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CIA Foils Airliner Bomb Plot; Lugar Faces Tough Primary Challenge; Heiress Donations to Edwards Questioned; Interview with Congressman Mike Rogers; Manhunt for Kidnapper of Two Girls; John Travolta Accused of Sexual Assault; Documentary Explores Obesity Costs in U.S.
Aired May 08, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee comes out and calls the device undetectable. So why aren't security procedures at your airport changing?
Auto comeback. Mitt Romney and new claims saying he would, quote, "take a lot of credit for Detroit coming out of the red," this despite a call four years ago to let the Motor City go bankrupt.
Student loans showdown. The Senate today looking at how much seven million Americans owe? The goal, to prevent rates from doubling, the problem how to pay for it.
And "Weight of a Nation." A new HBO movie trying to sound the alarm and get Americans off the couch and on the treadmill. From fast food to no exercise to bad habits. We're tipping the scales big time. But will a movie motivate you to be healthy?
NEWSROOM begins right now.
Every day about 1.5 million Americans board airplanes. This morning they have a -- they have a big question. Is it safe to fly? No doubt there's good reason for that concern. This new plot centered around a nonmetallic explosive designed to slip through airport detectors. It's similar to the underwear bomb aboard a Detroit bound flight in 2009. A malfunction may be the only reason those passengers survived.
This latest plot also targeted an international flight coming into the United States. That was foiled about two weeks ago. The plan attack bears the hallmarks of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the investigation is still unfolding.
A short time ago we heard from White House chief adviser on counterterrorism. The big question, how worried should we be that this bomb and others like it would not be detected by current safeguards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRENNAN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISER: This IED was a threat from the standpoint of the design that we've been able to determine and so now we're trying to make sure that we take the measures that we need to to prevent any other type of IED similarly constructed from getting through security procedures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So will ramped-up vigilance mean new security measures yet again for U.S. travelers?
Tom Fuentes is a former assistant director of the FBI. He's in Washington.
Good morning, Tom.
TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So a lot of people are about to board airplanes, are they safe?
FUENTES: I think they're no safer than they were before all of this happened. And the second thing I'd like to add is there's nothing new in any of this. Richard Reid got on airplane with explosives very similar undetected. Abdulmutallab, the underwear bomber, undetected and he aboard an airport -- airplane, excuse me, in Amsterdam bound for the United States.
So whoever was going to have this chemical on their body to bring in, it probably was undetected. The dogs can't smell it. And unless you have sophisticated screening where you can see through the clothing and see if there's bulges or something on a body or around a body that doesn't belong there, you're not going to detect it.
And by the way, I also like to add, I just flew back to the United States from Istanbul on Sunday boarding a plane nonstop, landing at Dulles Airport Sunday evening, and there were no advance measures. I didn't have to take my shoes off, my belt off. There's no hand checking of the luggage beyond the normal magnetometer screening and going through the belt.
So even though this may have been uncovered weeks or months ago, apparently some of the other security agencies around the world didn't get the memo.
COSTELLO: Well, it kind of makes you crazy, though. You would think that the TSA would be -- I don't know, developing new technology or figuring out new ways to pat down flyers as they go through security since, you know, they know that X-ray machines and even those full body scanners can't pick up certain kinds of bombs.
FUENTES: Even if they could do it, I don't know if the public would stand for the type of screening that would be required. Now ten years ago Richard Reid tried to detonate a shoe bomb and we've had to put our shoes on the belt in U.S. airports ever since. In 2009, Abdulmutallab tried to explode a device in his underwear. I haven't seen anyone's underwear on any of these belts.
And I know it sounds funny or sarcastic, but it's the truth. People are not going to stand for the kind of intrusive examination that would be required to be 100 percent sure that someone doesn't have something hidden like that and it would probably bring airport travel or airline travel to a screeching halt if you were trying to do this to the million plus passengers as you mentioned every single day boarding aircraft in or around or to the United States.
COSTELLO: So I fly a lot. My family flies a lot. I'd like to be safe and know I'm safe on board a plane. So what am I supposed to do? Am I suppose to sit on the plane and be ever vigilant and take care of myself and my fellow passengers just through observation?
FUENTES: Apparently, yes. I mean that's what the passengers were credited with being vigilant when Abdulmutallab e tried to ignite the bomb on the Detroit bound aircraft. So I guess the moral of the story is that there are not enough sophisticated machines which would have to be deployed worldwide to actually detect this particular -- if it's PETN or one of the other similar powdered explosives, which can be ignited by liquid chemicals which can carried in syringes or plastic or glass containers.
So you're really -- you know, you're not looking at anything new in the sense that it's a nonmetallic device. They've been nonmetallic device since Richard Reid in 2001.
COSTELLO: Tom Fuentes, thank you so much.
FUENTES: You're welcome, Carol.
COSTELLO: In 20 minutes -- in 20 minutes we'll talk with Congressman Mike Rogers. He's the head of the House Intelligence Committee and one of the few lawmakers briefed on the most intricate details of this investigation. He'll be with us in just 20 minutes.
Checking other top stories making news this morning. It is deadline day for the Pentagon. The House Oversight Committee wants Defense Secretary Leon Panetta hand over what he knows about 12 military personnel caught up in last month's prostitution scandal in Colombia. That scandal has already cost nine Secret Service agents their jobs.
Voters in North Carolina are deciding whether the state should change its constitution to ban same-sex marriages. If passed, "Amendment 1" would define marriage as a union between one woman and one man. It would also invalidate all civil unions and domestic partnerships of straight and same-sex couples.
North Carolina is also one of the three states holding primaries today. The other states are West Virginia and Indiana. This will give Mitt Romney a chance to pick up more delegates. He needs just a little more than 300 more to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.
Besides choosing a presidential candidate, voters in Indiana must also decide if Senator Dick Lugar will keep his job. The six-term challenger is facing a tough primary challenge against Tea Party- backed state treasurer, Richard Murdoch. Last hour he told CNN he believes he can still win despite trailing by double-digits in the polls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DICK LUGAR (R), INDIANA: We've had a very vigorous campaign. But essentially the bulk of the money being spent on the campaign has been by so-called outside interest and people have run negative ads for millions of dollars and not only the Super PACs but various well-known organizations. Having said all of that, I believe that Hoosiers will, in fact, vote for me today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Lugar is the Senate's longest serving Republican.
Rick Santorum throws his support behind former rival Mitt Romney for president in an e-mail. Santorum told his supporters in the 13th paragraph of that e-mail he made his decision after meeting with Romney on Friday. He says the two men agree President Obama must be defeated. Santorum dropped out of the Republican race last month.
Prince Harry salutes wounded war vets and asks the United States and Britain to give them all the help they need during a brief visit to the British embassy in Washington. The prince met with a group of wounded troops who competed at the Warrior Games. About two hours later he was honored with the Humanitarian Leadership Award by former secretary of state, Colin Powell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE HARRY: If I may, I would like to accept the award on behalf of my brother, William, our foundation, all those on both sides of the Atlantic who worked so tirelessly to support our wounded veterans but particularly for the guys because this is their award.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Another royal gets recognized next month. That's when Queen Elizabeth celebrates 60 years on the throne. CNN live coverage for Diamond Jubilee starts Sunday, June 3rd at 11:00 a.m. Eastern.
A new plan would change the way the U.S. secures its borders to keep out terrorists and drug smugglers. But it may be a tough sell as the border agency's chief heads to Capitol Hill to try to convince lawmakers.
And take a close look at these sisters. They may be in the company of an armed and dangerous man. We'll have the latest on the manhunt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 11 minutes past the hour. A manhunt is now under way for a kidnapping suspect and two young sisters who may be in extreme danger. Two bodies found in shallow graves have now been identified as their mother and another sister. The four family members disappeared a week and a half ago. CNN's Martin Savidge is -- this is a sad story.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. I mean this is just such a horrible story that there's no -- well, the only hope is that we could find essentially 12-year-old Alexandria and 8-year-old Kyliyah alive and well.
Here's the concern. They are believed to be in the company of Adam Mayes, 35 years of age. He is the prime suspect here. He is also a longtime family friend according to authorities. And it all began on April 27th when Jo Ann Bain and her three daughters disappeared. Now at that time authorities it appears thought she might have gone off with Adam Mayes on her own, willingly.
But then a couple of things began to develop. Number one, they found her automobile on the side of a dirt road a couple of days later. That's not a good sign. They brought in Adam Mayes. They began talking to him. They realized the stories he was telling them didn't exactly add up. They went back to talk to him again and he had vanished.
As a result of that, they went to his property in Mississippi and there they found two shallow graves over the weekend. It was only revealed late last night that inside those shallow graves was 31-year- old Jo Ann Bain and her eldest daughter 14-year-old Adrienne -- Adrienne rather.
So now the concern becomes for those two young children. The 8- year-old and the 12-year-old trying to find. A major manhunt under way in western Tennessee, northern Mississippi. But they need the public's help. There's a $50,000 reward. But money is not the thing here. It is finding those two young girls and finding them alive and well. And authorities say right now the key is finding Adam Mayes.
COSTELLO: Can we put up this guy's picture again? Just, you know, in case people see him. And tell me who he is and how he's related to the family.
SAVIDGE: Well, you know, this is the thing that makes this story so striking. He has been a friend of the family for years. He has told many people that he considers those girls to be his own. Some have wondered whether he's delusional thinking that they really his own or whether he's just implying they're close. He's been on vacations with the family. He was in the family's home the night before they vanished. This family was preparing to move to Arizona.
We should point out that he goes by a couple of aliases here that authorities want you to know of. Christopher Zachary Wild is one name. Paco Rodriguez is another. It's also believed that he has now changed the identities or attempted to of the girls, cutting their hair, perhaps dyeing the hair as well.
Look at that face. Remember it. If you know --
(CROSSTALK) COSTELLO: There's also a phone number there for people to call. If you think that you've seen this man, please call that number so those little girls, you know, hopefully, prayerfully, they might be found alive.
SAVIDGE: Yes. It's already a tragedy, we are trying to prevent it from growing much, much worse.
COSTELLO: Martin Savidge, thank you.
Fourteen minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories now.
U.S. intelligence officials this morning still unraveling a terror plot to bring down an international flight bound for the United States. The plot involved a nonmetallic explosive designed to slip through airport detectors. Saudi intelligence officials provided the key information that diffused the threat.
About an hour from now, the head of U.S. Border Patrol will be on Capitol Hill to lay out his new strategy for securing the border. Michael Fisher hopes to convince lawmakers America will still be safe even if agents and cameras are not spread out along much of the border. He favors a more targeted approach in high risk areas.
North Carolina is one of three states holding primaries today. The other states are West Virginia and Indiana. This will give Mitt Romney a chance to pick up more delegates. He needs just a little more than 300 to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.
A billionaire heiress who donated thousands, millions of dollars to John Edwards' presidential campaign knew some of her money was not going to serve that purpose. The prosecution is wrapping up their case and we're getting more details.
Plus, the bombing mastermind behind the latest terror plot aimed at the United States. CNN's Brian Todd is taking a closer look at who he is -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not only tell you who he is but we'll tell you some other plots that he's believed to be behind and what he may be thinking of next, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: John Edwards' trial enters the third week with more crucial testimony about donations from billionaire philanthropist Rachel Bunny Mellon. An old friend of Edwards testified Edwards said $50 million would be a chip shot for the heiress to endow a foundation he intended to create.
Joe Johns has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: The prosecution in the John Edwards trial coming off a day that was both very good for the government and not so good at all.
Their high point came with Tim Toben, the witness who returns to the stand this morning. A neighbor of John Edwards and a former side kick Andrew Young. Toben told a story about how he agreed to drive a mysterious pregnant woman wearing sunglasses at 4:00 in the morning to an airport hangar in a private plane. He later figured out the woman was Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter.
Toben also said Edwards talked about how easy it would be to get $40 million to $50 million from wealthy benefactor Bunny Mellon, but later seemed to suggest he never said anything like that. His testimony tracked with what Young told the jury at the start of the trial.
Meanwhile, the testimony that came in that was damaging to the government was offered by Alex Forger, the attorney to Mrs. Mellon who was supposed to be a prosecution witness but may have dealt them a big blow by testifying that he explained to Mrs. Mellon that one of her large checks that eventually was used by the mistress and the fixers could not be a campaign donation. Forger also testified it was his understanding that John Edwards was not supposed to know about the payments that were being made to keep the affair out of sight.
Prosecutors have said they hope to wrap up their case on Thursday. Among the witnesses expected on the stand today, a woman Edwards' reportedly asked to help him draft a statement admitting his affair with Rielle Hunter.
Joe Johns, Greensboro, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day.
The question for you this morning: how much are you willing to sacrifice your privacy to be safe? We've gone back and forth on airline security. It seems like when there's a threat, Americans want the government to do anything it can to protect us. But when the threat fades, there's anger over the invasiveness of full body scanners and pat-downs. The TSA responded by scaling back searches of children and the elderly.
Now, we learned the United States thwarted a terror attempt with this chilling twist. According to Senator Dianne Feinstein, this would have been an undetectable bomb on an airliner coming into the United States, a bomb like the one worn by the Detroit underwear bomber. A plastic explosive but with no metallic content, so metal detectors would not find it.
Those full body scanners might show a so-called underwear bomb or might not.
Either way, one thing is for sure: terrorists are trying hard to outsmart our security devices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA ANALYST: People don't want to talk about the technology and the fact that they are improving their technology and I think these guys are very, very good. If they continue to adapt, I think we should consider this a very real threat to our aviation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: For Congressman Peter King, the latest terror plot proves America needs to remain vigilant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: This very sophisticated deadly organization and they have one goal in mind. And that's to destroy Western civilization, particularly the United States. We can never, ever let our guard down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Vigilant, yes. When it comes to personal liberty, where do you draw the line? So the talkback question for you today: how much are you willing to sacrifice your privacy to be safe?
Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your responses later this hour.
So, what more is being done to keep terrorists from boarding an airliner? The head of the House Intelligence Committee joins us live from Capitol Hill. That's coming your way, next.
And don't forget if you are heading out the door, you can take us with you. Watch us any time on your mobile or computer. Just head to CNN.com/TV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. It's 25 minutes past the hour.
Back to our top story. I want to take a closer look at the man suspected of being at the center of this latest terror plot. Ibrahim al-Asiri is believed to be al Qaeda's master bomb maker. He's blamed for two of the most bold plots against the United States: the 2009 underwear bomb that malfunctioned aboard a Detroit bound flight and the 2010 printer bombs. They were just one connecting flight away from reaching the United States.
In 2009, al-Asiri fitted his own brother with an underwear bomb. We'll have more on that in a moment.
Al-Asiri is almost a legend among terrorists.
Brian Todd is in Washington. He has studied this guy's past.
So, tell us more, Brian.
TODD: Well, officials here say that the device that was seized was similar to ones previously used by that group, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The group, as you mentioned, has this master bomb maker on America's radar for at least a few years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): One U.S. official says a man suspected of involvement in this effort is Ibrahim Asiri, a bomb making mastermind for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Asiri is believed to have planned the 2009 plot to kill Saudi Arabia's interior minister by placing the bomb in the rectal cavity or underwear of his own brother. Asiri's brother was killed but the minister escaped.
I asked Rafi Ron, Israel's former top aviation security official, about surgically implanted bombs.
(on camera): What does this tell you about where the terrorists are versus where security officials are right now?
RAFI RON, NEW AGE SECURITY SOLUTIONS: Well, it tells me that we have exhausted capabilities of technology available to us, because there's no way we can take the next step after the body scanners to figure out when a person carries a device inside his body.
TODD (voice-over): Ron and other experts say those full body scanners which we once tested out can see through clothing, can find prostheses, breast implants, contours, but cannot detect bombs inside of the body.
I spoke with Jack Sava, chief trauma surgeon at Washington Hospital Center, about how terrorists might try to pull this off.
(on camera): Do you need a hospital to do this or can you do it some kind of a terrorist field camp? What kind of training do you need?
DR. JACK SAVA, WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER: Well, I think again the fundamental question is how well do you want to do it. If you want to do it to 20 people and have 19 of them die and one success that you can send on your mission, that would be easier. You could do that sloppy.
But if you want to do it well and expect them all to remain sterile and not cause infection, I think then you're largely talking about a hospital or clinic setting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: But Dr. Sava says explosives could be implanted in abdomen or elsewhere. They could be placed in prosthetic devices like fake hips or breast implants. He says a non-sophisticated bomb might last three to four days inside the body before complications set in. But if it's a sophisticated surgery, maybe in a hospital or something, and if it's there, it could last months or weeks, weeks, months or even longer inside the body, Carol.
We also have to emphasize that the revelation coming out of yesterday's information, yesterday's -- the plot that was revealed yesterday indicates that this latest device may have been something more like an underwear bomb than a bomb implanted in someone's body.
COSTELLO: Right. But those bombs designed by this al-Asiri guy.
TODD: Right.
COSTELLO: Do American officials know where he is? I mean, do they have a lead on him?
TODD: It's unclear where he is right now. I think they believe he's somewhere in Yemen. But as far as exactly where he is, right now, Carol, I think if they know they're not letting on right now.
COSTELLO: Brian Todd reporting live for us from Washington -- thank you.
Other stories we're keeping an eye on this morning, voters head to the polls in North Carolina to decide whether the state should change its constitution to ban same-sex marriage. If passed, Amendment One would define marriage as a union between one woman and one man. But it would also invalidated all civil unions and domestic partnerships of straight couples.
Rick Santorum throws his support behind Mitt Romney for president in an e-mail. Santorum told his supporters in the 13th paragraph of the e-mail that he made his decision after meeting with Romney on Friday. He says the two men agreed President Obama must be defeated. Santorum dropped out of the Republican race last month.
Just about an hour from now, the head of the U.S. Border Patrol will be Capitol Hill to lay out his new strategy for securing the border. Michael Fisher hopes to convince lawmakers that America will be safe even if agents and cameras are not spread out along much of the border. He figures a more targeted approach in high-risk areas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Right now, U.S. intelligence officials are scrambling to unravel the latest threat to air travelers. The plot targeted an international flight bound for the United States. It involved a nonmetallic explosive designed to slip through airport detectors now at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia.
Saudi officials provided the key information that defused the threat.
Of course, one of the big concerns now is whether other would-be bombers are out there with similar devices. The White House counterterrorism adviser talked about that earlier on ABC's "Good Morning America."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRENNAN, WHITE HOUSE COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISOR: Well, you never know what you don't know. And hat's why the president directed us from the first days he was involved about this device, although we had the device in our control and we were confident that it was not going to pose a threat to the American public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Joining me now is the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Representative Mike Rogers, rather.
Thanks for joining us, Congressman.
REP. MIKE ROGERS (R-MI), CHAIR, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: So we know that the device is being looked at in Quantico, Virginia. Will we one day know what they find? Will that become public?
ROGERS: Well, probably not all of the details and for a very important reason. You don't want the bad guys in other places to know: (a), the composition of this. It was more advanced than the Christmas Day bomber's or underwear bomber's gear and still not something that we believe could have circumvented security.
But we don't want the information widespread that they can go back to the work bench and come up with way to try to circumvent security which is important, Carol, to know that they are trying to do that every single day and that's an important thing to remember in this.
COSTELLO: Yes. And the reason I ask you this question -- and I understand the concerns -- is people need to know what to look for because they feel, I don't know, they feel kind of helpless right now. What do you look for?
ROGERS: Well, in a case like this, that's why you have a security system at the airport to detect certain anomalies. You know, you go through the x-ray machine. That's uncomfortable. You don't like it. But it's to detect nonmetallic things that are trying -- somebody is trying to sneak into the airport and in this particular case many believe that that would have caught this particular device.
But I have to tell you, it's very sophisticated. They've got some very bright people spending lots of time -- a matter of fact, all day long trying to develop something they can sneak through these -- our airport security systems and, again, that's why we have to be so vigilant and work with our liaison partners and work to try to find where these folks are and where they recruit and where they build these things and make sure they don't have the opportunity to operate.
COSTELLO: Yes. I want to ask you about the bomb maker in a second. I want to go back to how you can protect air travelers, because many Americans think privacy is being invaded already by the TSA.
So if -- I don't know -- more stringent measures are put into place, will there be more backlash from the American public?
ROGERS: Well, I'm not -- when you say more stringent, I'm not sure we're there yet. It's clearly the forensics on this particularly device are still underway by the FBI.
But preliminarily, many believe you won't have to have anything different than we have right now. The system in place would have detected this. That's the good news. The bad news is a lot of people don't like the systems that are in place at the TSA.
So, you know, this is the one challenge that we have. These threats are real and they are serious. This is a device that was more sophisticated and had fail safes built into it and it was something that concerns us because it tells you that they bring capable people together to try to build something.
And that's why we have to be so aggressive about trying to find them and bring them to justice -- where they build, where they finance, where they recruit, where they train to do these things.
COSTELLO: Congressman, I guess I was just a little confused because some -- Senator Feinstein for example is saying that this was an undetectable bomb but you are saying it is a detectable bomb.
ROGERS: Well, again, all the forensics aren't done. Many believe that the current x-ray system would have detected it. That -- we don't know all of the facts yet. That's a preliminary conclusion.
And so, there are some things in it that are concerning -- some new technologies in this particular bomb that are concerning. However, we think under the current system it would have been detected through an extra type machine.
COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about the bomb maker, this Ibrahim al- Asiri. Do we have a beat on where he is?
ROGERS: We have an indication of the general area of where he is. You know, that effort is ongoing and has been ongoing. We understand the severity of what this would mean, and so lots of attention paid right now to ramping up where he is and exactly how we get at him.
COSTELLO: I think the other thing people are curious about this bomb is now in U.S. hands and people are wondering did we confiscate it from some person who is still out there? Do we know who that person is? Can you answer any of those questions for us?
ROGERS: Well, I can say I feel very, very comfortable about the process of which we obtained it. The one thing that isn't talked about, Carol, here that is a problem is the leak of which about the device being in FBI custody. Very, very concerning. Probably a little bit premature, shouldn't have happened.
As chairman of the intel committee, we'll be asking some questions about that. These are things that you need to run all of the way to ground. As an old FBI agent, I can tell you, you need to take your leads all the way to the end to make sure you get the whole picture before you: (a), come to a conclusion, and, (b), talk about your conclusion.
A little bit concerning this got out as early as it did. There was some work to be done and, boy, we sure have to get a handle of that on this town.
COSTELLO: Why does it concern you? Doesn't the American public have a right to know that these kind of bombs are being made and that -- I mean, we should protect ourselves?
ROGERS: Absolutely. At the end of that operation or investigative lead, absolutely, they have the right to know. During the process of that, it's important if you are going to be successful, that certain pieces of information be kept classified in order for you to meet the end, find the end, find the bomb maker, find that fill in the blank, make sure you can determine how we best handle getting not only just the bomb but the people who are building this.
You can pretty much guess this is probably not the only one that they built. All of those things are very, very important and for it to come out when it did, I do argue that it was -- it was just not very helpful.
We're going to have to ramp it up and in this town and in a political season, people need to be a little more cautious. Actually, they need to be a lot more cautious about how they promote this information at a time when it may not have been most beneficial to the intelligence community to do it.
COSTELLO: So, Congressman, are you saying it was deliberately leaked for political reasons?
ROGERS: I can't say that. I just know that in political season funny things happen. We're going to ask -- as committee chairman, I'm going to ask lots of questions about this leak and we need to get this kind of thing tightened down as quickly as we possibly can.
So, listen, so if something bad happens because it was leaked too early, that's a catastrophe. And it is -- it's also a crime.
And so we need to be really careful about this kind of thing. We need to send a clear message to all of our intelligence community, our defense community, and to the administration, we will not tolerate leaks for -- under any circumstances that jeopardize ongoing operations.
COSTELLO: Will you suggest a congressional investigation?
ROGERS: We're doing a preliminary ask of some serious questions as I speak.
COSTELLO: And the answers to those questions will determine whether a formal investigation should take place?
ROGERS: That's correct.
COSTELLO: Congressman Rogers, thank you for joining us this morning.
ROGERS: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Alarms are going off today over the rising number of people who will be considered obese in 2030. HBO is taking the initiative in their documentary to help the cause. But will it be enough? Can TV make you skinny? Sanjay Gupta has the answer.
If you see a car passing by with no one driving it, don't freak out. Google is testing a self-driving car. It might be on the market sooner than you think.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A self-driving car. Wouldn't that be phenomenal? Nevada has become the first state to grant licenses for a car that drives itself. Two people have to actually be inside the car in case something goes wrong but so far so good. The cars have already traveled 200,000 miles in test runs without an accident.
So how long will you have to wait before you can get your hands on one of these prototypes? Well Nevada's DMV says the robo-cars could be available to the public in three to five years.
Actor John Travolta calls a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault a total lie and he's now fighting back. A.J. Hammer in New York with all of the details. Hey A.J.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Hey Carol, yes Travolta's attorneys are calling this lawsuit a complete fiction and fabrication. A male massage therapist identified only as John Doe alleges in court documents that Travolta committed sexual assault and battery during a massage at the Beverly Hill Hotel back on January 16th.
Now the documents claim among other things that Travolta inappropriately touched the masseur during the encounter. the suit also alleges that Travolta yelled at the plaintiff saying sexual favors are how you get ahead in Hollywood.
Well, the massage therapist is seeking $2 million. And as I mentioned Travolta's attorneys are fighting back. They are doing it vehemently. They have been telling some outlets that the actor wasn't even on the West Coast the night in question. And they are promising to sue the plaintiff and the attorneys involved here.
We have reached out to the attorneys and to Travolta to get a comment on the story, Carol I haven't heard back yet. But you know sometimes it's better not to respond publicly to these types of things which do happen a lot but sometimes you got to make a bold statement that you're going to fight back because that can help quiet down other potential lawsuits. But they do happen all the time.
COSTELLO: Point taken. Yes they do sadly. A.J. Hammer, many thanks. We'll catch you in the next hour.
Checking our "Top Stories" now, it's 46 minutes past the hour. U.S. intelligence officials are still unraveling a terror plot to bring down an international flight bound for the United States. The plot involved a non-metallic explosive designed to slip through airport detectors. Saudi intelligences officials provided the key information that diffused the threat.
About 15 minutes from now the head of U.S. Border Patrol will be on Capitol Hill to lay out his new strategy for securing the border. Michael Fischer hope to convince lawmakers America will still be safe even if agents and cameras aren't spread out along much of the border. He favors a more targeted approach at high-risk areas.
North Carolina one of three states holding primaries today. The other states are West Virginia and Indiana. This will give Mitt Romney a chance to pick up more delegates. He needs just a little more than 300 to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.
The fight against fat and growing rate of obesity may be worse than studies suggest. Right now agencies are meeting in Washington to discuss progress, prevention and ways to control obesity. But the numbers are not showing any progress.
Take a look at these figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 12 states in 2010 had populations with 30 percent or more suffering from obesity. In 2000, no state had a 30 percent rate. In 2008, $147 billion in medical costs were associated with being overweight.
HBO is now getting involved. They are going to run a documentary series called "Weight of the Nation". The network will explore America's uphill battle of the bulge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I gained maybe ten pounds in the first few months here. And then it's just -- I weighed 126 and then now I'm up to 170, I think.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you get bored. You just want to eat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of us are here eight hours. Some of us are here 12 hours a day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: So that documentary will air May 14th and 15th. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here. And -- you're on your own mission to fight obesity. It's tough.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a story we've been talking about for a long time. There's no question if there's any good news in this and it's small good news at best, but the numbers are expected to be even higher at one point. They thought that 51 percent of this country would be obese, not overweight, but obese by the year 2030. As you said, 42 percent. That's 30 million more Americans who are clearly going in the wrong direction. To your point, I mean, all of these messages have been out there for some time but clearly they're not being heard or they're not being implemented or followed.
It's -- you know everything from not enough playgrounds, too many roads, too cheap unhealthy food to expensive healthy food. One thing I'll point out and we have talked about this. Is that it may not be just how much you eat but also what you eat as well that makes such a big difference.
COSTELLO: So you know -- everybody knows that being overweight, being obese is unhealthy. Everybody knows that --
GUPTA: Right.
COSTELLO: -- yet people continue to eat.
I mean, Michelle Obama, the First Lady, is on this big mission to like feed kids healthier foods and there's some push back on that. But everybody knows that's what kids should be doing because their adult lives will be miserable if they're obese.
GUPTA: Yes.
COSTELLO: So why can't -- why can't we just do something about it?
GUPTA: Well, taking people at their word like you just saw that little clip in the documentary, people don't want to be in that position. They don't want to be overweight, they don't to be exposed to this chronic health conditions.
Some of it may be unwittingly, they have been doing this to themselves, meaning that you know for instance we think health food in this country is low fat food that also has a lot of sugar.
And when we -- when we started adopting that lifestyle over the last 30 years, what happened? We became more obese, we have more heart disease in both men and women and the childhood overweight and obese epidemic has just skyrocketed.
So sugar, you know, not all calories are the same. This idea that sugar when we put it into our bodies behaves differently in some way. Spikes insulin and makes us store fat even affects our heart. I think that's a shocker to a lot of people so again you know it's -- the calories are important, but what we're eating I think is -- is as, if not more important.
And I think that's just a lack of education really at all levels from the medical establishment on down.
COSTELLO: It makes you wonder if this HBO documentary will help. Because people who watch it, I mean we have shows on television already like "The Biggest Loser". And you know we all cheer when those people like they work hard, they lose weight, but still we just watch for the most part. GUPTA: Yes and I think you're absolutely right. And I think I would be curious to see -- I'm going to interview John Hoffman by the way who is the executive producer of the show and ask him that specific question. I don't know what you can hope to achieve, I think a lot of the solutions have already been discussed.
And -- and some of them work in smaller communities. You know bike lanes and more green space, things like that. But I think as a nation, we have really I think been mis-educated about what we should be putting in our bodies.
Again, taking people at their word that they want to be healthy, that they want to do the right things for themselves and their children, and so forth maybe -- maybe a better education campaign that really works. People see the results I mean, eating less sugar, for example; eating bigger breakfasts, simply moving around more during the day those things can have a measurable impact..
COSTELLO: Ok, give me your what -- eat breakfast like a king --
GUPTA: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince or princess and dinner like a -- like a peasant.
COSTELLO: I've been doing that.
GUPTA: Front load -- front load. You look great, too. It's working.
COSTELLO: Thanks. Thank you Sanjay.
GUPTA: Yes.
COSTELLO: A boy born with a partial right arm has learned to just use his left one and use it to even throw, yes, a no hitter. The story of Coleman Shannon, coming up next in sports.
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COSTELLO: We asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning: how much are you willing to sacrifice your privacy to be safe?
This from Tracy. "I will sacrifice all my privacy to be safe. I think of the horrific reality that passengers on 9/11 faced when they knew they were going to die that day."
This from Bob. "The TSA is a joke and so is the government. Both try to instill fear through the Patriot Act which stripped Americans of basic privacy."
This from Judy. "What's more invasive than being blown up? Let's get past a 60-second scan and stay safe."
And this from Steve. "How much should any of us sacrifice for a bit of safety which cannot be guaranteed. Every day we risk our lives crossing the street or driving. There is no need to make travel more miserable than it already is. Besides if the TSA wants to see me naked they should at least buy dinner and drinks first."
Keep the conversation going, facebook.com/carolCNN. I'll read some more of your comments in the next hour of NEWSROOM.
And we are following a lot of developments in the next hour. Let's check in first with Martin Savidge.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we're working on now is to bring you more information about the manhunt to find Adam Mayes. He is the man who is believed to be the kidnapper now of two young girls. He's already suspected of murdering their mother and one of their sisters. Now the effort is to try to find him. We'll tell you more of what people can do to help -- Carol.
STAN GRANT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stan Grant in Beijing where the government here is ramping up the propaganda campaign trying to smear the activist Chen Guangcheng as he prepares or tries to flee to the United States. We'll have more on that next hour.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And from China to Kentucky, Carol, I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. We're going to talk about this -- the glass on your iPhone, guess where it comes from? Probably not where you think -- not Silicon Valley, not China -- very rural part of this country. We'll have the story coming up in the next hour.
COSTELLO: Also voters in North Carolina will vote today on a constitutional amendment banning civil unions and domestic partnerships of any kind. In just a few minutes I'll talk with two people with opposing viewpoints. The pastor of a Winston, Salem church and the openly gay mayor of Chapel Hill.
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COSTELLO: The Los Angeles Clippers got Chris Paul for playoff games like this. The Clippers point guard took control in overtime against the Grizzlies. He scored 8 points to lead L.A. to a 101-97 win over Memphis. The clippers now lead the series 3 games to 1. If they win tomorrow night, they'll capture their first playoff series in 36 years.
Major League Baseball is suspending Phillies pitcher, Cole Hamels five games for intentionally throwing at Nationals rookie Bryce Harper. There he is out there.
Hamels made headlines after Sunday's game when he said he was trying to hit Harper as an old school way of welcoming him to the big leagues. Nationals GM like (inaudible) did not see it that way, telling the "Washington Post" -- that pitch was gutless
