Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Times Square Bomb Arrest; Violent Protests in Greece; Suspect Slips Through No-Fly List; Greek Debt Fears Slam Stocks; Deadly Riots Over Spending Cuts; NYC Terror Suspect Talking; Oil Moves Closer to Coast; Knocked Outta the Park -- with a Taser

Aired May 05, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everybody. I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what we're working on for you right now.

We begin with the one who nearly got away, whisked away from JFK. This guy could be intelligence gold in the wider fight against terror.

Nashville's nightmare. It just took a weekend to swamp that city. It could take years to recover.

And how many times have you given this to your sick kids? You better stop now.

We begin with Times Square and the terror suspect. Faisal Shahzad under arrest and apparently in a talkative mood. So what is he saying to investigators?

Federal authorities say the 30-year-old Pakistani American has admitted to building the crude concoction singlehandedly. They say that he claims to have received explosives training at a terrorist camp in Pakistan.

U.S. Attorney Eric Holder says, quote, "It is clear this was a terrorist plot." Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed to CNN that two people there have been detained for questioning. They're a friend and the father-in-law of Faisal Shahzad.

U.S. terror officials say that they're still trying to verify any connection to the Pakistani Taliban. That group has claimed responsibility for the failed attack.

So what else is Shahzad telling investigators? And is it shedding any new light on the larger fight against terrorism?

Drew Griffin of CNN's Special Investigations Unit has been working his sources. He joins us live from New York.

So, Drew, what's he saying and do officials think he's telling the truth?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: You know, that is the big question, Kyra. Could this guy have connections to a terrorist organization? He says he was trained in Pakistan on how to build bombs. Really? They're going to need to check that out. He was so bad at what he did I think that police and the investigators are going to be very, very skeptical. But the fact of the matter is he is talking.

He's waived his rights. He's waived his rights to an attorney and it's one of the reasons there was no court appearance yesterday because he was talking. And they'll be able to track down everything he did and hopefully that will allow investigators to either rule in or rule out any help for this guy and quickly so they are very sure there's nobody else out there.

PHILLIPS: Drew, what if he's lying?

GRIFFIN: Well, I mean, if he's lying they'll be able to find that out, too, and then this could get a little tougher for investigators. But, again, they have the physical evidence, they know his movements.

They'll be able to tell very quickly if he's lying or not. And because he left such a long trail of evidence behind, they're going to be able to match what he says with what he actually did.

And Kyra, if I could just add, we got a juicy tidbit from Susan Candiotti, our reporter here in New York, who just got this from a law enforcement source. And it's the moment he was arrested. A lot of talk about how he was on the plane, the door was shut and perhaps Faisal Shahzad thought he had escaped.

Well, the door opened, and according to a law enforcement official telling our Susan Candiotti, this is what Shahzad told agents, "I was expecting you. Are you NYPD or FBI?"

PHILLIPS: We'll follow the investigation. Drew, thanks.

A previously scheduled Capitol Hill hearing is taking on new significance today. The Senate Homeland Security Committee was supposed to be talking about terrorists and guns. Now you can add homemade car bombs to that.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were already on that guest list. The hearing on proposed security upgrades gets under way this hour. We're following it.

One hour from now the view from Pakistan. Authorities there are working with their American counterparts to chase down leads from the accused Times Square bomber. We'll have the latest from Karachi, as well.

On the Gulf Coast, they're waiting for the oil to come ashore, and the big bell to leave port. The oil slick is out there growing by 210,000 gallons every day. Today we're seeing better weather, which means skimmer boats and booms can be put to good use.

We're also seeing the big bell. It's that dome the BP plans to drop over that leak. Earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" BP's COO gave us a time line for that fix. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG SUTTLES, COO, BP: I'm confident we're going to do everything we can to make it work. We've got the best people in the world working on this. We -- the cofferdam will leave port this morning or late morning around noon, we think, and it'll take about 12 hours to get to the scene, and then a couple of days to get to the bottom.

But I think what could happen here is it'll be a bit frustrating at the beginning, but I'm confident we'll find a way to make this work.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And they've said that the bell will stop about 80 percent of the flow. We'll have much more on that story just a little later in the show when we take you live to the Gulf Coast.

No worries about red-light runners in Tennessee. Just worries about red lights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here's the latest hazard these days on navigating the Cumberland. You've got to avoid the traffic lights.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Floodwaters recede in some places, but in others, still can't get there from here.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. Some of those floodwaters are receding but we've got some stormy weather across parts of the Great Lakes. We'll let you know what you can expect with your nation's forecast coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We've got breaking news this morning from Greece where people are mad as hell and taking to the streets in protest. We're talking about tens of thousands of people.

They're furious over the country's out-of-control debt and government plans to make big cuts in education, public safety, all the critical stuff.

The atmosphere is so toxic right now that those protests have actually turned deadly, and CNN is there.

Diana Magnay in Athens on the phone.

Diana, tell us exactly what's happening there right now.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra, well, I've been in the thick of a lot of rioting this morning. The police have been firing teargas into crowds of protesters. And the protesters have been fighting back with sticks and stones and petrol bombs.

I don't know if you've just heard that but that was another teargas explosion by riot police firing into the crowd. And we are also hearing from the fire brigades, Kyra, that some bank employees in a bank which was petro-bombed by these rioters, three people have been killed in there.

And just to give you a sense of why these people are on the streets, as you said, it's because of Greece's huge public deficit, its debt, and the fact that the government is now going to cut these people's salaries and increase the cost of living. And that is why they're out on the streets and that is why they're so angry today.

PHILLIPS: All right. I want to talk about the long-term implications for Greece in a moment. But as we're looking at these pictures and actually hearing the live sounds there with you on the phone, we were also reading reports that there were dead bodies on the streets. Is that true?

MAGNAY: I haven't seen dead bodies on the streets. I was actually on the telephone to CNN a littler earlier and a man came up to me and said there are dead bodies down there, but we couldn't find any clarification on that.

The only fatalities that we have been able to confirm with the authorities here are in these banks. And in fact people in front of the bank rioters say that it's not true and that they will only believe that there have been fatalities when they see it -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, now talk about -- I mean, obviously, it's chaotic at the moment. But a lot of people asking long term implications for Greece. You talked about the political and economic impacts here.

MAGNAY: Well, that is the big question because nobody knows whether this austerity package, this package of measures that the government has just announced this weekend, in order to try and reduce the country's deficit is actually going to work.

Basically, they brought in the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, to try and reduce their spending and sort out the economy. But people here are very angry because they believe that essentially the IMF is only brought in to help developing world economies rather than a Eurozone economy and they feel that the government has been forced by the IMF to impose much stricter measures than it would have done otherwise.

The big picture is essentially how can the government push through these spending cuts if the people continue to protest, which they say they will -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Diana Magnay, we will follow this developing story with you. Appreciate it. We're going to take a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: OK. Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel, clearly they've been watching the news. Here's their take on the big catch at JFK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Well, the amazing part, they arrested this guy. He was already on the plane. It was taxiing down the runway. They called the plane back. And they're calling it great work by Homeland Security, and I guess it is.

I mean, that's one way to look at it. I mean, how about the fact that a Pakistani guy who bought a one-way ticket to the Middle East reeking of fertilizer made it through security and got on the plane? How did that happen? How did that part happen?

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": It's amazing that this guy made it through security, through the gate, and on to the aircraft. I still can't even get my tweezers on the plane.

Man, when that plane pulled away from the gate, he probably thought he was home free. And he probably just slipped into his Uggs, paid $3 for the headset, he's all set to watch J. Lo and the backup plan. And all of a sudden his escorts arrived and ruined the whole thing.

He could have been back home in Pakistan by now. Which is worse, by the way? Prison or Pakistan? Maybe the joke's on us.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK. So we laugh. It's funny, but it's not funny. These guys actually have a point. While airport security is no joke, it sure can seem laughable sometimes.

The Associated Press is now reporting that the government will require airlines to check updated no-fly lists within two hours of being notified of any changes. Two hours instead of 24 hours.

Apparently Emirates Airlines did not look at an updated list that included the Times Square suspect's name.

Let's check in with Fran Townsend. She was homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush.

Now, Fran, have you ever been stopped or had something confiscated at the airport where you thought, OK, have you even checked out who I am? This is ridiculous.

FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Not only that, Kyra, my latest great story is I was in front of a woman who had -- they were coming from Washington here on tourism and they took the kids' snow globe. And you sort of said, really? Because it was more than three ounces. PHILLIPS: Well, in that -- you know, it's incidents like that, as you well know, that we've all experienced where we wonder, OK, what's the deal with these no-fly lists? Because there's not just one of them. There are several of them with so many various names on them.

Are they even worth the paper they're printed on?

TOWNSEND: You know, Kyra, I know this is going to sound counterintuitive coming after the comedy -- nighttime comedy shows, but I'll tell you the system is built to have a redundancy in it, and the redundancy in this instance is the thing that caught this guy.

You had the airlines that looked -- that download these lists, best we understand, Emirates downloaded it before the guy was added. But the reason we have the second layer, that is the National Targeting Center, which is run by Customs and Border Patrol, is they look at the manifest.

That's the people who are actually boarding that plane just before it takes off to double-check and make sure there are no people on there who are no-flies. They did that. And they did catch this guy and they did get him off.

It's not ideal. I get that. But, you know, we ought to feel pretty good about we built the system to catch -- you know we have sort of the belt and suspenders thing so we don't have people getting on planes.

This is a tough job. Make no mistake about it. And the National Counterterrorism Center working with the targeting center does this every day.

PHILLIPS: So are you saying that we need the redundancy?

TOWNSEND: We absolutely need the redundancy. You know, Kyra, people don't fully appreciate just as in this country there are lots of John Smiths, in Pakistan, that name will be different but there are common names that are often two or three names involved, sometimes we get the spellings wrong because we're translating it from Arabic.

And so this is -- it's a pretty complicated process and you want to make sure you've got the redundancy to try and catch these mistakes. It won't be perfect, but it's better than not having it.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, do you think the no-fly lists will change in any way because of this or do you think things are going to stay the way they are?

TOWNSEND: Well, no, I do think what you're going to see is -- just like you talked about before I came on, Kyra, and that is there already requirements for how often the airlines have to check them to try and tighten that system up more. And as it should be.

I mean, they should be looking at them more than every 24 hours. These things are updated constantly. You know it's a constant process of adding people as soon as you understand the threat that they pose.

PHILLIPS: So do you own a snow globe?

(LAUGHTER)

TOWNSEND: My kids do. My boys do.

PHILLIPS: OK. Well, make sure they don't travel with them.

TOWNSEND: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: Fran Townsend, appreciate the insight.

TOWNSEND: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right.

TOWNSEND: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Well, whether you're talking about famous landmarks or ordinary folks' home, it's going to take some time for things to get back to normal in Tennessee. Floodwaters from the Cumberland River have begun to recede too slowly in many places.

But rescue workers are still going door to door in neighborhoods being sure that everybody has made it out alive. A weekend storm that cut through the mid-south has been blamed for 28 deaths, most of them right there in Tennessee.

The Grand Ole Opry show went on last night, just not at the Grand Ole Opry house. It was actually moved across town. People who have been inside the opera house talk about the devastation there.

A friend of country music star Marty Stewart actually floated through the Opry house in a canoe. He found four feet of water on the stage and dressing rooms destroyed. Stewart says that he's also worried about artifacts as the Opry museum, fearing what he calls a profound American loss.

It's expected to be a minimum of three months before the entertainment complex that also includes the Opryland Hotel reopens.

Can you believe it's back? We're talking about that ash from the Icelandic volcano. It's causing more headaches for travelers right now. Airports in Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland are closed. It's the second straight day of restrictions there.

The ash plumes are expected to drift out of the area tomorrow allowing those airports to actually reopen. European air space was closed for several days last month after that volcano erupted.

No ash clouds but definitely a few storm clouds over the upper Midwest today. Jacqui Jeras is following that for us.

Whoa, it's a busy day. And by the way, is your magic wall working? I saw you panicking over there. (LAUGHTER)

JERAS: It's a tough technical morning, let me tell you.

PHILLIPS: But you got it worked out.

JERAS: I think so, thanks to my producer Angela Fritz helping me out today.

Hey, you were talking about that Tennessee flooding, I just want to show you a cool new image that we just got in. This is from the visible satellite. The flooding is so extreme here that you can see it from space.

So look at this. Here's the Tennessee River, here's the Cumberland River and you can see how thick they are in these areas indicating that flooding that's still ongoing. So there is still a lot of high water out there across parts of the mid-south.

Check out that video that we have from you -- for you from the Deep South. What happened yesterday in Roswell, Georgia, which is a northern suburb of Atlanta, dramatic water rescue took place.

Some teenagers thought it would be a good idea to walk across this very rapidly moving water over the top of a dam. That's about a 30-foot drop, by the way. Rescue workers were able to throw them that lifeline and they were able to get out of there safely. So some tense moments there and just a big reminder, don't walk through the stuff.

This is nasty, dirty water and look how rapidly that's moving. It's amazing that those guys were rescued safely.

(WEATHER REPORT)

JERAS: So it's cold in one place, warn in another place. I just happen to be happy I'm in that warm place, Kyra. How about you?

PHILLIPS: I am with you 100 percent. Thanks, Jacqui.

JERAS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: All right, we're checking top stories now. We're learning more about the suspect in the failed Times Square car bombing. Investigators say that Faisal Shahzad had admitted to building the explosive device all by himself. Investigators also say the Pakistani American claims he got trained at a terrorist camp in Pakistan.

Floodwaters from the Cumberland River in Tennessee receding but not fast enough for people and businesses there. Drier conditions in the next of couple days will help. A number of Nashville landmarks like the Grand Ole Opry House are still under water.

Also better weather in the Gulf of Mexico could help in containing that giant oil slick. Skimmer bolts will be able to go out, booms can be repaired, and the dome that BP wants to drop over the oil leak could be plugged in as soon as tomorrow.

Well, he wore a woman's wig for the heist and taser prongs for the takedown. Suspected carjacker finds his end of the road on a riverbank. And you'll probably want to see the video.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, it's been a while since we've had a knucklehead gone wild story. But here's one of those right out of Clackamas County, Oregon yesterday where a car-jacking suspect is caught on tape.

Police say this is 40-year-old Donald Wade Evanger on the run. He apparently thought he could give cops and their canine the shake by taking the pursuit off road and on foot. So here he is jumping rocks on the riverbank and ultimately into the water.

But swimming upstream apparently isn't one of his talents. Police talked him back onto land and in slo-mo watched the suspect's waistline. There is a weapon there and the officer isn't taking any chances.

So, boom, tazing the suspect, putting him down like a bad habit. Puddle-jumper went to jail on a litany of charges.

Well, anger over Arizona's controversial new immigration law gets a full-court press today. That's right. I'm talking basketball. The Phoenix Suns will wear jerseys emblazoned with the words "Los Suns" in tonight's in-game do of their NBA playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs.

Team officials say that the Suns chose Cinco de Mayo to honor Phoenix's Latino community and diversity in the NBA.

Meanwhile, the city councils of Tucson and Flagstaff are suing the state over the new law. They cite concerns over enforcement and tourism.

Well, if you're thinking about giving your kids certain name- brand cold and allergy medicines, don't do it. We're going to tell you why and what you can do instead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're still following that breaking news this morning out of Greece where people are mad as hell and still taking to the streets in protest. And we're talking about tens of thousands of people right now.

They're furious over the country's out-of-control debt and government plans to make big cuts in education, public safety -- all the critical stuff. The atmosphere is so toxic that these protests have actually turned deadly and is causing a crisis for our markets here in the U.S.

Stocks all around the world sold off yesterday because of what's going on in Greece. And here in the U.S., the Dow actually plunged 225 points. It's the biggest drop in three months.

Stephanie Elam following it for us in New York -- Steph.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, it just shows us how small the world is getting when you look at stuff like this and what's going on in Greece, you think why does that affect us here?

Well, it does have an impact. Right now I can tell you we are looking to see a lower opening, although nothing like yesterday's big sell-off. The problem is that even though Greece is getting a huge bailout to the tune of $146 billion, there are still worries about how this plan is going to work.

All 15 Euro nations have to work out how much money each will give and that could take time. Meanwhile, there was a rumor yesterday that Spain is negotiating a bailout with the IMF.

Those rumors have been denied by Spanish and IMF officials, but it shows what the big fear is, that this credit crunch could be spreading. And if that happens it could impact the recovery that we're seeing in our corner of the globe here.

But as I said, the losses today will not be as bad as we saw yesterday because we do have some upbeat economic news. A new report shows the private sector adding 32,000 jobs last month, that's better than expected and it could be a clue of what to expect on Friday. So that's when we get that big monthly jobs report from the government.

All right, so we heard the opening bell. Let's go ahead and see where we're starting the day. The Dow off 15 points to start, 10,900. So, we are on the lower side here but not as bad, the S&P 500 off a third.

And Kyra, here's a story for you as well. A Picasso painting set a new record, new to green leaves and busts. It sold for $106 million in just nine minutes of bidding.

PHILLIPS: OK. You know how much I love my art, but it's called local artists. That's what I can afford to negotiate and buy. In my lifetime, I'll never -- I'll see a Picasso at the museum. That's about it.

ELAM: We'll all visit it that way. It just shows how much some art lovers are willing to pay in just nine minutes, ready to go with their cash. There you go. There it is right there.

PHILLIPS: All right. Steph, thanks. It's awfully lovely. It's very Picasso-esque for sure. It's one of that --

ELAM: It's original form.

PHILLIPS: Yes, there you go. All right. Steph, thanks so much.

As we mentioned right before we began that segment, we were talking about the situation in Greece and how it's turned violent, how it's even turned deadly. Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathering on the streets right now. They're angry. They're in outraged over government plans to cut salaries, pensions, and raise taxes, all to try and solve the country's debt crisis. Josh Levs, you've been following the situation for us in Greece. We've seen the pictures. We've seen the video. Are people starting to respond via the internet as well?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are. And Kyra, I want to talk you through a lot of what we're seeing today, but a lot of this is about austerity measures that Greece has been taking on to try and tackle this will massive crisis. People very upset about being done about that. It really began with public-sector workers who were the most upset because of the cutbacks there, but it's expanded big time and now it's turned violent. Let me talk to you to some of the images that we're getting today. You can see, in some cases, police clashing with these protesters. It is turning increasingly deadly.

Let's start with this one right here. Good example, we're looking for some petrol bombs in some cases, thousands of security officials out on the street, battling against these protesters. You see young, you see old, you just see a lot of students who are taking part in this protest as well. I'm going to take you through some of these pictures here and as I do, I'm going to tell you these numbers, some of the -- pretty amazing numbers coming to us out of Greece. The size of the debt, the national debt, in U.S. dollars, about $413 billion.

This picture here is really striking. This is someone taking on Angela Merkel. This is an anti-globalization protester. Angela Merkel has been one of the leading voices in Europe who takes steps to help Greece be bailed out; however, along with that, they're also calling for Greece to make some promises. Some people want that debt forgiven entirely. This right here is a cruise ship. We usually see people heading out to tourist destinations right now. A lot of these have turned into protests as well. And the famed acropolis right here, look at these huge signs. People of Europe, rise up.

What this is doing is taking this major nation and then turning as especially all throughout Athens, where a lot of this is taking place, turning it into protest central throughout a lot of these streets. Let's go to some of these videos. I just want you to see some of the video that keeps coming our way. As you just mentioned, this turned deadly. We have some reports already about three people, at least three people dying. We have other cases in which some people are missing inside these major buildings. We have protesters surrounding certain buildings including financial buildings, some banks in some cases, security officials are out there protesting or trying to stop some of these clashes and these protesters there as well.

And from what we are seeing so far, this morning, there is absolutely no sign of this abating anytime soon. In fact, Kyra, it's just been increasing day by day. As we come back to the screen here, I want to show you something. We always like to use this globe just to put it in perspective. Here's the United States, over here. We're going to get you to a few locations I want you to see that are relevant in the story. First, let's start over here. I was mentioning Germany, German chancellor, Angela Merkel. You just saw her picture there. She's saying that Europe stands at a crossroads with the economic crisis in Greece.

So, a lot of European nations came together to promise $146 billion to help Greece; however, there is a hole in that, as well. Slovakia right now, potentially standing in the way, the Prime Minister there saying you can't give Greece any loan before we see them doing their homework. That's not necessarily fears that Slovakia will be able to block that, but there are fears that that bailout assistance might not come through which will continue to hit our stocks, our 401(k)s, right here in the United States, and this is just the location of Greece, where we're getting more information by the minute, Kyra, of people trapped, firebombs just outside the banks, all that going on right now throughout Athens and throughout Greece, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We'll follow it. Josh, thanks.

LEVS: You got it.

PHILLIPS: And today is the last day of campaigning in Britain's general election. It's such a tight race that you can bet the candidates will be shaking hands and kissing babies up to the very last minute. Prime Minister Gordon Brown fighting to keep his job, but polls show that his labor party is in big trouble. The candidates for the main opposition, conservatives and the liberal Democrats, all acknowledge that the election is still very much up for grabs.

The Times Square terror suspect, Faisal Shahzad, is talking, but is he saying anything valuable? Federal authorities say the 30-year- old Pakistani-American has admitted to building the crude concoction single-handedly. Shahzad apparently knew that authorities were closing in. Law enforcement sources directly involved in that investigation tell CNN that when authorities placed him under arrest, he said, quote "I was expecting you. Are you the NYPD or FBI?" Federal authorities say that Shahzad claims to have received explosives training at a terrorist camp in Pakistan.

U.S. attorney general Eric Holder says quote, "it is clear that this was a terrorist plot." Pakistani intelligence officials confirm to CNN that two people there have been detained for questioning. They are a friend and father-in-law of Faisal Shahzad. U.S. terrorist officials say that they're still trying to verify any connection to the Pakistani Taliban. The group has claimed responsibility for that failed attack.

So picture this -- it's just before midnight, an airline passengers are settling in for a long flight to Dubai. Suddenly, authorities sweep into the plane and quietly escort one passenger away. Then minutes later, as the plane is taxiing for takeoff, it's called back again. What were the passengers thinking? We found out when we spoke to them right after they finally arrived in the United Arab Emirates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FAYE ROY, PASSENGER: We went back to the-- back to, you know, the airport, and they said, you know, we have some difficulties, we're going to have to, you know, take everybody off the plane and look at the -- you know, we're going to check all the luggage. We're going to check every passenger. We're going to have to disembark. And that's when we went back.

MYRA PAGE, PASSENGER: The American side of it, they handled it extremely well. Homeland security was extremely professional, and at no point did anyone become terrified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: After the plane returned to the gate, two people were taken off. They were questioned, cleared, and released. We're keeping a close eye on this case, and our correspondents are always digging for new information. As soon as we have any developments, we'll bring them right to you.

Now, if you're thinking about giving your child Children's Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, stop and listen to what we have to tell you right now. Believe me, it's very important. You probably know about the recall that was announced a few days ago. Now, we know why. An FDA report has revealed an alarming discovery at a plant where those medicines are actually made. "American Morning's" John Roberts actually talked to a former FDA safety expert. He joins us for today's "AM Extra." So, what did he tell you, John?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I spoke with Carl Nielson, a former FDA safety inspector, about what's going on in this plant that the FDA cited. This is a McNeil Pharmaceuticals plant, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. Here's the report, 17 pages of it, and Kyra, it is a scathing report. It says in the first page here that the raw material that had known contamination with bacteria was approved for use to manufacture several finished lots of children's and infant's Tylenol drug products. Here on another page, it says no corrective and preventive action was initiated for 46 consumer complaints regarding foreign materials, black or dark specks, between June 2009 and April 2010.

In other words, this company was told by consumers, people who were buying their products, hey, we think there's a problem with this and the company did nothing. So, we heard through all the political campaigns about problems with bringing in pharmaceutical drugs from places like Canada, oh, we can't guarantee their safety. Well, here we've got a big problem in our backyard, a company that is creating drugs for our children, over-the-counter drugs for our children, and there's a safety problem. Here's what Nielson told me this should be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL NIELSON, RETIRED FDA CONSUMER SAFETY OFFICER: I think it's a very large wake-up call for over-the-counter drug industry. It's well-known that for the prescription drug industry 80 percent of the ingredients are imported. FDA does very little foreign inspection work on over-the-counter drug suppliers of ingredients active and inactive. And this is a wake-up call, very similar to melamine, to the food safety issue, and heparin to the prescription drugs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

So, what do you do if you've got these meds right now in your medicine cabinet?

ROBERTS: OK. Johnson & Johnson, McNeil issued a recall over the weekend that if anybody who's got Children's Tylenol, Children's Motrin, Children's Benadryl or Zyrtec should take them back to the place that they bought them. They want all of that off of the shelves. The FDA says that the generic versions are safe, but Nielson said to me this morning, can you really be sure of that.

So, you know, I think that we're in a small phase here, Kyra, where the safety of these over-the-counter drugs is being questioned. The FDA seems to be on the case, but, you know, in the interim, what do you do? I don't think there's any really good answers for parents because if it was this lot, were there other lots, if it was this factory, were there other factories? It's unclear at this point just how far this could go.

PHILLIPS: All right. We can definitely go to CNN.com/health to get more information. We'll follow the story for our viewers for sure. John, thanks.

You talk about will power. Doctors say that rocker, Bret Michaels, has been released from the hospital after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage more than a week ago. And they say it was his sheer will to live that kept him alive. Michaels left a Phoenix hospital yesterday. His doctor says that Michaels is not walking that well yet, but he is talking and the doc is pretty confident that Michael will make a full recovery, but first, he's going to need lots of rest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOSEPH ZABRAMSKI, MEDICAL TEAM LEADER: Earlier on, he was -- as I said, he was feeling pretty good and I think he thought he was going to be up and about sooner than he was. Then as we got out further along, this chemical meningitis thing takes over, and he's really suffering again right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Michaels faces four to six weeks of rest before he can get back to normal schedule. That's according to his doctor. We'll follow up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now, suspected terror attacker, Faisal Shahzad, is spilling his guts to federal investigators. He admits that he built the Times Square bomb all by himself. But he also said that he was taught how to do it in Pakistan. In Athens, Greece, violent protests turn deadly when a firebomb was tossed into a bank. Three people are now dead, four others trapped inside. Demonstrators gathered around the parliament building to protest Greece's crumbling economy.

The FDA found numerous violations in a plant that makes children's liquid medicines. Parents have been told not to use anything made there. We're talking about liquid forms of Children's Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and Zyrtec.

In Detroit, a public viewing begins at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning for hall-of-fame broadcaster, Ernie Harwell, the longtime voice of the Detroit Tigers baseball team passed away last night. He called ball games for 42 years. He also had been battling an inoperable type of cancer. The team says that Harwell's two sons and wife of 68 years were at his side when he passed. Tomorrow's viewing will be held where Harwell was most comfortable and at ease -- the Ballpark America (ph) Field. Ernie Harwell was 92.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, we now have video of what left so many Bostonians feeling parched this weekend. And there she blows. It was -- well, if it was oil, they'd be rich.

Saturday's massive water main break in Western Massachusetts that had as many as two million people boiling mad over having to boil their tap water that was caught on the surveillance video.

The catastrophic leak earned a state of emergency declaration and at one point as much as 8 million gallons of water per hour was gushing.

Now one down two to go; BP says that they've capped one of the three underwater leaks in the Gulf of Mexico. Well, that sounds good. It doesn't really change things. It just means the same amount of oil is gushing out of two other leaks.

But BP does say that the new containment dome intended to cover up the leaks is headed into the Gulf in around two hours. It will take a few days to get it in place.

That's all going on about 50 miles out in the Gulf, but there's even more action closer to shore.

Rob Marciano, live in Biloxi, Mississippi, for us this morning. So, Rob, the weather has been a problem there for a number of days so, what it's like now and how it's going to affect those efforts for containment?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Huge improvement, Kyra, over the week -- since over the weekend where they have those strong south winds blowing that slick closer and closer to the northern Gulf shorelines. And now that the winds have stopped that oil transplant or transport pretty much has stopped at least the northern progression of it. So that's the good news. The bad news is it has drifted a little bit closer to the Louisiana shoreline into the Chandeleur Island and closer to the sensitive wetlands there and wildlife certainly affected more than what we've just seen on our air coverage.

Forecast for the next several days continued like this -- that's the good news -- light winds, maybe a light south breeze but it's not going to be enough to really to move this. Eddies and lighter currents within the Gulf are going to do most of that. And then over the weekend, a north wind.

So I really don't expect the oil to make much northern progression. It will sneak a little bit farther to the West but I think Mississippi, Alabama and Northern Florida at least over the next two to three days will be safe.

What happens longer term that's a trickier issue. If this thing gets another stronger currents of the Gulf stream down to the south, that means southern Florida may very well be into play but too far along to tell just then. But for now, the weather is certainly helping the coordinated effort to get those booms out and the dispersement planes dropping those chemicals in to try to knockdown that oil that continues to come up from 5,000 feet below -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Rob. We are going to track it. I appreciate it.

Well, the first American in space on this date in history, May 15th, 1961, Alan Shepard blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard Freedom 7. He picked the name. His suborbital flight lasted 15 minutes.

And in 1891, Carnegie Hall first opened its doors in New York City, although some say Carnegie. Tomato -- tomato; back then it was actually called Music Hall. That first performance was a Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3. The second piece was conducted by that famed composer Peter Tchaikovsky.

And in 1862, the Mexican Army won the Battle of Puebla. Benito Juarez led the chart against the French. That victory is why Mexico celebrates Cinco De Mayo and why we always seem to maybe drink a little too much on May 5th.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Philadelphia the city of Don't Tase me, Brotherly Love. You've seen the video, right? 17-year-old Phillies fan runs out on to the field Monday, another case of goof ball meets baseball. Only this goof ball got knocked out of the park with a taser gun as if he were a thug who had stolen a purse.

Ok, it's pretty well established that Philadelphia is where sportsmanship goes to die, at least in the stands. Fans throwing batteries and snow balls, cheering when opposing player had a serious neck injury, even booing Santa Claus once, that urban legend still lingers. And just last month, some loud, drunken dirt bag projectile vomited on a fellow fan and his daughter on purpose, a new low.

So now, take a look at this. Does this fan look like he could do anything other than give a security guard a bad cramp? Come on. The kid's basically streaking with his clothes on. Fans run in to the field, chase, tackle, toss them out it's been going on for years it doesn't happen every day and it's not condoned. Well, maybe sometimes it's condoned.

Flashback to the late '70s and early '80s. We're getting there. Hold on. We're coming to it in just a second. This isn't it -- let's see if we can bring it up. There it is. Can you imagine security tasering Morgana the kissing bandit. Remember her? Would hate to see her fall forward, know what I'm saying?

Oh, anyway Phillies police commissioner says the use of force was appropriate. So what do you think? Was the taser too much or did the kid have it coming?

Blog me, CNN.com/Kyra.

Much more ahead in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM including our Nic Robertson; he's is live in Karachi, Pakistan this morning -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, more arrests here in Pakistan including the father-in-law of Faisal Shahzad. More on that at the top of the hour.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, of course, we're continuing to follow the terror scare here in New York. We're looking at what this all means for tourism, a multi-billion industry in New York. Is it going to hurt this city? We'll give you more at the top of the hour.

ELAM: And I'm Stephanie Elam also in the big apple, where we're keeping a close eye on stocks today after global markets hit a big speed bump yesterday. The issue -- renewed fears that debt problems in Greece could spark another credit crunch. Kyra, I'll have more on that at the top of the next hour.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, guys. That, plus the very latest off the Gulf Coast where potential ecological disaster, rather, looms with that massive oil spill; and the first real step taken in the right direction to stop it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)