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American Morning

Tracking NYC's Terror Suspect; Times Square Bomb Plot Terror Ties; Oil Gusher in the Gulf; Times Square Suspect Divulging Information to Investigators; Changing Organ Donation to an Opt-Out Option; Back to Their "Roots"

Aired May 05, 2010 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Glad you're with us on this AMERICAN MORNING for this Wednesday, May 5th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us. Here are the big stories we he'll be telling you about coming up in the next 15 minutes.

The terror suspect busted in the Times Square bomb plot is talking, and according to authorities detailing his plot and the training behind it. But we're also learning that a flaw in the no-fly list nearly let the suspect fly away. We're live with details this morning.

CHETRY: Plus, a city under water facing a long, long recovery. Floodwaters receding across Nashville and other parts of Central Tennessee this morning. Rescue officials, though, are worried it means that they could find more victims.

President Obama has given the OK to pour federal disaster money into the area. What was left behind, though? We're live in Nashville with the very latest, just ahead.

ROBERTS: And all eyes are on Wall Street this morning after the markets got hammered yesterday. The debt crisis in Greece and word that Spain might need a bailout sent the Dow skidding to its lowest level in a month.

Tensions in Greece are boiling over on the streets of Athens. Witnesses say police fired tear gas and striking protesters were angry about the government's decision to reduce salaries and impose higher taxes on alcohol and cigarettes.

And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running this morning, as it is every morning. Join the live conversation going on right now. We'd like to hear from you about what's in the news this morning. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.

And, first, though, the Times Square terror suspect is talking to authorities this morning, and among the many fast-moving developments, authorities now say that Faisal Shahzad has confessed, that he admitted that he received bomb-making training in Pakistan. Raids there have netted as many as two other suspects in connection with the attempted bombing.

Our Nic Robertson telling us Pakistani authorities took into custody the father-in-law of Shahzad, as well as a friend.

We're also learning more details about how the arrest of Shahzad went down. Authorities followed him and then lost track of him as he made his way to New York's Kennedy airport on Monday.

The events that followed exposed a gap in our nation's air security. Shahzad paid cash for a one-way ticket to Pakistan through Dubai despite being added on Monday afternoon to the nation's no-fly list.

ROBERTS: So, how does all that happen? Our special investigations correspondent Drew Griffin has been digging into that and joins us live.

Of course, Drew, we should remind our viewers that you're very familiar with problems with the no-fly list because you were on it for an awfully long time.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The opposite (ph) problem, though, John, too many people were on it that shouldn't have been. It was hard to get off.

This is a completely different problem. But, you know, you get into the nitty-gritty here, and there are a lot of details we don't know about. One thing that is interesting is all day, yesterday, I was told by my federal law enforcement sources and even Eric Holder said yesterday, you know, we have redundancies in our surveillance. There was no way this guy was going to get out or escape our control.

Well, it looks like it came pretty close to happening. I mean, he was on board that flight. They didn't know it until finally the Customs and Border Protection checked -- literally checked the manifest and checked that against the no-fly list and found out he was there and then they opened the door and took him off.

CHETRY: Yes. So, I mean, they came a lot closer than obviously they wanted to get. Any details about them losing track of him as they were tailing him throughout the day?

GRIFFIN: You know, I want to know where they lost track of him. What happened was they put him on the no-fly list in the afternoon. They sent out -- you know, you have to manually kind of update that list if you're an airline. Emirates apparently didn't do that. I have not talked to Emirates about that yet.

Then, the federal authorities say, well, we sent out this bulletin saying, "Hey, special watch for this guy." Well, what does that mean? I don't know how the airlines get that bulletin, how they put that in their system. So, there's a lot of nitty-gritty details and I, quite frankly, think there's some covering of the butt going on that we need to find out.

But, in the end, guys, he's under arrest and he is talking. ROBERTS: How did this all go down at the airport?

GRIFFIN: At the airport, he's on board the flight, the door shuts. Yesterday, I was told that was all kind of a ruse to get him to make a phone call. Not so sure now. We realized that he might have been just sitting there and as you're waiting for that plane to pull back they realize he's on it, the captain opens up the door or the door gets opened, he gets pulled off.

He's undergoing questioning. And this plane right here that you're seeing is taxiing away. Now, they realize there's two more guys on that plane that they want to talk to, that they're not so sure about. Out of the abundance of caution, that kind of bureaucratic phrase we keep hearing, this is what happens next, this as the plane is taxiing out.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TOWER: Emirates 202, Kennedy tower, runway two-two-right position. Actually, I have a message for you to go back to the gate immediately. So make the left turn when able.

PLANE: Emirates 202, turning left here.

TOWER: Emirates 202, make the left turn on to echo-west-alpha back to the ramp, I don't know exactly why, but you can call your company for the reason.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Yes. The reason is there was two more people that they wanted to talk to on that flight. They pulled them off, they didn't let them fly. It turned out to be a mistake. But that's how tense this was.

CHETRY: Right. And that flight didn't take off until nearly 7:00 in the morning Eastern Time the next day.

GRIFFIN: Absolutely.

CHETRY: We understand that he is talking to investigators. Do they believe, though, that he's telling the truth, that he acted alone?

GRIFFIN: You know, that's a big question. A source reminded me that these guys like to brag, even when their attempts fail. They like to brag. They like to make themselves bigger than they are.

So, they're going to have to check everything he says, obviously -- what's the truth of his so-called bomb training in Pakistan, who trained him. And that'll get down to whether or not this guy really is a terrorist player with other accomplices or other groups behind him or if he is just, you know, the worst-case scenario, really is that he is this lone wolf that just popped up on the radar. I mean, two days ago, we didn't know who this guy was.

ROBERTS: And lone wolves, any investigator would tell you, the hardest to detect.

GRIFFIN: Very much so.

ROBERTS: Drew Griffin, great to see you this morning -- thanks.

CHETRY: Thanks, Drew.

ROBERTS: As the suspect Faisal Shahzad continues to speak with investigators, the search for potential accomplices has gone global. In Pakistan, new arrests this morning after at least two people were detained during a raid in Karachi.

Our Reza Sayah is live in Islamabad for us this morning, the capital city.

Reza, what are we learning this morning?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, law enforcement officials telling CNN that several -- more individuals have been rounded up in Pakistan today as the investigation in this country unfolds. We don't know at this point who these individuals are and what their connection is, if any, to Faisal Shahzad.

More new information coming in to CNN, we now know the names of the two individuals picked up yesterday in Karachi in a raid. Of course, Karachi, another city, the southern port city in Pakistan where Faisal Shahzad, according to investigators, spent a lot of time. Those two individuals, Faisal Shahzad's father-in-law, Iftikhar Mian and Shahzad's friend, Tausef Ahmed. According to an intelligence source, those two individuals are in custody.

I think it's important to point out over the past 24 hours we've used the word "arrest" when it comes to these individuals. That obviously suggests that these people may be linked to a crime. Officials have pointed out here that, look, these individuals picked up are not suspected of any crime. They've only been detained for questioning as investigators try to find out as much as possible about Faisal Shahzad.

Karachi, one focal point of the investigation in Pakistan; the other focal point is up in the northwest area of Pakistan where Faisal Shahzad and his family resided. It's where he grew up. We went to his home, his father's home yesterday. He was gone.

Very interesting. His father, Baharul Haq, a retired vice marshal for the Pakistani air force -- John.

ROBERTS: All right. Reza Sayah for us in Islamabad this morning -- Reza, thanks.

CHETRY: And just 20 minutes from now, we're going to have a live report from the home in Shelton, Connecticut -- that is where Faisal Shahzad lived until a bank foreclosure forced him, as well as his wife and two children, out. We have new information about the suspected car bomber -- straight ahead. ROBERTS: The NBA's Phoenix Suns have decided to make their own statement about Arizona's new immigration law. When the team takes the court tonight against the San Antonio Spurs, their uniforms will say "Los Suns." Team officials say it's a way to express their frustration with the flawed state law while honoring their Latino fan base and Mexico's heritage on this Cinco de Mayo holiday.

CHETRY: Well, the Philadelphia Phillies are evaluating whether it's an important use of force to taze fans who run on the field illegally. It happened yesterday, Monday night actually. Take a look. This guy was running, 17 years old, couldn't catch up with him, so, eventually, that officer used a taser to drop him in his tracks. Police are backing the officer's action.

Another fan later jumped onto the field during the same game but was apprehended without the use of a taser. And the 17-year-old son's mother apologized for her son's behavior. Apparently, he called his dad and said, "Hey, I'm thinking of running on the field, should I do it?" And his dad said, "I don't think that's such a good idea."

ROBERTS: Well, obviously, parental influence not a big factor in what happened there.

Actor Corey Haim died of natural causes, not a drug overdose. That's according to the L.A. County coroner. His death was caused by complications from pneumonia, lung damage and a bad heart. But the autopsy report shows that Haim did have eight drugs in his system at the time of his death, including Prozac, valium, a muscle relaxer and cold medication. The 38-year-old actor struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for most of his life.

CHETRY: Well, right now, oil is starting to graze the beaches of Louisiana's barrier islands. So far, though, calm winds and waves are keeping the giant oil slick from hitting land.

Our Rob Marciano is live in Gulfport, Mississippi, with more on the waiting game, I guess you could say, as officials there prepare to see whether or not this is -- well, they know it's going to hit at some point but just what the impact will be.

Hey, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. Good morning, guys.

Yes. It's an eerie waiting game, especially here across the northern Gulf where the weather has turned up beautiful and the waters here are clean. One of the things they're doing to prep for the potential of an oil landfall, believe it or not, is actually cleaning the beach. It turns out if you clean the beach clear of debris it's a lot easier to clean up the oil if it ever hits the beach.

So, these are BP contracted workers getting out there to do that. A lot of nervous energy, as well. So, volunteers have been gathering and there have been some classes hosted in order to tell people and inform them and train them how to do the same thing -- and safety gear being shown right there. As far as what's going on out to sea, well, the vessels are in place and continue to skim and lay boom down, 200 of them out there. And this dispersant seems to be working as well. Even though the oil continues to come out, the oil slick isn't getting that much bigger too quickly. And it's not making much northern progress.

Why? We haven't seen those strong southerly winds. Winds are pretty much calm right now. That's the good news. And they're going to remain calm for the next couple of days and might even go offshore over the weekend.

So, I don't think it's going to make any northern progress here for next four or five days, but it is forecast to drift a little bit farther to the west. It's already made inroads to the Chandeleur Islands of eastern Louisiana, and it may get closer to the mouth of the Mississippi and the Mississippi Delta here over the next couple days.

Talking to the forecasters who try to predict these oil slicks and it's so complicated. There are so many variables. And number one is the wind. When those winds go light, it gets even more complicated. You got several different types of currents and some several different type of eddies around the Mississippi Delta that make things even more complicated.

So, that's the area of concern immediately. Longer term, some of the other currents in the Gulf of Mexico may very well take over. So, now, folks along the west coast of Florida and the Florida Keys are making preparations for the potential of the oil heading that way.

This is a long-term deal here guys, whether or not it makes landfall here in the Mississippi coast or not. It's already done the damage out to sea and it's going to be hanging around the Gulf States for quite some time.

Back to you.

CHETRY: Talking about that "conveyor belt" phenomenon, I guess, of the oil moving around and actually hitting the Florida Keys. Explain that to us a little bit more.

MARCIANO: Well, it's called a loop current. It's a strong current that actually during hurricane season we used to forecast the intensity of hurricanes because it's so warm, but it's a pretty strong current as well. It also is pretty far into the Gulf, so that slick has to travel south and east a fair amount of ways to get caught into that current, and I think that won't happen for some several days to come.

But it is a possibility and folks along the Florida coast and the Keys are certainly bracing for that potential.

CHETRY: All right. Rob Marciano for us -- thanks so much.

ROBERTS: Well, Nashville under water over the last couple days after those torrential downpours where they got 17 inches of rain in some areas. As the waters recede, we're getting a greater view of the extent of the damage and the potential to find more victims in the flooding. We'll have that story coming right up.

Twelve minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Fifteen minutes after the hour. President Obama is giving the green light to spend federal disaster funds for relief in Nashville and surrounding counties today as swollen rivers and creeks begin to recede. Officials are also trying to pump water out of some of the biggest landmarks like the Grand Ole Opry.

But flooding downtown has shut down electricity, making that process really difficult.

Martin Savidge is live in Nashville for us this morning.

And, Martin, give us the lay of the land or, I guess, more accurately, the water where you are.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning again, John. Yes, now that the sun has come up, we decided to give you a better view of the Cumberland River here.

And if you're not familiar with Nashville, when you first see it you may say it doesn't look that bad right now. As the begins to camera push in though, you start to see things that reveal it is not that good, for example the lamp posts down there and the signs.

Two things you notice, one, the force and the speed of the current that is rumbling through downtown Nashville, and then the fact that there's a lot of those lamp posts, a lot of signs that are under water.

It is going down. As it goes down, more is revealed and word the death toll are go up as searchers get into areas they haven't been. We were in nearby Cheatham County and there we joined two teams in a small town that took a very big hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): We meet Captain Tony Clark, who's only had about eight hours' sleep since Saturday, as he leads his team into another neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lady that lives there by herself and she left yesterday.

CAPTAIN TONY CLARK, ASHLAND CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We still need to go in and do our search. I understand that. But just in case, we need to see if we can get into the house.

SAVIDGE: These specially trained firefighters were here over the weekend helping people to evacuate. Now they're back, making sure everyone made it out -- alive. CLARK: This will keep us from having to search these houses again. We'll mark them, we'll know they're clear and we won't have to come back and waste resources again.

SAVIDGE: Located down the stream from Nashville, Ashland City is still battling the water. It's down some but still has a long way to go. And so does Captain Clark.

CLARK: Everything's clear here, so we're going on to our next area from here.

SAVIDGE: A half-mile from city hall on a road that's now above ground, we hitch a ride with a group of different firefighters searching where only boats can go. For Deputy Chief Derek Noe, these are familiar waters. His son usually plays soccer on field 15 feet beneath us.

The floodwaters have brought new dangers of which propane tanks are just one.

(on camera): Here's the latest hazard these days of navigating the Cumberland. You have to avoid the traffic lights.

(voice-over): Out here, the water plays tricks on you. Some houses don't look so bad until you realize until you're looking at the third floor.

(on camera): Sunday, when these crews first came out, it was to warn the residents that the floodwaters were coming. About two-thirds decided to stay. Ever since then, the teams have been out pulling in all the people who stayed behind.

DEPUTY CHIEF DEREK NOE, ASHLAND CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We had some that even got ugly with us and said they'd sleep on their roof or whatever if they had to, that they weren't going to leave, they were going to ride it out. We picked them up the following day off their roof, so they got their wish.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Just trying to get to a home for a closer look isn't easy. First you have to clear the trees.

NOE: You don't know what's underneath you, trampolines, swimming pools.

SAVIDGE: In the end, we fortunately don't find anyone and head back. You wonder how long it will be before Ashland City gets back to normal. From the looks of things, it's going to take some time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: I had a conversation with a representative with the army corps of engineers down there in Ashland City. He said this was not a 100-year flood, John, this was a 500-year flood. There is no city in America that prepares for something like that. John.

ROBERTS: You know Martin, the sign you showed us earlier when the camera zoomed in on the street lights looked like it has a flood gauge on it. Do you know if it's ever been that high before?

SAVIDGE: You know, they say in the '60s it was that high down here. However, as we just said, there are others that say really this kind of flooding has not happened with this kind of speed in hundreds of years, certainly not in living memory. They're still adding up the figure, still trying to exactly figure out where it's going to go in the history books. Right now it is a huge disaster and it is still unfolding.

ROBERTS: Yes, I mean, this is the season of flooding. In Fargo, North Dakota, they had two hundred-year floods back-to-back. So when is it going to stop it? A lot of people are asking that question.

Martin Savidge for us this morning in Nashville. Martin, thanks so much -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right well still ahead, stocks set for a rough open falling after terrible news overseas, debt problems in Greece, concerns about Spain, as well, and having an impact on our markets. Christine Romans here with the look. Twenty minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": Fifty-four hours, 55 hours. It would have been too late. They got this guy at the airport as he was about to fly to Dubai. Here's how it went down.

The alleged bomber boarded the flight, started relaxing, thinks he's home free. But the authorities are hot on his tail, charging through JFK screaming, "Stop the plane. Stop the plane!" But it's too late! Oh my god, it's too late! The plane is pulling away full of terrorists celebrating their victory. Little did they know, the plane is leaking gas and one man has no intention of letting them get away!

BRUCE WILLIS, ACTOR: Yippy kay-yeah, (EXPLICATIVE DELETED)

STEWART: Victory is ours!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: God bless John McClain.

CHETRY: Still one of the best movies ever, right? If only it really went down like that. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

ROBERTS: I don't know that all the other people on the plane would have appreciated it.

CHETRY: Jon Stewart said it was a plane full of bad guys.

ROBERTS: Even though it really wasn't.

CHETRY: That's why they call it the movies.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I forgot the "Yippy kay-yeah" line, that is a nice --

CHETRY: That was the big deal. Was he going to be able to say that.

ROBERTS: Say the full line.

CHETRY: I cannot. They would have had to make the movie "R," the sequel if he said it again, right, because he didn't say it, right? Or he did and they made it "R." It was a big deal because it gets harder to get kids to go see the movie because they are not allowed in it.

ROBERTS: I think I recall he said it.

CHETRY: In the sequel, though. I think they made it PG-13.

ROMANS: We're all showing our cultural --

ROBERTS: I wasn't following it that closely. Christine Romans here "Minding Your Business" this morning.

CHETRY: There you go.

ROMANS: We're expecting the stock market to climb. We had a big one yesterday, about two percent for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, you guys. We've been saying for eight weeks the Dow has been going up and we've been watching with some concern what's going on in Greece and some of the European countries with their debt problems. This is what the Dow looked like yesterday, a vigorous decline, expecting it to continue today.

This morning, we have futures all pointing down so if you're watching your 401(k) or wondering about your little stock account, we're looking for another hit this morning. The reason why, we're watching Greece. And I want to show you some pictures here of what's happening in Athens, riots as people are incredibly concerned about austerity measures in this country as it tries to get its debt problems pulled together. Three people are dead in a fire at a Greek Bank in Athens during riots here over what this country has to do to get itself out of the debt crisis. Huge austerity measures, public- sector job cuts, pensions being cut, tax increases, hours and wages being affected.

Also, this country can prove to the E.U. that it's worthy of a bailout of $146 billion. Also this morning, you have people concerned about Portugal. You have people concerned about Spain. We've been telling you about these P.I.I.G.S. countries, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain, countries that have much bigger debt and much bigger expenses than they have money coming in.

So there's concerns that the Greek bailout may face some hurdles. There could be a domino effect around Europe, and that would be a threat to the global economic recovery, a recovery now that has been pretty fragile, you guys.

Also, we have been watching China. There are concerns that China is going to have to slow down, that the government of China is going to try to help it carefully slow down. You don't have China as a driver of global growth, what does that mean to our recovery and the world economy?

These are all things that are happening far, far away that definitely matter to the money that you have in your retirement, the stock market and the recovery in the U.S.

ROBERTS: Just when everything's going up, it goes back down again.

ROMANS: Sure does. So, we'll watch and see how -- I don't expect the damage today to be as severe in the U.S. stocks as it was yesterday. We know all these problems are out there. We're just watching to see how they may or may not spill around.

ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: Sure.

CHETRY: Nearly 12 people die each day waiting for organ donations. Now, in New York State, there is a push for a change in the law. It's called presumed consent. If you don't check off a box on your driver's license you would automatically be enrolled in organ donations. It's of course, raising some controversy but we're going to talk to the assemblyman behind it.

ROBERTS: All right. And more details on the suspected New York City bomber, a married financial analyst. What kind of clues did he leave behind? Deb Feyerick is on the case in his hometown, coming up next. twenty-six minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty nine minutes past the hour right now. Time for a look at your top stories. Prosecutors say that suspected Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, is cooperating with their investigation by providing useful information. He claims he got bomb-making training at a terror camp in Pakistan. We're learning more about his life in Connecticut where he recently lost his home to foreclosure. While he maintains he acted alone, Pakistani officials have announced a number of arrests in connection with the case.

ROBERTS: The University of Virginia will still send both lacrosse teams to the NCAA tournament despite an unthinkable tragedy on campus. A member of the men's lacrosse team is now charged with murdering a member of the woman's team, 22-year-old Yeardley Love. Police say that she was found beaten to death on Monday with a pool of blood on her pillow. The athletic director calls the decision to play part of the healing.

And some good news regarding the Gulf oil leak. BP says its crews have capped one of the three leaks this morning. Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, I asked a BP executive if they would go beyond the $75 million cap on damages, economic damages, that the company is required by law to pay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG SUTTLES, BP CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION (via telephone): I think the $75 million cap is going to be the issue. And of course things 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.

It's just an example of that right now. You know, people can call our hotline, they can file a claim, and they'll actually get their money. We wanted to get it to them quickly because we know this is having an impact on people today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: BP plans to place a 100-ton containment dome over the oil spill to seal it off.

And we're following breaking news this morning. The U.S. coast guard getting set to hold a press briefing on its response to the Gulf oil spill and kind of where things are right now. It's just about to happen. We're monitoring developments there and we're going to let you know if there are any updates.

Meantime, new developments in the case against suspected Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad. Federal prosecutors say they have a confession that Shahzad admits that he tried to blow up an SUV in the middle of Times Square last weekend.

And we're finding out a lot more about the suspect's life in Connecticut before he allegedly turned on a country that had just honored him with citizenship. Our Deb Feyerick live at Shahzad's former home in Shelton, Connecticut, a home that he recently lost to foreclosure. And Deb, what are we learning about this fellow?

DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, one of the things is really what changed in the life of Faisal Shahzad? This is a guy who for all intents and purposes was on the right track. He arrived in the United States on a student visa, had attended the University of Bridgeport, getting two degree, one of them a masters in business. He was also working as a junior financial analyst at a pretty big company.

But then about year ago, June 2009, it appears that things began unraveling. First of all, he could not make the mortgage payments on this house and so he lost his home to foreclosure. He left his job. His wife sold some of their possessions on Craigslist, and then she moved away, taking the couple's two young children.

It's then that he travels over to Pakistan via Dubai. He spent about eight months in that area. Part of that time he's telling authorities was in a terror training camp up in the Waziristan area.

He arrived home, and, John, just a couple months ago. One of the first things he did was buy a nine-millimeter semiautomatic rifle just at a nearby gun shop about a half a mile from the home in which he used to live.

And he actually bought that gun legally, it was registered. He passed an FBI background check, because he simply didn't hit any red flag, so he got that gun. That's when authorities believe he started buying and building -- buying components and building this bomb.

Now, really, the question is, he's talking to authorities right now, and they are very intent on discovering who he met with, not just the leaders or the handlers but also young men who may have been at that camp along with him, because obviously if he was training with a group of people they want to know who those people are so they can begin keeping an eye on them.

Also, they really want to know what kind of plot they may have been talking about. Clearly this one was to drive a bomb into Times Square, a car bomb, but there may be others out there.

And so all of that, authorities are hoping to get to and figure out was this guy just somebody who was lost and searching, or was this part of a continue yum, did he intend to come to the United States, you know, about a decade ago in order to carry out this attack?

All of that gets to the philosophy and the ideology of who this young man is and whether there are others out there like him, John.

ROBERTS: An awful lot of questions yet to be answered. Deb Feyerick for us this morning in Shelton, Connecticut, thanks.

CHETRY: Meanwhile, we have a little bit of new information, good news regarding the Gulf oil leak. BP is now saying that crews have capped one of the three underground leaks this morning. Our Dave Mattingly is live in Venice, Louisiana.

We're hearing this was the smallest of the three, but tell us more about how they were able to do it.

MATTINGLY: That's right, Kiran. I just had conversation with the director of external affairs for BP, John Curry. He told me that one of the three leaks was capped this morning. This is the smallest of the three leaks and it was located at the end of the drill pipe.

He said that they were able to shut this off. They were able to cult off the pipe and then seal it with a slip valve. Again, this was the smallest of the leaks, but he says this was a big step forward because now they can concentrate all their efforts on the two major leaks.

And they're getting ready this morning to move out that large device, that containment device, that dome we've been talking about has been loaded up and would be moved out today to the site of the spill so that they can try and concentrate on capping those two remaining leaks.

But this morning the smallest of the three has been capped, sealed off with a slip valve and BP saying that now they can concentrate on those other two. Kiran?

CHETRY: Do you know if there's any hope that they could use that same technique on either of the other two leaks that are still gushing?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those other two leaks, they're going to use containment devices. That's what they've been building. They've got the largest one done and loaded up on a ship that's going to be going out of the harbor about noon today. It will take about six to eight hours to get into place, maybe even 12 hours to get into place.

After that it's a very slow operation. It's going to take a couple days to lower that almost 100-ton device down to the ocean floor where it's going to go over that first of the major leak, and they'll have another device to go over the second one.

CHETRY: Do we know how much or are they estimating how much oil was leaking from the smallest of the three that they were able to now cap?

MATTINGLY: That's always been very difficult. They can't do that by looking at what's coming out of the bottom. We've been getting government estimates just based on the size of the spill.

All they know is that this was the smallest of the three leaks and at that point, with all three of them going, we were getting about 5,000 barrels a day. So that number obviously now should be cutting back.

CHETRY: David Mattingly with at least a little bit of a bright spot there with the smallest of the three leaks, there was a successful effort to cap it today, and now they move on to the other two. David Mattingly, thanks so much.

Well, still ahead, we're going to be talking about organ donation. In New York State they have a big problem with organ donation. The number of people who sign up to be donors is much, much lower than many other states across the country, and they're hoping a new bill will change that, but it's not without controversy.

It's 36 minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.

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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 39 minutes past the hour now.

Every year in New York 500 people die waiting for an organ transplant. One of our next guests Willie Brodsky is lucky she was not one of them. She was saved not once but twice by donors, one time her mother. And her father hopes to save more lives by proposing a bill in the state assembly that would switch the organ donor program from an opt-in program, which is what it is now, to an opt-out program. And that's created a bit of a controversy. With us now is Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and his daughter Willie.

Thanks to both of you for joining us.

RICHARD BRODSKY, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY: Our pleasure.

CHETRY: When looking at the states, New York ranks pretty low in terms of the number of people that are even signed up to be organ donors, something like 11 percent, where in other states it's three times higher. Why is that?

RICHARD BRODSKY: It's an awful system. It's failed. People will die in New York in the next few days because we don't have a good system.

The reasons are many, but in the end we have to shake the system up. We've proposed a very controversial way of doing it. There are many ways to do it, but in the end, New York imports 50 percent of the organs for transplants from other states. So we have become this great importer. Other states are kind to New Yorkers. But the people of the state want to do it. 67 percent in polls say --

CHETRY: If 60 percent of people want to do it, why are only 11 percent signed up?

RICHARD BRODSKY: Because the government has not created a system that's easy, accessible. People sometimes get confused. The information is bad. So you have 67 percent who want it, 11 percent on the registry, people dying. That's the change we want to make.

CHETRY: And so the first part of it, which wouldn't be as controversial, this would be that if you've signed up to be an organ donor, that if anything should happen to you and you should pass away, your family would not be able to argue against your wish.

RICHARD BRODSKY: Whatever it is you want, just like a living will.

CHETRY: Right.

RICHARD BRODSKY: You would have the decision. It would last past death. And if you made the decision to donate, as we think people would do, then that would be binding. That's the first change.

CHETRY: And here's where we get more controversial, though, because the next part would be something called presumed consent, which means that when you get your driver's license you have to check a box saying I do not want to be an organ donor as opposed to I do want to be. You would have to opt out rather than opt in.

And some people say this opens the door for confusion and maybe people don't know they're actually agreeing to be an organ donor.

RICHARD BRODSKY: There are plenty objections to this, religious objections and others. But we have a failed system. People are dying. This change, which works in other countries, gives everybody control over the decision.

You'd have the control. I'd have the control. But we'd make you make the decision. We think that would vastly increase the number of organs.

What happens now is in the middle of a terrible tragedy, a car accident, a sudden illness, families are brought in and made to make decisions about someone else's welfare at a time when they're not really competent to do that. It's like a living will. We want to make sure everyone does what they want to do, but we want to make sure they do it.

CHETRY: And Willie, your life was saved by organ donation. Tell us a little about your story.

WILLIE BRODSKY, ORGAN DONATION RECIPIENT: I was born with an autoimmune disease that effectively ate my kidneys when I was two, and when I was four I had a kidney transplant. I received a kidney from my mother which lasted 11 lovely years.

And then when I was 14, I received a cadaver donor kidney from a Puerto Rican woman who got struck by lightning who made a very big decision to donate her organs, and her family agreed, let her.

CHETRY: And so you are one of the lucky ones. What do you think when you hear that 500 New Yorkers die, 12 people a day in our country die some would say needlessly because there are organs available, it's just that that connection isn't being made?

WILLIE BRODSKY: I think, personally, it's ridiculous. Like just -- we have to have our organs in, like, from other states, which seems silly because New York is all about standing on its own and being New York. So why should we need help from other states?

CHETRY: And when we talk about some of the other concerns, you know, there are other concerns that people have that perhaps you're looked at as a potential donor if you have a health emergency as opposed to being a patient. I mean --

RICHARD BRODSKY: There are all kinds of myths about this. And what we have in America is the American people are goodhearted. They want to do the right thing. We can trust the decency of the American people.

But the government needs to come up with a program that lets people express that decency. That's what's missing, a connection between the fundamental goodness of the American people and a system that is not producing the organs that save lives.

We were lucky. We should not have to wait for acts of god to save lives in a country this decent, this good, and this concerned. CHETRY: And 24 countries in Europe do have this presumed consent. How did they get over some of the ethical, moral concerns and religious concerns that people have over this?

RICHARD BRODSKY: Two ways. Education -- people better understood it, and second, respecting those who don't want to donate. People should not feel compelled or coerced or pressured. It's a perfectly moral decision to say that's for somebody else to do. But where people want to do it, we have to find a way to let them.

CHETRY: And Willie, you're doing well?

WILLIE BRODSKY: I am.

CHETRY: You're a freshman at NYU.

WILLIE BRODSKY: I am.

CHETRY: Congratulations.

WILLIE BRODSKY: Thank you.

CHETRY: And it's great to talk to you, Assemblyman Brodsky, thanks for joining us this morning as well.

RICHARD BRODSKY: Thank you.

CHETRY: John.

ROBERTS: We've got some thunderstorms rolling across the Midwest; could be travel delays if you're going through that part of the country. But on the East Coast, look at that, all kinds of sunshine.

Jacqui Jeras tracking the travel weather forecast this morning. She's coming up next.

It's 45 minutes after the hour.

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ROBERTS: Good morning, Chicago where we got mostly cloudy right now at 59 degrees. Later on today it will be fairly mild, high of 70, but you can expect some showers there.

CHETRY: All right.

Well, Jacqui Jeras is following all of that for us. Its 48 minutes past the hour and Jacqui is keeping track of everything for us.

Atlanta is looking good. You guys are recovering from a lot of rain. And we're looking good --

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

CHETRY: -- but not every part of the country is in the clear today.

JERAS: Yes, not everybody. You know, Chicago may have looked good in that picture but we've got showers and thundershowers that are going to be rumbling in probably just a couple of hours away. This is our strong storm system that we're dealing with across the lower 48 today. And in addition to that threat of rain, we've got some really strong, gusty winds coming in on the backside of this thing.

In fact, we can see gusts around 30 miles per hour. So travel delays expected: Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, over towards Cleveland, even into Cincinnati. A few of these storms in the red area here could be severe; damaging winds and large hail will be our primary concern.

Well as you guys mentioned you know there's folks still dealing with some high water across the Midsouth and the Deep South. Check out these pictures that we have from Roswell, Georgia. This is just in the northern suburb of the Atlanta area.

Some teenagers decided that was going to be a good idea to try and cross this dam area, that's about a 30-foot drop there by the way. They did have to be rescued. Everybody got out of there safely. This area is known, by the way, for being dangerous. About a year ago, we had another situation where people had to be rescued.

So use a lot of caution if you're out there traveling for today.

Things look good up and down the Eastern Seaboard, though, lots of sunshine, temperatures are going to be very comfortable, in fact almost sticky, highs will be in the 80s.

Ok, John and Kiran, this is my fun video of the day. Take a look at these pictures. A 200-pound black bear had to be rescued in Oxnard, California, after it fell asleep high up into a treetop. What happened was that this bear had been spotted around the neighborhood and got hit with a couple of tranquilizers but it didn't fall asleep until it got way up high in the tree and was actually dangling with its head and his legs hanging down.

So some scary moments. They were able to get that bear out of there after a nice two-hour nap 25 feet up.

ROBERTS: Well, it got down a lot better than the other bear we recall --

CHETRY: The famous trampoline bear.

ROBERTS: He climbed up a tree and --

JERAS: Oh yes. The one that fell?

ROBERTS: -- tranquilized. Yes the one that fell down and hit the -- hit the trampoline.

CHETRY: Yes, that didn't work so well.

ROBERTS: Oh, on the nose. Poor thing.

JERAS: I bet it was a good sleep for him, though.

CH: Yes. Well, this guy probably didn't know what hit him, right? He just got to wake up and wander off.

ROBERTS: Somebody went up the tree after that bear. That's kind of interesting. All right, great pictures, thanks, Jacqui.

Our "Building up America" series comes up next. Our John Zarrella goes to a farmer's market in a place that you might not expect to find one. See what he found.

Fifty minutes after the hour.

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CHETRY: Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning.

Baseball losing a legend, Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell has died after a battle with cancer. He spent more than five decades in the broadcast booth, most of it as a play-by-play voice for the Detroit Tigers.

ROBERTS: Yes and he was loved by players and fans alike.

Harwell revealed last year that he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Ernie Harwell though did live to a ripe old age of 92 years.

CHETRY: He'll be missed for sure.

Well, today in "Building up America", how people are beating the recession by literally going back to their roots.

ROBERTS: Our John Zarrella shows us this morning how farmer's markets are flourishing in the big city and helping people afford healthy and fresh.

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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the shadow of high rises, a garden of greens: turnips, broccoli and something called callaloo, or Jamaican spinach.

(on camera): So, do you cook them or what? Put them in a salad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we cook them. You can put them in a salad, too.

ZARRELLA: Really.

(voice-over): Here, too, once a week on Wednesdays, small family farmers sell their produce.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't have to go to Canada for green house cucumbers anymore. You can go right to homestead. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's absolutely delicious.

ZARRELLA: This is Overtown, smack in the middle of downtown Miami. A supermarket? Not around here.

In a unique way, this farmer's market fills that void. Here, Eddie Stewart can use cash or his EBT card, known as food stamps, to fill his bag with fruits and vegetables.

EDDIE STEWART, OVERTOWN RESIDENT: It's home grown, more fresh than anything else. You can't beat that. .

ZARRELLA: And you can't beat the prices. For every $1 in food stamps --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does 21 work? Is 21 good?

ZARRELLA: You get $2 worth of produce, even exotic fruits like loquat.

(on camera): I don't know. What does it taste like? You're the chef.

MICHEL NISCHAN, FOUNDER, WHOLESOME WAVE FOUNDATION: It's like a cross between an apple, a melon and a kiwi.

ZARRELLA: This subsidized market is the brainchild of Chef Michel Nischan (ph). There are more than 100 now open around the country funded by donations and money from Nischan's foundation. The idea: give small family farmers an outlet for their locally-grown produce.

Try tamarind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're eating the flesh which is around the seed.

NISCHAN: You think Worcestershire.

ZARRELLA: Most importantly, this market provides fresh food at an affordable price to communities where access to groceries is limited.

NISCHAN: When you provide the access and the resources both, miracles happen. It's pretty cool.

ZARRELLA: You can pick up the Overtown Cookbook here, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we have a dessert. This is a mango- banana smoothie with granola.

ZARRELLA (on camera): Oh, I like that a lot.

(voice-over): Students at the neighborhood's Booker T. Washington High produced the book using recipes from home, but substituted healthy ingredients. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instead of you using molasses to sweeten up your food, you can use things like honey, apple juice.

ZARRELLA: In this neighborhood, the seeds of healthy eating have definitely taken root.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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ROBERTS: Continue the conversation on today's stories, go to our blog at CNN.com/amFIX.

That's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you back here again, bright and early tomorrow.

CHETRY: Meantime, "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now.