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NEWS STREAM
Oklahoma Stories Of Survival; British Intelligence Aware Of Woolwich Suspects; English Defense League Takes To Streets; Community Reaction To Woolwich Killing; Sony Mulls Breakup
Aired May 23, 2013 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Becky Anderson in London at the site of the horrific stabbing attack on a British soldier.
London police search for answers in the gruesome stabbing death of a British soldier as the prime minister vows that the UK will never give in to terror.
LU STOUT: And we will also hear from a teacher who shielded children from the Oklahoma tornado with her own body.
And also up next in the program, is it time to split up Sony? That's what one outspoken shareholder is calling for.
ANDESRON: Well, we start this hour just meters away from the scene of Wednesday's vicious stabbing in southeast London, a killing of a British soldier. The British government is treating this as a terrorist attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This country will be absolutely resolute in its stand against violent extremism and terror. We will never give in to terror or terrorism in any of its forms.
Second, this view is shared by every community in our country. This was not just an attack on Britain and on the British way of life, it was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country.
There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, British Prime Minister David Cameron's remarks followed a meeting of senior government and law enforcement officials at Downing Street. High on the agenda was likely who these two attackers were and whether they were from a wider terror cell.
Well, meanwhile, police are still combing the scene of the stabbing here in Woolwich. And neighbors -- or the neighborhood of southeast London. We've just also learned officers are searching an address in Lincolnshire, which is eastern England, in connection with the murder.
Both men suspected in the attack are under guard at local hospitals after being shot by police in the aftermath of this attack.
They've not been named. And police have not formally identified the victim except to say that he was a serving soldier.
Well, let's remind you exactly what happened here yesterday, because this was a brutal, brutal attack. The soldier was butchered in broad daylight at around 2:20 in the afternoon. That happened just down by those traffic lights behind me. Police were called after reports that a man had been assaulted by two others armed with weapons.
But it's the details of this attack that make it so shocking. Witnesses say the men hit the victim with their car then started hacking at him with knives and meat cleavers. Then, leaving the victim dead in the middle of the street, one of the attackers walked over to bystanders who had a camera, his hands covered in blood, and still brandishing his weapon, he began to justify his actions.
Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We swear by the almighty Allah, we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone. We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. We'll -- I apologize that women had to witness this today, but in our land our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government. They don't care about you. Do you think David Cameron is going to get caught in the street when we start bursting our guns, do you think your politicians are going to die? No, it's going to be the average guy like you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the men then waited for police to arrive without trying to escape.
But there was more violence to come. These pictures were taken shortly after police shot the attackers. Witnesses have described the suspects rushing at the arriving officers.
Well, in the video, the suspect suggests a jihadist agenda for the attack. Britain's civil emergency committee, or COBRA, met earlier today to discuss what motivated the men. Amongst other issues, it was the second such briefing to take place in 24 hours at 10 Downing Street, that's where Erin McLaughlin is standing by for you.
What are the details of this latest meeting as we know them?
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Becky.
Well, earlier today, the prime minister David Cameron chaired a meeting right here at Downing Street. It was a COBRA meeting, as you mentioned. A COBRA meeting is a meeting of high ranking government officials generally held during at times of crisis. This particular meeting in attendance included the Home Secretary Theresa May, the Defense Secretary Philip Hammond, as well as the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
Now out of that meeting, which lasted about an hour, the prime minister delivered a statement, though he did not divulge any additional concrete details as to the events that unfolded yesterday. He said he was limited in terms of what he was able to say due to the nature of the ongoing investigation.
Now as you mentioned, this was the second COBRA meeting to be held within the last 24 hours. Yesterday's meeting was chaired by the Home Secretary Theresa May. Out of that meeting, officials announced plans to increase security at military installations around London.
Now, they didn't have any information in terms of why they made that decision, if it was due to a specific threat or just out of an abundance of caution, but interesting to note that no announcement, or official announcement has been made thus far regarding any sort of changes today in security arrangements here in London -- Becky.
ANDERSON: All right.
Well, British media outlets, including Sky and the Daily Mail are naming one of the suspects as Michael Adebolajo. CNN has not independently confirmed the name.
Well, after the attack, the suspects seem to want to be filmed. One of them asked people on the street to take photographs of him. Just a few moments ago, we showed you what he said as a bystander recorded it on his phone camera.
Well, now the man who filmed that is speaking out. IDN's Paul Davis has his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL DAVIS, ITV NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The man with the bloodied hands is not talking to a professional cameraman, he has deliberately sought out a passerby who was filming with a phone camera. The man who filmed those dreadful scenes prefers not to be identified, but he told me about that unreal conversation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he see me to filming that, he came straight to me. He said, no, no, no, it's cool. It's cool. I just want to talk to you.
DAVIS: The amateur cameraman says what struck him most was that the bloodied man and a second man seemed to be waiting by the body for the police to arrive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't they run? You can run, because the time the police was taking to come, that was 30 minutes. And in 30 minutes, the guys they can running, take the train, go anywhere.
DAVIS: Instead, the two men talked to women, allegedly apologizing. And according to this witness, charged towards the first police officers to arrive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he (inaudible) gunmen, the city police straight, they run to the police. They run straight to the police. And they start of to change the gun, bang, bang, bang -- you know.
DAVIS: They didn't try and run away at all?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, no, no. They didn't try. They didn't try.
DAVIS: With the two men injured and restrained on the ground, the police moved the amateur cameraman away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move back, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not (inaudible) need to come. They need to come for early.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move back.
DAVIS: He asks them why they'd taken so long to respond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not safe for you to remain here. Please move back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you should have come early. Look at the guy, he's dead now. That's the time you coming. You take 30 minutes to come. Yeah, the British soldier is dead. Look at him, that's (inaudible) come.
DAVIS: The witness says he'd been on his way for a job interview when the world seemed to go mad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's very sad for me. I'll see someone die that, you know, because he didn't do nothing to die today, you know, and for me, it's very sad and strange day for me -- very sad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, the commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police is asking other witnesses of the attack to come forward and share any footage that they have.
Now you've heard Paul Davis's report and questions about how long it took the police to arrive at the scene here. They say they're aware of some reports that it took them 30 minutes to get there. But their investigation shows officers were on the scene nine minutes after the first call was received.
Well, while the government is taking the threat of more attacks seriously, some commentators think that it is unlikely. CNN's Christiane Amanpour spoke with the former head of counterterrorism at the intelligence agency MI-6 Richard Barrett.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BARRETT, FRM. HEAD COUNTERTERRORISM MI-6: This sort of instant is bound to happen. I mean, we can't escape it, whether it's in Boston or London. But I think we have to keep it all in perspective. I mean, it's incredibly rare if you look at the attacks in London since 2005, there really haven't been any.
You mentioned the plot to kidnap a soldier in Birmingham, I think it was, and that was a very real plot, and very similar I think to this. But apart from that, most of the things that have been uncovered by the security services in England have been pretty Mickey Mouse, you know. They've not really been terribly serious. And this one, too.
You know, OK, a couple of crazies who are committing murder in a London street, killing a soldier, you know, in the name of some sort of cause which is very indistinct and really doesn't resonate with I wouldn't have thought any of the Muslims in Britain or elsewhere in the world.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So do you see these, then, as -- I mean, obviously we've talked about lone wolves, we've talked about homegrown terror, we've been talking about it ad nauseum since Boston. This seems to follow very quickly after Boston, which got a huge amount of play. This is the oxygen that these people depend on. And we're giving it to them.
Do you think that this -- I mean, from your knowledge, I know the facts are still not in, from your knowledge as MI-6 and your other knowledge, is this something that would have had a lot of organization, would have a big group behind them, is ideologically motivated? Is it crazies as you say? Copy cats?
BARRETT: Well, I think it's hard to say, you know, without knowing more. But it, generally speaking, when people do this sort of thing, there's usually a group. You know, they've sort of wound each other up; they've become more radicalized by talking to one another and moaning about what's going on in other parts of the world and watching extremist videos and things like.
But that doesn't mean it can translate into a trend, you know. This is an isolated incident.
And I'm sure that Boston, as you say, was a good advertisement for terrorists, if you like, and they can get massive coverage from a relatively small incident -- horrible incident, of course, you know, absolutely vile, but nonetheless one that in overall terms doesn't cause very much damage, just like this one, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: All right. We've got much more on this developing story coming up for you this hour, including reaction from the Muslim community here in south London.
For some other news, though, that we are covering for you here on CNN, as you would expect, it's back to Hong Kong and to Kristie.
LU STOUT: Becky, thank you.
We're watching News Stream. And still ahead on the program, protecting the children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My kids were praying, the teachers were praying. They looked Ms. Breton (ph) in the eye and we could hear a roar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: A moving account there. Teachers in Oklahoma recalled their struggles to keep students safe as Monday's massive twister struck.
And U.S. drone policy -- U.S. President Barack Obama is set to focus on the controversial weapon in a major speech on counterterrorism.
And Sony's possible spinoff. Why one major shareholder says breaking up part of its entertainment wing could help the company's high tech future.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back.
Let's recap the developing news that CNN is following for you here in southeast London. Security at army bases around the city has been increased after the daylight killing of a British soldier that the government says was a terrorist attack. The man was hacked to death by two men near the Royal Artillery Barracks here in Woolwich just two my right after a second emergency meeting British Prime Minister David Cameron calls it an attack on Britain and a betrayal of Islam.
We have just learned that he is here at these barracks meeting soldiers as we speak.
LU STOUT: Becky Anderson there.
Let's take you now to Oklahoma and the aftermath of Monday's monster tornado.
Now crews are working to clear the wreckage from the disaster that killed dozens of people, hundreds were injured. And harrowing stories of survival have emerged, including the efforts of teachers trying to keep children safe.
Brain Todd has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SCREAMING)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's the sound of the terrifying moments when the tornado hit. Lynne Breton and Jessica Orr are still shaken. Their voices still quiver when they talk about it. Monday afternoon, when this massive tornado struck, they huddled with 25 kids inside a bathroom at Briarwood Elementary School. Breton says she covered two kids with her body and kept thinking...
LYNNE BRETON, TEACHER, BRIARWOOD ELEM. SCHOOL: Don't let me die. Just let me get these babies out of here.
TODD: As the roof was torn off and the ceiling caved in on the bathroom, listen to the audio recording on Breton's cell phone of horrified kids. Breton trying to reassure them.
(SCREAMING)
BRETON: You're OK! You're OK! You're OK. We're OK. We're OK.
I didn't know what to tell them. I just kept telling them, we're OK. My mind, I was praying.
JESSICA ORR, TEACHER, BRIARWOOD ELEM. SCHOOL: Just, Father, just protect us. For angels (ph) in between us and the tornado, I know you're stronger than this tornado. And some of the kids were praying. The teachers were praying. And I looked Ms. Breton in the eye and we could hear a roar.
TODD: Breton teaches sixth grade at Briarwood. Orr teaches fifth grade. The kids they were protecting, ten or 11 years old. (on-camera) Lynne Bretton says the most intense part of the experience when the tornado was at its strongest and grinding their school apart played out over the course of only about ten minutes. Afterward, this is what was left of Briarwood Elementary School.
(voice-over) At one point, one of the kids shouted at Breton, "I love you."
UNIDENTIFIED KID: I love you!
BRETON: Oh, I love you, too! We're OK. We're OK!
(SCREAMING)
TODD: Everyone survived. The teachers say no one was hurt.
ORR: In the sound, you could hear it just start to go away and I thought, we made it. We made it. Thank you, God.
TODD (on-camera): Lynne Breton says the advice she would give to other teachers for a situation like that, count your kids, know who you have, and stay calm. Although, she says that's next to impossible.
Brian Todd, CNN, Moore, Oklahoma.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: What a stirring account.
Now one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the town of Moore is the pile of rubble where Plaza Towers Elementary once stood. Seven children were killed when it collapsed, including 8-year-old Kyle Davis. And his mother told CNN's Kyung Lah about her grief and her anger.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKKI DIXON DAVIS, VICTIM'S MOTHER: I was running out the door. And I was like, I love you, bud. And he was like, I love you, mom. And he was laying in my bed watching TV. That's the last time I seen him.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT; What followed, a disaster few can fathom. A mother's nightmare that only the parents of the children at Plaza Towers Elementary can truly understand.
DAVIS: Of course, the closer I got to the school, the harder it was. Because the houses were pretty much gone. And when I got to the school, I broke down really hard.
LAH: Mikki Davis' other child, 11-year-old Caylee, survived by hiding in the girl's bathroom. She walked out, running into her mother's arms. But still missing, eight-year-old Kyle.
DAVIS: You don't know if he's safe, if he's still stuck under all that rubble. Is he -- you know, where is he? Being a mother, you know you have to know where your babies are.
LAH: Davis collapsed from the emotional strain at the school, rushed to the er. She spent the night curled up with this picture, praying until the morning.
DAVIS: And then I got confirmation that they had him. But he didn't make it. And, you know, you cry and cry and cry. And then you feel like you're crying and there's no tears going, but you feel like they're going. And I just -- it's just something I never, ever thought in my life that we would have to go through.
LAH: Davis wanted to meet here, at the soccer field her son loved. He grew up on these fields. He loved being number 16 for the '04 Cosmos white team, where they nicknamed him The Wall for his size and ferocious defense. Holding his favorite ball, wearing the soccer trinkets her son adored, Davis, who is explained three generations of her family stopped by to meet us on the way to planning his funeral.
(on camera): Are you angry at all at anything? Is it just the overwhelming sadness that you feel?
DAVIS: I am angry to an extent. I know the schools did what they thought they could do. But with us living in Oklahoma, tornado shelters should be in every school. It should be -- you know, there should be a place that if this ever happened again during school that kids can get to a safe place. That we don't have to sit there and go through rubble and rubble and rubble and may not ever find what we're looking for.
LAH: Next month was going to be such a happy month. Davis was getting married, Kyle celebrating his birthday. He was going to turn nine. The whole family was going to be there. Instead, they're gathering this Friday for his funeral.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Moore, Oklahoma.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you are back watching News Stream.
Now, U.S. President Barack Obama is set to address the use of unmanned drones to kill enemy combatants. But as Dan Lothian tells us, with some Americans have been killed, that weapon of choice does not come without controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hours before President Obama delivers a major national security speech, his administration is now acknowledging that the U.S. killed four Americans in drone strikes. The government admitted to the killings in a letter Wednesday to Congress.
Of the four, only Anwar al-Awlaki was actually targeted in September 2011 in Yemen. The others were in the wrong place at the wrong time. American drones have aggressively chase terrorist from the mountains of Pakistan to the desert of Yemen. High-tech warfare consistently defended by the Obama administration.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To stop plots, prevent future attacks, and to save American lives. LOTHIAN: In his "State of the Union" address, President Obama laid out a broad legal justification for this use of deadly force.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My administration has worked tirelessly to forge a durable, legal, and policy framework to guide our counterterrorism efforts.
LOTHIAN: And the attorney general's letter also reveals this week the president approved new standards for reviewing and approving missions to capture or kill terrorists. In his speech later today at the National Defense University, aides say the president will build on his "State of the Union" message, including providing more transparency on how terrorists are targeted and making the case that al Qaeda is weakened, but new dangers have emerged.
PETER SINGER, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: The longer that this program has gone on, the more controversial its become, whether it's the concerns over civilian casualties, the blowback on American reputation.
LOTHIAN: All things the president said he wrestles with in an interview last summer with CNNs Jessica Yellin.
OBAMA: That's something that you have to struggle with.
LOTHIAN: Another flashpoint that the president will address, the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Mr. Obama's first pledge when he took office in 2009 was to close the facility, but after insurmountable legal hurdles, it remains open.
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You know, it is the president's view that we should be determined as he is to see the Guantanamo Bay Detentions Facility close. Keeping it open is not efficient, it's not effective, and it's not an interest of our national security.
LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, you're watching a special addition of News Stream, coming up more on the suspected terror attack in London, how bystanders were caught up in an extraordinary and terrifying killing. The attack raising tensions in what is this multicultural neighborhood. We're going to hear the community reaction to the tragedy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: And I'm Becky Anderson in London at the site of a brutal attack on a British soldier.
LU STOUT: And I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.
Let's look at the other world headlines first.
Now authorities now say everyone is accounted for after Monday's massive tornado in central Oklahoma. U.S. President Barack Obama will tour the storm zone on Sunday. At least 24 people were killed, more than 350 are hurt, 12,000 homes are damaged or destroyed. And the mayor of the worst hit town of Moore Oklahoma is pushing for all new homes to be built with a storm shelter.
Now at least 12 people have been killed in a car bombing in Pakistan's violence plagued Balochistan Province. Police in Quetta say the attackers used a remote controlled device to detonate the bomb as a police vehicle drove by. Now separately, four gunmen opened fire on a brothel in the province, killing five people.
Now after a seven month rally, the NIKKEI plunged some 7.3 percent in Thursday trade. Now Japanese investors were rattled by a contraction in China's manufacturing sector. Economists had been expecting a narrow growth there. Now under indexes in Asia followed the NIKKEI south.
ANDERSON: Well, London's metropolitan police have confirmed that the man killed near a military barracks was a serving soldier. The victim was hacked to death by two attackers in broad daylight. Then waving a machete with bloody hands, one ranted at a bystander with a camera, using language that suggested a jihadist agenda.
Well, British Prime Minister David Cameron calls it an attack on Britain and a betrayal of Islam.
Well, as police and senior government officials investigate the attack, perhaps one of the most crucial questions they need to answer, are the two attackers part of a wider terror cell?
Well, joining me now is CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank. And that's a very crucial question. What more do we know?
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, there's no evidence, Becky, so far that they're linked to an organized terrorist group like al Qaeda overseas, but this may well be al Qaeda inspired.
But it does seem that they were attending meetings of a group in the United Kingdom which was championing al Qaeda's ideology on the streets of the UK. That group called Al-Muhajiroun. It seems that according one of the leaders of this group that they're attending several meetings.
So they may not just have been radicalized online, but also by going to these sorts of meetings where they sort of whip people up into a state of indignation about British foreign policy, wars overseas and so on.
ANDERSON: Some talk this morning that these two attackers were on the intelligence radar. Can we confirm that?
CRUICKSHANK: We cannot confirm that at this point, but if they were indeed attending some of the meetings of this radical group supportive of al Qaeda, this is a group well known to the security services here. It may well be that it was because of that that they were monitoring them. We don't know that for sure yet, Becky.
ANDERSON: Can we confirm that they were using the local mosque here in Woolwich?
CRUICKSHANK: We don't know that. The details are very scarce at this point.
ANDERSON: All right, OK. We're going to leave it there for the time being. Paul, go and find what you can and come back to us, of course.
Well, that attackers raised concern about a backlash in the community here against the Muslim community. Members of the far-right English Defense League clashed with police on Wednesday night. The nationalist group's official Twitter account calls for its members to, quote, "take to the streets. Take a stand."
Well, London's metropolitan police have deployed riot officers as a precautionary measure. Elsewhere, two mosques in Essex and Kent Counties east and south of London were damaged.
Well, the motive for the attack is not yet known, but in the video we've been showing you one of the attackers says the killing was done in the name of Islam. The Muslim council of Britain has been quick to condemn what it calls, quote, a barbaric act.
But earlier, Asghar Bukhari from a civil liberties group, The Muslim Public Affairs Committee, told my colleague Zain Verjee that Muslim leaders aren't doing enough to tackle extremism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASGHAR BUKHARI, MUSLIM PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTE: They're very good at coming on here and condemning it and saying how bad it is, but what action have they practically done to teach their young people, young Muslims what they can practically do in the UK? What you actually have is a leadership that's more interested in debating about theological issues, you know, how big someone's beard should be, or et cetera, silly minor issues while the whole world is turning upside down.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What should they be doing?
BUKHARI: They should be teaching young Muslims as in America when people felt that there was oppression, black people felt there -- they were oppressed, they took -- Martin Luther King took them on a political journey to free themselves. Well, why can't the Muslims not do the same? The reason is, they don't know how to do it. They don't know if it would work. And they simply have no skills or leadership that would lead them along that pathway.
That failure has lead to this outrage that's sweeping across the Muslim world that hit America in the Boston bombings and now is hitting the UK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, David Cameron was here in Woolwich within the last hour. We believe he was possibly at the barracks just to my right-hand side where we believe the serving soldier had been before he came out yesterday and was so brutally murdered here on the streets of southeast London.
These pictures just into CNN. David Cameron, the prime minister who of course chaired a COBRA meeting, an emergency meeting at 10 Downing Street earlier on today. Here in the area he followed Boris Johnson who is the mayor, of course, of the -- of London. He was flanked today by the borough's commander as he made comments as well about the brutal attack last night.
Well, Woolwich is a working-class area of London with a multicultural community. The attack on a serving British soldier has shocked locals and has sparked fears there may be reprisals.
Joining me now is Sat Bansal who lives in the area. Sir, I know you delivered some flowers just earlier on down the road here just behind us where this attack happened. Your response, firstly, to what you saw and heard yesterday?
SAT BANSAL, WOOLWICH RESIDENT: Well, like everyone I think the first response was just to shock and disbelief. You know, I first started hearing about it through the social media -- Facebook, Twitter. And when you hear the words, when you say it out loud, someone was decapitated in Woolwich you can't believe it, you know.
And then, you know, confirmation started coming through on the news and I was just completely thrown back. And, you know, one of my biggest concerns now is escalation. You know, you had the EDL here in Woolwich last night taking to the streets, like you mentioned, and they were chanting, you know, whose streets? Our streets. And, you know, my reaction to that would be, look, I was born in Greenwich. I was born and raised in Woolwich. These are my streets just as much as anyone else's here.
And, you know, Woolwich is -- it's a melting pot of so many different cultures and, you know, races and people -- like, for so long, we've all got on well. I mean, Woolwich isn't without its problems in terms of crime and things like that, but this is still where I call home. And for something like this to happen on your own doorstep is just unbelievable.
ANDERSON: You're telling me your parents came here in the 1960s. You're British born and bred. You're a Sikh of Indian descent. But as you say you are British born and bred. These are as much your streets as they are anybody else's.
Talk to me about these concerns, about this possibly being a sort of tinderbox, as it were?
BANSAL: Well, it feels like, you know, that people -- extremists on both sides -- you know, if these guys are, you know, using Islam and their extremist views as a catalyst, as they said they wanted to start a war. And the EDL are quick to jump on that and to almost give them the war that they're asking for. And it's like, well, look, you know, I'm not a Muslim man, you know, I'm a Sikh heritage, I'm Indian, but to the average layman walking down the street they don't know, you know. People can quite easily make mistakes. And it only takes one small incident, but it's to escalate into something far bigger, you know.
ANDERSON: I just want to let our viewers know, you've referred to the EDL twice, that's the English Defense League. This is a far right white group here in the UK. I was here last night when just about I don't know half a mile down the road there was a significant protest by the members of the EDL, about 100, 150 of them. There were 50 riot police involved in that.
It's got to be said, the police have been on to this extremely quickly. They have learned their lessons of days of yore as it were, a couple of years ago and there were riots here in London. They got onto -- absolutely, they got onto the streets really quickly and they split up that protest in order to get these guys off the street. And so I don't want to over sell what the EDL has been able to achieve on the back of this, although as you say, you would be concerned as a member of the community.
BANSAL: Of course, you know, I've got family that live local. My sister lives up the road. She's got a 3-year-old niece. And last night, they were ringing me, they were terrified. You know, lock your doors, stay indoors. And what upsets me most is that, you know, these terrorists, if they are that, you know, they feed off of terror. They want us to be scared.
You know, and I said to my sister, look, of course you know stay indoors, be safe, but, you know, we as people of Woolwich, people of London, people of Britain, we can't give in to this fear, because if we do they've won, you know.
ANDERSON: Sat, you're make an awful lot of sense. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
David Cameron calling this an attack on all of Britain today. That includes myself and Sat, of course. He also said that this is a betrayal of Islam.
Have a listen to what one eyewitness, one eyewitness of the actual confrontation said to us a little earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INGRID LOYAU-KENNETT, CONFRONTED SUSPECT: He say he's a British soldier. He killed people, he killed Muslim people in Muslim countries and they have nothing to do here. And I said, OK, so what would you like? And I tried to make him talk about what he felt. And he said that all the bomb droppings and killing blindly women's, children, all Muslims...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you were trying to get him to talk to you?
LOYAU-KENNETT: That's right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The woman who actually confronted the suspect. It seems almost inconceivable, unbelievable that that happened on the streets of southeast London on a normal day just down the road from me here by the lights you can see over my right-hand shoulder just 50 or so yards away.
Well, still ahead on News Stream, we'll have more reaction to this attack in London. I'll speak with Britian's former secretary Jack Straw. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream.
And we'll go back to Becky Anderson for more updates from London in just a few minutes. But now, I want to bring you some tech news. And an amazing story of one young scientist that could revolutionize the way we charge our mobile devices.
Dan Simon has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every so often you meet someone who you know is destined for big things.
EESHA KHARE, TEENAGE SCIENTIST: I'm really interested in energy storage and nanomaterials for energy storage.
SIMON: Not something you typically hear out an 18-year-old's mouth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From Saratoga, California, Eesha Khare.
SIMON: Eesha Khare is a senior at San Jose's Lynbrook High School. She came to our attention after winning an Intel Young Scientist Award, beating out more than 1,600 students from around the world.
(on camera): Did you think you were going to win?
KHARE: No, I actually didn't. So only when the confetti actually came up that I realized that I'm one of these three people.
SIMON: Eesha created what's called a super capacitor, a tiny version of one, anyway. The idea for it came from something we all experience.
KHARE: Many teenagers nowadays have cell phones, and I have a cell phone too. And my cell phone battery often dies out on me.
SIMON: The dead cellphone. Eesha's breakthrough could one day make charging it superfast, 20 to 30 seconds fast.
KHARE: There was capacitors, batteries, and supercapacitors. And just, I think super sounded really cool to me. And I never heard of it before. So I decided to go and see what that is.
SIMON: The judges were impressed and noted that her technology has wide implications.
KHARE: Engergy storage is a really big field, so it could be used green energy like wind turbines. It could be used in electric cars. There's a lot of different energy storage applications for this new technology.
SIMON: Born and raised in Silicon Valley, Eesha says she was constantly inspired by those around her, but not just to pursue her goals.
KHARE: Right now, like I am a girl in science. And that's great. And a lot more girls are getting into science, but I think there's a lot of stigma surrounding like being a girl and being a woman in science. And I really wanted to try to break that in the field of science.
SIMON: Besides having a perfect grade point average and being a class valedictorian, Eesha is also a member of the school's varsity field hockey team. She's also an accomplished dancer.
Not surprisingly, she had a few choices when it came to picking a college.
Can you tell me what schools, what colleges you applied to?
KHARE: OK. I applied to and was accepted to Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Yale, and Cal Tech. And all the UC's I applied to.
I ended up selecting Harvard.
SIMON: Eesha's takeaway from Intel, $50,000, money that she says will help pay for college.
Dan Simon, CNN, San Jose, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Eesha is amazing. And she went to my high school, Lynbrook High School in San Jose.
Now this company is known as a maker of movies, music, mobile phones and of course the Playstation, but if one investor has his way Sony could soon be spinning off parts of its entertainment division.
And here is why. Well, you may associate Sony with consumer electronics, its biggest moneymakers last year were device components like semiconductors, its studio, its music division and financial services.
Now consumer goods like mobile devices and home entertainment products actually lost a combined total of $1.9 billion in 2012.
And news of a possible spinoff sent Sony shares to a two year high on Wednesday.
Now for more on this, we're joined from New York by CNN contributor Nick Thompson. He's also the editor of the NewYorker.com. Nick, it's good to see you.
It seems that the markets want to see Sony broken up, but should it be broken up now? I mean, it just reported its first profit in years, so isn't it on the right track?
NICK THOMPSON, NEWYORKER.COM: It is on the right track. I mean, that would actually be an argument for breaking it up. If the electronics portion of the company goes to profitability, you can break off the entertainment division, you can have two profitable companies.
Now, there are all kinds of tax implications, there are all kinds of personnel implications. It's not clear -- there are all kinds of transaction cost implications. It's very hard to split a company up this way.
Dan Loeb, the billionaire investor who really wants to do that has had some success, though, in shaking up companies. So he may be on to something.
LU STOUT: Let's talk more about that billionaire investor, Daniel Loeb. He has made headlines before.
I mean, just how powerful, just how productive are outspoken shareholders like him?
THOMPSON: Well, he's kind of a particular case. I mean, he is famous and notorious for writing these amazing cranky, angry, expletive laden letters to CEOs and to boards. And really he knows how to work the press. He's quite a character. He's very charismatic. And sometimes it does work.
I mean, he had a lot of influence on Yahoo!. So Yahoo! is going through its troubles. Dan Loeb is actually the one who brought it to the press's attention, or help bring it to the press's attention that Scott Thompson, the former CEO, didn't have a degree in computer science. And that led to Thompson's downfall. Loeb then helped rejigger the board. Eventually led to the hiring of Marissa Mayer. And it's led to all of the things that have happened at Yahoo! in the last year.
Now, Loeb also encouraged Yahoo! to sell off a portion of its Ali Baba shares. Ali Baba, as we know, has risen in the markets quite dramatically since then. So his timing was a little off on that, but quite good on everything else.
So, Loeb can have huge influence. He does own 6 percent of Sony. He's one of the largest investors, if not the largest investor. So he's got sway here.
LU STOUT: Yeah, and that's why Sony executives are actually considering this breakup plan.
Now the feature of Sony, whether or not it spins off certain units. I mean, Sony needs a tech hit, it needs a technology hit badly, but can it deliver one?
THOMPSON: I actually think it's not a bad time for Sony. I mean, they spent so much time focusing on TVs, which really there hasn't been a TV hit of any note in quite awhile. The TV market has been quite sluggish. Everybody has been focusing on phones.
So Sony is now moving more towards mobile. And it's not a bad moment with Apple's struggles. They have the new Playstation coming out, which actually looks like as of yesterday's announcement of the Xbox, will have some very stiff competition.
But this is an OK moment for Sony. They've lost a lot of grand to Samsung. Samsung has done extraordinarily well, often at Sony's expense, but this is not a bad moment for Sony to try something new, not a bad moment for Sony to potentially have a hit.
LU STOUT: Yeah, it is an OK moment. You look at the reviews for the Xperia, they're really good reviews, but the market doesn't seem to be that excited.
I want to ask you about Mr. Loeb's strategy though, selling what he calls the hidden gem that is Sony's entertainment business in order to invest in its ailing electronics business. Is that a wise thing to do? I mean, why get rid of the golden goose?
THOMPSON: Well, it depends on -- why -- well, maybe so his company can make more money. I mean, he's already driven the prices up. Perhaps he can figure out a way -- the structure of the deal is quite complicated. We'll see exactly how it affects his bottom line. People haven't had enough time to figure out what his portions will be.
The reason to do it partly would be his belief, and the belief of others, that is Sony entertainment is spun off, it could be even more successful and profitable than it is by focusing solely on its core competencies.
So Sony Entertainment, which puts out Spider-Man, Breaking Bad, all sorts of good things, is not as profitable per movie as other film studios, other entertainment companies. Perhaps, if it was on by itself, it would be even more efficient. Perhaps the electronics business, if it was by itself, would be even more efficient.
There hasn't been a lot of synergies. I mean having -- the fact that you put out the Spider-Man film doesn't really help you cell Xperias. The technology used to create it doesn't really cross over.
So there aren't obvious synergies between the two companies. It depends on the structure, it depends on the people, it depends on the taxes.
I'm not sure whether it's a good deal, but it's a plausible idea.
LU STOUT: Well, there are a lot of Sony fans out there that would love to see the firm get its mojo back.
Nick Thompson, NewYorker.com, joining us live from New York, thank you so much for that.
You're watching News Stream coming to you live from Hong Kong and also London. After the break, we return to my colleague Becky Anderson for more on the aftermath of the suspected terror attack in southeast London. Keep it here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: The British government emergency committee has met twice since a British soldier was butchered, slaughtered on the street just behind me here. British Prime Minister David Cameron has said there are strong indications that this was an act of terrorism.
Well, to take a look now and assess the security implications of that, I'm joined by Jack Straw. He was British foreign secretary in 2005 when a series of suicide bomb blasts across London killed 52 people.
Mr. Straw, thank you for joining us here on CNN.
JACK STRAW, FRM. BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: Thank you.
ANDERSON: ...this morning.
Your reaction to the past 24 hours, firstly.
STRAW: Well, it's one of horror as is everybody's reaction that this stone age savagery of the attack. Of course, if people are caught up in bomb blasts, the effects on them is the same as if it's a direct knife and machete attack, but there is something particularly gruesome and gratuitous about this particular attack. And of course it raises anxieties about the safety of our soldiers when they're outside their barracks.
ANDERSON: Jack, sadly you have quite a lot of experience of meetings like CORBRA. What would have been said -- what would have been discussed at these past few meetings?
STRAW: Well, what happens at COBRA, and COBRA just stands for the Cabinet Office Briefing Room. And it happens to have a -- it's in a bunker underneath the cabinet office with small rooms off it for each of the major intelligence and security and police agencies.
I mean, what you discuss when news first comes through is the initial immediate response. Then issues of public reassurance and then monitoring the investigation. And then crucially ensuring that measures are put in place to try to prevent a further copy cat investi -- bombing, in this case, or attack. And this question of how you reassure the public and as best you can guarantee that there isn't intra, or intercommunal violence as a result.
ANDERSON: Mr. Straw, there are unconfirmed reports at this stage that these two alleged attackers were on the intelligence radar. Can you, firstly, confirm those reports. And secondly, if they were, that would be a real breakdown in intelligence and security here in the UK, wouldn't it?
STRAW: Well, first of all, I can't confirm whether they are not least because I'm not privy to intelligence today as a back bench member of parliament on the opposition.
But secondly, I just want to say this, your assumption with respect is not correct. Just because somebody features as what's called a trace in intelligence reports does not mean that by virtue of that fact they should have been picked up and locked up.
We live in a democracy, you can only apprehend people, arrest them and charge them and bring them to justice if there is concrete evidence. A great deal of intelligence, by definition, is not evidence of equality that can be used in court.
So this intelligence can be used to try and deter people from terrorist acts, but if you may have -- you may have a trace on an individual, say they're potentially dangerous, but you don't know their intentions, you don't know what they're about. And my guess is, only a guess, that absolutely without any question, the intelligence and security agencies had no idea, no trace at all, that these two men were going to commit this savage attack yesterday.
ANDERSON: What's been learned since 2005, Jack? I mean, what do we know at this stage about the potential for homegrown al Qaeda inspired acts that we are, to a certain extent, suggesting that we've seen here in the past 24 hours?
STRAW: Well, I mean, I think a lot has been learned. I mean, first of all that there has been a great upgrading in the way in which the security intelligence agencies and the police do their best to investigate potential terrorist incidents and deter them and intercept them before they take place and improvements in detection work as well.
But secondly, and I think in a sense even more important, there has been much more open discussion in the Muslim communities, and there are communities, not one community, across the United Kingdom, about their views about this terrorism, which is carried out in their name abusing and defaming their book.
And I think there is a much greater maturity in the Muslim communities in the UK than there was and much less defensiveness. I mean, 10, 15 years ago, you could have found quite a lot of senior people who would -- didn't have a trace of a terrorist intent in them being very defensive and almost half apologetic, or relativist for an attack like this in the name of Islam. That is not true at all. And you've heard unequivocal condemnation, for example, of this incident by the Muslim council of Britian and everybody else representing people of the Islamic faith. And I see that in my own constituency, district in the U.S. sense, where a third of my voters are of the Muslim faith.
ANDERSON: Mr. Straw, let me just break into what you're saying here, because I've just been given some information here.
Now it is now understood that the two individuals suspected of carrying out the knife attack were known to British domestic security services. They'd featured, we understand, in previous investigations into other individuals, but were not themselves under surveillance. And there's a but there, of course.
How do you read what I've just -- what I've just reviewed on air?
STRAW: Well, what I say from that is going back to what I said earlier, they would have featured in intelligence as associates of other people who in intelligence agencies were targeting for, say, surveillance. Surveillance is really expensive. It ties up a lot of man power, or indeed equipment as well. Neither can be used without proper authorization.
So what this tells me is that these particular individuals in the intelligence that was available to the agencies did not at that time present an immediate and present danger, otherwise, of course, the agencies would have intervened.
ANDERSON: Jack Straw for you today here on CNN, the former home secretary.
Jack, thank you for that.
Before I go, let me just repeat what I've just broadcast to you on air. We understand here at CNN that both suspects in this attack were known to Britain's domestic security service. They'd featured in previous investigations into other individuals, but were not themselves under surveillance.
You've just heard Jack Straw commenting on that. I'll have much more from London over the next few hours here on CNN.
For the time being, I'm Becky Anderson in Woolwich in southeast London.
LU STOUT: And I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. World Business Today is next.
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