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CNN Live Today
U.S. Airlines Remain on Alert; Earthquake in Mexico
Aired August 11, 2006 - 10:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. airlines remain on alert, especially for commercial flights arriving from the United Kingdom. That security level has been bumped up from high to severe, the highest rung on the threat ladder.
The view from London's Heathrow Airport. Let's get that right now with Isha Sesay.
Isha, hello.
ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there.
Well, we can tell you that Heathrow Airport is open for business as usual this Friday, but the scene as much as it was yesterday, a sea of people cramming those terminal buildings, and we are looking at long cues, we're looking at delays, and we're looking at cancellation, which I'm sure a lot of the viewers this morning have heard already. I mean, the situation, Daryn, this is the busiest international airport in the world. Over 600 flights were canceled in and out of Heathrow yesterday, so the backlog is quite substantial.
Now, the airport authorities are doing all they can to get people through those lines as quickly as they can, but it is taking time. We spoke to someone a little bit earlier, and we getting some kind of guide that it was taking roughly two hours to get through these new measures that have been put in place.
Now what we know, of course, is that you aren't allowed to take handbaggage onto the aircraft. You have to check it all in. And of course they are preventing passengers from taking any liquid, any liquid unless it's absolutely essential onboard those planes, and if you're a mother and you're taking milk for your child, you have to prove to authorities that that is indeed what you have in that bottle -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Isha, it seems like there are even more flights that were canceled today from the U.K. into the U.S. than yesterday.
SESHAY: Well, Daryn, the situation is with those flights being canceled yesterday, that a number of the aircraft just aren't in the right place, so the (INAUDIBLE) effect is being felt quite severely today. Authorities say they are trying very hard to get the situation back to normal, but it could take a good couple of days into early next week before things are back to normal, if I can say that.
KAGAN: Yes, very good point. It's kind of like a domino effect; when you start canceling the planes and flights on one side it takes everything out of place for future flights.
Isha Sesay, thank you so much.
Well, terror and travel in London is our topic ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because there has been a plotted terrorist attack against this airport, and I'm just standing there alone at 6:00 in the morning, thinking like, oh my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Alina Cho reports on a student's frightening flight home. See it on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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KAGAN: We're getting word from Mexico City that people have felt an earthquake there. No word on the strength of what this earthquake would be that was felt in Mexico City, but they are saying that skyscrapers have been swaying and some buildings have been evacuated. More information about what's happening in Mexico City as it comes into us here at CNN.
(NEWSBREAK)
KAGAN: That takes us to Southern Lebanon now, a city that has been hard hit by this conflict, Tyre, Lebanon, where we find our Karl Penhaul.
Karl, hello.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, I want to take you to some live pictures. There's some heavy pounding going on to an area about four miles south of where we are, a village there. As you can see in the last few moments we heard three, possibly four explosions going into that area. You can see the effects of that now, those huge plumes of smoke and dust rising into the air there. That coupled with the sound of Israeli fighter planes swirling overhead, unclear what the targets are. But what I can tell you is that was also the target of sustained Israeli attack in the course of the morning. Also throughout the day we've seen strikes by Israeli artillery and also by Naval gunboats which are off Lebanon's coast here.
Along with this, this area being pounded, it kind of coincides with comments that I received from one Lebanese military intelligence source, and he said that according to his sources Hezbollah may be moving up longer-range rockets into the area around Tyre, and that may be what Israelis are trying to target. But also United Nations troops have been targeted in the last 24 hours. We have had reports from them in a press statement that a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket fell onto Nakora (ph) base. That's the main U.N. base, a little south of where we are now. One French soldier was slightly wounded in that, according to the United Nations. And then earlier this morning, as the United Nations tried to move one of its armored personnel carrier up the coast, that, too, came under small-arms fire from Hezbollah. Although no reports of any wounded there.
As you can see from the live pictures putting up for you, continued heavy bombardment, again, about three or four miles south of where we are in a coastal plain, leading up to a very strategic hilly ridge there -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Well, Karl, if you can, explain this to me -- how would Hezbollah be able to move new missiles into Tyre, but humanitarian aid agencies can't get help and needed food into the area?
All right. Well, it seems like Karl is not able to hear me right now. But you know what, I'm really interested in that question, so we'll work on getting him back and see if he can answer that for us.
Meanwhile, more news as we check on what is happening in Mexico City. Word of a very strong earthquake that was felt in the Mexico capital. They're saying that skyscrapers have been swaying and some of the buildings have been evacuated. The strength of the earthquake not immediately known, nor whether there was any casualties. But we'll work on getting pictures and more information to you here at CNN.
(NEWSBREAK)
KAGAN: Air travel can be stressful on a regular day -- what it's like flying during a major terror investigation?
Our Alina Cho has one young woman's journey coming home from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By the time British Airways Flight 117 landed at New York's JFK Airport, nearly three hours late, passenger Sarah Kirk was more than ready to tell the story of the most unusual trip of her life.
SARAH KIRK, BRITISH AIRWAYS PASSENGER: See said, because there has been a plotted terrorist attack against this airport -- and I'm just standing there, alone at 6:00 in the morning, you know, thinking, like, oh, my God.
CHO: The 19-year-old college student arrived at London's Heathrow Airport early this morning, completely unaware of the alleged terror plot. Then, she noticed something strange.
SARAH KIRK: They started handing out pamphlets, you know, in a -- in a very disorganized manner, and I knew something was up.
CHO: That was the first clue -- the second, the unusually tight security. SARAH KIRK: So, I finally made it through security. And I was -- I was -- the whole nine yards, I mean, touched to a point where I had never been touched before.
CHO: Once she made it through the checkpoint, Sarah was at the gate and watching TV. That's when she learned that flights like the one she was just about to board might have been terrorist targets.
SARAH KIRK: I don't mean to sound over-dramatic, but I was really scared, seeing that news.
CHO: It was not enough to keep her off the flight. She was told that she could board only with her wallet and passport. So, before authorities took her cell phone, she left a message with her mom.
SARAH KIRK: The first thing I said is: I'm OK. I'm OK. I'm OK.
SUSIE KIRK, MOTHER OF SARAH KIRK: I just thought, how scary.
CHO: Susie Kirk was on the other side of the ocean, watching the news, and waiting for her daughter.
(on camera): What was that like, the moment you saw her?
SUSIE KIRK: I was very teary. I burst into tears. I was so relieved.
CHO: How happy are you to be back on U.S. soil?
SARAH KIRK: Oh, my gosh, so happy.
CHO (voice-over): Happy to be home with family, hesitant to fly again any time soon.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: You can catch more of Alina's reports on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," weeknights at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.
Want to hear from you. If you're at the airport this morning caught behind a long line, make use of that cell phone or camera and then e-mail us your video and pictures. Just go to CNN.com, send an I-Report, and join the world's most powerful news team.
The details sound eerily familiar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The plan according to the 9/11 Commission report was to detonate liquid explosives on U.S. commercial jumbo jets over a two-day period.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KAGAN: Joe Johns ON what investigators can learn from a 1990s plot that did not get off the ground back then.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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KAGAN: Coming up, we're going to have the latest for you on the alleged terror plot aboard planes headed here to the U.S.
Also a really strong earthquake has been felt in Mexico City. The latest on that straight ahead. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We're starting to get more information about this strong earthquake that was felt in Mexico City.
Fredricka Whitfield has the latest on that -- Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Strong earthquake being felt in Mexico City, so much so that it really did strike the fear in a lot of resident there. So many residents were seen running out of buildings there in downtown Mexico City, running into the streets wondering what was going on.
Well, immediately following these reports, we had seen nothing on the U.S. Geological Survey Web site about the magnitude of this earthquake, exactly where the epicenter just might be.
Well, just within minutes we learned some new information now on that. Our Chad Myers has been following it since the reports immediately came out.
And, Chad, what are we learning?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Actually what I did to start with, Fred, I went to the seismographs that are realtime. We have them in California, and we can look at them, whether there is actually shake or not. And I know California is a long way from Mexico City. But if see shaking in California on the realtime seismographs, then we know there was a pretty significant shake, pretty significant quake.
Well, here is 7:00 a.m. local time, Pacific Time. And if follow the line across, every line is 15 minutes. So if you get to about this point, this is 7:30. 7:30, 7:31, 7:35:30 Pacific Time there was a big shake right there.
Well, I'll take you back over this monitor here. This monitor here shows you what was actually going on. From Mexico City and west of Mexico City is now that red dot. A little hard for you to see. But it was a couple -- maybe I would say 100 miles, 125 or so miles just to the southwest of Mexico City. And now we know that it is a preliminary number is 5.9 from the USGS, from the Geological Survey. Now that number sometimes changes. That number sometimes goes up.
And when we first new about the Banda Aceh back in the tsunami a couple of years ago, we thought that was an 8.9. Well, clearly, now we know it was a much larger quake than that.
So this number may go up or down, but certainly some big shaking going on in Mexico with this -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Chad.
We're going to continue to watch that. And of course right now, Daryn, we're hearing of no reports of injuries and no damage to any of the buildings, just that people certainly were frightened from what they felt and responded by running out of these tall buildings and into the streets.
KAGAN: Understandable. I'm also seeing on the wires more encouraging news, the electricity fine and the phone service in Mexico City working, as well, because I know there are a lot of folks here in the U.S. who will want to call back to family.
WHITFIELD: And that's good to know for now.
KAGAN: See how everyone is doing.
Absolutely. Fred, thank you.
We'll get back to the latest on the plane plot story, and also to the latest on the crisis in the Middle East. There could be a vote today at the U.N. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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