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No Progress on Oil Leak; Times Square Bomb Arrest; Flood Recovery Begins

Aired May 04, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin, in this morning for Kyra Phillips.

You know the story. Breaking news on the break in the Times Square bomb case: Investigators start their search under an SUV's hood, found this thing on the engine and working their way backwards. Now, the Pathfinder leads them to New York's JFK Airport and a plane bound for Dubai.

Less than 48 hours after a car bomb was discovered on a very crowded Times Square, Saturday evening, investigators have made an arrest in this failed attack. Here are new pictures. Police say this is 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad. He's a naturalized U.S. citizen who was actually born in Pakistan.

This photo of him, we just received here at CNN minutes ago. This is the first glimpse. The first face of Faisal Shahzad.

Now he was taken into custody last night at New York's JFK airport just around midnight. And we've learned that he was on a plane bound for Pakistan via Dubai. Now a law enforcement official is telling CNN that Shahzad had told investigators -- to use his phrase -- he was a lone wolf, acting alone here.

He is also believed to be the person who drove that Nissan Pathfinder with those tinted windows full of explosives into a very hustling and bustling Times Square.

Of course only CNN has the best resources in place to bring you all the latest developments from all around the world. We have you covered. We have people in Pakistan, London, New York, Washington, Connecticut -- you see the pictures here.

Our crews, our correspondents gathering all the information on this fast-moving story. And we are going to drill down on precisely how this case broke late last night. But first I want to take you to Bridgeport, Connecticut. That is the last-known address for this 30- year-old suspect, Faisal Shahzad.

It's been described as a working class neighborhood. And CNN's Deb Feyerick has literally spent the night there bringing us updated information through the overnight hours and now joins me more with some late-breaking information, Deb. I understand involving perhaps Shahzad's cell phone. What do you know?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, I'm sorry I think you asked about the car?

(LAUGHTER)

FEYERICK: The car was pulling out. Are you asking about the Pathfinder?

BALDWIN: Deb, you give me whatever the latest is you have there on the ground. We'll go with it.

FEYERICK: OK. All right. So here's what we know. And we just sort of -- we're closing up a couple of loose ends. Why and how were law enforcement agents able to get this guy so quickly?

Well, it all boils down to the VIN number. But more importantly, the VIN number led police and FBI agents to the registered owner of the vehicle. Well, it is the daughter of the registered vehicle we're being told who actually met Faisal Shahzad in the parking lot of that grocery store.

They had communicated together on Craigslist. He had expressed interest in buying the vehicle. And so they met. He took a test drive of the car, liked it, paid $1800 for it and then drove off.

That is how police got to him, through the VIN, the registered owner, the daughter, who actually met Faisal Shahzad. So that's sort of tying up a loose end because so much of the emphasis yesterday was on this car, how did he buy it, where did it come from, how did he get the license plate?

And all of these things in Connecticut, Brooke, these were going on really just within a 20-minute radius of one another. Where he bought the car, where he got the license plate apparently that belonged to another vehicle from a scrap yard, the last known address for him here which is now being searched by many members of the JTTF and the FBI.

So all of this is now sort of coming together and of course leading to his dramatic arrest last night when he was on board that plane, that Emirates Airline plane which was headed to Dubai, though his ultimate destination, sources are telling us, was Islamabad -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And Deb, just to follow up. Because -- and I know we have been seeing some of these live pictures coming in. We're looking now at the car that was actually covered in Times Square early Sunday morning.

But I want you to also just walk me through what you think investigators are looking for specifically, not just evidenced from within this balcony and within his home. But I imagine tracing the origin of some of that evidence.

And number two, have you had a chance to talk to neighbors? Can you give me any kind of sense of who this man was? Was he married? Did he have children? Where did he work? FEYERICK: Absolutely. OK, well, let's start with the investigation. The first thing is that with the investigation, the agents are looking for any scrap of information they can get. You have to think back to the World Trade Center bomb. It was a piece of paper with a phone number tossed in the front seat of a car that led investigators in the World Trade Center bombing to a number of very crucial leads.

That's the kind of stuff that they're looking for here, not just DNA evidence, but a phone number, a name, a pamphlet, where the pamphlet may have come from. They're clearly interested on who he was looking at and listening to, for example, where he was getting his ideas from, how he learned to make the particular device, the bomb device.

You know when we go to another recent terrorist, the New York- Denver plot or the guy who was driving explosives on, they were able to find a manual that connected him to other groups.

So those kinds of connections that they're trying to make. The interesting thing about the bomb is that there's no known signature. There's no known signature. So it's more difficult to link him immediately to a particular group.

Now the question you asked about the neighbor. Good question. Well, we spoke to a neighbor who lived next door to a home and then he moved out of a year ago. She describes him as very quiet. He lived there with his wife and his two daughters.

One of the daughters played with the neighbor's child. She said that about a year ago the wife told her, the neighbor, that they were moving. The house had gone into foreclosure. And so the family was apparently going to Missouri and they, interestingly enough, sold some items on Craigslist.

Maybe that's how he got the idea to buy this vehicle that he was going to bring into Times Square.

Anyway, that's what we've got for you so far -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right, Deb, do me a favor, if you get any neighbors who are willing to talk to you on camera, we'd love to hear from them personally.

Deb, excellent job reporting there out of Connecticut. Thank you for that.

Now, obviously, there is a lot of ground to cover here on this story. But to get really the bigger picture, the better picture in this investigation, someone else who's been working it up all night for us, CNN's Drew Griffin of the Special Investigations Unit, working his sources overnight. Joining me now from New York.

And Drew, Deb touched on this, but I really want to start with the big break in this case, that is the VIN number, and a lot of people don't realize, you have the VIN number on the dashboard, which of course Shahzad had removed. But there are many other locations on a car where a VIN number is attached.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Right. Yes, as many as 15 perhaps, different places. This particular VIN number, you said, the one that we are all familiar with on the dashboard was removed from this vehicle.

It had false plates on it, plates from a different vehicle that apparently taken from that junkyard out in Stratford, Connecticut. But the detectives were able to go directly under this car and just write down the VIN number from the engine block. And that, I'm told, was a pivotal moment that got everybody chasing somebody.

Not just looking at this car and making sure that the stuff inside was not blowing up, but actually chasing a suspect. That's when they began to get on the tail of this guy. And you know, it is a tremendous police tale to tell here -- how quickly they were able to find him, trail him, learn about him and then eventually arrest him -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: These are professionals. They were acting quickly.

Drew, the other big question now that's really developing is, did Faisal Shahzad work alone as he has told investigators overnight or is he part of perhaps a larger network?

We know he drove into Times Square himself. He bought the car himself. What are your sources telling you?

GRIFFIN: Well, you know, police don't believe anybody. They are not going to believe this guy when he says they acted alone. They are going to want proof of this. Eric Holder, in his brief speech overnight, kind of alluded to the fact that this investigation is not over.

He didn't say this is a one and done. We got the guy. Thank you very much. They are actively pursuing other people. Whether they know who those people are or they don't, they want to make sure that they button this up so they're going to be looking to find out if, in fact, anybody was with him when he brought any of this material.

If, in fact, anybody saw him getting help loading in the gun case, for instance. This huge, 70-pound gun case into that car.

Police do say or law enforcement officials do say, and sources say, he did buy the car. He himself bought the car and he himself drove it into Times Square. So we know at least at those two points, he was acting alone at that point.

BALDWIN: And final question, Drew, and the answer may be, I don't know, which is fine, but we're learning here at CNN that when he was arrested and pulled off that plane, he was not the only one pulled off the plane. That there were three individuals, including Shahzad.

Any indication who those other two people were?

GRIFFIN: No. That information is coming from the airline, as far as I can tell. It's not coming from other law enforcement officials or sources. One source that I do have that was directly involved in that area said, look, we only questioned one guy there. We only took one person into custody. And he was questioned alone.

So, I mean, those people could be taken off for any number of reasons. It's just pure speculation. Maybe they were witnesses and they just wanted more time with them and didn't want to hold up the rest of the flight.

Maybe. Maybe, Brooke, they were undercover officers who were taken off to make it look like, you know, that they were in custody. Perhaps they are not. You just -- you never really know.

What we do know is there is one person under arrest. We have his name. And that's all we can say officially right now. I am getting no indication those other two people are in custody.

BALDWIN: And minute by minute, we are learning more and more details. Finally, we have a picture of this man.

Drew Griffin, reporting from New York. Drew, thank you.

And as we said, Faisal Shahzad is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Pakistan. He was boarding that flight as Drew and I were just discussing, this flight for Dubai. Perhaps en route to Pakistan.

CNN's Reza Sayah live from Islamabad, Pakistan this morning for us. And of course we want to get reaction, Reza, from, you know, what the Pakistani government officials are telling you. But I know you've been in touch with the foreign minister and I know you are learning more about where this man is from.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's actually the interior minister who provided some important information to us. But obviously, a big part of this investigation is now going to take place here in Pakistan.

That investigation got under way earlier Tuesday. And it's really picking up steam. We're starting to find out a little bit more about Faisal Shahzad and his travel plans. According to a senior official for Emirate Airlines -- this is the airlines Shahzad was booked on -- he was actually scheduled to arrive here in the federal capital of Islamabad.

And he was planning on going to his hometown, his birth place. This is the route he would probably take. Now let's talk about his hometown. According to the interior minister who spoke to CNN a few hours ago, his hometown was a village called Pabi, northwest of Pakistan, near Peshawar, two hours west of Islamabad.

Again, if he was going there, it is possible to tell you at this point. If he was planning on going there, this is the route he would take. More information from the interior minister. The interior minister telling CNN that Shahzad also had a Karachi ID -- Karachi, the southern port city in Pakistan, one of the largest cities in Pakistan -- to look for investigations to take place in Karachi and Pabi.

The biggest question, does he have links to the militants? No evidence at this point to indicate that -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: OK, perhaps several known addressed in Pakistan. That's interesting.

Also, Rez, I just want to emphasize, it is still too early. We do not have any definitive terror network yet if that is even the case in this particular instance with regard to Shahzad.

But what kind of reaction now are you getting from the Pakistani government in relation to this late-breaking arrest?

SAYAH: Well, this is the last thing that the Pakistani government wanted to hear. That there's another terror plot that links to Pakistan. So the reaction is obviously disappointment but they have to condemn this incident and they've offered their full cooperation.

It was potentially a PR nightmare for them if, indeed, this investigation shows that he has links to the many Pakistani militant groups and the tribal regions throughout Pakistan. It's going to be bad news for them.

But it was also an opportunity for them to improve relations with Washington. Washington putting a lot of pressure on them to go after militants. If they step up and conduct a thorough investigation, this is an opportunity to improve relations with Washington and help out in the fight against militants -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: All right, Reza Sayah, if you hear anything else from the government, please let us know.

Reza Sayah for us from Islamabad. Thank you.

Of course we are going to have much more on this developing story throughout the morning. We'll bring you every single late-breaking detail as soon as we get it here at CNN. Of course that includes more on the suspect. Thirty-year-old Faisal Shahzad and what happens to him today.

Plus, what is the word from the White House? That in just about three minutes.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm CNN meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras. The Cumberland River has crested in Nashville but downtown still covered in water. When will those floodwaters recede? We'll let you know coming up in the nation's forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Let's see what the White House now is saying about this break in this Times Square bomb case. We want to go to CNN's Dan Lothian for us this morning in Washington.

Dan, we know the president is supposed to be talking economics right 1:1:00 a.m. Eastern this morning.

That's right.

BALDWIN: I imagine he will also make some sort of comment on this arrest.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. We don't know when he'll make those comments. But I can tell you that a short time ago, White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, did confirm that the president would be commenting on the arrest.

Now the only thing that was public on his schedule today was the address that he was going to make to the business council. Perhaps he'll do that at that time at 11:05 before beginning his official remarks there. Perhaps it'll be done later or even before then. We don't know but it has been confirmed that the president will be saying something.

Now as to when the president did learn about the arrest, we are told by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs the president learned that at 12:05, he was told by John Brennan, his counterterrorism at adviser who also had updated the president on the investigation six times yesterday and that is in addition to a briefing that he had had with the president on Sunday.

Now this arrest obviously, CNN had been reporting it late into the evening overnight and then Attorney General Eric Holder sort of was the official face of the administration when he came out in an overnight briefing and mentioned the arrest, confirming it, that Faisal Shahzad was boarding this flight to Dubai when he was arrested. And he said that the investigation continues. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: This investigation is ongoing, as are our attempts to gather useful intelligence. And we continue to pursue a number of leads. But it's clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Now the last time we heard from President Obama on the Times Square bombing was on Sunday when he was touring Louisiana, getting a firsthand look at the oil spill there.

The president opened his remarks there talking on that issue, saying that the U.S. government would do whatever it would take to keep Americans safe and they would work to make sure that justice is done -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Dan, just briefly on that, I mean you could say the White House kind of has their hands full. I mean this incident, this arrest coming on top of what you just mentioned, the oil spill, another critical situation taking a ton of the administration's attention. A lot on the president's plate right now. LOTHIAN: That's right. And you know in fact the president was expected to take a trip to New Jersey to talk on the economy tomorrow and that trip was canceled because of everything that was going on.

On Sunday, the one thing that perhaps made it a little easier for the president to get up-to-the-minute information on what was going on on both fronts, his counterterrorism adviser John Brennan went along on that trip, was there during the briefings on the oil spill. Was along with the president during his aerial tour as well. But he was also providing the president up-to-the-minute information on what was going on in New York on the investigation.

So yes, this White House very busy this weekend, continuing on several fronts, major issues that they have to juggle here as the arrest happens and the investigation continues as well.

BALDWIN: Busy, busy. Good thing he has a team of people to help him out. Dan Lothian from the White House.

LOTHIAN: That's right.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much.

Have you seen the pictures from Nashville? Unbelievable. An echo of muddy waters heard from the Grand Ole Opry. Not exactly a country band covering the blues legend. Actually floodwaters flowing from the Cumberland River.

Much of downtown, you see it there, submerged after the weekend's torrential downpour. Martin Savidge is there live for us this morning.

And Martin, I mean this is Grand Ole Opry. It's a landmark in Nashville.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of landmarks right now in Nashville under water.

Let's start with the good news, though. The good news is, Brooke, that the Cumberland River has crested and is on the way down. They hope it's going to be back in these banks within the next 24 hours.

This is Second Avenue in downtown Nashville. The name would imply should be another two blocks before you get to the river. That's not the case today. However, as we say, the picture is improving. But the toll has been incredibly high. Eighteen people have died in the state of Tennessee alone. Ten of them in Davidson County. That includes the city of Nashville.

Right now they know that the cleanup is going to take a long time and cost a lot of money.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Nashville residents say there was almost no time to prepare for the deadly deluge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been down here 40 years. Never saw it like this.

SAVIDGE: Since the weekend, a small Navy of emergency responders and volunteers have ferried stunned survivors to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It almost kind of gives you reminiscent of Katrina or something like that. And you think, well, it can't happen here. Well it has.

SAVIDGE: It happened because a record 13 inches of rain fell on the city in just two days. The Cumberland River and other waterways rose faster than most people could imagine. Trapping even a local pastor Sunday morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were getting ready for church -- to go to church. And by the time we got out, the water had risen to our porch. The neighbors actually had to form a chain because the current was coming through each house.

SAVIDGE: If the images on the ground were frightening, from the air, they were staggering. Murky, brown water rose to rooftops and lapped around high-rises. It even threatened LP Field, home to the NFL Tennessee Titans.

The Cumberland River has risen above 50 feet, the last time that happened was in the 1960s.

Nashville's mayor and Tennessee's governor flew over the flooding and seemed to have taken aback.

Right here in Nashville, it's an astonishing -- it's an astonishing sight for someone who has lived here for a long time.

SAVIDGE: The water has submerged one of the cities two water treatment plants, cut power to more than 14,000 residents, even shut down the city's bus service and then there are those with no place to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still have about 30 shelters open across the state with a little over 1,000, about 1100 people in the shelters. Five other shelters are on standby.

SAVIDGE: All eyes were on Nashville's music icons. There is water in the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry.

1500 guests of the famed Opryland Hotel were forced to evacuate and spend the night in a nearby high school. While two of the hotels atriums can now boast an unwanted feature, indoor lakes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: And speaking of the Opryland Hotel, the owners say it's going to be months that they will be closed as they try to make repairs. That's going to be the same for many, many institutions here in the city of Nashville.

The Grand Ole Opry, by the way, the show will go on, not at that venue, though. This weekend, there will be events planned at other concert halls. The last time that this has happened, that interruption is 1975. And again that was due to flooding -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, I think between the waterlogged schools, these emergency shelters, the Cumberland River, it makes sense the governor saying this was just completely unprecedented.

Martin Savidge for us in Nashville. Thank you.

By the way we're still getting some unbelievable pictures out of the Nashville metro area, I think.

Jacqui Jeras, I saw some picture over the weekend of some sort of portable school floating down what looked like a river but it was a road.

JERAS: It was. That was Interstate 40.

BALDWIN: Yes.

JERAS: Where all those cars got trapped. You know I-40 was still closed as of yesterday so it's really an incredible situation. You know as we heard from Martin that the river crested but it remains at critically high levels. And it just got over that one extra foot mark unfortunately which inundated downtown.

And there you can see, this is LP Field. This is where the Tennessee Titans allegedly play football. Yes, look at that. So it looks like the stadiums themselves are doing OK. But all of these homes continue to have floodwaters in them. And it's going to take a while for this to recede.

And that is the concern that we're hearing from officials yet tonight -- today is that they are worried they could potentially find some more victims once those waters start to go down.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: You know, I think part of the problem yesterday with the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville, not only was the river rising at one point but everyone was pumping the water out of their businesses so the water on the streets --

JERAS: Yes, it goes right back out there.

BALDWIN: Goes right back out there.

JERAS: Yes.

BALDWIN: Tough situation, Jacqui. Thank you.

Breaking news. Developments here on the arrest in that New York car bomb attempt over the weekend. We have just learned two people taken off the plane at the same time the key suspect was nabbed have now been cleared of any involvement in the case.

Plus, President Obama is expected to speak on this issue on the arrest. Today, we will have a full update in two minutes as we go to break with live pictures from Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Police, investigators combing for clues in the suspect's home. This is the last known address of 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad. Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Of course our stop story this morning, the Times Square bomb arrest. Here's what we know. The suspect now in custody, 30- year-old Faisal Shahzad. He I a naturalized U.S. citizen, from Pakistan, originally documents indicate he had a known address in Karachi.

He was arrested right around midnight last night at New York's JFK airport and from what we understand, he was taken off of a plane that was headed to Dubai perhaps en route on to Islamabad.

Two other people were taken from that same plane. But we've just learned both of them have been cleared of any involvement here and they have been released. As I mentioned, final destination, Pakistan.

And he will be appearing in a New York federal courtroom at some point this morning being arraigned. But we're still not sure yet. No indication yet from the U.S. attorney general as to what charges he may be facing.

But Shahzad -- and here again pictures that we're just now getting of him to CNN. He is believed to be the man who himself purchased and drove that green, tinted windows, Nissan Pathfinder into Times Square. 45th and Broadway Saturday evening in that failed bombing attempt in Times Square there in Times Square.

And investigators now are searching this house in Bridgeport, Connecticut in connection with the case. It's the last known address, where he lived.

The suspect so far has been questioned over the course of the overnight hours. He's claiming he acted alone here, but authorities obviously looking into whether or not he had help.

Trying to cap the well. BP moving ahead with the dome plan, but it may be perhaps a little too little too late for Gulf Coast residents dealing with that massive oil slick.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Another big story we're following for you this morning, that massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Boom! They're now being battered in the water, and one of the main lines to defense here against the Gulf of Mexico oil spill may not in the end hold up.

Meanwhile, BP is still, they say, about a week away from possibly being able to contain the underwater leak. All of this the size of Delaware, the slick, the size of Delaware as we've been estimating actually moves closer and closer to shore. CNN's Reynolds Wolf has been live for us in Venice, Louisiana this morning.

Reynolds, let's just start with this big spill as we said, size of Delaware, moving closer and closer to all of those different states. Do we have any indication yet when it will hit the shore?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's great question. I can tell you this morning if there's a sense of urgency and opportunity as this thing is just sitting out there in the Gulf of Mexico, some of it actually has moved into a place called the Shandor Islands that is not far from the Louisiana Coast, about 20 miles east of Louisiana. I can tell you that the urgency is getting out there and trying to contain this as quickly as they possibly can. I'll tell you this. The first day, in about 36 hours, the weather should cooperate where crews can actually get out on the open water and get back to work.

When I say get back to work, what they're going to do is lay on more of that emergency boom. As you take a look at this video, over 300,000 feet of the boom and then later on in parts of the Gulf Coast from Louisiana back to Mississippi and even to Alabama and, of course, to the Florida panhandle and get this, Brook, as over a million additional fee of guaranteed (ph) boom that is yet have been deployed. We've also talked about the chemical dispersant. They've been spraying on the oil as it comes out to the major leaks. This chemical dispersant, they've used 150,000 gallons of it so far.

It has a molecular bond with the oil as it leaves the leak, weighs it down, keeps it on the ocean floor, but the latest thing that they tried or they will try within the next possibly five to six days is the sub sea oil recovery system which was build over in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, not far from where we happen to be at this time. It is a structure that weighs 125 tons, enormous. It looks like almost a two-story structure, has a bit of a dome at the very top of it, and what it does, actually, draws the oil from the ocean floor, from this leak, all the way up to a ship.

The deep water enterprise that will actually take the oil, harvest it and bring it back to shore or at least unload it on other craft who can then bring it back and safeguard the oil at shore. If this works, if it goes to plan, it can actually recover, they believe, up to 85 percent of the oil that is leaking from one of these large three leaks under water which certainly some great news.

In terms of where exactly the oil happens to be, our friend and colleague, Rob Marciano, flew out yesterday. I can tell you from his aerial observations, he mentioned that he was about 30 miles off, the thicker crude about 30 miles off the Mississippi coast. The sheen and oil of some of the heavier crude have infiltrated, as I mentioned, the Shandor Islands. It's the 20 miles east of our exact position, but again, as you mentioned, Brook, this is a huge mass of oil, a mass of oil about the size of Delaware. Let's send it back to you.

BALDWIN: Unfortunately, they can't shut it off just by hitting that blowup preventer. BP very frustrated over that. Reynolds Wolf, I'm heading down to the coast today. I'll see you there, friend. Thank you.

Still to come here, the man arrested in the failed Time Squares bombing, going before a judge this morning, federal court. You know, we're live outside that courtroom. We will bring that to you coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We want to get back to our breaking story this morning, this major break in the Times Square bomb case less than 48 hours here. A 30-year-old, Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan is in custody and expected in court after 2:00 p.m. eastern this afternoon. You're looking at some of the pictures, the first pictures CNN is able to obtain of this individual.

Shahzad was taken into custody right around midnight last night at New York's JFK Airport. He was on a plane. He was sitting on a plane bound for Dubai. Two other people were taken off the plane along with him, but they have been cleared and released of any involvement here. They said they had nothing to do with the case, but a law enforcement official is telling CNN that Shahzad told investigators in the overnight hours in part of his questioning, he said he acted alone.

He is also believed to be the person who drove that Nissan Pathfinder full of explosives, gas, fireworks, wiring, clocks, into a busy Times Square Saturday evening. We are not going too far from that story. As soon as we get any breaking developments on that, we'll bring it back to you.

But the other big story we're watching for you, it took a weekend to flood Nashville. And it's going to take a whole lot longer than that for the city to put this disaster behind it. Homes, businesses, landmarks under water. This is music city. Look at this, a dumpster just floating down what would have been a road. a river swelling. Lives, power, drinking water all at risk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. I want to tell this story out of New York here, and take a closer look at this case, really through the eyes of a seasoned investigator. Ty Fairman is a former FBI special agent who actually specialize international terrorism and foreign counter intelligence. He is now the head of I save group which trains companies about risk assessment tie (ph). Joining me on the line, on the phone.

And Ty, good morning to you. If we can, and we're still getting just really slowly, bits and pieces of who this Faisal Shahzad is, really sort of still a mystery. Pakistani born, naturalized U.S. citizen, lived in this middle class neighborhood in Bridgeport, Connecticut. You know, we heard from a neighbor, pretty quiet family, you know. The guy worked on Wall Street.

I mean, my question to you is, does he really fit the MO of someone who would try to inflict such harm potentially on so many people?

TY FAIRMAN, FORMER FBI AGENT (via telephone): That's all part of the intelligence side the house. I mean, the terrorist groups now are that far (ph) away of how law enforcement profile individuals. These individuals aren't the kind who are living on the streets. They're supposed to fit in and assimilate into American society and not look poor or desperate.

So, the first thing, you know, the neighbors, and the people around you, are supposed to be able to say this person is an upstanding citizen. They didn't have any problems. Their children went to school with our children, yadda, yadda, yadda. So, this does fit the description of someone that with conducted act like this.

BALDWIN: And perhaps to just further your point, the fact that he went through the whole naturalization ceremony, I believe, it was April 2009, to become an official U.S. citizen perhaps just going along with blending in, correct?

FAIRMAN: Yes.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you, really, it seems like in talking to Drew Griffin who's been on the story overnight for us, a big break in the case was when you had an investigator crawl underneath this SUV and he was able to find the VIN number on the bottom of the engine to finally link this car to the owner, to Faisal Shahzad. Is this normal? A VIN number has to be a precious piece of evidence in a case like this.

FAIRMAN: Yes, but you have to understand what you are dealing with. I mean, not just because I'm a former agent, but FBI is the best investigative agents in the world. Now, you have evidence of this vehicle that was intact. We have post-blast courses and we've done this back in 1993 where after the vehicle explodes now you have to find that VIN number of all the shrapnel and rubble and then identify it.

Now, you have a vehicle. And most people don't understand. I mean, some think that the VIN number is only located in one or two places but there are several places on the vehicle where you can find the VIN number, an engine block, in the of course the windshield. You can find it also in the left hand inner wheel arch, steering wheel, steering column on the radiator support bracket.

I mean, there are several places on the car engine -- the car's fire wall, (INAUDIBLE) at the engine itself. There are various places you can find the VIN number which is actually the car's DNA.

BALDWIN: It is precisely the car's DNA and it's certainly something he was hoping not to leave behind, I imagine.

But from the VIN number, let's look ahead, Ty, you have so many different pieces of this puzzle, right? You have the car, which from what I understanding has been flown to Quantico to be looked at. You have the different components of this would bomb, the fireworks, the wiring, the clocks, the gas. But then you have as we've seen some live pictures through the morning these investigators combing through whatever they could probably get their hands on at this last known address in Bridgeport, Connecticut. If you were an investigator on this story right now, what are you looking for?

FAIRMAN: Well, there are two things. I mean, the first thing and the quickest thing you have to do is identify who the subject is. I mean, so you have to trace that VIN number to its official owner; (INAUDIBLE) that individual immediately to find out whether they still owned that vehicle, was it stolen, was it borrowed by someone or was it sold. And then get that information; who they sold it to or if it was stolen, try to identify.

BALDWIN: But Ty beyond that if you are an investigator looking at this guy's home, what are you looking for? Are you looking for specific pieces of evidence or you're trying to trace the genesis of where the pieces of evidence come from?

FAIRMAN: Well, you have to corroborate who that individual is and what they tried to do. You find bomb equipment and you find residue, then you know you have your guy. But above and beyond that, in all these situations, it's not just one person involved.

Now, you want to collect that intelligence and you want to wait and find out who that person has been calling, talking to, if there are other people in the home, if there is other fingerprint, if there's been other people visiting, these neighbors have noticed any vehicles or license plates.

And you want to collect the intelligence because this is a group, not just an individual. You want to find the entire group itself.

BALDWIN: So just because, as so many people have been looking at this bomb in the car and a lot of people have said, not so sophisticated, it doesn't really have a signature. That doesn't necessarily rule out that he absolutely was part of a greater organization.

FAIRMAN: Of course not. I mean, you know, a huge explosion that takes out masses of victims is not really what a terrorist act is. A terrorist act is anything that can destruct business. It can be something that even ruins tourism. It's not always involved in death. We just have to have all the components like say the bomb in the 1993 bombing or the Oklahoma bombing with that same intent.

BALDWIN: And the intent, clearly, would you say, was there, the nefarious intent was there and you know in speaking to some experts over the weekend, when we covered this one in first (INAUDIBLE), the psychological damage was done.

FAIRMAN: Yes psychological was the main thing. I mean, for New York to be deemed unsafe back in the state, from the police department, to homeland security, to all the technologies, and the policies and procedures, that you know probably just painful for this that it makes everyone look bad. Of course it causes questions. And the nation is already in an up rise now because the people just don't trust the government. Let alone now they feel unsafe again. So that would really put this government of this country in turmoil.

BALDWIN: It certainly shows according to a lot of investigator I've spoken with our vulnerability.

Ty Fairman, from IC group, a former FBI special agent -- Ty, thanks for jumping on the line with us. Appreciate it.

FAIRMAN: Thank you. I appreciate it too.

BALDWIN: Now, a couple of vendors are actually the huge reason, this was a failed bomb attempt. Some of the vendors in Time Square, you see them every single day, they're New Yorkers. They actually saw something and more importantly, did something.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At about 6:30, an alert T-shirt vendor who was a Vietnam veteran noticed an unoccupied suspicious vehicle on 45th Street.

DUANE JACKSON, STREET VENDOR: When the flash hit, it was a little scary moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you feel good that you pointed this out?

LANCE ORTON, STREET VENDOR: Of course.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers, we avoided what could have been a very deadly event.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your message, Lance, to the people in New York?

ORTON: If you see something, say something.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Middle Tennessee, the record rainfall has officially ended, but the post-flooding problems just begun in the state capital of Nashville as it tries to recover from its worst natural disaster in recent memory.

Days and days of inundating rainfall helped spill the Cumberland River from its banks. Eighteen people statewide have died; ten of those in Nashville proper. And authorities fear they will find more bodies in the days to come.

Other casualties include the city's top tourist destinations like the Opryland Hotel, the country music hall of fame and the city's symphony center now knee-deep in floodwater.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty bleak. The entire basement, sub- basements and the basement are completely full of water. We have -- we're about three, three and a half feet from the water actually entering the main concert hall. We've lost the organ consoles; it's probably a complete loss. The concert grand pianos are under water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, more than 13 inches of rain fell just in the Nashville metro area in less than 48 hours. That is more rain than Nashville usually gets for the entire month of May.

It may sound kind of counter intuitive after a record rainstorm, but one of Nashville's biggest worries right now is drinking water. A treatment plant that was compromised during the storm has the city's mayor preaching water responsibility and conservation.

And we want to get the message straight from the source this morning as Music City Mayor Karl Dean joins me live from water-logged Nashville this morning. And Karl, let's talk more about this message; I heard you yesterday giving a news conference. This message of conserving water -- what only drinking, what's your message?

MAYOR KARL DEAN, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (via telephone): Well, essentially we're asking people to reduce their consumption of water by half. So whatever they were consuming before the flood occurred just cut that amount in half, and I think people will cooperate with that.

And what we have here is we have two -- essentially two drinking water treatment plants and one is entirely under water. The other one, the good news is the river crested last night sometime between 5:00 and 6:00.

So going forward, our hope is that the river will just begin to recede, but caution is the better part of valor. We want to make sure we have adequate water for the next few days so we're asking people again to cut their water consumption in half.

BALDWIN: From the water people are drinking to the water we're looking at all around downtown Nashville, I think the number I heard come out of your mouth yesterday was somewhere around 800 water rescues.

My question to you just in terms of public safety, are people now, as you mentioned the Cumberland River, it will begin to recede, are they clear, are they safe?

DEAN: Yes last night we did not have any for the first time in 48 -- 72 hours, I guess, no emergency calls last night. Our police and fire and our ambulance folks just deserve tremendous amount of credit for the hard work they've done over the past couple of days and they've been working a lot of hours to help and save a lot of people. We've also had a lot of volunteers step up. We had a real effort to do some sand bagging at the water treatment plant that's still operating. That went very successfully yesterday.

You know the sun's out and we're very sympathetic to anybody who was hurt or to the families of those who have died. It's a humbling experience for the entire city, but the sun's out and we're going to get back on our feet and begin the process of recovering and we're all going to work hard.

It's a great city and we'll be back in order very shortly.

BALDWIN: Karl Dean, Mayor of Nashville. A lot of schools waterlogged. The city waterlogged. We wish you the very, very best. Thank you, Karl.

DEAN: Thank you very much.

BALDWIN: Finally, stay right here. CNN NEWSROOM continues with breaking news on this final arrest in that attempted bomb plot in New York's Times Square.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to take you back to our breaking news this morning: a break in the Times Square bomb case. I want to show you pictures of this individual. We finally have him in here at CNN.

Here he is; 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad. We know he's a naturalized U.S. citizen, born in Pakistan; in custody and expected in court -- federal court in New York, sometime after 2:00 this afternoon Eastern.

By the way, we have also learned that President Obama will be speaking about this case in about an hour from now. We'll bring that to you live.

Meantime, Shahzad was taken into custody last night right around midnight at JFK airport in New York. In fact, he was on a plane headed to Dubai.

Two other people were removed from that plane. They have been cleared. They have been released. They said they have absolutely nothing to do with this case.

But a law enforcement official has been telling CNN that Shahzad told investigators he was a lone wolf; that he acted alone. He's also believed to be the person who drove that Nissan Pathfinder full of explosives into a very busy Times Square Saturday evening.

We have a team of correspondents all around the world following this story for you from every single angle, every single piece of evidence we have. We're going to bring it to you. We're going to have the latest developments at the tip top of the hour. We will be back in just a moment.

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