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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Investigators Work to Assign Blame for Bombings; Bush Shares Condolences with Brits; Hurricane Dennis Pounds Cuba
Aired July 08, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now: more than 36 hours have passed since the terror attacks on London. Authorities still don't know just how many people died and they don't know who's behind the bombings. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): London terror. The missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we know for certain is that he made a telephone call at 9:42 to his office to say that he was on a bus.
BLITZER: The queen.
ELIZABETH II, QUEEN OF ENGLAND: Those who perpetrate these brutal acts against innocent people should know that they will not change our way of life.
BLITZER: The clues. Is there a link to Iraq?
Can it happen here? SWAT teams in subways, bomb checks on buses. Americans get lessons in survival.
And we're tracking another major story. A killer storm. Dennis leaves a path of death and destruction and eyes new targets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not strangers to hurricanes in this area, and everybody is taking this very, very seriously.
ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, "London Terror."
BLITZER: To our viewers in the United States and around the world, thanks very much for joining us.
London is trying to get back to normal, but a day after the bombings of three trains and a double-decker bus, the death toll has climbed and now stands at more than 50. A number of people remain unaccounted for as anxious relatives desperately seek information on loved ones. Police say some bodies remain deep underground at a bombing site.
Some of the wounded are being very well attended to by members of the royal family.
Around the world, impromptu memorials are being set up at British diplomatic missions in tribute to the London victims.
The search is on for the killers. A massive intelligence operation is underway to try to find out who's behind the bombings. And investigators say they've already learned a few things.
CNN's Matthew Chance reports from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): London is a city packed with security cameras. Now every face is a suspect. Each train platform, every street corner, it seems, is routinely videotaped here. Finding the bombers will be a painstaking search, say police, but thousands of hours of these images are now being closely examined to find and prosecute those responsible.
ANDY HAYMAN, LONDON METRO POLICE: We have the most experienced anti-terrorist officers on this case. And we have the best community here in London to help work with us to achieve that aim. Our partners, working with us, working together, have got tried and tested procedures that I think have been admirably demonstrated to be effective in the last 24 hours.
CHANCE: But with multiple bomb sites, three on underground trains and one on a London bus, this will be a complex investigation.
Police deny closing down any phone networks after the blasts. And only a few fragments of fact have so far emerged.
Initial forensic evidence suggests each of the four bombs contained less than 10 pounds of explosives, enough to be carried in a small backpack, say police. They also believe each device was placed on the floor of the train carriages and of the bus.
But there's no evidence so far, they say, of a suicide bomber or of who carried out the well-planned and coordinated attacks.
SIR IAN BLAIR, LONDON POLICE COMMISSIONER: There is likely to still be a cell. Whether these people are still in our kingdom is a question. And we will remain vigilant. We must remain vigilant. This is a national issue. It's not just for London and the metropolitan police service.
CHANCE: Police say forensic teams still working at the bomb sites will probably learn more, but at least one of the underground train tunnels remains inaccessible, they say, because of damage to the tunnel structure and the presence of vermin.
Terrorism analysts say the search for clues will be focusing on how the bombs were made and what that says about who made them.
PAUL SLAUGHTER, TERRORISM ANALYST: What they're looking for is the evidence to actually put it on individuals, whether it's one person or two or three people. So they'll be going through all the devices, trying to find out the fingerprint of the actual bomb makers. And once they've got that, then hopefully there will be sufficient evidence to try and trace them and then to prosecute them.
CHANCE: But in the end the best intelligence, say police, will come from the general public. Information on suspicious activity, tip-offs on anything people feel may help bring the London bombers to justice.
(on camera) As this investigation gets into full swing, police are warning about the possibility of further attacks and asking the public to remain vigilant. They are in contact, they say, with other security forces around the world, but the London bombers, who were so deadly in the British capital, are still very much at large, they say.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And we'll show you some live pictures we're getting in right now from the British embassy here in Washington. There it is. That's the table with the book of condolences.
The president of the United States has just returned to Washington from Scotland, the G-8 summit. President taking Marine One, the helicopter over to a helipad right near the British embassy here in Washington. He'll be walking into that room to sign that book of condolences to underscore his solidarity with the people of Britain at this trying moment. We'll have live coverage of that. That's coming up.
With the death toll climbing and people remaining unaccounted for, though, investigators, some of the best in the world, certainly have their work cut out tore them.
Let's go straight to London and our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour.
Christiane, what's the latest thinking among investigators in Britain? I assume they're working under the assumption al Qaeda or some al Qaeda-related group did this.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, they won't say that, but they do obviously -- all they say that this was a terrorist attack. They won't actually say precisely who they think did it.
But of course, all the speculation does focus on those al Qaeda type attackers, who have committed and have been blamed for the attacks in many, many other previous capitals that we've seen over the years, of course, and on 9/11.
And people are saying -- security experts have been telling us that, you know, whether it's al Qaeda, per se, or whether it's al Qaedaism, whether it's the ideology of al Qaeda, is all one and the same, because it is, whatever it is, an extremist ideology that the result is the same. It's death and destruction of innocent civilians.
And we were told by one of our security experts who actually you just saw, Paul Slaughter, that there's even a theory that it could have been British people who had been in Iraq and recruited there and trained there, who could have been brought back here and had been sleeper cells that were so-called awakened to commit this attack.
But at the moment, that's still speculation. But they say that that is one avenue that they'll be checking.
BLITZER: The polls in Britain, as you well know, Christiane, show that the war in Iraq has been very unpopular. If, in fact, this was orchestrated by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist in Iraq, the Jordanian-born terrorist with links to al Qaeda, is that likely to have some sort of dramatic effect on public attitudes towards the war in Iraq?
AMANPOUR: Well, you know, the war in Iraq is extremely unpopular in many, many parts of the world. But in Britain, you know, these kinds of attacks over the past years have really galvanized the people into a sense of community. And whether they find that war unpopular and whether they hold their prime minister accountable and regret that he went into that war now -- you remember before the height of the war, they stood with him. And now in these terror attacks they stand with their community and they refuse to be cowed by it.
So it's hard to predict that they would get even -- that it could cause a major shift, but you never know.
I mean, let's face it, Prime Minister Blair was voted back into office for a third term, despite the unpopularity of that war.
BLITZER: Christiane Amanpour, on duty for us in London. Thanks, Christiane, very much.
And as we've been reporting, President Bush has just arrived back in the United States following the G-8 summit in Scotland.
Our national correspondent Bob Franken is joining us now, live from the White House, with more on reaction from the U.S. government to what has happened in London -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, as you know, the natural rhythms in Washington are similar to those in London. Very heavy security, a world capital. As we just saw in London, that security has its limitations.
President Bush is now returning to Washington and to the British embassy to express condolences, to sign the book of condolences. His helicopter is expected to land any minute at the vice president's mansion. It's literally almost walking distance down to the British embassy.
The vice president himself signed the book earlier today, writing, "In memory of the lives taken on 7/7/05, America shares in Britain's sorrow and in your resolve to overcome. Signed, Dick Cheney."
President Bush is expected to have comments on that, and then he'll return to the natural rhythms of Washington, the domestic rhythms with a heavy agenda still to face in the days ahead -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Bob, is there also a sense that this event in London, this terror attack, is going to be used by the Bush administration for political purposes in the sense that it underscores that the war on terrorism still very much alive?
FRANKEN: Well, that has certainly been a point that the president has been making. The event speaks for itself in London. President Bush has said repeatedly that the United States is involved in the war on terror that has more than just one enemy. And he's going to make that point.
So one of the points that is reinforced, as you point out, by the attacks on London, is his message that terror never sleeps.
BLITZER: All right. Bob, I want to have you stand by. I want to bring in our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, who's watching all of this, weighing all of this.
Iraq and the war on terror, Jeff, in the aftermath, in the aftermath of what happened yesterday in London, give us some thoughts.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think we're already seeing, Wolf, that there's going to be a political fallout in the United States. Already, in some conservative editorials in columns today, we've seen the following arguments: that the statement of this group, al Qaeda in Europe, and the assumption here is that they did it, shows that there is a link between the overall war on terror and what has happened in Iraq and, of course, Afghanistan. And this demonstrates that unity.
The "Wall Street Journal" editorial page, one of the most influential on the right of America, has weighed in, saying this proves that the idea of shutting down Guantanamo, changing the Patriot Act, setting a time for withdrawal from Iraq, all those ideas are wrong. This is a time for resolve.
And the European countries, particularly those that have not helped in the reconstruction or helped in training the Iraqis, they all have to join in, because it's one fight.
I also suspect that you're going to see on the side -- on the part of Bush's critics the argument that this demonstrates or this shows the weakness of spending so much money on things like gold- plated defense systems while relatively spending little on things like public transportation and homeland security.
On our air last night, we heard a public transportation expert say that, compared to aviation safety, the Bush administration has allocated virtual peanuts to protecting rails, to protecting subways and areas like that.
So I think it's inevitable that you're going to see this event, which is, after all, a dramatic and galvanizing event, used by different people to make different points about what policies the Bush administration should pursue, Wolf. BLITZER: And I just want to remind viewers we're looking at these live pictures from inside the British embassy here in Washington, D.C. Momentarily, we're expecting the president of the United States to walk in, to sit down at that table we just saw, to sign the book of condolences and perhaps to make some remarks at that microphone that has been set up there, as well.
What I hear you saying, Jeff, is that the political spillover, the fallout from what happened in London yesterday could be significant here in the United States.
GREENFIELD: Well, I guess the question is whether or not people are going to assume that, first, that this attack in Britain suggests that people in the United States are at risk. It certainly is -- it's hard to take this kind of story and just brush it aside.
Although I will tell you, Wolf, last night, I was on the New York City subway system on my way up to and then back from Yankee Stadium. The train was packed. And I'd be misleading you if I told you there was any sense of any kind of apprehension on that train. You know, if you wanted to be worried about it, you think, well, that's a heck of a target, a totally packed train going to a classic American event.
But I do think, because this is such a dramatic event and because anyone in any large city who uses mass transit can feel how vulnerable you are, the complete lack of security. There's nobody at a subway station checking bags or anything like that. That it's almost inevitable that people are going to point to this and then make what points they choose. That's what I was mentioning.
If you were relatively hawkish on Iraq, you'll say, look, this proves it's all one fight. And if you want to be critical of the Bush administration, you can say they spend so much money, and they're still spending on things like missile defense and highly expensive airplanes, that they're neglecting the home front.
BLITZER: Jeff Greenfield, our senior analyst. Jeff, thank you very much. And we'll continue to look at these live pictures from inside the British embassy. We're expecting momentarily the president of the United States to walk in, sign a book of condolences and perhaps speak to reporters. We'll go there live once that happens.
We'll take a quick break. When we come back, American intelligence and the London terror attacks. What the United States is doing to try to help with the investigation.
Also, wrenching reminders of 9/11. A desperate search for the missing in London.
Plus, a killer storm. Hurricane Dennis barreling toward the United States right now. A new forecast has just been released. We'll have the latest details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The president of the United States signing a book of condolences at the British embassy here in Washington, D.C. He's been sitting at that table for a few seconds now, clearly has a lot on his mind.
Standing text to the president, Sir David Manning, the British ambassador to the United States.
He has come to the British embassy directly from arriving at Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, D.C., aboard Air Force One from the G-8 summit in Scotland. This is the first actual piece of business he has done since returning to the United States. Before Marine One, his helicopter, went over to the White House, it went to the naval observatory.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... a day for a lot of families in London. It was my honor, ambassador, to come and represent our great country in extending our condolences to the people of Great Britain.
To those who suffered loss of life, we pray for God's blessings. For those who are injured, we pray for fast healing.
The British people are steadfast and strong. We've long admired the great spirit of Londoners and the people of Great Britain. And once again, that great strength of character is coming through.
Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for letting me come back.
SIR DAVID MANNING, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: Mr. President, could I just say thank you very much, sir, for coming straight here from the airplane after the summit at the G-8. It's enormously good of you to come here. The gesture is hugely appreciated.
And can I say to you that we have had the most wonderful gestures of support from the Americans over the last 36 hours. We're very grateful for that. It's a huge source of comfort, and thank you so much for coming today.
BLITZER: The British ambassador and the president of the United States walking away after the president signed the book of condolences at the British embassy right here in Washington. A gesture, an important gesture underscoring the very close relationship between the United States and Britain, especially in the aftermath of terror strikes.
Could the bombings in London, though, be linked to al Qaeda's main ally in Iraq? There are indications that's possible. Let's turn to our national security correspondent, David Ensor, who's following this part of the story -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the possible, and I say possible Zarqawi connection is just one of several theories that are being closely pursued in these days now by both U.S. and British officials.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): For the British police, it is a time for painstaking investigation.
ASST. COMM. BRIAN PADDICK, LONDON METRO POLICE: We're going to be sifting through the debris at the four different scenes, trying to capture every single piece of the devices that exploded.
ENSOR: For U.S. officials, too, the nature of the bombs is critical. There is evidence they were set with timing devices, rather than carried by suicide bombers.
JOHN BRENNAN, NCTC ACTING DIRECTOR: There have been some early indications, in fact, that maybe timing devices were used to set off some of these explosives.
ENSOR (on camera): And what does that say about who we're dealing with?
RICHARD FALKENRATH, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: That means they're still at large and could carry out another attack tonight. And so this has got to be a very vigorous hunt going on in London right now to find these guys.
ENSOR (voice-over): U.S. intelligence officials note the similarities between the London bombs and those in Madrid on March 11 last year. Multiple bombings spaced shortly apart.
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It's hard to avoid the impression that we're starting to see a pattern here.
ENSOR: U.S. intelligence officials say there are reasons to believe that terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's gang may have had a direct or indirect input into some future activity in Europe. That is leading them to include his group on the list of suspects for the London bombings, though they stress there's nothing directly linking Zarqawi to those attacks.
MCLAUGHLIN: Clearly in the past, he's had linkages to a group called Ansar al-Islam which is present in Europe and whose members have been arrested within the last year in places like France and Germany. So there's probably a network there that can support him, and it would give him a reach outside of the area where he has become famous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: What concerns some U.S. officials is if al Qaeda, Zarqawi, whoever it is, is content to kill innocents in the dozens rather than the hundreds, the type of attack carried out in Madrid and London could be reproduced many times, many places, including here, Wolf.
BLITZER: Chilling. Thanks very much, David Ensor, for that report.
Emergencies declared in four Gulf Coast states here in the United States as Hurricane Dennis closing in. We'll show you the new forecast that's just out for this extremely dangerous storm.
Also, hundreds injured in the London bombings. We'll go to a hospital where many of them are being treated.
And unlikely conscripts in the war on terror. New York City's doormen doing double duty. We'll show you how they're helping to keep a huge city safe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Live pictures from London on this day after four terror attacks in the British capital. We'll get back to London. More on what's happening on this day after. But first, some other news we're following.
New pictures we're following, new pictures of a killer storm, Hurricane Dennis. Still a Category 4, according to the National Hurricane Center. It's almost, almost approaching parts of the United States. Right now, it's about 145 miles south southeast of Key West, Florida.
That state, the state of Florida hit by four hurricanes last year, preparing once again for the worst. The Florida governor, Jeb Bush, has already declared a state of emergency, as have governors in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Dennis is expected to come within a few dozen miles of Key West tomorrow, and a mandatory evacuation order has already been released. Thousands of people, both tourists and residents, are packing up and heading out.
Let's go to Cuba, where Hurricane Dennis already causing extensive damage. CNN's Lucia Newman is outside Havana. She's watching what's going on.
What's happening in Cuba, Lucia?
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's very, very windy. I'm speaking to you now from Havana.
This has turned out to be what is called a dry hurricane. At least as it approaches, the winds are incredibly, incredibly fierce. We've had reports of television towers being knocked out. In Cien Fuegos province where it came in about two or three hours ago, power lines are out. In fact 85 percent of Santiago, Cuba, on the far east of the island is without power, without water, in fact, at this hour.
It is moving slowly towards the city, towards Havana and towards Mantanzas (ph) province, heading north and eventually towards Florida.
And we have -- there are at least 600,000 people here on this island that have already been evacuated, taken to shelters or to higher ground. Some are being put in hospitals or government buildings. People have been told to store as much water and food, batteries, anything they can. They don't know how long it's going to take.
But it is going to be a very, very fierce storm indeed. More wind, as I say, than water, at least so far. However, there are flood warnings already for Havana. The theory is that as soon as the eye of the storm actually leaves the island, the sea will come back in a sort of a small -- begin to flood back into the low-lying areas and could cause severe flooding right here in downtown Havana, Wolf.
BLITZER: Lucia, you've told me in the past that there are no real good preparations underway in Cuba for these kinds of hurricane emergencies, that people simply can't go to a local hardware store as they can here in the United States and get plywood or other essential items. How prepared are the people of Cuba for this kind of very dangerous hurricane?
BLITZER: Exactly. It's so windy I can barely hear you, but I think you asked me how well prepared are people. As a country, the government is very well prepared to take people out of harm's way, get them out of their homes if they're not able to sustain the wind and the rain, get them to safe ground until the storm is over.
But the homes themselves, people's belongings are just absolutely at nature's mercy. There is almost nothing that people have access to that they can use to board down their homes and to keep the water from coming in and to save their roofs, for example. People have to make do with whatever they can find. So we're seeing people putting rocks on top of roofs, hoping that that will be enough to keep them from blowing away when the storm passes, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Lucia Newman, good luck over there in Cuba.
Let's get some more information now on Hurricane Dennis. For that, we're joined by Max Mayfield, the director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. What's the latest information, Mr. Mayfield?
MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Actually, Wolf, we're not getting too much information, as the reporting stations stopped reporting in Cuba as they get impacted by hurricane.
It made landfall as a Category IV hurricane. We think it's weakening now. It will actually continue to weaken some during the night. You know, it made landfall near Cien Fuegos on south coast. It's headed towards Havana right now. Havana is right about over here. It's going -- conditions will continue to go downhill in Havana during the night.
It will likely merge off the north coast very early in the morning. And then we think it will start to reintensify again. And that's why we put the hurricane watch from the Steinhatchee River over the the mouth of the Pearl River. So, this is on track similar to Ivan. And this is going to have a big impact somewhere within that watch area.
BLITZER: Well, let's get back to Cuba for a moment, Mr. Mayfield. Are you suggesting that Havana itself, the capital of Cuba, is going to get close to the eye of the hurricane?
MAYFIELD: Oh, absolutely. I don't see how they can miss it now. It's really the angle that it's made, it's kind of parallel much of Cuba and made landfall right here. And you can see the eye right there. And it's headed around for Havana. There's no doubt about that.
BLITZER: What parts of the United States will have the most severe -- based on the tracking that you're doing right now -- the most severe damage, destruction from this hurricane? And when is that likely to occur?
MAYFIELD: Well, the biggest concern right now is the lower Florida Keys. We still have a hurricane warning out in the lower keys there. If we have a perfect forecast track, the core of the hurricane should pass just west of there. If it moves a little bit more to the right, they're going to get clobbered.
But, you know, people need to be hunkering down and expecting this to be moving very close to them tomorrow. And then it's going to move up towards the panhandle area. It could very well be over here, more into Alabama, or Mississippi. This will likely be on Sunday. But the tropical storm force winds extend out about 150 miles or so.
So, we want people to make the preparations tomorrow. They've got all day Saturday to get prepared. Then Sunday conditions should start going downhill.
BLITZER: So people on the west coast of Florida as this hurricane moves up the Gulf of Mexico, what kind of impact should they expect? The people who live, let's say, in Tampa and those major cities on the west coast, the Gulf side of Florida.
MAYFIELD: Well Wolf, good question. If you can look at the satellite loop here, we've got rain bands that extend 200 or 300 miles away from the center. So, even if the track comes up here as we're forecasting towards the north Gulf coast, those rain bands are going to pull up along over the Florida peninsula.
So, the west coast will have an impact. And even tomorrow, they'll have likely four to seven feet of storm surge on the southwest Florida coast. Down here, on our forecast, they could very well get tropical storm force winds. And those rain bands as it pulls up towards the panhandle.
BLITZER: One final question, Mr. Mayfield, what about people on the east coast of Florida, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, West Palm, that whole area? What they should expect?
MAYFIELD: Well, here in Miami-Dade County, I think we're close enough, when we get those rain bands, we'll likely have some sustained tropical storm force winds. But the main concern is with the lower keys and then up in the North Gulf Coast.
BLITZER: All right. Max Mayfield, the director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. We'll be checking back with you often. Thank you very much.
And to our viewers in the United States and around the world, please stay with CNN for continuing coverage over these coming hours and days of Hurricane Dennis.
Returning now to our top story, "London Terror." What investigators are saying about how these events may have been carry out.
The missing: With some bodies still buried deep underground, relatives and friends are growing increasingly desperate for any information.
And later, extra layers of security have been added all across the United States. But in New York City, officials have enlisted the help of the real eyes and ears of the city to help fight terrorism.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Live pictures from London. For many people there in the British capital, the day after the attacks, bringing the certainty that life goes on. But not for those who have relatives and loved ones who are still missing. Lindsay Taylor reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YVONNE NASH, BOYFRIEND MISSING SINCE ATTACK: It's just devastating because we can't find out where he is, if he's dead, alive. Obviously, in a hospital somewhere, we want to be with him.
LINDSAY TAYLOR, LONDON: Yvonne Nash goes on the radio frantic with worry about her boyfriend Jamie Gordon. Friends and relatives of the 30-year-old administration assistant have put up posters showing what he was wearing yesterday when he set off for work in the city. The last heard from him was a phone call in the morning.
NASH: And it then turned out he had telephoned his office at 9:42 to say he was on a bus going from Houston to Kings Cross. And obviously, five minutes later there was a blast. So we know that his phone is in the blast area. And it was there it was about 3:00 yesterday afternoon.
TAYLOR: 43-year-old Anya Branch from Poland is also missing. Her friend Ben Gallagher told me how he and others were helping her brother who speaks little English trying to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anya is a Polish lady. And a friend of a lot of ours. She got on the tube to go to work yesterday morning apparently about 8:00 from Wood Green. Nobody's heard from her since then. She does have a mobile phone, but we can't get hold of her on it. She hasn't rung anybody. So, as far as we're concerned she is completely missing without a trace.
Her young daughter is here from Poland. She's come to visit. She's only been here a day-and-a-half.
TAYLOR: Laura Webb's loved ones were also at the Royal London Hospital today seeking information. She was last seen by her boyfriend leaving her home at 9:00 yesterday heading for work in Paddington. She would normally take the tube from Kings Cross. Miriam Hiam from North London, a freelance picture researcher was last in contact at 9:30. Her father called her mobile when he heard what was happening. She was at King's Cross and was OK. But he now fears she may have got on the bus. They've been checking hospitals, too.
(on camera): The continuing uncertainty over the numbers of dead and injured and who they are is causing unbearable anguish for the relatives and friends of those missing. Some of them have been tooling around hospitals like this trying to find out information. And the longer they go without hearing anything, the more fearful they are.
(voice-over): John Steadman's family is another suffering the agony of not knowing. They've been searching for news of his brother- in-law Phillip Russell who again has not been heard of since 9:30 yesterday. He'd been evacuated from Houston station and rang his office to say he was catching a bus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've already been told about the unidentified people and Phillip doesn't fit the description. So unfortunately, it's definitely not him. But what we're hopefully going to do is I'm going to hopefully show some of these photos. Maybe there's been human error and a name written down wrong. So, if they look for it on the computer, wrong spelling or something. It may not have come up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now your wife's brother. How is she bearing up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Distraught.
TAYLOR: Social worker Ojara Ekiragu (ph) is also missing. Her cousin, like so many, has no news.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have visited a couple of places, the hospital, giving them her pictures and details. But so far nothing at all. No leads. We don't know anything about her whereabouts.
TAYLOR: Amid waves of sympathy, relatives of those missing do praise the hospitals and police for the efforts being made to try and find loved ones, but there is bitters in, too. Diana Goroda's (ph) sister is missing. She fears she may have bored the tube from King's Cross.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They disappeared at 8:00 yesterday. And we don't know anything. There was nothing. 24 hours, I have to listen to this rubbish on television about politics and the forensics and how strong and happy we will have to take it on the chin. What about the us, the people waiting for dead ones? We know that she must be dead by now. Why can't they just say look, we're sorry but people in the train, we're still waiting for body. If they're not on the list, they're dead.
TAYLOR: People are remembering those who perished, but the relatives of those missing still don't know whether to grieve. All they can do is wait.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: That report from Lindsay Taylor in London.
More on the aftermath of the London terror attack is coming up. We'll tell you about a surprise visitor to a London hospital.
Also ahead, homeland security right here in the United States. New York police have new help as close as the front door.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're watching a killer storm approaching the United States, heading right over Cuba right now. The eye of that storm Hurricane Dennis, going over Havana. On the lower right-hand corner of the screen, you can see where Hurricane Dennis is moving. We'll keep that up for our viewers.
Let's get back though to our top story. For the people of London, this is the first day of a very difficult journey of healing. For the hundreds wounded in the bombings, it will be both a physically and emotionally painful process. Dozens remain hospitalized, some in very critical condition. And today, some got a surprise visit from the royal family.
CNN's Jim Clancy is joining us from outside London's St. Mary's Hospital with more -- Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, very clearly fewer than 100 people still hospitalized tonight, but 22 of them still in critical condition, including two here. They needed words of encouragement. They got it in a royal way.
As Queen Elizabeth II, in a move that many say is not very common, she visited some of the victims in hospital, gave them words of encouragement. She also encouraged the medical staff who had been tending to their wounds. But her message really was encouragement for a nation in its whole.
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ELIZABETH II, QUEEN OF ENGLAND: I want to express my admiration for the people of our capital city who in the aftermath of yesterday's, bombings are calmly determined to resume their normal lives. That is the answer to this outrage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Prince Charles and Camilla also made a visit to this hospital behind me. It was a brief visit, but it was one that was very appreciated.
The British people suffering through a lot, Wolf. There's no doubt that they are grieving and in a lot of pain. But like their monarch, they are a bit defiant, as well. BLITZER: Jim Clancy reporting for us. Jim, our heart goes out to those who suffer so much.
New York City doormen on the lookout for potential terrorists. We'll tell you about a new front in the war on terror when we come back.
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BLITZER: The British news media pulled no punches this morning in their accounts of the London bombings. The front page of "The Times" was dominated by the photo of a victim. The Economist" displayed the London Underground logo with the words "under attack." "The Sun" carried the headline, "Our Spirit Will Never Be Broken." "The Independent" declared "terror comes to London. And "The Star" went with a blunt one-word condemnation of the bombers, "bastards."
While the London bombings no doubt intensified painful memories of the 9/11 attacks, New Yorkers have never forgotten the terror of that day three-and-a-half years ago. New York City Police officials continue to look for new ways to try to upgrade security. Among other things, they're asking the city's doormen to pay attention to more than just who goes in and out of their buildings. Our Mary Snow has the story.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, in a city of 8 million people, law enforcement has repeatedly said it's relying on New Yorkers to stay alert to help keep the city safe, and that means enlisting the help of some workers to do double duty.
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SNOW (voice-over): The job Peter Santiago took as a doorman 19 years ago on Manhattan's Upper East Side is different these days. It's no longer just watching out for his building's residents. He's also watching out for potential terrorists.
PETER SANTIAGO, NYC DOORMAN: Doormen, we're aware of our surroundings. Especially after this class that we took.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now we have to worry about suicide bombers.
SNOW: Back in August, Santiago took a counter-terrorism training course, taught by police instructors. To date, more than 6,000 New York City doormen have been trained. It's all part of the city's efforts to enlist the people of New York to fight terrorism.
COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NY POLICE: We're relying on the public to be our eyes and ears.
SNOW: As New York beefed up its law enforcement in the wake of Thursday's attacks in London, the city also is relying on old- fashioned common sense, enlisting workers in the effort.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: The doormen of this city have been working very hard. We've been working with their union to try to get them trained in recognizing suspicious behavior.
SNOW: The Building Workers Union says its 28,000 doormen are on the frontlines.
MICHAEL FISHMAN, BUILDING WORKERS UNION: They're there every day. And they can know whether something is suspicious or isn't. And that's a tremendous help for the police department.
SNOW: The program, called Safe and Secure, is less than a year old, and is now being extended to security guards at 100 corporate buildings in New York.
KATHRYN WYLDE, NYC PARTNERSHIP: Having a security guard in a building who is familiar with the people who normally come in and out, they're by far the most likely to see someone who doesn't belong, who is a potential suicide bomber.
SNOW: As for Peter Santiago, everything from the mail to a stalled car to visitors gets a second look.
SANTIAGO: Before we took the class, we were just regular doormen, baby-sitting, doing the mail, receiving packages. Not really like being aware of -- we're aware of our surroundings, that's a normal thing, but now we're more diligent about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: About 28,000 doormen are expected to undergo training by the end of next year. That's more than three-quarters of the size of the New York City police force, and larger than the police force in some cities -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Mary Snow in New York, very interesting. Thank you very much.
Up next, the United States Supreme Court. The chief justice, William Rehnquist, commenting on tape today. What was he trying to tell reporters? We'll share that with you right when we come back.
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BLITZER: Here in the United States, there's been speculation all day that the chief justice, William Rehnquist, could retire from the U.S. Supreme Court perhaps as soon as today. The 80-year-old justice suffers from thyroid cancer.
We caught up with him this morning outside his home. If you listen very closely, you'll hear the chief justice challenge reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, Mr. Chief Justice.
CHIEF JUSTICE WILLIAM REHNQUIST, U.S. SUPREME COURT: Morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is any of the speculation about your resignation true?
REHNQUIST: It's for me to know, and for you to find out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: If you couldn't make out what he said, he said: "It's for me to know and you to find out."
Let's find out a little bit more about what's going on. Joining us is our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, and CNN's political analyst, Carlos Watson. Carlos joins us every Friday on "The Inside Edge."
Jeff, first to you. What do you make of all this speculation, the possibility that the chief justice of the United States will retire, perhaps even today or this weekend or soon?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, that was such a great quote. That's such classic Rehnquist. He's a gruff, sometimes cranky guy. He actually sounded pretty good compared to how he sounded in court the last time I heard him the week before last.
You know, he's obviously sick. He's obviously 80 years old. It seems likely that he is going to leave. But when he will leave, you got me.
BLITZER: Carlos, what goes through your mind as you see this drama unfold?
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: If there's more than one opening, indeed, if the chief justice steps down and President Bush ultimately decides not only to nominate two new associate justices but perhaps to elevate one of the associate justices to chief justice, consequently, three big decisions to make, that could give President Bush a significant strategic advantage politically. One, he's got an opportunity to distract the opposition. They've raised money to run ads and do other things, but if there are two or three battles going on, those are a lot of battles and only a certain amount of money.
And two, he's got an opportunity to balance. Within his own party, there certainly is disagreement over whether someone who is perceived like being a moderate, like Alberto Gonzales is an acceptable candidate -- if he's got two or three openings, it gives him a chance to make everyone at least a little bit happy. So a significant opportunity for President Bush if there is more than one vacancy.
BLITZER: If there's more than one vacancy, Jeff Toobin, it does give the president of the United States an enormous opportunity to really shape the U.S. judicial system, the Supreme Court for a generation.
TOOBIN: Huge, Wolf. Huge. I mean, you know, the rule on Supreme Court vacancies when you're president of the United States is more is better. And you know, especially when you have a president who is committed to overturning Roe v. Wade, who has a -- you know, many of his supporters care more deeply about the Supreme Court and the cultural issues there than any other issue, than taxes, than the war in Iraq. The opportunity to reshape the court is the biggest opportunity he has. So if he can have more vacancies, it's all the better for him.
BLITZER: Carlos, let's switch gears and talk about terror, the terror specifically yesterday in London, and the impact on what that would -- what that could have right here in the United States. I know you've been thinking about that.
WATSON: Two sets of impacts, Wolf. One, there are a number of bills in Congress which -- languished would be the wrong word, but haven't gotten as much attention publicly, and now may get a little more attention. So not only in terms of railway security or general homeland security funding, but something like the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which provides essentially federal reinsurance in the case of a terrorist event.
There's a big debate going on, but it's been kind of an inside- the-Beltway thing. You might hear more about that.
It also, by the way, could have a significant political impact overseas in terms of our allies. This could have an impact on the upcoming German election, could tilt things at least a little bit more towards a more conservative candidate, and consequently bring a new ally to the table for the U.S.
And number two, it could cause Japan, so not Europe, but rather Asia, who is also concerned about a subsequent copycat attack, to become an even more persistent and consistent U.S. ally in terms of anti-terror efforts, putting up more money and being more cooperative with us in terms of our military efforts.
BLITZER: We only have a few seconds, Jeff, but it could have an impact on the Patriot Act and renewing some of those provisions, which are coming up right here in the United States.
TOOBIN: Yeah, the Patriot Act was an unusual law when it was passed right after 9/11, because it had sunset provisions. Some of it simply expires unless Congress actively re-authorizes it. There is a lot of support for that. There will be more support for it after the London attacks.
BLITZER: All right, the fallout will continue. Jeffrey Toobin, thanks very much for joining us. Carlos Watson, with "The Inside Edge," he joins us every Friday here on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
To our viewers in the United States and around the world, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now, Lou standing by in New York -- Lou.
LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": Wolf, thank you.
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