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CNN Live Today

London Terror; Looking for Clues; CIA Leak Probe; Rumor to Rest; Travel Insurance

Aired July 15, 2005 - 10:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Kagan. She's going to take you through the next couple of hours on CNN LIVE TODAY. AMERICAN MORNING, we'll see you back here on Monday.
Hey, Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You guys have a great weekend in New York City.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Thank you. You too.

KAGAN: We'll go ahead and get started. A lot to talk about today. Here's a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

An Egyptian biochemist is detained in Cairo in connection to the London terrorist bombings. His name is Magdy El-Nashar. He also is under FBI investigation here in the U.S. The Egyptian once studied chemical engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Palestinian security officials say six Hamas militants died in separate incident today in the West Bank in Gaza. At least one attack is blamed on an Israeli helicopter strike. Israel is responding to yesterday's rocket attack on Israel.

The space shuttle Discovery remains grounded, at least until Sunday. Its mission was scrubbed Wednesday after something went wrong with the ship's fuel gauge. Mission managers are spending today trying to determine whether the problem can be fixed.

Hurricane Emily steaming across the Caribbean towards Jamaica. Now a category four storm. Emily is being blamed for one death in Grenada. The storm is expected to pass south of Jamaica tomorrow and make landfall on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday or Monday.

A good Friday morning to you. Thanks for being with us. I'm Daryn Kagan.

There's a new development to tell you about in the London terror bombings. A short while ago, we learned of an arrest in Cairo of a man wanted for questioning. CNN's Alessio Vinci is following the investigation. He is in London today.

Alessio, hello.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Daryn. Well, yes, CNN has learned that on Thursday night, in Cairo, a man has been detained at the request of British authorities and he is wanted here. The authorities want to question him in connection with the terror attacks that struck London a week ago. His name is Magdy El- Nashar. He's a 33-year-old man.

He is Egyptian-born and he has spent some time up in Leeds, about 200 miles north of London, where at least three of the four suspects have come from. And we do understand that he also was teaching there at university. And he has also some kind of a U.S. connection since in the year 2000 he has spent one semester at the North Carolina State University.

We understand that police officials here want to question him because they may have found some evidence and some links linking him to at least one of the bombers, perhaps a phone call or something like that. We're not really clear exactly because police here are, of course, being tight-lipped. But we are talking to some sources and they are telling us that one of the links - that one of the reasons why they want to interview this man is because there are some links between him and at least one of the suspects.

Another development here this morning. A top British police official telling reporters that evidence is suggesting that the attacks last Thursday may have carried out by al Qaeda. They are not finger pointing al Qaeda. They're not saying that al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks, but the way the attacks were carried out.

The fact that, for example, they were synchronized explosions. The fact, for example, that those who brought the bombs on board appear to be foot soldiers. All this leads police officials do believe that al Qaeda may at some point be - may be involved.

At the same time, they're saying that they're trying to locate who is the mastermind behind all of this. Who was the person who provide the logistical support. Who recruited the suspected suicide bombers because, they're say, another attack is possible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMM. IAN BLAIR, LONDON METROPOLITAN POLICE: Two answers to that. The first is, yes, we've got lots more security patrols than we had before working with the British transport police and transport for London. But the second point is, this is an open city. This is a democracy in which we live. There are 3 million people using that tube every day. The only way we can defeat this is through their vigilance. And, I mean, it is not possible to imagine that we would have airport style checks on the tube.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VINCI: And what he is saying here, he's basically peeling to human intelligence. Police officials here, every morning, every morning, are distributing leaflets asking for people if they have seen anything, if they've heard anything suspicious, if they have taken any pictures or anything that could lead them to not only identify or learn more about the movements of the suspected suicide bombers, but also those who have masterminded these attacks.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Alessio Vinci, live from London.

Alessio, thank you.

Now to something that Alessio was touching on there. Here in the U.S., the FBI trying to undercover more information about that Egyptian biochemist Magdy El-Nashar. Our David Mattingly has been retracing El-Nashar's steps in Raleigh, North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The FBI would like to know what Egyptian national Magdy El-Nashar was doing during his time in Raleigh, North Carolina, particularly as a student in chemical engineering at North Carolina State. University officials tell us he was enrolled here briefly only in the spring of 2000 for that one semester. He was a graduate student in chemical engineering.

One person, a fellow Egyptian who knew him at the time, says El- Nashar during that time was - seemed to be a regular guy. Not someone who ever demonstrated any radical beliefs. They also said that El- Nashar has plans to go back to his native Cairo and to enroll in class in England to continue his education, something that apparently came true for him as we have now learned that he obtained a doctorate in biochemical engineering at the University of Leeds.

As for his footprint here, it was very slight. University officials say there was not even any photographic record of him when he attended college here. We went to his last known address, a very small apartment just off campus. We talked to his former property manage who tells us that she has turned over all of her old records to the FBI. But at this point, investigators on both sides of the Atlantic are unable to say exactly what connection, if any, he has to this case.

David Mattingly, CNN, Raleigh, North Carolina.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Now let's focus on a story that's making news here in the U.S. There is a new twist to the Karl Rove/CIA leak controversy. Latest reports indicating that the president's top political adviser may have actually learned the identity of a former CIA operative, Valerie Plame, from a reporter. That reporter, "Chicago Sun-Times" columnist and CNN political analyst Robert Novak. Both "The New York Times" and the Associated Press cite an unnamed source as saying Novak mentioned Plame's name after calling Rove and revealing she worked for the CIA.

More on this developing story and how it all plays out on Capitol Hill. Our Congressional Correspondent Ed Henry is here with us this morning.

Ed, good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

A lot of partisan sniping here in the Senate yesterday about Karl Rove, even though it was supposed to be a bipartisan day where both sides were saying they were going to come together to increase transit security funding here in the United States in the wake of the London bombings. But instead, since the debate was about homeland security, Democrats pounced on a political opportunity to try to beat up on Rove again and raise questions about whether or not he violated national security.

Things turned pretty ugly fast, starting when Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer invited Joe Wilson, the husband of Valerie Plame Wilson, to the Capitol for a press conference in which Joe Wilson once again charged that Karl Rove engineered a political dirty trick. Republican senators responded in kind, held a press conference in which they raised questions about Wilson's credibility. Also said he was the one who is actually smearing Karl Rove.

The tit for tat continued when the Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid then went to the Senate floor. Democrats introduced an amendment to the homeland security bill targeting any government official who had outed a CIA operative. That official, in particular Rove, that's who they were targeting, would lose their security clearance. But Republican Leader Bill Frist responded in kind with a different amendment that basically said, anyone who mishandles sensitive FBI information would also lose their security clearance. That was aimed directly at Harry Reid and Dick Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate who have faced allegations about mishandling FBI information.

The war of words escalated. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MINORITY LEADER: This is a coverup. It's abuse of power and it's a diversion. They have no interest, my friends, from coming clean and being honest with the American people. And the American people are seeing through this.

SEN. BILL FRIST, (r)) MAJORITY LEADER: The Democratic leadership chose raw partisan party politic over protect American lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So a lot of hot air flying around.

But the bottom line is that both of the Rove-related amendments failed. But the overall homeland security bill actually passed with the increased mass transit security funding that I had mentioned. All of the finger pointing, though, led the Homeland Security Chairwoman, Susan Collins, to charge that this is the very reason why the public tends to hold Congress and very low esteem.

And, in fact, at 11:00 this morning, the Senate Republican Wit (ph) Mitch McConnell, is planning to take to the Senate floor, talk about the Supreme Court process of upcoming over Sandra Day O'Connor's seat and call for civility in that process. After yesterday, a lot of people wondering whether there really will be civility.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes, probably not a lot of wondering. More expectation than anything.

Ed Henry on Capitol Hill, thank you. And thank you for bringing up the Supreme Court, because that's our next story.

And Chief Justice William Rehnquist hoping to put his retirement rumors to rest for now. Rehnquist has put out a statement saying he intends to stay on the Supreme Court. Our Bob Franken is outside Rehnquist's once and future workplace in Washington, D.C.

Hi, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello.

And as far as the prospect for civility, put that in the fat chance category.

But at least it's going to be a probable lack of civility over just one justice. Chief Justice William Rehnquist was known to be very unhappy with the fact that there were news cameras outside his house. As you can tell, the cameras were still there.

This is video we have of the chief justice leaving this morning. We can't confirm that he's come here to the court. You can see he's in a wheelchair. He gets into the limousine and then heads out. We're hoping that he comes to - we're expecting that he's going to come to the Supreme Court. But as I said, we can't confirm that yet.

He put out a statement last night. Call it petulant or not. Here's what it said. "I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement. I am not about to announce my retirement. I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits."

So when the Supreme Court reconvenes in October, chief justice, by every predication, will continue to be William Rehnquist, unless there's a turn for the worst with his health. But we have that ninth seat to fill. Sandra Day O'Connor is going to resign and he talked about her taking on the chief justice role is certainly moot now. There's going to be a hearing sometime later this summer, after the president make his nomination known. He's taking his time on that. No timetable for his announcement.

As I said, the one thing we can expect is, after the announcement, the battle lines will be drawn.

Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Bob Franken in front of the Supreme Court. Thank you.

No movement to tell you about in Florida. Still stalled on the launchpad. Coming up next, a look at what's keeping space shuttle Discovery from blasting off.

And heavy rains turned Houston streets into rivers of misery. And there is more rain to come for south Texas.

Later, he is a one-legged man competing if a triathlon against Olympic medalists. He has an inspiring journey. He'll be with me live to discuss that and his special gift.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's check the weather. Hot, dry weather in the west is fueling wildfires. In Acton, California, which is about 15 miles northeast of L.A., a fire erupted late Thursday. At one point, about 50 homes were threatened. There are no reports of injuries or damage so far. And officials hope to have that fire full contained later today.

Crews are working to reign in a 20,000 acre wildfire south of Tucson, Arizona. Hundreds of firefighters are on the scene. That fire is close to a well-known observatory and a canyon popular with hikers.

Houston, you definitely have a problem. Pounding rains left parts of the city under water yesterday just before the start of rush hour. Stretches along Interstate 10 were flooded. Thousands were without power. And the city's fire department reports dozens of high water rescues. The area is expecting more storms later today.

If I'm right, Jill Brown, Hurricane Emily might be somewhere in that vicinity next week?

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Well speak of the weather, NASA says that Sunday's shuttle launch is still possible, but it is unlikely. Engineers are working to find the cause of a fuel sensor problem that grounded the mission earlier this week. If problems cannot be fixed, it could force the launch to be delayed until next week or even September.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is working without pay as governor of California, but he still is taking money from the bank, from fitness magazine, and is raising complaints from his critic. The full story is straight ahead on that.

Plus, CNN Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis joins us live. There she is moving and speaking, talking about saving some money of your own.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

Terror in London, terrible weather. Should you buy travel insurance this travel season? We'll tell you more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's go out and check out those Friday morning markets. They've been open about 51 minute. Not too happy this morning. You can see the Dow is down. Down 12 points. Well, down 10 there. Nasdaq also in negative territory. It is down six.

It's Friday. Let's talk vacation. Why not? England and Florida are two popular tourist destinations. They've also been in the news lately because of attacks in London and hurricane concerns in Florida. So should you consider travel insurance for your next trip? Our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is here with today's "Top Five Tips."

Hey, Ger.

WILLIS: Hey, Daryn. Good to see you. Happy Friday.

With these policies, the devil is in the details. They're typically written for people who are worried that illness or injury might prevent them from going on their expensive vacation or maybe a tour operator goes out of business. But these days people want to buy these policies because of fears of terrorism and, let's face it, bad weather, hurricanes.

But you have to be careful. Read the fine print here because in the case of terrorism, for example, there are many limits in these policies. They're pretty complicated. Read your policy. Typically, though, if the attack happens 30 days within your travel time, you may be covered.

Keep in mind, though, Daryn, this is important. For example, if you are planning to go to Amsterdam very close to the time of the London bombings, you probably wouldn't be covered even if you thought, boy, I just don't want to go to Europe right now, you would not be covered under most of these policies. For hurricanes, you can't get travel insurance after a hurricane is named, so you need to act beforehand. And the flights and hotels are still up and running, you've got to go because you're not covered.

KAGAN: Let's talk about other needs you might have, medical needs and extra medical insurance.

WILLIS: Typically, even if you're traveling internationally, the medical insurance, health insurance you have from your employer is going to cover you, so you probably don't need to get that bell and whistle. However, if you were retired and your coverage is Medicare, you will need to buy extra coverage because you won't be covered overseas.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Moving on. Shop around. Don't just buy the first policy that you see. WILLIS: Hey, these things are not inexpensive. These policies can cost you 8 percent of your trip. That's not nothing. So, you know, shop around. You want to make sure that you don't just ask your travel agent for the policy because they typically get paid commissions, so they may sell you extra bells and whistles just to make a little bit more money. You can compare prices online at insuremytrip.com.

And don't forget to ask your insurance agent whether they offer such coverage because they might be able to give you a good deal, too.

KAGAN: Should it matter what your destination is?

WILLIS: Well, typically, these are best bought for people who are going for a long, expensive, prepaid vacation overseas. So that's typically the best way to use it. If you're going to Chicago to see mom and dad, not a great idea. But if you've got a pretty extensive trip planned, you might want to think about it.

KAGAN: And finally, play detective.

WILLIS: If you're worried that the policy that you're being offered may not be up to snuff or you're worried about the issue or the underwriter of that policy, go to naic.org. That's the Web site for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. They can tell you if there are any complaints against the company. It's a great way to check it out just to make sure you're getting what you're paying for.

KAGAN: Absolutely. Gerri Willis, thank you. Have a great weekend.

WILLIS: Thank you.

KAGAN: Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY, more bombs rocked Baghdad. But amidst the daily dose of violence and mounting death toll in Iraq, we're going to take a look at how everyday life still manages to go on.

Plus, he was born with a deformed leg. One athlete from Ghana beats the odds at home, gains the attention of Oprah Winfrey and it's an inspiring story you will not want to miss. He is my guest just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Welcome back. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

A new development in the London terror bombings investigation. Egyptian security source says Cairo police have detained a man wanted for questioning in connection with the case. The sources identify the man as Magdy El-Nashar, a biochemist. We're told the FBI has joined the investigation of El-Nashar for he studied for a short time at North Carolina State University. New information today about Karl Rove and the CIA operative leak. "The New York Times" and the Associated Press reporting that Rove was telephoned two years ago by Columnist Robert Novak. Rove reportedly was told Valerie Plame's name and CIA identity to which he reportedly replied, I heard that too. A special prosecutor is looking into the leak. It is against the law to knowingly reveal the identity of a covert operative.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist wants to put to end any speculation about his plans. In a he statement released last night, he said he will stay on at the Supreme Court for as long as his health allow. Rehnquist was back home Thursday from a two-day hospital stay. The justice has thyroid cancer and was being treated for a fever.

And Hurricane Emily has grown into a category four storm. The hurricane is now headed for Jamaica. Forecasters say it could come ashore with up to 18 feet of storm surge and dump as much as 15 inches of rain in some places. It's too early to tell about a possible U.S. landfall.

To Iraq now. It is now one month until the deadline for a constitution to be written and insurgents are still determined to undermine the new government. Three suicide car bombings struck Baghdad today. The U.S. military says at least 20 Iraqis died, 15 civilians and five soldiers. In describing terrorists targeting children, one American colonel says, there are no bounds to their immorality.

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