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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/05/shahzad.3.art.jpg caption="Yesterday's raids were multi-pronged, following different "tentacles" of Shahzad probe, source says."]
3 from Pakistan arrested in NYC plot
(CNN) – Three people from Pakistan were taken into custody Thursday in raids in the Northeast by federal agents in connection with the failed Times Square car bombing, sources close to the investigation said.
Two individuals were taken into custody in Massachusetts, with a third arrested in Maine.
One focus of the probe, according to a source close to the investigation, is a system of "cash couriers" who bring money into the United States from overseas, a method thought to help finance operations like the attempted Times Square attack.
A statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that three people were taken into custody on alleged immigration violations, but provided no further details. Read more
How bad is Gulf spill? Inquiry is launched to find out
A U.S. congressman said he will launch a formal inquiry Friday into how much oil is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico after learning of independent estimates that are significantly higher than the amount BP officials have provided.
Rep. Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said he will send a letter to BP and ask for more details from federal agencies about the methods they are using to analyze the oil leak. Markey, who chairs a congressional subcommittee on energy and the environment, said miscalculating the spill's volume may be hampering efforts to stop it. Read more
Gut Check: Is the NRA bulletproof?
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? Our Carol Costello has a "Gut Check" for you this morning.
Sound off: We want to hear from you this morning. Add your comments to the LIVE blog below and we'll read some of them on the show.
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I loved that shirt. Where do they sell them?
How petty can you get? Making fun of the Japanese prime minister's shirt? Way to respect a prominent, accomplished public figure. No wonder teens in America bash each other with no remorse. And these comments were made directly following the hero of the week story, to which there was no follow up positive comment by the hosts of the show. The show should be ashamed.
Melon, being called anti-American by someone as unpatriotic as you is a compliment!
tell Alina Cho that I take water, two carrots, onion and wakame alongwith Miso that comes from a family in Japan that has been making MISO for over 400 years and after one bowl she'll never worry about a pedicare again...
With regards to the BP gulf oil rig disaster of 2010, I am a chemical engineer with 30 plus years of hands-on experience working in chemical and petrochemical plants. I have professional engineering registration. I can tell you that there is a series of mistakes and the fault lies not only with BP but with the federal government. According to the New Your Times permits for this rig may have been waived. The EPA environmental impact report may have been waived. Government oversight was likely very lacks. BP has a notoriously bad safety record and does not seem to understand how to run a safe operation optimally. There needs to be far better government oversight and BP needs to be held accountable. This may likely end up being worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States under the watch of President Barack Obama. Could BP's contributions to the Obama campaign have an influence on these lapses in oversight? Our most pristine beaches and environmentally sensitive areas will be ruined for decades. The leak is still uncontrolled as of the posting of this message. Someone better get their act together. Where does the buck stop? I thought it was the president's desk.
Let me comment on BP's efforts on stopping the leak in the gulf. These of course are difficult challenges that take time. When the contaminant dome is fabricated. design it with a flat top. After it is sitting over the leak. pile on flat steel weights.
Another idea is to drill and use explosives to collapse the pipe.
I certainly hope that BP's intention is not to salvage the situation by trying to be able to continue to pump out the oil after the fix. The well needs to be sealed and abandoned.
Randall .. once I again I whisper in your ear .. I am NOT a pacifist. I am a realist. One that sees the evil of the real world and not blinded by what politicians spew to make themselves look "better".
Say MeloN wait until I cnvert Fran Townsend away from the Republican Party! I didn't say to the Democratic Party though!
Tell Karol Ward that my psych ask me the other day id I was hearing voices and I told her only when they are talking to me!...lol..
Muslim, al Qaeda is a bunch of terrorists, led by Bin Laden, who attempt to use Islam to validate their extremism. Much the same way extremists from other faiths have used their religion to give their cause some validity.
Melon, I never claimed that the US was right in all foreign policy matters over the decades. We made several mistakes & got invloved in places we never should have. It's the GOP who slammed President Obama for apologizing for some of these mistakes.
You claim that anyone who doesn't agree w/ AZ's new law is unAmerican but you sure show a lot of empathy to those who want to kill Americans and/or destroy this country.
Pauly.. your constant spewing "Look at what the bad ol' GOP is doing again" and your ability to toe the party line only shows that you are truly anti-American at heart. You and people like are are more responsible for the condition of the country than the politicians in Washington are.
I watch American Morning every day M-F despite its being on at 3:00 A.M. here in San Diego, CA.! John and Kiran are exceptional in their presentations, and provide important coverage of the major stories. HOWEVER, I find some of your additional reports from correspondents utterly shameful: Ed Lavandera's whining about not being shown the video from 5000 feet under water was a disgraceful exhibition of whining to no purpose. What exactly would any one gain by seeing those videos? It was, I felt, an attempt to imply that BP was hiding some incriminating evidence! I have to agree with BP that it matters little whether 5000 or 70,000 barrels of oil are being discharged every day from the blow-out: what matters is that the surge of oil be plugged. Tongue-in-cheek reporting or chasing a non-story may feel good, but it does a dis-service to viewers who are not intereted in simply scoring points over BP or any one else.
Good work, John Roberts and Kiran Chetry. Just edit those idiot reports out of the program!`By the way, I am a retired Marine Engineer and am quite aware of the technical problems BP faces at this time.
Pauly do you know the least opposed tool or weapon of mass destruction that gets nearly zero resistant in its use?
It is the American caterpillar! It was Hamas first request upon their first election! Asking America to stop importing Bulldozers!
MeloN you step into my office please! MeloN if you can't be more diplomatic to Pauly than this "Pauly .. do you actually believe the garbage that you spew?" then you levee me little choice than to remove you from my cabinet!..lol...
Like LBJ said it is better to have him on the inside whizzing outside the tent than on the outside whizzing in!...lol
I created the Department of Peace and Pacifistic Chane around you...wat you do to Pauly is humor him a little and then kick him in the shin and take off running...lol...
Great debate Pauly and MeloN..
Over two weeks ago now, I suggested to Unified Command ( which includes BP ), that a 5000 foot hose be attached to the leaky riser and oil siphoned off to waiting vessels on the surface. Why has it taken BP such a long time to implement a variation of this plan? They could have tried this procedure while they were building the bigger dome, which ended up failing in the end. If their riser tube insertion plan does end up working, and had BP acted sooner, one can only speculate as to how much oil might have been prevented from entering the marine environment.
AND.. the Democrats haven't/don't use the fillibuster like the Republican do or as much?.. get real.
Oil Spill-In addition to coming up with new ideas to try to stop this oil leak, why isn't BP using ALL the environmentally safe products that can be sprinkled on top of the oil spill/Gulf waters to absorb the surface oil? CNN has reported on several of these products and BP is not using any of these. At this point they should be and should have been using all of these methods in addition to continuing working towards stopping this HORRIBLE leak!!
I am having real problems with you all inflamming the misery by reporting numbers from some "expert" who looked at a picture. This is not the time to make matters worse, especially if they are unsubstantiated. Are you now going to report EVERY 'experts" opinion? Please stick to facts. If nothing else, the gulf coasts residents deserve responsible reporting. I would like to know why BP hasn't tried the smaller "top hat" as originally planned. Wasn't it lowered? Has it worked or not? No one is asking why, why, why!!! Why are containment attempts being put off by 2-3 days?! Isn't good weather critical to these attempts?! Aren't we approaching hurricane season? In my opinion, their slow containment efforts are GROSSLY negligent. Who is policing whether or not BP is really trying all of these ideas in a timely manner?
Pauly, what really is Al Qaeda?
There is nothing solid known about it, except that the media uses it like an Emmanuel Goldstein type organization for the American public to use to have the 3 minutes hate.
As for Baghram being transferred to the Afghans, and the US being absolved of all responsability, this is what's called Plausible Deniability.
The Devil doesn't want to take the blame, he says he only suggested things to you and it was you who actually did them.
As for playing down the killings of Afghan prisoners: Do you know how it works?
Arrest a villager, torture them or as the euphamism is spoken "Interrogate" them, find nothing useful, declare them Taliban and kill them.
Where is your investigative jounalism CNN? You have a huge story. Instead of digging into this oil spill, you are tap dancing around BP. Get in and give us viewers the whole story. This is a disaster. Wake up and get experts, not connected with BP (I cannot believe I have to mention this) and tell the world what is going on. There is more oil going out than what BP is saying, so how much is leaking? Stop following the "stars" around and do some real news. While you are off reporting on Tiger Woods and his sore neck, the ocean is being contaminated and BP wants to throw a junk pile on it to stop the flow? Does anyone else see how insane this is? Are these really the only options to throw toxic chemicals on the oil or create a mega toxic trash pile???
I am with you Peg, the catch 22 is you, me and all Americans will be paying for this one way (tax dollars) or another (at the pump)
Here we go again,.. Why is it that no one will come to the rescue of the United States. Where are all the engineers of the WORLD? Why don't they step forward and offer ideas on how to stop the oil leak? The United States once again stands alone.
Melon, nothing gets done in DC because since the '06 elections, the GOP has used the fillibuster in record numbers. Almost every bill now has to have a fillibuster proof majority of 60 votes. Bills need only 51 votes to pass but it takes 60 votes to get all bills to a vote nowadays.
I don't agree w/ the Dem party on everything. I don't agree w/ every Dem lawmaker. However, they are at least trying to correct the many problems caused by the GOP, who are trying to obstruct these fixes.
On the morning of the Senate hearings on the oil spill, the GOP was holding a fundraiser w/ oil executives & Frank Lutz in the Capitol Hill Club! They were discussing the best way to spin the spill!!! I don't think that's putting country first!!!
I would like to see Americans boycott BP. The reason they don't just use explosives to cap it, because they wouldn't be able to tap it. I can't believe the BP executive had the audacity to stand by 5000 barrels, I am no expert but that is far more than 5000. Truth be told, I think it's more than 70,000 barrels a day.
Pauly.. who and what created Al Queda? The failed US foreign policy that has been practiced for decades and the American people that thinks they do know wrong. I consider 9/11 as self inflicted. Americans have to learn that they can't go about the world doing as they please to whomever they want to do it without any consequences to be paid.
Where are you (and your kind) when the US attempts to impose it's will on rest the world?
It appears to me that BP has made no attempt to stop the leak. Seems their main priority is to "save" the oil that is leaking.
I want to get off facebook! I had pen and paper to take notes after the lead in "how to get off of facebook". It wasn't about that at all. It was about security?????
A garden hose pumps 10 gallons of water a minute. The estimate of 5,000 barrles a day from the leak suggest that the wellhead in the Gulf is pumping 146 gallons a minute. How much more pressure is in that pipe & how many garden hoses would fit into it?
My input is zero but if LBJ was President then I'd phone him and tell him to send $10 million dollars to each Catholic Church in the Louisiana areas and get it on the radio nobody was going down like the plankton! I'd tell the Catholic Priest's to distribute cash among protestants too of course but there are literally hundreds of good people standing around down there "fretting" and God I hate to see women fret! I tell the banks to allow amnesty on payments and especially mortages. Free up radio advertising and send us a bill for your daily advertising budgets to committ to public service. And NO kids must be relocated from the necessity of this loss of jobs unless the parent totally wants to...
Mexican government want to send as many illegal immigrants from there side coz every single person successfully crossed the border before the immigration bill passes would get either amnesty or some kind of legal status.
What is the bebifit to Mexican govt?
Financial as so many illegal aliens send the money to Mexico.
Mexican government has huge influence over there people here.
Mexican government will never ever support stopping illegal border crossing as it can not take care of it's own people and the country.
where are the Mexican immigration advocacy groups when the drug trafficers and human smuggler harras those illegals? Why they are not raising voice against abuse?
The problem w/ the gun issue is the gun user, not the guns. Increase the restrictions on the right to bear, the ability to protect oneself against one who is intent to do harm is gone. Like to see less restrictions in state parks.
are u a knucklehead? It's already illegal for convicted felons to purchase a gun or for anybody with a history of violence or substance abuse. Adding more restrictions only affects honest citizens, not the criminals committing crimes with guns. How does a felon walk around with a gun tucked in his waistband? He obviously didn't buy his gun from an authorized dealer.
Ohm Shanti... From what I gather about the NRA it seems that they have some need to assert their masculinity, including 'women' like Sarah Palin. For some unclear reason they see the 2nd Ammendment, not as Constitutional Right, but rather a GOD Given Right... Ohm Shanti Brahma Vishnu Mahesh Kato Kala... If GOD wanted Sarah Palin to kill for sport then I'm sure GOD would have Given guns to His children as babies... Ohm Shanti...
-jc
I think there are too many politicians who take money from the NRA. I believe in the 2nd ammendment to a limit. Why do regular citizens need semi or fully automatic weapons? I don't believe our forefathers thought on how weapons would change, no more than they foresaw things like phones with internet access.
@karen why should citizens be denied these weapons? Do they need them? Not necessarily. Perhaps for hunting. But why should we be denied them, especially if u live in a border state. All the drug cartels and the gangs have better weapons than law enforcement and than us citizens.
BP continues to say that they are trying to STOP the flow of oil into the gulf. They are not trying to STOP it, they are continuing to try and 'mine' the oil. If they were really trying to stop the flow, they would be sending down something to PLUG the leak instead of different ways to continue to syphon the oil into a tanker.
As a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast let me just say to BP: "PLUG IT UP!"
And Melon, al Qaeda & the Pakistani Taliban have killed more Pakistanis than have been killed by drones. Worse yet, they target those civilians. The CIA & military are trying to prevent innocent civilians from being killed. Not an easy task when the terrorists live among the people. Remember, al Qaeda targeted & killled thousands of American civilians & they & other terror orgs continue to plan the killing of American civilians!!!
re: facebook story. You never really said How To Permanently Delete Your Account (that is what you said you were going to cover).
As to the suspect in the Times Square bombing attempt. At this point in the story it appears that the financing was done through the Muslim system of "hawala" or "hundi." which involves little paper and a lot of trust.
We know how upset people in our culture can become if they are foreclosed upon. Now imagine a person from a Muslim-dominant culture buying a house in the U.S. under our financing system and being foreclosed upon. Could this disconnect have contributed to the suspect's alleged anger or be something that motivates domestic terrorists?
Pauly .. do you actually believe the garbage that you spew?
Blaming one party constantly is a major reason nothing gets done. Try being realistic – both parties are the same and are equally to blame.... in other words it's the GOVERNMENT as a whole.
about that oil 5000 this 70,000 that how much oil was being pumped from that rig prior to accident per day wouldnt that help narrow down the guess work
Is that pipe laying along the top of the ocean floor? Don't you wish it was like a garden hose so they could try and drop something on it to crimp the flow like 100 feet back up the line. How can you crimp that pipe to reduce it's output!
Randall, killing of captured prisoners would be a serious war crime. It would violated every treaty, convention & law! It isn't happeneing! Now do some soldiers kill the enemy when they could be captured instead. Yes. That has happened in every war in the history of the world. However, the military announced the other day they want to reward soldiers for showing restraint.
I do disagree w/ President Obama on not prosecuting those who committed war crimes during the last adminstration. However, if the same crimes occurred now, the culprits would be prosecuted.
And Muslim, the Bagram prison & it's prisoners have been handed over to the Afghans! If the Karazai govt wants to torture the prisoners, that's up to Aghans to stop. But rest assured, the US is not part of any torture committed there. If the policies ofthe last administration weren't stopped, what the hell are the Republicans complaining about?
President Obama seems to spend more time "on the road" than rock stars. How much have American taxpayers paid for his road trips to push his partisan issues since he took office and how much have his visits cost the cities he has visited. I am particularly interested to know who paid for his recent trip to California for a Democratic fund raising event.
Pakistan is just another fine example of the US double standards throughout the world. The US has bombed and killed hundreds of civilians in Pakistan and then they whine when people from Pakistan want payback. Somebody somewhere has to take a stand in order to stop the vicious circle.
Torture is still US policy. The Patriot Act is still US policy.
Torture still occurs in Afghanistan of Afghanis at a place called Baghram Airbase.
The oil spell numbers calculated by the Professor from Purdue university are most likely incorrect. It is impossible to determine the flow rate of a mixed flow (gas and oil) from a well from videos. It is avery difficult task to do the computation even if one knew the percent of expanding gas in the the two phase flow.
One more note: I wish we have 70,000 barrels a day wells in North America!!!!!!
With regard to the oil rig fiasco:
There is a push to use the military and swat teams. This is foolishness.
What you must do is hire mechanical and electrical engineers, people without connections to the oil industry, to do random unannounced inspections of all rigs and rigging equippment throughout the year.
If you are going to tax or penalize any oil company, be sure that the costs do not go onto the consumers at the pump. Make sure that the money is deducted from executive salaries.
Pauly, you "heard" President Obama stopped torture correct? Have you seen him do :anything" through the Solictor Generals office to try and overturn the destruction of the American peoples right through this last Bush-Chaney-Kissinger adminstration. what we are doing in the middle east is what Kissinger seriously propsed we do in 1974. Only he said bomb and control the Saudi Fields.
Read the book in November Melon!
One thing has been weighing on my mind about home grown terrorists. What studies has CNN done to look into the possibility that various groups could be targeting Arab Americans and forcing them to cooperate by threatening family members still living in their home countries. I would think this would be a gold mine for them. Has the government, CNN or other news agencies done any investigation into this possibility? I would think this is something that should be looked into.
Did you actually think Obama stopped the use of torture? Do you think he has the power to if he actually wanted?
Muslim, Seymour Hirsch reported that 5 people had told him American soldiers wre doing battlefield killings of their captured! I have no proof of that but it only goes to illustrate what innocent people can be made to do around a pack of lives.
OIl in the middle east since it's infancy in 1927 when that Canadian helped deliver Iraq's first well has brutally destroyed innocent lies. As the drive for "corporate record profits" continue and the death of American jobs race forward (millions of jobs will not return during this period just passed) we possibly might see an automobile that has "silver dollar seat covers" appear for the American and his automobile worship and love.
But Muslim I have proposed a radical summit for years so we can try and discuss needs and changes in direction for at least the childrens future.
Where we should launch a miltary strike are at these huge arms shows where weapons dealers show their latest arms items. Such as the one Saddam Hussein attended in Paris once. They are held in cities all over the world including Israel and Tehran.
Muslim, President Obama stopped torture or enhanced interrogation techniques of detainees. Obviously you have heard the GOP wrongly state several times that this makes us soft on terror. So even though many Americans feel that it is all right to torture, this administration doesn't torture.
Of course more than 5,000 barrels are leaking. Remember the 1st estimate of 1,000 barrels a day. BP raised a fit when the govt raised the estimate. A team was supposed to use a more accurate test than the Bonn convention but they were told to stay home. The Bonn convention has never been used on a spill this large & can't pinpoint an exact number. Usually estimates are made within a large range. Say between 1,000 & 20,000 barrels a day!
Also despite conventional wisdom of oil rising to the top, there is most definitely a large plum of oil trapped between the bottom & the surface, The leak is so far down that the oil has to contend w/ many different currents. This oil can't be seen on satellite images. In fact, NOAA admits they don't know how much oil hasn't reached the top or where it's headed!!!
Yesterday BP said they had recovered 97,000 barrels of the estimated 120,000 leaked. A pretty good ratio if the estimated leak is correct but not so good if the spill is 5-10 times larger than estimated.
Good Morning John & Christine,
What will it take for British Petrolium.,Wall Street,Congress or"Big Business" to understand that the American peoples are fed-up with half truths and distorted comments from top executives? I for one, will begin to boycott BP whenever possible.
It is a sad commentary when there is little or no personal integrity from these persons nor corporate honor.
Gun control only affects law abiding citizens not the felons who purchase weapons from the trunk of a car. Gangsters and criminals carry concealed weapons all the time while honest citizens rarely get approved for the concealed carry permit. Now, they want to make open carry illegal in california by passing assembly bill 1934? Why? We, ordinary citizens, have the right and the necessity to defend ourselves and our families.
How many of these "terrorists" will be tortured until they tell you they were the ones who killed President Lincoln?
The fundamental question is still not being answered:
Is Faisal Shahzad being tortured?
Go Figure Department! Ask around and determine how much Middle East oil actually makes it to our shores and to Americans gasoline tanks. Then determine the American caucasian ran oil companies that profit from Middle East oil as American son's and daughters lay down there lives aganst a wing of middle east citizens that are striking out against Americans for the rip off of their oil. Osama Bin Laden said pay us what our oil is worth. Well American and British oil companies unfortunately have been giving that oil money royalty to a corrupt few that they hand picked.
I know, I know, how did Exxon-Mobil's oil get under Arab soils.
...wrong "money story" is out front...terrorism confronts so few Americans yet the money issue that so many Americans fell victim to is the Wall Street bailout and there has been a continuing story going on there with Chris Dodd and other Senators wheelin and dealing unabated by the press for days. Now remember that Chris Dodd was privy to a special loan from a lending company during the corrrupt times just passed...
Good Morning CNN!
Why would anyone be surprised that people from Pakistan would want to attack the US.. I mean .. it's not like the US has been bombing and killing civilians inside Pakistan for years....
Silly Americans anyways.