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U.K. Manhunt, Zambian Officials Arrest British Citizen; Baghdad Family Life

Aired July 28, 2005 - 13:59   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Missed opportunity. American authorities apparently warned the British about a suspect before the July 7 bombings.
Out of danger, but is the shuttle out of business? A persistent problem raises doubts about the future of the fleet.

And cure or crock? A new study on a popular herbal treatment for the common cold.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Twenty people in custody so far, including one suspected participant in the July 21 attacks on London's mass transit system. But an intense manhunt continues all across Britain for three others who dropped their bomb-laden backpacks that day and ran.

We go straight to Scotland Yard headquarters, where CNN's Jonathan Mann is following the latest developments -- John.

JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I've got a few things to tell you, but let me show you something first, because it's a chilling sight, and it's on the front pages of news papers across this country. I think you're looking at now the picture I'm talking about, an x-ray of a bomb, a plastic bottle of a kind that's available in most every supermarket, that's been filled with explosives.

It has two detonator cables coming out from the top. And as you can see, there are nails or tacks affixed to the side, held in place with plastic wrap.

This is the kind of bomb that authorities found left behind by the bombers who struck here on July 7, killing 52 people. This is the kind of threat that this country continues to face, knowing that there are more potential bombers still out there.

The investigation has been enormous, sweeping across the country. But much of it has been focused in different parts of London. And that was once again the case today before dawn, when police raided two different sites in southern London, a neighborhood called Tooting.

They took in six suspects. None of the six -- or rather nine suspects -- none of the nine are believed to be among the three men that they're looking for in connection with last week's botched attacks. But nonetheless, they are adding to the number who are behind bars.

You mentioned 20 people being questioned in all. That number continues to grow.

The number that's really enormous, though, is simply the police manpower that's been called out through all of this. Thousands of police officers working the case in two different capacities.

There are a lot of them who are trying to investigate leads, another group that are fanning out all across the country just to reassure people. It was three weeks ago today that 52 people were killed. One week ago today that a second group of bombers tried again. And so there have never been more police on British subways and trains than there have been today.

The head of Scotland Yard, Sir Ian Blair, explained what the police are up to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMM. IAN BLAIR, LONDON METRO POLICE: The greatest operational challenge to the Metropolitan Police service has faced since the second world war, and I genuinely believe that to be the case. It, therefore, is the largest ever investigation that the Met has ever mounted, and that was at July 7. At 21 July, of course, it got even larger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: They're look for three men in particular, three of the four bombers who tried to attack the London transit system a week ago. One of them is behind bars. He's in police hands and being questioned. Three are on the loose. But police are not limiting their search to that.

They don't know how big a network they're looking for or who is in it, but they do know that someone in addition to the bombers helped equip, train and inspire the suicide mission. They want those people as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jonathan Mann, live from Scotland Yard. Thanks, John.

Well, did British authorities miss an important chance to arrest a man who may have given support to the July 7 bombers? Haroon Rashid Aswat is now in custody in Zambia, but U.S. authorities urged his arrest about a month before the London underground erupted in terror.

CNN's Kelli Arena is following the latest developments now.

A lot of connections here, Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra.

U.S. officials say that Haroon Rashid Aswat was under surveillance in South Africa about four weeks before those London attacks. U.S. officials had wanted to render him back to the United States in connection with a plot to set up a jihad training camp in Bly, Oregon.

Sources tell us that there is an arrest warrant for Aswat under seal in New York. But because he's a U.K. citizen, British authorities did not allow him to be taken in custody while he was in South Africa. Aswat then allegedly went back to Britain, and investigators believe lent support in some way to the London bombers.

Now, some sources have said that he may also be the possible mastermind of those attacks, but others say that it's just too early to know the extent of his alleged involvement. At this time, officials say there are very high level and very delicate negotiations going on concerning who will get access to Aswat and when -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kelli Arena. We'll keep checking in with you throughout the day. Thank you very much.

ARENA: Sure.

PHILLIPS: And when the London transit system was attacked on July 7, some survivors say that they initially thought the IRA was behind the bombings. And, indeed, there have been decades of violence in Britain and Ireland during the long period of strife between Catholics and Protestants. But today, in a potentially historic move, the IRA leadership orders all of its members to lay down arms.

Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the political party ally to the IRA, had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERRY ADAMS, SINN FEIN LEADER: The decision by Oglina Heren (ph) presents an unparalleled challenge and opportunity for every nationalist and republican. There is a huge responsibility on us all to seize this moment and to make Irish freedom a reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, although hard-line Protestant leader Ian Paisley was skeptical of the IRA announcement, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called it a step of unparalleled magnitude.

Now, we're going to talk more about the IRA announcement with New York Congressman Peter King in just about 10 minutes. King is an ardent supporter of the Irish Nationalist Movement, but he recently called for the IRA to disband.

Stay with us. Peter King in 10 minutes.

Three more American troops have lost their lives in Iraq in separate incidents yesterday. A Marine died in a vehicle cash, and a roadside bombing in Baghdad killed two Army personnel.

Also, the military reports 49 suspected terrorists were rounded up today and yesterday in raids in three cities. All of them are being detained.

And with all the instability gripping Iraq we wondered what it was like raising a family in Baghdad. Well, our Aneesh Raman tried to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A typical morning in a typical Baghdad household. Adel is up for work at 7:00. His routine six days a week.

He makes $180 a month as an accountant. In a country suffering from crippling unemployment, he is one of the lucky few.

His wife Intissar has already been awake for an hour making breakfast. The two married in 1993. A year later, they held their eldest boy, Farouq (ph), now 11, with Mohammed (ph) and Abdul (ph) soon to follow.

For mom, the days start with the worries about the basics.

INTISSAR, MOTHER (through translator): All Iraqis are suffering for water and electricity. And if it gets cut off, that means the day will be a hot day for me.

RAMAN: For dad, there's fear. The boys gather around as he heads for the office. Here, any good-bye, even the most routine, is never easy.

ADEL, FATHER (through translator): The first feeling when I go into the street, I think of what might happen, like explosions, car bombs, IEDs going off all of a sudden. You leave your home and might not be make.

RAMAN: But life goes on. Minds adapt. And for three brothers on summer break, the task is universal, playing in the small confines of the backyard.

(on camera): Every family in Iraq is dealing with the situation in different ways. But most try and find the time, as often as they can, to get away from it all at secluded parks like this one.

(voice-over): Given the violence, they don't go out often. But here, everything a kid could want, everything a Baghdad mother could as well.

INTISSAR (through translator): I'm so happy when I see my sons happy. They are growing up and seeing nothing except war and explosions. They always feel scared. We need to do something to make them forget.

RAMAN: The Salahs (ph) live just beyond Firdo Square, the place where Saddam's statute came crumbling down two years ago, along with his regime. That day they joined in the celebration.

ADEL (through translator): People thought it was a good thing. They wanted to get rid of the former regime. It's oppression. But failure has created reactions among the people. They had hopes but were disappointed.

RAMAN: Despite the hours Adel spends waiting in line for gas, despite Intissar's brother being wrongfully killed, she says, at a military checkpoint, there is a powerful will to keep going. It wasn't their war, but it is now.

ADEL (through translator): If we are afraid, life comes to a standstill. And we help enemies realize their objectives. They want to (INAUDIBLE) life. We make life. We have to go out to live a normal life.

RAMAN: In many respects, they are an average middle class family. But in one important way they are not. Adel is a Sunni, Intissar a Shiite, in a country where the two groups are struggling to unify. For both, the only thing that matters is that they're Iraqi.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Other news around the world now.

Food for Niger. The U.N. announces food airlifts into the west African nation, where more than a million people are at risk now of starvation. The emergency flights will provide food to 80,000 victims of famine. A prolonged drought and locusts have caused widespread food shortages.

An arrest in the Daniel Pearl case. Pakistani intelligence agents and police have a man in custody in connection with the murder of "The Wall Street Journal" reporter. The man was arrested at a bus terminal near the city of Lahore. Four other men already have been convicted in the 2002 kidnapping and killing of Pearl.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says that he plans to run in the country's September elections as Egypt's first-ever open vote with more than one candidate. Mubarak asked parliament to change election laws last February to open the election to multiple candidates.

Rendezvous in space. After a liftoff that was not entirely trouble-free, astronauts from Discovery aboard the International Space Station. They are there. And earlier, the shuttle was guided to a flawless docking with the orbiting station. NASA is expressing some concern with the mission, though.

Space Correspondent Miles O'Brien joins us now with the very latest -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's the view, Kyra, there. That's kind of a cool view. A handheld camera in the aft portion of the flight deck as they homed in and made that successful docking. Eileen Collins at the controls. We'll show you another picture from the opposite direction from the space station in just a moment. But the big story today is -- and there you see the hatch opening as well. Handshakes. Sergei Krikalev, the Russian cosmonaut, John Phillips, the U.S. astronaut, on board the International Space Station.

First visit to the space station by a shuttle since November of 2002. Some badly-needed supplies and equipment onboard the shuttle.

Let's get back to the issue of the shuttle, though, because that's the big story of the day.

In the wake of looking at all of that imagery which came back from the launch -- there you see that picture once again of the handheld camera from the aft flight deck as they homed in on there. But from launch video, there was some serious issues that came up as engineers pored through all of that capability.

OK. Well, let's talk a little more about the docking.

This is a pirouette maneuver which they did. This is just the opposite direction shot. We sped this up by five times.

This is not just to prove that Eileen Collins is a great pilot. This is an opportunity for Krikalev and Phillips onboard the space station to use some digital photography, 400 mm lens, 800 mm lens, to do a comprehensive -- well, it's like they were shuttle paparazzi, tile paparazzi, getting each and every tile, if they could, to document that they are intact and able to do their job, which is to hold up to 2,500 degrees to, in some cases, 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit on re-entry.

Of course, this takes us back to Columbia, when there was a heat shield breach.

Now, animation. This will show you the piece of foam that came off and the focus of a lot of attention today.

It's called the PAL ramp. It's a triangular-shaped wedge shape which goes along those wires and that liquid hydrogen pipe there. And the piece came off.

It was about the size of the piece which came off two-and-a-half years ago, struck the leading edge of the wing of Columbia, created a plate-size hole which ultimately was a fatal breach. And we lost the crew, as you know, of seven on February 1, 2003.

Take a look at this shot, though, of the external tank. Look at the piece of debris coming in the foreground there.

That tells you what NASA has been reaffirming to us, that despite their best efforts after two-and-a-half years, an awful lot of debris is still coming off that tank. And in some respects, the engineers are back at square one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And as everybody that's come up here in the last two days has said, is we were wrong. And we missed something, and we have to go figure out what it was and go fix it. Whether that's just changing techniques or redesign, we don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: So a lot of focus on what's next for the shuttle. A redesign effort means it could be quite some time, Kyra, before another space shuttle will fly.

You know, the shuttle was slated for retirement in 2010 anyway. There are some who are wondering if this is a bad omen, if it is quite likely that there may not be a redesign that would make it safe enough to fly out those years. So lots of questions about what's next for the shuttle, even as the crew performs flawlessly in space -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We look forward to their safe landing, too.

Miles O'Brien. Thank you.

Straight ahead, the Irish Republican Army says scenes like this are now a part of the past. A U.S. congressman who supported Irish nationalism joins us to talk about it straight ahead.

Also coming up, missing woman mystery. A search is on in Philadelphia for a pregnant woman who has just simply disappeared.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Returning now to the IRA announcement. The militant Irish national group says that it's giving up its armed campaign. It's ordering all units to dump weapons and pursue a peaceful program to determine northern Ireland's future.

So what's next? Basically attacks like this that you're seeing on video, they're saying no more.

Let's bring in Peter King, the New York congressman who recently called for the IRA to disband.

Congressman, you're pretty surprised today, aren't you?

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW York: Yes. Actually, you know, for the last several months I thought this was possible. But going back 25 years, and over the years when I've been going to northern Ireland, involved in the process, I really never thought I would see this day come.

But really, when Gerry Adams was here in March of this year, he told me to expect something like this. So we were moving toward it, but until it actually happened, considering, you know, the 800 years of Irish history, until it happened it was still hard to believe.

PHILLIPS: Well, and also, it's not just a matter of the IRA coming out and making this statement. I mean, there are so many other paramilitary factions to consider also. They've got to take up the same philosophy, right?

KING: Yes, there are a number of loyalist groups, like the Ulster Volunteer Force, the Ulster Commandos. All of them also have to come forward, and they have to call a cease-fire.

And in addition to that, the unionist parties, like Ian Paisley's party, the DUP, they have to agree now to take part in real negotiations and set up a power-sharing government. The British and Irish governments have to continue to work. And also, I'm confident and I know that President Bush will continue to use the good offices of the United States.

But this was a major defining moment today. But now really, in many ways, the ball is on the other side of the court now, and it's up to the unionist parties to come forward.

PHILLIPS: You mentioned Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein. This is what he had to say earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAMS: Today's decision by the IRA to move into a new peaceful mode is historic and represents a courageous and confident initiative. It is truly momentous and is a defining point in the search for a lasting peace with justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Momentous. Everyone is saying momentous, unparalleled, Incredible, historic. What is going to make this any different from the last cease-fire in '94? And then, of course, you and I were talking about not long ago there was talk about putting down arms, but it seemed more like a political conversation more than any action being put forward.

KING: I think the reason it's going to work now is that the people on the ground want it to work. The people in northern Ireland have seen that policies can work. And in addition to that, I gave Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, who is the co-leader of Sinn Fein, the credit, and also the IRA leadership, is that before they actually made today's statement, before the IRA actually put out the statement, they spoke to every member of the IRA to make sure that they were on board.

This isn't like what's happened too often with the Palestinians, where the statement is made but they can't follow through. In this case everyone was canvassed, everyone had the chance to give their opinion, and then the order was finally given today that it's time for the IRA to stand down, and they will.

I'm confident that it's going to work, because so much effort went in on the ground to making sure that it's going to work. And also, I have to say both President Clinton in the past and President Bush today have made it clear that if the IRA took this statement the United States would work as a guarantor to make sure the process went forward.

PHILLIPS: Now, Congressman, you used to defend the IRA. What changed for you?

KING: Well, I had said the IRA was a legitimate force and had to be part of any peace process. And then the peace process was set up. And at that stage, there was no longer any reason for the IRA to exist.

To me, the only purpose, if there was one for the IRA, was to get a peace process in place which could bring about a peaceful solution. Once that was in place, the IRA served no useful purpose after that, and they only became an impediment to peace. And that's why back in March of this year I called for them to stand down.

I met with Gerry Adams after that. We had a long conversation. And I think Gerry Adams would have done this anyway, but having Americans such as myself speak out, I think that strengthened his hand when he went back to Ireland and told the IRA, listen, even your strongest supporters say you have to stand down. This has to be made to work, and it can't be made to work so long as the IRA is an active force.

So now they have ceased all operations, and the order has gone out to cease them all and to stop them forever. And as I was saying today, I had a great uncle of mine who died years ago who was in the IRA, and I'm sure that wherever he is, he also heard the order today, stand down once and for all, this is it.

PHILLIPS: Congressman Peter King, a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you.

KING: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, President Bush will try again on Sunday to talk to the Boy Scouts that gathered in Virginia for their national jamboree. Yesterday's planned visit was canceled because of severe weather. About 300 scouts and adults were treated for heat-related symptoms, and you'll remember that four scout leaders were killed as camps were being set up earlier in the week. A tent pole touched an overhead power line and they were electrocuted.

Straight ahead, questioning a cure. A new study raising doubts about echinacea and whether it can keep you from getting a cold. That story is just ahead.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. A dream deal for a major movie studio. I'll tell you who may be interested in Dreamworks coming up on LIVE FROM.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you're taking echinacea to treat that cold, listen to this. A federally-funded study concludes that the popular herbal treatment has zero effect when it comes to relieving or preventing cold symptoms. Annual echinacea sales are believed to top $300 million, but test patients who took it developed colds at the same rate as those who ingested placebos.

Well, from the tax tips department today, a look at some of the perks in the federal energy bill nearing approval on Capitol Hill. According to "The Wall Street Journal," if you're willing to make your home more energy efficient, you can qualify for a credit of 10 percent. That's up to $500.

That's for improvements like upgraded thermostats, leak repairs, energy-efficient windows. There's a separate tax break for energy- efficient appliances.

And if you're shopping for a car, there's a major tax credit for buying fuel-cell power transportation. Eight thousand dollars for vehicles weighing less than 8,500 pounds. In addition, the bill would extend the current tax credit for electric and rechargeable vehicles.

And as bandied about for years, the bill would lengthen Day Light Savings Time by nearly a month beginning in 2007. Estimated savings, one percent of your current energy bill.

Steven Spielberg's vision could soon pass on to new leadership. Movie studio Dreamworks may have a buyer.

Susan Lisovicz has the story live from the New York Stock Exchange.

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