch that ash plume begin to spread across other parts of Europe. So make sure you call your airline ahead of time if you're heading overseas.
John and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Good advice. We thought that threat was over, but I guess it's back.
JERAS: It could go on for a long time, through the summer.
ROBERTS: As long as that volcano continues to rumble, I guess the ash can blow wherever it wants.
JERAS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Jacqui.
This morning's top stories just minutes away, including new details about the accused Times Square car bomber, how he almost got away. The security measures that failed and the ones that did keep his plane on the ground.
CHETRY: Plus, you're a donor and you don't know it. A possible change that could make you an involuntary organ donor, but supporters of changing this new bill in New York say that actually what it does is save lives.
ROBERTS: And the smell you crave that you just can't do without that you want permeating your home? The belly-bomb scented candle.
White Castle says they're selling like sliders. How the chain is celebrating National Burger Month.
Those stories and more, coming your way at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: You trust the medicine you give your kids is safe, but the Food and Drug Administration is slamming conditions at a factory where children's Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl were made and then recalled over the weekend. Inspectors say the company used raw materials that were contaminated with bacteria and then failed to follow up on consumer complaints about black particles in its drugs.
Joining me now to talk more about this is Carl Nielsen. He's a retired FDA Consumer Safety Officer who worked at the agency for almost three decades.
It's great to see you this morning, Carl. Thanks so much for being with us.
You know, I've got this preliminary report in my hand that -- that says that Johnson and Johnson and McNeil, the subsidiary that make these -- these over the counter drugs, had recalled them but were knowingly using contaminated -- contaminated supplies, contaminated components, that they're not maintaining adequate laboratory facilities for testing and approval of components and -- and drug products. How concerned should parents be about the medicines that they're giving their children?
CARL NIELSEN, RETIRED FDA CONSUMER SAFETY OFFICER: Well, certainly there should be concern for those particular products, and the parents should be doing what the agency is asking them to do, and that is to discontinue the use of those products because of potential safety issues and to consult with health professionals, pharmacists or doctors for alternative therapies.
ROBERTS: You know, we heard time and time again, and a lot of this was during political campaigns, when people were talking about the reimportation of drugs from places like Canada, and that, oh no, we can't be guaranteed that the drugs are safe. Don't do that.
Well, here we've got a very serious problem in our own backyard. How much of a wake-up call is this?
NIELSEN: I -- I think it's a very large wake-up call for the over-the-counter drug industry. It's well-known that for the prescription drug industry, 80 percent of the ingredients are imported. FDA does very little foreign inspection work on over-the- counter drug suppliers of ingredients, active and inactive, and this is wake-up call very similar to melamine to the food safety issue and heparin to the prescription drugs.
ROBERTS: Yes -- yes, we talked about melamine. That was the melamine that came in dog food from -- from China and resulted in the death of so many pets.
You know, we -- we were -- when we think about Tylenol, we remember back to 1982, in the Tylenol scare, and we remember how well Johnson & Johnson responded to that and actually built up the public trust. Now, Johnson & Johnson is the parent company of McNeil, which is making all this stuff. Is this a real black eye for them now?
NIELSEN: Well, it certainly is not a good eye. There's a lot of questions. One really has to wonder how did this happen all of a sudden. It also looks like, based on the FDA report, that the FDA's responding to complaint material. Then, the real question is, well, is this an industry-wide problem or just a single factory problem?
ROBERTS: Yes. I guess there were 46 complaints that were registered with McNeil about contamination of -- of the products, little black specks inside them.
When -- we hear about all of this regulation, all these safety concerns when it comes to prescription pharmaceuticals, but when it comes to these over-the-counter drugs, is -- how tightly regulated are they?
NIELSEN: Well, the regulations are there, but what -- which is less and not as robust for those required for prescription drugs, particularly for the active ingredients.
But the real question is what is lack of oversight and resources dedicated by FDA to make certain the manufacturers of those ingredients use the best practices.
ROBERTS: Right. So the FDA is saying don't use these brand-name products, but you can go ahead and you can use the generic version of the -- of these products. Can -- can people be guaranteed that those generic versions are safe?
NIELSEN: I don't know on what information that would be based. That's a good question for the agency.
If -- if it's directed to other products, because there has been no complaints, versus affirmative knowledge of conformance with good manufacturing practices, those are two different levels of assurance.
ROBERTS: Wow. So -- so lingering concerns out there.
Carl Nielsen, former Safety Officer with the Food and Drug Administration. Thanks for joining us this morning. We really appreciate it.
NIELSEN: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: John, thanks.
Well, your top stories coming up two minutes away, including we're going to be joined by Drew Griffin. He's doing a special investigation, looking in -- more into exactly what happened that allowed this suspect who was on the no-fly list to actually board a plane and almost, almost make it to Dubai.
It's 57 minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
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