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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

Terror in London; G8 Summit; Preparing for Hurricane Dennis

Aired July 8, 2005 - 04:59   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCY MANNING, REPORTER, ITN (voice-over): Londoners heading back to work any way they could. The tube may have been bombed, but London Bridge thronging with those who refuse to be scared off my the bombers. Buses, cars and on foot, many keen to stay above ground.

Not many people on the tube early this morning. Those who needed to or were brave enough to sat pensively in the carriages. After yesterday, no one quite sure what to expect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Business as usual, really. I'm pretty impressed that the trains were working 100 percent fine. So, you know, just get on with it basically.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got to go to work anyway. Life goes on.

MANNING: Outside King's Cross station passengers waited for buses, reading about commuters who fled in panic from here yesterday.

Just yards from Aldgate tube station, Londoners crammed onto the buses, some because they had to with the service disrupted, others because they were too scared to return to the underground. Before yesterday, taking a bus was risk-free. But after yesterday, no one was quite sure how safe this morning's bus journey would be. The buses wound their way through central London, busier, quieter, some people a bit more apprehensive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not safe. And I don't like underground now anymore. I don't want to go by underground. And the bus is better, I think.

MANNING (on camera): So you're not happy being on the bus today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, really I'm not. I'm scared as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bit scarier, though, you know, because you never know what's going to happen. But still -- still, the police and the government have to make sure that they're making everything right.

MANNING: What are your thoughts about traveling this morning after what happened yesterday?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's quite scary to be honest. But if you let yesterday defeat London, there's no point. Like, the actions of yesterday were horrendous. And by not traveling or not going on with your routine, you're just kind of giving in to what they want.

MANNING (voice-over): Londoners carrying on, but no one on a bus today will forget the image of the number 30 blown apart in Tavistock Square.

(on camera): The advice to Londoners has been stay at home if you can. And certainly for those caught up in yesterday's trauma, they won't be going back to work today. But for many others, work must go on. And so, on the buses, people are still here and they're still walking in the streets to work.

(voice-over): They also cycled in. One man even getting on his skateboard to make it into work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is DAYBREAK with Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.

We'll have more on the investigation of the London terror attacks in a moment.

Meantime, the British home secretary is calling yesterday's horror a "sinister attack." We'll hear more from him and other world leaders.

And in the states, preparing for Hurricane Dennis. What you need to know about the growing storm.

But first, here are our other top stories.

Lingering fears in London right now. Within the last couple of hours, reports of an unattended bag being left on a platform at London's Euston Station. Service on the northern line is partially suspended. The station has been evacuated as police now investigate.

Those terror bombings have led the U.S. Homeland Security Department to raise the alert level here to high for the nation's mass transit system. The department says there is no credible information suggesting an imminent attack. The move is out of concern about possible copycat attacks.

Turning to the war in Iraq now. U.S. and Iraqi soldiers have discovered six weapons caches in Baquba and Balad, Iraq, with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and other munitions. Ten people are now being questioned by coalition forces.

A victim of terrorists in Iraq. The Egyptian government confirms its top envoy in Iraq, Ihab al-Sherif, has been killed. The envoy was abducted off a Baghdad street near his home over the weekend.

And now we want to get right to Chad Myers in the weather center because Florida's governor has ordered evacuations in the Keys as Hurricane Dennis approaches.

Good morning to you, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Fred.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: On an Islamic Web site, the group of al-Qaeda of Jihad Organization in Europe laid claim to the London attacks. But authorities are investigating whether the claim is legitimate. The attacks in London came without warning, and British officials believe yesterday's attacks seem to bear some certain earmarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES CLARKE, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: The position is, however, that there have been claims by Islamic organizations that the pattern is similar to events in Madrid, and also in other places. And so that has to be a very serious possibility. But as I said a second ago, all possibilities are being very carefully identified, and that will continue to be the case until we're certain we've got the right people.

The fact is that this was a situation, a vicious and cynical attack, out of the blue in a way that there was no knowledge beforehand in any respect whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: One day after the attacks, Londoners are back on the buses and in the tube trying to resume some normalcy. Yesterday, 37 people were killed, but that number may go higher. At least 700 others were wounded in the blast that hit three London underground stations and one of the city's double-decker buses.

CNN's John Vause is at St. Mary's Hospital, where many of the injured in the attacks were taken.

And John, I understand just moments ago Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles arrived there as well, right?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, that's right. Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Dutchess of Cornwall, arrived here. And 34 -- 38 patients, rather, were taken to this hospital yesterday.

We're told that 24 patients are still inside. Seven of them listed as critical, 14 serious. The other 14 have been discharged.

Now, Prince Charles has arrived here to show his support to the victims of yesterday's bombings. And also to thank the nurses and the doctors here who treated the wounded. We're told by the prince's aides that this will be a short visit. While the royals are keen to show their support and appreciation, they are also acutely aware that this is a working hospital, that the doctors and nurses here still have a job to do. And they do not want to get in the way.

The prince, of course, is well known to these kinds of visits. He was down at Cornwall last summer when there were some devastating floods down there.

Also, the queen, who the prince is representing today, put out a statement last night. She spoke of being shocked and saddened by the blasts on the underground. She sent her condolences to the victims. She was up at Scotland hosting a G8 dinner, and she has returned to London.

Now, from here, Prince Charles and the Dutchess of Cornwall will go to police headquarters in Hendon. It's a control center where they coordinate -- where all the casualties go from yesterday's blast. And he will once again be thanking the police and workers who are involved in this massive rescue effort -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And John, does it appear that burns seem to be the primary injury?

VAUSE: Yes, many people have been burned. This is not a burn specialist hospital. This is a teaching hospital. Many of the people here have been brought in with burns, but also with broken bones and with wounds from flying shrapnel, that kind of thing -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. John Vause. Thank you so much, from St. Mary's Hospital there in London.

Well, several leaders of the G8 summit in Scotland are expressing resolve at stopping terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. JACQUES CHIRAC, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): Of course we have been totally unanimous in our reaction and have shown solidarity, the G8 and the five emerging states who have joined us for this summit, to condemn these acts out of hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And let's get more on the summit the day after the bombings. Robin Oakley is at Gleneagles Resort.

Good morning to you, Robin.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, Fredricka.

It's a subdued atmosphere at the summit, with the flags of the G8 nations here all flying at half-mast. But very much, as you say, a mood of defiance, too, of the terrorists. All of these leaders have been saying independently that an attack on one of them is an attack on all of them. And as Tony Blair said, reading out yesterday a joint communique from all the G8 leaders and others who were here, they are not going to allow their values or their society to be affected by terrorist actions.

They're also insisting, of course, that it's going to be business as usual. Though that's difficult when you've got such a grim shadow hanging over the proceedings.

They're going to get on today with their business about aid for Africa, what they can do to prevent global warming, climate change. And we've seen a number of African leaders arriving here today to join in the discussions, leaders like Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.

And I have to say that as an obviously British face working here for an international broadcast like CNN, it's been amazing to see on the human sympathy level. A number of people coming up to me and saying that they wanted to express their sympathy with the people of London at this terrible terrorist outrage. And obviously the same mood is reflected among the delegations and the leaders here -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Robin Oakley. Thank you so much from Gleneagles, Scotland.

Here at home, Dennis is now a powerful Category 4 hurricane, blowing sustained winds of 135 miles an hour. Let's get more from Dave Malkoff of our Miami affiliate, WFOR. He joins us now from Key West, where evacuations are underway -- right?

DAVE MALKOFF, REPORTER, WFOR: Hey, Fredricka. That is correct. Evacuations were ordered here at 7:00 p.m. last night. When we checked into our hotel down here, we actually had to sign a form saying that we are basically taking our lives into our own hands.

We're standing in front of a gift shop right here that is all boarded up. But this is pretty much the exception to the rule.

If you look around here, you can see some of these stores are actually -- they have their glass fronts out here, because there is still money to be made here in Key West. That's because people have been here for generation after generation. And those people who have been here for all that time have seen storm after storm. And they're -- they're kind of used to this after a while.

Even after last year's pounding of storm after storm, they are still used to these storms coming through. Some people have been in houses for 150 years, and they say, "Well, if the storm hasn't taken down my house, then it won't take it down for this storm either."

We did see a lot of people leaving the Keys. There is a long stretch of road, about 150 miles between Key West and the mainland. That's a long stretch of road.

A lot of people were leaving with their campers, they were leaving with their boats. They were leaving with their families, going northbound, because the one evacuation center that they have for Key West is nowhere down here. It's actually over by Miami.

So they have to drive all that way through that road, which is U.S. 1, which is about two lanes each way. So it's a very slim road for them to go up to Miami. So it's a long traffic jam that they are in.

This is what people are facing today: a long traffic jam between here and the mainland. And if you can't get out of here on your car, you might want to try a plane. They have added some planes from the Key West airport out of here to any other region that is not going to be hit by the storm.

They are also having Greyhound buses that are taking people from here. But that last Greyhound bus leaves at about 11:45 a.m. today.

Now, what happens is, when the storm surge comes into these roads, the roads will get completely flooded out. And once that happens, well, there is no way out of here.

We are live in Key West. Back to you -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Dave Malkoff of our affiliate WFOR. Thanks so much.

All right. Huge mobilization to head inland. Let's check in with Chad Myers in the weather center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right, Chad. We'll be checking again with you.

MYERS: All right.

WHITFIELD: And no doubt we lost that signal not because weather is getting that bad, but because sometimes the satellite shots are a bit precarious.

All right. Still to come, there has been a claim of responsibility for the bombings in London, but how valid is that claim? We'll talk to a terrorism and al Qaeda expert just ahead on DAYBREAK.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's business as usual this morning for markets across the world. The international numbers are mixed.

Tokyo's Nikkei is down by 24 points. The London FTSE is higher by 35. And the German DAX is up by 33.

Your news, money, weather and sports. And it is now 19 minutes after the hour, and here's what's all new this morning. Londoners are using limited transit service again a day after terrorist bombs killed at least 37 people and injured hundreds more. Commuters are being asked to stay away from the city's center, to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

And world leaders at the G8 summit in Scotland are pressing ahead with their agenda despite the bombings. Leaders there are expected to make statements on combating poverty in Africa and global warming.

In money, stocks gained as investors recovered from the shock of the bombings in London and geared up for today's June jobs report. The Dow closed up 31 points.

In culture, Oprah Winfrey will receive the 2005 Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum. The museum is built around the former Memphis motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968.

In sports, Michelle Wie is just five shots behind the leader after the first round of the men's -- yes, you heard it right -- men's John Deer Classic. The 15-year-old is trying to become the first female to make the cut in the men's tournament in more than 60 years.

Now let's get another check of the weather picture as Hurricane Dennis, now Category 4 barrels toward the U.S. -- Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Chad.

Still to come this morning, we go live to King's Cross Station, the hardest hit London subway station from yesterday's terror attacks.

You're watching DAYBREAK for this Friday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Apparently many of you believe that similar attacks could happen in the United States. In a CNN Gallup poll taken after yesterday's attacks in London, 62 percent of you are worried about an attack here. Nearly 40 percent are not. Asked if these attacks are a major setback in the war on terrorism, 64 percent of you say yes, 30 percent say the attacks are not a setback.

Well, we've gotten through the busiest part of the morning commute in London for today. Most of the transit system is up and running despite yesterday's devastating terror attacks.

CNN Correspondent Richard Quest joins us live now from the King's Cross underground station in London, which was one of the hardest hit -- or actually the hardest hit, wasn't it, Richard?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, it was. It was where the explosion took place on the Piccadilly line, about 300 yards from the station here at King's Cross. What that effectively means, Fredricka, is that about 100 feet beneath me is the train where that explosion took place. I understand the explosion was pretty much halfway along the train, and that meant that passengers onboard, half of them had to be taken out towards one station, and half had to be taken out to the other station.

The sad fact to report to you this morning, though, is that 21 people perished on that train. They were killed in the explosion. And those bodies are still on the train.

The authorities tell me that the recovery operation for those bodies is now underway. And they hope by the end of the day to have brought the bodies and the remains above ground.

In fact, one official I was talking to said that he had been down underground, he had been onto that train, seen it for himself. And he described what must have happened.

What he said is that as the explosion blew the train open, it would have also brought down much of the dust and the grime from the roof. And that's why so many of the people who came out of that train either had smoke inhalation, or they were blackened, or they were simply suffering the effects of what had taken place, to say nothing of the noise, the concussion that will have hit them, Fredricka, when it took place.

One other thing. Her majesty the queen, Queen Elizabeth II, is due to visit one of the hospitals that received some of the casualties. Her majesty will go there later today -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Richard Quest. Thank you so much for that report from King's Cross Station in London.

Well, how have the London bombings affected you? Do you have friends or relatives in London, or did you actually witness the attacks? Log on to CNN.com/LondonBombings and share your thoughts with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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