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American Morning
New Information on Times Square Bombing Suspect; Nashville Under Water: Country Music Landmarks Heavily Damaged; Is Greece's Crisis Spreading?; Politics Across the Pond: What Do Americans Know about UK's Election?; Inside a Mammal Rehab Center; "Rebound" Headaches
Aired May 06, 2010 - 07:00 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. It is 7:00 here in New York this morning on this Thursday, May 6th. Thanks for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Good to see you here. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about coming up in the next 15 minutes.
Blunders of an accused terrorist. Brand new information on the plot to blow up a car in Times Square. Authorities say the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, rehearsed the attack the day before but still apparently needed a lot of practice because you will not believe what he forgot.
CHETRY: An American city rich in history underwater this morning. Epic flooding devastated Nashville, the heart of country music. And some big stars are among the victims. So are everyday people who live there. Road equipment and instruments underwater. We're live in Nashville just ahead.
CHETRY: And a 40 foot high concrete dome could be the last hope for containing and oil leak that is spewing out of control in the Gulf of Mexico. British Petroleum is hoping to lower the 100-ton device over the leaking wellhead to capture the gushing oil and then funnel it to an awaiting tanker above.
ROBERTS: Of course, the a.m. fix blog is up and running. Head to CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: And there is a new picture emerging of the bumbling would-be Times Square bomber. Authorities believe that the suspect Faisal Shahzad made a dry run the day before in what was supposed to be his getaway car.
ROBERTS: But besides not being able to get the bomb to work. He had another problem. Our Susan Candiotti has been following this since day one, and she joins us. What did he do?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it started on Friday night. He decided to make a dry run. He takes a white Isuzu, drives it through New York City, through Times Square, checking things out, and then had goes several blocks away from there and parks that Isuzu to make it his getaway car.
The thing is this. He then takes a train back to Connecticut. Now, it's Saturday night. So now, he's got that Nissan packed with explosives. This is all coming to us from a law enforcement source who is aware of what he's telling investigators.
So he drives along the East River to the 49th street exit. That is where he pulls over and sets into motion the process needed to set off that homemade bomb. From there, he continues driving. He enters Times Square. And then he picks a random spot, he told investigators, turning right on 45th street to pull over.
But the thing is, he had accidentally left behind in the car, when he got out of the car, he left behind the keys to his getaway car, to what white Isuzu. So now, he realizes he can't go back and get them. The car is beginning to smoke. Witnesses reported to the authorities.
So instead of going back and getting the keys, he's got to make a run for it. So he runs for the train station and gets on a train going north to Connecticut leaving behind those keys.
Now, obviously, he had to the next day get back to that car. So he must have had a spare set of keys. This is where it getting a little murky. But in fact that white Isuzu, he did get down and retrieve the car somehow. And that's the car that he drove to JFK airport to try to escape.
ROBERTS: He actually returned to the scene of the crime.
CANDIOTTI: Yes.
CHETRY: And then there's also a possibility. You've been hearing there is a tape, but we haven't seen the video of him in Times Square?
CANDIOTTI: Oh, yes, there definitely is another tape. My sources tell me that there is. They found him on the surveillance tape on Shubert Alley. This is an alley very close to that scene.
He's seen wearing a baseball cap in this video. It's just moments after, my sources describe to me, moments after witnesses start seeing the car filled with smoke. They're analyzing this video, looking for other videos, and hopefully, we'll get a chance to see that.
ROBERTS: Just a random place. Any connection between Viacom, comedy central, the Prophet Muhammad? Just coincidence?
CANDIOTTI: We're get nothing indication of that at all. He told investigators he pulled over there because it was an empty spot and he took advantage of it.
CHETRY: By the way, it's also very interesting and it should be noted that your sources are telling you that he is still cooperating with investigators and still giving a lot of information? CANDIOTTI: Still talking. That is why we have not seen him in court, apparently. Remember, he was supposed to appear in court the other day, but because he's still talking, evidently he's not been processed into a jail. He's still cooperating.
ROBERTS: Susan, thanks.
The details of the accused Times Square bomber is revealing some baffles gaps in airline security. According to the Associated Press, authorities did not notify all airlines that Faisal Shahzad was heading their way. They only notified a few domestic carriers. Emirates airlines did not check for updates soon enough.
The government has now closed that gap saying they have to update the no-fly list every two hours.
CHETRY: There is also a growing body of evidence this morning the Taliban in Pakistan played a role in the Times Square plot. According to the "The New York Times," the bombing suspect, Faisal Shahzad, is telling investigators that the Pakistani Taliban helped train and inspire him in the months leading up to the attack.
One senior Obama official tells the paper, quote, "There's no smoking gun yet that the Pakistan Taliban was behind the bombing."
And we're also receiving some new information about the suspect's possible motive. An official familiar with the investigation said that Shahzad felt that Islam was under attack. Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live with details on what she's learning about the possible motive. Good morning.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. One of the big threads in this investigation, who exactly was Shahzad working with.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: A photograph from "Dawn News" of Faisal Shahzad as he went through immigration in Pakistan on July 3rd, 2009. According to a senior Pakistani official, a few days later on July 7th, he was driven to Peshawar and eventually on to Waziristan where he's thought to have met with one or more Pakistani leaders.
With Shahzad, Mohammad Rajan, a man believed to have strong ties to Ja-ish-e Mohammed. Rehan was taken into custody on Tuesday. But officials say at this point there's nothing definitive connecting Shahzad to any extremist group.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are international implications to what occurred in Times Square, we are investigating those. But as to where that investigation takes us, it's still way too early to make that judgment.
MESERVE: A federal law enforcement official says there is no indication that Shahzad had any associates here in the United States. But he appears to have prepared and placed the bomb in Times Square on his own.
Just how close were authorities to losing him? According to an administration official, Shahzad was added to the no-fly list 12:30 Monday afternoon. Nine minutes later an automated message went out to air carriers advising them there was a special add to the list.
But Shahzad's name was not cut to Emirates airlines at 6:30 when he made his reservation while driving to the airport or at 7:35 when he showed up at the counter and bought his it can't with cash because the airline had not yet updated it's no-fly list.
To close that loophole, the TSA is now requiring that airlines update no-fly lists within two hours of getting a special notification from TSA.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: As Susan mentioned, Shahzad has continued to talk with investigators who are drawing on the expertise of members of the newly created high-value interrogation group or HAIG. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning, thank you.
ROBERTS: Coming up at 11 minutes after the hour, addressing -- or assessing the damage from the epic damage in Tennessee. We're going to show you what one of country music's biggest stars have lost. We're live in Nashville this morning.
CHETRY: Also, a 100-ton concrete dome standing four stories high could be the last hope for change the oil spill in the gulf. There you see it on a barge as it's heading towards that well, a desperate attempt to stop an environmental disaster. But how are they going to pull it off. David Mattingly joins us with an update.
ROBERTS: And at 56 minutes after the hour, could over the counter pain medications be causing your headaches? A new report says it is possible.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, some good news this morning for water-logged Tennessee. The swollen Cumberland River is finally receding and expected to go below flood stage today.
As the water goes down, the human toll becomes clear. Across the state, 19 people have died in Nashville. Countless homes and businesses are heavily damaged. The city expects the disaster to top $1 billion in damages.
CHETRY: Country music star Kenny Chesney lives in Nashville. He came back home to find his house flooded. He took his video of the destruction. A spokesman said Chesney's house will actually be condemned. He talked about it with Anderson Cooper last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KENNY CHESNEY, SINGER: I've been affected by this tragedy, but there are so many people in Nashville that are really hurting that, you know -- the things I lost, I can replace, thank god. But there have been people that have lost their lives and their livelihood.
There's a lot of people in the city is really hurting now. And I've never seen anything like it. You know, just I was out of town when it happened. And as I was flying back home, you could see all of it from the air, and I couldn't believe what had happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And Kenny Chesney's not alone. It's a music city mess for other country music stars. Brad Paisley was prepared for his H20 tour, yes, his H20 tour for clean water when his guitars were flooded. Keith Urban lost all his gear, a Vince Gill with his guitar collection. And Leann Rimes road gear was submerged in up to eight feet of water.
CNN's Martin Savidge is looking at the damage to some country music landmarks. He's in Nashville for us. And some escaped with minor damage, others were almost a ruin, Martin?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It's a real problem in a city that is so much at the heart of country music fans.
John, maybe you can hear in the background, there's a constant drone, and that is the sound of generators, but more specifically, the sound of pumps that have been running option nonstop for days. On top of that, the pumps are going because the Cumberland River is still in the basements of many of the buildings here. The problem is they keep refilling over and over again.
This really couldn't have come at a bad time for Nashville, the top of the tourist season. And in five months, the CMA music festival, that brings 22 million alone to the city.
But for country music fans, it's not about the business, this town is the Mecca for their music.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: To understand what country music means to Nashville and the millions who love it, we turned to somebody who knows it. Country performer Jo Dee Messina has had nine hit singles and sold over five million albums. The first thing she did was get me on stage, not at honky-tonk, but at the Nashville symphony.
ALAN VALENTINE, THE NASHVILLE SYMPHONY: You can speak in this voice and the person in the last row can hear it like they're standing in front of you.
SAVIDGE: And none of this was flooded or damaged?
VALENTINE: Right.
SAVIDGE: In a city that loves music that was a relief then she took me to the real disaster, the basement.
Somewhere down there are two Steinways?
VALENTINE: Yes, two Steinways really beautiful concert ones, handpicked for the hall.
SAVIDGE: With the electricity out, the humidity and smell are overwhelming. Jo Dee just doesn't know music. She has a feel for what goes on in Nashville.
(on camera): I think people think stuff like this doesn't happen to people like you.
DEE MESSINA, COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER: It has.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): She took me to another place that has flooded, the country music hall of fame where everything country lives or did. Rumors are a lot have been lost. And judging by the sidewalk, it didn't look good.
The museum's wood floor and walls sat in piles. In the basement the theater had flooded to the third row. Upstairs, we found Carolyn Tate and her team working in the dark.
MESSINA: It's kind of a mess around here.
SAVIDGE: They were surrounded by what only could be called the crown jewels of country music which they had guarded and cared for throughout the flood. It may not have looked pretty or organized, but it was all there, including a squirrel sculpture belonging to Hank Williams, music awards, even Vince Gill's very first guitar. In the rotunda, Jo Dee found new meaning in an old song.
(on camera): You've got a nice acoustics here, too.
MESSINA: We do.
SAVIDGE: But I guess you'd expect that here, wouldn't you?
MESSINA: Yes.
SAVIDGE: Do you think that has meaning here at a time like this?
MESSINA: It all has meaning. I'm here all the time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: That's the appeal of country music to millions. It does have meaning, in all of their lives. And the circle is unbroken. We can tell you that because we were one of the few to get in and see the Country Music Hall of Fame after the storm.
The news not so good, John, though, about the Grand Ole Opry House. We haven't been in. Many have not been in because it's still too flooded, but it does not sound good. When we do get in, we'll bring you that information, John. ROBERTS: All right, Martin Savidge for us this morning in Nashville. Martin, thanks so much.
Coming up at 8:10 Eastern, by the way, we're going to talk with Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen about the flooding disaster and the state's recovery plans.
CHETRY: He's actually warning about scams now, as well as saying that there are people that are going around saying, you know, you have to give me a check for 20 grand for me to tear down your house before the state gets here for me to repair your house. He's warning people don't be fooled by the scams. So we're going to talk more about that as well.
Meanwhile, if they go under, will you pay? There's absolute chaos in the streets of Greece. How many dominoes have to fall before the economic disaster really hits us here? Christine Romans will explain all that for us. She joins us with a preview. Hey, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Kiran and John, chaos in Greece are big concerns in Europe. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, says a successful bailout of Greece is nothing less than the future of Europe. Very incredibly important in Europe and here as well. I'll tell you why in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour. There are some frightening pictures to show you this morning coming out of Greece. Things there are spiraling out of control. Intense anger on the streets there. A hundred thousand people rioting, many of whom have lost their jobs, their pensions, everything, as the country threatens to tumble into an economic abyss. We've already taken an economic hit here because of it. In the stock market, the dominoes may keep on falling.
Our Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning. Wall Street getting a little skittish about what's going on there in Greece and the rest of Europe.
ROMANS: That's right. Two tough days. And today, we have futures looking a little bit up here. But really, this is a story of what a small world it is, and how, as Angela Merkel, the German chancellor said, this is nothing less than the future of Europe here. Greece's successful bailout.
What's the problem with Greece? Why is this small tourism country causing so many ripple effects?
Well, first of all, this is a country that is living well beyond its means because of the economic crisis and other things. But its budget deficit is 13.6 percent of the size of its economy and that is too big to be sustainable. That's why all of these people are being asked to take huge cuts in benefits and public services as part of a $146 billion bailout to try to sustain this country so it doesn't literally go bankrupt.
Among the things that we're talking about here are cuts to pensions, as you pointed out. We're talking about major tax hikes. We're talking about aggressive tax collection among other things. This austerity plan incredibly unpopular. Three people killed yesterday in Athens in a bank as people are rioting in the streets over this.
Now, this is more than just Greece. You're going to hear a lot about the PIGS, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. These are countries that are all seemed to be weakened by the financial crisis and in a tough debt situation. Spain, in particular here, this is one of euro zone -- it's the fourth largest economy in the euro zone. It has a budget deficit of 11.2 percent GDP and 20 percent unemployment already there.
Let me tell you quickly about why we're concerned here. We're concerned about a potential new banking crisis in Europe that could spread here. Our banks so far seem to be insulated, but we just don't know. In 1997, we had the Asian financial crisis that spread around the world.
The euro is quite weak. I think it takes about $1.27 this morning, $1.28 between there to buy one euro. The euro is weakening. That can be a hit for U.S. exports and therefore U.S. jobs. And then it's also a threat to the global recovery. Things are still quite fragile. Having trouble right now in Europe comes at a very, very bad time. They're having trouble in part because of the financial crisis and the fragility in the global economy. But it's something we've been watching very, very closely.
Again, futures this morning, you guys, are looking a little bit higher. So after two tough days, it looks as though investors have found their footing again. But these concerns about the PIGS -- Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain have not gone away and they're not going away.
CHETRY: All right. Christine, thanks so much.
And it's election day, by the way, not here but across the pond in the United Kingdom. The latest on the vote and a fun look at how much you know about politics there.
It's 23 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-five minutes after the hour. Right now, voters in the UK are deciding the fate of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Labour Party. New pictures this morning of Gordon Brown off to vote.
Labour has been power for the past 13 years, but the latest polls are giving an edge to David Cameron and the Conservative Party. Here's Cameron going to vote. They're there. And because the country has several smaller parties, there's a good chance that nobody will be able to get a majority to form a parliament, a government. So they'll have to do some negotiating after the results are all in.
CHETRY: Yes. And while it's been said that the U.S. and Britain share a special bond, we've also been called two countries divided by one language. So what do we on this side of the pond know about politics on the other side.
Let's bring in our own international relations expert Richard Roth. We got a small taste of it when we heard the open mike incident with Gordon Brown when he's asking his handler why did you put me with that lady.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, anchors are also familiar, I know, in CNN history, with open mikes.
Yes, the polls are open in Britain. Some of their citizens voted by mail from the USA. I wandered down to a section of New York City where you tend to find some of the queen's subjects and some Americans who are fond of our former rulers to see whether the election campaign was being followed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICKY PERRY, OWNER, TEA AND SYMPATHY: You don't vote in England, do you?
ROTH (voice-over): Nicky Perry follows the British election from her store in Greenwich Village. It's called "Tea and Sympathy." But she is not offering any tea or especially sympathy to the three major candidates for prime minister.
PERRY: Well, I just don't believe what any of these politicians say. And what happens with an election is they all promise a huge amount. And when the election is finally over, nobody does anything.
ROTH (on camera): What do you expect them to say? They want to win and they're saying what their promises are.
PERRY: What do I expect? I expect if they say they're going to do something, then they should bloody well do it is what they should be doing.
ROTH (voice-over): Emotions were also high during those first- ever televised debates in the UK. A few former columnists were watching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You kind of see that there's some Americanization taking place in British politics.
ROTH: This area is known as Little Britain. The White Horse Tavern is where Welsh poet Dylan Thomas allegedly drank himself to death. British-theme food shops abound. However, people here view the election campaign as over there.
(on camera): Have you been following the British elections of the prime minister today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not at all.
ROTH: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I got my head full of the politics that go around here. So I didn't quite go across the pond.
ROTH (voice-over): So much for the so-called special relationship the USA and United Kingdom have maintained since those wars ended.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These two countries divided by the same language, isn't it?
ROTH (on camera): Are you attracted to British men with accents?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There will always be a problem between the UK and America, you know. There will always be a strong bond, you know what I mean.
ROTH (voice-over): That means, of course, Americans can recognize England's strong James Bond, 007. But do they know the man running to be Bond's boss, the next prime minister?
(on camera): Who is this man?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no. I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looks like a Kennedy.
ROTH: Who's that man?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that man is the prime minister of the UK.
ROTH: Gordon Green?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
ROTH: Gordon Red?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
ROTH: Gordon Black.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gordon Brown.
ROTH (voice-over): Identifying challenger Nick Clegg was much harder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know.
ROTH (on camera): Where are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New York. ROTH: Where are your papers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like Michael J. Fox. I don't know if it is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, he looks like that guy from "Family Ties" but I know he's not.
ROTH (voice-over): The current candidate shouldn't feel too bad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my goodness. I have seen that face but I don't know his name.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
ROTH (on camera): That's Winston Churchill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is bad, is this live?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH: Yes, we're live. Many don't remember how Churchill lost the re-election campaign despite his shining hours during World War II. Today, Prime Minister Brown's Labour Party, as we mentioned, battling the Conservative Cameron and Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg.
CHETRY: There you go. All right. And what about the whole parliament thing if there's not enough -- if nobody gets a big enough majority, what happens?
ROTH: Well, the queen may have a tough decision whether to keep -- I think the rules say she's got to go first to the existing prime minister to see if he can form a government. Nick Clegg, the outsider, may have a big role to play in the days ahead.
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: Sometimes people say coalition governments are better for the country because you get, you know, different points of view in there. There's got to be some negotiation. So what are we thinking, Liberal Democrat and Conservative maybe forming the -- that would be interesting.
ROTH: I'm surprised how few people really that I talked to had been following the election. Even one woman said it doesn't have any impact on us, but it does, because of this special relationship and the agreements in Afghanistan, the economy.
CHETRY: Of course. All right. Interesting stuff. Good luck. Thanks, Richard. Nice to see you.
ROBERTS: Richard Roth, thanks so much.
Half past the hour now. That means it's time for this morning's top stories. New information this morning about the plot to blow up an SUV in Times Square. Law enforcements officials believe the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, made a dry run the day before the attack to drop off his getaway vehicle. But on the night of the attack, authorities say Shahzad left the keys to that getaway car in the SUV that he was trying to blow up.
CHETRY: The deadly and record-setting flood waters are finally beginning to recede in Nashville. They're leaving behind an estimated $1 billion in damages. The flooding killed 19 people across Tennessee over the past six days, including nine in Nashville where two people are still missing. Hundreds of homes, roads, bridges have been destroyed. President Obama declaring the area and several other counties a major disaster.
ROBERTS: And a scare overnight in New York City, police say a U- Haul truck was abandoned on the Triborough Bridge. The span was shut down in both directions and the city's bomb squad was call in to examine the vehicle. No explosive devices were found. The bridge was re-opened after a time. Authorities are still looking for the driver who left the truck there, though.
CHETRY: Well, cover, contain and capture. That's the mission for an experimental four-story concrete dome that's been hauled out to sea this morning on a barge. Here's a look at it right now. It's 100 tons of concrete, a giant containment cylinder now arriving on the scene of that gushing oil well. What they're planning to do is to lower it over a leaking wellhead, a main leaking wellhead on the ocean floor. It is a long-shot attempt to contain and capture more than 200,000 gallons of oil now spewing into the ocean every day.
ROBERTS: That leak has created a 2,000-mile square mile slick so far. Here's a map that shows where officials think the slick is going to go today. And right now, situated just a couple of miles off of the Louisiana coast.
David Mattingly is live in Venice, Louisiana this morning, most of the way down the Mississippi Delta there.
And David, the coast guard going out to inspect all of those oil booms today. When is that going to happen?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going to be happening just about now. Now that the sun is coming up. They're going to be sending crews out. We've been getting reports, we are hearing yesterday from fishermen that oil had gotten past some of the containment booms and may have made contact with the land at the Chandeleur Island here off the coast of Louisiana.
Now, we know that the satellite imagery has shown that there's the sheen, the oil on top of the water, has been in the area for a couple of days, and we know that it was accumulating on the edge of those booms that had been deployed. But now, we're hearing reports that it might have gotten past those booms since making contact with the islands. And the Coast Guard will be going out to get visual confirmation of that. If they find that, they have crews ready to go out to clean it up, to mitigate all that damage might be occurring and to find a way to keep it from getting past the boom, if that's what's happening.
CHETRY: And so we're talking about this barge, this big boat carrying the big contraption, where is it right now in relation to the well head?
MATTINGLY: Well, I talked to the Coast Guard just a few minutes ago. We're hearing reports that it's now in location. It's gotten to where it's supposed to be. We know it left about 12 hours ago from port. It was a 12-hour journey. So it should be there. We're just waiting for official confirmation from the coast guard. But once it's there, that's where they're going to start the very delicate operation of lowering this massive object, this containment vessel, down one mile below the surface of the water to the ocean floor.
This is going to be exactly where that leak has been occurring for the last two weeks now, pumping almost 5,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico every single day. But, again, this is very delicate. And as you were talking before, you were saying this is sort of a long-shot. It is the only shot they have. They don't have a backup containment vessel ready to go if this one doesn't work.
So it's going to be very careful. It's going to take a couple days for them to lower that down over the top of the largest leak that they have. They have two leaks left to cap. This will be going over the largest one. If they are successful, they hope to capture 80 percent to 85 percent of the leaking oil.
ROBERTS: And as you said, David, if they're successful, and that's the key phrase here. I guess the physics of it are because that oil is lighter than water. They put this down and the oil floats to the top. They think that they'll actually be able to get that oil out of that container, and 5,000 feet, back up to a barge?
MATTINGLY: That's what's supposed to happen. If you look at this container, it looks like this big box with a funnel on top of it. The oil's going to be accumulated in there. And it's going to go up to a containment vessel on the surface. That's the plan. That's how it is supposed to work. That's why they're going to continue to putting this oil into a containment vessel instead of having it going out into the Gulf of Mexico.
But they're going to be so sensitive in the way they're handling this facility because they're going to have to make sure it is secured just right. They're going to be very slow in taking it down. It's going to be lowered from a barge. It's going to have a GPS, a guidance system, to keep the barge perfectly in place while they lower this down. It is going to be just grueling and very delicate the entire time they're doing this.
CHETRY: Yes, you got the wind, the waves, the currents, all coming into play there. So a very tenuous operation. David Mattingly for us this morning. Thanks so much. ROBERTS: In 10 minutes time, Rob Marciano is live in Biloxi, Mississippi. He's reporting from one of the country's top marine wildlife rehab centers. And they're bracing for an onslaught of dolphins, manatees and sea turtles that may be sickened by that oil spill.
CHETRY: And the plot to blow up an SUV in Times Square was the 11th thwarted attack in New York since 9/11. So what can be done to stop and identify the suspected terrorists before it's too late. Is there a profile emerging? We'll ask national security contributor Fran Townsend and Pat D'Amuro, former assistant director of the FBI.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.
There are new details this morning that the possible motive behind the Times Square bomb plot and officials who is familiar with the investigation tells CNN that the suspect Faisal Shahzad felt that Islam was under attack. Now since September 11th there have been 11 attempts to attack New York City. Has anything been learned and are we any safer?
Joining us now CNN national security contributor, Fran Townsend and also Pat D'Amuro, former assistant director of the FBI and now chairman and CEO of Giuliani Security and Safety.
Thanks to both of you for being with us. Good to talk to you this morning.
Pat, I want to ask you first to weigh in on the latest. Federal officials are now saying that there was this dry run that took place. That he actually came to Times Square to park what would have been the getaway car the day before. And as our Susan Candiotti was telling us he left the keys. So that was spoiled and ended up taking the train home, but what about the fact that this dry run took place a day before the plot?
PAT D'AMURO, CHAIRMAN & CEO, GIULIANI SECURITY & SAFETY: That's a common practice for members that train with Al Qaeda or groups like Al Qaeda over in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in those areas. In East African bombings they did trial runs to see if they could get by the gates, to get to the embassy. So it's a common practice to have a dry run, to see if they can pull off the attempt.
CHETRY: The other interesting thing that emerged this morning, Fran, I want to get your thoughts was that the decision by law enforcement officials, apparently, not to call all the airlines directly to tell them once they had put Shahzad on the no-fly list, they had called some of the U.S. airlines but not the international airlines. Is there a concern about sharing that sensitive information? I mean, in some cases, these airlines are actually partly owned partly by foreign governments, did they not trust everyone?
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Well, that's exactly right, Kiran, you don't know all the employees. You don't know - you can't control, once you send that information out, you're unable to control who has access to it inside foreign airlines that do have foreign ownership. And so there is a concern.
I think they've now, with the new rule put in place yesterday, requiring them to update their downloads, update their lists, within two hours. That's going to be part of the solution. But ultimately, you have to get a secured flight where the U.S. government takes responsibility for managing these lists and checking these manifests and you don't have to involve foreign airlines.
CHETRY: It's interesting, because it always seems that we make a tweak or we make an adjustment based on the last threat. I mean, the fact that we can't bring over three ounces of liquid. We have to take off our shoes. The last situation that happened with Abdulmutallab, the so-called underwear bomber. And now this, I mean, are we behind what would-be terrorists want to do?
D'AMURO: Well, security to be effective and I think Fran will agree with this it's ever-changing. It has to change constantly with what's going on. Because the terrorist is changing. He's learning from what security measures we take and they try to avoid some of those.
TOWNSEND: That's right. And that's why I think profiling work. If you have a static profile that you are targeting against, the bad guys figure that out. And they go around it. So the whole idea is what you want is a dynamic intelligence based targeting system in order to make sure you're moving with the terrorists.
CHETRY: Well, you just mentioned profiling. And we're talking about how this is now the 11th attempted terror attack since 9/11 on New York City alone. I mean, countrywide there's many more. But one of the interesting things is we dug up some of the detailed information of all of the people involved. Their ages, their backgrounds, their education, citizenship, and one common thread, even though there are a lot of variables, was Islamic radicalism. And in many of these cases, they were either inspired by or had some ties to training either in Pakistan or Afghanistan. How do you zero in on these guys before it's too late?
TOWNSEND: Well, you know, many of them, when you go back and look at the 11 case, many, not all, but many are here in the United States legally. That represents a real challenge to federal officials. They're either here, become U.S. citizens, they are here on a valid visa. Not all, but this makes it really difficult. And I think when you talk about trying to identify those who are going to become radicalized, this is a real challenge and you're going to have to look, in this case, looking back now, what were the common themes, the fact that he left his family for five months.
And their house was foreclosed and he had small children. What was he doing gone for that long? We're going to have to look for clues that we can then use in this dynamic intelligence based targeting. D'AMURO: You know, the country, too, the administration seems to not to want to call it what it is. It's radical fundamentalists, period. And then two, we were able to see that. We know that. I mean, you can call it profiling, call it whatever you want. That's what the problem is. That's the common theme.
The other common theme in this. You know, it's historical, it goes way back to Bin Laden (inaudible) in 1988. Look at the targets most of the targets that are trying to attack. Financial sector, transportation modes. I think out of the 11, there are only two that really don't fit that. The last one -
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Right, there was a synagogue.
D'AMURO: But in that synagogue plot, they were also planning to bomb the (inaudible) airport.
CHETRY: It's interesting though because when you talk about, what you just said which is that it's unusual perhaps to leave your family for five months. I mean, you know, my family's background, from Nepal, oftentimes, somebody can get over here on a certain visa, maybe a work visa. And the other people do have to stay behind. And so it's hard when you look at Pakistani-Americans, we have over 200,000 of them. I mean, every single person can't be under suspicion just because of the country of origin. So how do you, I guess, differentiate and figure out red flags without making a group of people feel profiled?
TOWNSEND: Well, that's right, Kiran. Part of that is your relationship with your foreign partners, your allies around the world. They have a better sense than we do oftentimes of things that are out of the norm. And so we're going to are to learn to build those relationships, strengthen them. We've got a very good intelligence sharing relationship with our Pakistani partners, for example.
But it's been inconsistent over the years. Sometimes, it's better than others. But we're going to have to build a relationship of trust there and get them to help us, to identify - those that we really, you know, this is a guy who said that he trained in a camp in Waziristan. We haven't confirmed that yet with law enforcement officials. But if that's true, that's the kind of information that if we got it from our partners would have been very useful to us.
D'AMURO: Yes, the Waziristan area in Pakistan, I think even the Pakistani government is having problems trying to control that area. Pakistan could technically fall into the hands of radical fundamentalists. I mean, that area is no man's land. And we're going to have to take further action to shut down those training camps coming out of that region.
CHETRY: Pat D'Amuro, Fran Townsend, always great to get both of your perspectives. Thanks so much for joining me this morning.
TOWNSEND: Thank you. D'AMURO: My pleasure.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: A new report this morning that could explain all those chronic headaches that you have been getting, they could be caused by over-the-counter pain medications.
Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains the rebound headache, back in 10 minutes.
And praying for the best but preparing for the worst. Rob Marciano's got a fascinating look inside a premiere facility that rescues marine animals covered in oil and nurses them back to health. He's in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John.
Another clear, calm and relatively clean day here along the northern coast, but the fact remains, there's lots of oil out there and lots of sea creatures that are going to get mixed up in that oil. And there is a special place they'll be taken right here.
We'll show you in a live report, next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Forty-seven minutes after the hour.
It will be ground zero for oily sea mammals all along the Gulf Coast. One of the country's top marine wildlife rehabilitation centers is bracing for a possible onslaught of injured dolphins, manatees and sea turtles.
Our Rob Marciano has gotten a behind the scenes look at the operation. He's live in Biloxi, Mississippi for us this morning. Good morning, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, John.
You know, there's really two battle lines here along the Gulf of Mexico, of course, John, trying to stop the leak out there, trying to get rid of, in one shape or form, that oil that's on top of the water or trying to contain it and keep it away from those sensitive wildlife areas.
But the fact of the matter is, 2,000 square feet of the Gulf of Mexico is covered in oil and that's a large expanse of the home of a lot of sea creatures that - that live up there. So they're going to come in contact with that oil, and when they do, when they're rescued, they're taken to a - a special place in Gulfport, Mississippi. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MARCIANO (voice-over): As efforts continue to contain an oil slick the size of Delaware, there are big concerns for wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.
CNN came across this sea turtle struggling to swim in the oil slick. Dolphins were swimming near but not in the oil spill this week, but if they do get into the slick and are rescued, dolphins and other oiled mammals will be taken here.
MOBY SOLANGI, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR MARINE MAMMAL STUDIES: This facility is designed to rescue and rehabilitate dolphins.
MARCIANO: Dr. Moby Solangi runs the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport. He says dolphins are especially vulnerable to oil spills.
SOLANGI: You and I take small breaths. These animals would go -
MARCIANO: Holding it for several minutes, allowing the toxins to go right into the bloodstream.
Inside the medical facility, simple supplies like Dawn dish washing detergent are used to clean off the oil, along with more advanced medicines to treat injuries and infections.
MARCIANO (on camera): Now, these are pills. How do - how do you go about feeding a pill to a dolphin (ph)?
SOLANGI: We put it in the fish and - or we put a tube into them. This is the area where we would be conduct - conducting surgery on larger animals.
MARCIANO: What's it like, you know, having a porpoise or a dolphin or a manatee on this table, trying to save its life?
SOLANGI: Well, it takes quite a bit of effort. There's no difference in trying to save an animal versus a human being, as far as our capabilities are concerned.
MARCIANO (voice-over): The dolphins and larger animals are stored in these big salt water pools.
SOLANGI: These are the tubs that we'll be using for turtles. This is where we'll be able to clean them and wash them out.
MARCIANO: This week, 38 sea turtles washed up on coastal beaches, but none showed obvious signs of oil. Not entirely unusual but -
MARCIANO (on camera): To have that many of this endangered species -
SOLANGI: That's what is unexplainable.
MARCIANO: That's a bit of a red flag?
SOLANGI: That's right.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Lots of uncertainty as the region braces for a potential environmental disaster.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: And there's lots we don't know. We still don't know the official word on all those - those turtles. We're waiting on the chemical tests to come back from their tissue samples to see if they were affected by that oil at all.
The other issue is these dispersers that they're using. You know, we've talked to a number of people on both sides of the environment - this environmental issue, how bad is it for the environment, for animals, for people? And nobody really seems to know.
There haven't been a whole lot of long term scientific studies on this chemical used to kind of dilute the oil, and that's going to be certainly a concern going forward. But to use the - the catch phrase, and everyone seems to be using it, and it pretty much holds true, it's the lesser of two evils, and they'll take every piece of ammunition they can to battle back this oil spill - John.
ROBERTS: And the - the company says that that dispersant, I think it's called - called Corexit. It's got mild toxicity, but it's not really. Is it long term, as you said, what the effect will be on marine animals?
MARCIANO: Yes, that's the issue, and I guess the biggest issue is that it go - instead of being on top of the surface, it kind of brings that oil in a diluted form to a more - about 30 meters down into the water column.
So, long-term, we just don't know. We're just - they're just trying to do the best they can with the - the ammunition that they have to offer.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob Marciano for us in Biloxi. Rob, good to see you. Thanks so much.
And to learn more about the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, go to CNN.com/impactyourworld.
Nine minutes now to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-four minutes past the hour. Time for your "A.M. House Call", stories about your health, and this morning we're focusing on a new consumer report study that says Americans are taking too many over-the-counter pain medications and they could actually be causing the chronic headaches that you're trying to get relief from.
Here to sort out the so-called rebound headache syndrome, our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Good to see you this morning, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Go ahead.
CHETRY: I was going to ask, I mean, we all do it. We take Advil and we take Aleve and we think that we're actually doing a good thing, getting rid of the headache. How does the pain medications cause a headache?
GUPTA: Yes. It's kind of surprising. I think it may be counterintuitive to a lot of people, but headaches, the number one reason people see doctors like me, you know, neurologists or neurosurgeons in my case, and, you know, what happens is people start to take medications almost prophylactically. They may have had headaches at some point, they start to take these medications over and over again.
What you find is exactly what you said, something known as rebound headaches, basically a frequent headache caused by overuse of these types of medications, over-the-counter medications in particular. They may take a medication in the morning, such as Advil or something, take a sinus medication in the afternoon and then take a - a nighttime sort of medication in the evening, and they just start to get into this pattern, so much so that they become dependent on it.
What's surprising, I think, to a lot of people, Kiran, is just how frequent this problem is. When you look overall, 31 percent of people don't follow dosage directions for these over-the-counter pain medications, and, as a result, it's predicted - this may surprise you - that about two-thirds of people who have chronic headaches have it because of this very reason. They're simply taking too many medications and suffering withdrawal when they stop taking it, therefore causing them to take eve morn more, Kiran.
CHETRY: That's amazing. So, if you follow the dosing, are you in the clear? I mean, how much is too much?
GUPTA: Right, and, you know, with over-the-counter medications, the guidance is a little less clear, but I think as a general rule, really, no more than two times a week.
Now, certain medications also have caffeine in them, and that if you're taking medications that have caffeine, that may make you a little bit more vulnerable to - to these rebound headaches as well, or if you're taking a lot of caffeine just on your own in addition to these medications.
So here - here's a list of some of the ones that are sort of the most common culprits here, Tylenol, some of nonsteroidal, anti- inflammatories, and, again, those combo medications with caffeine. You - you could take a look at the list there.
But, again, about two times a week and - and really trying to cut down on the caffeine as well, if you're using it to try and control your headaches. CHETRY: And the bottom line, I mean, as - as a doctor, you're probably - if somebody's coming to you or they - they feel the need to overuse these medications, there's probably some underlying problem, right? I mean, if they - if they're always having headaches, they should get that checked out.
GUPTA: That's right. So, you know, because so many people have these rebound headaches, the first step, which may sound counterintuitive, you know, five minutes ago, but now you may understand, is just actually start to taper down these medications.
You may have a headache for a little while because of the withdrawal, but gradually that headache should dissipate. And that should be the case for the vast majority of people.
But you're right. I mean, in - in some cases, rare cases, the headache may be due to something else. It could because a migraine. It could be something that needs to be checked out by somebody.
But, you know, simply trying to cut down your use of medications, especially during this season, may help you quite a bit.
CHETRY: All right. Good advice this morning. Always great to see you, Sanjay. Thanks.
GUPTA: Good to see you, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Top stories coming your way in two minutes' time. Don't go away.
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