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Two Men Arrested At An Albany, NY, Mosque; Bush Speaks At A Live News Event; Terror Exercises Held In Cali.; FDA Approves Cymbalta
Aired August 05, 2004 - 13:00 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: The fact is, there are terrorists among us who want to engage in acts to attack us again and to take away our freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Terror plot sting, a missile, and a New York mosque: We're live on that story.
Al Qaeda camps back in business? New satellite surveillance captures some disturbing images.
Who's better at fighting terror? On the campaign trail, the president takes pen in hand while the senator questions a five-minute delay.
Booted for bacon: A worker fired for bringing a BLT to work. She says she's the victim of religious discrimination.
(on camera): From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles is off. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
We begin this hour with the raided mosque, the captured cleric, the dirty money, and the fictional missile. The latest skirmish in the war on terror is taking place in unassuming Albany, New York.
CNN's Alina Cho is in Albany with more -- Alina?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, here is what we know at this hour.
The two suspects will be arraigned here at the federal courthouse in Albany within the hour -- that's at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. Important ti note that, in the past hour, New York's Governor George Pataki said that these arrests have no connection to the recent terror alerts against financial institutions in New York, Newark, and Washington D.C.
The criminal complaint identifies the two men as such: 49-year- old Mohammed Hossain. He is a U.S. citizen from Bangladesh, and the founder of the mosque that was targeted in this raid. Also, 34-year- old Yassin Aref, an Iraqi citizen with asylum status here. Both were allegedly members of a terrorism organization that had links to al Qaeda.
Now here is how this played out. Overnight, these men were taken into custody following a raid at this mosque in downtown Albany. The two men were arrested following a sting operation. They allegedly tried to help an FBI agent posing as a terrorist launder money from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile.
Now, this so-called missile, which of course never existed -- because this was part of a sting operation -- was apparently, according to the criminal complaint, going to be used to hit the Pakistan Consulate building near the United Nations in New York.
Now, earlier today I spoke to the wife of the younger suspect, Mrs. Aref, who said that she and her three children were taken by FBI agents to a nearby hotel at 2:00 in the morning for extensive questioning. She would not talk about what she was asked, and she was not familiar with the charges against her husband.
Meanwhile, important to note that Governor Pataki says that this is a result, these arrests -- are the result of the government being proactive, and that there is no reason to believe that the residents of New York or Albany, for that matter, should feel unsafe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATAKI: The fact is, there are terrorists among us who want to engage in acts to attack us again and to take away our freedom.
I just want to reassure the public here in Albany and in New York and across America that our government, our administration in Washington, this state government and local officials are taking this threat to our freedom very seriously and will continue to be aggressive and proactive in going after those who would look to do us harm. I want to thank...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Also important to note that these arrests over night were the result of an ongoing lengthy investigation according to Pataki more than a year in -- in the works.
These two men, again, will be arraigned on charges that -- of lending material support to terrorists and money laundering again, Kyra, that will happen -- expected to, at least, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
PHILLIPS: Alina, what about the mosque? Is it still going to be up and running or they going to shut it down?
CHO: Well, from what we understand, they did shut it down overnight, of course, for the raid. FBI agents, we understand, were there form the hours of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.; the mosque was shut down, and we understand that people going there this morning had to pray outside on the street for morning prayers.
PHILLIPS: Alina Cho in Albany, thank you so much. Well, we hope to hear more about this at a Justice Department news conference. We are told that is going to happen at the bottom of the hour, about 1:30 Eastern time, 10:30 Pacific.
We'll have it right here on LIVE FROM. We'll go -- as soon as they step up to the podium, we'll take it live.
Seven thousand miles from Albany, eyes in the sky are picking up new signs of activity at al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan. CNN's Barbara Starr, eyes and ears at the Pentagon -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra.
Well, defense and intelligence officials tell CNN yes, there has been recent intelligence, partially from overhead imagery, as they call it, that al Qaeda training camps inside Pakistan, have been reactivated, that they have recently seen cars, people and other activities at these known training camp sites.
Now, what officials say is that they aren't really quite sure what to make of it just yet. Certainly they're in no come -- sort of panic mode or upset mode about any of this. They don't believe that its actually even tied to the current rise in the terrorist threat warning level here in parts of the United States.
These training camps in this area of Pakistan which lies along the southeastern border with Afghanistan are known areas of activity. These are the types of training camps, it is believed, that pop up, there's activity, people come and then people sort of melt away.
So, that's not to say that they aren't very interested intelligence and military officials trying to figure out exactly what's going on there. The level, the pace of activity, what it all might mean. So far, however, they're just keeping a very watchful eye -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Barbara Starr with her eyes on it there from the Pentagon, thank you so much.
Well, it's day five of high alert in parts of New York, Newark, and Washington. Though trucks and vans are once again welcome on a bridge and tunnel -- Lincoln, Brooklyn, and lower Manhattan -- it's been quite a busy week for terror fighters and first responders on three continents.
Let's get some insights now from global security analyst Jim Walsh of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Jim, good to see you.
JIM WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Good to see you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, sort of the overall picture, I want to talk specifically about what has happened at the mosque today, but from an overall perspective of what we've seen happen yesterday with this -- these alleged communications between al Qaeda and some folks here in the United States and then we back up about a week and we talk about the al Qaeda computer expert being arrested.
What do you think? Could there be possible ties among all the three big news events that have happened in the past week and a half?
WALSH: Well, certainly they appear to be mutually reinforcing, that if there was an attack afoot in the operational stage, these three things would naturally go together.
But if I step back even a little bit further from that, I get this picture that al Qaeda is back in business. You know the old conventional wisdom was we had hurt them in Afghanistan, hurt them in Pakistan, and it was now these little al Qaeda's operating in Iraq and northern Africa that were carrying out local operations.
But more and more data seems to be coming in that suggests that despite predictions of some people in government, al Qaeda is back and bigger and badder than ever.
PHILLIPS: All right, so, looking at what happened today, what happened at this mosque and this raid that took place, is this a sign that indeed there are terrorist cells operating alive and well in the United States? I know we can't accuse -- make direct accusations right now but is this possibly evidence that might lead to that?
WALSH: Well, it's possible and the great thing about these arrests is with an arrest comes a trial and that trial will be public so journalists, citizen scholars will be able to evaluate the evidence and draw their own conclusions.
You're right to say, Kyra, I think you're absolutely right that it's too early to say but they've made these arrests. And of course, you have the CNN report yesterday about calls from Pakistan to Americans here.
Now, of course, not every call a terrorist makes is to another terrorist. Sometimes they call family, sometimes they're calling to order products or to gather information. But when you do have communications and you have these other things going on, it does make you suspicious.
It's -- you know -- back in March of this year, there was a similar arrest in Los Angeles where a sting operation happened, a man who was going to sell and trade drugs for shoulder-fired missiles was arrested and convicted, so this is not the first time we've seen this sort of arrest.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jim, let's talk about the two individuals that were arrested today. First of all, Yassin Aref, an Iraqi citizen with asylum status.
Now let's talk about asylum status for a minute. Since 9/11, there has been a lot of change, a lot of reevaluating of those with asylum status, right?
WALSH: That's absolutely right, Kyra. There's been a major change in how we treat immigration and asylum status. First of all, the government, as you might suspect, went back and tried to verify the status of all those folks who had visas here in the U.S. and then back in March of '03 just on the eve of the Gulf War, the government issued what was considered a very controversial policy on asylum, which said that everyone who was from 25 Muslim countries -- predominantly Muslim and Arab countries -- had to register with the U.S. and if they didn't register with the U.S., they'd be deported. And as a result of that policy, actually a very large number of people have been deported.
But I say that to point to the fact there has been a lot of emphasis on trying to identify and talk to and interview asylum seekers and those who immigrate to the U.S.
And the 9/11 recommendations, the Commission focuses less on changing immigration law and more on improving our ability to get secure documents, to make sure that birth certificates and other legal documents are the basis for granting entry and that those are reviewed carefully. That's where the action is right now in the policy world.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about those legal documents, because if you look at the other man that was arrested today, Masjid As- Salaam, he does have legal status.
So, is it easier to engage in terrorist activity when you have legal status versus passport?
WALSH: No doubt about it. And we know from the past that al Qaeda has tried to recruit folks in Britain, in the U.S., in other countries, particularly in Europe where they were already citizens and would go -- undergo -- less scrutiny as they traveled within Europe or traveled from Europe to the United States. That's -- you know this is a cat and mouse game.
And so, we hone in on some of al Qaeda's weaknesses and then they try to adapt. So, as we get better at trying to check passports and illegally forged documents, they're going to try harder to recruit to get around that problem. But that's the nature of the game.
PHILLIPS: Final question: These two men, Jim, connected to Ansar al-Islam -- of course, this is the terrorist organization the president had talked about that was active in northern Iraq, possibly ties to al Qaeda. So, is there a significance here?
WALSH: Well, that's the more curious part of this arrest. Ansar al-Islam, which for a while was headed by Zarqawi, arguably the most active terrorist today in the world -- they are really focused -- they were focused -- on northern Iraq, fighting the Kurds. That was before the Gulf War.
And they had, I think, most agree, only tenuous ties to al Qaeda. After we intervened in Iraq, they became very active in Iraq. They attacked the Kurds, they attacked Shiite mosques and they may have attacked those Christian churches that we heard about earlier in the week. I -- I would have been surprised if somehow they would be looking to mount operations not in Iraq, but in the U.S. homeland. One would think that would be the purview of al Qaeda rather than an Ansar al-Islam.
PHILLIPS: Jim Walsh from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Thank you so much, Jim.
WALSH: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, live pictures now. President Bush in the heart of the quintessential heartland state today, as state reporters never fail to point out that is a must-win for every Republican who has ever run for president.
Well, it's Ohio, and Bush is in Columbus for a Q&A forum that is scheduled to run about 90 minutes. Let's listen in just for a little bit.
(LIVE NEWS EVENT)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all.
And when I said to the Taliban, those were the folks running Afghanistan, give up your evil ways or face the consequences, I meant it. They ignored us -- they ignored us -- and they paid the price. They are no longer in power. No longer can al Qaeda use Afghanistan as a safe haven for training.
Remember, thousands of people were trained in Afghanistan and then dispersed throughout the world. Some of whom came here to inflict great harm on our people. The world is better off and America is safer because of the actions we have taken in Afghanistan.
Think about this: Afghanistan is going to hold elections this fall.
It's amazing, isn't it, when you think about it? What a change. What a change in a part of the world that is desperate for freedom. Listen, it wasn't but three years ago or so that these people lived under the clutches of one of the most brutal groups of people known to mankind, the Taliban.
They wouldn't let young girls go to school in Afghanistan. They were so backward; their vision was so dim, that if you dared express an opinion that they didn't agree with you were in trouble.
You know, I was in Cleveland the other day and we went to the International Children's Games kick off and guess who was there? A girl's soccer team from Afghanistan. Right here in America.
What I'm saying is Afghanistan is a better place. Their emerging democracy, over 8 million people have registered to vote. They are an ally in the war on terror, and the world is better off.
Because young girls and moms and dads have a chance to realize their ambitions for their families. Not the ambitions of backward, barbaric people like the Taliban. (END LIVE NEWS EVENT)
PHILLIPS: President of the United States with a little Q&A forum there in Columbus, Ohio as he continues to push for those swing voters across battleground states.
Now, John Kerry is about to meet his running mate in St. Louis for a train tour stretching all the way to Arizona. CNN's Dana Bash is waiting -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. The Senators John are going to hook up for the first time in about four days. Senator Edwards made a detour to the South making his way through an area that the Kerry-Edwards ticket hopes that they can make some headway in now that a Southerner is on the ticket.
But Senator Kerry himself is actually making his way back here to Missouri. He had a detour this morning in Washington where he addressed the convention of minority journalists. We just heard President Bush talking about the war in Afghanistan. That of course was his response to 9/11.
During the event this morning with journalists, Senator Kerry was asked specifically what his response would be if he was the president the morning of 9/11 -- if he were the man in the classroom in Florida when he got the news. Here's what his response was:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Had I been reading to children and had my top aide whispered in my ear, "America is under attack," I would have told those kids very politely and nicely that the president of the United States had something that he needed to attend to and I would have attended to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Senator Kerry was referring to the fact that of course as we've all seen and heard President Bush waited for about 5-7 minutes after getting the news that America was under attack and he decided to continue reading to children there. The White House has said that the president didn't want to scare anybody, but there you heard Senator Kerry's comments.
What he also said was that he thinks it's important to have the guts, the skills to be Commander in Chief and he believes he has that.
Now, obviously what you have here is perhaps some 20/20 hindsight but you have a senator, a candidate who is trying to hit back against attacks from the Bush campaign that he simply isn't decisive enough to be president. He doesn't have what it takes to be Commander in Chief.
Now, the Bush campaign response is that they say he's got -- this is a flailing attack against the president because they say he doesn't know what he stands for. Now also I should mention in his prepared remarks Senator Kerry did hit the president for not attending the NAACP conference last month.
Also, mocked the president's new stump line, saying that the America has turned the corner and not turning back -- he said that's like standing under a mission accomplished banner saying just because you say it doesn't mean it's true.
Now, of course now we are in the state of Missouri, this is where the two senators are going to hook up for a rally here. This is the state that was razor thin last time around. The president won by just three percentage points.
It is still neck and neck according to the latest polls, and it's also a bellwether state. This state has picked every president last century at least except in one election so this is absolutely critical when you look at historic trends and they're going to try to capture the magic of another person, a famous person from Missouri, that is Harry Truman.
He's of course did his whistle-stop tour in 1948. As soon as this rally is over, the two senators are going to get on a train and make their way through Missouri and into Colorado and then to Arizona and one of the cars they will use will be the car from Harry Truman's -- something that President Clinton did during his campaign and others -- he's going to do it again -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Dana Bash, we'll look forward to it. Thanks so much.
Well, John Kerry is getting some help from the music world. Bruce Springsteen wrote an editorial in today's "New York Times" supporting Kerry and Edwards.
Springsteen and other performers will hit the road this fall for a series of concerts dubbed "Vote For Change." Springsteen told ABC's Ted Koppel they just want to level the playing field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, MUSICIAN: The idea here we're trying to infuse, you know, the campaign with certain amount of cash at that time, which will enable foot soldiers to go out and go door to door and activate voters and get people to the polls. And there's a very specific goal that we feel is worth accomplishing.
And so, that's really -- that's really the bottom line as far as I'm concerned.
TED KOPPEL, ABC NEWS: And I suggest that that goal is beating Bush.
SPRINGSTEEN: Yes it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So, will the Boss get you to the polls? More on this, but we want to hear from you -- do you like politics with your music? Send us your thoughts at livefrom@cnn.com -- we'll read some of your e-mails in the next half hour.
Preparing for the worst-case scenario. What would the city of Los Angeles do if someone set off a dirty bomb?
Well they're finding out today. A live report just ahead.
Sleeping on the job. A woman calls 911 for help and gets snores.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dr Sanjay Gupta. A new antidepressant medication, Cymbalta, just approved yesterday works in a very different way from other antidepressants. I'll have that story for you in just a moment.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM, on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A dirty bomb, multiple hijackings and a toxic chemical spill. It won't be your average 48 hours in California as federal, state, and local agencies test their metal. The timer is ticking on one of these exercises in Los Angeles right now.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is right in the middle of the mock danger zone -- Thelma.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra. Well, you're right. As we speak, there are several simulated exercises that are going on all over the state as you had mentioned here at the L.A. Harbor, one of the busiest ports in the entire world there is a simulated dirty bomb that just exploded a little while ago.
Also in Ventura County, other terrorist attacks and in San Francisco and Oakland there are simulated -- we understand -- hijackings that are going on right now.
And the whole idea is to tax the system to its fullest to see exactly where the weaknesses are, where the strengths are and exactly how local state and federal authorities work together.
Joining me now is battalion chief Michael Bowman (ph) and you are with L.A. City. Talk to me about what's going on behind us. We understand that there are actually 60 to 70 victims role-playing out there as well.
ELLIS STANLEY, LOS ANGELES EMERGENCY SERVICES: Yes, that is correct. We have approximately that many victims simulated from the military and the scenario is an offloading of the container inside the port of Los Angeles which exploded and as you stated before a dirty bomb.
And the inherent hazards of a dirty bomb is not only the explosive hazards but it's the nuclear and/or radiological byproducts which is the big and significant hazard here.
Specifically through inhalation. GUTIERREZ: Well, and in this case, you say that there would be a problem with the wind actually carrying some of those particles into residential areas. How would you deal with such a thing?
STANLEY: Well, as you can see, first of all, our wind generally comes in from the ocean.
As you can see, we have a heavy residential area from here. After we go in and identify what type the incident and get the incident infrastructure already started to handle a major incident of this capacity, we'll make a prediction and get a modeling of where actually the hazard is where we have to start a major evacuation of the city of Los Angeles.
And what we start with was your first arriving companies that came on scene, they're going to identify that and try to get as many of the victims -- what we call our rapid extraction -- and get them out of where the hazardous situation is.
And our emergency responders now after 9/11 have detection equipment where they can actually monitor their safety, use full protective breathing and full protective clothing and go in and make those fast rescues before all the additional resources and outside agencies come.
GUTIERREZ: All right, Battalion Chief Michael Bowman (ph), thank you very much for that.
And Kyra, all of this is organized by NORAD at a cost of about $2 million. Again, the idea is to see just how well some of these agencies can work together. Again, 60 agencies out here -- back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, Thelma Gutierrez there on L.A. Harbor, thanks so much Thelma.
And just coming into us now more on the Scott Peterson trial. Intriguing development out of Redwood City. Rusty Dornin is there with more -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, very mysterious. This morning we were expecting to return to a computer expert from the Modesto Police Department.
They spent about an hour in chambers when emerged defense attorney Mark Geragos said there is some newly discovered evidence within the last 48 hours that could be exculpatory.
That means it could exonerate his client, he believes, Scott Peterson in this case. The judge agrees that scientific testing should be done. The court will reassess until next Tuesday. They also sent some special witnesses could be called in in relation to this, so we're not sure really what this is going to do to the Amber Frey situation.
We'd expected her to come in Monday afternoon and testify. Of course most of the week and even into next week. Now we're not sure what that's going to do. We're also have no idea what exactly this evidence is -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Rusty Dornin, we'll continue to check in with you -- thank you so much.
And yet another new drug joining the antidepressant arsenal. Moving to health news now, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on this new drug and what makes it different from others already on the market.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: The drug is called Cymbalta, the FDA approving it just yesterday, Wednesday, for the treatment of major depression, saying it is safe and effective.
What is different about this drug from a lot of other antidepressants is that it appears to have a dual mechanism effect treating not only the psychological symptoms of depression but the physical symptoms as well.
Two chemicals in the brain, seratonin, a lot of people know that one from other antidepressants -- but this drug Cymbalta also seems to effect norepinephrine, which treats the physical symptoms of depression.
What are those physical symptoms of depression? Take a look at the list there. Vague aches and pains, headaches, sleep disturbances, fatigue, back pain, changes in appetite.
Everybody gets those symptoms from time to time, but those who have depression appear to have those symptoms a bit amplified. If you can treat all of those symptoms plus the psychological symptoms, it appears to make patients better overall.
One study showed the patients were three times more likely to go into remission from their depression on drugs like this one.
All these antidepressants do have some side effects. Cymbalta is no different. Although the side effects are admittedly pretty mild. Take a look at the list: nausea, dry mouth, constipation, decreased appetite, fatigue, and increased sweating.
Sexual side effects are also a concern with antidepressants. Cymbalta appears to have a mild form of sexual side effects as well. There are concerns about suicide and antidepressants. This drug is not approved for those under the age of 18.
There was a case, a clinical trial being performed back in February. There was a young person who took this medication and subsequently committed suicide. That case was investigated by the FDA.
Tricky to sort of sort those cases out; was it the drug or was it the disease itself, depression, that caused the suicide? As I said, the FDA investigated; still think that Cymbalta is ready to go to market. Should be on the store markets by later this month.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And we just want to remind you we are expecting a news conference from the Justice Department regarding the two men arrested in that mosque raid in Albany, New York.
We've got more details coming up in addition to a live news conference we're expecting any time in the next half hour.
Also straight ahead: rocking the vote. What do you think? Should your favorite singers be mixing politics with their music? We want to hear from you. E-mail us at livefrom@cnn.com. We'll have some of your responses later in the hour.
Also ahead: celebration for a miracle mutt. This dog was buried for dead not once, but twice. His story ahead on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired August 5, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: The fact is, there are terrorists among us who want to engage in acts to attack us again and to take away our freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Terror plot sting, a missile, and a New York mosque: We're live on that story.
Al Qaeda camps back in business? New satellite surveillance captures some disturbing images.
Who's better at fighting terror? On the campaign trail, the president takes pen in hand while the senator questions a five-minute delay.
Booted for bacon: A worker fired for bringing a BLT to work. She says she's the victim of religious discrimination.
(on camera): From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles is off. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
We begin this hour with the raided mosque, the captured cleric, the dirty money, and the fictional missile. The latest skirmish in the war on terror is taking place in unassuming Albany, New York.
CNN's Alina Cho is in Albany with more -- Alina?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, here is what we know at this hour.
The two suspects will be arraigned here at the federal courthouse in Albany within the hour -- that's at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. Important ti note that, in the past hour, New York's Governor George Pataki said that these arrests have no connection to the recent terror alerts against financial institutions in New York, Newark, and Washington D.C.
The criminal complaint identifies the two men as such: 49-year- old Mohammed Hossain. He is a U.S. citizen from Bangladesh, and the founder of the mosque that was targeted in this raid. Also, 34-year- old Yassin Aref, an Iraqi citizen with asylum status here. Both were allegedly members of a terrorism organization that had links to al Qaeda.
Now here is how this played out. Overnight, these men were taken into custody following a raid at this mosque in downtown Albany. The two men were arrested following a sting operation. They allegedly tried to help an FBI agent posing as a terrorist launder money from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile.
Now, this so-called missile, which of course never existed -- because this was part of a sting operation -- was apparently, according to the criminal complaint, going to be used to hit the Pakistan Consulate building near the United Nations in New York.
Now, earlier today I spoke to the wife of the younger suspect, Mrs. Aref, who said that she and her three children were taken by FBI agents to a nearby hotel at 2:00 in the morning for extensive questioning. She would not talk about what she was asked, and she was not familiar with the charges against her husband.
Meanwhile, important to note that Governor Pataki says that this is a result, these arrests -- are the result of the government being proactive, and that there is no reason to believe that the residents of New York or Albany, for that matter, should feel unsafe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATAKI: The fact is, there are terrorists among us who want to engage in acts to attack us again and to take away our freedom.
I just want to reassure the public here in Albany and in New York and across America that our government, our administration in Washington, this state government and local officials are taking this threat to our freedom very seriously and will continue to be aggressive and proactive in going after those who would look to do us harm. I want to thank...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Also important to note that these arrests over night were the result of an ongoing lengthy investigation according to Pataki more than a year in -- in the works.
These two men, again, will be arraigned on charges that -- of lending material support to terrorists and money laundering again, Kyra, that will happen -- expected to, at least, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
PHILLIPS: Alina, what about the mosque? Is it still going to be up and running or they going to shut it down?
CHO: Well, from what we understand, they did shut it down overnight, of course, for the raid. FBI agents, we understand, were there form the hours of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.; the mosque was shut down, and we understand that people going there this morning had to pray outside on the street for morning prayers.
PHILLIPS: Alina Cho in Albany, thank you so much. Well, we hope to hear more about this at a Justice Department news conference. We are told that is going to happen at the bottom of the hour, about 1:30 Eastern time, 10:30 Pacific.
We'll have it right here on LIVE FROM. We'll go -- as soon as they step up to the podium, we'll take it live.
Seven thousand miles from Albany, eyes in the sky are picking up new signs of activity at al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan. CNN's Barbara Starr, eyes and ears at the Pentagon -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra.
Well, defense and intelligence officials tell CNN yes, there has been recent intelligence, partially from overhead imagery, as they call it, that al Qaeda training camps inside Pakistan, have been reactivated, that they have recently seen cars, people and other activities at these known training camp sites.
Now, what officials say is that they aren't really quite sure what to make of it just yet. Certainly they're in no come -- sort of panic mode or upset mode about any of this. They don't believe that its actually even tied to the current rise in the terrorist threat warning level here in parts of the United States.
These training camps in this area of Pakistan which lies along the southeastern border with Afghanistan are known areas of activity. These are the types of training camps, it is believed, that pop up, there's activity, people come and then people sort of melt away.
So, that's not to say that they aren't very interested intelligence and military officials trying to figure out exactly what's going on there. The level, the pace of activity, what it all might mean. So far, however, they're just keeping a very watchful eye -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Barbara Starr with her eyes on it there from the Pentagon, thank you so much.
Well, it's day five of high alert in parts of New York, Newark, and Washington. Though trucks and vans are once again welcome on a bridge and tunnel -- Lincoln, Brooklyn, and lower Manhattan -- it's been quite a busy week for terror fighters and first responders on three continents.
Let's get some insights now from global security analyst Jim Walsh of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Jim, good to see you.
JIM WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Good to see you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, sort of the overall picture, I want to talk specifically about what has happened at the mosque today, but from an overall perspective of what we've seen happen yesterday with this -- these alleged communications between al Qaeda and some folks here in the United States and then we back up about a week and we talk about the al Qaeda computer expert being arrested.
What do you think? Could there be possible ties among all the three big news events that have happened in the past week and a half?
WALSH: Well, certainly they appear to be mutually reinforcing, that if there was an attack afoot in the operational stage, these three things would naturally go together.
But if I step back even a little bit further from that, I get this picture that al Qaeda is back in business. You know the old conventional wisdom was we had hurt them in Afghanistan, hurt them in Pakistan, and it was now these little al Qaeda's operating in Iraq and northern Africa that were carrying out local operations.
But more and more data seems to be coming in that suggests that despite predictions of some people in government, al Qaeda is back and bigger and badder than ever.
PHILLIPS: All right, so, looking at what happened today, what happened at this mosque and this raid that took place, is this a sign that indeed there are terrorist cells operating alive and well in the United States? I know we can't accuse -- make direct accusations right now but is this possibly evidence that might lead to that?
WALSH: Well, it's possible and the great thing about these arrests is with an arrest comes a trial and that trial will be public so journalists, citizen scholars will be able to evaluate the evidence and draw their own conclusions.
You're right to say, Kyra, I think you're absolutely right that it's too early to say but they've made these arrests. And of course, you have the CNN report yesterday about calls from Pakistan to Americans here.
Now, of course, not every call a terrorist makes is to another terrorist. Sometimes they call family, sometimes they're calling to order products or to gather information. But when you do have communications and you have these other things going on, it does make you suspicious.
It's -- you know -- back in March of this year, there was a similar arrest in Los Angeles where a sting operation happened, a man who was going to sell and trade drugs for shoulder-fired missiles was arrested and convicted, so this is not the first time we've seen this sort of arrest.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jim, let's talk about the two individuals that were arrested today. First of all, Yassin Aref, an Iraqi citizen with asylum status.
Now let's talk about asylum status for a minute. Since 9/11, there has been a lot of change, a lot of reevaluating of those with asylum status, right?
WALSH: That's absolutely right, Kyra. There's been a major change in how we treat immigration and asylum status. First of all, the government, as you might suspect, went back and tried to verify the status of all those folks who had visas here in the U.S. and then back in March of '03 just on the eve of the Gulf War, the government issued what was considered a very controversial policy on asylum, which said that everyone who was from 25 Muslim countries -- predominantly Muslim and Arab countries -- had to register with the U.S. and if they didn't register with the U.S., they'd be deported. And as a result of that policy, actually a very large number of people have been deported.
But I say that to point to the fact there has been a lot of emphasis on trying to identify and talk to and interview asylum seekers and those who immigrate to the U.S.
And the 9/11 recommendations, the Commission focuses less on changing immigration law and more on improving our ability to get secure documents, to make sure that birth certificates and other legal documents are the basis for granting entry and that those are reviewed carefully. That's where the action is right now in the policy world.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about those legal documents, because if you look at the other man that was arrested today, Masjid As- Salaam, he does have legal status.
So, is it easier to engage in terrorist activity when you have legal status versus passport?
WALSH: No doubt about it. And we know from the past that al Qaeda has tried to recruit folks in Britain, in the U.S., in other countries, particularly in Europe where they were already citizens and would go -- undergo -- less scrutiny as they traveled within Europe or traveled from Europe to the United States. That's -- you know this is a cat and mouse game.
And so, we hone in on some of al Qaeda's weaknesses and then they try to adapt. So, as we get better at trying to check passports and illegally forged documents, they're going to try harder to recruit to get around that problem. But that's the nature of the game.
PHILLIPS: Final question: These two men, Jim, connected to Ansar al-Islam -- of course, this is the terrorist organization the president had talked about that was active in northern Iraq, possibly ties to al Qaeda. So, is there a significance here?
WALSH: Well, that's the more curious part of this arrest. Ansar al-Islam, which for a while was headed by Zarqawi, arguably the most active terrorist today in the world -- they are really focused -- they were focused -- on northern Iraq, fighting the Kurds. That was before the Gulf War.
And they had, I think, most agree, only tenuous ties to al Qaeda. After we intervened in Iraq, they became very active in Iraq. They attacked the Kurds, they attacked Shiite mosques and they may have attacked those Christian churches that we heard about earlier in the week. I -- I would have been surprised if somehow they would be looking to mount operations not in Iraq, but in the U.S. homeland. One would think that would be the purview of al Qaeda rather than an Ansar al-Islam.
PHILLIPS: Jim Walsh from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Thank you so much, Jim.
WALSH: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, live pictures now. President Bush in the heart of the quintessential heartland state today, as state reporters never fail to point out that is a must-win for every Republican who has ever run for president.
Well, it's Ohio, and Bush is in Columbus for a Q&A forum that is scheduled to run about 90 minutes. Let's listen in just for a little bit.
(LIVE NEWS EVENT)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all.
And when I said to the Taliban, those were the folks running Afghanistan, give up your evil ways or face the consequences, I meant it. They ignored us -- they ignored us -- and they paid the price. They are no longer in power. No longer can al Qaeda use Afghanistan as a safe haven for training.
Remember, thousands of people were trained in Afghanistan and then dispersed throughout the world. Some of whom came here to inflict great harm on our people. The world is better off and America is safer because of the actions we have taken in Afghanistan.
Think about this: Afghanistan is going to hold elections this fall.
It's amazing, isn't it, when you think about it? What a change. What a change in a part of the world that is desperate for freedom. Listen, it wasn't but three years ago or so that these people lived under the clutches of one of the most brutal groups of people known to mankind, the Taliban.
They wouldn't let young girls go to school in Afghanistan. They were so backward; their vision was so dim, that if you dared express an opinion that they didn't agree with you were in trouble.
You know, I was in Cleveland the other day and we went to the International Children's Games kick off and guess who was there? A girl's soccer team from Afghanistan. Right here in America.
What I'm saying is Afghanistan is a better place. Their emerging democracy, over 8 million people have registered to vote. They are an ally in the war on terror, and the world is better off.
Because young girls and moms and dads have a chance to realize their ambitions for their families. Not the ambitions of backward, barbaric people like the Taliban. (END LIVE NEWS EVENT)
PHILLIPS: President of the United States with a little Q&A forum there in Columbus, Ohio as he continues to push for those swing voters across battleground states.
Now, John Kerry is about to meet his running mate in St. Louis for a train tour stretching all the way to Arizona. CNN's Dana Bash is waiting -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. The Senators John are going to hook up for the first time in about four days. Senator Edwards made a detour to the South making his way through an area that the Kerry-Edwards ticket hopes that they can make some headway in now that a Southerner is on the ticket.
But Senator Kerry himself is actually making his way back here to Missouri. He had a detour this morning in Washington where he addressed the convention of minority journalists. We just heard President Bush talking about the war in Afghanistan. That of course was his response to 9/11.
During the event this morning with journalists, Senator Kerry was asked specifically what his response would be if he was the president the morning of 9/11 -- if he were the man in the classroom in Florida when he got the news. Here's what his response was:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Had I been reading to children and had my top aide whispered in my ear, "America is under attack," I would have told those kids very politely and nicely that the president of the United States had something that he needed to attend to and I would have attended to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Senator Kerry was referring to the fact that of course as we've all seen and heard President Bush waited for about 5-7 minutes after getting the news that America was under attack and he decided to continue reading to children there. The White House has said that the president didn't want to scare anybody, but there you heard Senator Kerry's comments.
What he also said was that he thinks it's important to have the guts, the skills to be Commander in Chief and he believes he has that.
Now, obviously what you have here is perhaps some 20/20 hindsight but you have a senator, a candidate who is trying to hit back against attacks from the Bush campaign that he simply isn't decisive enough to be president. He doesn't have what it takes to be Commander in Chief.
Now, the Bush campaign response is that they say he's got -- this is a flailing attack against the president because they say he doesn't know what he stands for. Now also I should mention in his prepared remarks Senator Kerry did hit the president for not attending the NAACP conference last month.
Also, mocked the president's new stump line, saying that the America has turned the corner and not turning back -- he said that's like standing under a mission accomplished banner saying just because you say it doesn't mean it's true.
Now, of course now we are in the state of Missouri, this is where the two senators are going to hook up for a rally here. This is the state that was razor thin last time around. The president won by just three percentage points.
It is still neck and neck according to the latest polls, and it's also a bellwether state. This state has picked every president last century at least except in one election so this is absolutely critical when you look at historic trends and they're going to try to capture the magic of another person, a famous person from Missouri, that is Harry Truman.
He's of course did his whistle-stop tour in 1948. As soon as this rally is over, the two senators are going to get on a train and make their way through Missouri and into Colorado and then to Arizona and one of the cars they will use will be the car from Harry Truman's -- something that President Clinton did during his campaign and others -- he's going to do it again -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Dana Bash, we'll look forward to it. Thanks so much.
Well, John Kerry is getting some help from the music world. Bruce Springsteen wrote an editorial in today's "New York Times" supporting Kerry and Edwards.
Springsteen and other performers will hit the road this fall for a series of concerts dubbed "Vote For Change." Springsteen told ABC's Ted Koppel they just want to level the playing field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, MUSICIAN: The idea here we're trying to infuse, you know, the campaign with certain amount of cash at that time, which will enable foot soldiers to go out and go door to door and activate voters and get people to the polls. And there's a very specific goal that we feel is worth accomplishing.
And so, that's really -- that's really the bottom line as far as I'm concerned.
TED KOPPEL, ABC NEWS: And I suggest that that goal is beating Bush.
SPRINGSTEEN: Yes it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So, will the Boss get you to the polls? More on this, but we want to hear from you -- do you like politics with your music? Send us your thoughts at livefrom@cnn.com -- we'll read some of your e-mails in the next half hour.
Preparing for the worst-case scenario. What would the city of Los Angeles do if someone set off a dirty bomb?
Well they're finding out today. A live report just ahead.
Sleeping on the job. A woman calls 911 for help and gets snores.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dr Sanjay Gupta. A new antidepressant medication, Cymbalta, just approved yesterday works in a very different way from other antidepressants. I'll have that story for you in just a moment.
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PHILLIPS: A dirty bomb, multiple hijackings and a toxic chemical spill. It won't be your average 48 hours in California as federal, state, and local agencies test their metal. The timer is ticking on one of these exercises in Los Angeles right now.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is right in the middle of the mock danger zone -- Thelma.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra. Well, you're right. As we speak, there are several simulated exercises that are going on all over the state as you had mentioned here at the L.A. Harbor, one of the busiest ports in the entire world there is a simulated dirty bomb that just exploded a little while ago.
Also in Ventura County, other terrorist attacks and in San Francisco and Oakland there are simulated -- we understand -- hijackings that are going on right now.
And the whole idea is to tax the system to its fullest to see exactly where the weaknesses are, where the strengths are and exactly how local state and federal authorities work together.
Joining me now is battalion chief Michael Bowman (ph) and you are with L.A. City. Talk to me about what's going on behind us. We understand that there are actually 60 to 70 victims role-playing out there as well.
ELLIS STANLEY, LOS ANGELES EMERGENCY SERVICES: Yes, that is correct. We have approximately that many victims simulated from the military and the scenario is an offloading of the container inside the port of Los Angeles which exploded and as you stated before a dirty bomb.
And the inherent hazards of a dirty bomb is not only the explosive hazards but it's the nuclear and/or radiological byproducts which is the big and significant hazard here.
Specifically through inhalation. GUTIERREZ: Well, and in this case, you say that there would be a problem with the wind actually carrying some of those particles into residential areas. How would you deal with such a thing?
STANLEY: Well, as you can see, first of all, our wind generally comes in from the ocean.
As you can see, we have a heavy residential area from here. After we go in and identify what type the incident and get the incident infrastructure already started to handle a major incident of this capacity, we'll make a prediction and get a modeling of where actually the hazard is where we have to start a major evacuation of the city of Los Angeles.
And what we start with was your first arriving companies that came on scene, they're going to identify that and try to get as many of the victims -- what we call our rapid extraction -- and get them out of where the hazardous situation is.
And our emergency responders now after 9/11 have detection equipment where they can actually monitor their safety, use full protective breathing and full protective clothing and go in and make those fast rescues before all the additional resources and outside agencies come.
GUTIERREZ: All right, Battalion Chief Michael Bowman (ph), thank you very much for that.
And Kyra, all of this is organized by NORAD at a cost of about $2 million. Again, the idea is to see just how well some of these agencies can work together. Again, 60 agencies out here -- back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, Thelma Gutierrez there on L.A. Harbor, thanks so much Thelma.
And just coming into us now more on the Scott Peterson trial. Intriguing development out of Redwood City. Rusty Dornin is there with more -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, very mysterious. This morning we were expecting to return to a computer expert from the Modesto Police Department.
They spent about an hour in chambers when emerged defense attorney Mark Geragos said there is some newly discovered evidence within the last 48 hours that could be exculpatory.
That means it could exonerate his client, he believes, Scott Peterson in this case. The judge agrees that scientific testing should be done. The court will reassess until next Tuesday. They also sent some special witnesses could be called in in relation to this, so we're not sure really what this is going to do to the Amber Frey situation.
We'd expected her to come in Monday afternoon and testify. Of course most of the week and even into next week. Now we're not sure what that's going to do. We're also have no idea what exactly this evidence is -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Rusty Dornin, we'll continue to check in with you -- thank you so much.
And yet another new drug joining the antidepressant arsenal. Moving to health news now, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on this new drug and what makes it different from others already on the market.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: The drug is called Cymbalta, the FDA approving it just yesterday, Wednesday, for the treatment of major depression, saying it is safe and effective.
What is different about this drug from a lot of other antidepressants is that it appears to have a dual mechanism effect treating not only the psychological symptoms of depression but the physical symptoms as well.
Two chemicals in the brain, seratonin, a lot of people know that one from other antidepressants -- but this drug Cymbalta also seems to effect norepinephrine, which treats the physical symptoms of depression.
What are those physical symptoms of depression? Take a look at the list there. Vague aches and pains, headaches, sleep disturbances, fatigue, back pain, changes in appetite.
Everybody gets those symptoms from time to time, but those who have depression appear to have those symptoms a bit amplified. If you can treat all of those symptoms plus the psychological symptoms, it appears to make patients better overall.
One study showed the patients were three times more likely to go into remission from their depression on drugs like this one.
All these antidepressants do have some side effects. Cymbalta is no different. Although the side effects are admittedly pretty mild. Take a look at the list: nausea, dry mouth, constipation, decreased appetite, fatigue, and increased sweating.
Sexual side effects are also a concern with antidepressants. Cymbalta appears to have a mild form of sexual side effects as well. There are concerns about suicide and antidepressants. This drug is not approved for those under the age of 18.
There was a case, a clinical trial being performed back in February. There was a young person who took this medication and subsequently committed suicide. That case was investigated by the FDA.
Tricky to sort of sort those cases out; was it the drug or was it the disease itself, depression, that caused the suicide? As I said, the FDA investigated; still think that Cymbalta is ready to go to market. Should be on the store markets by later this month.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And we just want to remind you we are expecting a news conference from the Justice Department regarding the two men arrested in that mosque raid in Albany, New York.
We've got more details coming up in addition to a live news conference we're expecting any time in the next half hour.
Also straight ahead: rocking the vote. What do you think? Should your favorite singers be mixing politics with their music? We want to hear from you. E-mail us at livefrom@cnn.com. We'll have some of your responses later in the hour.
Also ahead: celebration for a miracle mutt. This dog was buried for dead not once, but twice. His story ahead on LIVE FROM.
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