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On the Front Line, Behind the Lens; Dallas Terror Suspect in Court; More Troops for Afghanistan?

Aired September 25, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We're pressing forward now.

The war in Afghanistan -- the top U.S. commander there says he needs more troops and more resources to win it. But a new poll suggests half of Americans think enough is enough.

We are pushing that disconnect forward this hour.

Plus, CNN security watch takes a look at security at home. Several alleged terrorist wannabes and their reported plans busted right here on U.S. soil.

And Iran's secret comes out -- a second and a secret place where it's planning to work on nuclear fuel. Today, an explosion of outrage. We'll get you the details on that.

But first, let's get this.

In the space of just a week, three alleged terror plots in the headlines. Unrelated plots, the feds say.

They have now arrested five men in four cities, the first round in Denver and New York and the latest in Dallas and Springfield, Illinois. Now, Dallas saw FBI agents swoop in on a Jordanian teenager as he allegedly pressed the detonator near his target. He thought he had set off a bomb, but little did he know the bomb was fake.

CNN's Sean Callebs is live in Dallas with the latest on this.

This is quite a story of how all of it came together and it was, in fact, orchestrated..

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really is, Betty. And you talk about how the fact that all these incidents apparently are not connected, but you have to forgive people across the country if they're a little bit nervous right now, because it certainly is a pattern that is very disruptive.

Looking at what Hosam Smadi is accused of, basically authorities began following him just about a year ago, when they noticed a discussion going on, on the Internet, very hostile rhetoric coming out saying that he wanted to unleash a terror assault on the United States, that he did want to come to this country from Jordan to be a mujahidee, to launch a holy war against the United States. Well, Smadi was arrested just a couple of days ago. He had a brief court appearance in a federal court building behind me. A lot of that 20-minute session was really focused on the fact, how much does he really understand? English not his first language, but this authority made it clear that he did understand what was going on, and he will now have a probable cause hearing coming up on October 5th.

Now, what happened, the authorities worked undercover for about a year, and they posed as members of an al Qaeda cell. And they talked with Smadi, and eventually got to the point where they provided him a car. And they told Smadi that this was a vehicle that was loaded down with ammonium nitrate, as well as C-4 and blasting caps. That's the same kind of material that Timothy McVeigh used to bring down a federal courthouse in Oklahoma.

Smadi drove the car to a building only about two blocks from where we are, one of the iconic buildings here in downtown Dallas. And then the authorities had given him a cell phone. He walked away, made a call on that cell phone that was supposed to trigger the blast, but it just rang to another federal agent, Smadi was arrested.

And one final point, Betty. Before he did that, authorities said, "Do you want an earplug?" And he said, "No, I want to hear this blast go off."

NGUYEN: My goodness. Those details are really quite shocking considering this guy really thought he was setting off a bomb. Good thing it turned out not to be the case.

Sean Callebs joining us live.

Thank you for that.

You know, the Illinois arrest was actually pretty similar to Dallas, though the suspect couldn't be more different. Take a look.

Twenty-nine-year-old Kalit Islam (ph), real name Michael Finton (ph), is an American. Yes, he's lived here all of his life. Cooks at a fish and chicken restaurant and has a MySpace page. But, at some point, the FBI says started idolizing the Taliban-American John Walker Lindh. Now, Lindh, apparently the inspiration in Finton's alleged plot to blow up a federal courthouse in Springfield, Illinois. But again, an FBI sting saw the suspect trying to set off fake explosives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF LANG, U.S. ATTORNEY: The Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI have been monitoring Finton for almost two years. And as a result, the public was never at risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Now, Finton has waived his preliminary hearing and prosecutors have 30 days to get an indictment from a grand jury.

One of the first names we heard in this whole string of terror arrests was Najibullah Zazi, first just charged with lying to the FBI, then hit with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Well, now he's been ordered transferred to New York from Denver where he was arrested.

Meanwhile, though, new details from court papers and new video of Zazi at a beauty supply store. The FBI says he was buying mass quantities of hydrogen peroxide to use in explosives. And get this -- Zazi actually joked with store clerks about his purchases.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARAN HOSS, CEO, BEAUTY SUPPLY WAREHOUSE: And specific to the product, I believe one of the employees actually asked, "What are you using all this stuff for?" And he jokingly said, "Oh, I have a lot of girlfriends."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well, two suspected homegrown terrorists now accused of plotting to kill U.S. Marines. Daniel Patrick Boyd -- you see him there with the longer beard -- is believed to be the ringleader. Prosecutors say he and another man scouted out the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. They allegedly had maps of the base and were training in rural North Carolina. The two men and five others are already charged with plotting to export a holy war overseas.

And in just a few minutes, I'm going to talk about all these developments with Larry Johnson. He's a former State Department counterterrorism official. You don't want to miss that.

But in the meantime, more troops and more equipment. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is expected to ask for both. But General Stanley McChrystal may need more public support in order to get it done. Half of all Americans oppose a troop surge, according to a new "US Today"/Gallup poll.

Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence now joins us live.

Chris, General McChrystal has already had a busy day, in fact.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty. You know, CNN has learned that there was a secret meeting between the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General McChrystal, and some of the top military people in the U.S. -- General David Petreaus and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

The meeting took place in Ramstein, Germany, at a secure U.S. military base where no one could see them come or go. And officials have told us that basically this meeting was so Admiral Mullen and General Petraeus could get a better idea of exactly what General McChrystal would need in terms of troops and resources.

We have heard that that request could be anywhere up to 40,000 troops. This is a major decision that's going to be on the president's plate very soon -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, Chris. Thank you so much. And we want to let you know about this. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is John King's guest on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" this weekend. You can see it right here, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, on Sunday.

Well, news of Iran's secret came on day two of the G-20 summit. CNN's White House Correspondent Dan Lothian is there.

And Dan, what's the biggest thing to come out of the G-20? I imagine it's what we learned about this morning.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Iran really is the big issue that we have heard here, but there are a lot of meetings going on behind the scenes dealing with economic issues, first of all, between the G-8 and the G-20. You know, for more than two decades, the G-8 developing countries was kind of the board of directors for any kind of global economic decisions. Well, leaders here have decided that now the G-20 will take on that role. The idea is that it makes sense to give India and China, with their booming economies, a seat at the table.

The other issue that's being address here is what to do globally to prevent another economic crisis. There is one consensus from European leaders that perhaps the focus needs to be on going after or capping the bonuses of bankers to kind of take away an incentive of risk- taking. The U.S. clearly believes that compensation is part of that, but they want broader reform, so that is something that the leaders here are also looking at, trying to come up with new guidelines to prevent another financial meltdown -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes, Dan. And I want to get back to my question off the top. What about Iran and the nuclear facility issue that we learned so much about today? Because that in fact has sent ripples through the G-20.

LOTHIAN: It really has because there's been a lot of concern, not only by the U.S., but it's allies, that Iran is not developing its nuclear capabilities for peaceful purposes, as it says, but rather to get a nuclear weapon. Of course, President Obama going public with what the intelligence community knew now for quite some time, but they have this underground uranium enrichment facility that has not started up yet. And the question now is, what will happen going forward with countries that have been reluctant to push for any stronger pressure, perhaps, down the road on Iran?

Just a few days ago, we saw the president sit down with the president of Russia, discussing what steps perhaps can be taken to rein Iran in, and further sanctions, if needed, was something that the president embraced. The president of Russia saying that, typically, sanctions don't really have the desired effect, but seemed open to the possibility of doing that if necessary.

Now we know why, because according to senior administration officials, the president, at that time, had briefed him on these latest findings.

The other unknown is China. China has been reluctant to embrace any further sanctions if necessary. A senior administration official was asked about that today. This official saying that China was fully briefed on these findings by the intelligence community. When asked if China perhaps would change the way it felt, this official said stay tuned -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right.

CNN's Dan Lothian joining us live.

Thank you for that, Dan.

Of course protests come with the G-20 territory, we all know that. And yesterday, well, take another look, as well as early this morning. Things got a little ugly out there. Police made more than 60 arrests as they clashed with anarchists. Pittsburgh expects smaller demonstrations today.

The G-20 was kind of upstaged today by news coming from Iran. We talked about it just a minute ago with Dan Lothian, and apparently Iran is more ambitious than it wanted to admit when it comes to nukes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: An explosion of outrage and condemnation today after Iran says it's building a new uranium enrichment facility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow, endangering the global nonproliferation regime, denying its own people access to the opportunity they deserve, and threatening the stability and security of the region and the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Senior U.S. officials have told CNN the U.N. and France have known about this secret for months. Still, though, President Obama and other western leaders are demanding an immediate investigation.

The Kremlin also saying the plant violates U.N. Security Council decisions.

CNN's senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, reports now from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these really are explosive revelations. What Iran has confirmed to the U.N. nuclear watchdog is that it now does have a second facility capable of enriching uranium. Up until now, work on that facility has been kept very much under wraps by the Iranians and has not been subject to U.N. inspection.

Now, we understand that the facility in question is not operational yet. The IAEA, the watchdog, says that Iran has told it that no nuclear material has been introduced into it. But the point is that for years, Iran has been saying that it's been totally up front about its nuclear activities, that it's been being transparent. This latest revelation though underlining what a huge trust gap there is between Iran and the West, a gap that has just got a whole lot wider.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. So, with the skyline of Atlanta on the horizon right there, Vice President Joe Biden got a firsthand view of the flooding that has ravaged north and central Georgia this week. Biden is following up on a disaster declaration from President Obama for five counties in the Atlanta metro area. At least nine people were killed in the storms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The truth of the matter is, for someone who's lost their home, it is Katrina. For someone who is in a situation as the people here in this shelter, it is Katrina. It's not Katrina in its scope, by any stretch of the imagination, but the impact on their lives, on your lives, we understand, it is Katrina. And on a beautiful sunny day like today, the worst part of it all is, I know from experience, the tragedy, what happened to you is sinking in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. This just in to CNN. Terror suspect Najibullah Zazi has left Denver. He is headed to New York City.

Why? Because he has been charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, also charged with lying to the FBI. Again, he has left Denver, en route to New York.

We will continue to follow this case for you, dealing with the terror plot.

Time now for the top stories this hour.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg apparent wants to go right back to work after an overnight stay in a hospital. The 76-year-old justice fell ill yesterday following a blood treatment. Ginsburg underwent surgery back in February after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Well, this from The Associated Press. Lawyers for convicted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui want a new trial. Moussaoui is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to helping orchestrate those attacks, but now he says he is innocent. His attorneys say he was denied due process in his defense.

Meanwhile, though, there is a purported new warning from Osama bin Laden for Europe. The message which has yet to be authenticated, suggests Europeans steer clear of America's military involvement in Afghanistan.

Of course we're going to have more of these top stories a little bit later, in about 20 minutes. So definitely stick around for that.

But in the meantime, though, almost one in every four women will become a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime. One in every four women. Women of all backgrounds are at risk, but Muslim women can be more reluctant to seek help.

Our hero of the week helps prevent Islamic women in New York from suffering in silence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER (voice-over): This is CNN Heroes.

ROBINA NIAZ, PROTECTING THE POWERLESS: Abuse cuts across race, religion, culture. I'm a Muslim, born and raised in Pakistan. I migrated to New York in 1990.

Within the Muslim community, there's a lot of denial about the issue. The Koran condemns abusive behavior of women. If we witness injustice, we're required to speak up.

I am Robina Niaz, and I help Islamic women end abuse in their lives.

We do a lot of community outreach. A lot of our sisters are being abused.

This affects all of us. We need to talk about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was afraid for my life. I didn't have a place to go. My family would disown me. My father even said to me that, "You're lucky that you live in America, because if you lived back home, you would have been dead by now." Robina understood the cultural nuances and all the religious issues.

NIAZ: Our first duty is protect ourselves. We tell them how to get into a shelter, what their rights are.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She really made me understand that I'm not alone.

NIAZ: We are here whenever you want to come to us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told my friend about you.

NIAZ: When it's the right time.

There have been threats to my safety. But I know that God is protecting me because I'm doing the right thing. (END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, to find out more about Robina or any of our hero's work, go to CNN.com/heroes right now. And get ready next week, because we will be making a special announcement.

Throughout the day on October 1st, Anderson Cooper will tell us which of the remarkable people we have been telling you about all year have been selected as the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2009.

A stunning claim from Moammar Gadhafi. You won't believe who he says he met with while he was here in the United States, people you'd think wouldn't be glad to meet him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so Saturday in Denver, an Afghan-born US citizen arrested; Wednesday, Springfield, Illinois, it was an American; and yesterday in Dallas a Jordanian teenager - three terror suspects and three alleged bomb plots busted in one week. None of them, Feds say, connected.

There are still lots of things that we do not know about these cases and beyond denying any links, the FBI hasn't gone into detail about the timing either. So let's bring in Larry Johnson. He is CEO and founder of BERG Associates, which is a consulting firm focusing on terrorism, and before that he was a state department counterterrorism official.

The first case I want to look at is the one out of Dallas, Larry, because, really, when we look at the tactics that are being used here, officers went so far as to give this suspect a fake bomb. I mean is that the correct way to go about trying to figure out if - if someone is involved in a possible terror plot or is that entrapment?

LARRY JOHNSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BERG ASSOCIATES: No, that - that's the proper way to go about it. I think that, you know, what it shows you is that this guy was not terribly bright. Someone tells him, here, here's a bomb, and he's not even trained enough to be able to recognize whether he has a real device.

So this is not the first time the FBI has done this kind of thing. If you go back to the first World Trade Center bombing, they had actually penetrated the group that ultimately carried out that attack, the blind sheik. And so, after that they reactivated it and they prevented the bombings of the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.

So this is what - the FBI is doing what it should be doing, and they're doing it in a very good way.

NGUYEN: But they're using many different methods, and I want to compare that to the Zazi case, the guy out of Denver who's now being flown to New York to face charges. He was just questioned for days before arrested. There was no providing him with any kind of possible bomb, there was - there were no kind of set up like that. JOHNSON: Right. Well, what you had going on there was both the New York City police were involved and there's always a tension between state, local and federal police, unfortunately. And in this case, New York has a very unique capability, the New York City Police, and sometimes they operate on their own. So information about that activity got out beforehand and so it left the FBI in the position of scrambling to put together a sufficient case that would hold up in court. That one got launched before they were ready.

What this - should - Americans should feel confident, though, that the law enforcement side of the house, even though we have heard that oh, we don't want to have that pre-9/11 mentality. You can't fight it with law enforcement - that's nonsense. That's actually the best way to fight it. We thought it would be ideal if terrorists would wear uniforms, carry guns, sit in these (ph) locations and allow us to go blow them up, but they don't do that. Instead, you get people like these guys in Springfield, Illinois, in Dallas, Texas and Denver who want to do something. They have the desire. They may not necessarily have the ability, but once you can establish that they're serious about trying to do something then you can take pre-emptive steps and take them out of the circulation.

NGUYEN: All right. Speaking of Springfield, Illinois, we're looking at a picture of the suspect right now. This case is different because, actually, authorities - they were waiting on the suspect to attempt to detonate a bomb. That sounds quiet risky.

JOHNSON: Well, again, what they gave him was a fake bomb. And it calls into question - I have no doubt that this individual had the desire to do something. Let's be clear about that. But the fact that he is so clueless - I mean, this wasn't the brightest light bulb in the tanning bed here. This is a guy who didn't recognize that he didn't even have a live device, probably didn't even take time to even ask what kind of explosive he was dealing with.

And so it is - the FBI is not putting American lives in jeopardy. In fact they're taking to doing what they need to do from a law enforcement standpoint to build the proper case so that you can put these guys in jail, lock them away where they cannot do harm to Americans.

NGUYEN: All right. And it seems like, you know, some of the similar tactics have been used, but I - I want to get to another subject really quick, and that's racial profiling, because when you see a number of suspects picked up, you know, it leads to the question are - is racial profiling being used in nabbing these suspects?

JOHNSON: Racial profiling is a stupid approach for counterterrorism. In fact, if you look at that last guy's picture, red beard, white face - you know, he doesn't look like a -your typical Hollywood stereotype of what a terrorist is going to look like. So the issue is not to look at people, what their appearance is, look at what they do, have investigative techniques to identify.

You've got a lot of Muslims out there who are cooperating with law enforcement, who are providing information, who are tipping authorities off to these individuals before they cause damage. Because even though these guys are Islamic Jihadists, Islamic extremists, they still do not reflect the vast majority of Muslims who are not interested in causing murder and mayhem.

NGUYEN: All right. So - and if we're looking at suspects from different backgrounds, that look obviously different and different locations and different tactics being used to nab them, what is the biggest challenge?

JOHNSON: Biggest challenge is to continue to develop informants and to have information going back between state and local levels and the federal level. Right now we still have a problem. The Feds are great at taking information from state and local police, they're terrible at sharing with state and local police.

The reality, though, is state and local police more often than not have the best information because they get access to the little old lady who's the busybody, knows everything that's going on in her street and she will call and let the local police know that something's happening. So surmounting that barrier that prevents a full sharing of information between state and local authorities and federal authorities, I think that remains and should remain the number one priority to face (ph).

NGUYEN: All right. Larry Johnson joining us live. Larry, as always, we do appreciate it. Thank you.

In other news today, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi meeting with the families of Lockerbie bombing victims and offering condolences. Well, he told Fareed Zakaria that he did exactly that while he was right here in the US. Listen to part of this exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: I gathered from your aides that you have met with the victims of the Lockerbie bombing. Tell - tell me about that.

MOAMMAR GHADAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): Yes, I met some of them, yesterday.

ZAKARIA: Was it a friendly meeting, a friendly encounter?

GHADAFI (through translator): I - I offered my condolences for the relatives who lost them, who are in bereavement (ph). Then they also - they also - they also expressed their condolences for my daughter who was killed during the American raid in '86.

ZAKARIA: The 1986 raids?

GHADAFI (through translator): I was very - Iwas very sentimental and very touched. The - the meeting.

ZAKARIA: So you understand the grief of these - these people?

GHADAFI (through translator): Of course, of course. It is a tragedy. It is a catastrophe.

ZAKARIA: And do you regret any possible role that officials of the Libyan government might have played?

GHADAFI (through translator): No one would support an action like that or would not be touched and moved by such a tragedy, whether it's Lockerbie or whether it is the '86 raid against Libya. We are all families of the victims, relatives of the victims. It was the resorting to violence, it was the result of violence, as a result of terror.

Terror in all it' forms is a common enemy to all of us.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, you can see all of that exclusive interview with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi this Sunday on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS". It will air at 1:00 P.M. Eastern, again at 5:00 Eastern.

All right, so happening right now, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is holding a news conference in New York City, at the Intercontinental Hotel, and just moments ago he was asked about the revelation earlier today of a secret Iranian nuclear facility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (through translator): We think the best thing that everyone can do is follow the law. If everybody would follow the law, everything would be equal and fair, and there wouldn't be any problems.

There are some countries that haven't signed the MPT, and then they find fault with other countries. They even have several thousand bombs of their own and then find fault with the countries that have signed the MPT. And this is a double standard that must change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And in our other top stories, Jaycee Dugard willing to testify against the couple accused of keeping her hidden in a backyard compound for 18 years, that is if the case against Nancy and Phillip Garrido goes to court. Well, lawyers says Dugard initially had mixed emotions about opening up to a judge and a jury, but now he says she knows that "terrible and wrong things were done to her."

Also, tightening financial regulations, fixing imbalances and preventing more economic meltdowns, the G-20 is hammering out those issues and more in Pittsburgh today. We'll stay on top of that for you.

And thousand more US troops could be hitting the ground in Afghanistan if a top commander gets his way. CNN has learned that General Stanley McChrystal met with Joint Chiefs Chairman, Admiral Michael Mullen, reportedly to outline what he needs to turn the tides. But it's a request that comes as public support dips a little. A new "USA Today" Gallup poll says half of Americans do not support a surge. Well, we have seen how life is hardly a picnic for people in Detroit, but one diner is making it through the recession one burger and one piece of pie at a time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Over the past few months, we have been talking about a recovery, but two new economic reports are raising some questions. Yesterday we learned that home resales unexpectedly fell and today new home sales disappointed.

Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. All right, Susan, what does today's report tell us about the housing market?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're hearing, really, between these two reports, the existing home sales, which is the biggest part of the housing market, the new home sales is that we're not seeing a jack in the box recovery, no matter our wishful thinking, Betty.

New home sales did rise for the fifth straight month now, rose 0.7 percent - so just a little, itty bitty increase. Certainly the estimate was for much greater. One of the biggest home builders (INAUDIBLE) comment today, KB Homes says the housing market overall is in transition.

And what home builders like KB Homes are doing is that they're building fewer homes, so they're trying to soak up all that inventory, that glut of unsold homes on the market, and also they're building smaller homes. This is something that is really quite a change, Betty, from all those mansions. Smaller homes means less expensive homes, so real change that we're seeing here. But overall, I think investors are a little disappointed because there was hope that things would be better - better than the numbers we've seen over the last two days - Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Right. All right. So you know, despite these set backs this week, is the out look still pretty positive?

LISOVICZ: Well, certainly better than what we have. I think there are certainly plenty of veterans out there Betty who say we have seen the bottom of the market, it's just the road ahead it may well be bumpy. But on a bright note, gold man sacks is out with a note that says it, Betty it says, expects new home sales to surge 30% next year. Why is that? Because it expects mortgage rates to remain low and also because it expects the extension of that first-time home buying credit of $8,000, which has been such a boon for sales overall. And interestingly enough, one of the epicenters of the housing speculation out in the west between Nevada and California, that's where we're seeing some real strength. So I'll leave it on a positive note. We are going to strengthen the sector but remember the biggest part of the housing market is used homes if you will existing homes. Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, Susan, thank you so much for that. Have a great weekend. LISOVICZ: You too.

NGUYEN: In the meantime, in a town where businesses have just been shuttered left and right, one Detroit landmark has been thriving since the 1940s. Yes, bargain burgers are keeping the Telway Diner alive no matter how deep the recession. CNNMoney.com Poppy Harlow got a face taste for assignment Detroit.

I can take your order?

EARL OWENS, OWNER, TELWAY DINER: You get into a recession, my business usually picks up and you can tell when the unemployment comes in, business picks up, or whenever the social security checks come in, business picks up.

POPPY HARLOW: 95 cents for a cheeseburger. How on earth do you make any money, Earl?

OWENS: Well, we do it on volume, that's the whole system is volume.

HARLOW: Why do you set the price this is way?

OWENS: Number one, I want everybody to be able to eat, anyone that wants to be able to eat. If you've got 85 cents and 35 cents for a cup of coffee, you still can get something to eat. I'd rather do a lot of business not making much money rather a little business make a lot of money. I have had customers over there that's 80 something years old and been coming here for 50 years in Detroit, I tell you the truth, they think it's a home.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN, TELWAY DINER COSTUMER: I have been here longer than you have been here.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN, TELWAY DINER COSTUMER: We just get used to seeing them every morning. I mean it's like clock work, guaranteed someone's going to be here at 8:00, if they're not here by 8:00, pushing 10:00, you're looking for them. We're like, hey, he didn't show up.

OWENS: The other part is the workers. We greet them like family. Every one of them, if one of them gets in a financial situation, we all try to help them out.

NGUYEN: And Poppy Harlow joins u now. I want to learn a little bit more about Earl, the owner there, he seems like quite a character.

HARLOW: He is a character buy his 79 years old. He tells us he'll be working as long as he can. His son Allen, his grandson right there you see him, they're going to take over after him. They're going to work there. He gets up at 3:30 in the morning, they get to work and you know what this is an example of a business that is driving in a city with 29% unemployment, it's generation after generation working at the same company, just like the automaker. It's just a little piece of assignment Detroit. That special coverage that we take of this week between CNN Money and Timing Key (ph). You see the web page right there, many more stories right there, but a very neat story. Been there since 1944. Pretty amazing. NGUYEN: That's a guy who gets up and enjoys his work. Apparently, he's been doing it for so long time. Opps, slice of American. Thank you Poppy. I'll appreciate that.

So I want you to picture this folks, a family thinks snapshots of their toddlers are supercute. The person who develops them sees something else entirely and calls the cops.

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NGUYEN: All right, folks, listen to this story. An Arizona couple won't be taking pictures at bath time any time soon, or at least they won't be letting someone else develop those pictures. They were accused of being involved in child pornography and even had two of their young children taken away after a photo developer at Wal-Mart called the cops. He apparently saw the pictures in a very negative light and the couple had their kids back and don't face any charges but they do have a message for parents. They talked to Anderson Cooper last night on "CNN's ac 360."

ANTHONY DEMAREE, FATHER: That's kind of what's, what we thought of our long and it's really, I know the pictures have kind of dominated most of the news this past week. And obviously that's a huge part of it is the pictures in Wal-Mart, but it goes way beyond that, there were three separate outside entities, the judge, an expert in the field, and the Guardian Ad Litem who's a lawyer that is assigned to represent our children, they all said these photos were innocent family photos and, yet, the AG's office and the CPS and the Wal-Mart Police Department continued to prosecute us for the next eight months.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: What is your warning to other folks out there?

DEMAREE: Our warning is, really, if you have, you know, bath time, family photos, I would not take them to, you know, any place to get them processed because you never know what somebody's going to see in those photos. There's no, like in a Wal-Mart, there's no sign that says they're going to turn you know, your photos over to the police if there's any nudity at all and so they get shocked by they get completely surprised.

NGUYEN: All right, So, Wal-Mart says by Arizona law, they feel their associate acted appropriately in notifying the authority. We've been asking you to way in on this. I want to take you on my twitter side world quick and Humble 63 (ph) says, The Wal-Mart picture violation was awful. Almost everyone in my family would be in jail if those pics are porn. Of course we're going to read some more of your responses a little bit later in the show, so definitely stick around for that. You're watching the "cnn newsroom" and coming up my co- anchor on the weekend TJ Holmes is filling in for Rick Sanchez today. But Rick left him a little bit of something for the followers and the national conversation, his interview with filmmaker Michael Moore.

MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: When you and I went to college, you know, we didn't have to go to a private bank to take out a loan that would have us in hock for the next 20 years, a loan that would eventually have us paying a half a million dollars to the bank just so we can go to college. When we went to college there was a sign on the door that said financial aid office. And you went in there and you got a grant, or a scholarship, work study, you might have to work in the library ten hours a week, you know maybe a low interests low like one or two percent, pay back when you can to the college. Our nights a week, it works.

People got to go in school and you work in debt. Our 22-year-olds now, when they leave college, they have socked with so much credit card debt, because the credit cards are all over the campus encouraging kids to sign up for these things. And there still tow belong debt, the noose is already around their neck and they don't really made to get to go and explore their dreams or work the jobs that they would like to work because they have to get to work right away at any job they can get because they have to start paying off these loans or these credit cards.

NGUYEN: And more that interview next hour right here on the "CNN NEWSROOM" including more stakes on Jesus and Capitalism.

All right, so here's something we don't hear about often, a suspected stalker taking to the skies? Yes, police in Concord, California have arrested a pilot who says, they stalked his ex-girlfriend by repeatedly flying his small plane low over her house. The pilot has been booked on suspicion of stalking and for violating a restraining order. Apparently that works in the air as much as it does on the ground. Wal-Mart's whacked with a lawsuit over photos that weren't kiddy porn.

More of your tweaks on this strange story, next.

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NGUYEN: All right, so let's get back to what Wal-Mart, that Wal-Mart story, the company is being sued by a couple that had their kids taken away from them after a photo lab employee thought their pictures in a bathtub with their kids was kiddy porn. So they called the cops and the rest ensued. And we were asking you today what you think about this story. I'm going to take you to my twitter page and news crazy pt (ph) says bathtub pics? Gee, where does it stop? This is disgusting how innocent pics are turn into porn and TV Marrio (ph) says, this story of the pictures of the children in the bath is exaggerated. I hope those parent also win a lot against Wal-Mart. So, thank you so much for waying in today on our stories. We do appreciate it but there is more newsroom to come with my good friend and co-anchor on the weekend, TJ Holmes who's sitting in for Rick Sanchez.

TJ HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello there, everybody, and thanks to Betty there.