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CNN Live At Daybreak

Major Break in British Terror Probe; Back to Baghdad; Famine Crisis

Aired July 27, 2005 - 05:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is Wednesday, July 27. A major break in the British terror probe. British police on the move, making arrests. We'll take you across the pond for the new developments.
Also, the talks are warming up as five other nations pressure North Korea for a nuclear freeze.

Plus, it might look and sound real, but it's not. It's the new TV war drama "Over There." We'll find out what military families over here think about it.

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. We'll have more on the bust in Britain in just a moment.

Also ahead, your morning paper may be missing something. Newspapers across the country are pulling a controversial comic strip.

And a heartbreaking and disturbing story of the nation on the brink of disaster.

But first, "Now in the News."

New developments from around the world this morning.

In Britain, police have arrested four men in Birmingham in connection with last Thursday's failed London bombings. They've also found a suspicious package. We'll have a live report for you straight ahead.

In Baghdad, a high-level visitor. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived there about three hours ago on an unannounced trip. He's pushing the Iraqis to make more political progress. We'll take you live to Baghdad.

And in Aruba this morning, a new lead in the Natalee Holloway case. Authorities are now draining a pond. It's near where the American teenager was believed to be on the night she vanished. More details at the half-hour.

To the forecast center now and Chad.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Carol, I've got some good news for you.

COSTELLO: What?

MYERS: I saved a bunch of money on my car insurance. No. Today is the hottest day of the rest of the year for you.

COSTELLO: Oh. And then a cool front comes in.

MYERS: It gets better from here. Yes. How about that?

COSTELLO: That's better than your car insurance.

MYERS: OK. Actually, I didn't save any money, but that's OK. Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Scotland Yard calling it a breakthrough in the London bombing investigation. Just a few hours ago, four men were arrested in Birmingham, England's second largest city. So let's get right to it.

Our Mallika Kapur is at Scotland Yard in London with more details about this.

Tell us more, Mallika.

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, police have confirmed that they did arrest four men very early this morning at about 4:30 a.m. local British time. Those arrests were made under the Terrorism Act of 2000, and all four arrests took place in and around the Birmingham area.

One arrest this morning took place in the Hay Mills area of Birmingham. That taking place at 4:30 this morning. Police did say that the man they were arresting did put up some resistance, so they had to use a Taser gun before they arrested him. That is kind of a stun gun which police used this morning. That man has been brought here to central London, where he is being held at the Paddington Green police station for questioning.

Police also said that while they were making the arrests this morning they found a suspicious package. And as a result of that, they did have to evacuate the area. But police did also confirm that no other firearms were used this morning.

Police a little later also arrested three other men, also in the Birmingham area. Those arrests taking place in the Ward End area of Birmingham this morning.

Those three people do remain in custody in the West Midlands area. They have now been brought down here to central London for questioning. And police do confirm that forensic examinations are still going on in the area.

And Carol, British media are reporting that one of the people police have arrested this morning could be one of the people they've identified as a suspect behind the July 21 bus bombing attacks in London -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So just to clarify, one of the people under arrest right now in this latest round of arrests could be one of the actual bombers?

KAPUR: Could be. That's what the British media are reporting.

They are saying that because the police have called the investigation this morning and the arrests a breakthrough, British media saying that the police could have nabbed one of the suspects, one of the people they think could have been behind the failed bombings of July 21. But I must emphasize that the police authorities themselves have not confirmed this as of now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I know you're still gathering information, so we'll let -- yes, we'll let you get back to it.

Mallika Kapur, live in London this morning.

Now to Egypt, another nation that's dealing with a recent wave of terror. There's been a possible break in the case of Saturday's deadly bombings in a resort town.

Police have identified a body they believe might be that of a suicide bomber. They say the man was an Egyptian who had links to Islamic militants. Saturday's attacks in Sharm el-Sheikh killed more than 80 people and wounded more than 200 others.

Get on with it, that's the message to the Iraqi people from Donald Rumsfeld. The defense secretary arrived in Baghdad just about three hours ago, and he's already pushing the Iraqis to move their political process forward.

So let's head straight to Baghdad and CNN's Aneesh Raman.

Good morning, Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.

The secretary of defense, on an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital today, set to meet with the country's political leadership. He just wrapped up a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

Rumsfeld also will undoubtedly meet with top U.S. military commanders, and presumably with U.S. troops as well. He is, Carol, as you say, carrying with him a number of messages for the Iraqi government.

Upon arrival, he told them they need to be more aggressive in dealing with their neighbors, Iran and Syria, to better secure the country's borders and to prevent a flow of foreign fighters from continuing to enter this country. He also, as you mentioned, pushed this government to make that impending August 15 deadline. That the date by which they have to have the constitution written so it can go forward to a referendum by the people. It is the first step, Carol, that if met could lead to the election of a constitutionally-based government in Iraq by the end of this year.

Now, his visit also comes on the heels of last week's Pentagon report dealing with the status of Iraqi security forces. Estimates on the ground that we've heard are that there are 174,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security forces at the moment. A majority of them, we're told, are going out on operations, but only a small fraction are independently doing operations on their own without the help or aid of U.S. forces.

So Rumsfeld clearly will look at the training, which is progressing, not at the speed that anyone would want, but dealing with the realistic scenario on the ground. And he will also discuss any potential gradual withdrawal of troops. I spoke to Iraq's national security adviser just last week. He said we could see sizable reductions in foreign troops by mid next year.

It will, though, Carol, be a gradual process, a city-by-city process. It won't, of course, all be at once -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Aneesh Raman, live in Baghdad this morning.

There are more allegations of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. This time, witnesses say Army dog handlers allowed unmuzzled dogs to bite and terrorize prisoners. Military investigators are trying to decide the fate of the first two regular Army members charged in the scandal, Sergeant Michael Smith of Florida and Sergeant Santos Cardona (ph) of California. Their pretrial hearing in Maryland will determine if they will face a court-martial. Eight Army reservists have already been convicted in the scandal.

In CNN "Security Watch," he planned to bomb the L.A. airport on the eve of the millennium. Five years later, he faces a long prison sentence.

Security will be tight when Ahmed Ressam goes before a federal judge in Seattle for sentencing. Ressam, of Algeria, was trained by al Qaeda and lived in Canada before trying to enter the United States on a ferry to Washington State in December of 1999. His plans were foiled when a Customs agent found explosives in his car -- you know, in the trunk. Prosecutors want him sentenced to 35 years.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

In other news "Across America" this morning, the police chief in Los Angeles says outside experts have joined an investigation into the killing of a 19-month-old girl when police ended a standoff with her father. The father had been holding the child when she was killed in a hail of bullets fired by S.W.A.T. team members. Brian David Mitchell, the man accused of abducting Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart, has been found incompetent to stand trial. A judge in Salt Lake City says he's delusional. Last year, Mitchell's wife, Wanda Ilene Barzee, also was found incompetent to stand trial.

The BTK killer now a single man. A Kansas judge granted Dennis Rader's wife an immediate divorce on emergency grounds. Paula Rader said her marriage to a confessed serial killer was dangerous to her mental health. They were married for 34 years.

The White House says the Senate has everything it needs, but Senate Democrats are still on a paper chase when it comes to Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. They're criticizing the White House for refusing to release certain documents from Roberts' past. The papers stem from his days as an administration lawyer under the first President Bush. The White House points out it is releasing thousands of other documents from Roberts' career.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I would also point out that Judge Roberts has been through a previous confirmation hearing, and the Senate had all the information they needed about his views on the role of the judiciary. And he was someone who was approved with unanimous consent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The White House is citing attorney-client privilege in not releasing the documents, but Senate Democrats say they want to know much more about Roberts as they gear up for his confirmation hearings.

You may not get the latest Doonesbury comic strip in your local paper. Some newspapers are editing or pulling it out altogether. The strip is a satirical dialogue between President Bush and an aide. And you know what aide I'm talking about.

The two are complaining that the Karl Rove leak investigation is eclipsing all other issues. So here's the panel some editors are objecting to.

The Bush character says Rove is living up to his nickname. The aide asks, "Boy Genius?" The president erupts, calling out to Rove, "Hey, Turd Blossom! Get in here!"

And the newspapers of course are objection to "Turd Blossom," which is a legitimate nickname for Karl Rove. Of course only President Bush probably calls him that. But they're pulling the strip.

And that brings us to our DAYBREAK e-mail "Question of the Day."

MYERS: Yes. And I Googled the "Turd Blossom" and got a nice picture. So if you want to do that, you can actually figure out what Turd Blossom means, if you haven't figured it out. COSTELLO: Wait a minute.

MYERS: Go ahead, Carol.

COSTELLO: You Googled the term and you got a picture. Was it a picture of Karl Rove?

MYERS: No. A Turd Blossom is actually -- I guess another name would be cowpie, for those of us growing up in the Midwest.

COSTELLO: Oh.

MYERS: But this is a legitimate nickname that President Bush gave him over something in 2001, and now they're bringing it up again. And this is like, oh, this is not even new news.

But, so, do you agree with the decision by some newspapers not to run the Doonesbury cartoon strip? And so, therefore, now that they didn't, now it's on CNN.

COSTELLO: I know.

MYERS: Go to DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

COSTELLO: I just want to quote the "Kansas City Star." This is the editor. He says, "We thought it was in bad taste and probably unclear to a lot of people why we would be using the term."

So it's just like he didn't think people would understand, so out it goes.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: What do you think? DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

President Bush turns his focus today on the nation's Boy Scouts. And keeping with tradition, the president will address the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. He'll touch on Monday's tragic death of four scout leaders killed when a tent pole they were setting up apparently hit a power line. Horrified youngsters witnessed the electrocutions, but the Boy Scouts are going ahead with the 10-day event, even as they mourn the loss of some of their leaders.

Coming up on DAYBREAK, humanitarian aid workers say the food crisis in Niger should have been avoided. We'll have a live report for you.

A bizarre tale of kidnapping overshadows nuclear talks between North Korea and five other nations. We'll have a live report as well from Tokyo.

And a pregnant Pennsylvania woman is missing, and her family and friends are frantically searching.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: International markets all looking up this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei higher by 97 points. The London FTSE up seven. The German DAX also up seven.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:16 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

British police have arrested four men in connection with last Thursday's failed London bombings. The arrests happened this morning in Birmingham. Police have not released the identities of these men.

The second day of nuclear talks under way in China. Five nations are pressing North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions. The chief U.S. and North Korean envoys also have met one on one.

In money news, General Motors says you'll still be able to get low-cost car loans thanks to a new deal. GM plans to sell up to $55 billion in loans to the Bank of America. GM's struggling to raise profits.

In culture, Jerry Lewis will get a special Emmy award just days after this year's Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. He's being given the Governor's Emmy for his longtime work with the telethon. Past recipients include Johnny Carson and Bob Hope.

In sports, take a look. Dramatic and troubling pictures of Red Sox pitcher Matt Clement getting hit in the head by a line drive. The ball hit him just behind the right ear, knocked him completely off his feet, as you can see.

He laid there for five minutes. He was barely moving. Oh, man.

MYERS: Wow.

COSTELLO: He's in the hospital for observation now. No word yet on how seriously he was hurt, but oh my goodness.

MYERS: Yes. You can tell that that really changed direction quite dramatically. And that means that really got a lot of the head there, rather than just a glancing blow. It's pretty scary to watch that right there.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: I hope we won't have to see that too many times today.

Good morning, everybody.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Plagued by locusts and drought, and on the brink of a humanitarian disaster, that's what millions of people, many of them children, are now facing in Niger. And they're asking why famine relief has taken so long to arrive.

CNN's Jeff Koinange joins us now from the west African nation with more.

Where are you, Jeff?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here, Carol, in a feeding station called Maradi Feeding Center. It's run about the aid agency Doctors Without Borders (INAUDIBLE).

Now, you can hear behind me these children, Carol. This is how the situation is. So pathetic, it is so heart-wrenching.

These children and their mothers have come here, some of them walking hundreds of miles to get to this point. And believe me, these are the lucky ones, the ones who made it to the center. Why? Because they're getting some kind of sustenance to keep them going.

The children behind me are crying because the suffering from everything from diarrhea to malaria to pneumonia. (INAUDIBLE) because this is the rainy season.

The worst part about all of this, Carol, is that this could have been avoided. Aid agencies had been crying out for the past eight months, saying a famine is looming, this country needs help. The world turned its back on this country, and that's why we have this situation right here.

It is pathetic. It is so disheartening, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, you know, is anyone asking for help? Is any help on the way?

KOINANGE: People are asking for help from all over the place, Carol. But you know how it is. They ask for help and it takes a while to get here.

There's been one plane-load of sustenance that came in about three days ago, about 600,000 tons. But guess what? That will only ask about three full weeks maximum.

It seems like there may be another plane in the next few days. We don't know.

Aid agencies here like Doctors Without Borders say another shipload is coming, but it's in the high seas right now. What's needed is aid to come right away so that these people at least can get their sustenance.

And, even more, the people out there in the villages, Carol, those are the ones in big, big trouble, because they can't make it out of there two weeks to walk the hundreds of miles to centers like this. They need the aid to go directly to them, because if they don't get it, Carol, according to aid workers here, a lot of people are going to die in the coming months.

COSTELLO: Jeff Koinange, live in Niger this morning. Thank you.

Still to come this morning on DAYBREAK, the search in Aruba has police draining a lake near Natalee Holloway's hotel. We'll take you there live for the latest.

And North Korea and the United States are talking. We'll get you the full update on day two of nuclear weapons talks.

You are watching DAYBREAK for a Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: This news just into CNN on the subject of the London terror bombings. We understand that investigators have arrested four more people, this time in Birmingham.

Nic Robertson has just arrived.

Do we have any idea who these men are, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We don't. We know that one of them at least the police considered a danger used a Taser to disable him when they arrested him. We also know that the arrests came about six hours ago, 4:30 in the morning here. Another indication that they consider these people potentially dangerous, kind of tackled them when they would have been least able to put up any resistance that hour before dawn.

I'm standing at the end of Hay Bombs Road (ph), which is where that suspect was tasered a few hours ago. There are still a lot of police here. The road is still blocked off.

Just a few minutes ago, there was a surveillance helicopter hovering overhead. There have been police vehicles coming on and off the site. And just a few yards away, I can see several fire service trucks, a lot of firemen standing by. Not clear why the police are keeping them so close to the scene.

We do know that at this location this morning the police evacuated a number of residents. They found a suspicious package here. They brought in a bomb disposal team to deal with that package. They have CCTV cameras, vehicles actually in the hour, in this housing complex.

It's a -- it's a fairly modern housing area, reasonably well to do. And it's -- and it is in the suburbs of Birmingham. And for the people in this neighborhood, quite a shock, who've heard that they should wake up and find this happening in their area -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I know that the British media is reporting that one of the men arrested in Birmingham might be one of the actual bombers of July 21, one of the bombers in those incidents. What have you heard.

ROBERTSON: It's not clear. The police haven't said. We do know that he's been taken to a central London police station, a high security police station for questioning.

It's also worth noting that when the police arrested a man in Leads, where some of the bombers from the 7th of July lived, they released that person 10 days later. The police already have five people in custody that they've arrested in the last few days in London, in connection with those failed bombings last week.

So it is possible that the man they've arrested here today could be one of the key suspects, one of those four most wanted men, the four bombers from last week who are on the run at the moment. It could be one of them, but the police aren't saying. And it would be too -- too soon to say.

What we do know is that the three other men arrested, they weren't taken to -- they weren't taken to London. They are being held on suspicion of terror, in connection with the Terrorism Act of 2000. But they're being held in Birmingham, which is an indication that perhaps they are not quite as central to the police investigation into last week's bombings -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You know, police have made these nine arrests now, but they're not releasing any names. Why is that?

ROBERTSON: And this has been the case with the man they released in Leads as well, that they are doing it because they don't want, they say, to falsely or wrongly draw somebody into the media spotlight only to find out that it's the wrong person. It's also an indication, perhaps, that they don't want to give any clues away to the bombers or their support network, for that matter, of who they may have captured. And that, again, seems to be very much the way British police, at least, are playing this.

They're releasing only information that they think is beneficial to their inquiry. The pictures of the men they want, the names of the men that they want as they get them, what material they may have used, that plastic cup (ph) that they displayed a few days -- the police displayed a few days ago that was used in all the bombings, they're generally not releasing any information that might give the bombers and their accomplices an idea of what's going on.

COSTELLO: Nic Robertson, reporting live from Birmingham, England. We're going to let him try to gather some more information, and we'll get back to him, we promise.

We're going to throw to a break. We'll be back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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