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Security Alert: "Body Bombs"; Arrests In National Security Case; Poll: Muslims Negative On Al Qaeda; "Occupy" Launches May Day Protests; "Occupy" Vandals Strike San Francisco; Profitable Answers To Financial Questions; Plot to Blow Up Cleveland Bridge Thwarted
Aired May 01, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Just ahead in the NEWSROOM from Asia to the Middle East and in the United States, when organized effort today from the 99 percent urges people to stay away from works, banks and businesses. We're live across the United States with the look at the impact of today's protests.
Plus, we've learned about new information that profits a warning about terrorists using bombs implanted inside their bodies to attack enemies. We're talking with the national security expert about the threat and what the United States is doing to stop it.
JetBlue a huge 727 going hundreds of miles an hour crash lands in the desert and it's all on purpose.
But we start this morning with some breaking news. The FBI has scheduled a news conference to begin any minute now in Cleveland, Ohio. We expect them to be announcing arrests and charges related to a national security case, but they have not released any more information or details.
We can't share them with you. Again, the FBI is holding a news conference right now to announce arrests and charges in a national security case. This is happening in Cleveland. We're working to get more information and once the FBI releases more details, of course, we will pass them along.
Now, to a terror concerns that al Qaeda could be plotting sinister new methods on this first anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death. There are reports that al Qaeda could use so-called body bombs on planes in America.
Our affiliates in California say local law enforcement agencies received the alert from the FBI and Homeland Security. They say al Qaeda could use suicide bombers with explosives surgically implanted inside of them.
Earlier, we spoke to the New York police commissioner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: There's lots of threats out there. Obviously, we're concerned about any kind of nuclear threat, nuclear event. That is the thing that concerns us the most.
But the information about planting bombs inside the people we've been looking at that and the intelligence community have been looking at that for a while.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK, so, on the phone with us now is Fran Townsend, the former Homeland Security adviser to President Bush and now a CNN contributor. Hi, Fran.
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (via telephone): Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, this sounds, well, it doesn't sound so crazy in light of all we heard in the past about the terrorist groups. They really want to implant bombs in people's bodies?
TOWNSEND: You know, Carol, we heard about this concern about a year ago when there was another threat warning put out and we may learn more today.
The federal government has said they're going to release documents seized at the Bin Laden compound at the time of the raid. That could shed some light on this. We may learn more. We haven't seen any instances of them actually doing it.
You know, they often come up with ideas and they have to work on them and some of them never come to fruition. So, we don't really know. We know that they've continued to be obsessed with western aviation.
People will see when there's a heightened sense of risk, more swiping of hands at airports because, of course, particles of the explosives remain even if you wash your hands.
So, if someone were handling explosives and there's a concern about that, you'll see at airports around the world, not just in the U.S., but an increased use of the hands swipes for explosive detection.
COSTELLO: So, if a person with an implanted bomb is just going through the metal detector, let's say, that wouldn't pick up the bomb, but those like, naked body x-ray machines they have in airports, would that pick up the bomb?
TOWNSEND: Well, it may. I mean, they look, the scatter back, the second kind, not the metal detectors, but the scatter back x-ray can pick up anomalies. And they're also trained the TSA screeners are also trained to have behavioral observations.
There's a whole series of things that you may look for to indicate that someone is trying to hide something that taken together with the x-ray and the explosive detection equipment increase the odds that you'd be able to detect such bomb. COSTELLO: OK, I would like to pivot and talk about what's happening in Cleveland this morning. Supposedly FBI agents there are going to talk about a national security concern. Can you tell us anything about that, Fran?
TOWNSEND: You know, the only thing we're hearing is that it may have been related to a plan to blow up a bridge. That's all we know at the moment.
Carol, truthfully, that's just rumor. We really need to see the indictment and hear from the FBI and the United States attorney there what the charges are.
I think we'll learn a lot more during the course of the day and, particularly, after the press conference.
COSTELLO: Yes, the press conference is starting up just about now. We'll monitor that. When we get information, we'll call you back. Fran Townsend on the phone with us, thank you.
An interesting footnote to that story, a new poll shows that Al Qaeda is widely unpopular among Muslims. The Pew Research Center poll finds majorities, mostly large ones, expressing negative views on the terrorist group in Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey and Lebanon.
For example, in Pakistan 13 percent of Muslims hold a favorable view of al Qaeda and 55 percent have an unfavorable view and about one- third of the respondents have no opinion.
They're back. Remember the protests from the "Occupy Street" movement? Well, today, they're hoping to rage against the machine, again so far fairly modest turnout in New York City. More on that in just a minute.
The group says it will hold demonstrations in 135 cities. They have chosen today, May 1st, because it's known across the world as International Workers Day and that, of course, underscores the group's theme.
The rich get richer and the rest of us get poorer. Organizers are asking everyone to take part in a boycott of sorts. A day without the 99 percent means no school, no work, no shopping and no banking.
Let's take you to Larkspur, California. These are aerial pictures of an "Occupy" protest that's happening right now. Larkspur is in the San Francisco Bay area. We have the story covered from east to west.
Dan Simon is in San Francisco where things turned violent overnight. Poppy Harlow is at a really location in New York City, but let's begin with Dan at the Golden Gate Bridge.
Because, Dan, we have heard over the last several days that protesters were going to shut the bridge down. What are you hearing?
DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Carol. We're keeping an eye on things that may happen here at the Golden Gate Bridge. Let's pan and show you the traffic coming across from Red County into San Francisco.
Things are moving normally, but you can see behind me, there's a bit of a heavy police presence here and that's because, as you said, there were some initial plans that protesters may try to disrupt the morning commute and actually try to shut down the Golden Gate Bridge.
We're not seeing anything of that sort, but, as you mentioned, there are some problems in Larkspur over in Red County for people who rely on ferry service to go to San Francisco. They're not going to be able to do so this morning in Larkspur and also in the nearby town of Sausalito.
We understand though that workers are planning to return to the ferries later this afternoon. So there will be service. This is part of, as you know, the May Day Protest and workers over there are concerned about an increase in medical benefits in terms of the money they pay for them.
As you also said, some problems in San Francisco last night. This was in the Mission District. Some protesters vandalized some businesses. They also targeted the local police station there and, so things got ugly. Lots of broken windows, et cetera.
We're also keeping an eye on things that may occur throughout the day in the San Francisco Bay area. Of course, we remember what happened a few months ago when there was violence in Oakland. So hopefully we don't have a repeat of that today, but we'll certainly be watching things here.
COSTELLO: All right, thanks, Dan. Let's go to the east coast now and CNN's Poppy Harlow is in New York's Bryant Park. The beginning of a planned march and not many people yet?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: No more than when we spoke last hour, Carol. We just went in the park to see if there were any more. You still got about 40, 50 protesters telling us they're going to leave earlier than expected.
March down to Union Square, which is in Lower Manhattan, really group there then head down to Wall Street. But the rain has stopped and not many more have come. I will tell you a few blocks from here, you have a big Bank of America building and I want to show you some video. There were protesters that were marching outside of Bank of America.
Just about an hour ago they were chanting, Bank of America, bad for America. So you had a group there. That is about the most action we've seen this morning overall. I did have a chance earlier today to talk to some of the leaders in the movement, some of the very active voices in the "Occupy" movement here in New York.
One of them is Aaron Black. One of the questions, Carol, that I asked him, all right, you guys are trying to change laws, not just change the conversation.
But I asked him really about that wealth divide. I said to him, is it still, in your opinion, is it OK to make money and make it big in America because the perception a lot of people have of "Occupy" they don't want people to succeed and make it in terms of the capitalistic system. So take a listen to his answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AARON BLACK, OCCUPY WALL STREET ORGANIZER: It's OK to make money. Having money is not a crime. What's immoral is when you use money to hurt people. This thing is not going to get any better until the 99 percent becomes 100 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So, this is what I was talking about earlier in the hour. The sense that I get, they are trying to broaden the appeal of "Occupy Wall Street" and not make it what Zuccotti Park represented.
Try to get the masses actually involve, Carol. Another member told me this morning, we're arguing for a sensible middle class existence. Keeping people in their homes and making health care affordable for everyone so, the message is becoming more mass market, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Poppy, thank you. I'm a little distracted because we have this breaking news happening outside of Cleveland. We now know more about this national security threat.
FBI agents are now holding a news conference. Has the news conference begun? I'm talking to my producer. It has begun. We're monitoring. This is the bridge that supposedly anarchists were to blow up in the Cleveland area.
They've arrested five people. This is on Aurora Road over the Cuyahoga River, which is of course, heavily traveled and it's in a park area. You see the land below it. That's a beautiful park, had been there many times. Fran Townsend back on the line with us now. So, interesting target?
TOWNSEND: You know, what's most interesting to me, Carol, is that this is not, you know, on the anniversary of the Bin Laden raid, I think folks were expecting when they said there was a national security case that it would be an international terror case.
Interesting that this is a domestic group and, as you described it, an anarchist group targeting a bridge in Cleveland. It's not clear why or what the motive is. What political message they were trying to send.
But, you know, it reminds us, terrorism is terrorism and when violence is used to achieve an objective against the civilian target, that's a crime.
So, it will be interesting to hear more how the FBI identified the defendants that have been arrested and charged and what the charges themselves are.
COSTELLO: Yes, we're just getting bits and pieces of information coming in. Supposedly these five people, we're going to use smoke grenades to detract police and then they were going to blow up the bridge.
I don't know what materials they would use, but, of course, that wil come out of this press conference that is now ongoing. You have said many times before that these home-grown terrorists are really our biggest worry right now.
TOWNSEND: That's right, Carol. Mostly, home-grown terrorists are very difficult to detect and they often don't act in groups. You know, we heard the phrase the lone wolf problem. This sounds like it was a group.
It also sounds like it's not sort of the traditional international Jihadi terrorist, but it's more of a domestic group with a domestic U.S. agenda.
Like I say, it will be interesting to read the indictment or the complaint to see what they were trying to achieve. As you say, what materials were they going to use to blow up this bridge because that will tell us if they were able to obtain them.
COSTELLO: OK, actually we're getting more information about that. They're going to use C4 explosives and remotely detonate the bridge. They were going to send out smoke grenades to detract police and then they were going to use C4 explosives and then remotely detonate the explosives and the bridge would blow up. So, I know there is not much information --
TOWNSEND: No, C4 is a military, originally a military explosive. The notion that they were going to use a remote detonation device at least shows us they had some technical capability, so interesting. We now have to find out, did they actually obtain the C4.
The other thing we've seen increasingly, you know, over the year, the use of FBI and undercover sting operations. Have yet to figure out if this is what this is.
That is not to say it's not a serious case, of course, it is. But it would have been less of a threat if they would have never gotten their hands on the C4.
COSTELLO: Right, we often heard of maybe an FBI agent infiltrating the group and then following e-mail traffic and the like and sort of stopping these would-be terrorists before they buy explosives or do any damage.
TOWNSEND: Correct. So, that's why I say it will be interesting to find out how far the group got along in its plot and whether or not this was an undercover sting operation.
COSTELLO: OK, we'll continue to monitor this and, Fran, you're going to stick around, right? We may have to call you back, again.
TOWNSEND: OK.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Fran. Coming up on NEWSROOM, a media mogul at the center of a huge phone hacking scandal is told he is not a fit person to run a huge media organization.
Of course, his media organization includes "Wall Street Journal" and Fox News. We'll have the latest on Rupert Murdoch's fate. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: If you're living within your means, chances are you're answering the right questions about what you purchased. If you still need a little help though, we have some great advice.
Jack Otter's new book "Worth It/Not Worth It, Simple and Profitable Answers to Life's Tough Financial Questions." We have some questions for the author and executive editor of moneywatch.com. Jack, thanks for joining us.
JACK OTTER, AUTHOR, "WORTH IT/NOT WORTH IT": Thanks, great to be here.
COSTELLO: Can't wait to hear what you have to say. So, let me get ahead and get in some questions here. So question one, how should you be paying for our purchases credit or debit cards?
OTTER: Most financial advisors will tell you, you know, the debit card is safer because you can't spend more than you have. That's true and I agree with that.
But a credit card offers a lot of protections that debit cards don't. So as long as you have your debt under control, ideally, obviously, zero balance on your credit card, you can, for instance, go to a gas station and pay with a debit card.
And even only if you put 30 bucks in your car the station may put a hold on $80 worth because that say the standard fill up and then they won't reconcile their books for a couple of days.
So you could overdraw your bank account even though you haven't spent that money. It is even worse in a hotel. They could put a hold on $1,000. Until they reconcile their books, you can't access that money. Credit card has extended warranties, which could help you.
COSTELLO: I understand all that, but to use a credit card it takes discipline and I'm not sure many Americans have the discipline to not run up the credit card.
OTTER: If you don't have the discipline, then you're absolutely better off with the debit card. No question about it. But if you say order something online, a television set online and comes with a big crack down the middle.
That money has already left your debit card. It's already left your bank account. So you're going to have to itch and scratch to get it back. If you use a credit card, you can just put hold on the payments, say, no, I'm not paying for this until I get a TV that's not broken.
So while you're absolutely right, credit is very dangerous, if you can control your urge, you're better off with that card.
COSTELLO: OK, question two, if you get a rental car, should you take the insurance or decline it?
OTTER: Now, it's very scary standing at that rental counter to say, I decline. You have images of yourself wrecking that car and having to buy a new one.
But in fact, you've got a lot of protections there. First of all, if you own your own car, there's very little chance that you won't be covered. You will be covered by your personal auto insurance.
What's more, back to credit cards, another good reason to use a credit card, most of them have a back-up liability so, for instance, if your personal insurance doesn't cover the full amount, then the credit card will kick in and cover you.
So I say, decline, can't hurt to check with your credit card company, check with your own auto insurer just to make sure you're covered.
COSTELLO: OK, question number three, looking to investments. What are the best options, stock or mutual fund?
OTTER: By far, it's mutual funds. I know that we all have dreams of having bought Apple at $12 and it's now worth $600, but the fact is, that is a rarity.
That's why it's in the news and there actually have been academic studies that show buying individual stocks is not worth the risk that you take.
And, you know, the fact is, the ugly truth is that most stock brokers, they don't make money on it. That's why they're getting commissions and selling them to you.
You buy an index fund not a mutual fund that tries to pick stocks because that's a loser's game also. You buy an index fund that owns the entire market and you will beat 80 percent of investors because you own everything.
You own Apple and you are very well diversified and the key is your costs are so much lower than anyone else's that over a lifetime of investing, you will literally save hundreds of thousands of dollars.
COSTELLO: Excellent. OK, family saving plans for education. What's better the 529 saving plan or making just like this uniform gift to your child?
OTTER: Sure, 529 is literally one of the best savings vehicles available to man. If you live in a state that gives a state tax deduction, you get a tax deduction for putting the money in and in all states, when you take it out, there's zero tax on all of the accumulation.
There's actually no other saving vehicle that good. Even a Roth IRA, you don't get a deduction for putting it in. Start the day your child is born and put as much as you possibly can. I looked up what it would cost to send a child born today to Harvard, $664,000.
COSTELLO: OK, just lost my breath on that one. Sorry, it's not worth it. That's just me though. I'm happy with my kids' state university education.
OTTER: The key is, get that education.
COSTELLO: That's right. Food purchases, organic or conventional?
OTTER: Sure, as a dad, I struggled with this because I would stand there in the grocery store and I'd look at the strawberries and they all look the same. One box costs a dollar more because it's organic.
And I think am I a sucker if I buy the organic or bad dad if I buy the conventional. So I looked into this and the Department of Agriculture studied every vegetable and fruit and look for the ones that have the most pesticides.
In the book I list the dirty dozen, that include strawberries, grapes, lettuce and a few others. I, of course, recommend people buy the book and check out that list.
The general rule of thumb is if it has a peel, it's probably safe. A lot of the pesticides are going with the peel and they're not in you. In some of the worst cases, the Department of Agriculture found 15 pesticides on certain fruits and vegetables.
COSTELLO: OK, great advice. If you want some more advice from Jack, buy the book. Jack Otter's new book "Worth It, Not Worth It, Simple and Profitable Answers to Life's Tough Financial Questions." Thanks for sharing this morning, Jack.
OTTER: Glad to be with you.
COSTELLO: All right, coming up, Facebook users can now add organ donor to their timelines. We'll tell you how Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg got that idea. We're back in a couple minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question this morning "Occupy Wall Street" is it right on or irrelevant?
They're back. After months of mostly behind the scene activism, "Occupy Wall Street" is taking to the streets this May Day. Organizers are calling for a nationwide general strike or a day without the 99 percent.
No work, no shopping, no banking. In San Francisco, "Occupy" protesters vandalized parts of the mission district including a police station and "Occupy" supporters insist the movement is mostly peaceful and says it has bipartisan appeal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regardless of who's in office, regardless if it's a Democrat or a Republican, we need to push the issues of economic injustice because we found over the years that if we just sit idly by, it's the lobbyists who get the real say in Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: You could argue that the 2012 election is influenced by the "Occupy" message. President Obama's latest campaign ad paints Mitt Romney as a man who outsourced jobs, tried to hide his Swiss bank account and cozies up to big oil. Romney says free enterprise unless government is good for America. But even he has borrowed from "Occupy's" vocabulary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The 1 percent is doing fine. I want to help the 99 percent. I want to help Middle Americans get jobs that pay good wages and I have to go to work to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, the talk back question for you today, "Occupy Wall Street" is it right on or irrelevant? Facebook.com/carolcnn. I'll read your comments later this hour.
President Obama unleashing the first dog. Putting Bo on the campaign trail. Bo probably wants to make flees illegal and bacon mandatory, but the president is hoping to appeal to pet lovers. More on that, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: All right, as we've been telling you. We're following this breaking news out of Cleveland, Ohio. The FBI has arrested five people in a plot to blow up a local bridge. This are the five people: Douglas Wright, 26 years old, Brandon Baxter 20, Anthony Haim, Connor Stevens 20, Joshua Stafford, 23; seemingly all American born.
I'm going to read you the complaint from the FBI. As to what these men allegedly were plotting. According to the complaint, the initial plot involved the use of smoke grenades to distract law enforcement in order for the co-conspirators to topple financial -- financial institution signs atop high rise buildings in downtown Cleveland. The plot later developed to the utilization of explosive materials. The defendants conspire to obtain C-4 explosives contained in two improvised explosive devices to be placed and remotely detonated.
This is according to the FBI complaint. The defendants discussed various bridges and physical targets in and around the Cleveland metropolitan area over the course of several months. The final plan resulted in the route 82 Brecksville, Northfield high-level bridge being the designated target. That's in Cuyahoga County, that's where Cleveland is.
The bridge crosses from Brecksville, Ohio to Sagamore Hills, Ohio over the Cuyahoga Valley National Park -- this is also according to the complaints. Supposedly they were going to have these smoke grenades then were going to allegedly blow up this bridge and then they were going to do something to find the top financial institutions in downtown Cleveland.
The FBI saying that this group of men are self-proclaimed anarchists. They never managed to actually buy the C-4 explosives because the FBI had infiltrated their group.
Our Homeland Security expert Fran Townsend, we're trying to get her back on the phone to -- to kind of like figure this out and tell us how serious.
Fran is in. Fran, you're on the phone right now. I don't know if you heard any of that. I hope you did.
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR (via telephone): You know, Carol, as we learn more, the FBI has said at the press conference that the explosives were inert. And what that means to me, is they had either doctored them or they had been, as we suggested earlier, as part of a sting operation, they had made them inert and been providing them. So they were confident it was never a threat.
COSTELLO: Yes because part of this -- this FBI report says the public was never in danger from the explosive devices which were controlled by undercover -- by an undercover FBI employee. So what does that mean to you?
TOWNSEND: Yes so, as we suggested earlier, Carol. Clearly this was a sting operation, we don't know yet how the FBI identified the group, but clearly, there was an FBI agent who posed as the individual who would have been supplying the explosives at the -- at the request of these defendants who are now charged and did not, the explosives with the FBI agent would have controlled were never sort of -- of full strength. In other words, were never able to be exploded and two, he was kind -- the agent would have remained in control of them. And so the public would never have been put in danger.
COSTELLO: Supposedly these men are part of a group of anarchists. This is something we've heard back in the '60s, but not so much today.
TOWNSEND: Although you know, Carol, as we see more of these protests, the "Occupy Wall Street" most of which have remained as sort of civil disobedience and you know peaceful protest marches. We have seen instances where there has been some violence or clashes with law enforcement.
And so unfortunately, this group brings, you know, a bad name, if you will, to those otherwise peaceful protesters who have a political message.
COSTELLO: The other interesting aspect of this story is those five suspects, I mean they all have American-sounding last names. TOWNSEND: Right. I mean, this is clearly not an international terrorism case. This is a group that had a domestic U.S. agenda. You know, tends to be, you know, the anarchist are anti-globalization, anti-government and, so, theirs is a political message and they crossed the line. You know, the Constitution protects free speech, however crazy your idea is. Whatever your idea is, you're entitled to say it. But you're not entitled to take action that may harm your fellow citizens and this group, in contact with an undercover FBI agent clearly crossed that line, according to the FBI charges.
COSTELLO: Well, it just makes you understand how difficult investigator's job is to uncover these plots because they come from all different factions within our country.
TOWNSEND: That's right. And the FBI, though, most of their counterterrorism resources have been trained on international terrorism in the wake of 9/11. The FBI has always maintained along with state and local law enforcement, a domestic terrorism unit that focuses on just these groups.
You know, we've seen it not only from the anarchist groups but also radical environmental groups and others here in the United States who have their own agenda and are willing to use violence to advance it.
COSTELLO: And the final thing I think this shows us is that, you know, we always concentrate on Los Angeles or New York City in a plot like this. But this certainly proves it can happen anywhere in the United States.
TOWNSEND: That's right. And that's why campaigns, frankly, we should remind our viewers, that's why campaigns have just, if you see something, say something, which started here in New York under Commissioner Kelly but has been now a nationwide campaign under the Department of Homeland Security.
It's important that if you see something that is so beyond the norm that goes beyond words that you alert law enforcement even if it's your state and local police officer.
COSTELLO: Good advice. Fran Townsend thanks so much for your input. We appreciate it.
TOWNSEND: Thanks Carol.
COSTELLO: You can't make it to your doctors, but you need a prescription filled? Well, the FDA is considering a plan that would let you get some prescription drugs without your doctor. We'll talk with one doctor who thinks this is a bad idea.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: "Political Buzz" is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions 30 seconds on the clock. Playing with us today political analyst, Goldie Taylor; Republican strategist Ron Bonjean; and comedian Dean Obeidallah is here with us with a sense of humor and he'll give us the absurdity of it all, which we welcome.
DEAN OBEIDALLAH, FOUNDER, ARAB-AMERICAN COMEDY FESTIVAL: Thank you, Carol. I like that perfect introduction.
COSTELLO: You're welcome and welcome to all of you.
So first question, Mitt Romney on CBS this morning going after President Obama saying he's politicized Osama bin Laden's killing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's not make the capture or killing of Osama bin Laden a politically divisive event. There are plenty of differences between President Obama and myself, but let's not make up ones based on -- well he might not have done this. It's disappointing and it's unfortunate and I think, it's -- it's taking an event that really brought America together that was the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people and enormous sacrifice and some people who put their lives very much in the line.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ROMNEY: Let's not use this as a political football.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But today Romney observes the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death in New York City with Rudy Giuliani at a fire station that lost 11 firefighters on 9/11.
So, could the Obama camp say that Romney is politicizing bin Laden -- Ron?
RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No, I don't think so. I think Romney is doing the right thing. On 9/11 the politicians go to firehouses to celebrate the fallen, you know, it's a right move. To attack President Obama at the firehouse I think would be a problem. But he had a right to respond to President Obama. It was distasteful to include him in that Osama bin Laden ad and, you know, the President just taking credit for the killing and not made it political, I think he would have come out much better than he did now.
COSTELLO: Goldie.
GOLDIE TAYLOR, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I don't know if he would have come out a lot better. I do happen to agree with Governor Romney when he says that this should not be a politicized event and going to a firehouse is certainly not in my judgment politicizing, you know, the death of Osama bin Laden.
But let's be really clear about this. The President has not overly celebrated or memorialized the killing of Osama bin Laden. In fact, I think that if Republicans had their way and this happened on the GOP watch, then maybe we would have painted mission accomplished across the top of the compound. COSTELLO: Dean?
OBEIDALLAH: I think some of the bigger story, Carol, is that Giuliani is endorsing Mitt Romney and Giuliani has called Romney a man without a core, a man who will say anything to get elected president. So, I can't wait until today's photo-op and see if Giuliani has a lot of air-quotes going, you know, Romney is the best person to be president. That's -- those stuff.
But you know what, I agree with Goldie and Ron, don't politicize is this. President Obama does not need to.
During President Bush, we had 9/11. During President Obama, bin Laden's brought to justice and the World Trade Center back being the biggest building in New York. So I think that's the line to speak. No need to politicize the killing of Osama bin Laden.
COSTELLO: Ok. On to question number 2. New Jersey governor, Chris Christie; he definitely does not want to be Vice President unless, of course, he does. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: What I said before, I really have no interest in being vice president, but if Governor Romney called and asked me to sit down and talk to him about it because you owe the party that level of respect. He knows what he would say. He might be able to convince me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Christie is all over the map in the upcoming weeks with appearances. He is campaigning with Governor Scott Walker today in Wisconsin. So what's the deal here? Is Christie campaigning for a VP -- Goldie?
TAYLOR: I think that Governor Christie is a terrific spokesman for the GOP cause and that he ought to be out on the campaign trail, you know, helping the ticket in any way possible. And one way that he does not help the ticket is in joining the ticket. I mean, it's a net-nothing gain.
You have two guys from the northeast, you know, presumably both fairly moderate on the issues. You need someone on this ticket who is going to balance it out, who's going to be a true conservative, who is going to have a lot of deep resonance with the Tea Party. I don't think that Chris Christie can do that and certainly he's on the record saying some pretty distasteful things.
COSTELLO: Ron.
BONJEAN: I think it's a good idea that Governor Christie put himself into the "maybe" category because you know, he does excite the GOP. He is a very exciting figure, he will be a great person to come to Mitt Romney's defense and to go on the attack against the Obama campaign, which is going to be very vicious this summer and fall. I think it's a good idea that he would consider it and that the Romney campaign takes a strong look at him.
COSTELLO: All right. Dean?
OBEIDALLAH: Carol, see, you guys are looking at this politically. It's not. I'm from Jersey. Christie just wants out of New Jersey as often as possible. Believe me, I grew up there. Remember Bruce Springsteen "Born to Run". Get out while you're young. It's a death trap, it's a suicide trap.
He just wants out of New Jersey. I agree with Goldie, though, he's not the right guy. The conservatives are lukewarm at best for Mitt Romney. Evangelicals very lukewarm. Chris Christie is not the guy for Mitt Romney. I think Romney -- you know, I think Christie just wants out. He wants to travel the country. He'll campaign for anyone. If there is a mayor race in New Mexico, call him, he'll be there.
COSTELLO: New Jersey is a beautiful state. That's all I have to say.
OBEIDALLAH: I'm from Jersey, I can speak of it. I know but we're (inaudible) and there's a reason why.
COSTELLO: Whatever. Ok, question number three, your buzzer beater, 20 seconds each. Look who is drooling over President Obama and is rabidly anti-Romney -- the first dog, Bo. He is actually leading pet lovers for Obama. Is this another way to shame Romney over Seamus -- Ron?
BONJEAN: No, I think this is a great self-preservation move by Bo, the first dog himself because President Obama, as we now know, likes dogs in more ways than one. So putting him out there, putting him at the head of the pack is a really smart move. And we know Portuguese water dogs are pretty bright.
However putting him in the first place like that could come back to bite him in a big way.
COSTELLO: Goldie.
TAYLOR: Well, it was funny. I will say this. I'm a little bit over the dog eat dog, dog on top of roof kind of type of stuff, you know. I like the levity that this brings to the race, but I really want to get back to the issues and let Bo and Seamus go on to live happy and one of them, healthy lives.
COSTELLO: Seamus is not with us any longer. He was an old dog. Dean?
OBEIDALLAH: carol, don't mess with our dogs. Do what you want to cats. Wear them as hats. Use them for skeet shooting targets. Eat them, I don't care. But you know, dog is a man's best friend and a politician's worst nightmare. So do not mess with our dogs.
I think it's a good move from President Obama. I think Ron is very funny about saying he's preserving his life that way. That's a very funny comment. So maybe that's part of it, as well. But I think don't mess with the dogs.
COSTELLO: Yes. You should have stole that line, Dean.
Goldie, Dean, Ron, thanks for playing today. We appreciate it.
TAYLOR: Thanks for having us.
BONJEAN: Thank you.
OBEIDALLAH: Thanks.
COSTELLO: Ok. Back to our breaking news out of Cleveland, Ohio. More now on the plot to blow up a bridge there. Peter Bergen, our terrorism analyst is with us now. We're going to talk to him in just a minute or two.
But first, I've been telling you the FBI held this news conference in Cleveland about these five arrests just moments ago, so, let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN D. ANTHONY, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI CLEVELAND OFFICE: Planned anarchists conspired to develop multiple terror plots to negatively impact the greater Cleveland metropolitan area. Law enforcement took swift, collaborative action based on this intelligence and undertook a myriad of coordinated and investigative techniques in order to eliminate the risk of violence and protect the public. I want to stress and we all want to stress up here that at no time during the course of the investigation was the public ever in danger.
The plotting of these individuals continued to evolve and eventually came to be centered on the use of explosives. The co-conspirators considered and researched possible targets and ultimately settled on the plot to damage the Brecksville, Northfield, high-level bridge, which provides route A passage over the Cuyahoga National Park from Brecksville to Sagamore Hills, Ohio.
And you can see a picture to me at the left of that very bridge. The individuals explored the illegal purchase of explosives, as well as the concept of using precursor chemicals and Internet knowledge to make homemade explosives. They ultimately negotiates with FBI undercover agents and purchased two inert -- I say inert -- improvised explosive devices, IEDs which were presented as C-4 based remote activated IEDs.
Last night the co-conspirators placed the two IEDs at the base of the concrete support pillar for this Brecksville, Northfield high-level bridge. And attempted to remotely detonate the devices from a location that they deemed safe and one that would possibly give them an alibi. All five co-conspirators were taken into custody last night by the FBI and joint ATF shortly after they attempted to remotely detonate these inert devices. I just want to say real quickly and then turn it over to Steve, the joint terrorism task force and its partners are working every day to detect, deter, prevent terrorist acts; threats of violent terrorism, motivated by ideological or political views are unacceptable and will be investigated to the fullest as evidenced by this investigation that we're talking to you about today.
COSTELLO: Ok. Let's step out of this news conference. You heard what the plot supposedly -- was supposed to do. Peter Bergen is our CNN national security analyst. He is on the phone.
It is disturbing, Peter, that these five suspects, actually planted this inert bomb because the FBI had infiltrated their group and they really were, allegedly, going to blow up this bridge.
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (via telephone): Well, Carol, I think what's interesting about this case is I work at a non- partisan think tank for New America Foundation together with Syracuse University. We looked at all the cases since 9/11 involving terrorism, including all the cases involving groups inspired or linked to al Qaeda but also, you know, environmental terrorists, right-wing terrorists, eco-terrorists, anarchist and the like and one of the takeaways of this research is that the FBI is just as likely to insert an informant in group of anarchists as they are in a group of Jihadi terrorists.
The FBI has a very aggressive campaign against all these groups in terms of either inserting undercover officers or inserting informants. And it's a reminder on the day that bin Laden was killed that, you know, terrorism comes with many flavors. And in fact, one of the other takeaways of this research, Carol, is that in terms of radiological bombs which of course are not (inaudible) weapons but are certainly bothersome devices that will cause a fair amount of panic.
The people who've really experimented with this are not jihadi terrorists from the post-9/11 era in the United States. There's actually people who are motivated by extreme right-wing ideas.
COSTELLO: So should we be changing our thinking?
BERGEN: Well I think you know, I think the take away from the research is that the FBI has this pretty well covered. I mean just think about this case to the extent that we know the details. They, you know, very early on inserted inert materials into the plot so that, you know, there was really no threat to the public.
And, you know, we have something like 100 joint terrorism task forces around the country which of course, include not just the FBI but all sorts of local law enforcement, does extremely good cooperation with, you know, DHS, which is, you know, overseeing some of this.
There are a lot of resources that are put at the terrorism problem and not just al Qaeda or groups like it. But any form of political violence and, you know, this is a good news story.
COSTELLO: Definitely. So, you know, I'm just curious. I know we don't know a lot about this case but how does the FBI infiltrate these groups? How do they find out about them most times?
BERGEN: Well, I mean I think there's really two routes. There's the informant route and there's the undercover officer route. The informant route is pretty calm and often informants are people who have legal problems themselves; often they're making money; often they're not the world's greatest individuals. After all, they're ratting out their friends or their supposed friends.
Typically, what you often see an informant in a case like this, not infrequently you'll also see an undercover officer. Now, of course, that is a local cop or an FBI personnel who is inserted into the group. I'm not, I'm not sure we understand exactly what happened in this case.
But in, I think in something like 40 percent of most terrorism cases in the United States since 9/11, you're going to see an informant or undercover officer involved.
COSTELLO: Peter Bergen, thanks for your input. We appreciate it this morning. Again, in Cleveland they've arrested five men professed to be anarchist who allegedly tried to blow up a bridge and had targeted other buildings in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.
We'll have much more on this story throughout the day on CNN. NEWSROOM will be back in just a couple of minutes.
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COSTELLO: We asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning: Occupy Wall Street, is it right on or irrelevant?
This from Wayne, "As a liberal, I hate to say it but irrelevant. They have no clear message and most of them have never even voted in their lives. Nothing's ever going to change by causing chaos."
This from Susan, "Their issues are right on, but like any group, see Tea Party, they have their outliers who skew the focus and pay attention to the message."
This from Emily, "Irrelevant. How many of the occupiers even have a job to call in to. They aren't middle class people, they're just a lot of people who whine and want things given to them. Because of this, I will work, shop and bank today."
This from Brian, "Wow, lots of people are missing the point. The one percent are too powerful. Corporate interests ruining the USA. Not so hard to understand, folks. Power to the people."
Keep the conversation going, Facebook.com/carolcnn. Thanks, as always, for your comments.
Take a break, we'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Recap for you on breaking news out of Cleveland, Ohio. The FBI says it's arrested five people in a plot to blow up a bridge in Cuyahoga County right off Aurora Road. Agents say the public was never in any danger. The explosives the defendants have purchased in an undercover operation were inoperable.
All five suspects between the ages of 20 and 35 years old. They're identified as Douglas Wright, Brandon Baxter, Anthony Haim, Conner Stevens and Joshua Stafford. Authorities say three of the men are self-proclaimed anarchists and the plot evolved over time with changing targets and goals. The FBI terror task force says the suspects ultimately settled on this bridge as their target. It crosses over from Brecksville, Ohio to Sagamore, Hills Ohio over the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Here's what the FBI had to say earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY: They ultimately negotiated with FBI undercover agents and purchased two inert -- I say inert, improvised explosive devices, IEDs that were presented as C-4 based remote activated IEDs.
Last night, the co-conspirators placed the two IEDs at the base of the concrete support pillar for this Brecksville, Northfield high-level bridge and attempted to remotely detonate the devices from a location that they deemed safe and one that would possibly give them an alibi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Of course, CNN will continue to follow this developing story, bring you ever bit of breaking news from Cleveland, Ohio.
Thank you for joining NEWSROOM with Carol Costello. Hope you have a great day. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Philips continues after a break.
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