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American Morning
Denver Man Accused of Terrorism; Terror Plots Uncovered: Teen Accused of Trying to Bomb Building; What's at Stake at G-20 Summit?; Young Adults Might Bear the Brunt of Health Care Costs
Aired September 25, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And a very good morning to you on this Friday, it's the 25th of September. Thanks for joining us on the "Most News in the Morning." I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you too.
ROBERTS: Yes. Exactly.
CHETRY: How was the concert last night?
ROBERTS: I went to the U-2 show last night at Giants stadium. It was amazing. The stage was the most incredible thing I have ever seen. And I've been going to concerts for an awfully long time.
CHETRY: We should show a picture later. That would be cool.
ROBERTS: And working on an hour's sleep actually isn't too bad.
CHETRY: Yes. We'll see what happens. It's only 6:00. Meanwhile, thanks for being with us this morning. We have a lot of big stories that we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
First, the feds moving forward with an indictment in an alleged plot to use weapons of mass destruction to attack Americans. CNN has exclusive new surveillance video which authorities say shows Najibullah Zazi buying gallons of chemicals at a beauty supply shop, at various beauty supply shops, actually, for use as bomb-making ingredients, they allege. We're following these developments in New York and Denver.
ROBERTS: Also this morning, two more people in the United States accused of being terrorist. Feds say one of the men wanted to blow up a 60-story glass skyscraper in Dallas. This comes just after word of a similar unrelated case in Illinois where a man parked what he thought was a truck bomb outside a federal courthouse. We're live with the breaking developments.
CHETRY: And CNN confirming this morning that Iran has revealed the existence of a second uranium enrichment plant. According to diplomatic sources, Iran only admitted to the facility after it learned U.S. and French intelligence officials already had knowledge of it. We're working our sources to bring you the very latest on this developing story. ROBERTS: OK. We begin this morning with new developments concerning your security. An Afghan national arrested last week in Denver now formally charged in what investigators are calling the most serious plot to attack America since 9/11.
A federal indictment accuses 24-year-old Najibullah Zazi of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in the United States, specifically in New York City. In this exclusive video obtained by CNN, the FBI says Zazi appears to be buying large quantities of hydrogen peroxide at beauty shops in the Denver area allegedly as a bomb-making ingredient.
Our Susan Candiotti is following developments for us this morning. As we saw in the London train bombings back so many years ago, hydrogen peroxide, a very effective weapon.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right back in 2005, one of the ingredients used in that bombing in London and also back in a few years back. Richard Reid the shoe bomber in Boston, that was one of the ingredients also used to put that explosive together. Of course, that one didn't explode.
But these videos quite remarkable because the store says last week the FBI asked them for the video and, in fact, the store's owner turned it over to them. So the clips match on these film clips match the dates that the FBI says that Zazi made two buys at the very same beauty store outside Denver.
The first video is dated July 25th. A man authorities believe is Zazi brings several items to the check-out counter. You see this man. He's got a beard and he's wearing a baseball cap backwards. And he's seen putting at least one of six bottles of hydrogen peroxide right on the counter along with some other things, hair rollers, even a shower cap, and then he pays for the items.
And now in the second video, this one is dated August 28th, same store, and you see this man in an aisle. He bends over. He picks up several bottles. Twelve bottles this time and he puts them in a cart and he rolls it down the aisle. You see it, and he brings it up to the cashier, as well.
And in addition to these two videos, the FBI asked for the store to turn over any receipts they had of these cash transactions. And in fact, they went back into their files and they found them. They turned over these cash receipts. You can see two of them.
And this hydrogen peroxide very cheap. It's only $2.99 a bottle. So in the first purchase, he spends about $18 for the hydrogen peroxide and on the second one, he spends about $36.
And I asked this man last night, the CEO of the Beauty Supply Warehouse, if he thought this whole thing was very odd that this man would have come in and made these two purchases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KARAN HOSS, CEO, BEAUTY SUPPLY WAREHOUSE: At the time it wouldn't be a red flag because who would think that hydrogen peroxide, something that you find at the grocery store or at, you know, many different retail stores would be a cause for alarm? Not in my wildest dreams did I think that we're going to be sitting here a week later and watching the arrest of this gentleman on television. It's horrifying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: You saw this man on the videotape and he appears to be as you said the same man that is currently under arrest. What do you think about the fact that this man chose your store to walk into to buy all this hydrogen peroxide?
HOSS: He definitely picked the wrong store to go into. With 48 cameras covering every square inch of that store, we've got him on several different angles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: And the FBI, this man says, is now using equipment from the store to try to enhance the video even further.
ROBERTS: OK. So it's a beauty supply warehouse. People would obviously be buying materials, I would think in bulk. Would six bottles of hydrogen peroxide be on the realm of what people would normally buy? Did it raise a red flag with anyone?
CANDIOTTI: Well, he did. He said that the employees do think it was rather odd because people don't usually buy that much at beauty supply places, even if they're using them at salons. But they made some small talk with the guy and they said, hey, how come you're buying all this stuff? And he said, oh, I've got a lot of girlfriends. That was the answer.
CHETRY: I guess he has a lot of bleach blond girlfriends. Liquid developer, which is what they use, you know, to make their hair blond.
Oh, all right. Well, the other interesting element, that is the fact there would be security cameras everywhere now.
CANDIOTTI: That's right.
CHETRY: I mean in stores and they were able to go back and find the surveillance tape, as well. It's probably going to help out in the case.
CANDIOTTI: And if I can add, they're doing a lot more with this case because they also are saying that he made purchases and so did at least two other people in the Denver area. So they're still looking for more evidence.
ROBERTS: Susan Candiotti this morning. Susan, thanks. CHETRY: Also new this morning, there are news of three other terror plots not related to the New York case but still sobering. First in Springfield, Illinois, police have charged a man with attempted murder for allegedly trying to blow up a federal courthouse.
According to the FBI, Michael Finton drove a van that he believed was carrying explosives parked in front of the building, then dialed a cell phone to detonate the bomb. It turned out, though, it was a sting operation and those explosives were fake.
Also, authorities now say that the U.S. Marine base Quantico, Virginia was the target of a suspected North Carolina terror group. The alleged ring leader Daniel Boyd and another man have now been charged with conspiring to murder U.S. military personnel.
Then to Dallas where a teenager has been arrested for allegedly parking what he thought was a bomb outside of a 60-story fountain Plaza office tower. Our Sean Callebs is following this story.
And, Sean, how were the feds able to target this guy? This was again a sting?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. This is a 19- year-old Jordanian who has been in the country only about a year or so and they've been monitoring his e-mail chats online. Basically just all kinds of venom coming from Husein Smadi (ph) saying that he was here to commit a holy jihad. And we're staying in front of the federal courthouse. He's going to make his first appearance here in only a matter of hours.
Well, the feds worked undercover posing as an al Qaeda sleeper cell and they began to have conversations online and then face to face with Smadi (ph), and basically more than 65 separate conversations with Smadi (ph) over the past year according to this arrest warrant that really comes out in a great amount of detail.
They apparently tried to talk Smadi (ph) out of this holy jihad and Smadi (ph) wouldn't have any part of it saying that he was a soldier of Osama bin Laden. So the way the sting worked, the authorities basically talked to him about getting a truck parked with ammonium nitrate. Remember Timothy McVeigh, the way he brought down the federal building in Oklahoma City, and was triggered by C-4 with blasting caps. However, it was a fake bomb that the authorities have.
He drove to that glass building, parked it there, then walked from the building, got into a car with an undercover agent, made a call to trigger that blast and that's when he was arrested.
CHETRY: Word, Sean, on why he chose that 60-story building out in place as the target?
CALLEBS: Yes, it really stands out. Glass building. But according to, again, the information in this arrest warrant, he wanted to target that because it houses Wells Fargo. He says it's a bank that has billions and billions of dollars and by disrupting that, he could further disrupt the U.S. economy. That's the reason he targeted that. He actually considered the Dallas airport and several other sites before coming to the conclusion that he wanted to trigger Fountain Place -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Sean Callebs for us this morning, following developments in that investigation out of Dallas. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Now just crossing eight minutes after the hour. Brand new this morning, CNN is learning that Iran has confirmed to the United Nations nuclear agency what U.S. intelligence had suspected for a while that it has a new secret facility to enrich uranium, a process that can be used to use nuclear weapons.
Iran had previously said that it was operating only one plant. The revelation coming just hours before the United States, France and Britain will, according to "The New York Times," accuse Tehran of building a secret underground plant.
Coming up at 6:30 Eastern in just about 20 minutes, we're going to talk to the reporter who broke that story, David Sanger (ph).
On Capitol Hill, we're heading toward what could be an explosive debate on a so-called public option. Democratic Senators Jay Rockefeller and Chuck Schumer will today push to add a government-run insurance program to Senator Max Baucus's plan. Baucus left out the public option because he did not think that it could pass the Senate.
CHETRY: Well, talk about your buried treasure. A man using a metal detector hit the mother load in the English countryside 1,500 pieces of gold, silver, and precious stones, most of it dating back to the seventh century. Why do I only find bottle caps?
Well, experts say that the find is priceless and, in fact, it will take them a year to assess the actual value. The guy who found it says that it's more fun than winning the lottery.
ROBERTS: So all those of you who have got metal detectors, get off the beach. Go to England. You might find something there.
OK. We've got these terror plots that we told you about just a little while ago. How serious are these, and does this represent some sort of brand new threat against the United States? Or has this always been with us?
We're going to talk to a former member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York City. Coming up next.
Coming up now on ten minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We are following developing news about your security and safety. New arrests in separate alleged terror plots targeting buildings and people in the United States. In one case, a man tried to detonate what he thought was a bomb outside an Illinois courthouse in Springfield. In another case, a man has been charged with trying to blow up a 60-story Dallas office tower, the Fountain Place.
Here to help us break it all down this morning is Chris Voss. He's a former member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York City, now the managing director of Inside Security.
So, Chris, we've got these -- these two new alleged terror plots, the fellow in Dallas, the one in Springfield, Illinois, and then, of course, the Zazi case, the connection between New York and Denver. Some people at home might say what the heck is going on here?
CHRIS VOSS, FORMER FBI HOSTAGE NEGOTIATION: Well, John, yes. It is a little bit frightening that all these things are happening at the same time. And that's what we'll see occasionally. There'll be clusters of these types of behavior.
There's a couple of things that have drawn these plots out all at once. It is in the vicinity of the anniversary of September 11th. It's also, at the same time, Ramadan was just over. So there are a variety of reasons that has heightened the fervor, if you will, of the people that would like to do these things. And I think the reassuring thing is the fact that terrorist task forces across the country are on top of these cases.
ROBERTS: Yes. An in a fact in a couple of cases, the Illinois one and the Dallas one, it was actually a law enforcement agency that were sort of trying to help these would be terrorists along. They tried to plant bombs as we said, one outside the courthouse in Springfield, another outside the Freedom Place Tower in Dallas.
But there were other groups, including the Zazi one, allegedly, that had been operating by themselves, gathering materials by themselves. There was also the plot to kill Marines at Quantico in Virginia. And then, of course, there was the shooting of the two men at the recruiting center in Arkansas. Which is more dangerous? These lone wolves out there who are potentially operating with the help of law enforcement, or these groups that are collecting the materials by themselves?
VOSS: Well, the lone wolves are many times harder to spot because there's less of a network that can be seen by the investigators of the terrorist task forces to pick up. They can be a little bit harder to spot occasionally. They're harder to defend against. That's just been good investigation, good proactive work on the part of the different task force to stay with these. As far as which is the most dangerous, the lone wolves are looking for single targets, but they're looking at spectacular targets.
ROBERTS: You know, we have this video allegedly of Najibullah Zazi at a Denver beauty supply warehouse buying bottles of peroxide, which didn't really raise too much of a red flag. If you've got people out there going around to these beauty supply places, buying the same type of materials that were used in the 7/7/2005 bombings in London, does it speak to this idea that law enforcement needs to work more closely with people who are potentially selling raw materials for bombs to say, hey, be on the lookout, be a little more vigilant? VOSS: Absolutely. That's a great point. And particularly in our society, law enforcement relies upon ordinary citizens. You know, the good citizens of the world letting us know when things like this begin to happen. The cooperation is very important.
ROBERTS: It's really kind of surprising to a lot of people that you have the alleged Zazi plot and you have these two others in Illinois and Dallas. And, you know, people at home might wonder, are there more cells out there? And would some of those cells that are potentially are out there now have gone to ground because of the publicity surrounding these cases? What do you think?
VOSS: Well, they've gone to ground on the one hand. But the advantage of the publicity of these cases is that more people are becoming aware of what to look for. We've sort of gone away from a strategy against terrorism, simply deterrence where we don't hear about these cases, so we don't really know what's going on. And being in the dark as a population across this country, that's not good for our overall safety and security. So it's much better overall that number one, we know about these cases and number two, that these people are being arrested and taken to trial.
ROBERTS: It's still pretty shocking, though, that these folks are out there.
Chris Voss of Inside Security, thanks for being with us this morning. Appreciate it.
VOSS: My pleasure, John.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we've been talking about the G-20, the meeting of the big, big world leaders responsible for 90 percent of the world's economy. But what does it really mean if you're sitting at home? How important is this meeting to your money? Christine Romans breaks it down for us.
It's now 17 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Coming up on 20 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Police are bracing for more protests today at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh as world leaders try to get down to business. This group is expected to announce that it's now taking the lead role in global economic cooperation replacing the smaller G-8. So what exactly is this G-20? The annual meeting of the 19 industrial and emerging market countries as well as the European Union, thus G-20.
The leaders are seeking consensus on the global financial crisis and also on issues like fighting terrorist financing. The G-20 represents two-thirds of the world's population about 90 percent of the total economic output. But what's really at stake in this G-20 meeting?
Well, our Christine Romans is live now from Pittsburgh with more on how what they're doing there relates to your pocketbook, my pocketbook, and everyone else here at home.
Hey there, Christine, good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. And the big news here from Pittsburgh this morning is exactly what you just mentioned, that the G-20 will supplant the G-8 as a principal place for international financial diplomacy. That gives more power to countries like Brazil and India and China -- these big, fast-growing developing countries.
So, who are the winners? Who stands the most to gain? Who stands the most to lose? And do we care?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): Meetings, meetings, meetings. London, New York, now Pittsburgh, 20 world leaders representing two-thirds of the world's people and 90 percent of its money. It's the world's most powerful photo-op.
Here they are in London in April. The new guy, the banker, the ladies' man, Putin's boss on paper, the guy who threatens to walk out. And the requisite obsessing over first lady fashion and perceived faux pas. At that meeting, leaders pledge a trillion dollars in stimulus for the global economy. A crisis was averted. The stock market jumped almost 30 percent since then.
Next challenge, prevent another financial disaster. They differ on how to do that.
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: We are not going to walk away from the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and leave unchanged and leave in place the tragic vulnerabilities that caused this crisis.
ROMANS: The Americans want banks to hold more money aside to cover the risks they take. Europeans want tougher restrictions on banker pay. And you might hear talk about so-called global imbalances. It means the Americans need to save more and borrow less. The Europeans need investment, and the Chinese, they need to consume more.
There are 20 leaders, but two standouts. The new American president, an international star on the campaign trail hosting his first summit. And China, already out of recession and on track to overtake Germany in exports. Economist Ken Rogoff says China is doing very well for itself.
KEN ROGOFF, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Countries are looking at China and saying, wait a second, you know, you've got to pull back your exports a little bit. You're making it tough. You're benefiting at the expense of everybody else. ROMANS: All are watching a trade spat between the China and the U.S. over tires and chickens. The two countries are also the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters. Climate change on the agenda, but that won't be solved here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: That's right, Kiran, because the meetings don't end in Pittsburgh. They keep going on. Climate change will be discussed again in Copenhagen in December. That's where they'll try to hammer out another international treaty to replace their Kyoto. Of course, they are more than ten years old now and expire in 2012.
Meetings, meetings, meetings, it's all very nuanced international financial diplomacy. People like me love to watch what's happening here and how the language changes just a little bit. It probably won't change your life next week, but clearly that G-20 meeting in April, it did have a big effect. There was a lot of money pushed into the financial system and many of the members and leaders say we're still in a very critical time, so they're really pushing for global cooperation on some of these big issues, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Christine Romans for us this morning in Pittsburgh, thanks so much.
John.
ROBERTS: We've got a lot of news happening this morning. At 8:30 Eastern this morning, just about two hours from now, President Obama will be making an announcement at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. He will be along with the leaders of France and Britain accusing Iran of constructing a secret nuclear facility for enriching uranium, products that could potentially be used to develop nuclear weapons. So we'll be following that for you this morning. We'll bring that to you live as well.
Just ahead, Carol Costello "Just Sayin'" this time about the cost of health care. Stay with us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A few more steps, and Christine Prince and her daughter will be home. It's a new life far away from the misery of a temporary shelter.
CHRISTINE PRINCE, RESIDENT, INTERVALE GREEN: (INAUDIBLE) 300 mice in that apartment. We were living literally in fear.
Do you have a lot of homework?
WHITFIELD: A new address.
PRINCE: My first food pantry.
WHITFIELD: And a fresh start for this family.
PRINCE: It's like I won the lottery. I was so overjoyed because I know my children will finally have a place to call home.
WHITFIELD: Last March, they were among the first residents of Intervale Green, an innovative low-income housing project developed by WHEDCo, the Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation in the Bronx.
PRINCE: It's like one big family. I feel like a dream come true.
WHITFIELD: This home has residents seeing and saving green, with features like compact fluorescent lights, efficient appliances and low-flow plumbing designed to conserve both energy and cash, saving residents nearly a third on monthly utility bills.
NANCY BIBERMAN, FOUNDER, WHEDCO: It's the largest affordable green building in the country.
WHITFIELD: From the donated tile in the lobby, to the rooftop garden, this 128-unit apartment building is green from the ground up.
BIBERMAN: This is green that they can see and feel and touch and live.
WHITFIELD: But for this grateful family, it's home sweet home.
Fredricka Whitfield, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. A lot of debate about how you cut the crushing cost of health care. We'd all like a solution to that problem.
ROBERTS: Certainly. It's the news that many people want to hear. But some critics of President Obama's plan say that reform would just add to the nation's deficit leaving our children and grandchildren to foot the bill. But is that really the case? Our Carol Costello is looking into that this morning. She's "Just Sayin'."
Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "Just Sayin'." Good morning to both of you.
One of the arguments against health care reform is motivated by this fear. We're going to saddle our kids with higher taxes at enormous debt. Couple the cost of health care reform, with the stimulus, et cetera, et cetera, and your kids are looking at a lifetime of financial pain. "Just Sayin'," is that really true?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): It's certainly a valid concern.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're taking our kids' future and driving it right into the toilet.
COSTELLO: It is a figure that is incomprehensible for most Americans. Take a look at the national debt clock in Manhattan. It reads more than $11 trillion.
"Just Sayin'." If health care reform passes, will our kids pay through the nose?
MICHAEL TANNER, CATO INSTITUTE: Yes, that's something I think we haven't talked enough about.
COSTELLO: Some like Michael Tanner of the libertarian Cato Institute believe young adults are likely to bear the brunt of reforms costs.
TANNER: Certainly those young people who don't have insurance today are going to be required to go out and buy insurance. Some of them, of course, will receive subsidies, but those who don't are going to have to pay something that they're not paying today.
COSTELLO: Right now, about 10 million young Americans ages 19 to 26 don't have health insurance. Janos Marton is one of them.
JANOS MARTON, UNINSURED: I'm looking for private insurance right now, and I can afford some insurance. You know, I'm not broke or anything, I have income. But right now costs are just out of control.
COSTELLO: Last week at the University of Maryland, thousands of students showed up to hear the president talk about reform.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Health care is about more than the details of a policy. It's about what kind of country you want to be.
COSTELLO: Mr. Obama's words resonated, despite the fact many here will be saddled with college debt in the prospect of a terrible job market. A "Washington Post"/ABC News poll shows 58 percent of young adults favor health care reform.
HEATHER SMITH, ROCK THE VOTE: More than any other age group, they believe that this isn't right. That it's embarrassing that we in the United States are the only democracy that doesn't have universal health care coverage for its citizens.
COSTELLO: Under the latest Senate proposal, tax experts say a bear bones catastrophic policy for young people could cost as much as $200 per month. The president has promised he won't sign any reform that adds to the deficit. Critics say that just means higher taxes on some things.
Marton is willing to listen, though, despite concerns that such ideas will bankrupt his future.
JANOS MARTON, UNINSURED: I'm just happy for any chance to participate in more serious discourse than what we hear from these town halls. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Some of the young people I talked with told me they'd rather pay higher taxes for health care than for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As for inheriting a huge deficit, one young lady I spoke with, just 20 years old, pointed to deficits of the past.
Let's go back to the past together now, shall we? Each generation, she said, dealt with them, and this young lady says we're going to have to deal with ours.
Of course, the deficit right now is humongous compared to these figures, but, of course, President Obama is only eight or nine months through his first term.
We want to know what you think about this, though. Will health care reform bankrupt our kids' future? Write to my blog at cnn.com/amfix. Love to hear what you think.
ROBERTS: Just amazing how that debt racks up. Carol Costello for us this morning. "Just Saying." Carol, thanks so much for that.
COSTELLO: Sure.
CHETRY: Right now, we're crossing the half hour. It's time to check our top stories once again.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is expected to be released from a Washington D.C. hospital yesterday. She just stayed overnight after -- she is supposed to be released today after having to go there yesterday. And she got it in her chambers after receiving treatment for iron deficiency. Seventy-six-year-old Ginsburg underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer back in February, and then she was back on the bench within 18 days.
ROBERTS: Some sad news this morning coming to use from Buffalo, New York. Timothy Joseph Russert, father of the late Tim Russert, has passed away. The world knew him as "Big Russ." He was the subject of two books that were written by his son. The Russert family says he died peacefully of natural causes. "Big Russ" was 85.
CHETRY: And if you're up watching us because you can't sleep, you could be at risk for Alzheimer's. According to a study out of St. Louis, rodents that were forced to stay awake had a protein associated with the development of the disease build up in their brains. When the mice returned to their normal sleep pattern, those protein levels then went back down. Currently, 35 million people suffer from Alzheimer's disease. And as we know, there is no cure yet.
ROBERTS: And here I thought it was a condition called "news- heimer's" from our sleep deprivation, but maybe it's something more serious than that.
Well, to Iran now and its high-stakes nuclear face off with the U.S. and its allies. Within the last hour, CNN confirming that Iran has acknowledged the existence of a second uranium enrichment plant. The revelation coming just hours before President Obama is to make an announcement accusing Iran of constructing the secret facility.
Joining me on the telephone is David Sanger. He's the chief Washington correspondent for "The New York Times" and broke the story early this morning.
David, what do we expect the president to say in this statement that we'll be carrying at 8:30 this morning?
DAVID SANGER, REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES" (via telephone): You know, John, I expect that he will demand that Iran open this site to inspection. I think the fact that the Iranians have admitted that they have built what they call a pilot plant here and it probably will open it to inspection.
But they only admitted to the site because they recognized that the secrecy that they had built around this for a number of years had been breached by American and other intelligence agents.
So I think that we're in for a very heavy duty period of confrontation with the Iranians here. And remember, it's only next Thursday that these talks are supposed to begin in Europe that are really the first direct conversations between the U.S. and Iran in 30 years.
ROBERTS: Yes. Let's just come back to the -- I want to talk about that in a second, how it might affect those talks, but let's come back to the facility itself.
You report this morning that that facility is not yet in operation and that American officials say they have actually been tracking it for years?
SANGER: That's right. You know, if you go into the national intelligence estimate that came out in 2007 about Iran, deep in the classified sections of it, I'm told, and reported last year is suspicion of a number of different potential nuclear sites and this may well have been one of those.
ROBERTS: Right. OK. Now to the October 1st meeting. This is going to be between the United States, Britain, France, Germany and a diplomat from Iran, diplomatic mission at least from Iran. Ahmadinejad said in interview around the United Nations General Assembly that he might be making some sort of new proposal at that meeting.
How do you expect the discovery of this plant, at least it going public, is going to affect the tone and tenor and content of those meetings?
SANGER: Well, it certainly puts the Iranians on the defensive here, because they've got to explain why, after telling the world that they had been cooperating with nuclear inspectors so forth and so on, that there's yet another facility they've hidden.
Remember, this is the third time this has happened, John. The giant facility in Nepean (ph), the one the inspectors are going to add up was revealed by an Iranian exile group in 2002. 2007, we learned that they had done some work on weapons design. And now this.
So, at those negotiations, I think they're going to have to explain how it is that they keep telling the inspectors we've shown you everything and then something else keeps cropping up.
ROBERTS: Yes, and hidden deep underground this one, as well. David Sanger of "The New York Times" for us this morning. David, good to talk to you. Thanks so much.
SANGER: Good to talk to you, John.
CHETRY: Well, independent analyst John Avlon is going to be joining us with his picks for wingnut of the week, people, he says, put partisanship over civil discourse.
So, who does he call out this week? We're going to find out next.
Thirty-five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Thirty-nine minutes past the hour right now.
The liberal community organizing group ACORN has been under fire of late after hidden camera video showing ACORN workers advising prospective clients on how to break the law.
Well, now the other shoe has dropped. And the group is one of John Avlon's weekly wingnuts. Each Friday, he calls out people from the far left and the far right who have taken politics to the extreme.
John is a columnist for the DailyBeast.com and also the author of "Independent Nation" and he joins us now.
Usually, we let you unveil, but I am telling people that you picked ACORN on the left and we're just going to give a little bit of the back story first and then explain why you picked them. What we want to talk about is ACORN really quickly and we'll get to, again, from John.
But ACORN, again, is a community organizing group and they've been under fire after a series of tape recordings from a film crew. And what happened was this film crew was posing as a pimp and as a prostitute and would go into ACORN offices around the country to find out -- to ask advice on trying to get away with perhaps committing some crimes.
Here's a look at what happened at the Baltimore office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they don't have Social Security numbers then you don't have to worry about them because they can't file taxes anyway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are we supposed to do about them? We don't have to worry about them?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't have to worry about them. (INAUDIBLE) If they're going to have an ID number, if they're going to get Social Security numbers, even for working.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But these girls are like 15.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, well, then you don't worry about it. Then, you know what? You can always claim them as dependents.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we claim some of them as dependents and still have the other ones?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go. They're talking about smuggling El Salvadoran underage girls into the country and trying to use them as part of their prostitution ring.
JOHN AVLON, AUTHOR: Yes.
CHETRY: Now, ACORN has fired the employees involved in this video. But why did you pick ACORN?
AVLON: Well, because we've seen a pattern in these videotapes. Has yet to prove. There's an ongoing investigation. But a pattern that really is deeply troubling that confirms many of the worst stereotypes of the left. Now, folks on the right have long said this is a non-accountable organization, alleged that's been involved in voter fraud and other things.
But these videotapes offer a glimpse inside the culture of the organization that is deeply troubling. And if it proves true, confirms all of the work -- many of the worst stereotypes of the left. An organization -- a grassroots organization that takes taxpayer money to flaunt the law, undercut laws and in many cases undercut common decency and common sense.
I mean, offering tax advice to an alleged pimp on how to get underage El Salvadoran girls into the United States, that's wingnut stuff. That's far out.
CHETRY: The CEO of the company, though -- I mean of the organization was quick to say that she was against that behavior...
AVLON: Yes.
CHETRY: ... and that she was -- that they were going to do a top to bottom review and make sure it doesn't happen again. So, why still the wingnut qualification? AVLON: Well, I mean, she herself said it's inexcusable. And I think as we look now, all of a sudden you're seeing the White House saying (ph) ACORN's no longer going to be involved in the census. The Senate and the House cut their federal funding.
You know, I think we're looking at a lot of big trouble for this Big Easy-based organization. And this is because there's not a leg to stand on here. Even Barney Frank is contending this organization.
So, they're getting increasingly marginalized because of these revelations and it really -- you just got to say that's because we pulled the curtain back a little bit. You know, character's what you do when nobody's looking. These videotapes show a culture which calls into question a lot.
CHETRY: And a lot of people say it's unfortunate because they were trying to help people. I mean, the whole mission of the organization was to help people that needed that type of advice.
AVLON: That's right.
CHETRY: Housing advice.
AVLON: Housing advice as opposed to tax advice for alleged prostitution.
CHETRY: Exactly.
All right. Let's get to wingnut on the right this week. And once again, this has to do with the rhetoric of the partisan debate over health care and over the direction of this government.
Who did you pick?
AVLON: It's a former Bush administration official -- Ellen Sauerbrey from Maryland. Two-time former governor nominee for Maryland, UN representative and assistant secretary of state. She was giving a speech this September 12th to the annual Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner in Maryland and was picked up by a local newspaper making some pretty controversial and outrageous comments, saying that this administration was fascist and socialistic.
And here's one of her quotes from the speech.
"I'm really afraid for the future of our country. Our constitution is indeed being dismantled," she said.
CHETRY: And did she offer an explanation for these comments?
AVLON: She did. She was followed on a -- in a follow-up call from Talking Points Memo and she denied purposely having compared the president to Hitler, saying, "I'd never attack the president personally, I hope he's not."
But she clarified and this was her clarifying comment. "I think we have a government that is following policies that are socialist and fascistic."
So, that was -- that was the clarification. So, that's doubling down on the crazy talk. And it's really disturbing because we've got really respected officials from one of our two major parties that are starting to parrot talking points from talk radio. That's a sign of the degradation of our civil discourse.
CHETRY: And this is something that we've heard time and time again when we've talked about various wingnuts that you've chosen. Socialistic, fascist, references to Hitler.
What does that do to the debate? Even if you strongly disagree with government involvement or if you're somebody that, you know, that doesn't want government involvement or wants to lessen government involvement in every day life. When people use comments like socialist and fascist to describe what's going on, why is that dangerous?
AVLON: It's deeply dangerous for a couple of reasons. One, it shows no sense of historic perspective. We have fought against fascist governments before in the past. And we can have honest principled policy disagreements.
But we're starting to see the crazy talk dial up. It begins on a low level and starting to get mainstream to the extent that respected former officials are starting to use that kind of language themselves.
It increases hate, a sense of apocalyptic struggle against an administration. You know, as I've said before, hate is a cheap and easy recruiting tool, but it can be murder on a democracy.
And when really respected leaders start accusing the administration of moving our country in a fascistic or socialistic direction, it sends a message that is going to be deeply degrading and really undermines the idea that brings this country together, which is that we can have principled policy disagreements, but we can resolve them. We're not going to view each other as enemies, but frank political opponents. That idea is getting lost in today's current debate.
CHETRY: Well, always great to talk to you, John.
AVLON: Thank you.
CHETRY: Look forward to next week's picks.
Meanwhile, you can read more about John Avlon's wingnut picks, go to our blog, cnn.com/amfix.
John.
ROBERTS: Well, after getting so much rain last weekend, it looks like the south -- looks like the southeast is in for another dousing this weekend. We're going to go to Atlanta and get you updated in the weather forecast, coming up next.
Forty-five minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Beautiful sunrise this morning, the day after U2 wrapped up their concert series at Giants Stadium over in New Jersey. Beautiful sunrise over New York City, 62 right now, going up to a high of 70 degrees. Should be mostly sunny today as well.
Reynolds Wolf at the weather center in Atlanta for us this morning.
Unfortunately, it's not going to be sunny everywhere. In fact, the southeast, Reynolds, looks like it's in for more rain?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: All right. Reynolds Wolf for us this morning. Thanks so much.
And by the way, do we all saw "The Hammer," Tom DeLay, right?
ROBERTS: The liquid hips of "The Hammer."
CHETRY: Doing the wild thing on "Dancing with the Stars." Surprisingly, he actually didn't have the lowest score. I don't mean surprisingly.
ROBERTS: There's those liquid hips.
CHETRY: All right. Well, you know, some panned his performance, but at the same time, he got enough votes to stay alive in the competition. But one of his former colleagues in Congress think of this? We're going to find out from Jeanne Moos in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Eight minutes before the top of the hour.
By now you've probably seen the tape that had us all laughing of it last week. The Hammer doing the wild thing.
ROBERTS: Former House Majority leader Tom Delay made the first cut on TV's "Dancing with the Stars," but what did Delay's former colleagues in Congress think about his fancy footwork?
Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a side of Tom DeLay we've never seen before.
(VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: Some critics were merciless.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it was the most awesome train wreck I have ever seen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: But the train wreck stayed on the tracks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tom and Cheryl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: The former House majority leader made the cut and will stay on "Dancing with the Stars" for at least another week.
(VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: But what do his former Congressional colleagues think, Republican Senators?
SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I had no idea that Tom DeLay is obviously related to Fred Astaire.
(VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R-UT), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I thought he had a lot of guts to do that. My goodness, I -- I was quite impressed with him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you think he was good?
HATCH: Yes.
(VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: He's got guts, determination and he's not a bad dancer. I was sort of surprised, quite frankly.
(VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: But it didn't make this Republican congressman's heart sing.
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: Those moves were painful. Careful, I just ate lunch. That was -- that was pretty sick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tom DeLay, I know what you're thinking. You don't have to work as hard as everyone else because you're a white, middle-aged Republican, and dancing comes naturally to you people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: Since Tom DeLay survived the first cut, maybe you'd like to see the guy who didn't, George Hamilton's actor son.
(VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: Already naysayers are predicting that Tom DeLay will be next on the loser's couch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Because he looks ridiculous dancing. And I have a feeling he's going to be here next week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: But at least this won't be the last outfit we get to eyeball.
CHAFFETZ: Man, that brown spandex polyester suit. I mean, we haven't seen that since Ronald Reagan.
MOOS (on camera): The real bottom line question -- will we ever again be able to hear "Wild Thing"...
(MUSIC)
MOOS: ... without thinking of this thing?
(VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: First of all, Chaffetz is busting on Delay. He's the guy that sleeps in his closet, right? And eats Pop Tarts?
I'm just double checking, from Alina Cho. The freshman congressman.
Yes, he does.
ROBERTS: You know, there's that old proverb about, you know, stones and casting and things like that. So watch what you say.
So speed dating sort of changed the whole world of dating, right? As many date as you can get in like 15 minutes, try to figure out who you want to be with. What if you're like having stress and anxiety, can't deal with life. What about speed shrinking? That's the latest thing. Alina Cho is looking at that coming right up.
Five minutes now to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We tease one of our producers who has a lot to add to the A.M. playlist. "Take this Job and Shove It." (INAUDIBLE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The song of the morning.
CHETRY: Yes.
All right, welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
If you need a problem solved quickly, you need someone to listen for a little while.
What do you do?
ROBERTS: Call a friend.
CHETRY: All right, well, I'm phoning this one -- our Alina Cho.
Now this seems like it would be counterintuitive. This is speed shrinking?
CHO: Yes.
CHETRY: It seems like it would stress you out to have to quickly tell your problems.
CHO: Well, I think from everybody we talk to, it takes some getting used to. You know, you got to get the hang of things, but once you do, it seems to work. At least for the people we talked to.
Guys, good morning.
Good morning, everybody.
As John mentioned earlier before the break, you know, we have all heard of speed dating. Well, this is the same concept. Think about it. People are losing their jobs right now, they're always looking for love, and maybe they have nowhere to turn. Enter speed shrinking, a way to test drive shrinks and it's all for free.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty seconds, guys, make it count.
CHO (voice-over): It's like speed dating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, three, two...
CHO: But it's not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... one, shrink out fast.
CHO: Speed shrinking, much like speed dating, participants have three minutes to spill their problems to mental health experts who will listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have 40 seconds.
CHO: Then they move on to the next therapist, sort of like a free consultation call, a test drive. The brainchild of Susan Shapiro, who wrote the book that inspired these sessions.
SUSAN SHAPIRO, "SPEED SHRINKING": I think I demystify the process of therapy, and I make it fun and also it's free.
CHO: The response has been overwhelming.
DR. DIANA KIRSCHNER, AUTHOR, "LOVE IN 90 DAYS": I've been shocked because I expected that this would be kind of a fluffy, kind of fun event. They actually really open up.
ERASMO GUERRA, UNEMPLOYED WRITER: I barely sold my first piece.
CHO: Take Erasmmo Guerra. The 39-year-old journalist lost his job back in March. He can't find work, and he's scraping by on food stamps, something he was not anxious to tell his traditional Mexican parents.
GUERRA: Like it was easier coming out to them at 21 about being gay than to tell them that I was having financial difficulties at 40.
CHO: Then there's the boyfriend who Guerra says is successful, lives in a swanky apartment and is reluctant to share.
GUERRA: It's infuriating, you know, to be told, OK, this is how much space you have.
CHO: So Guerra like the others here is looking for advice, a common theme men who have lost their jobs.
SHERRY AMATENSTEIN, SOCIAL WRITER: They have lots of insecurities about them because if they're dating, they feel they can't afford to impress a woman. If they're married, all of a sudden, they're not the breadwinner and they feel a lot of pressure.
CHO: But there is an upside in this down economy.
KIRSCHNER: That there's even more dating going on because of the economic problems that your chances of love are even better.
CHO: Her remedy for finding love.
KIRSCHNER: It's important to date three people at the same time, no sex, a little kissing, a little canoodling.
CHO: Guerra is learning to be more open.
GUERRA: The thing that touched me the most was lead the least secret of life that you can.
CHO: And that has given him hope.
CHO (on camera): Are you feeling good about your future?
GUERRA: I feel much better now. I think just having opened up about it and not being at home stewing on whatever I'm dealing with is good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: See, it can help.
The author of the book "Speed Shrinking" says the response has really been overwhelming. After the first event, there have been three so far, she got hundreds of calls, not only from people seeking help, but shrinks also from shrinks who wanted to get involved.
In fact, it's been so popular, she's going to continue hosting speed shrinking events in New York. There's even talk of expanding to other cities -- Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco. It's catching on.
CHETRY: Could you tell somebody all your problems in three minutes?
ROBERTS: Are you kidding? I couldn't do it in three years.
(LAUGHTER)
Thanks, Alina.
CHETRY: Alina, thank you.