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CNN Live Today

Hearings Come Amid New Terror Concerns, Call for Action on Recommendations; Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge Takes Questions

Aired August 03, 2004 - 10:00   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. As always, we begin by taking a look at what's happening now in the news.
Mighty winds and dark clouds menace the North Carolina coast. As the season's first hurricane grows stronger. Hurricane Alex, and you're looking at a live pictures there from the coast, is nearing 80 -- mile -- an -- hour winds with forecasters saying off -- shore storms are moving toward the outer banks. A hurricane warning remains in effect from Cape Lookout to Oregon Inlet. Our weatherman Chad Myers joins us from North Carolina with the latest conditions. He'll be with us in a few minutes.

A hearing for Private First Class Lynndie England began in North Carolina about two hours ago. She's at the center of the Abu Ghraib Prison abuse scandal, and was photographed with a naked Iraqi prisoner. Today's proceeding is to decide if she'll be court martialed on charges of prisoner abuse and sexual misconduct. England's lawyers say they're ready to start calling witness the in her defense. We'll have a live report on that in about 30 minutes.

Overseas, four Iraqis are dead and six are injured after a suicide car bomb at a checkpoint near Baquba. Police say that the bomber followed vehicles driven by coalition forces, then detonated explosives as they passed the checkpoint. An Iraqi man believed to be involved in the attack is in custody.

President Bush is on his way to Dallas, Texas. There, he will attend a campaign fund -- raiser and he'll speak at the annual convention for the Knights of Columbus. Just minutes ago, the president signed a free trade agreement between the U.S. and Australia.

Showing the world that liberty cannot be intimidated, that from a government official, as New York Statue of Liberty -- there's another live picture for you; Lady Liberty stretching out her arms again in about an hour. Visitors will be able to see the portions of the 17- year-old national monument, which was closed after the 9/11 attacks. More on that in a live report and our Kelly Wallace in just about 30 minutes.

We are keeping you informed, CNN the most trusted name Live this hour, lawmakers on Capitol Hill open dual hearings on the intelligence reforms proposed the in the 9/11 report. The hearings come amid new terror concerns and a call for action on the recommendations. We're going to start by looking in and around some of the nation's top financial hubs. The terror alert remains very high, and so do the concerns. In fact, some of the top decision makers met this morning, both in private and in public, to discuss the plan of action.

Our Deborah Feyerick is at CitiGroup headquarters in Manhattan, one of the financial hubs that could be a target. Also the site of a news conference that we were watching just a few minutes ago.

Deb, good morning.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well, corporate executives and security directors from about two-dozen financial institutions across the city met this morning with the Homeland Secretary Tom Ridge. Some of the members meeting: JP Morgan, the Bank of America, CitiGroup Annex. The Homeland secretary in town to talk about security also to talk about reassuring the public.

KAGAN: Deborah, I'm just going to jump in here. Secretary Ridge is taking some questions. So let's listen in.

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY, HOMELAND SECURITY: When you go public, but in fact we wanted to get some of this information to security professionals before we went public so they could begin notifying their employees. I would much rather have these men and women, who showed up at work on Monday morning, begin to receive notification from their employer before they get it, with all due respect, from the local news channel. It just makes it a little more comforting for them to get some kind of information from a private source rather than public. Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Corporate security was notified far before...

RIDGE: No. Not far before. But we began discussing, particularly with the major institutions, the detailed -- not the specific details, but alerted them to the fact that the institutions that were -- we were discussing internally within the intelligence community, there was volumes of information about them. And then over the past 24 hours, began to share that information.

This is actionable information. I think at the end of the day, when we take a look at these reports, we'll get some insight into what they were looking for, and the means by which they acquired this information. And I think that will not only enable us to enhance security in the financial services sector, but that's good information for all security professionals to have -- Yes.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Secretary Ridge, Chris Huntington with CNN. Can you speak to any evidence you have or any concerns you have about al Qaeda operatives here in the United States, so -- called sleeper cells? And does the new information from Pakistan have any bearing on that?

RIDGE: Well, you know, I think in this day and age, in a country that is as open and as diverse as ours, when we literally have 600 million people that come across our borders every year, I think within the department, and I think around the country, we just assume that there are operatives here.

Obviously the law enforcement community has their eyes on people that believe are connected or sympathetic to the cause. But we don't have the luxury of waiting to identify somebody coming across the border, we just have to accept for our planning and preparation purposes the notion that they -- they're here, they're looking to attack us and we need to do everything we can every single day to try to detect, deter and prepare for it - Sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything to suggest the degree of (OFF MIKE)

RIDGE: I'm sorry, the acoustics aren't real good, and my ears aren't real good either.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything in the information that would indicate the degree to which the al Qaeda operatives may have actually infiltrated the organizations?

RIDGE: You mean infiltrated the corporate entities themselves? No. There's no such information. It's interesting, when the security professionals in the financial services arena have alerted me, there's some fairly rigorous background checks that they do before you can have critical positions in some of these companies as well. But the answer to your specific question is no -- Sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, Do you have any concrete evidence of a plan, or a plot, or recent surveillance? And how long will this high level mobilization -- specifically targeted mobilization continue?

RIDGE: Well, we have -- again, just because we don't know when it might occur, when you see this kind of detailed planning, you have to take preemptive action to prevent it from occurring. And one could argue logically, if you've taken a look at potential sites with this kind of information, at least you're thinking about it. And we've got to take that very seriously.

And we will review the facts associated with going up to orange in these three regions, in the financial service sector. Once we completely digest all the information we're reviewing now. There's still quite a bit of information that we're analyzing -- Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any evidence of a plot, or a plan, or recent surveillance?

RIDGE: There's no evidence of recent surveillance. But again, I would tell you that the information about the casings that we revealed on Sunday have been updated as recently as January of this year. And we know this is an organization that plans in advance, that prepares and is patient. And if anything else, the thoroughness of this information reflects the seriousness, as well as the -- the seriousness of our effort to combat and bring these terrorists to justice overseas. It also speaks to their sophistication as an operation. You know, there's a lot of suggestion out there that these are serious folks. They're patient folks. There's a lot of resolve, not as much as ours. We're more serious, more patient, and more highly motivated, and more resolved. But I think you need to take a look at it. Sobering, but it's not stifling information. We'll deal with it -- Sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, there are a lot of New Yorkers that are you skeptical about these kinds of threat alarms. Some even see a political motive for all of this, with the Republican administration facing re-election? What can you say to those New Yorkers to dissuade them?

RIDGE: Well, I guess, I wish I could give them all the top -- secret clearances and let them review the information that some of us have the responsibility to review. We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security. Our job is to identify the threat, match that threat information with the potentially the targets that have been identified. To integrate an entire country, to build partnerships with the state and local government, to invest in technology, so that as we combat international terrorism, we can put more people and technology in place, to make ourselves safer.

But it is -- frankly, I would point out that this is the most significant, detailed pieces of information about any particular region that we've come across in a long, long time; perhaps ever. And that's why we needed to share it publicly. It's always a judgment call, always a judgment call. But here, it went above any kind of threshold we might have had previously, it's above that.

Every single day - just about every day, there's probably the notation of a community, or a company, or something like that in the threat-reporting stream. You have to assess the source and credibility, and whether they're corroborated. And sometimes we pick up the phone and call the company, or call the region. The detail, the sophistication, the thoroughness of this information, if you had access to it, you would say we did the right thing.

Let the public -- government should let the public know about situations like this. It's not about politics; it's about confidence in government telling you when they get the information.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two more questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, to what degree of confidence do you think that this new detailed, very specific intelligence is telling you about a possible ongoing plot?

RIDGE: We have publicly stated that again from several sources, that there has been an expressed intention to disrupt the democratic process. It could be interpreted throughout the election year; it could be interpreted to Election Day. But we need to understand, we shouldn't be limiting ourselves, or expanding ourselves to that time frame.

This is an organization that will attack whenever they feel that they can achieve -- they can be successful. And so you've got the general reporting stream from credible sources. They've always talked about undermining America's economy. They began to frame it a little bit around the elective process. But I don't think you ought to get too carried away about the time frame. When they're ready to move, they'll move -- Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary...

RIDGE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Short of Congress changing the funding formula for high-risk cities, what means are there at this point for New York City?

RIDGE: You can well imagine, whenever I come to town, Mayor Bloomberg raises the issue with me. And very appropriately, I might add. And so does the governor. So we are in locked step, as is the president. And we will continue to work the Congress. And continue to convince Congress that more money should be shifted to those areas that are high risk.

Let me say this. And we're still not done with the appropriations process this year. There are two pools of funds. One to distribute it per capita, and the mayor -- and the governor talked about that a lot. So does your congressional delegation. So the other goes to the urban areas, where we take a look at the population density, the threat. And what the president asked this year was to reduce this pot that is distributed per capita substantially, and put that into the other, where the New York City would be the primary beneficiary. Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

KAGAN: We've been listening to Tom Ridge. He's there at the Citicorp headquarters, along with New York Governor George Pataki and also New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. They are there to encourage the employees that decided to come to work in spite of the terror threat that was announced over the weekend. They're inside the building.

Outside the building is Deborah Feyerick, who I interrupted at the beginning of your report to go to those comments. So my apologies on that. And if we could pick up where you left off.

FEYERICK: Well, Daryn, several very important comments, as you heard. The Homeland secretary saying that the government simply operates, assuming the terror operatives are here in America. And that they don't expect the luxury of getting a heads up when these people cross the border to carry out some sort of strike.

Now, Secretary Ridge also defended the quality of the intelligence. He said that while some surveillance is about two to three years old, he said other surveillance was done earlier this year, back in January. And he warned that the terror operatives tend to do even more scouting, even more surveillance immediately before the attacks. And that is something that they're trying to prevent. Now, he described al Qaeda as very patient, as taking their time, in no rush. He also said that when asked about the Republican National Convention, that's supposed to be taking place here in New York in August, he said well, while there's no specific attack plans, at least no intelligence of that, there is information suggesting that there are plans to disrupt what Ridge called the "democratic process" throughout the election year.

So, yes, they are on the alert. And Secretary Ridge said this is not about politics. These warnings are simply about good government letting people know what kind of information is out there -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, Deb, is the scene pretty much the same as yesterday, with folks showing up with increased security?

FEYERICK: Yes. Absolutely. And his qualification of these remarks may make people a little bit more on edge. Yesterday, people were sort of dismissing the information, saying, well, it's two or three years old. Nobody knows if an attack is going to be today, tomorrow or in two years. But now that he's saying that there are suggestions that there could be some disruption of the democratic process, clearly people are going to be on higher alert, even more so than they already are.

KAGAN: Deborah Feyerick in New York City. Deborah, thank you.

More now on that intelligence. The pipeline of intelligence is coming from Pakistan, that is a key Washington ally in the war on terror. And one that could take an even larger role in cracking al Qaeda plots.

CNN's Ash-har Quraishi, joining us live by videophone from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Usher, hello.

ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well, Pakistani officials -- intelligence officials telling us that since the arrest of that high al Qaeda operative Ahmed Khalfan Ghalaini, who was connected with the U.S. embassy bombings in 1998 in Dar Salaam and Nairobi, they say since that arrest on July 25, they have taken into custody at least seven more suspected al Qaeda operates -- excuse me. The last operative coming into custody on Monday. They say he was captured in the eastern city of Lahore, trying to leave the country from the international airport there.

Now, intelligence officials identify him as a Nigerian man. They say his name is Ibrahim. And they believe that he was carrying coded messages on a computer disk. Now we're also hearing that he may be an associate of this man Khalid Nayim Nour Khan. Now, Khan is the man whose computer from which they were able to gather much of the specifics of the attack process and what the targets were over the past few weeks. And it's believed, according to officials here, that Khan is the reason that the terror alert in New York, Washington and New Jersey was so high. They're also telling us that they're gathering information that they say is very important in trying to thwart attacks, possible attacks that may be in the offing in the United States. Of course, a timetable, as has been mentioned, has not come about from the interrogations or the investigations as of yet. But right now they say they're still poring over much of the computers and disks and documents that they've recovered in the raids and arrests over the last few weeks -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ash-har, thank you for that. Ash-har Quraishi in Islamabad.

We're going to focus here on the U.S. A lot more news taking place here, including the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season. A live picture there from the North Carolina coast where Hurricane Alex is getting close. We are tracking the storm. We will have a live report. A live update with our Chad Myers on where the storm is headed.

And she came to symbolize the controversy over the Abu Ghraib Prison symbol. Now Private Lynndie England is getting her first day in court. We'll have a live report on today's hearing.

And later, Utah police say they wanted to arrest Mark Hacking sooner. The chief of police talks about why they waited.

This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

KAGAN: Well, the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season is brushing by North Carolina's outer banks. So is our meteorologist, Chad Myers. We bundled him up and sent him out there to live it, love it and just experience it.

Hey, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Call me a green Smurf suit and head me out to the beach. Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: I'll be surprised, Daryn, if we make it through this live shot. We've been loosing our signal on and off. The wind is not a friend of a satellite truck, as it's bouncing it back and forth. There's a little bit of a calm.

We've had winds now of about 65 miles per hour just in the past, the whole eye of the storm has moved. We're in the backlash of the storm. Typically the worst part of the storm is the east side, as it makes its way to the north. And that's where Cape Hatteras is. And I think that's where most of that bad weather is.

No live shots from out there. They wouldn't let us on the island, so we're on this island. This is Atlantic Beach. As the whole system moves up the coast, Kill Devil Hills and then all the way up to Duck and then even to Virginia Beach, battering winds and also battering waves, going really to knock down some of the sand here and take a lot of the beach away. I've noticed at least 100 feet of this beach go away this morning.

And that's not from the high tides, that's simply because of the wind blowing in the waves, and the waves taking the sand back out to the ocean. Eventually that sand comes back with small summer waves. Sometimes it doesn't, like Miami Beach, you have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to get that sand back. But the folks here have been through a lot of this.

It kind of sticks out there. Atlantic Beach is kind of the chin of North Carolina. Kind of sticking the chin out, waiting for a little haymaker there coming up -- an upper cut coming up east. And that's what happened this time, Daryn.

The storm coming up now 90 miles per hour. It gained a lot of strength overnight. And there even are some winds offshore, a little bit offshore, a little bit up about 2,000 feet. Measured with an airplane, the hurricane from an aircraft at 119 miles per hour.

Back to you.

KAGAN: Woo, so the good news is you've stayed with us the entire time. Have folks in that area have they had to evacuate?

MYERS: No, no evacuations at all. And this is pretty low land. In fact, a lot of these guys are out saying you know what? if it doesn't get to 120 we're not concerned. And this storm, even at 90, they're out there -- they're having coffee on the deck.

KAGAN: That's just a breeze for the folks in that part of North Carolina.

MYERS: Yes, I guess so.

KAGAN: Chad, you be careful. I would say dry.

MYERS: I will.

KAGAN: But I think that opportunity passed many hours ago. We'll check back with you. Love the green suit.

MYERS: All right.

KAGAN: We'll take a look inside life - actually, life inside one of the most famous mafia families. That's coming up CNN LIVE TODAY. Victoria Gotti on her new reality series and why she says she doesn't owe anyone for her celebrity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, here's one sign of normalcy that's being restored after 9/11. At least in part it is. The Statue of Liberty officially reopens at the top of the hour. This will be the first time since the terror attacks of 9/11.

But our Kelly Wallace is here to tell us that there are still some restrictions to reflect the concerns about a post 9/11 world. Kelly, good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. And as you can see behind me, Liberty Island is starting to fill up with tourists from all over the United States. And all over the world, really, hoping to be some of the first to go inside that Statue of Liberty, the first since September 11.

But as you were saying, as we were talking to some tourists, and even talking to some U.S. lawmakers, there are frustrations, because the tourists will only be able to go inside the pedestal. The statue itself, as well as that observation deck way on the top at the crown, places you could have visited before September 11, you can't visit anymore.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): Lady Liberty, welcoming the tired, poor and huddled masses, or at least the tired tourists for the first time since September 11, with screening, scanning and scouring taking place outside and inside to keep visitors safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we were walking around, there was plenty of policemen with their rifles and everything. So that was kind of -- it made you feel more comfortable being here knowing there's like so much heightened security.

WALLACE: Extra precautions are in place for the reopening, in light of the weekend warnings that al Qaeda might be planning to hit financial targets in and around New York City.

LARRY PARKINSON, DEPT. ASSIST. OF INTERIOR: We're ramping up. We have beefed up patrols here on the island as well as in the harbor.

WALLACE: Visitors will be able to go inside the pedestal and enjoy views of New York City from an observation deck. But the 151 foot tall statue itself, including the torch and crown, will remain off limits due to security and safety concerns. Something some New York lawmakers say is unacceptable.

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: If there's ever been a symbolic victory for the terrorists, is that we stand in the shadow of Ground Zero and look at Lady Liberty and know that at least in part that she remains closed.

WALLACE: It's not just how much has been reopened, but how much was spent to do it. A Senate committee has been investigating allegations of excessive and wasteful spending by the private foundation funding the Statue of Liberty, including $45,000 for a dog to chase geese away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And throughout this day, we are seeing all kinds of security, all around the Statue of Liberty. There has been a U.S. Park Police helicopter circling Liberty Island. You also see lots of SWAT teams and other police officers with rifles. So security is in place.

And for every visitor trying to come to the Statue of Liberty today, they will have to pass, not through one, but two different security checkpoints. Very much like when you're passing through airport security to check your belongings and check for any explosives. So lots of security here, but also some excitement, Daryn, people very interested in getting inside.

KAGAN: And we are interested in seeing both. Kelly Wallace, thank you.

This is just the beginning of our coverage. We encourage you to stay with CNN for live coverage of the ceremony that's scheduled to begin at the top of the hour, 11:00 a.m. Eastern/8:00 a.m. Pacific. You will see it live here on CNN.

Prioritizing the 9/11 Commission's recommendations. That is one of the two 9/11 hearings happening right now on Capitol Hill. A live picture of one of those hearings and then a live report is straight ahead.

And she is accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners. But Lynndie England's attorney says she's only guilty of obeying orders. We're live for her hearing in Fort Bragg after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired August 3, 2004 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. As always, we begin by taking a look at what's happening now in the news.
Mighty winds and dark clouds menace the North Carolina coast. As the season's first hurricane grows stronger. Hurricane Alex, and you're looking at a live pictures there from the coast, is nearing 80 -- mile -- an -- hour winds with forecasters saying off -- shore storms are moving toward the outer banks. A hurricane warning remains in effect from Cape Lookout to Oregon Inlet. Our weatherman Chad Myers joins us from North Carolina with the latest conditions. He'll be with us in a few minutes.

A hearing for Private First Class Lynndie England began in North Carolina about two hours ago. She's at the center of the Abu Ghraib Prison abuse scandal, and was photographed with a naked Iraqi prisoner. Today's proceeding is to decide if she'll be court martialed on charges of prisoner abuse and sexual misconduct. England's lawyers say they're ready to start calling witness the in her defense. We'll have a live report on that in about 30 minutes.

Overseas, four Iraqis are dead and six are injured after a suicide car bomb at a checkpoint near Baquba. Police say that the bomber followed vehicles driven by coalition forces, then detonated explosives as they passed the checkpoint. An Iraqi man believed to be involved in the attack is in custody.

President Bush is on his way to Dallas, Texas. There, he will attend a campaign fund -- raiser and he'll speak at the annual convention for the Knights of Columbus. Just minutes ago, the president signed a free trade agreement between the U.S. and Australia.

Showing the world that liberty cannot be intimidated, that from a government official, as New York Statue of Liberty -- there's another live picture for you; Lady Liberty stretching out her arms again in about an hour. Visitors will be able to see the portions of the 17- year-old national monument, which was closed after the 9/11 attacks. More on that in a live report and our Kelly Wallace in just about 30 minutes.

We are keeping you informed, CNN the most trusted name Live this hour, lawmakers on Capitol Hill open dual hearings on the intelligence reforms proposed the in the 9/11 report. The hearings come amid new terror concerns and a call for action on the recommendations. We're going to start by looking in and around some of the nation's top financial hubs. The terror alert remains very high, and so do the concerns. In fact, some of the top decision makers met this morning, both in private and in public, to discuss the plan of action.

Our Deborah Feyerick is at CitiGroup headquarters in Manhattan, one of the financial hubs that could be a target. Also the site of a news conference that we were watching just a few minutes ago.

Deb, good morning.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well, corporate executives and security directors from about two-dozen financial institutions across the city met this morning with the Homeland Secretary Tom Ridge. Some of the members meeting: JP Morgan, the Bank of America, CitiGroup Annex. The Homeland secretary in town to talk about security also to talk about reassuring the public.

KAGAN: Deborah, I'm just going to jump in here. Secretary Ridge is taking some questions. So let's listen in.

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY, HOMELAND SECURITY: When you go public, but in fact we wanted to get some of this information to security professionals before we went public so they could begin notifying their employees. I would much rather have these men and women, who showed up at work on Monday morning, begin to receive notification from their employer before they get it, with all due respect, from the local news channel. It just makes it a little more comforting for them to get some kind of information from a private source rather than public. Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Corporate security was notified far before...

RIDGE: No. Not far before. But we began discussing, particularly with the major institutions, the detailed -- not the specific details, but alerted them to the fact that the institutions that were -- we were discussing internally within the intelligence community, there was volumes of information about them. And then over the past 24 hours, began to share that information.

This is actionable information. I think at the end of the day, when we take a look at these reports, we'll get some insight into what they were looking for, and the means by which they acquired this information. And I think that will not only enable us to enhance security in the financial services sector, but that's good information for all security professionals to have -- Yes.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Secretary Ridge, Chris Huntington with CNN. Can you speak to any evidence you have or any concerns you have about al Qaeda operatives here in the United States, so -- called sleeper cells? And does the new information from Pakistan have any bearing on that?

RIDGE: Well, you know, I think in this day and age, in a country that is as open and as diverse as ours, when we literally have 600 million people that come across our borders every year, I think within the department, and I think around the country, we just assume that there are operatives here.

Obviously the law enforcement community has their eyes on people that believe are connected or sympathetic to the cause. But we don't have the luxury of waiting to identify somebody coming across the border, we just have to accept for our planning and preparation purposes the notion that they -- they're here, they're looking to attack us and we need to do everything we can every single day to try to detect, deter and prepare for it - Sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything to suggest the degree of (OFF MIKE)

RIDGE: I'm sorry, the acoustics aren't real good, and my ears aren't real good either.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything in the information that would indicate the degree to which the al Qaeda operatives may have actually infiltrated the organizations?

RIDGE: You mean infiltrated the corporate entities themselves? No. There's no such information. It's interesting, when the security professionals in the financial services arena have alerted me, there's some fairly rigorous background checks that they do before you can have critical positions in some of these companies as well. But the answer to your specific question is no -- Sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, Do you have any concrete evidence of a plan, or a plot, or recent surveillance? And how long will this high level mobilization -- specifically targeted mobilization continue?

RIDGE: Well, we have -- again, just because we don't know when it might occur, when you see this kind of detailed planning, you have to take preemptive action to prevent it from occurring. And one could argue logically, if you've taken a look at potential sites with this kind of information, at least you're thinking about it. And we've got to take that very seriously.

And we will review the facts associated with going up to orange in these three regions, in the financial service sector. Once we completely digest all the information we're reviewing now. There's still quite a bit of information that we're analyzing -- Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any evidence of a plot, or a plan, or recent surveillance?

RIDGE: There's no evidence of recent surveillance. But again, I would tell you that the information about the casings that we revealed on Sunday have been updated as recently as January of this year. And we know this is an organization that plans in advance, that prepares and is patient. And if anything else, the thoroughness of this information reflects the seriousness, as well as the -- the seriousness of our effort to combat and bring these terrorists to justice overseas. It also speaks to their sophistication as an operation. You know, there's a lot of suggestion out there that these are serious folks. They're patient folks. There's a lot of resolve, not as much as ours. We're more serious, more patient, and more highly motivated, and more resolved. But I think you need to take a look at it. Sobering, but it's not stifling information. We'll deal with it -- Sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, there are a lot of New Yorkers that are you skeptical about these kinds of threat alarms. Some even see a political motive for all of this, with the Republican administration facing re-election? What can you say to those New Yorkers to dissuade them?

RIDGE: Well, I guess, I wish I could give them all the top -- secret clearances and let them review the information that some of us have the responsibility to review. We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security. Our job is to identify the threat, match that threat information with the potentially the targets that have been identified. To integrate an entire country, to build partnerships with the state and local government, to invest in technology, so that as we combat international terrorism, we can put more people and technology in place, to make ourselves safer.

But it is -- frankly, I would point out that this is the most significant, detailed pieces of information about any particular region that we've come across in a long, long time; perhaps ever. And that's why we needed to share it publicly. It's always a judgment call, always a judgment call. But here, it went above any kind of threshold we might have had previously, it's above that.

Every single day - just about every day, there's probably the notation of a community, or a company, or something like that in the threat-reporting stream. You have to assess the source and credibility, and whether they're corroborated. And sometimes we pick up the phone and call the company, or call the region. The detail, the sophistication, the thoroughness of this information, if you had access to it, you would say we did the right thing.

Let the public -- government should let the public know about situations like this. It's not about politics; it's about confidence in government telling you when they get the information.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two more questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, to what degree of confidence do you think that this new detailed, very specific intelligence is telling you about a possible ongoing plot?

RIDGE: We have publicly stated that again from several sources, that there has been an expressed intention to disrupt the democratic process. It could be interpreted throughout the election year; it could be interpreted to Election Day. But we need to understand, we shouldn't be limiting ourselves, or expanding ourselves to that time frame.

This is an organization that will attack whenever they feel that they can achieve -- they can be successful. And so you've got the general reporting stream from credible sources. They've always talked about undermining America's economy. They began to frame it a little bit around the elective process. But I don't think you ought to get too carried away about the time frame. When they're ready to move, they'll move -- Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary...

RIDGE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Short of Congress changing the funding formula for high-risk cities, what means are there at this point for New York City?

RIDGE: You can well imagine, whenever I come to town, Mayor Bloomberg raises the issue with me. And very appropriately, I might add. And so does the governor. So we are in locked step, as is the president. And we will continue to work the Congress. And continue to convince Congress that more money should be shifted to those areas that are high risk.

Let me say this. And we're still not done with the appropriations process this year. There are two pools of funds. One to distribute it per capita, and the mayor -- and the governor talked about that a lot. So does your congressional delegation. So the other goes to the urban areas, where we take a look at the population density, the threat. And what the president asked this year was to reduce this pot that is distributed per capita substantially, and put that into the other, where the New York City would be the primary beneficiary. Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

KAGAN: We've been listening to Tom Ridge. He's there at the Citicorp headquarters, along with New York Governor George Pataki and also New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. They are there to encourage the employees that decided to come to work in spite of the terror threat that was announced over the weekend. They're inside the building.

Outside the building is Deborah Feyerick, who I interrupted at the beginning of your report to go to those comments. So my apologies on that. And if we could pick up where you left off.

FEYERICK: Well, Daryn, several very important comments, as you heard. The Homeland secretary saying that the government simply operates, assuming the terror operatives are here in America. And that they don't expect the luxury of getting a heads up when these people cross the border to carry out some sort of strike.

Now, Secretary Ridge also defended the quality of the intelligence. He said that while some surveillance is about two to three years old, he said other surveillance was done earlier this year, back in January. And he warned that the terror operatives tend to do even more scouting, even more surveillance immediately before the attacks. And that is something that they're trying to prevent. Now, he described al Qaeda as very patient, as taking their time, in no rush. He also said that when asked about the Republican National Convention, that's supposed to be taking place here in New York in August, he said well, while there's no specific attack plans, at least no intelligence of that, there is information suggesting that there are plans to disrupt what Ridge called the "democratic process" throughout the election year.

So, yes, they are on the alert. And Secretary Ridge said this is not about politics. These warnings are simply about good government letting people know what kind of information is out there -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, Deb, is the scene pretty much the same as yesterday, with folks showing up with increased security?

FEYERICK: Yes. Absolutely. And his qualification of these remarks may make people a little bit more on edge. Yesterday, people were sort of dismissing the information, saying, well, it's two or three years old. Nobody knows if an attack is going to be today, tomorrow or in two years. But now that he's saying that there are suggestions that there could be some disruption of the democratic process, clearly people are going to be on higher alert, even more so than they already are.

KAGAN: Deborah Feyerick in New York City. Deborah, thank you.

More now on that intelligence. The pipeline of intelligence is coming from Pakistan, that is a key Washington ally in the war on terror. And one that could take an even larger role in cracking al Qaeda plots.

CNN's Ash-har Quraishi, joining us live by videophone from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Usher, hello.

ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well, Pakistani officials -- intelligence officials telling us that since the arrest of that high al Qaeda operative Ahmed Khalfan Ghalaini, who was connected with the U.S. embassy bombings in 1998 in Dar Salaam and Nairobi, they say since that arrest on July 25, they have taken into custody at least seven more suspected al Qaeda operates -- excuse me. The last operative coming into custody on Monday. They say he was captured in the eastern city of Lahore, trying to leave the country from the international airport there.

Now, intelligence officials identify him as a Nigerian man. They say his name is Ibrahim. And they believe that he was carrying coded messages on a computer disk. Now we're also hearing that he may be an associate of this man Khalid Nayim Nour Khan. Now, Khan is the man whose computer from which they were able to gather much of the specifics of the attack process and what the targets were over the past few weeks. And it's believed, according to officials here, that Khan is the reason that the terror alert in New York, Washington and New Jersey was so high. They're also telling us that they're gathering information that they say is very important in trying to thwart attacks, possible attacks that may be in the offing in the United States. Of course, a timetable, as has been mentioned, has not come about from the interrogations or the investigations as of yet. But right now they say they're still poring over much of the computers and disks and documents that they've recovered in the raids and arrests over the last few weeks -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ash-har, thank you for that. Ash-har Quraishi in Islamabad.

We're going to focus here on the U.S. A lot more news taking place here, including the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season. A live picture there from the North Carolina coast where Hurricane Alex is getting close. We are tracking the storm. We will have a live report. A live update with our Chad Myers on where the storm is headed.

And she came to symbolize the controversy over the Abu Ghraib Prison symbol. Now Private Lynndie England is getting her first day in court. We'll have a live report on today's hearing.

And later, Utah police say they wanted to arrest Mark Hacking sooner. The chief of police talks about why they waited.

This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

KAGAN: Well, the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season is brushing by North Carolina's outer banks. So is our meteorologist, Chad Myers. We bundled him up and sent him out there to live it, love it and just experience it.

Hey, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Call me a green Smurf suit and head me out to the beach. Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: I'll be surprised, Daryn, if we make it through this live shot. We've been loosing our signal on and off. The wind is not a friend of a satellite truck, as it's bouncing it back and forth. There's a little bit of a calm.

We've had winds now of about 65 miles per hour just in the past, the whole eye of the storm has moved. We're in the backlash of the storm. Typically the worst part of the storm is the east side, as it makes its way to the north. And that's where Cape Hatteras is. And I think that's where most of that bad weather is.

No live shots from out there. They wouldn't let us on the island, so we're on this island. This is Atlantic Beach. As the whole system moves up the coast, Kill Devil Hills and then all the way up to Duck and then even to Virginia Beach, battering winds and also battering waves, going really to knock down some of the sand here and take a lot of the beach away. I've noticed at least 100 feet of this beach go away this morning.

And that's not from the high tides, that's simply because of the wind blowing in the waves, and the waves taking the sand back out to the ocean. Eventually that sand comes back with small summer waves. Sometimes it doesn't, like Miami Beach, you have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to get that sand back. But the folks here have been through a lot of this.

It kind of sticks out there. Atlantic Beach is kind of the chin of North Carolina. Kind of sticking the chin out, waiting for a little haymaker there coming up -- an upper cut coming up east. And that's what happened this time, Daryn.

The storm coming up now 90 miles per hour. It gained a lot of strength overnight. And there even are some winds offshore, a little bit offshore, a little bit up about 2,000 feet. Measured with an airplane, the hurricane from an aircraft at 119 miles per hour.

Back to you.

KAGAN: Woo, so the good news is you've stayed with us the entire time. Have folks in that area have they had to evacuate?

MYERS: No, no evacuations at all. And this is pretty low land. In fact, a lot of these guys are out saying you know what? if it doesn't get to 120 we're not concerned. And this storm, even at 90, they're out there -- they're having coffee on the deck.

KAGAN: That's just a breeze for the folks in that part of North Carolina.

MYERS: Yes, I guess so.

KAGAN: Chad, you be careful. I would say dry.

MYERS: I will.

KAGAN: But I think that opportunity passed many hours ago. We'll check back with you. Love the green suit.

MYERS: All right.

KAGAN: We'll take a look inside life - actually, life inside one of the most famous mafia families. That's coming up CNN LIVE TODAY. Victoria Gotti on her new reality series and why she says she doesn't owe anyone for her celebrity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, here's one sign of normalcy that's being restored after 9/11. At least in part it is. The Statue of Liberty officially reopens at the top of the hour. This will be the first time since the terror attacks of 9/11.

But our Kelly Wallace is here to tell us that there are still some restrictions to reflect the concerns about a post 9/11 world. Kelly, good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. And as you can see behind me, Liberty Island is starting to fill up with tourists from all over the United States. And all over the world, really, hoping to be some of the first to go inside that Statue of Liberty, the first since September 11.

But as you were saying, as we were talking to some tourists, and even talking to some U.S. lawmakers, there are frustrations, because the tourists will only be able to go inside the pedestal. The statue itself, as well as that observation deck way on the top at the crown, places you could have visited before September 11, you can't visit anymore.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): Lady Liberty, welcoming the tired, poor and huddled masses, or at least the tired tourists for the first time since September 11, with screening, scanning and scouring taking place outside and inside to keep visitors safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we were walking around, there was plenty of policemen with their rifles and everything. So that was kind of -- it made you feel more comfortable being here knowing there's like so much heightened security.

WALLACE: Extra precautions are in place for the reopening, in light of the weekend warnings that al Qaeda might be planning to hit financial targets in and around New York City.

LARRY PARKINSON, DEPT. ASSIST. OF INTERIOR: We're ramping up. We have beefed up patrols here on the island as well as in the harbor.

WALLACE: Visitors will be able to go inside the pedestal and enjoy views of New York City from an observation deck. But the 151 foot tall statue itself, including the torch and crown, will remain off limits due to security and safety concerns. Something some New York lawmakers say is unacceptable.

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: If there's ever been a symbolic victory for the terrorists, is that we stand in the shadow of Ground Zero and look at Lady Liberty and know that at least in part that she remains closed.

WALLACE: It's not just how much has been reopened, but how much was spent to do it. A Senate committee has been investigating allegations of excessive and wasteful spending by the private foundation funding the Statue of Liberty, including $45,000 for a dog to chase geese away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And throughout this day, we are seeing all kinds of security, all around the Statue of Liberty. There has been a U.S. Park Police helicopter circling Liberty Island. You also see lots of SWAT teams and other police officers with rifles. So security is in place.

And for every visitor trying to come to the Statue of Liberty today, they will have to pass, not through one, but two different security checkpoints. Very much like when you're passing through airport security to check your belongings and check for any explosives. So lots of security here, but also some excitement, Daryn, people very interested in getting inside.

KAGAN: And we are interested in seeing both. Kelly Wallace, thank you.

This is just the beginning of our coverage. We encourage you to stay with CNN for live coverage of the ceremony that's scheduled to begin at the top of the hour, 11:00 a.m. Eastern/8:00 a.m. Pacific. You will see it live here on CNN.

Prioritizing the 9/11 Commission's recommendations. That is one of the two 9/11 hearings happening right now on Capitol Hill. A live picture of one of those hearings and then a live report is straight ahead.

And she is accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners. But Lynndie England's attorney says she's only guilty of obeying orders. We're live for her hearing in Fort Bragg after the break.

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