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Feds Fear Summer of Terror; Just How Sovereign Will Iraq Be?
Aired May 26, 2004 - 12:59 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Have you seen these people? The FBI says these terror suspects have your summer in their crosshairs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clearly we have an election coming up in November and that's on their radar screen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Find out what your government plans to do about all this.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Keith Oppenheim in Des Plaines, Illinois, where the Des Plaines are rising but things are not as rough as people originally thought they would be.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Also ahead, stunned parishioners get the bad news in Boston.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, God, give us back our church.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Will their prayers be answered?
O'BRIEN: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. It is Wednesday, May 26. CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.
O'BRIEN: Do you remember when summertime safety was all about sunscreen and waiting an hour after meals to go swimming? Well, that was BWT, before the war on terror. Summer 2004 still more than three weeks off will be a time of BOLOs and chatter. And if you see orange, or worse, red, it won't necessarily be sun burn. The feds plan to talk about all of this an hour from now, armed with snapshots of people we should be on the lookout for, hence BOLO. CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena checks in from D.C. with a preview of what we're going to hear very shortly.
Hello, Kelli..
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles. You know, the fact that al Qaeda wants to strike against the United States is obviously not new. But several sources say that there has been recent corroboration of some information. And when different sources of intelligence start to match up, that is a cause for concern. Rather than hear it from me, let's go to some tape from the homeland security secretary, because he described what's going on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECY.: There's continued reporting, some reporting says that there are multiple attacks that may occur in the next couple months. Some -- most of them are very, very unspecific in terms of when. Just, again, general threat reporting against the United States is not really news for those of us who look at the threat reports every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: We expect to hear more from the FBI director and the attorney general at a 2:00 p.m. press conference today. And during that, we are told, and as you mentioned, Miles, officials will re- release some photos of people believed to be al Qaeda operatives or connected to terrorism in some way.
We have a picture right here. These two individuals you're look at. On left, Adnan Shukrijuma, his picture was found during a terror raid in Afghanistan, he is thought to be trained in explosives. Aafia Siddiqui next to him, spent some time at MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, these are pictures that we've seen before from the FBI.
We're told there's no new information regarding any of these individuals but that law enforcement thought it would be a good idea to get their faces out, once again, just in case. What several sources say is prompting all the public nature of this is the fact that there are several high profile events coming up, starting with this weekend's dedication of the World War II Memorial. And officials are doing all they can they say to secure them -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Kelli, how much of this announcement today has to do with just sort of being on record before all of these festivities begin?
ARENA: Well, it depends who you talk to, Miles. I mean, there are some officials who say that this is, indeed, just that. This is the government's way of saying, look, you know, if something does happen, we're out there and letting you know about it. There are others who say, look, you know, we've got intelligence that has come in. We're concerned if we don't tell the American public and something happens, then there will be cries of, why didn't you tell us?
And then of course, on the other, the flip side of that, if they get out there and they say, look, we have got all this information but there's nothing specific, no message, no time, no target, then people say, why are you telling us this, why what are you supposed to do with it? So it really does depend on who you talk to. And the higher up the chain you go, Miles, the general consensus seems to be, we need to let people know that we're getting this disturbing information even though we're not exactly sure what to make of it all at this point.
O'BRIEN: Kelli Arena in Washington, thanks very much. That announcement, as we told you, a news conference by Attorney General Ashcroft, FBI Director Mueller, it's due to start about an hour from now, 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. CNN, of course, planning live coverage -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: John Kerry says that he can wage a more effective war on terror than President Bush. The Democratic presidential nominee to be is in Seattle today for a waterfront rally due to start some time this hour. The subject is energy at a time when gas prices are fueling concerns about the economy and national security. The latter came up on Kerry's arrival last night, specifically, the durability of American democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You better believe it. As long as I'm involved in it, the terrorists will never shut down democracy or the ability to function in this country, never. That's what they want and they'll never do it, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: For more on the apparent intentions by terrorists to do something big, as one official puts it, we bring in our CNN correspondent, longtime police investigator, security and terrorism expert, Mike Brooks.
Mike, good to have you back with us.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to be with you, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the time of this particular announcement, especially when we've gotten a little preview of the kind of announcement it's going to be. I'm curious why now?
BROOKS: Well, I think as Kelli was saying, this is all event- driven. You see it go in cycles. You saw the last time was around Christmas. There wasn't specific information about flight numbers. But before that it was the Fourth of July, when there are crowds out on the Mall, crowds at every major city, even small towns across the United States.
I think this right now, from my last six years in law enforcement, being on the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Miles, I think this is more of a vigilance alert than anything else. As sometimes they become complacent, I think they're going to put their face out there and say, hey folks, no matter where you are, if you're at home, you're at the pool, you're at the shore, you're at a mall, you've got know what's going on around you. I think this is basically what we'll hear from them at 2:00 is basically a vigilance alert.
O'BRIEN: All right, well square what seems to be contradictory message for me. I've seen some officials being quoted as saying, I'm more worried now than I was around Christmastime when we last had an orange level of alert. In this case, so far, nobody is announcing any intention of sending from yellow to orange. What's going on?
BROOKS: Well, there's nothing new, there's nothing specific. If there was something new and something specific, they probably would raise it to orange. But right now they are not. My sources are telling me that a lot of the things that they're hearing now, there's chatter, like they've been hearing before, and basically, as one source said, it's old stuff. Again, nothing new, nothing specific, just a vigilance alert if you will -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: And now as you look towards the summer, some of the obvious targets of opportunity, the conventions, for example, is there a consensus among people you talk to in the law enforcement community that the attacks in Madrid, Spain, which ultimately shifted an election, has that perhaps emboldened some of these cells? Is that their thinking, anyhow?
BROOKS: It may. There's a good opportunity for them to make a statement at major event events. And yes, it did affect the elections in Spain. Right now we've got Fleet Week coming up here next weekend. We've got the dedication of the World War II Memorial. Here at Sea Island, Georgia, we've got the G-8 summit. We've got the conventions in Boston and New York, and we also have the Olympics in Athens, Greece, where sources tell me -- counterterrorism officials and sources tell me that they think something will happen. What magnitude, they don't know, but they do feel like something will happen. Could that have some effect on our election here in November? Absolutely it could.
O'BRIEN: All right, and just a final thought on the color coding system. We're not calling it orange right now, but in effect, isn't there a de facto orange alert in some key areas, that has really gone on since 9/11?
BROOKS: Absolutely. You look at cities like New York, like D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, they're all -- have been at a high or orange alert since 9/11. You have some other locations in D.C. the Pentagon and other targets, specific locations, that will put up missile batteries, those things that we don't normally see during yellow. But a lot of major cities are already at an orange alert. Some of the smaller cities, when do they do go to an orange alert it costs them a lot of money. There's a lot of manpower, to put the manpower out there at specific infrastructure locations that they may have within their jurisdiction. But it's very, very costly, especially to some of the smaller jurisdictions that say, the government is putting us at orange alert but they aren't reimbursing us for the money.
O'BRIEN: All right. Now that we've thoroughly confused our audience, final thought here, because it is confusing, what the real message here is, what should people do, what should they not do with all this information factored in?
BROOKS: Well, after we hear what they have to say at 2:00 today, I think that people should go about the plans that they have for the holidays, for Memorial Day, and for the rest of the summer, but they should be cognizant of their surroundings. As I said, Miles, whether at the shore, whether at the shopping mall, at their work, know what's going on around them. As I always have said, I think sometimes Americans do need a poke with a stick because if something doesn't happen, they kind of get lulled into a false sense of complacency, they get a false sense of security, and they need to be hit with a stick now and then. But complacency is the main word.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much. Thanks for hitting us with a stick briefly. Mike Brooks. We appreciate it. And we'll see you soon.
BROOKS: OK, Miles, thanks.
PHILLIPS: The clock ticks down. The coalition's war against an Iraqi cleric's army ramps up. U.S. troops killed a very large number of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi foot soldiers today, according to officials who also announced the capture of a prominent al-Sadr aide.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck reports on that and another attack on Russian civilians from his post in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two Russian civilian contractors were killed today and five others were wounded when the bus they were traveling on was attacked. The contractors belonged to a company that is charged with maintaining power plants in several locations in Iraq. They were approaching one power plant in southern Baghdad when they were attacked. Again, two were killed. Five wounded. Two of them are considered to be in critical condition. The Russian company has decided to evacuate all of its personnel from Iraq and the Russian government has urged its citizens to leave Iraq, saying the situation here is just too unsafe.
Meanwhile, fighting in the holy city of Najaf has claimed the lives at least 11 people, another 40 wounded. This according to a hospital official in that holy city. And another development there, U.S. forces have arrested Riyad al-Nori, he is considered to be one of Muqtada al-Sadr's top lieutenants, he's also related to him by marriage. Al-Nori is one of several al Sadr supporters who are accused of killing Ayatollah Abdul Majid al-Khoei, a top Shiite cleric who was assassinated shortly after the U.S. invasion in April of last year.
Meanwhile, a coalition spokesman in Baghdad has denied that Hussein Shahristani has in fact been chosen to be Iraq's new prime minister. Initial reports of Shahristani's name being bandied about originally came from U.S. government officials in Washington, but U.S. officials here in Baghdad say that the U.N. special envoy in charge of picking a new interim government for Baghdad has yet to complete his job.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Apart from those CPA government officials, the biggest question and point of contention in soon-to-be sovereign Iraq is who will have the final say on the military. CNN's Barbara Starr is following that from the Pentagon -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello, to you, Kyra.
Well, Prime Minister Tony Blair in London today tried to clarify it all, saying coalition troops under coalition command. But after the June 30 handover of sovereignty, what if there is a disagreement on the battlefield between the coalition and the Iraqi military forces? Who will be in charge? How will it all work?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): When Iraq takes control of its government five weeks from now, what happens if the U.S. orders a military operation against insurgents and the Iraqis oppose it? From Tony Blair in London to Colin Powell in Washington, to the United Nations headquarters in New York there is confusion.
In London, Prime Minister Blair.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: So if there is a political decision as to whether you go into a place like Fallujah in a particular way, that has to be done with the consent of the Iraqi government. And the final political control remains with the Iraqi government. Now that's what the transfer of sovereignty means.
STARR: But in Washington, Secretary of State Powell said if U.S. forces trying to accomplish their mission find themselves at odds with Iraqi military units...
COLIN POWELL, SECY. OF STATE: The U.S. forces remain under U.S. command and will do what is necessary to protect themselves.
STARR: At the United Nations, all of this is to be sorted out. A new proposed U.S.-British resolution may add to the uncertainty. The proposed resolution has no definite timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, only a call for a review after one year. And an exchange of letters still must be worked out, detailing Iraqi military cooperation with the coalition. At the Pentagon, plans continue for sending troops to Iraq for at least two years, until Iraq can assure its security.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And another point to be made on this era of confusion. While the Pentagon is looking at sending troops perhaps for another two years, the new Iraqi interim defense minister has said he believes foreign troops will be out of his country within a matter of months -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, Barbara, will U.S. military -- will the troops continue to train Iraqi police and army, expanding those forces and also giving them the resources to go into a fight if necessary?
STARR: Well, that is a very key point. That is really very central to the security mission for the coalition over the next several months. They believe it is essential, of course, to get those Iraqi forces trained up, ready to go ready to take over law and order and security in Iraq and that that will be the linchpin that allows them eventually to withdraw from the country -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, LIVE FROM... the Pentagon, thanks.
And a leading human rights organization is out with its annual report today. Amnesty International is giving low marks to the U.S. for its war on terror and the war in Iraq. The group also slams U.S. allies for participating in alleged rights violations and has harsh word force U.S. policy and treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IRENE KHAN, SECY. GEN., AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: The pictures from Abu Ghraib have caused universal revulsion. But we should not be surprised by what we are seeing. This is the logical consequence of the relentless pursuit of the war on terror by the United States since 9/11.
It is the natural outcome of a policy openly followed by the U.S. administration to pick and choose which bits of international law it will apply and where and to seek to put itself outside the ambit (ph) of judicial scrutiny or international accountability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: White House spokesperson Scott McClellan dismissed that report. He says the war on terror has led to the liberation of some 50 million people in those countries.
O'BRIEN: A roadside bomb that blew up earlier this month in Baghdad did in fact contain the chemical weapon Sarin, that's according to government-sanctioned lab tests. But no evidence the attackers knew the shell contained the nerve agent. The hunt for weapons of mass destruction still continues in Iraq. CNN's David Ensor spoke exclusively with the man leading the hunt. He joins us now live with more on that.
Hello, David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. And you know the man who is leading the hunt, Charles Duelfer, the discovery, the confirmation of those lab tests that that really was Sarin gas, has raised all kinds of questions for him and for his team.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES DUELFER, CIA: We have found one. We don't know if that means if there are more. We don't if that means that they are making their way into the hands of those who would use them against the coalition. But it certainly is important because there were not supposed to be any. So this is something which we need to investigate. We need to investigate whether there are more where it came from, wherever that is. And we need to make certain that they're not finding their ways into anti-coalition or terrorist hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: So that's the new concern for Duelfer and his people. He does not believe they're going to find thousands more chemical weapons on the ground there, but he does believe they may find some more and they're actively looking for them.
The hunt has been made much more difficult, he says, by the difficult security situation in Iraq. It has also been made more difficult for all Americans in Iraq to do their business in the wake of the Abu Ghraib photo abuse scandal.
Now, given that Duelfer's predecessor, David Kay, left the job saying that he didn't think weapons were going to be found, I asked him Mr. Duelfer whether he thought he might be on a wild goose chase.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUELFER: Well, David, a wild goose chase is when you're looking for something which may not exist. We're looking for something that does exist and that is the truth. You know, I wasn't sent out here to find weapons of mass destruction. I was sent out here to find the truth about the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: He says he will take the truth, whatever it is, and he hopes to have a report in within a few months -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. We'll look forward to that. David Ensor, thank you very much.
Some were lucky enough to get out before the flood. But even they couldn't protect everything from the rising Des Plaines River. We'll take you their live.
Also this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did everything for the church and now I have nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Another devastating blow to parishioners in Boston in the archdiocese there. We'll tell you about the letters they just received.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Residents in northeastern Illinois keeping a wary eye on the Des Plaines River as rising water strains its banks. Schools still closed in the town of Gurnee. And further down river, in Des Plaines, some are packing up, heading to high ground, hoping they're not in for a repeat of 1986, big flood year. CNN's Keith Oppenheim is knee deep in this story. He's got the latest for us right along the banks of the river there.
Hello, Keith.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Miles.
It's hard to tell where the riverbank is any more. I'm in Grace Curtis' (ph) backyard, or what is normally her backyard here in Des Plaines. And this is the Des Plaines River behind me as it's creeping in. Normally the edge of the river would be a good 20 yards back that way.
I'm going to wade my way out to show you the kind of protection that Ms. Curtis, as well as some of her neighbors, have created, to protect against what they thought would be very high levels of water coming right near their homes.
Look at the sandbagging they did up here. And they thought that the water would come to 11 feet, a good five feet above flood stage. It has not done that. But if it had, it would have come to right here.
We're going to take you now to another live perspective we have of the river itself, as it is flowing, and flowing pretty quickly. And right now, it's at about eight feet. It may rise another foot or so. But that is -- if predictions are correct now, two feet less and two feet lower than they thought it was going to be. And that is very good news for a lot of the people around here if it turns out to be correct.
In Gurnee, which is about 20 miles to the north of here, there have been a lot of problems. The governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has been touring there because there were a number of evacuations and some pretty serious flooding there. It was because of those pictures upstream from here that people got quite nervous, and as a result, they got some better news in the last day or so.
We come back now to another live perspective of one of the neighbors here. That's Tom Hooper (ph) and his garage. And his garage is pretty flooded. It's actually a low-lying spot anyway. But it shows you how powerful a flood can be when it starts to creep up from its -- the river can be when it creeps up from its original spot.
Some good news to add, Miles, is that there's been great cooperation from neighbors here in term of getting their job done and protecting themselves. And in this community there haven't been any evacuations, at least not yet.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: Keith Oppenheim in Des Plaines, thanks very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Too much water in Illinois but not nearly enough in New Mexico as a wildfire explodes. The Peppin fire near Capitan has grown to more than 23,000 acres and has burned a dozen summer cabins and outbuildings in that area. Officials have no estimate on when that fire might be contained. Meanwhile, Democratic Governor Bill Richardson is slamming the feds for not allowing heavy air tankers to battle those flames. The planes have been grounded since the 2002 fire season when two of them broke up in mid-flight.
Well, we hear a lot about the rising cost of prescription drugs. But are they rising faster than inflation? The answer will hit you right in the pocketbook.
Also you'll meet a couple who might have watched the old sitcom "Eight is Enough" and thought, that's just not enough.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
O'BRIEN: Wow.
PHILLIPS: Yes, that even gets Miles dancing.
O'BRIEN: Who are you voting for?
PHILLIPS: I don't know, you know, I've got to be honest with you, I haven't been watching. Isn't that terrible?
O'BRIEN: My kids are addicted.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, Diana or Fantasia?
O'BRIEN: They are Fantasia nuts. They were dialing up the phone last night like crazy.
PHILLIPS: They were one of the millions of people dialing in and voting?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's going to be several hours I'm told until we learn who is crowned the new "American Idol." Now Diana DeGarmo, who made her debut on "TALKBACK LIVE," remember that? Weren't you anchoring the show?
O'BRIEN: I was guest hosting the show. And this little girl, she was 12 years old, shows up and belts out a song like you can't believe. And I never made the connection until just today. It finally dawned on me this is the same little girl.
PHILLIPS: Well, she and Fantasia had extraordinary performances last night, I'm told, on this popular reality show. Judges...
O'BRIEN: Except for the last song. Diana blew the last song. She re-sung a song she had sung before. Shouldn't have done that.
PHILLIPS: Well, the show hasn't been lacking in surprises, that's for sure. All right, 6 Pacific, we're told. "LARRY KING LIVE," they're both going to be on there. You think they'll duke it out?
O'BRIEN: I don't know. They're all very civil. And besides, even being the runner up is good for your career, right? She's off to the races, regardless.
PHILLIPS: Well, no matter what wins "American Idol" tonight, they will have trouble being as elated, I guess, as Richard Simmons, shall we say?
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: He's in a perpetual state of elation, what are you talking about?
PHILLIPS: The assault charge against the flamboyant fitness fanatic has been dropped we're told. The charge stemmed from an incident at the Phoenix airport last March when cage wrestler Christopher Farney poked fun at the exercise guru. I wonder what he could have said to him? Simmons responded with a slap and the six- foot-to, 220-pound Farney pressed charges. No word on why that charge was dropped.
"Sex and the City" fans will be crying in their cosmos at the news that there will not be a feature film on the exploits of the romantically fearless foursome. The deal reportedly collapsed when Kim Cattrall made it clear that she wouldn't commit to the project without script approvals or the same compensation as Sarah Jessica Parker.
O'BRIEN: A little catty there. It's interesting how that all kind of fades away, all the camaraderie.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
(MARKET REPORT)
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Aired May 26, 2004 - 12:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Have you seen these people? The FBI says these terror suspects have your summer in their crosshairs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clearly we have an election coming up in November and that's on their radar screen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Find out what your government plans to do about all this.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Keith Oppenheim in Des Plaines, Illinois, where the Des Plaines are rising but things are not as rough as people originally thought they would be.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Also ahead, stunned parishioners get the bad news in Boston.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, God, give us back our church.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Will their prayers be answered?
O'BRIEN: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. It is Wednesday, May 26. CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.
O'BRIEN: Do you remember when summertime safety was all about sunscreen and waiting an hour after meals to go swimming? Well, that was BWT, before the war on terror. Summer 2004 still more than three weeks off will be a time of BOLOs and chatter. And if you see orange, or worse, red, it won't necessarily be sun burn. The feds plan to talk about all of this an hour from now, armed with snapshots of people we should be on the lookout for, hence BOLO. CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena checks in from D.C. with a preview of what we're going to hear very shortly.
Hello, Kelli..
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles. You know, the fact that al Qaeda wants to strike against the United States is obviously not new. But several sources say that there has been recent corroboration of some information. And when different sources of intelligence start to match up, that is a cause for concern. Rather than hear it from me, let's go to some tape from the homeland security secretary, because he described what's going on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECY.: There's continued reporting, some reporting says that there are multiple attacks that may occur in the next couple months. Some -- most of them are very, very unspecific in terms of when. Just, again, general threat reporting against the United States is not really news for those of us who look at the threat reports every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: We expect to hear more from the FBI director and the attorney general at a 2:00 p.m. press conference today. And during that, we are told, and as you mentioned, Miles, officials will re- release some photos of people believed to be al Qaeda operatives or connected to terrorism in some way.
We have a picture right here. These two individuals you're look at. On left, Adnan Shukrijuma, his picture was found during a terror raid in Afghanistan, he is thought to be trained in explosives. Aafia Siddiqui next to him, spent some time at MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, these are pictures that we've seen before from the FBI.
We're told there's no new information regarding any of these individuals but that law enforcement thought it would be a good idea to get their faces out, once again, just in case. What several sources say is prompting all the public nature of this is the fact that there are several high profile events coming up, starting with this weekend's dedication of the World War II Memorial. And officials are doing all they can they say to secure them -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Kelli, how much of this announcement today has to do with just sort of being on record before all of these festivities begin?
ARENA: Well, it depends who you talk to, Miles. I mean, there are some officials who say that this is, indeed, just that. This is the government's way of saying, look, you know, if something does happen, we're out there and letting you know about it. There are others who say, look, you know, we've got intelligence that has come in. We're concerned if we don't tell the American public and something happens, then there will be cries of, why didn't you tell us?
And then of course, on the other, the flip side of that, if they get out there and they say, look, we have got all this information but there's nothing specific, no message, no time, no target, then people say, why are you telling us this, why what are you supposed to do with it? So it really does depend on who you talk to. And the higher up the chain you go, Miles, the general consensus seems to be, we need to let people know that we're getting this disturbing information even though we're not exactly sure what to make of it all at this point.
O'BRIEN: Kelli Arena in Washington, thanks very much. That announcement, as we told you, a news conference by Attorney General Ashcroft, FBI Director Mueller, it's due to start about an hour from now, 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. CNN, of course, planning live coverage -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: John Kerry says that he can wage a more effective war on terror than President Bush. The Democratic presidential nominee to be is in Seattle today for a waterfront rally due to start some time this hour. The subject is energy at a time when gas prices are fueling concerns about the economy and national security. The latter came up on Kerry's arrival last night, specifically, the durability of American democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You better believe it. As long as I'm involved in it, the terrorists will never shut down democracy or the ability to function in this country, never. That's what they want and they'll never do it, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: For more on the apparent intentions by terrorists to do something big, as one official puts it, we bring in our CNN correspondent, longtime police investigator, security and terrorism expert, Mike Brooks.
Mike, good to have you back with us.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to be with you, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the time of this particular announcement, especially when we've gotten a little preview of the kind of announcement it's going to be. I'm curious why now?
BROOKS: Well, I think as Kelli was saying, this is all event- driven. You see it go in cycles. You saw the last time was around Christmas. There wasn't specific information about flight numbers. But before that it was the Fourth of July, when there are crowds out on the Mall, crowds at every major city, even small towns across the United States.
I think this right now, from my last six years in law enforcement, being on the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Miles, I think this is more of a vigilance alert than anything else. As sometimes they become complacent, I think they're going to put their face out there and say, hey folks, no matter where you are, if you're at home, you're at the pool, you're at the shore, you're at a mall, you've got know what's going on around you. I think this is basically what we'll hear from them at 2:00 is basically a vigilance alert.
O'BRIEN: All right, well square what seems to be contradictory message for me. I've seen some officials being quoted as saying, I'm more worried now than I was around Christmastime when we last had an orange level of alert. In this case, so far, nobody is announcing any intention of sending from yellow to orange. What's going on?
BROOKS: Well, there's nothing new, there's nothing specific. If there was something new and something specific, they probably would raise it to orange. But right now they are not. My sources are telling me that a lot of the things that they're hearing now, there's chatter, like they've been hearing before, and basically, as one source said, it's old stuff. Again, nothing new, nothing specific, just a vigilance alert if you will -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: And now as you look towards the summer, some of the obvious targets of opportunity, the conventions, for example, is there a consensus among people you talk to in the law enforcement community that the attacks in Madrid, Spain, which ultimately shifted an election, has that perhaps emboldened some of these cells? Is that their thinking, anyhow?
BROOKS: It may. There's a good opportunity for them to make a statement at major event events. And yes, it did affect the elections in Spain. Right now we've got Fleet Week coming up here next weekend. We've got the dedication of the World War II Memorial. Here at Sea Island, Georgia, we've got the G-8 summit. We've got the conventions in Boston and New York, and we also have the Olympics in Athens, Greece, where sources tell me -- counterterrorism officials and sources tell me that they think something will happen. What magnitude, they don't know, but they do feel like something will happen. Could that have some effect on our election here in November? Absolutely it could.
O'BRIEN: All right, and just a final thought on the color coding system. We're not calling it orange right now, but in effect, isn't there a de facto orange alert in some key areas, that has really gone on since 9/11?
BROOKS: Absolutely. You look at cities like New York, like D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, they're all -- have been at a high or orange alert since 9/11. You have some other locations in D.C. the Pentagon and other targets, specific locations, that will put up missile batteries, those things that we don't normally see during yellow. But a lot of major cities are already at an orange alert. Some of the smaller cities, when do they do go to an orange alert it costs them a lot of money. There's a lot of manpower, to put the manpower out there at specific infrastructure locations that they may have within their jurisdiction. But it's very, very costly, especially to some of the smaller jurisdictions that say, the government is putting us at orange alert but they aren't reimbursing us for the money.
O'BRIEN: All right. Now that we've thoroughly confused our audience, final thought here, because it is confusing, what the real message here is, what should people do, what should they not do with all this information factored in?
BROOKS: Well, after we hear what they have to say at 2:00 today, I think that people should go about the plans that they have for the holidays, for Memorial Day, and for the rest of the summer, but they should be cognizant of their surroundings. As I said, Miles, whether at the shore, whether at the shopping mall, at their work, know what's going on around them. As I always have said, I think sometimes Americans do need a poke with a stick because if something doesn't happen, they kind of get lulled into a false sense of complacency, they get a false sense of security, and they need to be hit with a stick now and then. But complacency is the main word.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much. Thanks for hitting us with a stick briefly. Mike Brooks. We appreciate it. And we'll see you soon.
BROOKS: OK, Miles, thanks.
PHILLIPS: The clock ticks down. The coalition's war against an Iraqi cleric's army ramps up. U.S. troops killed a very large number of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi foot soldiers today, according to officials who also announced the capture of a prominent al-Sadr aide.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck reports on that and another attack on Russian civilians from his post in Baghdad.
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HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two Russian civilian contractors were killed today and five others were wounded when the bus they were traveling on was attacked. The contractors belonged to a company that is charged with maintaining power plants in several locations in Iraq. They were approaching one power plant in southern Baghdad when they were attacked. Again, two were killed. Five wounded. Two of them are considered to be in critical condition. The Russian company has decided to evacuate all of its personnel from Iraq and the Russian government has urged its citizens to leave Iraq, saying the situation here is just too unsafe.
Meanwhile, fighting in the holy city of Najaf has claimed the lives at least 11 people, another 40 wounded. This according to a hospital official in that holy city. And another development there, U.S. forces have arrested Riyad al-Nori, he is considered to be one of Muqtada al-Sadr's top lieutenants, he's also related to him by marriage. Al-Nori is one of several al Sadr supporters who are accused of killing Ayatollah Abdul Majid al-Khoei, a top Shiite cleric who was assassinated shortly after the U.S. invasion in April of last year.
Meanwhile, a coalition spokesman in Baghdad has denied that Hussein Shahristani has in fact been chosen to be Iraq's new prime minister. Initial reports of Shahristani's name being bandied about originally came from U.S. government officials in Washington, but U.S. officials here in Baghdad say that the U.N. special envoy in charge of picking a new interim government for Baghdad has yet to complete his job.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.
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PHILLIPS: Apart from those CPA government officials, the biggest question and point of contention in soon-to-be sovereign Iraq is who will have the final say on the military. CNN's Barbara Starr is following that from the Pentagon -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello, to you, Kyra.
Well, Prime Minister Tony Blair in London today tried to clarify it all, saying coalition troops under coalition command. But after the June 30 handover of sovereignty, what if there is a disagreement on the battlefield between the coalition and the Iraqi military forces? Who will be in charge? How will it all work?
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STARR (voice-over): When Iraq takes control of its government five weeks from now, what happens if the U.S. orders a military operation against insurgents and the Iraqis oppose it? From Tony Blair in London to Colin Powell in Washington, to the United Nations headquarters in New York there is confusion.
In London, Prime Minister Blair.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: So if there is a political decision as to whether you go into a place like Fallujah in a particular way, that has to be done with the consent of the Iraqi government. And the final political control remains with the Iraqi government. Now that's what the transfer of sovereignty means.
STARR: But in Washington, Secretary of State Powell said if U.S. forces trying to accomplish their mission find themselves at odds with Iraqi military units...
COLIN POWELL, SECY. OF STATE: The U.S. forces remain under U.S. command and will do what is necessary to protect themselves.
STARR: At the United Nations, all of this is to be sorted out. A new proposed U.S.-British resolution may add to the uncertainty. The proposed resolution has no definite timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, only a call for a review after one year. And an exchange of letters still must be worked out, detailing Iraqi military cooperation with the coalition. At the Pentagon, plans continue for sending troops to Iraq for at least two years, until Iraq can assure its security.
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STARR: And another point to be made on this era of confusion. While the Pentagon is looking at sending troops perhaps for another two years, the new Iraqi interim defense minister has said he believes foreign troops will be out of his country within a matter of months -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, Barbara, will U.S. military -- will the troops continue to train Iraqi police and army, expanding those forces and also giving them the resources to go into a fight if necessary?
STARR: Well, that is a very key point. That is really very central to the security mission for the coalition over the next several months. They believe it is essential, of course, to get those Iraqi forces trained up, ready to go ready to take over law and order and security in Iraq and that that will be the linchpin that allows them eventually to withdraw from the country -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, LIVE FROM... the Pentagon, thanks.
And a leading human rights organization is out with its annual report today. Amnesty International is giving low marks to the U.S. for its war on terror and the war in Iraq. The group also slams U.S. allies for participating in alleged rights violations and has harsh word force U.S. policy and treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and Iraq.
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IRENE KHAN, SECY. GEN., AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: The pictures from Abu Ghraib have caused universal revulsion. But we should not be surprised by what we are seeing. This is the logical consequence of the relentless pursuit of the war on terror by the United States since 9/11.
It is the natural outcome of a policy openly followed by the U.S. administration to pick and choose which bits of international law it will apply and where and to seek to put itself outside the ambit (ph) of judicial scrutiny or international accountability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: White House spokesperson Scott McClellan dismissed that report. He says the war on terror has led to the liberation of some 50 million people in those countries.
O'BRIEN: A roadside bomb that blew up earlier this month in Baghdad did in fact contain the chemical weapon Sarin, that's according to government-sanctioned lab tests. But no evidence the attackers knew the shell contained the nerve agent. The hunt for weapons of mass destruction still continues in Iraq. CNN's David Ensor spoke exclusively with the man leading the hunt. He joins us now live with more on that.
Hello, David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. And you know the man who is leading the hunt, Charles Duelfer, the discovery, the confirmation of those lab tests that that really was Sarin gas, has raised all kinds of questions for him and for his team.
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CHARLES DUELFER, CIA: We have found one. We don't know if that means if there are more. We don't if that means that they are making their way into the hands of those who would use them against the coalition. But it certainly is important because there were not supposed to be any. So this is something which we need to investigate. We need to investigate whether there are more where it came from, wherever that is. And we need to make certain that they're not finding their ways into anti-coalition or terrorist hands.
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ENSOR: So that's the new concern for Duelfer and his people. He does not believe they're going to find thousands more chemical weapons on the ground there, but he does believe they may find some more and they're actively looking for them.
The hunt has been made much more difficult, he says, by the difficult security situation in Iraq. It has also been made more difficult for all Americans in Iraq to do their business in the wake of the Abu Ghraib photo abuse scandal.
Now, given that Duelfer's predecessor, David Kay, left the job saying that he didn't think weapons were going to be found, I asked him Mr. Duelfer whether he thought he might be on a wild goose chase.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUELFER: Well, David, a wild goose chase is when you're looking for something which may not exist. We're looking for something that does exist and that is the truth. You know, I wasn't sent out here to find weapons of mass destruction. I was sent out here to find the truth about the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: He says he will take the truth, whatever it is, and he hopes to have a report in within a few months -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. We'll look forward to that. David Ensor, thank you very much.
Some were lucky enough to get out before the flood. But even they couldn't protect everything from the rising Des Plaines River. We'll take you their live.
Also this.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did everything for the church and now I have nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Another devastating blow to parishioners in Boston in the archdiocese there. We'll tell you about the letters they just received.
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O'BRIEN: Residents in northeastern Illinois keeping a wary eye on the Des Plaines River as rising water strains its banks. Schools still closed in the town of Gurnee. And further down river, in Des Plaines, some are packing up, heading to high ground, hoping they're not in for a repeat of 1986, big flood year. CNN's Keith Oppenheim is knee deep in this story. He's got the latest for us right along the banks of the river there.
Hello, Keith.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Miles.
It's hard to tell where the riverbank is any more. I'm in Grace Curtis' (ph) backyard, or what is normally her backyard here in Des Plaines. And this is the Des Plaines River behind me as it's creeping in. Normally the edge of the river would be a good 20 yards back that way.
I'm going to wade my way out to show you the kind of protection that Ms. Curtis, as well as some of her neighbors, have created, to protect against what they thought would be very high levels of water coming right near their homes.
Look at the sandbagging they did up here. And they thought that the water would come to 11 feet, a good five feet above flood stage. It has not done that. But if it had, it would have come to right here.
We're going to take you now to another live perspective we have of the river itself, as it is flowing, and flowing pretty quickly. And right now, it's at about eight feet. It may rise another foot or so. But that is -- if predictions are correct now, two feet less and two feet lower than they thought it was going to be. And that is very good news for a lot of the people around here if it turns out to be correct.
In Gurnee, which is about 20 miles to the north of here, there have been a lot of problems. The governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has been touring there because there were a number of evacuations and some pretty serious flooding there. It was because of those pictures upstream from here that people got quite nervous, and as a result, they got some better news in the last day or so.
We come back now to another live perspective of one of the neighbors here. That's Tom Hooper (ph) and his garage. And his garage is pretty flooded. It's actually a low-lying spot anyway. But it shows you how powerful a flood can be when it starts to creep up from its -- the river can be when it creeps up from its original spot.
Some good news to add, Miles, is that there's been great cooperation from neighbors here in term of getting their job done and protecting themselves. And in this community there haven't been any evacuations, at least not yet.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: Keith Oppenheim in Des Plaines, thanks very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Too much water in Illinois but not nearly enough in New Mexico as a wildfire explodes. The Peppin fire near Capitan has grown to more than 23,000 acres and has burned a dozen summer cabins and outbuildings in that area. Officials have no estimate on when that fire might be contained. Meanwhile, Democratic Governor Bill Richardson is slamming the feds for not allowing heavy air tankers to battle those flames. The planes have been grounded since the 2002 fire season when two of them broke up in mid-flight.
Well, we hear a lot about the rising cost of prescription drugs. But are they rising faster than inflation? The answer will hit you right in the pocketbook.
Also you'll meet a couple who might have watched the old sitcom "Eight is Enough" and thought, that's just not enough.
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O'BRIEN: Wow.
PHILLIPS: Yes, that even gets Miles dancing.
O'BRIEN: Who are you voting for?
PHILLIPS: I don't know, you know, I've got to be honest with you, I haven't been watching. Isn't that terrible?
O'BRIEN: My kids are addicted.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, Diana or Fantasia?
O'BRIEN: They are Fantasia nuts. They were dialing up the phone last night like crazy.
PHILLIPS: They were one of the millions of people dialing in and voting?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's going to be several hours I'm told until we learn who is crowned the new "American Idol." Now Diana DeGarmo, who made her debut on "TALKBACK LIVE," remember that? Weren't you anchoring the show?
O'BRIEN: I was guest hosting the show. And this little girl, she was 12 years old, shows up and belts out a song like you can't believe. And I never made the connection until just today. It finally dawned on me this is the same little girl.
PHILLIPS: Well, she and Fantasia had extraordinary performances last night, I'm told, on this popular reality show. Judges...
O'BRIEN: Except for the last song. Diana blew the last song. She re-sung a song she had sung before. Shouldn't have done that.
PHILLIPS: Well, the show hasn't been lacking in surprises, that's for sure. All right, 6 Pacific, we're told. "LARRY KING LIVE," they're both going to be on there. You think they'll duke it out?
O'BRIEN: I don't know. They're all very civil. And besides, even being the runner up is good for your career, right? She's off to the races, regardless.
PHILLIPS: Well, no matter what wins "American Idol" tonight, they will have trouble being as elated, I guess, as Richard Simmons, shall we say?
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: He's in a perpetual state of elation, what are you talking about?
PHILLIPS: The assault charge against the flamboyant fitness fanatic has been dropped we're told. The charge stemmed from an incident at the Phoenix airport last March when cage wrestler Christopher Farney poked fun at the exercise guru. I wonder what he could have said to him? Simmons responded with a slap and the six- foot-to, 220-pound Farney pressed charges. No word on why that charge was dropped.
"Sex and the City" fans will be crying in their cosmos at the news that there will not be a feature film on the exploits of the romantically fearless foursome. The deal reportedly collapsed when Kim Cattrall made it clear that she wouldn't commit to the project without script approvals or the same compensation as Sarah Jessica Parker.
O'BRIEN: A little catty there. It's interesting how that all kind of fades away, all the camaraderie.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
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