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American Morning
New Times Square Arrests: 3 Pakistani "Money Men" in Custody; How Much Oil Spill Put Into Question; If You Sell It...; Facebook Privacy Troubles; Is NRA Bulletproof?; NYC on Edge; NASA Launching Atlantis at 2:20 ET; McGwire Loses Namesake Highway
Aired May 14, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the Most News in the Morning. And thanks so much for joining us on this Friday, the 14th of May. I'm John Roberts.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. Kiran Chetry is off today. Here are the big stories we'll be following in the next 15 minutes.
A multi-state raid. Federal agents arresting three more suspects in the attempted Times Square bombing. What role they may have played in that bomb attack and how many more people could be involved.
ROBERTS: The oil spill that we've been following for more than a couple of weeks in the gulf now may be 14 -- get that -- 14 times worse than anyone feared. That from an engineering professor from Purdue who has written a book on flow measurement. He studied this videotape of the gusher and says BP's estimates simply do not add up.
ROMANS: And the NRA is on a roll. Some 70,000 people are expected to attend its annual convention this weekend. The gun lobby says it has reason to celebrate. Do they have the president and other political leaders on the run?
ROBERTS: And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running this morning. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
ROMANS: But we begin this morning with three new arrests in the Times Square bomb plot. The alleged money man all from Pakistan.
ROBERTS: The raids were carried out in at least four northeastern states, from just outside of Philadelphia to just outside of Boston. The Feds say two men there had direct links to the man who drove the car bomb into New York City. Our Susan Candiotti has been following this story all day and all night, and she joins us now with the very latest.
You were up late last night. Just not a lot of leads.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I was, I was. And in this case involving the arrest, we don't really know whether the people that were arrested knew exactly what was going on about the whole plot. But you know, as the saying goes, in a lot of investigations, you follow the money. And in the failed Times Square bomb plot, they're not only doing that. The FBI and other agencies are chasing down a zillion threats to piece together this thing from start to finish.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Following the accused would-be bomber's money trail took investigators to Massachusetts, where two Pakistani men were taken into custody near Boston while most people were sleeping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard a man who said FBI, hold your hands up. Take (ph) your hands up.
CANDIOTTI: Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents say the men are charged with overstaying their visas, but do they know more about possibly funneling money from overseas to accused Times Square plotter Faisal Shahzad. A home was searched for clues that sources say may involve couriers called (INAUDIBLE). There's usually no paper trail and couriers seldom know what the money is for.
Following more leads, agents also hit a gas station outside Boston and searched a car there. Another team focused on two homes on Long Island, New York, but no arrests there. The tentacles (ph) also touched southern New Jersey, where the FBI raided a print shop in Camden and a home of a man who owns it in Cherry Hill. Two brothers were questioned but not taken into custody.
MUHAMMAD FIAEZ, CHERRY HILL RESIDENT: Just start to (INAUDIBLE) me and my brother (INAUDIBLE) maybe it's some common name has showed up (INAUDIBLE). That's why they come in and just asked me regular questions.
CANDIOTTI: A federal law enforcement source says agents are tracing who Shahzad who talked to, met with, where he went. Every step he allegedly took to build a car bomb is being documented. Prosecutors say some of the information is provided by Shahzad himself and the accused terrorist hasn't clammed up yet.
PREET BHARARA, U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN NEW YORK: Faisal Shahzad is still cooperating. He's being interviewed and questioned by agents and has been since the day he was taken into custody.
CANDIOTTI: And one more bonus, when President Obama met Thursday with New York police investigators, an official photo was taken. If you zoom past the president, we get our first look at the suspect's presumed getaway car that he couldn't use. Here's its key that sources say the forgetful suspect left behind in his smoking bomb SUV in Times Square and the VIN number from that SUV that helped track him down in 53 hours.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: And prosecutors tell us none of the raids indicate there's any additional threat that they are aware of. ROMANS: Do prosecutors tell us when we may finally have him in court? When is the next thing, the next event for him that we might be able to see Faisal Shahzad?
CANDIOTTI: To see him for the first time in court. Well, they say as long as he keeps on talking, they'll keep on listening. And once he stops or he stops writing information that is useful, that's when he'll make his first court appearance.
ROBERTS: Susan Candiotti this morning with the latest. Good to see you this morning. Thanks.
CANDIOTTI: Thank you.
ROMANS: And late last night, another scare in New York City. The NYPD blocked off several streets around Union Square after someone called in a suspicious parked car with gas cans inside. A bomb squad blew out the windows. It turns out this guy loans the car, just lawn (ph) work. New York City police say there's been a 30 percent jump in suspicious package calls in the past couple of weeks. Allan Chernoff will have more at 6:30 Eastern Time.
ROBERTS: New York City right now at the center of a fight over money to prevent terrorism. We told you yesterday, New York lawmakers say the Feds are cutting funds to keep the city safe. The White House insists that their math is wrong. And during a visit with the city's police force yesterday, President Obama promised federal support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The country is proud of you. I know your mayor and your commissioner are proud. Your president is proud of you. And we want to make sure that we continue to work with you to get the resources that you need for you to continue to be effective and to make sure that federal agencies are consistently working with you with --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And after visiting with the NYPD, the president headlined a fundraiser at $50,000 a couple.
ROMANS: Meanwhile, the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, says it doesn't matter whether or not the city is getting more federal dollars. He said the recent Times Square bombing attempt only means one thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: The numbers are the numbers. The question is not did we get an increase. The question is, did we get our fair share? And is it adequate to keep this city safe? And those are --
I just said, you will never find the mayor of New York City saying that it's adequate. We would always say we want more because there's no easy answer to how much security is enough. If nobody strikes, you don't know whether you had too much. But if somebody strikes, clearly you had to little.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Mayor Bloomberg says President Obama has assured him the administration understands New York City remains a prime target for terrorists.
Coming up in a little more than 30 minutes, given the recent homegrown terror attempts on New York City, is the U.S. behind when it comes to this emerging threat? We'll talk with Sajjan Gohel, a terrorist analyst, and Chris Voss. He worked with New York City's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
ROBERTS: Five thousand barrels of oil a day spewing into the sea. We've been hearing that number from BP for weeks now.
ROMANS: It's now day 25 of the disaster in the gulf. As bad as $5,000 gallons a day sounds, it may be even worse. One expert is claiming the spill rate is as much worse, 14 times worse.
ROBERTS: Yes, as much as 70,000 barrels a day. And there's a stunning report in the "New York Times" today. It says that BP was given permission by the federal government to drill this well in the gulf without the required environmental permits.
ROMANS: And now BP is putting a new plan in place to stop the spill. They're trying to stick a pipe in it.
ROBERTS: Might as well stick a fork in it at this point. Reynolds Wolf is live in Gulfport, Mississippi this morning. OK, Reynolds, so a pipe within a pipe within a pipe, how is this all supposed to work?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, it's kind of hard to wrap our mind around it, isn't it? It's a little bit of a Jacques Cousteau (ph) meets "Star Wars." What they plan on doing, John, is taking some undersea robot and they're going to use these undersea robots and actually insert a six-inch pipe into the 21-inch pipe. And the game plan is to siphon that oil, to bypass and feed it from the surface. There they're going to put on a big container vessel or oil vessel, the tanker, and then push it over to shore.
Now, that's not the only plan they have. They know that doing this is going to be a tough endeavor. I mean, come on, let's be honest, guys. Take a look at that video.
You see the natural gas coming out mixed with that crude. It's like trying to place a dandelion into a tornado, for heaven's sake. So that's option number one.
The second option is take a smaller containment dome, put it over the leak and then the same rules apply. They siphon it into the surface. The third option is what we've been talking about and referring to as the junk shot, which is basically like getting a giant shotgun and instead of using pellets, the pellets would be golf balls, pieces of rubber, pieces of tire, and they would try to clog it. And think of say, a giant cut on your arm. It would be almost like the effect of having a compress. You have first aid. Of course, the items we talk about, the golf balls, the tires were not.
But then they would take a layer of mud and put that right on top of it and then cap that off with a layer of concrete. So those are the three options that they're looking at today. The first one, of course, the pipe, the six-inch pipe, this one will take place today. And I'm sure all eyes are watching that very carefully. As soon as we get some information, we're definitely going to pass it on. But keeping our fingers crossed on that one.
ROMANS: You know, Reynolds Wolf, we're hearing from some experts at least that based on this video that was released yesterday, the flow of oil may be much greater than originally estimated.
WOLF: That's where it gets pretty interesting. There's professor from Purdue University named Steve Wereley. He writes a book on the flow rate of liquids. And he says that he's able to determine how much oil is coming out. He was actually on "ANDERSON COOPER" just last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC 360": So the estimate of 5,000 gallons a day, you have no doubt that is way, way low?
STEVE WERELEY, PROFESSOR, PURDUE UNIVERSITY (via telephone): Right. Yes.
COOPER: And you think it could be as high as 70,000?
WERELEY: Well, I calculate from the video, which is just a snapshot in time, right. So for that particular 30 seconds that the video is running, the flow out of the pipe was 70,000 gallons per day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: No surprise BP is going to stick with the earlier estimate of 5,000 barrels per day. They're basing that upon the information given to them by NOAA and by the Coast Guard. BP also mentioned that their interest is not knowing how much comes out, but their interest is stopping the leak altogether. Let's send it back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: Hey, Reynolds, just a point of clarification here again. Both Anderson and the fellow from Purdue said gallons. I think they meant barrels, isn't it?
WOLF: I believe it was barrels. That's right. Seventy -- 70,000 barrels per day. Hard to believe. ROMANS: All right, Reynolds Wolf. It's been tough because there's been a lot of switching back and forth between barrels and gallons depending on how you do the calculations.
ROBERTS: Yes. So 5,000 barrels is 200,000 gallons.
ROMANS: It's a lot of oil.
ROBERTS: It certainly is.
ROMANS: All right. President Obama will meet with cabinet members and senior officials this morning to discuss the spill. He'll hold a news conference afterward at 11:50 Eastern. You can see that right here on CNN.
And in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING, we'll be asking the tough questions when we're joined live by Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan gains ground in her quest for confirmation. Her second day of meetings on Capitol Hill ended with Massachusetts's new GOP Senator Scott Brown, quote, "satisfied that Kagan supports the military." Kagan faced criticism for attempting to bar recruiters from Harvard's Office of Career Services when she was the dean at the school of law. She also picked up support from Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins after Kagan said she considers Roe v. Wade to be, quote, "settled law."
ROMANS: NASA says it's all systems go for a scheduled launch of the space shuttle Atlantis this morning. The six-astronaut crew is slated to blast off at 2:20 Eastern at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. They're taking a cargo carrier and a Russian-built research module to the International Space Station. After this mission, there's just two more left before NASA retires that shuttle fleet.
ROMANS: And the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, is forming a task force to fight what she calls "mistruths" about her state's new immigration law. The governor says a group of tourism officials and business leaders will come up with a strategy to deal with all the criticism that her state has been facing.
ROMANS: And the tiny town of Jackson, New York, population, 1,700, has officially designated English as its official language. Jackson is located about 200 miles north of New York City. And even though it's 2,500 miles northeast of Mexico and 98 percent of its population is made up of English-speaking whites, the people of Jackson decided they needed to make their own statement about immigration reform, mandating all official business in the town now must be conducted in English.
ROMANS: Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, the American at the center of an adoption controversy in Haiti is sentenced. That story coming up next.
ROMANS: And here's a quick look at the weather around the country. Severe storms from the plains to the northeast. Flash floods possible in parts of Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Reynolds Wolf will be back in our next half hour with a full forecast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. It's 15 minutes past the hour. A quick check of other stories new this morning.
Prosecutors in Haiti want an American missionary to get six months in prison. Laura Silsby has been in jail in Haiti for nearly four months. She was arrested along with nine other American missionaries who were later released.
They were accused of trying to illegally take 33 Haitian children out of the country after January's earthquake.
ROBERTS: Anna Nicole Smith's dresses, paintings and Marilyn Monroe memorabilia will be auctioned off in Las Vegas next month. Smith's former boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, says money from the sale will go to charity and a trust fund for the couple's daughter, Dannielynn.
ROMANS: And a real life cliff hanger for the crime series "Law and Order". A new report says NBC may cancel the show after 20 seasons. That would be just shy of surpassing "Gunsmoke" as TV's longest-running drama.
The network will announce its fall lineup on Monday.
ROBERTS: Well, if you sell it, they will come, and it is priced to sell. The regulation baseball diamond right smack in the middle of a cornfield, the popular tourist destination, just ignore the whispering coming from cornfield. It was the Field of Dreams, made famous in the 1989 film, is now being sold.
Millions of people have visited the movie's site over the past two decades. The owners, though, say they're ready to retire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY LANSING, FIELD OF DREAMS OWNER: We have absolutely been given a gift, the gift of a -- a national landmark being in our front yard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Reports say the price tag for the Field of Dreams and the rest the property, which is 193 acres, $5.4 million.
ROMANS: I think it's been in their family for like a hundred years. I'm from Iowa. I've never been there. People always say, oh --
ROBERTS: A hundred and ninety-three acres in Iowa worth $5.4 million?
ROMANS: I don't know. A handful of Iowa dirt is priceless.
All right, still to come on the Most -- John, it's going to be a long morning. On the Most News in the Morning --
ROBERTS: It's getting a little deep in here --
ROMANS: Facebook taking a --
ROBERTS: -- with dirt.
ROMANS: Among other things.
Facebook taking a second look at its privacy rule. Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business" and your privacy on Facebook, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour. We're "Minding Your Business" this morning.
How about this, gold to go? It's a new ATM kiosk at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. You feed cash into it and you get small gold coins or bars that weigh up to about 10 grams. The machine itself is even gold plated, if you can believe that.
The manufacturer says that in addition to cash, they're soon going to take ATM cards. You'll be able to get your gold on the go wherever you go, cash or no cash.
ROMANS: There you go.
All right, Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business". Yesterday we talked about gold, which is, you know --
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Where do you go with a bar of gold? What -- what do you do with it afterwards?
ROMANS: You -- you've got to make sure you're wearing a belt, because, you know, fill up your pockets with too much gold, you get in (ph) trouble.
ELAM: Yes.
ROBERTS: Flip somebody your gold coin.
ELAM: Great job. Here's a gold coin. OK. Whatever works.
Yes, we're talking about a little bit of privacy today. We're going to go from gold to privacy today because Facebook is once again at the center of some concern for a lot of users out there about how secure the site is and how much they're protecting information about those users. So they are updating their security.
So let's take a look at some of the things that they're planning on doing here. They say that you can now get alerts when you get -- when your account is accessed by a new device, and you can also ask for verification if there's unusual activity or logins, like let's say you have a login that's here in the United States and a login that's in, say, Canada at the same time. I just picked a neighborly country here because John's right here.
But some of these changes are already intact (ph). You can get these e-mails, these text alerts. Some of them are still being tested. The interesting thing, though, you have to opt in to get these changes.
ROMANS: Right.
ELAM: These are not things (ph) that come up just because, you know, you -- you should get these security things. You have to opt in to them.
The other thing is remember this open graph issue that they just launched so that -- CNN.Money -- cnn.com is one of the sites that is a partner with this. But if you like something --
ROBERTS: This is the thing to enhance your Facebook experience?
ELAM: Right. So if you like something and you could go and log on to -- to the site, you'll say, like, hey, look, Christine likes this story too.
ROBERTS: Yes. Because it shares all your information with everyone, right?
ELAM: That has freaked out some people. They don't like the fact that all of their information is out there. So this is getting some people to perhaps cut their relationship with Facebook.
But one other thing I want to show you, because we do have a very lovely graph that is here, Facebook has also gone up the list as far as a target of phishers. So take a look at this. It is -- Paypal is obviously number one, but Facebook is now number four of being the -- the phishing target there.
So suspicious logins that are going there. So it just shows you that there's a lot of people who are concerned about their safety and they're concerned about their privacy and they want Facebook to make it more clear on what their policies are.
ROMANS: Because it's complicated -- and even though you -- we're told over and over again, oh, we have all these privacy settings. You can go and you can say -- the privacy settings are confusing, if you're not 12, and I'm not, you know?
ELAM: Yes.
ROMANS: I mean, if you go on there and try to figure out how to make sure people can --
ELAM: And if you want to delete your account, that's also very hard, (INAUDIBLE) people --
ROBERTS: Well, you can't -- you can't actually delete it, unless -- unless you contact them --
ELAM: It's very hard to do, though. Most of the time it just deactivates, so it keeps all of your data, all of your pictures, and then -- in case you want to come back, so that's the difference there.
But, really, the issue here is that people are feeling like, look, you've got over 400,000 users, I think --
ROMANS: Or a million (ph).
ROBERTS: How many -- how man user names and passwords do you think we all have out there?
ROMANS: I don't even know the ones I (INAUDIBLE).
ELAM: Well, that's the problem. For each site, you got to remember what your name is and your password and you try to do different things for each one, right? So it can get a little confusing.
ROMANS: All that information. I mean, somebody once told me that all of our financial information exists in 5,000 different computer databases on average around the world. Think of that.
ROBERTS: The -- the pressures of life in the world of technology. It might make you worried sick.
ELAM: That's later in the program --
ROBERTS: I just happen to have a book here. We're going to be talking to the author of this, Carol Ward (ph), in the third hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
So all of this stuff is stressing you out --
ELAM: All right.
ROBERTS: -- she's got really good tips here on how to deal with them.
ROMANS: Stephanie Elam. Thanks, Stephanie.
ELAM: Sure.
ROBERTS: By the way, how much -- you know, we're buying gold in that machine, right?
ELAM: Yes.
ROBERTS: Like 10 grams. Now, the gold bars, how much do you think a gold bar is worth?
ELAM: Oh, we should find out. No, that's a good question, because we know what it is by an ounce. It's about 12-something, 1,200.
ROBERTS: You know, you figure probably roughly (ph) 1,300, right, the way it went up?
ELAM: Yes.
ROMANS: Yes.
ROBERTS: A 44-pound bar of gold, $915,000.
ROMANS: Really? Wow.
ELAM: Wow. (INAUDIBLE) with John Roberts.
ROMANS: I got to dig those out of my basement. They're worth something now.
ELAM: Oh, you have some? They're taken (ph) out there? Federal Reserve, Christine Romans, right here.
ROMANS: Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, a Second Amendment celebration. The NRA expecting a record crowd in its annual convention this weekend. They have Washington on the run.
Carol Costello with a -- a "Gut Check" just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Time for an "A.M. Original", something you'll only see here on AMERICAN MORNING.
The National Rifle Association is living large these days. Armed with key political victories, the group's annual meeting this weekend is more like a celebration, leading some to ask, is the NRA bulletproof?
Carol Costello has a "Gut Check". She's live in Washington.
Hi, Carol. Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.
The National Rifle Association is expecting a record crowd, 70,000 at its annual meeting. There it will outline its goals for the future, up its membership to five million, launching the get out to vote campaign and continue promoting Second Amendment rights.
The NRA, as you said, Christine, is celebrating a very good year, and there are some who say the gun rights lobby has never been stronger. Is it true?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): If you ask Ted Nugent, the National Rifle Association has anti-gunners on the run, with President Obama leading the pack.
TED NUGENT, NRA BOARD MEMBER: We know that President Obama is against the NRA, but he's not going to speak about that because it's been political suicide for those who've stood up in the past.
COSTELLO: Nugent, famous rocker and NRA board member, will likely say that at the NRA's annual meeting this weekend. And why not? Mr. Obama isn't fighting hard for gun control. He signed bills that allowed guns in national parks and on Amtrak trains, bills the NRA loves.
So does the NRA have politicians on the run?
MICHAEL MASLANSKY, MARKETING STRATEGUST: If the NRA or gun rights isn't a signature issue for them, then in many ways they're better off going with the NRA, getting their support or avoiding their opposition as opposed to raising their ire.
COSTELLO: That's not to say the NRA is all powerful. Senator Bob Bennett had a high NRA rating and lost Utah's primary. Dan Coats is opposed by the NRA but won the Indiana primary.
But in politics, perception is often reality. That's why pictures of politicians holding guns are as ubiquitous is politicians kissing babies.
MICHAEL BROWN, WASHINGTON D.C. COUNCILMAN: I mean, we know what -- what the NRA is capable of.
COSTELLO: Michael Brown, a councilman in Washington D.C., is fighting a federal bill backed by the NRA. It would nullify D.C.'s ban on semi automatic weapons.
NUGENT: It's really quite simple, Carol. Tell my -- tell your friends in D.C. that gun-free zones are murder capitals.
BROWN: It's the kind of logic that we don't need here in the District of Columbia. I know it's a political year. But the NRA shouldn't be able to run roughshod over members of Congress.
COSTELLO (voice-over): This week, Brown's city hall intern, Alonte Sutton, was shot to death, allegedly by an acquaintance because he refused to give the man's girlfriend a ride. He was 18. But it's unlikely that tragedy will resonate for gun control advocates. Attempted terror attacks in Detroit and New York coupled with a high level of government distrust is exactly the climate in which the NRA's message thrives.
NUGENT: Here's an alert from Uncle Ted. The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights is about Americans. It's about all of us being individual and having individual freedoms and liberties.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: On tap to speak this weekend, Sarah Palin, who is appearing free of charge. Also on tap, governors and lawmakers, both Republican and Democratic -- and yes, there will be the latest merchandise on hand for gun enthusiasts to enjoy and, of course, to buy, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Carol Costello -- thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, if you want to comment, CNN.com/amFIX. We always like to hear what you say after a gut check this morning.
ROMANS: I can't imagine you'll get any comments on a gut check on gun rights, Carol.
COSTELLO: Really?
ROMANS: I'm sure we're going to get a lot of great comments. Thanks, Carol.
ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour, it's time for this morning's top stories.
Questions are being raised today just about how much oil is really spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. B.P. has been saying it's 210,000 gallons a day. But one expert says that's not even close, claiming 2.9 million gallons a day is more like it.
ROMANS: Thailand's capital a virtual war zone this morning. The military is trying to push back anti-government protesters with bullets and tear gas. The violence is escalating after the opposition leader was shot in the head yesterday. Doctors say his chances for survival are quite low. So far, two people have died, 13 have been injured, including a Canadian journalist.
ROBERTS: New developments, more arrests in the attempted Times Square bombing. Three Pakistanis that the feds say helped get money to the man who drove a Pathfinder packed with explosives into New York City. Raids were conducted in at least four states.
ROMANS: Another scare late last night in New York City. The NYPD called in after a suspicious car with gas cans inside was spotted just a block from popular and crowded Union Square.
ROBERTS: A bomb squad blew out the windows of the car and checked what was inside. But there was never any real danger, just another example of a city on edge after the failed Times Square bombing.
Our Allan Chernoff joins us live this morning with your security watch.
Allan, what was -- what was the story with this car? What was that all about?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: John, the owner of the car was enjoying the Buzzcocks concert over at the Fillmore Concert Hall. His vehicle was parked a block away right across the street in front of the Con Ed building. You know, the Con Ed is the main utility here in New York City. Well, these sorts of investigations, they are becoming almost routine, clearly a city on edge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF (voice-over): This lunch sack and shopping bag closed Times Square. For more than an hour last Friday, three blocks were shuttered as the NYPD bomb squad investigated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police want to be particularly cautious now.
CHERNOFF: And uncovered water bottles inside the small cooler.
DEPUTY COMM. PAUL BROWNE, NEW YORK POLICE: An abandoned property turned out not to be a threat. And we reopened the street.
CHERNOFF: It's been happening frequently. Tuesday night, again, Times Square was evacuated -- another suspicious package that turned out to be nothing.
Separately, an abandoned truck caused the closure of the RFK- Triborough Bridge. And across town, police have been rushing to check out calls of suspicious items. Such alerts are up as much as 40 percent since the attempted Times Square car bombing, running at about 130 a day.
BROWNE: We do see an increase and people just observing abandoned property. It's a good thing.
CHERNOFF: In Times Square, at least a dozen bags are lost daily, like this one. Times Square alliance sanitation workers say when they find one, they contact police.
(on camera): You're keeping the cops busy?
DARRYL TERRY, TIMES SQUARE ALLIANCE, SANITATION DIRECTOR: We're trying to stay alive as well, you know? We work right here in the danger every day, so we've got to be aware.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): The NYPD is insuring business owners are aware of the potential terror threat. At police headquarters this week, business security executives received training on the radicalization of terrorists.
DIR. MITCH SILBER, NEW YORK POLICE INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS: The last stage is jihadization. This is the stage where people turn to action.
CHERNOFF: It's: part of a police business partnership called NYPD Shield. Police are reminding businesses, large and small, to share information about anything unusual in their neighborhoods. It was a t-shirt vendor who first alerted police to the Times Square bombing attempt. Here, vendors on the street truly are the eyes and ears of law enforcement.
JOHN GALANOPOULOS, TIMES SQUARE HOT DOG VENDOR: We study, you know, all the hours, anything that is suspicious, we just have our eyes open.
CHERNOFF (on camera): But the attempted bombing and the subsequent evacuations of Times Square don't seem to have any impact on the tourist. They are still flocking here.
KEVIN RETTEW, TOURIST: Feel pretty comfortable here.
CHERNOFF: Because of the police?
RETTEW: Yes. I mean, you can see them standing on every corner and stuff. If anyone will try anything, I'm sure they would be seen.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): And what happens to those abandoned bags once they are determined to be safe? Unless they have I.D. tags, they get tossed in the garbage. There is no lost and found in New York's constant alert against terrorism.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: And just hours before the incidents here last night, there was a suspicious package under investigation just a few blocks away from police headquarters as President Obama was visiting right nearby -- John, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Allan Chernoff, thanks.
I would say about New York City, there's a lot of suspicious everything happening all the time in New York City. It's hard to differentiate.
ROBERTS: There's so much and people just become so innerved to it as well. But, obviously, everybody's antenna is up these days.
ROMANS: That's right.
ROBERTS: Well, coming up next in the Most News in the Morning: The Times Square bombing attempt raising new concerns about homegrown terrorism. Is the United States behind when it comes to this emerging threat? We'll ask two counterterrorism experts -- coming up next.
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ROMANS: Good morning, Atlanta. Sixty-nine degrees right now and cloudy. Later, it's going to be a very warm 83 degrees. Still cloudy though, you're not going to get much sun this day.
ROBERTS: Let's get a quick check on this morning's weather headlines. Our Reynolds Wolf is down on the Gulf Coast where he's been for the last few days, checking in on the oil spill. But this time around, it's all about weather.
And what are we looking at, Reynolds?
WOLF: Well, guys, parts of the nation it's going to be time to grab the umbrellas, especially in the central and southern plains where the rain is going to come down like a sack of hammers.
Let's go right to the forecast map. You can see all across the maps, it's painted green in many places. That's where you have your watches and your warnings. It's going to be very heavy at times, the heavy rainfall falling over places where the ground is saturated, meaning that water is going to stack up.
Take a look also along parts of I-44, back into Missouri, you got, of course, some warnings there, too. So, certainly, be advised.
Let's advance the map. You see the line of storms stretching from St. Louis all the way south through Springfield, even back over towards Tulsa, where, again, the heavy rain and some strong wind gusts are going to be developing and that frontal boundary is all pushing off towards the east. As it does so, I'd say places like Dallas southward into Oklahoma City, you're going to have some delays there -- certainly, Will Rogers Airport.
Then as you get back towards west Texas, you could see some heavy rainfall in places like Alpine, back in the Apache Mountains, all compliments of the frontal boundary. But look for a chance of stronger thunderstorms by the mid to late afternoon hours in west Texas, south Texas, also into the Ohio Valley and into the eastern seaboard.
So, in New York, be prepared as you're making the walk in Manhattan or maybe over towards Brooklyn or even up in Yonkers, you may have to dodge some puddles here or there.
Now, speaking of serious travel as in leaving this world and actually going up there in space, here's what you can expect for the shuttle launch. Let's go right to that forecast and what you can anticipate there -- about a 70 percent chance of a go launch. That area of high pressure that's set up over Bermuda should make things pretty nice along the coast but there's always a chance things could get delayed or cancelled altogether. So, certainly, keep that in mind.
That's a quick look of your forecast. We got a whole lot more coming up next hour. Make sure you stay tuned. Let's send it back to you, guys, in New York.
ROBERTS: We'll do that, and we'll be dodging those sacks of hammers today in New York City.
Reynolds, thanks so much.
WOLF: There you go, guys.
ROBERTS: Coming up next in the Most News in the Morning: the United States has got a homegrown terror problem. The question: what to do about it and can we take tips from our European allies?
We'll find out -- coming up next.
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ROBERTS: Forty-four minutes now after the hour.
The paradigm of terrorism in the United States is changing and changing quickly. In the past year, there have been 17 cases of Americans or U.S. residents implicated in Islamic terrorism. Most recently, Faisal Shahzad's attempted car bombing in Times Square.
Can the United States get a grip or better yet, get ahead of this growing problem?
And here to talk about it is Sajjan Gohel. He's a terrorism analyst and head of International Security at the Asia Pacific Foundation. He's in London this morning.
And joining us from Washington is Chris Voss, who's worked with New York City's Joint Terrorism Task Force and now works for Insite Security.
Gentlemen, great to see you this morning.
Sajjan, let's start with you. You know, many of the threats against the United States I guess sort of most grossly illuminated by the 9/11 terror attack, were coming from offshore. And while there's still some of that, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had tried to blow up the plane on Christmas Day. Increasingly, we see threats coming from within even among naturalized U.S. citizens. How do you fight that?
SAJJAN GOHEL, DIRECTOR FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY FOR THE ASIA- PACIFIC: This is the big challenge because since 9/11, the U.S. has done a lot to insure its borders are safer and it's harder for terrorists to come in to be imported by groups like al Qaeda. As you mentioned, there will be cases like the Christmas Day plot, but it's not just about importing terrorism, it's about also importing the ideology, the doctrine that groups like al Qaeda articulate. And It's that strand that is infecting the minds of impressionable people.
That is much harder task to try and deal with because you can capture and kill terrorists, but you also have to try to defeat and undermine the ideology that's being used to recruit individuals. If you cannot import terrorism, then terrorist groups will try and recruit Americans because that is a much more easier task in some ways, and also, it's harder for the authorities to monitor and detect.
ROBERTS: Chris, has the United States failed to acknowledge that we really do have a homegrown terrorism problem here?
CHRIS VOSS, FORMER FBI HOSAGE NEGOTIATOR: No, I don't think we have. The FBI, actually, has gotten out and tried to get out in front of this in the last couple of years. Each FBI field office these days now actually has a squad as dedicated to human intelligence, developing the sources, and this is a capacity that's specifically been created just in the last three to four years. It's a very robust training program at the FBI academy now of seven week. They train these agents to work on these very issues. So, the bureau has been recognized the threat and this particular problem and is getting out in front of it.
ROBERTS: Sajjan, you mentioned recruitment, you know, you talk about the process of radicalization and recruitment, and years passed, people would need to get out. They need to talk to various groups, go rounds with various areas where they might be recruited. Now, it's going to one-stop shopping at home with the internet. Major Nidal Hasan allegedly was listening to sermons from the radical imam Anwar al-Awlaki at home. Does it make it that much more difficult to try, for a law enforcement. To try to figure out who's turning radical?
GOHEL: Well, perhaps, the irony is that terrorists have understood how to use the internet better than anybody else. They've been able to capitalize on it to be able to support their agenda, propaganda, upload videos, and also, a way to communicate and spread their ideology. Anwar al-Awlaki has perhaps been the biggest ideal (ph) to use the internet for his own agenda for strategic communications.
If you look at the cases in the U.S. such as David Headley who did the reconnaissance for the last October (ph) in the Mumbai siege attacks in 2008 with six Americans were killed. He was communicating through the internet to plan and plot terrorist activity. The Somali- American community in Minnesota, many of those individuals were actually preyed upon through the internet and traveled to Somalia to join the terrorist group, al-Shabab.
ROBERTS: Chris, you know, Faisal Shahzad seemed to, for all we know, flown totally below the radar screen. How do you uncover a plot like that before it's actually hatched?
VOSS: That's a very difficult one. There were a lot of things about what he did in keeping it to himself. It's just doing the best that we can to keep an eye on the type of condition that create people like this. When someone like this starts with simply complaint, any moves from complaint to cause to commitment, that's sort of the journey that they go on. And it's cooperation with people that know him and cooperation, law enforcement cooperation with the community, but it's very difficult thing to address.
ROBERTS: You know, Sajjan, yesterday, we saw more arrests that may be peripherally connected to Faisal Shahzad in terms of financing operations, the so-called cash carrier operations or hawalas. How difficult are those hawalas to trace by CIA, FBI, MI5, and other law enforcement agencies?
GOHEL: The hawala banking system is very difficult to trace and monitor and control. It is in effect an informal banking chapter based on a system of trust that was established centuries ago in the Middle East and South Asia, and it's still used. Sometimes, it's used for legitimate purposes to get money across for parents who want to send their kids to university and other business activity, but far too often, it is primarily used to fund terrorist-related activity and for other notorious purposes.
And the fact it could be used to plot and plan terrorist activities in the U.S. is, of course, a huge concern, but I would point out to you that terrorism is actually very cost effective. It's a cheap approach, and it doesn't cost that much to be able to execute a mass casualty plot. ROBERTS: Yes, a lot of challenges out there for law enforcements. Sajjan Gohel and Chris Voss, thanks for joining us this morning. Really appreciate your time.
VOSS: My pleasure, John.
GOHEL: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Christine.
ROMANS: This morning's top stories, John, just minutes away including drilling for truth whether BP is low balling the size and scope of that gulf oil spill. A professor who has seen the video says this could be pumping the "Exxon Valdez" into the water every four days.
At 15 after, tear down this wall. People are running from Facebook over privacy concerns. Now, there's a guy that tells you how to make yourself disappear for good.
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ROBERTS: Still rocking in their 1960s. The Rolling Stones certainly gathering no moss. They're re-releasing an album, and they got a new documentary. Frontman Mick Jagger is sitting down with our own Larry King to discuss the band's decades of success.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: How do you account for the longevity of the Stones as a success?
MICK JAGGER, ROLLING STONES SINGER: Wow. I think the Stones are very lucky. Yes. you always need a lot of luck. And I think that they were in the right place at the right time. And we are quite -- when we work, we work very hard. So, I think you need all of those things. It's no good just being hard working, (INAUDIBLE) but you've got to be hard working on your game and be lucky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You can see the primetime exclusive with Mick Jagger next Tuesday only on "LARRY KING LIVE."
ROMANS: He's under playing. They have a very big business brain over there, I mean, very big marketing, oh yes.
ROBERTS: Lot of it luck, though, you know.
Live look now at the Kennedy Space Center where NASA crews are getting "Atlantis" ready for today's launch. The shuttle, six astronaut crews are later to blast up at 02:20 eastern at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. They're taking a cargo carrier and a Russian- built research module to the international space station. After this mission, there's just two more left before NASA retires the shuttle fleet. ROMANS: The fall from grace continues for the ex-homerun king, Mark McGwire. Missouri lawmakers voted to rename the Mark McGwire Highway in St. Louis in honor of Mark Twain instead. Missouri named the stretch of Interstate 70 in honor of the Cardinals slugger in 1999 after he became the first man in history to hit 70 homeruns in a season. McGwire last winter finally admitted using steroids during his career.
ROBERTS: And a little orphan Annie can start counting her tomorrows after 86 years, Tribune Media Services is taking the comic strip off the newspaper funny pages. Annie's last syndicated strip will appear on the 13th of June. The company, though, wasn't done with her yet. They're hoping to find a new audience for the red- headed orphan on the internet.
ROMANS: All right. Top stories coming your way right after the break in two minutes.
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