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CNN Live At Daybreak
Small Blasts Hit British Consulate in New York; Lynndie England Mistrial
Aired May 05, 2005 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
As we've been telling you, we're covering breaking news out of New York City this morning. A small explosion has rocked the British consulate here. CNN has learned an improvised explosive device caused the blast. Bomb squads on the scene. And so is CNN's Jason Carroll. He has more specifics for us this morning.
Tell us exactly what this improvised device was -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, Carol, we're getting a little bit more information about that as investigators out here piece the shrapnel together. What they're telling us is they've actually found now two devices, one that was shaped like a pineapple -- this is how a police officer out here is describing it -- another shaped like a lemon. Both are these type of novelty devices, basically looking like toy grenades.
Apparently there was black powder located inside these devices, also with a fuse. Investigators are trying to determine right now if they went off together. When the explosion happened at about 3:50 this morning, it blew out a window pane of this building here, at 51st and Third, which houses the British consulate among, you know, other businesses, as well.
Again, here at 51st and Third Avenue in Manhattan. There are no reports of any injuries. Police are describing it as a small explosion. At this point, they've got their investigators out here. And just within the past few minutes, we were able to get a little bit more information, again, about what types of devices now were located and that took place during this explosion.
This officer, again, telling us that these devices were located inside a planter that's in front of the building. And when the explosion happened, it blew out about one foot of concrete, blew that into the window pane on the first floor. That is basically the extent of the damage that was done to the building. And at this point we are waiting to get another update from investigators who are out here.
I am standing at 51st and Third Avenue, which is where the building is located.
COSTELLO: May I interrupt you just a second, Jason? CARROLL: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Because we're seeing an interesting picture from our live camera. We see the planter that you're talking about with a chunk of concrete missing.
CARROLL: There you go.
COSTELLO: It's just sort of ironic that these planters are in front of the building to protect it from explosions.
CARROLL: Right. Exactly. You're exactly right, Carol. Planters like that are located in front of buildings like this and other sensitive buildings in the city to prevent some, you know, theoretically, a truck or a car loaded with explosives from driving into a building and then detonating.
But it appears this time that someone had the idea of trying to put these -- of putting these types of improvised explosive devices actually inside the planters.
At this point, very little damage done to the exterior of this building. And as I was going to say, you know, there's something to be said for the fact that police at this point are letting press so close to the building at 51st and Third Avenue. And there is five blocks in the area that are cordoned off to through traffic. But there is something to be said for the fact that they are allowing us to close to this building at this point in their investigation.
COSTELLO: You know, I would suppose, since this event happened at 3:50 a.m. Eastern that the suspect or suspects maybe were on foot. I know that police have been combing over that silver SUV. But I don't know if they've found anything.
What have you heard?
CARROLL: At this point what we're being told is patience. That's exactly how one officer described it. He said we're still in the process of trying to put things together out here and as soon as we get information we're going to pass it on to you.
I thought you asked an interesting question earlier, Carol, about were there any types of threats that were called in. And we did ask about that again. This officer said he was unaware of any threats that were called in. And so far, no one seems to have claimed responsibility for this incident that's happened out here.
COSTELLO: Yes. And we asked that because British elections are being held today to reelect Tony Blair or not. We don't know yet. But the various are going to the polls in Britain and it's just odd that this type of explosion would happen in front of the British consulate on this particular day.
CARROLL: Correct. The timing is curious. And, obviously, that's something that we're going to be asking about as soon as they're able to come over and give us another update. Definitely the timing is curious. But, again, you know, they're working to try to, you know, piece together exactly what happened. I mean just 20 minutes ago they said it was one explosive improvised device. Now they're saying two.
So theoretically then, as time, as each passing minute goes by, you know, we get -- you know, more and more information seems to trickle in as to how this happened.
COSTELLO: Well, I did see bomb sniffing dogs on the scene. I would suppose that they're checking out every planter in front of that building.
CARROLL: They are. And, in fact, not only are they doing that here, but, you know, in some of the surrounding buildings that neighbor this one, as well. You also have to imagine what will be done over at the mission, you know, which is located not too far from here, as well. I'm sure they're over there checking things out to see if that location is secure, as well.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, I was going down the list of important buildings in that area. The United Nations is at First and 42nd. Grand Central Station is at Park and 42nd. The Chrysler Building is at Lexington and 42nd, not very far from 3rd Avenue and 50th.
Do you suppose that police will check out the situation around all of those places?
CARROLL: I would venture a guess is most certainly. I mean, you know, the mission is not that far from here. It's a five minute walk, you know, a five to eight minute walk from here, you know, the mission. And so you've got to imagine, you know, again, the timing is curious, you know, because you do have elections going on. So it would stand to reason that since you've had some sort of an incident here at the consulate that then you would go over to the mission to, just to check out, to make sure things are secure over there.
COSTELLO: The consul general is Sir Philip Thomas.
Have you been able to determine whether he lives inside that building? We know there were people inside the building at the time of the explosions, but do you know who they were?
CARROLL: We're being told security. And we'll have to get some more information about that. But I do want to make it clear that police say that, once again, this was a small explosion and that there were no injuries and the extent of the damage was very small, as well.
So whoever was inside the building, at least at this point we can say there were no injuries.
COSTELLO: OK. And so for our viewers just tuning in, because, you know, we get really nervous when we hear about any type of explosion anywhere, but especially in New York City, tell us again what these improvised explosive devices were and how much damage they caused, Jason.
CARROLL: Certainly.
Again, what is described as a small explosion took place at about 3:50 a.m. Eastern. Investigators who are out here at the scene at this point are putting together the shrapnel. And what they have found are two improvised devices, one that was shaped like a pineapple. The other was described as being shaped like a lemon. Both are these sort of novelty or toy grenade types of items. Inside, black powder and a fuse. Investigators are trying to determine if those improvised explosive devices went off together or if they went off separately. At this point they're saying it was one small explosion. It blew out a window pane of the building here on the first floor, blew out a chunk of the planter that these improvised explosive devices were located in. And as you said, you can see what those planters look like.
I believe you're probably taking a shot of them right now. There are several planters in front of the building. These improvised devices were located in one of those planters -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jason Carroll, thank you for bringing us up to date.
We'll get back to you around 6:30 Eastern time, so stay right there. And I know you will. I know you're working hard.
Jason Carroll reporting live from Manhattan this morning.
In other stories now in the news, there are reports this morning concerning the health of Iraqi insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. military leaders are looking into claims al-Zarqawi was at a hospital last week. Zarqawi's group claims American soldiers stormed the hospital last Thursday, but apparently did not nab him.
And the sound of sirens brings Israelis to a standstill as the nation observes a minute of silence for the six million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War 2. We'll pause for a moment, as well. Remembering on this Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Also in the news, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to win an unprecedented third term in office despite anger over the Iraq war. Voters across the country head to the polls today.
To the Forecast Center now and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: She was the face of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal and now prosecutors are facing a major setback in Lynndie England's case.
Did you hear about this? A judge has now thrown out the Army private's guilty plea and declared a mistrial. That after testimony suggested England did not know her actions were wrong. That testimony came from England's former supervisor and lover, Private Charles Graner. England was photographed pointing at naked Iraqi prisoners. You remember that. She was photographed holding one of them on a dog leash.
So what do prosecutors do now?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EUGENE FIDELL, MILITARY LAW ATTORNEY: The charges are serious charges. The country is not about to walk away. The United States government is not about to walk away from these charges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, we're back to square one. Lynndie England gets a new trial. How did this come about and might she get off Scott free?
Legal analyst Karen Russell joins us now.
Good morning, Karen.
KAREN RUSSELL, ATTORNEY: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So what did Charles Graner say to bring this about?
RUSSELL: Well, he said that she knew what -- that she was following orders and that she knew that what she was doing was illegal.
COSTELLO: In other words, he ordered her to do it. She was just following orders because of what he told her?
RUSSELL: Yes.
COSTELLO: So...
RUSSELL: And she had said something different. So the defense tried to admit evidence that had contradicted her plea of guilty.
COSTELLO: It's just interesting that she cuts a deal with prosecutors, they come up -- and we all thought she was going to serve, what, two years? Now what might happen?
RUSSELL: Well, they can go back to square one. They can either decide to let her go, which I don't think is likely, or they can go to what is the equivalent of a military sort of a grand jury and re- charging her, which I think is the more likely event.
COSTELLO: Recharge her with lesser charges, do you think?
RUSSELL: I think they'll come back at her with the same thing.
COSTELLO: With the same thing.
RUSSELL: Yes.
COSTELLO: But wouldn't Charles Graner give the same testimony and wouldn't the judge make the same decision then?
RUSSELL: Well, you know, it was the defense who made the decision to put him on. And so I think that the defense may rethink, you know, putting on a witness that contradicts their evidence.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Interesting in court, too, because leaving the court on Tuesday, Charles Graner handed out a written statement saying he found England's guilty plea upsetting, but hopes it will bring her an easier sentence. That was interesting to me because you have to wonder about his motives here.
Is he telling the truth? Do we know?
RUSSELL: Well, you know, there's also a little of the personal element here too in that, you know, he is the father of her child, but he is actually married to another woman now since this has unfolded. So, you know, maybe there are some things going on behind-the-scenes that we're not aware of.
COSTELLO: Hmmm, interesting.
Well, of course, we'll keep following the story.
Karen Russell joining us live this morning, our legal analyst.
Thank you.
A top al Qaeda official in custody. Does this man know where Osama bin Laden is now? There he is.
And there's a new bead on the clock. Later on DAYBREAK, a look at the latest urban music trend.
But first, here's what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
We have been following breaking news out of New York City this morning. Police say two small bombs caused explosions outside of the British consulate. Some windows were shattered. No injuries reported. Police say the bombs were made from some sort of grenade, fake grenades, and then the suspect put real powder inside those grenades, buried them in a concrete flower planter near the building and then they went off. They're just trying to determine whether they went off simultaneously or separately. They're still checking.
A special Atlanta grand jury could hear the case against suspected courthouse shooter Brian Nichols today. Prosecutors will ask the jury to indict Nichols in the March shooting rampage that killed a judge, court reporter, deputy and federal agent. In money news, thousands of IBM workers could be offered voluntary severance packages next week. The company says it's restructuring plans to cut 10,000 to 13,000 jobs, mostly in Europe.
In culture, pretty pennies for a Picasso. Sotheby's sold The Women of Algiers for more than $18.5 million. Wow!
In sports, the battle of the birds in Baltimore. Sammy Sosa got a two run double, which sparked a five run eighth inning for the Orioles to beat the Blue Jays -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you.
On a day of two small explosions in front of the British consulate, Brits are going to the polls across the pond. Prime Minister Tony Blair is hoping his Labor Party will win him a third term in office despite widespread anger over his support of the Iraq war.
CNN's Walter Rodgers joins us live from London with more -- good morning, Walter.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, American admirers of British Prime Minister Tony Blair can take heart because the overnight polls suggest Labor is headed for a historic third term victory. That means five more years for Tony Blair is, indeed, he goes the distance.
Now, the polls suggest that Mr. Blair's Labor Party will probably get 38 percent of the vote; the Tories, that is, the conservatives, about 32 percent; and the Liberal Democrats about 22 percent. Actually, the Liberal Democrats are the ones who have made the greatest gains in this election and they've made those great gains by playing on the unpopularity of Mr. Blair and the war, or the war as it's associated with Mr. Blair, the war in Iraq.
And that's where the greatest movement has been in the election. Otherwise, it's pretty much as it was four years or five years ago, 2001 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Walter Rodgers live from London this morning.
Still to come, insurance on the money you have in the bank -- Congress considers your cash in business news.
And like peas in the iPod, the gadget that's got a lot of little friends. Our Daniel Sieberg is tracking that from Atlanta for us this morning.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. iPods are everywhere. But what if you want to extend the life of your iPod and listen to it without the headphones? We'll have some suggestions for you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."
If you've ever opened a bank account, you probably know that the government insures your account for $100,000, right? You knew that, didn't you?
Carrie Lee tells us about the debate in Congress about raising that limit -- good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. There's a new bill. They want to raise the limit. And it passed the House by a vote of 413-10. So a pretty nice majority. This would increase the insured amount from $100,000 to $130,000. Of course, this is in the case of a bank failure.
The last increase was in 1980. The bill will also double coverage for some retirement accounts. But the bill isn't such a sure thing in the Senate. The House has twice before approved the bill, but it never got past the Senate. And this time it could be no different.
Some high profile people, including Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, do not support the move. Greenspan says it's unlikely to add stability to the banking system. It also increases the risk for taxpayers, since the government backs these accounts.
So we'll see what happens, Carol. But the third time could be the charm.
COSTELLO: How often do they have to pay up the $100,000?
LEE: Well, you know, that's really an interesting point, because you don't hear too much about banks failing. But if you know that your money is insured to a certain amount, it may make you more inclined to go to a bank and put your money there.
So, we'll see what happens this time around. It may...
COSTELLO: Yes, more inclined to put your money in a savings account in a bank where you earn, what, .2 percent interest or something like that?
LEE: Well, interest rates are starting to come up, slowly but surely.
COSTELLO: That's true. Yes.
LEE: So at least some of them are now matching inflation, at least.
COSTELLO: OK, I'll stop -- I'll get off my pedestal now.
A quick look at the futures?
LEE: Yes, things looking a little bit weak today. But, hey, yesterday a great day for the Dow, up 127 points thanks to General Motors, which finished the day up 18 points.
COSTELLO: Wow!
LEE: Kirk Kerkorian, of MGM Mirage fame, wants to up his stake to 9 percent in the company. So it really caused the shares to soar. You know G.M. has had sluggish sales lately. They say it's for investment purposes only, Kerkorian's group, that is. We'll see. Remember his history with DaimlerChrysler, so.
COSTELLO: Not good news for G.M. this morning.
Carrie Lee, thank you.
LEE: OK.
COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, the iPod revolution keeps growing. The almost must have accessories for the personal music player. We'll tell you all about them when DAYBREAK continues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": There's a tendency when people are retired n are ready to pull money out of their savings to think that they can pull out a lot because they have this idea in their mind that they're going to have 10 percent return, so they can pull out large amounts of money and it will sustain their nest egg.
As a rule of thumb, I think people should be looking at that initial withdrawal in retirement should be about 4 percent of the value of their portfolio. So this way you would be able to keep your spending in line with the cost of living. If you do that, you have a pretty good probability of your money being able to last 30 or 40 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: I could listen to that all morning long and like that.
You've got the white earphones to listen to stuff like that, but what else do you need to go with your iPod to make sure you're the hippest hipster on the block? Oh, yes, and to get the best sound, too.
CNN tech expert Daniel Sieberg is here with the latest toys -- good morning.
SIEBERG: Good morning, Carol. We're over here at the geek desk in Atlanta. We've got a few things set up here. If you do have an iPod and you want to extend the life of it, maybe listen to it without the headphones, what's a poor iPod user to do? You know, a whole industry has started around accessories. So we're going to talk about speakers here.
The first one we're going to talk about is from Bose. It's called the SoundDock. And we'll give you an example of what it sounds like, first of all. This one goes for about $300, which is the most expensive of the bunch we're going to talk about here. If you can see it, if you can maybe even pull back a little bit, you can see it's a little bit bigger than some of them. You can see the size of it and maybe compare it to the iPod here.
Pretty good sound, though, given the size and, of course, the price. It does come with a remote control, as well. Bose is pretty known for its sound products, so you think they've come up with something pretty good.
COSTELLO: That's cool!
SIEBERG: Yes. It's, you know, it is a bit bulkier.
If you see the next one we've got here, it's a little different design. It's this round design. This is from JBL. It's called the On Stage by Harman. Again, you can see it's got this sort of unique design with a round speaker set here. It does have that touch control. Twelve watts and it's about a pound. I'll just play the music here for you, classical music. We're going to wake a few people up. That one goes for about $159, so about half the price of the Bose one, and about half the size, too.
All right, we're going to move on to the next one here. This is from inMotion. It's the iM3. It's called the inMotion, from Altec Lansing. It has a little tiny remote control. They're really going after travelers here. I'm going to start it playing. What you can see here are the traveling adapters. So if you go to another country, you need to plug in, you know, when you're on the road, this is pretty handy for people.
I'm going to also show you something else. It's playing right now. About $180, you can see there. I'm going to pop this out, because a lot of them have this sort of docking station. They also are a battery charger, by the way, Carol. And it folds up. So you can see this is kind of the key with this one.
COSTELLO: Wow!
SIEBERG: Yes, you know, you can take it with you and throw it in your bag. So a little, a little easier.
The next one...
COSTELLO: You know...
SIEBERG: Sorry, go ahead, Carol. COSTELLO: Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead, you have more.
SIEBERG: Yes, sure.
The next one is actually called the Monster iSpeaker. Monster is really big into the iPod accessories. You can see it here, it's about the size of two CD cases. So pretty portable. The price is about $60. And the music, let's have some music. You can get a sense for the sound. A little tinnier sound. I mean not quite as rich or full as, say, the Bose or the other ones that we talked about here. But not bad for the price.
COSTELLO: Boston. Right.
SIEBERG: And, you know, pretty portable, obviously.
And now the last one we have to talk about, this is pretty fun. This is definitely portable. You remember "MacGyver," Carol?
COSTELLO: Oh, I loved "MacGyver."
SIEBERG: Right. He could like build a bulldozer out of a box of screws and some matches. Yes. So they had a contest. "Ready Made" magazine had a contest. The idea was to make something out of an Altoids box that worked, that functioned.
And what we've got here are some speakers that will work with your iPod. I'm going to stop talking and see if you can hear it. You can hear that, Carol?
COSTELLO: Yes. That doesn't sound as good as the other speakers, but it's in an Altoids box.
SIEBERG: You're right. But for $5? It's $5, keep in mind, OK? He actually designed this out of some Altoids box, some playing cards and some old headphones. The total price, $5.
COSTELLO: That's pretty good.
SIEBERG: So, if you've got some ingenuity, you know, it's maybe something to show your friends, not necessarily something to play around the house, but, you know, pretty creative.
COSTELLO: That's funny.
SIEBERG: Pretty creative.
COSTELLO: OK, this is one I want to ask you about.
SIEBERG: Yes, sure.
COSTELLO: Because I like the speaker set you showed us with the battery, because my iPod battery does not seem to last very long.
SIEBERG: Right. Well, interestingly enough, these -- a lot of them act as a battery charger for your iPod, as well. So it's a place to store your iPod, but also to charge it. So you can actually use the A.C. power, listen to your iPod and it's going to charge it while it's in there.
If you take the A.C. power out, I believe the Monster iSpeaker, it lasts about eight hours on two AA batteries. That's this really sort of portable one here that looks like a couple of CD cases.
So it's not bad. I mean if you want to take it on the go and have it with you, you know, eight hours is OK. And it does take up a little power from your iPod, of course, especially if you're running the back light. So, but it's an alternative.
COSTELLO: All right, Daniel Sieberg, interesting stuff to talk about this morning.
We appreciate it.
SIEBERG: All right.
COSTELLO: When DAYBREAK returns, we'll head back live to New York City to give you the latest information we have on those two small explosions in front of the British consulate.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 5, 2005 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
As we've been telling you, we're covering breaking news out of New York City this morning. A small explosion has rocked the British consulate here. CNN has learned an improvised explosive device caused the blast. Bomb squads on the scene. And so is CNN's Jason Carroll. He has more specifics for us this morning.
Tell us exactly what this improvised device was -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, Carol, we're getting a little bit more information about that as investigators out here piece the shrapnel together. What they're telling us is they've actually found now two devices, one that was shaped like a pineapple -- this is how a police officer out here is describing it -- another shaped like a lemon. Both are these type of novelty devices, basically looking like toy grenades.
Apparently there was black powder located inside these devices, also with a fuse. Investigators are trying to determine right now if they went off together. When the explosion happened at about 3:50 this morning, it blew out a window pane of this building here, at 51st and Third, which houses the British consulate among, you know, other businesses, as well.
Again, here at 51st and Third Avenue in Manhattan. There are no reports of any injuries. Police are describing it as a small explosion. At this point, they've got their investigators out here. And just within the past few minutes, we were able to get a little bit more information, again, about what types of devices now were located and that took place during this explosion.
This officer, again, telling us that these devices were located inside a planter that's in front of the building. And when the explosion happened, it blew out about one foot of concrete, blew that into the window pane on the first floor. That is basically the extent of the damage that was done to the building. And at this point we are waiting to get another update from investigators who are out here.
I am standing at 51st and Third Avenue, which is where the building is located.
COSTELLO: May I interrupt you just a second, Jason? CARROLL: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Because we're seeing an interesting picture from our live camera. We see the planter that you're talking about with a chunk of concrete missing.
CARROLL: There you go.
COSTELLO: It's just sort of ironic that these planters are in front of the building to protect it from explosions.
CARROLL: Right. Exactly. You're exactly right, Carol. Planters like that are located in front of buildings like this and other sensitive buildings in the city to prevent some, you know, theoretically, a truck or a car loaded with explosives from driving into a building and then detonating.
But it appears this time that someone had the idea of trying to put these -- of putting these types of improvised explosive devices actually inside the planters.
At this point, very little damage done to the exterior of this building. And as I was going to say, you know, there's something to be said for the fact that police at this point are letting press so close to the building at 51st and Third Avenue. And there is five blocks in the area that are cordoned off to through traffic. But there is something to be said for the fact that they are allowing us to close to this building at this point in their investigation.
COSTELLO: You know, I would suppose, since this event happened at 3:50 a.m. Eastern that the suspect or suspects maybe were on foot. I know that police have been combing over that silver SUV. But I don't know if they've found anything.
What have you heard?
CARROLL: At this point what we're being told is patience. That's exactly how one officer described it. He said we're still in the process of trying to put things together out here and as soon as we get information we're going to pass it on to you.
I thought you asked an interesting question earlier, Carol, about were there any types of threats that were called in. And we did ask about that again. This officer said he was unaware of any threats that were called in. And so far, no one seems to have claimed responsibility for this incident that's happened out here.
COSTELLO: Yes. And we asked that because British elections are being held today to reelect Tony Blair or not. We don't know yet. But the various are going to the polls in Britain and it's just odd that this type of explosion would happen in front of the British consulate on this particular day.
CARROLL: Correct. The timing is curious. And, obviously, that's something that we're going to be asking about as soon as they're able to come over and give us another update. Definitely the timing is curious. But, again, you know, they're working to try to, you know, piece together exactly what happened. I mean just 20 minutes ago they said it was one explosive improvised device. Now they're saying two.
So theoretically then, as time, as each passing minute goes by, you know, we get -- you know, more and more information seems to trickle in as to how this happened.
COSTELLO: Well, I did see bomb sniffing dogs on the scene. I would suppose that they're checking out every planter in front of that building.
CARROLL: They are. And, in fact, not only are they doing that here, but, you know, in some of the surrounding buildings that neighbor this one, as well. You also have to imagine what will be done over at the mission, you know, which is located not too far from here, as well. I'm sure they're over there checking things out to see if that location is secure, as well.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, I was going down the list of important buildings in that area. The United Nations is at First and 42nd. Grand Central Station is at Park and 42nd. The Chrysler Building is at Lexington and 42nd, not very far from 3rd Avenue and 50th.
Do you suppose that police will check out the situation around all of those places?
CARROLL: I would venture a guess is most certainly. I mean, you know, the mission is not that far from here. It's a five minute walk, you know, a five to eight minute walk from here, you know, the mission. And so you've got to imagine, you know, again, the timing is curious, you know, because you do have elections going on. So it would stand to reason that since you've had some sort of an incident here at the consulate that then you would go over to the mission to, just to check out, to make sure things are secure over there.
COSTELLO: The consul general is Sir Philip Thomas.
Have you been able to determine whether he lives inside that building? We know there were people inside the building at the time of the explosions, but do you know who they were?
CARROLL: We're being told security. And we'll have to get some more information about that. But I do want to make it clear that police say that, once again, this was a small explosion and that there were no injuries and the extent of the damage was very small, as well.
So whoever was inside the building, at least at this point we can say there were no injuries.
COSTELLO: OK. And so for our viewers just tuning in, because, you know, we get really nervous when we hear about any type of explosion anywhere, but especially in New York City, tell us again what these improvised explosive devices were and how much damage they caused, Jason.
CARROLL: Certainly.
Again, what is described as a small explosion took place at about 3:50 a.m. Eastern. Investigators who are out here at the scene at this point are putting together the shrapnel. And what they have found are two improvised devices, one that was shaped like a pineapple. The other was described as being shaped like a lemon. Both are these sort of novelty or toy grenade types of items. Inside, black powder and a fuse. Investigators are trying to determine if those improvised explosive devices went off together or if they went off separately. At this point they're saying it was one small explosion. It blew out a window pane of the building here on the first floor, blew out a chunk of the planter that these improvised explosive devices were located in. And as you said, you can see what those planters look like.
I believe you're probably taking a shot of them right now. There are several planters in front of the building. These improvised devices were located in one of those planters -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jason Carroll, thank you for bringing us up to date.
We'll get back to you around 6:30 Eastern time, so stay right there. And I know you will. I know you're working hard.
Jason Carroll reporting live from Manhattan this morning.
In other stories now in the news, there are reports this morning concerning the health of Iraqi insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. military leaders are looking into claims al-Zarqawi was at a hospital last week. Zarqawi's group claims American soldiers stormed the hospital last Thursday, but apparently did not nab him.
And the sound of sirens brings Israelis to a standstill as the nation observes a minute of silence for the six million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War 2. We'll pause for a moment, as well. Remembering on this Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Also in the news, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to win an unprecedented third term in office despite anger over the Iraq war. Voters across the country head to the polls today.
To the Forecast Center now and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: She was the face of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal and now prosecutors are facing a major setback in Lynndie England's case.
Did you hear about this? A judge has now thrown out the Army private's guilty plea and declared a mistrial. That after testimony suggested England did not know her actions were wrong. That testimony came from England's former supervisor and lover, Private Charles Graner. England was photographed pointing at naked Iraqi prisoners. You remember that. She was photographed holding one of them on a dog leash.
So what do prosecutors do now?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EUGENE FIDELL, MILITARY LAW ATTORNEY: The charges are serious charges. The country is not about to walk away. The United States government is not about to walk away from these charges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, we're back to square one. Lynndie England gets a new trial. How did this come about and might she get off Scott free?
Legal analyst Karen Russell joins us now.
Good morning, Karen.
KAREN RUSSELL, ATTORNEY: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So what did Charles Graner say to bring this about?
RUSSELL: Well, he said that she knew what -- that she was following orders and that she knew that what she was doing was illegal.
COSTELLO: In other words, he ordered her to do it. She was just following orders because of what he told her?
RUSSELL: Yes.
COSTELLO: So...
RUSSELL: And she had said something different. So the defense tried to admit evidence that had contradicted her plea of guilty.
COSTELLO: It's just interesting that she cuts a deal with prosecutors, they come up -- and we all thought she was going to serve, what, two years? Now what might happen?
RUSSELL: Well, they can go back to square one. They can either decide to let her go, which I don't think is likely, or they can go to what is the equivalent of a military sort of a grand jury and re- charging her, which I think is the more likely event.
COSTELLO: Recharge her with lesser charges, do you think?
RUSSELL: I think they'll come back at her with the same thing.
COSTELLO: With the same thing.
RUSSELL: Yes.
COSTELLO: But wouldn't Charles Graner give the same testimony and wouldn't the judge make the same decision then?
RUSSELL: Well, you know, it was the defense who made the decision to put him on. And so I think that the defense may rethink, you know, putting on a witness that contradicts their evidence.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Interesting in court, too, because leaving the court on Tuesday, Charles Graner handed out a written statement saying he found England's guilty plea upsetting, but hopes it will bring her an easier sentence. That was interesting to me because you have to wonder about his motives here.
Is he telling the truth? Do we know?
RUSSELL: Well, you know, there's also a little of the personal element here too in that, you know, he is the father of her child, but he is actually married to another woman now since this has unfolded. So, you know, maybe there are some things going on behind-the-scenes that we're not aware of.
COSTELLO: Hmmm, interesting.
Well, of course, we'll keep following the story.
Karen Russell joining us live this morning, our legal analyst.
Thank you.
A top al Qaeda official in custody. Does this man know where Osama bin Laden is now? There he is.
And there's a new bead on the clock. Later on DAYBREAK, a look at the latest urban music trend.
But first, here's what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
We have been following breaking news out of New York City this morning. Police say two small bombs caused explosions outside of the British consulate. Some windows were shattered. No injuries reported. Police say the bombs were made from some sort of grenade, fake grenades, and then the suspect put real powder inside those grenades, buried them in a concrete flower planter near the building and then they went off. They're just trying to determine whether they went off simultaneously or separately. They're still checking.
A special Atlanta grand jury could hear the case against suspected courthouse shooter Brian Nichols today. Prosecutors will ask the jury to indict Nichols in the March shooting rampage that killed a judge, court reporter, deputy and federal agent. In money news, thousands of IBM workers could be offered voluntary severance packages next week. The company says it's restructuring plans to cut 10,000 to 13,000 jobs, mostly in Europe.
In culture, pretty pennies for a Picasso. Sotheby's sold The Women of Algiers for more than $18.5 million. Wow!
In sports, the battle of the birds in Baltimore. Sammy Sosa got a two run double, which sparked a five run eighth inning for the Orioles to beat the Blue Jays -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you.
On a day of two small explosions in front of the British consulate, Brits are going to the polls across the pond. Prime Minister Tony Blair is hoping his Labor Party will win him a third term in office despite widespread anger over his support of the Iraq war.
CNN's Walter Rodgers joins us live from London with more -- good morning, Walter.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, American admirers of British Prime Minister Tony Blair can take heart because the overnight polls suggest Labor is headed for a historic third term victory. That means five more years for Tony Blair is, indeed, he goes the distance.
Now, the polls suggest that Mr. Blair's Labor Party will probably get 38 percent of the vote; the Tories, that is, the conservatives, about 32 percent; and the Liberal Democrats about 22 percent. Actually, the Liberal Democrats are the ones who have made the greatest gains in this election and they've made those great gains by playing on the unpopularity of Mr. Blair and the war, or the war as it's associated with Mr. Blair, the war in Iraq.
And that's where the greatest movement has been in the election. Otherwise, it's pretty much as it was four years or five years ago, 2001 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Walter Rodgers live from London this morning.
Still to come, insurance on the money you have in the bank -- Congress considers your cash in business news.
And like peas in the iPod, the gadget that's got a lot of little friends. Our Daniel Sieberg is tracking that from Atlanta for us this morning.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. iPods are everywhere. But what if you want to extend the life of your iPod and listen to it without the headphones? We'll have some suggestions for you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."
If you've ever opened a bank account, you probably know that the government insures your account for $100,000, right? You knew that, didn't you?
Carrie Lee tells us about the debate in Congress about raising that limit -- good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. There's a new bill. They want to raise the limit. And it passed the House by a vote of 413-10. So a pretty nice majority. This would increase the insured amount from $100,000 to $130,000. Of course, this is in the case of a bank failure.
The last increase was in 1980. The bill will also double coverage for some retirement accounts. But the bill isn't such a sure thing in the Senate. The House has twice before approved the bill, but it never got past the Senate. And this time it could be no different.
Some high profile people, including Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, do not support the move. Greenspan says it's unlikely to add stability to the banking system. It also increases the risk for taxpayers, since the government backs these accounts.
So we'll see what happens, Carol. But the third time could be the charm.
COSTELLO: How often do they have to pay up the $100,000?
LEE: Well, you know, that's really an interesting point, because you don't hear too much about banks failing. But if you know that your money is insured to a certain amount, it may make you more inclined to go to a bank and put your money there.
So, we'll see what happens this time around. It may...
COSTELLO: Yes, more inclined to put your money in a savings account in a bank where you earn, what, .2 percent interest or something like that?
LEE: Well, interest rates are starting to come up, slowly but surely.
COSTELLO: That's true. Yes.
LEE: So at least some of them are now matching inflation, at least.
COSTELLO: OK, I'll stop -- I'll get off my pedestal now.
A quick look at the futures?
LEE: Yes, things looking a little bit weak today. But, hey, yesterday a great day for the Dow, up 127 points thanks to General Motors, which finished the day up 18 points.
COSTELLO: Wow!
LEE: Kirk Kerkorian, of MGM Mirage fame, wants to up his stake to 9 percent in the company. So it really caused the shares to soar. You know G.M. has had sluggish sales lately. They say it's for investment purposes only, Kerkorian's group, that is. We'll see. Remember his history with DaimlerChrysler, so.
COSTELLO: Not good news for G.M. this morning.
Carrie Lee, thank you.
LEE: OK.
COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, the iPod revolution keeps growing. The almost must have accessories for the personal music player. We'll tell you all about them when DAYBREAK continues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": There's a tendency when people are retired n are ready to pull money out of their savings to think that they can pull out a lot because they have this idea in their mind that they're going to have 10 percent return, so they can pull out large amounts of money and it will sustain their nest egg.
As a rule of thumb, I think people should be looking at that initial withdrawal in retirement should be about 4 percent of the value of their portfolio. So this way you would be able to keep your spending in line with the cost of living. If you do that, you have a pretty good probability of your money being able to last 30 or 40 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: I could listen to that all morning long and like that.
You've got the white earphones to listen to stuff like that, but what else do you need to go with your iPod to make sure you're the hippest hipster on the block? Oh, yes, and to get the best sound, too.
CNN tech expert Daniel Sieberg is here with the latest toys -- good morning.
SIEBERG: Good morning, Carol. We're over here at the geek desk in Atlanta. We've got a few things set up here. If you do have an iPod and you want to extend the life of it, maybe listen to it without the headphones, what's a poor iPod user to do? You know, a whole industry has started around accessories. So we're going to talk about speakers here.
The first one we're going to talk about is from Bose. It's called the SoundDock. And we'll give you an example of what it sounds like, first of all. This one goes for about $300, which is the most expensive of the bunch we're going to talk about here. If you can see it, if you can maybe even pull back a little bit, you can see it's a little bit bigger than some of them. You can see the size of it and maybe compare it to the iPod here.
Pretty good sound, though, given the size and, of course, the price. It does come with a remote control, as well. Bose is pretty known for its sound products, so you think they've come up with something pretty good.
COSTELLO: That's cool!
SIEBERG: Yes. It's, you know, it is a bit bulkier.
If you see the next one we've got here, it's a little different design. It's this round design. This is from JBL. It's called the On Stage by Harman. Again, you can see it's got this sort of unique design with a round speaker set here. It does have that touch control. Twelve watts and it's about a pound. I'll just play the music here for you, classical music. We're going to wake a few people up. That one goes for about $159, so about half the price of the Bose one, and about half the size, too.
All right, we're going to move on to the next one here. This is from inMotion. It's the iM3. It's called the inMotion, from Altec Lansing. It has a little tiny remote control. They're really going after travelers here. I'm going to start it playing. What you can see here are the traveling adapters. So if you go to another country, you need to plug in, you know, when you're on the road, this is pretty handy for people.
I'm going to also show you something else. It's playing right now. About $180, you can see there. I'm going to pop this out, because a lot of them have this sort of docking station. They also are a battery charger, by the way, Carol. And it folds up. So you can see this is kind of the key with this one.
COSTELLO: Wow!
SIEBERG: Yes, you know, you can take it with you and throw it in your bag. So a little, a little easier.
The next one...
COSTELLO: You know...
SIEBERG: Sorry, go ahead, Carol. COSTELLO: Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead, you have more.
SIEBERG: Yes, sure.
The next one is actually called the Monster iSpeaker. Monster is really big into the iPod accessories. You can see it here, it's about the size of two CD cases. So pretty portable. The price is about $60. And the music, let's have some music. You can get a sense for the sound. A little tinnier sound. I mean not quite as rich or full as, say, the Bose or the other ones that we talked about here. But not bad for the price.
COSTELLO: Boston. Right.
SIEBERG: And, you know, pretty portable, obviously.
And now the last one we have to talk about, this is pretty fun. This is definitely portable. You remember "MacGyver," Carol?
COSTELLO: Oh, I loved "MacGyver."
SIEBERG: Right. He could like build a bulldozer out of a box of screws and some matches. Yes. So they had a contest. "Ready Made" magazine had a contest. The idea was to make something out of an Altoids box that worked, that functioned.
And what we've got here are some speakers that will work with your iPod. I'm going to stop talking and see if you can hear it. You can hear that, Carol?
COSTELLO: Yes. That doesn't sound as good as the other speakers, but it's in an Altoids box.
SIEBERG: You're right. But for $5? It's $5, keep in mind, OK? He actually designed this out of some Altoids box, some playing cards and some old headphones. The total price, $5.
COSTELLO: That's pretty good.
SIEBERG: So, if you've got some ingenuity, you know, it's maybe something to show your friends, not necessarily something to play around the house, but, you know, pretty creative.
COSTELLO: That's funny.
SIEBERG: Pretty creative.
COSTELLO: OK, this is one I want to ask you about.
SIEBERG: Yes, sure.
COSTELLO: Because I like the speaker set you showed us with the battery, because my iPod battery does not seem to last very long.
SIEBERG: Right. Well, interestingly enough, these -- a lot of them act as a battery charger for your iPod, as well. So it's a place to store your iPod, but also to charge it. So you can actually use the A.C. power, listen to your iPod and it's going to charge it while it's in there.
If you take the A.C. power out, I believe the Monster iSpeaker, it lasts about eight hours on two AA batteries. That's this really sort of portable one here that looks like a couple of CD cases.
So it's not bad. I mean if you want to take it on the go and have it with you, you know, eight hours is OK. And it does take up a little power from your iPod, of course, especially if you're running the back light. So, but it's an alternative.
COSTELLO: All right, Daniel Sieberg, interesting stuff to talk about this morning.
We appreciate it.
SIEBERG: All right.
COSTELLO: When DAYBREAK returns, we'll head back live to New York City to give you the latest information we have on those two small explosions in front of the British consulate.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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