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Aid Workers Killed in Afghanistan; Kagan Soon to be a Justice; Gulf Oil Spill & Seafood; Russia's Raging Wildfire; Haiti Struggles to Recover from Quake; Plotting Attacks for al Qaeda; Most Watched Web Series; New York City Mystery Ship

Aired August 07, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: You are look at video we have from western Pennsylvania. Not a lot of details coming out quite yet, but this a twin engine airplane crashed into a house according to state police there. And residents of the home are spoken for, but no one yet has been recovered from the plane. Look at that video, T.J.

T. J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It's amazing to see the pictures. We have been watch this for a short time now. No one has been able to see any kind of indication of where the plane is. We have no idea, at least officials don't know, how many people might have been on that plate or the fate of the person who might have been on that plane.

We were wondering here, Kate and I, at least, how in the world someone could have been in that home and survived. So maybe the people who lived in the home and are accounted for possibly were not in the home at that time. If they were, we would love to hear that survivor story, because that would be remarkable to think looking at that home now that anyone survived a plane crashing into the roof of that home the way it appears it did.

Also, this is Bell Township just outside of Pittsburgh, about 30 miles to the east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in Bell Township. No one on the plane accounted for, and we are not sure where the plane is coming from for where it's going. So we will keep an eye on that for you.

We are also keeping an eye today on NASA. They have work to do up in space. We have been keeping an eye on that for some time. We'll tell you more about that coming up at the hour and possibly bring you some live pictures. We want you to stay with us this morning here as we continue the next out of CNN Newsroom.

BOLDUAN: And a busy morning and it's also going to be a busy day for Elena Kagan, one of the biggest days of her life. She's set to join the nation's highest court, only the fourth woman in Supreme Court history. And CNN is all set for her swearing-in.

HOLMES: Also we're checking in on Haiti, seven months now after that devastating earthquake. And we are talking to the man who has a big role in the recovery of the capital, Port-au-Prince. We'll talk this morning live here in studio with the mayor of Port-au-Prince about the painful road to recovery.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And a really horrific story out of Afghanistan. Aid workers gunned down in cold blood.

HOLMES: And that's the story we're going to start with this hour.

Six Americans are among the ten dead. Ten aid workers who were shot and killed in Afghanistan.

BOLDUAN: Yes. They were on a mission to provide medical care -- of all things -- when they were ambushed; after the killings, a claim of responsibility from the Taliban.

The latest now from CNN's foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty, in Kabul, Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Taking responsibility for those deaths, most of the information on this now is coming from the organization for which those aid workers worked. That is the International Assistance Mission, a humanitarian group dealing mainly with medical help to Afghan citizens.

It is a Christian group. Although, they are saying that Christianity, in this case, had nothing to do with it. These workers we are told, some of them doctors, some of them medical staff, were traveling into a very remote part of Afghanistan. They were stopped by the Taliban.

We understand from the police in that region that they were forced out of their car. Their belongings were taken and then they were methodically shot.

The International Assistance Mission says there were six Americans, one German, one British and two Afghans who were killed. Another two Afghans were allowed to go free.

Now, there was an interesting part to this. And that is that the group, the team that was going into that part of Afghanistan, did have a Facebook page. And on that, you can actually track the map showing where they were going up from Kabul and then going northeast into this area.

The Taliban say that these people were spies. The organization, of course, says that they were aid workers. But the Taliban says they wanted to capture them alive. Some of them decided to run and then the Taliban killed them.

This of course raises issues, not only for that organization but for other international relief and aid organizations that are working in many parts of Afghanistan and now concerned for their own security.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And again, the name of the group, the International Assistance Mission. They claim they have been doing work in Afghanistan for some 40 years. The director of that group spoke to our sister network, CNN International.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIRK FRANS, INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE MISSION (via telephone): We know that the chief of police in Barikstan (ph) province where the ten people were murdered actually said that he thought it was a robbery. And we understand he says that on the basis of the fact (INAUDIBLE) they had been stripped completely of any valuables, no phones, no money, no passports, no satellite phones, no nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And in Baghdad, four police officers are dead and eight others wounded after a fire fight with suspected militants. The incident happened last night. Iraq's Interior Ministry says the officers were acting on a tip of possible weapons being stored inside a home. Well, when they arrived, an hour-long shootout began. Police say they recovered weapons and grenades. The suspects got away.

HOLMES: Well, the nation's highest court is about to get a new member in just a few hours. Elena Kagan all set to take her place in history.

Our Bill Mears standing by for us in Washington, just a few hours to go. Bill, good morning to you once again. Help folks understand. She's actually going to be taking two oaths. Why?

BILL MEARS, CNN SUPREME COURT PRODUCER: They are both required of a justice. The first is a constitutional oath, it's required of all federal employees. That ceremony will be done in private. She'll then walk down the hall with the Chief Justice where she'll take the judicial oath which is required of all federal judges.

And after that, she can officially begin her duties as the 112th justice on the Supreme Court.

HOLMES: Yes, begin those duties. When will she be able to actually get to work?

MEARS: Almost immediately. The first priority for her will be moving into her new chambers to hire staff and to read up on the case load. And she's fortunate in that the court is in the middle of a three-month recess.

So she doesn't need to really begin her work too quickly before the court starts in October. But she'll handle any emergency appeals that might come up before the court in the next few weeks, such as stays of execution.

But mostly she's got time to kind of read up on the case load and get settled into her new job.

HOLMES: Well, a good time to join. When she gets on the job, certainly people thinking about cases down the road, major cases she could possibly be a part of, health care; also Prop 8, which has been in the news a lot lately.

But there are some cases she has already come up and say, hey, I might not be able to participate here.

MEARS: It is -- she's -- until she takes this new job, she's -- she was the solicitor general of the United States. That means she represents the federal government before the Supreme Court and Appeals.

And so she's going to have to recuse herself from at least a dozen cases perhaps more that come before the court, because she has been involved in the litigation. So it's -- and it's going to be a tricky issue for the court because without her participation, that leaves the court potentially with a 4-4 split.

So we'll see just how many cases she's going to be involved in.

HOLMES: All right, Bill Mears for us, always good to have you and your expertise there for us in Washington. We appreciate you this morning. I'll talk to you again soon.

BOLDUAN: California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, wants a federal judge to allow same-sex marriages to resume in that state. He and California Attorney General Jerry Brown have filed court briefs urging the judge to lift the temporary stay.

Wednesday, the judge ruled that California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages -- Proposition 8 as it's known -- violates the Constitution. But he saved that decision from taking effect pending appeal.

Well, Schwarzenegger and Brown say same-sex couples deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY BROWN, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Because the court of California said that marriage was a fundamental right, and that same- sex couples had the right to be included and have the same rights, therefore, even though Proposition 8 passed, you can't take away fundamental rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Same-sex marriage is currently legal in five states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa, and New Hampshire, as well as in Washington, D.C.

HOLMES: A decorated Army doctor is risking his career on the premise that President Obama was not born in the United States. We are talking about Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Lakin, you see him there this was following yesterday's military hear in Virginia.

He's a 17-year Army veteran and is charged with disobeying a lawful order and dereliction of duty. He could face court-martial for refusing deployment to Afghanistan until he says until he sees proof the President is native born.

Yesterday Lakin's attorney explained why he wants the charges thrown out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. PAUL JENSEN, TERRENCE LAKIN'S ATTORNEY: The motion will be made immediately and the plea entered at the next hearing, in all likelihood or the following hearing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will you base that motion for dismissal on?

JENSEN: That the charges are illegal because the President is ineligible to serve as commander-in-chief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, the judge gave Lakin's attorney two weeks to file a motion to dismiss the case.

BOLDUAN: And in New Orleans the 7th Annual Great American Seafood Kickoff gets under way today but casting a shadow on this year's event -- no surprise -- the Gulf oil disaster.

CNN's Reynolds Wolf is live in Pensacola Beach, Florida, with more on that story. Hey, there, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, guys. You know, it's all part of getting back to normal. You know before the spill began, this place was known for incredible white sand beaches along the Gulf Coast; also known for great seafood.

Now that the well has been capped and we're going to finalize it hopefully next week with the completion of the relief well and then the bottom kill, things are going to slowly start getting back to normal for many people.

Now, one of the ways getting back to normal is to celebrate the great seafood. And today, there will be that -- the contest that will choose the world's best seafood chef. And for two of the competitors, this competition is very personal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WESLEY TRUE, CHEF IN CONTEST: Hey Chris, can I have some scallions, please?

We are doing a philo-crusted shrimp. Do you have any of that spicy stuff? I found something I'm good at. I get to be creative.

Hi my name is Wesley True. And I'm a chef owner of True restaurant in Mobile, Alabama.

CHRIS LUSK, CHEF IN CONTEST: Shrimp on shrimp on grits. Can you ever have too much shrimp? There's really no boundary on what you can do with food. I just love cooking. It's like -- I don't -- I can't imagine myself doing anything else.

Hi my name is Chris Lusk. I'm the executive chef at Cafe Alley Restaurant in New Orleans.

So this is a national seafood competition. And we are competing with 14 other chefs around the country. People come here for food. And this is my opportunity to represent our state.

TRUE: Right after the economy started to get better we had this like seafood crisis. Half the seafood I was going to get, I can't even get anymore.

LUSK: I'm a competitive person so -- but at this time, I think it's so important to represent Louisiana.

TRUE: Personally, I will say I want to win, because I'm representing the State of Alabama.

LUSK: Anyone on the Gulf is going to be a challenge, because they have great seafood as well but not Louisiana seafood.

TRUE: I have been cooking about 12 years now. I can't worry about my competition. I've got to worry about what I'm doing.

Then when you cook one dish, you have the best dish ever made -- I'll (INAUDIBLE).

LUSK: Well, there's -- there's pressure definitely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shrimp is the fruit of sea.

TRUE: We've all seen Forrest Gump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can boil it, broil it --

TRUE: He mentioned like 60 shrimp dishes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shrimp kabobs, shrimp Creole.

TRUE: That's all based like you know 20 miles from here. So --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pan-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried.

LUSK: This is great tomato that we cut it in half.

We pride our self on the freshest ingredients. And so anything that's coming out of the water is safe and it's delicious as always.

TRUE: Maybe we can get the message across that, you know, you can still buy local seafood. So I guess, there's a lot riding on it, you know.

LUSK: To be able to get out there and say, look at our seafood, it's still the greatest seafood ever, it's safe, it still tastes great.

TRUE: I don't really know what the future is going to be. And I hope we can -- I hope we can change it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF: CNN photojournalist, John Bena and producer, producer Eric Fiegle put that together. And if you're hoping to put together your own seafood spread and you're hoping to something, you've got to say in Mississippi, you're in luck, because waters will be open to both commercial and recreational fishing as long as it happens to be shrimp or fin fish.

Now, if you're hoping to catch maybe some oysters, maybe bring in some crabs, you're going to have to wait a couple weeks. They are undergoing some tissue testing, tissue samples and especially from some of the oysters. Those results should come in within the coming weeks and then the waters will be open completely.

T.J., let's send it back to you.

BOLDUAN: I will tell you though, that is a good story of getting back to normal. But I think everyone in this studio is all saying collectively --

HOLMES: It looks great.

BOLDUAN: -- how hungry that was making us. That's a great story.

HOLMES: It look great, we appreciate it.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Reynolds.

HOLMES: Thanks Reynolds.

Now, another story we brought you just a short time ago. We continue to keep an eye on. There it is. This is out of western Pennsylvania where a plane has crashed into a home. You see pretty much the roof of that home is missing.

State police are saying now that a twin-engine plane slammed into this home. This is northeast of Pittsburgh. They say the house and the plane pretty much exploded on impact. Everybody in the house was able to get out safely.

So we were wondering whether or not the family was even home. But apparently, it appears that they were and were able to survive in some kind of way, not knowing how many people were aboard that plane and if anybody onboard happened to survive. We will pass along more information as we get it.

BOLDUAN: Also, summer heat may be intense in much of the U.S. -- a big story we've been following and continue to.

But in Moscow, there is -- they are coping with dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide and smog. It's so thick you can barely see some of the city's most famous landmarks. We'll tell you why the Russian capital is shrouded in smoke. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Well, many thanks we need to offer to our CNN iReporters who have been covering the massive wildfire in Western Russia.

HOLMES: Yes. Authorities there are warning people, though, to stay indoors or wear a mask if you have to go outside. Our Jacqui Jeras is showing us why. These pictures are amazing.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, it's really incredible and so horrible. We have been whining about how bad our heat has been here across the United States but it has been record- breaking heat across parts of Russia since early July. So this has been going on for a month.

And, you know, adding insult to injury, all the wildfires which have developed and all these little red spots that you can see here on my map, those are all fires that are burning. There is more than 600 of them. This whole area, which you see here, across Russia, this is smoke. This is not clouds. This is smoke and it covers about 1 million square miles. That's what the estimate is. It is just incredible.

So when you have record heat and you have smoke all over the place, it is a huge health hazard. In fact, the amount of pollutants that is in the atmosphere in Moscow right now is five times the acceptable level.

You were thanking our iReporters. Well, here you can see, this is from Percy von Lipinski -- sorry, Lipinski -- who took these pictures. And he gave us a real good description of what it is like. He says it just burns your throat. He said he actually had a problem just trying to cross the street. You can see the yellow haze and smog that is in the atmosphere. And experts are telling us it is kind of the equivalent of smoking about two packs of cigarettes a day.

Now, the temperatures here unfortunately are going to continue to stay extremely high. In fact, 104 degrees could be reached tomorrow. That's the hottest temperature then if that happens that will ever have been recorded in Moscow, so no relief in sight.

Flights have been delayed in this area on and off, as well, because the visibility has been so poor down to just a couple of seats in some areas. You can see it is hard to even see some of those landmarks within the area. So just incredible conditions going on in Moscow and unfortunately, with drought conditions and with heat continuing, we don't expect it to get better.

We will talk a little bit more about the heat in the U.S. And that's coming up in just a little bit. Back to you guys.

HOLMES: All right. Jacqui, we do appreciate you. We will talk to you again here shortly.

Also if you see news happening, please shoot it, click it, send it to us -- CNN.com/iReport.

BOLDUAN: On a much lighter note, Josh Levs is joining us with some videos that could change what you watch on television.

HOLMES: Yes. They are the top web series in the country. Two of them specifically try to annoy you, actually.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They try to annoy you. I don't know if you guys know anything about this one, that's the goal. Some of them actually have but what you will see is that these things, believe it or not, are changing the future of television. I will explain right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Into top stories now. We begin outside Washington; police in Prince George's County, Maryland, have arrested two people in a multiple murder. The bodies of two women and two young children, ages three and four, were found in a home that police say was littered with trash. They had been shot to death. Police say the adult victims and the suspects here apparently had sold drugs together.

And federal officials say some airbus planes have a potential rudder design flaw that can be hazardous. And they say the design may be partly to blame for the crash of an American Airlines plane crash that killed 265 people. The aircraft went down shortly after takeoff from JFK Airport in November of 2001. The NTSB is recommending European regulators review options for modifying some airbus planes.

Two astronauts are in the middle of a seven-hour spacewalk at the international space station. You are seeing some live pictures right there. I won't even pretend like I know what they are doing but it's very important. They are trying to fix the nation's cooling system.

We talked about this last weekend when some alarms were going off. It's an ammonia pump that failed last week setting off alarms. Another space walk is set for Wednesday.

Some really amazing pictures up there -- T.J.?

HOLMES: Well, Kate, Haiti of course, a lot of people know still struggling to recover and rebuild from January's devastating earthquake. Earlier this morning, the mayor of Port-au-Prince, Jean- Yves Jason, joined me here in our Atlanta studio and he had a message for the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The mayor of Haiti who has -- or the mayor of Port-au- Prince, I should say -- Jean-Yves Jason, joining me here live as well as Sorrell (ph) (INAUDIBLE) who's going to be translating for us this morning. I appreciate both of you gentlemen being here.

The mayor is here in Atlanta raising awareness about earthquake relief efforts in Haiti and also being a part of an event that took place last night. We just showed it to you a short time ago, Usher's foundation, (INAUDIBLE) award including to the president.

First of all, how was it for you, Mr. Mayor, to be hanging out with folks like Usher, Justin Bieber and also President Clinton? How was the event?

JEAN-YVES JASON, MAYOR, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (through translator): You know, indeed that was very important to me. I wanted to be there.

Primarily for what Usher is doing for the American youth and also for what he intends to do for the Haitian youth. The reception that I received from the New Look Foundation was just tremendous. That prepared kits and backpacks to go to Haiti to help the children.

HOLMES: How important are trips like this to just have you here and keep it fresh in people's minds, what's happening in Haiti?

JASON: You know, it is very important, because the campaign I am running right now is precisely for that reason, to keep Haiti and Port-au-Prince, in the fore front of everyone's minds. I am hoping we do get to talk about that because there's a lot of aid has been promised for what's happened in Haiti. None of it has actually made it to Haiti.

HOLMES: Ok. On that point, there were billions and billions of dollars pledged. CNN did a story not long ago, only 2 percent of the money that was pledged back in March at that aid conference has actually gotten to Haiti. How much money are you seeing? Are you seeing any of it?

JASON: You know, the money promised, I'm not seeing it as the mayor. But there is something I do want to say because we are speaking about money. I really want the whole world to understand and you specifically that it is not about money. It is about the lives of people, the lives of people in danger. It's time to stop speaking and talking and pass into action.

That's why I was especially impressed by the speech that Bill Clinton made last night. And I want to send him the message right now. That message is simply this: come sit with the mayor of Port-au- Prince to plan together the reconstruction of Port-au-Prince because we have people in Port-au-Prince whose lives we want to save.

Now, you know, you are talking about the hurricane season being right upon us. We collectively have to stop capitalizing on the misery of our people. We have to bring them hope.

HOLMES: What do you mean by that, capitalizing on the misery?

JASON: What's happening in Haiti mobilizes the media worldwide -- it mobilizes the NGOs. We are not seeing any results.

We want to do otherwise. We want to save lives. We want to work with the media to mobilize people. We want to serve with the people that have big voices and huge megaphones throughout the world so we can work with them to save the people of Haiti. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, international donors have reportedly only given about 10 percent of the aid they promised and over 1.5 million Haitians are still living in tents.

BOLDUAN: He lived in the U.S. for years. Now, the FBI agents say he has gone underground as a leader of al Qaeda.

HOLMES: His mother, though, says this is all just a lie. We are going to be hearing from her as well as the FBI. We are coming up on the bottom of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Bottom of the hour here now.

CNN is recovering new details about a man who authorities believe is plotting attacks for al Qaeda. The say he spent much of his life right here in the U.S. Now he seems to have just vanished.

Our Susan Candiotti talked exclusively with his mother and the FBI.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The FBI says that after he left America, Shukrijumah started off as an al Qaeda dishwasher, doing menial tasks at training camps. But it believes he's much more than a dishwasher now.

BRIAN LEBLANC, SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: Just like any other business, he would be equated with a chief of operations.

CANDIOTTI: Investigators have revealed to CNN they believe Adnan Shukrijumah is now directing al Qaeda's overseas operations.

(on camera): How dangerous is he?

LEBLANC: He may not be somebody that's going to come into the United States to conduct the attack, but what makes him more dangerous is that he's out there plotting the attacks and recruiting people to actively do that.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): The break-through came when FBI counterterrorism agent Brian LeBlanc linked Shukrijumah to the thwarted New York subway suicide mission last fall, the biggest post- 9/11 terror investigation.

Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay admit they plan to blow themselves up using homemade bombs. Prosecutors say it was Shukrijumah who called the shots, probably from somewhere along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

(on camera): What did Zazi that he, Shukrijumah, told him to do?

LEBLANC: Adnan was the one that convinced the three of them to come back to the United States and conduct the attack here.

CANDIOTTI: He told them you go there and you blow up the subways.

LEBLANC: Yes.

CANDIOTTI: There are a lot of people that are saying now that he's involved in evil things, planning attacks on the United States. Can you imagine this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. That is not my son. My son is not a violent person. He is very kind, generous.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): In her only televised interview since her son was indicted in the New York plot, his mother insists he's incapable of doing harm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way you call it -- the scapegoat.

CANDIOTTI: The eldest son of a Saudi imam, Shukrijumah came to America as a young child. His mother shared exclusively this beloved photo of the two of them. They settled in Brooklyn, New York.

CNN has learned that his Shukrijumah's father preached at this mosque. They lived at this house nearby before moving to Florida in the mid-'90s. His father, who is now dead, opened a small mosque near Fort Lauderdale.

(on camera): In the late '90s, Shukrijumah worked several odd jobs, including selling used cars. His family says that's how he paid for courses, including chemistry and computers, at this small college in south Florida. He even took classes to speak better English.

Well, a few years later, when the FBI began looking for him, his English professor remembered videotaping him at one of those classes and turned over the tape to the FBI. The FBI says that professor's actions proved crucial to their investigation some six years later.

(voice-over): On a hunch, LeBlanc asked agents in New York to show that video of Shukrijumah to would-be bomber Zazi.

LEBLANC: From that video, he was able to make an identification.

CANDIOTTI: The FBI says it now has a more detail profile of Shukrijumah in part from 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Just before 9/11, Shukrijumah crossed the U.S. by train. Later, he scoped out the Panama Canal as a target. He went to Trinidad, London and by June 2001, Afghanistan. On 9/11, his mother, who doesn't want to be named, says he called home for the last time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He called me and he said, "Oh, maybe you'll hear what happened so on and so on and so on. They say they put it in -- they're putting it on the Muslims." I say, "Yes." I tell him do not come. "Do not come because they're looking at all the Muslim people."

And he was arguing with me. He said, "No, I didn't do nothing. I will come. Don't worry about it."

CANDIOTTI (on camera): And after that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After that, I don't hear about him.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Shukrijumah's mother adamantly denies her son is directing al Qaeda attacks. But when I asked about the admitted Times Square car bomber, she said this --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some time you have to do something very alarming for the people to wake up. It's not because you hate them or you want to destroy them or you want to hurt them.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Is there anything that you would tell your son about what he should do or not do?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I don't have nothing to tell him. He have his own guide and his own heart.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): For the FBI, it is all about staying one step ahead. Where will al Qaeda and Shukrijumah strike next?

(on camera): What do you think he's doing now?

LEBLANC: He's definitely focused on attacking the United States and other western countries.

CANDIOTTI: Shukrijumah's meteoric rise in al Qaeda's ranks may be thanks to both talent and luck. Two of his high-level colleagues were killed in U.S. drone attacks.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: And now something you truly don't see every day. A waterspout popped up on Lake Okeechobee in Florida. You can see this one form into a funnel on the lake's surface in a process that under the right circumstances, only takes a few seconds. That's pretty amazing. And that's a pretty remarkable sight.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BOLDUAN: So they're called Web series, and they're attracting a lot of attention from entertainment execs, of all people. And we'll try to tell you why just ahead.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

BOLDUAN: Now to, I would say, a much more fun story -- Web series. I feel like we should say "serieses (ph)."

HOLMES: Just go with "series."

Josh here, and showed us some of these.

LEVS: It's all good.

BOLDUAN: It doesn't matter what you call them. Please tell us what they are.

LEVS: I guess, originally, a singular was "serial," wasn't it? I mean, here's the idea --

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: Right. But, I mean, isn't series inherently plural? Whatever. It doesn't matter.

So, check this out.

You know, usually, we look at the hottest new viral videos, right? So, today, though, I'm showing you something that is a little bit different, because this, in the big picture, could have a much huger effect on the future of TV.

And I mentioned this last hour. I'll say it again.

There's this list out of the top Web series. These are the groups out there that are creating consistently really hot, viral videos.

And as we enter an era in which when you're sitting down like right now watching your TV, you're also going to have YouTube, all these videos on there. Entertainment executives, advertisers, people who oversee the industry are really focusing right now on these series out there.

They want to know what it is online that's really exciting people. And we've got the top five here.

Number five is right here. It's these two guys that smosh, this comedy duo who do this kind of dumb comedy.

Listen in for a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, give me the hot dog. Give me the hot dog!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hearing dog's thoughts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: I know, it's so random. And some people are watching this.

But check this out. Since this has come out, 20 million views. Out of everything online, this was the number five Web series in June.

Let's go to the next one now. People going crazy about this.

It is called "Happy Tree Friends." It looks like it's for kids, except it's not. It's kind of like "South Park." And they are tossing in some adult humor here and there.

We had to search for a while just to find a little clip that we could put on here for you. We are talking about 30 million people watching it. So, when you watch these things, think, how is this going to impact the future of TV? This is what executives want to know, what will people watch online?

Now, maybe the most interesting thing is the annoying video that's designed to be annoying. It's where people are going most crazy.

There is this guy named Fred, the number three most popular Web series. He talks freakishly high. They put him together with the annoying orange, who is the most popular character online.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knock-knock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knock-knock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knock-knock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knock-knock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knock-knock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) if you don't tell me who's there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: OK. So I'm watching this, too, and I'm like, huh? People wrote me earlier and they're like, "What's so big about this?"

This right now, the Annoying Orange Guy is, by far, the biggest character online. And this video right here, "Fred With the Annoying Orange," more than 20 million people watching it in June.

So, when you're talking about, what are people excited about? This is the kind of thing. We've got a couple more here.

Number two is a parody of this Katy Perry song.

(MUSIC)

LEVS: That's a group called (INAUDIBLE). They love to make fun of popular songs. The number two video, number two Web series out there.

And number one, more than double this, more than 60 million people, entirely on his own, bring us back to this Annoying Orange Guy. It's unbelievable, what this guy has done for the Web. You go to the main page of YouTube.com, everyone is watching this right now.

Here he is interacting with the character. Listen for just a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Golly Green Giant, you're back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right, (INAUDIBLE). I'm back and I'm angry!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why? Because you have a short temper?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: OK. So, when I first saw this, I was like, "What's the big deal with the annoying orange?" He's not got about eight or nine videos out there, I believe, maybe even more.

Hundreds of millions of views all put together. Nothing is coming close to the annoying orange. And this guy, as of June, 64 million.

So, when we're talking about, what are the Web series out there that are hot, what's exciting people, what's getting people going? It's often not these little videos that we think is the most fun, most amusing, most entertaining.

I know, I feel like this. I put it out earlier. People are tweeting me, like, "That's amazing," because what's exciting people are these are, by far, the top Web series.

BOLDUAN: So, the question remains, what is the big deal with the Annoying Orange Guy?

LEVS: Right.

BOLDUAN: What is the draw?

(LAUGHTER)

LEVS: You know, it's sort of entrancing. Like, you start to watch him, and at first, you're like, OK, it's really annoying. But then he comes out with another one, and you kind of want to see what he's going to be up to next.

There are people out there you can see who are watching the same video 1,000 times. There is something addictive about this.

And these people who are behind it are really, really clever. What they are coming up with right now, you will go to these videos now that start off with ads. Right? So, you've already got commercial liability.

BOLDUAN: Right.

LEVS: In the future, when you're watching Web videos from your TV, you're going to have even more of this. So this is what entertainment executives are trying to wrap their minds around.

What are these series that people are so excited about right now? What's the magic in there? Some of it is outrageous humor. Some of it is randomness. And sometimes, it's just this little bit of magic. But think about it, more than 60 million.

BOLDUAN: Downright annoying?

LEVS: Maybe just downright annoying.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Well, one of the 60 million, please get in touch with me and explain that to me, because I do not understand.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: I guess I'll reserve judgment until I watch it. I guess.

LEVS: This is the thing. In fact, we posted the whole list for you. Let me show you where you can see it. It's on my Facebook and Twitter. And since it's getting so much traffic, it's interesting to see and hear from you.

I did a little bit last hour, and I started hearing from a lot of people, "I love those videos! I'm so into those videos."

So, what it is that's exciting people right now as we merge into more and more Web video taking over our entertainment, it's going to be very interesting to try to wrap our mind around that list there.

HOLMES: All right. We'll take your word for it.

LEVS: I'm with you. I'm with you.

BOLDUAN: We'll take your word for it.

HOLMES: We will take your word for it. It's working.

All right, Josh. We appreciate you.

LEVS: Thank you, guys.

HOLMES: Well, coming up, we've got an update on that mystery at Ground Zero.

BOLDUAN: Yes. The remnants of an 18th century ship have been found at what was the World Trade Center. Now archaeologists are taking it apart to try to piece together a long-buried secrets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with Jim Acosta.

Hi, Buddy.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And it's a good thing the cameras weren't rolling just 15 seconds ago, because I was just sitting down, but as we know, 15 seconds is a lifetime in television.

BOLDUAN: We hope, right?

ACOSTA: I think I just burned 15 seconds.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM today, we've got a lot to talk about, as you have had all morning.

We're going to have our legal guys on. They're no shrinking violets, always have plenty to talk about.

Elena Kagan obviously will be one of the subjects. But we'll also move on to some saucier topics with them, and so that will be a lot of fun.

We've got movie reviews today. That's coming up later on this afternoon.

A big movie I'm looking forward to seeing, "The Other Guys," with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.

HOLMES: Really. We want to see that.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: It looks awesome. Anything with Will Ferrell. I heart Will Ferrell, basically, is what I'm trying to say here --

BOLDUAN: I heart.

ACOSTA: -- in a comedic sort of way.

And we're also going to be dealing with Josh Levs from time to time, looking at viral videos.

BOLDUAN: You have to deal with him. Yes, we have to deal with him.

ACOSTA: We all have to deal with Josh Levs. But we're looking forward to that as well.

So, a lot to talk about.

And also, Fidel Castro -- I don't know if you noticed this today -- back addressing the Cuban government, a special session of the Cuban government. Not wearing the jogging suit, his trademark in recent years.

BOLDUAN: Right.

ACOSTA: Wearing the old green fatigues. So we're going to try to get to the bottom of that as well during the next five hours or so.

We have a financial hit coming up as well. I'm going to talk to a financial expert about, what do you do to save money when you don't have all that much money? So that's a difficult subject for a lot of folks out there, and we're always talking about --

BOLDUAN: Oh, yes. And something a lot of people are probably facing right now.

ACOSTA: Yes. Save, save, save, but if you don't have the money in the bank, how do you do that if you're just making ends meet living paycheck to paycheck?

BOLDUAN: How do you put it away? Yes.

ACOSTA: How do you do that?

So all of that coming up.

HOLMES: But there is a way to do that.

ACOSTA: There is a way to do that.

BOLDUAN: Apparently.

HOLMES: All right. Well, we all we be tuned in for that.

ACOSTA: We'll find out.

HOLMES: All right, Jim, who is I think taking up residence here in Atlanta. We've had you here a lot. Good to have you here. Good to see you.

BOLDUAN: Spending his time between New Orleans and Atlanta.

ACOSTA: That's right. I do what I can.

BOLDUAN: With a closet in D.C.

ACOSTA: That's right. I like to say I'm like Johnny Cash -- I've been everywhere. (LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Jim, we will see you here in just a second.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: Thanks.

HOLMES: So, solving one of the biggest mysteries now gripping lower Manhattan.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And that's what a team of archeologists is trying to work out right now, the remains of an old ship found buried near the World Trade Center site.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Miles from Manhattan, archeologists in Maryland are working to solve a mystery -- a very old mystery, why centuries-old ship was buried in what is now the World Trade Center site.

HOLMES: And they're testing this thing, and the timber dates back to at least the 18th century.

Our photojournalist Ken Tuohy (ph) shows us how experts are working to preserve this rare discovery that was found just last month.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The remains of an 18th century ship buried deep under lower Manhattan.

ACOSTA: Workers at the World Trade Center site uncovered the hull of a ship dating all the way back to the 1700s.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: So the archeologists at the site are just thrilled with this.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are so excited.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the kind of thing that archeologists are always hoping to find and very rarely actually do.

PATRICIA SAMFORD, MARYLAND ARCHEOLOGIST CONSERVATION LAB: We're always on the lookout for projects coming in, and exciting projects like this one. And so I called up our head conservator, then said, "We really need to call these people and see if they can use our services," because our lab is perfectly equipped to handle this size and scope of projects.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is going very fast because we have lots of wonderful help. We are cleaning the wood se received from the ship. And when it came out of the ground, it was very heavily encrusted with mud. So we're just trying to clean all the pieces. Then we'll give them over to the archeologists who document each piece.

SAMFORD: We just found some fabric, or textiles that are concreted to some of the wood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, there's some textiles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it (INAUDIBLE)? Ooh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is some sort of bone. I think so.

(CROSSTALK)

SAMFORD: It could be natural, or it could be part of a bone handle implement of some kind.

As we're going through and cleaning the timbers, we are finding remnants that may be associated with this ship.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So often we'll look at the World Trade Center site and Ground Zero and think of the more recent past, but to be able to look further back into the past, to the 18th century, it makes it very exciting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Very exciting indeed.

HOLMES: And it was odd. I think a lot of people just fascinated by it and how it got there, why it's there, and so on and so forth.

BOLDUAN: They have a lot of work ahead of them.

HOLMES: They absolutely do, but it looks like they've got some help.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

HOLMES: Thank goodness we have some help right now.

Jim Acosta here to bring some civility back to the CNN NEWSROOM.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

ACOSTA: Well, don't tune to me for that.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Jim, good to see you back here in Atlanta.

BOLDUAN: Hey there, Jim.

ACOSTA: Good to see you, too. Thanks, Kate and T.J. Appreciate it.