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Terror Plot Thwarted

Aired August 10, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Air passengers more like impassengers (ph) today. Anyone looking to fly across the Atlantic, east or west, delayed, canceled or still waiting, here's what we know right now.
Jumbo jets are moving at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester, England. Most everything stopped flying at major British airports when the news of a major terror plot emerged this morning. That plot, at least the biggest part of it, supposedly busted 21 people. Arrested some, or all of them, British citizens of Pakistani descent.

Now we're told that the plan was to blow up as many as 10 commercial airliners en route from England to the U.S.

And talk about eyes in the skies, we've got them, watching some of the busiest American airports. Planes and passengers are moving, although behind schedule, playing catch-up from earlier disruptions. We'll go to any of these airports if and when the news breaks.

Now, the plot unfolded in London. Here's Paul Davies of British network ITN with the lead story from their broadcast on the day's events.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL DAVIES, REPORTER, ITN (voice over): Chaos, confusion and frustration at Britain's airports today. But it could have been so much worse. The scale of the threats belt out in the bluntest of language by this police commando.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot stress too highly the severity that this plot represented. Put simply, this was intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale.

DAVIES: According to the security services, terrorists were planning to smuggle explosives on to nine separate passenger planes bound from Britain to the United States, and to detonate those explosive as the planes approached their American destinations.

Believing the plot to be in its final stages, police moved overnight. Houses were raided and arrests made here at High Wickham in Buckinghamshire, 30 miles from the capital. Another police operation was centered on a flat in Walthamstow, east London, raided by armed officers late last night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police cars showed up about midnight, and four officers put the door in. And from there, they just carried on, doing what they were doing all night. And they are still there this morning.

DAVIES: Police also forced their ways into Birmingham, where more arrests were made. In all, 21 people are in custody. They're believed to be British-born Muslims.

But the police cannot be sure all the would-be bombers have been intercepted, so the threat is not over. And the home secretary says the state of alert remains at its highest level.

JOHN REID, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: I've already indicated we think that the main players are in custody. But, we should always err on the side of caution, which is one of the reasons that we've kept the threat level at its highest, in critical level.

DAVIES: It means unprecedented security for those (VIDEO GAP) at Gatwick faced long delays, with 135 flights canceled, including 50 EasyJet services.

The disruption spread to Glasgow, where another 30 flights were canceled and delays averaged two hours. The security operation also caused delays and inconvenience at Manchester and other provincial airports. But these passengers at Gatwick were determined to travel despite everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We spent two hours in a queue which (INAUDIBLE) was the right one. Then when we got to the front they told us it was the wrong one, which is great. So another in. We will get there. We're being (ph) British, and so we'll get there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, I reckon that this is one of the safer days to fly because of the extra security in place. It's a pain to have to stand here, but at the end of the day, it's safer.

DAVIES: The home secretary has been chairing meetings of the government's emergency response committee, Cobra. The clear message coming out of White Hall is that this operation is still ongoing. The threat to transatlantic travel is still there.

Paul Davies, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, if these alleged terrorists accomplished anything, it was to throw a wrench into transatlantic air travel, at least for one day, one very long day, particularly at London's Heathrow airport.

That's where CNN's Becky Anderson is -- Becky.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra, the state of alert critical. The U.K. has been on its highest state of alert after police said that they had arrested those involved in a plot to blow up these aircraft, Mid-Atlantic, as many as 10 aircraft, we are being told, although we have nothing specific on that at the moment. Well, there was a critical mass of people at Heathrow airport. There would be some 180,000 passengers through this airport on any one day, 6.5 million of them in any one summer month. And they were absolutely stranded today.

Now, you can hear behind me that the volume of traffic has picked up once again. But airport authorities are warning that there will be backlogs for some days to come.

This is what the head of BAA, the British Airport Authority, that runs this airport had to say earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY DOUGLAS, HEATHROW AIRPORT CEO: As all passengers will remain subject to the new security processes, we ask that anyone intending to fly tomorrow, or over the weekend, arrives at the airport prepared. This means the following: that they arrive with no hand luggage; they bring those items allowed into the cabin in a clear, plastic bag; and being prepared for delays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: A lot of questions still to be answered, Kyra, in this. What we do know was that the plan was to take liquid components on to these flights, and to use them as explosives, and to use detonators in order to explode -- explode these devices.

What they don't know at this point was the number of explosives that might have been used, the number of flights that might have been used, the number of destinations, or, indeed, the timing of those flights, when, in fact, these plots were to be effected. What we do know is that police decided that the culmination of months' long investigations resulted in a 2:00 in the morning, Thursday morning, arrests of some 21 people who are now being detained.

They will learn more from them. They say they are the major players. What they are not telling us is whether there is anybody else around who may continue with the plans that the others had at this point -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Becky Anderson, live from Heathrow.

Thanks so much.

Let's get an update now from New York's JFK airport. CNN's Alina Cho has been talking to passengers who have just arrived from Heathrow.

What are they saying, Alina?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do have those details from those passengers who were on that American Airlines flight from London's Heathrow to JFK, Kyra. That plane is on the ground in New York now. Some of the passengers told my colleague, Mary Snow, that they were searched two and three times. Most of them said they felt safer. A few of them said they were scared. And still, others said that there were a handful of passengers who decided not to get on the flight.

One other interesting nugget of information, passengers say that no books were allowed on that flight. One newspaper they were allowed to bring on, and people reported sharing magazines.

Now, for people who are planning to leave on a flight out of a U.S. airport today, there are several things you need to keep in mind.

Number one, get to the airport early. Transportation safety officials are urging passengers to get to the airport at least two hours before their flight.

Another thing to keep in mind is there are new restrictions in place. Passengers will not be allowed to bring on any liquid or gel in their carry-on bags. Now, these include items like drinks, lotion, shampoos, even toothpaste and perfume.

Essentially, if you're in doubt about this, airline officials are saying either leave it home or put it in your checked bag. So, for instance, if you have a toiletry bag that you want to put it in your carry-on, put in it your checked bag.

One thing that they are doing here at JFK that we've learned is that they are setting up tables for passengers so that passengers who arrive at the airport and who have not heard this news today can actually put their bags on these tables and comfortably repack them, rearrange them before they get on to their flight.

One little bit of good information, Kyra, is that outbound flights are not experiencing major delays to speak of. Most of the delays that we are hearing about are inbound flights into JFK, and particularly those, no surprise, from London.

I just was inside just a couple of minutes ago, and I looked at the board there, and there was at least one flight that was five hours late. So if you have a loved one who is arriving on a flight from London today, you may want to note that that person may not be home in time for dinner tonight -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Alina Cho, appreciate it. We'll keep checking in with you.

And our chief national correspondent, John King, has been working his sources on the terror plot. He joins me now from Washington.

John, before we talk a little about that, I just want to let our viewers know we're expecting to hear from mayors in Chicago and L.A. about the situation at the airports there, and what they are doing to beef up security. We'll take those both live as they happen.

John, I'm sorry. Go ahead and tell us what you know with regard to this terror plot unfolding this hour.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just interrupt me, Kyra, if you need to, to get to those mayors.

We're working our sources, all the correspondents and producers here, and a number of officials are saying privately that they believe there are al Qaeda links. They are saying that privately much more stronger than they are publicly.

Why is that? It is because of the sophistication of this. You've heard in the previous reports, we're talking about liquid explosives, materials that you can pick up at a -- at a pharmacy, at a supermarket, maybe at a garden store or a hardware store, bringing it on to planes in containers, like beverage containers, Kyra, maybe in a makeup bag or something. The plot, according to U.S. intelligence sources, who have been involved in the past two weeks of this investigation was to essentially assemble those materials, a cocktail, if you will, while on the plane, and then use it to detonate.

Our national security producer, Pam Benson (ph), just reporting some new information from a U.S. intelligence official saying the terrorists were within a couple of days of a test, and that an event, meaning an attack, presumably, would have occurred a few days after that test. Now, U.S. officials scrambling to try to get as much information as possible. They are giving enormous credit to British intelligence, saying U.S. officials were brought in at a higher level in the past two weeks, when British intelligence officials took an investigation, and it took a turn and they realized this would involve an attack on, they are estimating, nine aircraft coming across the Atlantic to the United States, Kyra.

And again, the word "al Qaeda," the term "al Qaeda" being used. And we keep pressing our sources, "Well, why do you say that?" Because obviously we're a month short of the anniversary of 9/11. Suggesting an al Qaeda link will raise fears among Americans, also perhaps raise questions among Americans about the status of the war against al Qaeda.

But officials are saying that they believe, because these suspects are of Pakistani descent, because of other things they say they know that they won't share with us, that they at least have some sophisticated training in to how to take, again, relatively basic materials -- this is what makes it so frightening -- get them on an aircraft, and assemble them into explosive devices.

PHILLIPS: OK, John. Appreciate it.

As you can imagine, a lot of things coming on our front here in Atlanta.

As John is bringing us the latest from his sources with regard to this investigation, we're also waiting for various mayors in a number of cities with large airports like Chicago and L.A. to step up to the podium and let us though what they are doing with regard to air safety today both at the airports, and also for flights coming in and out. You see live pictures now from LAX and also from Chicago. As soon as those mayors step up to the podium, we will take that live.

Now, a particularly terrifying terrorist weapons, liquid explosives. We're going to get the facts from a veteran of the ATF, the TSA, and FEMA when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to the newsroom. Carol Lin monitoring, gosh, the mayors that are coming out and talking state to state about air security, and also the blogs. A lot of talk about this threat that came down today.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's always interesting to hear from people, you know, as they're watching the news to get their thoughts. That in just a moment, but I want to remind folks that we are waiting any minute now to hear from the mayor of Los Angeles, as well as the mayor of Chicago.

A short time ago, Kyra, about 30 minutes ago, we shared with the audience Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's announcement that he is deploying the National Guard to the airport. He's also activating more California Highway Patrol and working with federal authorities to make sure that the transit routes are safe in California.

Now, Kyra, you were also mentioning the blogs. We found a really interesting security blog, this guy Bruce Schneider (ph) runs it. It's schneider.com (ph).

One of his readers wrote in that, despite the arrests, the threat level has been raised "in case there is some other subplot, backup plot around this that police aren't aware of. Well, this shows it's not working. Critical threat level is supposed to mean an attack is expectedly imminently, but apparently it's been downgraded."

Also, another reader writes, "So long as a terrorist has a prescription, he can bring in whatever he wants?" That's a question mark. "How difficult would it be, could it be for a terrorist to get the required prescription and exchange the liquid in the bottle for explosives?"

A question, you know, if you have to -- if you can bring your prescriptions on board, but, you know, viewers, readers, they have a lot of questions about how they are going to get through these airports, what they can take on, Kyra, what they can't take off, and whether the terrorists could even get around those safety precautions.

PHILLIPS: All right, Carol. We'll keep checking in. Appreciate it.

Well, today's arrests in Britain are shredding light on liquid explosives, which can be easier to hide, smuggle and set off than conventional bombs.

John Magaw is a former under secretary at the Transportation Security Administration. He served before that at the ATF and FEMA. He joins me from Washington.

But first, let's listen to this report that was just filed by Keir Simmons on British Broadcast Network ITN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEIR SIMMONS, REPORTER, ITN (voice over): In 1995, a terrorist cell led by Ramzi Yousef plotted to blow up 11 planes. Yousef is now in prison in America, but his ideas can still be freely copied. And his plan was to use liquid explosives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These mixtures made in the proper way, they present explosives that are very, very shock sensitive. And so they are very easily to ignite. You don't necessarily need a spark. You could hit it hard and then it will go bang.

SIMMONS: So it would be no surprise if the latest alleged plan involved a similar bomb. There are even Internet videos of dangerous liquid explosives.

(on camera): It's unlikely an explosion like that would be enough to bring down a plane. But a different combination of laboratory chemicals could make such a bomb. And you wouldn't need very much liquid, perhaps 100 or 200 milliliters, an amount you could easily hide in a baby bottle.

(voice over): Such chemicals could even be mixed on board the plane, and they are difficult for security to detect. But they are also difficult to use.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any sort of knock, bang, dropping it, let us say, putting it into a rack (ph) sack which then goes on to the conveyor system, you know, dumping in, it goes through the conveyor system, rumbles over those little rollers, any sort of impact like that could literally set it off.

SIMMONS: To elude security by using a liquid bomb is a simple idea. Thankfully, we do not yet know whether it will be effective.

Keir Simmons, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right.

Now we want to get back to John Magaw. As you know, former ATF and also TSA, also FEMA, joining us to talk more about what he knows has been happening within this investigation.

John, I guess, the first thing I want to ask you is, the fact that so many people are taken aback by this due to the fact that it was sophisticated, and that it's not necessarily an easy thing to detect -- OK, forgive me, John. Stay with me.

We're going to go to L.A. real quickly. The mayor speaking now about safety at LAX. Let's listen in.

MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA (D), LOS Angeles: In the early hours of this morning, Scotland Yard announced the arrest of 21 individuals suspected of plotting to detonate liquid explosives devices on as many as 10 aircraft bound for the United States. There have been no confirmed reports of a similar plot on American soil. However, as a precaution, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has raised the threat level throughout the American airline industry.

The city of Los Angeles has been in communication with the Department of Homeland security and directly with British officials, including Prime Minister Tony Blair. In addition, I've been in contact with Governor Schwarzenegger, who has committed the state's full support and cooperation.

I'm here with representatives of our airport and leading law enforcement agencies to ensure the public that we've initiated a complete and rapid response in the city of Los Angeles. These events provide a clear and ominous reminder of the fight against terror -- terrorism and demands our constant vigilism.

This is a long fight, but we're on the case, and we're serving notice to terrorists. We will catch you before you set foot in our airports, and we will put you away for the rest of your lives.

We have no information indicating that any LAWA facilities or flights are the target of any specific threats or plots. I repeat, we have no information indicating that LAWA facilities or flights are the target of any specific threats or plots. Los Angeles World Airports and the city of Los Angeles, nevertheless, remain committed to providing the necessary resources to maintain a high level of safety and security for the traveling public and airport workers.

Allow me to address the specific steps we're taking to ensure the safety and security of our airports.

Los Angeles airport police are working with the Transportation Security Administration, other federal and local law enforcement agencies and airlines, to implement a range of security measures appropriate to the heightened security level. L.A. law enforcement presence at LAX includes hundreds of uniformed and plain-clothes officers from airport police, the Los Angeles Police Department, and numerous federal agencies, including the FBI, the Federal Air Marshals, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement, as well as K-9 patrols and special operations units. Our officers are on the ground and on alert.

Five airlines operate 20 daily nonstop flights between London Heathrow International Airport and LAX: Air New Zealand, American Airlines, British Airways, United Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic Airline. These five airlines are reporting that their flights to London are still going to depart today.

We advise passengers bound for London Heathrow and people meeting arriving passengers from London to check with their airlines before coming to the airport to verify flight times. Due to measures -- due to new measures instituted this morning by the TSA, all passengers are being asked not to pack any liquids in carry-on bags, including beverages, hair gels, lotions, et cetera, as well as electronic key FOBs.

Passengers are advised to check the TSA's Internet Web site at www.tsa.gov for a complete listing of what passengers may pack in checked luggage and carry-on baggage.

Due to the heightened federal security screening, screening is taking considerably longer than normal. We recommend passengers to get to the airport two to three hours before a domestic flight and three to four hours before an international flight. This guidance will remain in effect until the threat level is reduced from orange to yellow.

While the public will notice some increased security related to operational alertness, other security measures are confidential and may go largely unnoticed by most people. These include fixed and roving vehicle checkpoints, additional uniformed and plain-clothes patrol officers, motor units and K-9 patrols.

I'm very proud of the level of cooperation and information sharing demonstrated today. I can tell you that whether it's the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the -- the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the executive director and the department of LAWA airports, or the chief of police, the fire department, we're all working closely together.

Someone asked me a few minutes ago, "Are you ready for an event of this nature?" And I said that we're preparing for that every single day.

I do want to say that with me today is council president Eric Garcetti (ph); council member Janice Hahn (ph); council member Bill Rosendal (ph); and council member Jack Weiss, and chair of public safety; as well as the city attorney, Rocky Delgadillo.

We're all committed. You know that in this year's budget, we put more money for counterterrorism efforts on our part, and I believe that the second phase of that funding is in the council as we speak. And, of course, I'd like to see that funding move along quickly with alacrity and dispatch because these events aren't events that we think about, they are events that happen every single day. And we intend to be prepared for them here in the city of Los Angeles.

Allow me to introduce Steve Tidwell (ph), the assistant director in charge of the FBI, who will address the federal response to the heightened alert level here in Los Angeles. And let me just say and repeat, if I may, something that...

PHILLIPS: If you want to continue to listen to L.A.'s Mayor Villaraigosa speaking there, via our affiliate KABC, you can go on to cnn.com/pipeline, listen to what he's saying about security at LAX.

Meanwhile, we want to take you to Chicago. Mayor Daley now talking about security in his big city.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MAYOR RICHARD DALEY, CHICAGO: ... any liquids or gels from being carried on board aircraft. Passengers are being asked to pack these items in checked baggage or dispose of them.

The Chicago Police Department is working with all our law enforcement partners on increased security and presence throughout the airport terminals. Chicago's aviation, police, fire departments, along with the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communication are closely coordinating with federal officials, joint terrorism task force, as well as our counterparts in other major U.S. cities to share and coordinate the latest information and, of course, the intelligence.

I would like to assure our residents and visitors to Chicago that we're implementing all necessary safeguards to ensure that we are safe as any other big city can be.

I would like to thank all the passengers at both airports for their patience as we implement these new security directives. It may take longer, but these are necessary precautions we need to take to ensure everyone's safety and security.

Passengers should plan on arriving at the airports earlier than usual and are advised not to bring liquids in carry-on baggage, packed clutter-free. Expect long delays at security checkpoints.

Now I'd like to call upon a number of officials. First of all, the chief emergency officer of the city of Chicago, Cortez Estrada (ph) -- Cortez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Last night, at approximately 11:00 p.m., the Chicago Department of Aviation received notice of a conference call from the Transportation Security Administration. On that conference call with other airport administrators and security directors our DOA was informed for the first time of a terrorist plot that had been developing in the United Kingdom and involved the use of several aircraft that would ultimately be flown toward the United States, with the intent of exploding them in flight.

I was informed by DOA...

PHILLIPS: Once again, you can still go to cnn.com/pipeline if you want to continue to listen to the ongoing press conferences right now out of L.A. and Chicago, talking about the safety there at those cities' airports, in addition to what they are doing to beef up security in light of the foiled terror plot that has happened today.

We want to get back now finally to John Magaw, former under secretary at the Transportation Security Administration. He served before that as the ATF and FEMA. He joins me now from Washington.

John, thank you for being so patient. As you can imagine, things are developing every second in this story.

First question to you, what worries you about this? Is it the sophistication?

JOHN MAGAW, FMR. TSA UNDER SECRETARY: Well, it -- the whole thing worries me. Number one, as it's been mentioned already today, and I don't want to repeat too much, but we saw almost the same thing in 1995 in the Philippines.

And as -- what this should tell us is that terrorists never throw away their plans. They may not -- they may fail, but they'll tweak them wherever they fail and then try to come back again. And I think that's what we're seeing here. Instead of coming across the Pacific to bring eight or ten or 11 airliners down, they're now coming across the Atlantic.

And it was liquid explosives at that time also. And when you talk about liquid explosives, you're not talking about a great deal of material. If you have a high explosives in this bottle and you have others here, and you mix it on the aircraft, in the restroom, and then you detonate it with a very small detonator, it blows a hole in the side of that aircraft at altitude, and especially if you have two or three on there who are going to do the same thing.

So, this really concerns me. And where we probably haven't done as much as we should since 1995 to protect ourselves in this area, we really need to now. And I commend the United Kingdom authorities for obviously the long, diligent surveillance that they've had.

And I don't think anybody expected it to break quite this quick, and we may know later, probably will know later, but at this point that they decided they had to move in -- and that's a very delicate issue -- they did so in a key time, and we have to react all around the world. Because these pockets of terrorists are everywhere in the world.

PHILLIPS: So, John, are you saying that the U.S. dropped the ball? knew this could be a threat, didn't really act in a preventive way, so now we're learning a lesson from the U.K.?

MAGAW: Not at all. If I said that, I would have to be saying it for myself, because I was the director of the Secret Service and the director of ATF. What I'm saying is that the country, to include all of our law enforcement, we never expected that it would get -- get to our soil. But when you look back at the Philippine experience, you see if there hadn't have been a fire, nobody would have picked it up. And we have to learn from that now, if we didn't before.

And, so, as we have tried -- after 9/11 and the TSA was created, there were so many tasks placed on their plate. And the training of our very talented and very professional examiners at these airports is to try to get all of these possibilities forward, so that they can train for them and be prepared for them. PHILLIPS: So, John, how do you train and be prepared for this? Because you can't detect these liquids, can you? I mean, just through the normal procedures that we go through now? I mean, you can change the color to make it look like a soda in a can. You can do all kinds of things to disguise it.

MAGAW: Well, that's why you're seeing a total shutdown of all liquids on the aircraft today. And it's going to be very important, as the officials are going to start getting a lot of pressure to let this in and let that in, is to make judgments of what do we have to now keep off of these aircraft? How much can we pull back from taking everything off of your carry-on bag? What do we have to do that makes it reasonable, concerning the risk?

You know, you can't eliminate the risk. As Secretary Chertoff has said many, many times, we have to determine what the risk is through our intelligence -- which you're finding now that intelligence is much better today -- and then base our security on the intelligence that we have and the information that's learned throughout the world. In fact, a Korean, a Korean airliner back in the late-'80s was brought down by liquid explosives. But before 9/11, we just never felt, as a country, as a people, and as law enforcement personnel that it was going to hit our country. I think we've all changed in that aspect.

PHILLIPS: And you know what's interesting, John, a lot of people laughed at Richard Reid...

MAGAW: You're right.

PHILLIPS: ... sand the fact that we have to take our shoes off every time we go through security now.

MAGAW: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And we still have to do it. So does this mean that from now on, it is possible that we just won't be able to bring any type of liquids on an airplane?

MAGAW: Well, that's what's going to have to be decided by the powers that be, Secretary Chertoff and all of his outstanding people in the FBI and the CIA, and all others that enter into this, the whole Homeland Security unit. But the fact is, if we -- we kind of smirked at the Reid bombing. And had he had a higher heated element to put with that, there was enough explosives in there, the background investigation has shown that. And part of -- part of what the terrorists don't like to do is to be laughed at or mimicked. And, so -- and when you talk about cruise ships or you talk about aircraft, if you can bring any of those to a disaster, you have affected the economy of the world, and that's what they're after.

PHILLIPS: John Magaw, great insight. Really appreciate you being with us today.

MAGAW: Thank you.

Straight ahead, scaling back for safety. But what if you need medicine or formula for your baby? We're going to see what's OK with the TSA and hear from passengers that just arrived from the U.K. LIVE FROM will be back in just a sec.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, raids across London and beyond. New rules and big headaches for air travelers there and here. Here's what we know so far about the alleged airline terror plot.

U.S. sources tell CNN that intelligence gained from recent arrests in Pakistan prompted Britain to act overnight. Twenty-one suspects have been arrested. As many as 50 are believed to be involved. The raids continued throughout the day. The plot is believed to have targeted as many as ten planes and four airlines, all originating in Britain and headed for the U.S. The scheme was described -- the scheme, rather, was described as being in its final stages.

Now, President Bush calls the plot a reminder of the war against what he calls Islamic fascists. U.S. and British investigators (AUDIO GAP).

Well, the long lines have eased at Dulles International, outside Washington. Just a short time ago a flight from London Heathrow landed there, one of the very few to get out today.

Our national correspondent Bob Franken is there, too -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well, it's not morning anymore, is it? It's morning somewhere.

In any case, one of the last flights, as you said, to get out there has come. There was an almost an audible sigh of relief when that plane landed an hour and a half ago. There was a longer-than- usual wait to go through Customs. You had family members on this side who were so worried about their loved ones who were on that plane.

The people who came out, though, said that although things got very intense at Heathrow Airport, there was an obvious notable increase in security, people were being frisked three and four times, we're told. People told you can only put stuff in a plastic bag and take it on board,. All of that, as we've heard before.

But what we're hearing from every passenger is that things were noticeably calm at Heathrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you know, I was surprised. I think people were very confident. They, you know, went through. If you had something that you shouldn't have, they just sent you back down to either check it or get rid of it. People weren't high anxiety. It didn't feel like a real stressful situation, but, I mean, you knew something was going on. We got patted down two or three different times. It was very unusual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: And it was just as intense on this end, Kyra. We are about a quarter of a mile, literally, from the security gates down there, a quarter of a mile. Well, during the heavy travel periods this morning -- and they're expecting the same thing later here, the heavy travel periods to Europe, they expect that line again to wind all the way around from where we are and down there.

It becomes very, very, very slow going, because now the people from the Transportation Security efforts are going to each bag that they might have gone through more quickly until this happened -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Bob, thanks so much.

Well, lotion, colon, mouthwash. Although you might not want to fly without them, you can. But what about things you really do need, such as medicine or baby formula?

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has much more on these new carry-on rules. And that is what a lot of people were saying -- look, I need my insulin, I'm a diabetic. Or what about my baby that I have to feed every couple of hours?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, there are exceptions about the rule about no liquids. You've been seeing those signs that are being posted in airports all morning on television that say don't bring liquids. Well, the exceptions fall into two categories. This is from the TSA.

It does get a little confusing, so let's go over these rules one by one. Here are the exceptions. Here are things that are OK to carry on, because you might need them. If you're traveling with a baby or a small child, you may bring formula, breast milk, or juice. And contrary to a lot of reports that have been out there in the United States, they will not make you taste that before you can bring it on. They are going to subject to it additional screening, but they are not going to make you sit there and drink your baby's formula or drink your breast milk.

The other category has to do with medicines, and the rule there is that if you have a prescription drug, the name on that drug has to match with the ticket, and then it's OK.

And essential nonprescription medicines are OK, and so is insulin. Insulin is sort of in its own category, because it doesn't always have a prescription. But it's important to remember that nonprescription drugs or insulin that doesn't have your name on it, again, they may subject it to additional scrutiny.

So, a good rule of thumb, Kyra, is if you really don't need that nonprescription medicine, if you really don't need that aspirin or Tylenol, or actually something that might come in a liquid, like let's say a liquid form of cough medicine, you might not want to bring it, because it's just going to cause you headaches. So if you can do without it, try go without it.

PHILLIPS: Sure, because there's a lot of prescription drugs where the label isn't right on the bottle.

COHEN: Right, and that's a problem. Sometimes a prescription drug will come in a box, and the label is on the box, but you've thrown it away, and you're just bringing the bottle that's inside. Well, in the future, you might not want to do that. If you've already thrown it away, you're going to have some explaining to do at security, but that's what they are there for, explain it and, again, that additional scrutiny.

PHILLIPS: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks a lot.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, coming up, new details about the suspects arrested in Britain. More on that developing story right after a quick break.

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PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to the newsroom, Carol Lin, working details on our developing story -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, just a small detail, but a development. I just went over to the international desk and they've updated the number of people who have been arrested in this terror plot. It's a total of 24 people, Kyra.

Apparently, in the processing -- because there were no new arrests yet during the day, but apparently during the processing, that is the final count. The number of suspects under arrest for this terror plot, 24 now.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll keep following it. Thanks, Carol.

CNN's Sumi Das is at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport here in Atlanta, one of the busiest passenger airports in the world. And she's been monitoring how long the wait is, and the security that's taking place there due to what's happened today -- Sumi.

SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Kyra. This is a very busy airport, indeed, a major international airport and every week there are more than 30 flights that depart from this airport, and they are bound for the U.K. We have learned that none of those flights have been canceled. However, they are experiencing delays.

Now, after 90-minute waits this morning, security lines are moving along at a bit of a clip now. Airport officials do warn, however, that there could be an afternoon push and, so, travelers should certainly still leave some extra time to check in and do what they need to do here at the airport.

Now, throughout the day, we have been talking to passengers, and as you can imagine, there has been a bit of frustration, but for the most part, people are keeping their cool. There haven't been too many temper tantrums. The Transportation Security Administration, had advised that passengers pack their patience today, and that is certainly what many of them who we talked to had done.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to do what you have to do. And you want to -- you make the best of a bad situation. And it takes more energy to be grumpy than it does to be positive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAS: Now, a lot of people might be sitting at home and thinking, oh, thank God, I'm not flying today, but even if you are flying in the next few days, you still need to pay very close attention to the changes in the airport security procedures.

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BEN DECOSTA, HARTSFIELD GEN. MANAGER: We think this code red, code orange condition will be at least two or three days, but we're waiting for intelligence from the Transportation Security Administration to let us know how long they feel we must do this in order to keep our airport safe.

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DAS: And the officials here are in constant communication with the Transportation Security Administration officials. And to that end, they have emergency crews on standby. We have seen police and fire department vehicles circling around the airport.

Now, as you pack, you may be looking at something and thinking, ah, should I pack it or should I leave it behind? Well, when in doubt, it's best to put in it your checked baggage. It will certainly help expedite the screening process and that certainly makes for happy traveling. That's my belief -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Happy traveling. Those are the two words that people want to hear more of today, that's for sure. Sumi Das, thanks.

Well, our coverage of the spoiled terror plot will continue, but there is other news happening around the world today. We're going to bring you the latest from Iraq and the Mideast crisis after a quick break.

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PHILLIPS: Well, it seems there's no end to the ammo or the anger in Iraq. During the month of July, the Baghdad morgue received 1,850 bodies, an average of 60 a day, and that's just one city.

CNN's Harris Whitbeck says even Iraq's most sacred sites aren't even safe.

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HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After several months of relative quiet, the holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, was once again the scene of violence on a day when the city was filled with pilgrims visiting the Tomb of Ali, one of the most sacred shrines for Shia Muslims worldwide.

A suicide bomber blew himself up near the mosque that houses the tomb, killing 35 people and wounding 122. Body parts could be seen everywhere, and the area around the mosque was filled with debris the spilled wares of vendors, which traditionally sell trinkets and worry beads to the thousands of pilgrims that stream into the mosque every day.

A little-known Sunni insurgent group claimed in its Web site responsibility for the attack, although CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the site. The last major attack on a Sunni religious site occurred in Najaf's twin city Kufa last July, killing 53 people. Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for that attack.

Najaf has been under the control of members of radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Mahdi militia and the Iraqi police since 2004, when the militia was involved in heavy fighting with U.S. with U.S. marines.

The Iraq prime minister condemned today's bombing, blaming loyalists of Saddam Hussein. Shia religious leaders in Najaf also blamed Sunni extremists, but they asked their followers not to be provoked. Still, many fear there could be an increase in tensions between Shia and Sunni in a country that is already wracked by sectarian violence.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, 30 days and counting of bombs, battles and bloodshed in the Middle East. For the first time, Israel has targeted an upscale neighborhood in western Beirut. Among the buildings hit by Israeli rockets, a lighthouse being used a cell phone tower.

This was the scene all over the Lebanese capital: leaflets dropped by Israelis warned residents of southern suburbs to pack up and leave just ahead of more intense fighting.

And for its part, Hezbollah is keeping up its barrage of northern Israel. At least 136 more rockets today alone. Two civilians were killed in one attack, raising Israel's death toll to 122. Almost seven times that many Lebanese, 834, have died in the fighting thus far.

Diplomats are still hard at work; their goal, a cease-fire with international and Lebanese troops patrolling the border. It's still unclear when the U.N. Security Council might put a draft resolution to a vote.

A terror plot revealed in London, and immediate changes in airports around the world. What can you take with you and what do you have to leave at home? How life has changed. More LIVE FROM coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you're heading to the airport today, this weekend, until further notice, here's what you need to know. You can't carry liquids or gels into the airplane cabin. That include drinks, lotion, creams, toothpaste or hair gel. Baby formula, breast milk or juice, is allowed if you're traveling with a baby.

Also permitted, prescription drugs, as long as your name matches the name on the bottle, and other essential medications. The new precautions were a shock for some today, but they're only the latest in a long list.

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PHILLIPS (voice-over): Strange as it may seem these days, there used to be a time when you could go to the airport, show them your ticket and get on the plane. No security lines, no metal detectors, no questions asked.

U.S. airport security began to evolve after a series of hijackings in the late 1960s, some involving fugitives seeking a safe haven in Fidel Castro's Cuba. President Richard Nixon started the sky marshal program in 1970, but the marshals couldn't be on every plane, so in 1972, the FAA gave the airlines one month to start searching all passengers and their baggage. Those who remembered when flying was considered luxury transportation complained. They said that metal detectors and security lines had taken the romance out of flight. But the precautions seemed to work, and they quickly became the new norm.

In the mid-1980s, check-in agents began asking two questions that frequent flyers could soon recite by heart -- has anyone unknown to you asked you to pack a bag on this flight? Have any of the items you are traveling with been out of your immediate control since the time you packed them? For anyone who wanted to get on the plane, the answers were obvious.

After the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, the FAA started screening portable computers and radios more carefully, especially on flights from Europe and the Middle East. By and large, it seemed to work. It seemed to be enough. Until 9/11.

In the wake of the worst terror attack in U.S. history, the government took over direct responsibility for airport security and announced new precautions. Some of them didn't last. A short-lived ban on paper or foam cups, for instance, and a ban on small scissors. Others did. We're still taking off our shoes as we go through security.

Now, in the face of the latest airline security scare, new restrictions on carry-ons. If history is any guide, some of them may be rescinded, but others may become the new norm. Just the latest restrictions for travel in an increasingly complicated world.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Well, new details on the suspects arrested in this foiled plot. The next hour of LIVE FROM starts in two minutes after a quick check of your stocks.

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