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Iran Admits Second Nuke Facility; Video Shows Zazi Buying Bomb- Making Ingredients; Terror Suspect Arrested, Trying to Bomb Courthouse; G-20 to Supplant G-8 on World Economy; U.S. Britain, France Announce Discovery of Iran Secret Nuclear Facility
Aired September 25, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: That brings us up to the top of the hour - crossing the top of the hour now. It's Friday. It's the 26th of September. Thanks for being with us on the most news in the morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: It's the 25th. I - you know, you wish you could fast forward it.
ROBERTS: Is it the 25th?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: It is! Did I say 26th?
CHETRY: Yes, but it's all right. Probably feels like it to you - he was at the U2 concert last night, by the way, so...
ROBERTS: I don't even know what day it is.
CHETRY: ... bear with him.
Meanwhile, we have a lot of big stories we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. Brand-new this morning, President Obama is going to be speaking about a newly discovered nuclear site in Iran. This site, the Islamic republic just admitted to having after denying for - for months and months that it had not disclosed everything about its nuclear program. We're going to hear from the president live at 8:30, Eastern.
ROBERTS: New evidence targeting an Afghan national who allegedly was trying to build bombs for a terror attack in this country. CNN has exclusive video that the Feds say shows Najibullah Zazi building a key bomb-making ingredient. We are following developments from New York to Denver.
CHETRY: And also this morning, two more alleged terror plots and two more arrests, one in Illinois, one in Texas, both of them targeting buildings and Americans. Details are still unfolding about the sting operations that we're going to be working our sources, and we're going to have a live report coming up.
ROBERTS: First, in about 30 minutes' time, President Obama is expected to make an announcement accusing Iran of building a secret nuclear site, a facility that Iran just fess up to having earlier this morning.
Our White House correspondent Dan Lothian is traveling with the president. He joins us now from the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh.
Dan, what are we expecting the president to say this morning?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, John, he will be saying it right inside this room. The president, who will be joined by the British Prime Minister Brown and French President Sarkozy, will be making public what the intelligence community has known now for quite some time. That Iran has a secret underground facility to develop nuclear fuel, but that it is not yet operational.
Now, this is real interesting, because it follows on the heels of this administration really pushing hard for not only talks, but potentially, tougher sanctions on Iran. We heard the president just a few days ago with the president of Russia sitting down and talking about how they do hope that the talks will go somewhere, but that tougher sanctions do remain a possibility. Now, in addition to this, the president along with the prime minister and the president of France will push the International Atomic Agency to conduct immediate inspections.
Back to you.
ROBERTS: Dan, does this announcement, you know, they're there, this is -- this has just been recently announced as the preeminent global economic cooperation forum, the G-20 sort of elbowing aside the G-8, they want to make a lot of news about going forward in terms of economic cooperation. Does this threaten to push all of that off of the agenda?
LOTHIAN: Well, certainly it does take over and it steals a lot of the spotlight, as you pointed out. I mean, this conference, G-20, was supposed to be talking about coming up and seeking regulations on the international stage to prevent another crisis, another economic meltdown, also looking at the trade imbalance. Those were some of the things the administration was hoping would be highlighted, beginning yesterday and throughout the day today.
But certainly, this will steal a lot of the focus, because, as I pointed out, this administration has -- long before President Obama took office, he's talked about how he was willing to have a dialogue with Iran -- they really believe that this is a critical and important issue, but wanting to put that pressure, that additional pressure on Iran so that they will abandon their nuclear ambitions. And so, certainly, what happens here this morning, the president making his remarks could indeed steal some of the spotlight from the original agenda of the G-20 meetings.
ROBERTS: And, of course, Dan, we'll be carrying the president's remarks live this morning. Look forward to your reporting on it as we go on throughout the day. Dan Lothian inside the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh this morning -- Dan, thanks.
CHETRY: Also this morning, the man at the center of a cross- country terror investigation will be back in federal court today in Denver. Twenty-four-year-old Najibullah Zazi is now charged with conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in the U.S., specifically in New York City. Investigators say that it is the most serious plot to attack America since 9/11.
In this exclusive surveillance video we're about to show you obtained by CNN, the FBI says that Zazi -- pictured there pushing that red cart -- appears to be buying large quantities of hydrogen peroxide at beauty supply shops in the Denver area, allegedly as a bomb-making ingredient.
Our Susan Candiotti has been following all of the developments. She joins us live this morning.
Tell us more about the video, which really in it, you can clearly see what looks like Zazi pushing this cart.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And what's important about this, Kiran, is that hydrogen peroxide is one of the key ingredients used to make TAPT, which is a very power explosive. And the head of the beauty supply company says that the FBI came to his store just last week and asked whether anyone had been purchasing unusual amounts of hydrogen peroxide. So, the store searched its records and found receipts and video of two transactions that really stood out.
The owner voluntarily turned over the video to the FBI and this is what you're seeing. The first one is dated July 25th. The FBI says on this day, Najibullah Zazi bought a big amount of hydrogen peroxide. You see a man with a beard and wearing a baseball cap backwards at the counter, putting one of six bottles there for the cashier, and some other items, including rollers, clips and a shower cap. He takes out his wallet and pays for everything.
In the second video dated August 28th, you see what appears to be the same man in an aisle of this big store. He has a red carpet. He bends over and picks up a dozen bottles, this time, a peroxide product. Loads them into the cart and pushes it down the aisle to the cashier.
That very same day, the FBI says, Zazi rented a hotel suite with a stove nearby. And again, about two weeks ago, FBI says it found acetone residue in the vent above the stove.
Now, the beauty supply store also turned over receipts from those two buys. Those bottles of hydrogen peroxide only cost about $2.99 each, so Zazi allegedly spent only $18 for six bottles in July and then another $36 in August.
And I asked the company's owner if those two buys raised any red flags.
(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 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 we'd be sitting here a week later and watching the arrest of this gentleman on television. It's horrifying.
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 time and again, in court papers, the FBI says that it was Zazi and others who made purchases, both in Denver and New York. But so far, there have been no other arrests. But in New York, you know, they did find backpacks, cell phones, and also a scale in an apartment in New York City where Zazi had been staying. But, again, no other arrests have been made, and you have to ask, also, what happened to all those ingredients. None have been found.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we're going to wait and see. You're right. And we're going to hear what his defense attorney says about the situation as well as it surfaced.
CANDIOTTI: Exactly.
CHETRY: Thanks so much.
CANDIOTTI: He's denied any participation.
CHETRY: Right. So far, he has. Thanks, Susan.
ROBERTS: Well, also this morning, news of three other terror plots not related to the New York case, but still very sobering. In Dallas, a 19-year-old has been arrested for allegedly parking what he thought was a truck bomb outside of a 60-story office tower. He then dialed a cell phone to try to detonate the fake bomb. But it was a sting operation. The explosives -- as we've said -- were just simply dummies.
Also, authorities now say that the U.S. Marine Base at Quantico, Virginia, was the target of a suspected North Carolina terror group. The alleged ring leader, Daniel Boyd, and another man have been charged with conspiring to murder U.S. military personnel.
And in Springfield, Illinois, police have charged a man with attempted murder for allegedly trying to blow up a federal courthouse. Our Ted Rowlands is working this story and he's live for us in Springfield this morning.
This, Ted, another sting operation.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and another scary scenario, John. Basically, Wednesday morning, here in downtown Springfield, just before noon -- according to federal authorities -- 29-year-old Michael Finton drove a truck into this parking spot here that he thought that truck was packed with enough explosives to basically blow up a city block. According to federal authorities, he got out of the truck, locked the door, and then he jumped into his partner's car.
Look at where this parking spot is into relation of the federal courthouse here in Springfield. It is literally right on the front doorstep here. And authorities say Finton had every intention of blowing this building up, knowing that doing so would kill people inside.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS (voice-over): What Michael Finton didn't know while trying to detonate the truck bomb with a cell phone a few blocks away was that the explosives were fake, and his partner was really an undercover FBI agent.
JERRY 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.
ROWLANDS: According to a federal affidavit, Finton, an ex-con who converted to Islam in prison, desperately wanted to fight as a jihadist, idolizing John Walker Lindh, the American caught fighting for the Taliban after 9/11.
After an informant tipped off authorities, Finton was introduced to an FBI undercover agent posing as a low-level member of al Qaeda.
LANG: It appeared that Finton was on the verge of taking some kind of action. So it was decided that the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the other law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation provided him with an opportunity for action that we controlled.
ROWLANDS: Finton, who called himself "Talib Islam," meaning, student of the Islam, worked as a part-time cook. Coworkers described him as a regular guy with a good sense of humor.
MARIAM RUBY FAEDL, CO-WORKER: I'm very shock to hear this about him because from what I know about him, this isn't in his character at all. This element of what's on the news about him, this is -- I don't really know him to be that kind of guy. And this could be a mistake.
ROWLANDS: But authorities say there's no mistake and that Finton, if given the chance, could have been extremely dangerous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: Finton made a brief court appearance, John, in the courthouse that he tried to blow up yesterday. He waived his rights to a bail hearing. So, he's going to be detained for the next 30 days, during in which time the federal government can get an indictment from the grand jury.
Across the street here is the office of Congressman Aaron Schock. And according to that FBI informant, Finton apparently was hoping that Schock would be inside this building at the time that he brought the truck in, in front of the courthouse, that that would just be an added bonus if the congressman was in there as well.
A really scary stuff here, the mindset of this 29-year-old man -- what he was trying to do. We should note, though, at this point, there's no evidence that he had any real connections to any terror organizations anywhere in the world.
ROBERTS: Although many terrorism experts say, Ted, the lone wolf is the most dangerous terrorism of all. Ted Rowlands for us this morning in Springfield, Illinois -- Ted, thanks so much.
Just unbelievable, what's going on -- an awful lot to digest this morning, all these terror plots.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly, and how the Fed has been able to -- in these cases...
ROBERTS: Thankfully.
CHETRY: Yes. Yes. Keep ahead of it.
Eleven minutes past the hour right now.
We're getting some other news stories this morning, including heading into 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' plan. You may remember, Baucus left out the public option because he did not think it could get Republican support and pass the Senate.
ROBERTS: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg still hospitalized this morning. She became ill in her chambers yesterday just after getting treatment for an iron deficiency. You may recall the 76-year-old Ginsburg underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer. That was back in February.
CHETRY: Also, talk about your buried treasure. A man in the English countryside found 1,500 pieces of gold, silver, precious stones, all of it with a metal detector. Most of the items date back to the 17th century. Experts say it will take them a year to assess the actual value of the find.
The guy with the metal detector was unemployed at the time. That may not matter anymore. He said it was actually more fun than winning the lottery.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, we'll see if he gets a cut of all that loot as well.
So, big announcement is coming your way just a little less than 20 minutes from now. President Obama at the G-20 summit is going to come out with the leaders of France and Britain and say that Iran has been hiding a secret nuclear facility at which it can enrich uranium, potentially. We'll find out what the repercussions and what the potential fallout from all of this is. David Albright, former United Nations weapons inspector joins us coming up next.
Now, 12 1/2 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Fifteen minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
And in just about 15 minutes, President Obama is going to be speaking live from the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh with a message for Iran after Tehran just admitted to a second secret nuclear site this morning. This admission comes less than 24 hours after President Obama chaired a U.N. Security Council meeting aimed at ridding the world of nuclear weapons.
For more, let's bring in David Albright right now, a former U.N. weapons inspector and now serves as the president for the Institute for Science and International Security.
Thanks so much for being with us this morning, David.
DAVID ALBRIGHT, PRESIDENT, INSTITUTE FOR SCIENE & INTL. SECURITY: Good to be here.
CHETRY: So, this reported admission basically means Iran's been lying when it's insisted in the past that it's been truthful and upfront about its nuclear activity. So, what are the implications of that?
ALBRIGHT: Well, one is, Iran -- it's not clear Iran's violated any of its agreements with the IAEA inspectors. Iran so weakened inspections in the last several years that it very well may turn out that Iran has not violated any -- any safeguards agreement under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is really the key issue if you want to decide if there's a violation.
Now, that being said, this is -- this is a huge development. People, including us at ISIS, have suspected for such a long time that such a plan was being built, because this is the pattern of Iranian activities and its nuclear program. But to find it and then for Iran to admit it is a very major development and it's going to -- it's very hard to predict how it will play out. In one case...
CHETRY: Well, and let me ask you quickly, because you said that it doesn't -- it's not clear whether or not Iran violated any terms of the inspection. But what does it do to the credibility of Iran at a time when it was hoping for more legitimacy and hoping to be able to figure out a way to get past this nuclear issue and have some sort of bilateral dialogue with the United States.
ALBRIGHT: Well, one, it's going to certainly increase the mistrust of Iran. I mean, the political damage is going to be quite severe to Iran internationally, because they -- and so Iran is going to have to deal with that. One hopes that this puts Iran more on the defensive and more in the mood to make some compromises. It also, interestingly, makes Iran a little more vulnerable to military strikes. I mean, is this, in a sense, the backup facility -- the secret backup facility that Iran was putting together so that if the main enrichment site in Natanz was struck militarily, they could put this one into operation?
And so, this could have major repercussions for how Iran thinks about this issue, and at the same time, make them more vulnerable, both to military strikes and to international pressure. Now, that being said, Iran is very flexible and very clever. And so, I think it's going to be a rough ride as this story develops.
CHETRY: And does it make the possibility of sanctions against Iran more likely? Meaning that Russia has refused in the past to sort of sign on to this, although they have indicated in the past few days that perhaps -- I think the quote from Medvedev was -- that sanctions may be, quote, "inevitable." Does this make it more likely that Russia would be on board to sanction Iran for this?
ALBRIGHT: It will depend on how Iran reacts. I mean, in -- when Iran was backed into a corner in 2003 by in essence the inspectors finding secret enrichment sites, it agreed to suspend its enrichment program to kind of try to ride it out -- ride out the pressure. It may -- it may choose to make a major concession in response.
But, again, it's really up to Iran how to deal with this situation. And if they respond in their usual way of -- well, it's our right to do this, you know, we didn't violate anything, it's fine, we're going to proceed with our enrichment program, then, yes, indeed, I believe the chance of sanctions increasing has gone up.
CHETRY: All right. And as we said, it's just about 15 minutes from now that we expect our president to step out there on this -- in front of the podium at the G-20, along with Britain's prime minister as well as France's president, and demand, basically, that Iran allow the IAEA to conduct an immediate inspection of this facility.
Your take -- just from your future dealings and experiences with Iran, will they comply?
ALBRIGHT: It's anyone's guess. I mean, the IAEA sent -- from what I understand, if the letter hasn't gone out from the IAEA, it will shortly, asking to visit this site and to look at it. I mean, it's been a suspicious site for the I.A. and the intelligence community for a while, but you really have to get in there and see what's going on and Iran really has to allow this. Its initial reaction is, we'll let you in and do time. So, this is in the letter that they sent the IAEA.
So, we'll see. If Iran welcomes the IAEA, is open, I think we may see some progress on the negotiation. If Iran is saying, "Well, we don't have to let you in under our safeguards agreements," then I think it's going to become more confrontational.
CHETRY: David Albright, thanks for talking to us about the situation today. We'll see how it develops. And again, in just 10 minutes from now, we'll hear from the president himself about this issue. Thanks for your time.
ALBRIGHT: Thank you. Thank you.
ROBERTS: So, is your house making you sick? There may be a lot of things inside your house that you don't know about that are actually affecting your health. Our Gerri Willis outlines some of those for you. Hidden dangers underneath that roof of yours.
It's 20 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Is your own home making you sick? A new study shows that one in three -- really, one out of every three homes in metro areas have a major health problem. The "USA Today" report says these can be water leaks, peeling paint, even rodent infestation.
Our Gerri Willis now is looking at your biggest investment, your house. She's watching your money this morning.
Good morning to you.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, good morning, guys.
CHETRY: I just got goose bumps at the rodent infestation picture.
WILLIS: It's really a little scary.
ROBERTS: I didn't tell you about the snake infestation.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIS: Oh, gosh. I'm not going to take you there, but you think some bureau, some Census Bureau data on 45 large cities, the National Center for Healthy Housing found 42 percent of homes, that's four in 10, have at least one health or safety problem, and the most common problems, water leaks, rodent infestations -- we're talking rats here -- damaged walls and roofing problems.
OK. Let's look at where these places are. OK, the worst places, San Francisco, California, which surprised me, because there's been a ton of renovations of homes right inside that city there -- Oakland, California; San Antonio, Texas; Los Angeles; and our very own, New York City. No big surprise there, if you've ever rented a house or an apartment here in New York. There are issues.
ROBERTS: Oh, yes, dust, mold.
CHETRY: Yes, when you -- the water leaks, that's the problem, right? Water leaks leave some molds.
WILLIS: Correct.
CHETRY: And in some cases, toxic mold.
WILLIS: Right, exactly. Let me show you, though, you might want to know where the good cities are, right? Where you can find housing that doesn't have problems -- Charlotte, North Carolina; Anaheim, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Tampa; Sacramento. So big mix of cities there. Some of them have a lot newer housing than other places -- for example, Charlotte has a lot of new construction.
Now, studies were done on owner-occupied homes, rentals, and mobile homes. So it's really a variety of kinds of housing -- some of it is rentals, some of it is owner occupied.
ROBERTS: So, what should you do to make sure that your house is safe? Because when it comes to things like toxic mold, that's often hidden, you can't find that unless you tear the walls (ph).
WILLIS: You smell it. Often, it's one of the big clues that you have a mold problem and you have to go after it right away. Preferably, when it's smaller, you can just take alcohol and rub it on the area that's affected or bleach actually works better, mixed with a little bit of water. That's the way to do it. If you see discolored walls, that's another sign.
Also, lead paint. Now, we didn't talk about this at all. This has been an issue for years and years and years and years. And it's really a problem for small children, because it can result in problems, in developing slow, brain development. So you definitely want to get rid of that. It's a problem when the paint starts peeling and, you know, little kids they sit down and they eat that paint, they ingest it. That's the problem.
Now, if you don't have the money to make necessary repairs, call your local city hall. The government provides communities with grant money that may help you with a way to fund this. Because I don't know if you've ever talked to anybody that has lead paint, it's incredibly expensive to remove.
ROBERTS: And there are little test kits you can get at your local drug or hardware stores. Just rub it on...
WILLIS: Good point.
ROBERTS: ... if it turns red, it means you got some lead in your paint.
WILLIS: Good point.
CHETRY: The other thing, too, is -- I mean, I know people who have these problems with mold, and if you can't get your landlords to do something about it, you know, the process is extremely slow.
WILLIS: Well, and if you're living in a place with real problems, you might want to consider moving, seriously, if you can't get a landlord to help you out. I know this is a big issue for a lot of people out there.
ROBERTS: Gerri, thanks so much for that. Good tips this morning.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
CHETRY: As we've been telling you all morning, we're going to be hearing from our president in just about five minutes from now with the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with some breaking news this morning about Iran's nuclear program and whether or not they've been hiding some of their developments there in Iran when it comes to a nuclear facility, not previously known about. The president is weighing in. We're going to listen, in just a moment.
Thanks, Gerri.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: Coming up on 28 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
The G-20 protest turning violent in Pittsburgh. Police are getting ready for another round today. They say that 19 people have been arrested so far.
Our own Brian Todd got caught up in some of that fallout, in fact. Police fired either tear gas or pepper spray, he said, whatever it was, it really, really burned eyes and throats, including his own. You can see that it quickly broke up the crowd there.
So why do these people care so much about the G-20? Many say it's just a photo-op, others say maybe not. These leaders gathered in Pittsburgh represent nations that control 90 percent of the world's money and that could mean a lot for your bottom line.
Our Christine Romans is live for us. She's been covering the G-20 from Pittsburgh this morning.
And, again, just a heads up for people, we're going to be hearing from the president of the United States in a couple of minutes here. But why do people care so much about the G-20 summit, Christine?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Kiran. You know, international bureaucrats have been negotiating behind the scenes ahead of this summit for weeks now, quite frankly. And basically, outside of the photo-op, who's got the most to win? Who's got the most to lose? What's at stake and why do we care?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): Meetings, meetings, meetings -- London, New York, now Pittsburgh. Twenty 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 lady's man, Putin's boss, on paper, the guy who threatens to walk out. And the (INAUDIBLE) obsessing over first lady fashion and perceived faux pas.
At that meeting, leaders pledged $1 trillion 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, DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Countries are looking at China and saying, wait a second, 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 China and the U.S. over tires and chicken.
The two countries are also the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters. Climb change on the agenda, but that won't be solved here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: And Kiran, the meetings don't end here, of course. More meetings ahead in Copenhagen in December to discuss a new international treaty on climate change to replace the Kyoto Accord, which is, of course, expiring in 2012.
And talk also this morning that the G-20 will supplant the G-8 as the infrastructure in which they're going to negotiate international financial issues. That's not popular with everyone, but it does give more say to the big, fast-growing developing nations like India, China, and Brazil - Kiran.
CHETRY: Very interesting stuff. All right, Christine Romans for us this morning in Pittsburgh. Thanks.
And we're coming up on 31 minutes past the hour. A look at the other top stories the morning.
And again, just an update for you, we are awaiting President Obama's comments on Iran's newly revealed nuclear facility. Sources tell us that American and French intelligence officials have known about this facility for several months. Here's a look at the podium where we expect the president shortly, and we'll show it to you the second we have it.
ROBERTS: The late Tim Russert's father has passed away. Timothy Joseph Russert, known affectionately as "Big Russ" died in buffalo. He was the subject of two books written by his famous son, the Russert family says Big Russ died from natural causes. He was 85 years old.
CHETRY: And lack of sleep may catch up to you in a terrible way later in life. According to one study that found one of the first links between sleep deprivation and Alzheimer's disease. It was research on mice, but it found that a protein in the brains of Alzheimer's patients does increase with sleep deprivation.
A study also reported in the "Journal of Science" also suggests that drugs that regulate sleep may be useful as treatment for Alzheimer's.
ROBERTS: We are waiting to hear from the president of the United States. He's going to be joined on stage at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
We were expecting that this would have happened a couple of minutes ago. However, they seem to be running a little bit late. But don't worry, this is the place to keep it for all of the action from the G-20. We'll go to him as soon as he get there is.
President Obama's message is going to be aimed right at Iran, which just admitted to having a second nuclear site.
CHETRY: That's right. And for more on this, we're going to bring in our Matthew Chance and also former U.N. weapons inspector David Albright. They've both been following the developments this morning. And I want to thank both of you for being with us this morning.
And Matthew, first of all, just give us a quick update on what the United States learned and what we're going to be hearing from the president today about Iran's second facility.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, this is something that's been confirmed by the Iranians in a letter to the nuclear watchdog, the IAEA. They say they do have this second previously undisclosed facility for enriching uranium. Previously they said they just had one, the Iranian tanner of Natanz. Now, this is a second one.
Apparently it's a facility still under construction. U.S. officials, sources that we've spoken to, say that it could house, when it's completed, about 3,000 centrifuges there, the pieces of equipment necessary to enrich uranium.
But it's not really the fact that this facility exists or what it can do, rather. It's the fact that it exists in itself. Remember, for years the Iranians have been saying that they've been totally up front and transparent about all their various nuclear facilities and all the aspects of their controversial new program.
But what's been revealed now and what they've confirmed in their letter to the IAEA is that in fact that has not been the case and this secret facility, which has been disclosed, has been worked on for the past several years, at least.
And so I think it's a really key, really important revelation.
ROBERTS: And David Albright, what effect does this revelation have going forward on talks between the United States and Iran? There's a big meeting coming up on October 1st, United States, Iran, France, China, Russia, Germany, and England, Britain, are going to be there, talking about their nuclear program.
What kind of an effect is this going to have on those talks?
ALBRIGHT: Until Iran starts saying anything, it's hard to predict. If they're more open, they welcome the inspectors to this site, and then they go into these meetings willing to negotiate seriously, it may have a beneficial effect. In a sense, when you push Iran into a corner, often they'll make concessions.
I would like to add, though, Iran has for a long time had many secret nuclear sites. Under their inspection agreements with the IAEA, they're required to reveal certain things. And in fact, their entire centrifuge manufacturing complex has been outside of purview by the inspectors for several years, ever since Iran weakened the inspections.
So it's the -- it isn't so significant that Iran has nuclear sites. We've known they've had nuclear sites. What is significant is that they've gone ahead and built a second enrichment plant using that secret centrifuge complex. And it had to be, again, exposed from the outside and not revealed by Iran.
ROBERTS: David, stay with us, because we'd like you to comment on what the president has to say. We're expecting that announcement any moment now. As we said, we expected it about five minutes ago, but it appears as though things are running a little bit late this morning. CHETRY: We'll bring you back, Matthew, as well, after we have a chance to hear from the president. Matthew Chance and David Albright with us. Thanks so much.
Still ahead, we're also going to be exploring the fascinating questions about whether or not there is water on the moon, new information, new findings. What does it all mean? Jason Carroll breaks it down.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
We're awaiting President Obama to speak in Pittsburgh about Iran's until this morning secret uranium enrichment facility.
And a lot more going on at the G-20 economic summit. For all of that we're joined by Jeffrey Sachs, noted economist and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, also a special adviser to the United Nations.
Jeff, it's great to see you. The big announcement yesterday that came out of the G-20 is that it is going to become the permanent counsel for international economic cooperation, kind of elbowing aside the G-8. In practical terms, what does that mean for all of us?
JEFFREY SACHS, DIRECTOR, ECONOMIC INSTITUTE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: This is a big step, actually, a major change in the world economy. And, of course, it reflects the growing role of China and India and the rest of the emerging markets.
The G-8 represented close to 1 billion people. The G-20 represents about 4.2 billion people. That's about 60 percent of the world's population, about 85 percent of the world's economy.
It means we're interconnected globally. It means that China, India, and other countries are playing a huge role in the world economy right now, indeed, they're the first ones coming of this downturn. So it's quite significant.
ROBERTS: We should mention, Jeff, we're just within a couple of minutes of the president's appearance, but let's keep going on this. And we'll also keep you around to comment on what the president says.
Some of the goals of the G-20 are to kind of rebalance the global economic picture, get China to increase its domestic demand, the U.S. to trim borrowing from overseas, Europeans to encourage more investment. How likely is it that they can accomplish these goals?
SACHS: I think that this is starting right now. China has a major stimulus package, which is building a lot of subway systems, for example, supporting a lot of housing construction.
China has a huge urbanization need, hundreds of millions of people. So they can do a lot of domestic spending. That's going to mean a lot more imports from abroad. The world's feeling that lift now from China's domestic stimulus. The U.S., on the other hand, was spending more than our income. Our saving rate at the personal level had even turned negative. We have to save more for the future and export more.
The weakening of the dollar in recent months I think is part of that process. It means our goods will become more competitive and we'll be able to export more to world markets. That will be good for jobs in America, especially in the industrial heartland.
ROBERTS: At the same time, though, does the United States have to increase its manufacturing base? We've been shipping so many jobs overseas.
SACHS: Well, with a competitive dollar, I think we'll be able to be competitive in a lot of many manufacturing lines.
When the dollar is strong, maybe there's financial pride, but when the dollar is weakening a little bit, we're able to keep much more effectively in all range of manufacturers, even a recovery of the automobile sector, which hit the skids, obviously, so badly this past year.
ROBERTS: Jeff, I may have to interrupt you during your next answer because we are very close to the president, but you argue that the G-20 should be even bigger than it is?
SACHS: Well, the problem is that the really poor are not at the table. And so representation of the poorest of the poor is really quite important, because that's where the biggest anguish and struggling, hunger is.
And they're not really at the table except represented by the U.N. secretary general. It's very important that he does that. But representation of Africa and some of the other parts of the world not there would be, in my view, very helpful to the effectiveness of the mission of this forum.
ROBERTS: Jeff, in terms of the recession, we hear a lot of differing opinions. Some say -- some economists say it's over, some say we're not quite out of the basement yet. What do you think? Is the recession over?
And with the economy beginning to perk up, what does that say about the drive for new regulations of the financial services industry?
SACHS: The panic is over, and that means we're not tipping into depression, which was the fear a year ago.
The job market, obviously, is very weak and is going to remain weak for a while. The rebalancing of the world economy is just beginning.
And a lot of the way recovery came was to pump up a lot of liquidity into the financial markets again. That was needed, but a little bit of an artificial stimulus.
So we have to rebalance the world economy, finally start the so- called green recovery, which hasn't started yet, with heavy investments in the environment.
ROBERTS: Jeff, I've got to interrupt you. Thanks so much for being with us.
Here's the president now with the British prime minister and the French president.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Good morning.
We are here to announce that yesterday in Vienna, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France presented detailed evidence to the IAEA demonstrating that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Koem for several years.
Earlier this week, the Iranian government presented a letter to the IAEA that made reference to a new enrichment facility years after they had started its construction.
The existence of this facility underscores Iran's continuing unwillingness to meet its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions and IAEA requirements.
We expect the IAEA to immediately investigate this disturbing information and to report to the IAEA board of governors.
Now, Iran's decision to build yet another nuclear facility without notifying the IAEA represents a direct challenge to the basic compact at the center of the nonproliferation regime.
These rules are clear. All nations have the right to peaceful nuclear energy. Those nations with nuclear weapons must move towards disarmament. Those nations without nuclear weapons must forsake them.
That compact has largely held for decades, keeping the world far safer and more secure. And that compact depends on all nations living up to their responsibilities.
This site deepens a growing concern that Iran is refusing to live up to those international responsibilities, including specifically revealing all nuclear related activities.
As the international community knows, this is not the first time that Iran has concealed information about its nuclear program. Iran has a right to peaceful nuclear power that meets the energy needs of its people. But the size and configuration of this facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program.
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.
It is time for Iran to act immediately to restore the confidence of the international community by fulfilling its international obligations. We remain committed to serious, meaningful engagement with Iran to address the nuclear issue through the P5 plus 1 negotiations.
Through this dialogue, we are committed to demonstrating that international law is not an empty promise, that obligations must be kept, and that treaties will be enforced.
And that's why there's a sense of urgency about the upcoming meeting on October 1st between Iran, the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and Germany.
At that meeting, Iran must be prepared to cooperate fully and comprehensively with the IAEA to take concrete steps to create confidence and transparency in its nuclear program and to demonstrate that it is committed to establishing its peaceful intentions through meaningful dialogue and concrete actions.
To put it simply, Iran must comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions and make clear it is willing to meet its responsibilities as a member of the community of nations.
We have offered Iran a clear path toward greater international integration if it lives up to its obligations, and that offer stands. But the Iranian government must now demonstrate through deeds its peaceful intentions or be held accountable to international standards and international law.
I should point out that although the United Kingdom, France, and the United States made the presentation to Vienna, that Germany, a member of the P5 plus 1 and Chancellor Merkel in particular, who could not be here this morning, wished to associate herself with these remarks.
I would now like to turn to President Sarkozy of France for a brief statement.
NICOLAS SARKOZY, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (via translator): Ladies and gentlemen, we have met yesterday for a meeting, a summit meeting of the Security Council on disarmament and nuclear disarmament.
I repeated my conviction that Iran was taking the international community on a dangerous path. I have recalled all the attempts that we have made to offer a negotiated solution to the uranium leaders without any success.
Which, what has been revealed today is exceptional following the enriching plant of Natanz in 2002, it is now the Koem one which is revealed. It was designed and built over the past several years in direct violation of resolutions from the Security Council and from the IAEA.
I am expecting from the IAEA an exhaustive, strict, and rigorous investigation as president Obama just said.
We were already in a very severe confidence crisis. We are now faced with a challenge, a challenge made to the entire international communities. The six will meet with the Iranian representatives in Geneva.
Everything, everything must be put on the table now. We cannot let Iranian leaders gain time while the motors are running. If by December there is not an in-depth change by the Iranian leaders, sanctions will have to be taken. This is for the peace and stability.
Thank you.
GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: America, the United Kingdom, and France are at one. Iran's nuclear program is the most urgent proliferation challenge that the world faces today.
As President Obama and President Sarkozy have just said, the level of deception by the Iranian government and the scale of what we believe is the breach of international commitments, will shock and anger the whole international community, and it will harden our resolve.
Confronted by the serial deception of many years, the international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand.
On October the 1st, Iran must now engage with the international community and join the international community as a partner. If it does not do so, it will be further isolated.
And I say on behalf of the United Kingdom today, we will not let this matter rest, and we are prepared to implement further and more stringent sanctions.
Let the message that goes out to the world be absolutely clear, that Iran must abandon any military ambitions for its nuclear program.
Thank you.
ROBERTS: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the president of the United States, and the president of France throwing down the gauntlet, I guess, to Iran.
Let's bring in David Albright, former U.N. weapons inspector.
Sarkozy actually said, I think, the most pertinent statement, David, and that was that this was built in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and IAEA regulations, and that they set a deadline of December for Iran to come clean and let inspectors in or face more sanctions.
ALBRIGHT: It was very tough statements.
Iran's been in violation of the Security Council resolutions and the IAEA board of governors resolutions for many years. The fact that it's continuing building centrifuges in Natanz makes it in violation. So in terms of the scheme of things, it's continuing to be in violation.
But what's interesting is that these three leaders are talking very tough. And they drew a line in the sand, is what Gordon Brown said. He talked about serial deception.
Obama invoked that Iran has to come into compliance with the U.N. Security Council resolutions, which translates Iran must suspend its enrichment program.
So it's a very tough statement, and it's going to be very interesting to see if Iran comes back in a challenging way or in a conciliatory way.
CHETRY: The other interesting thing, though, David, we heard all three of them mention sanctions, sanctions, sanctions. Our president, Barack Obama, saying that international law cannot be full of empty promises.
Yet, at the same time, you point out that Iran has been in violation of these resolutions before and continue to be in violation. So without Russia, do these words have any meaning in terms of sanctions?
ALBRIGHT: I think -- and certainly Obama's speech yesterday. One of the important implications of that speech is that the United States does want to find ways to enforce these Security Council resolutions. And so this is going to be a key test.
And how are they going to proceed if Russia doesn't come along or China? And I think they have the tools. They have many sanctions that they can apply on Iran that are going to hurt.
They can create a situation where we're -- something similar to what we did with the Soviet Union in the cold war. We can isolate them. We can build alliances in the Middle East against Iran, and we can go quite far in making Iran feel in a corner and suffering.
ROBERTS: Today's big headline coming out of the G-20 economic summit, all about nuclear security.
David Albright, former U.N. weapons inspector, thanks for being with us. Of course, this is something we'll be talking about all day here on CNN, so make sure you stay tuned for that.
It's 54 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We're coming up on three minutes before the top of the hour.
Nearly one in four women will become a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime, and women of all backgrounds are at risk, but Muslim women can actually be more reluctant than others to seek help at times.
ROBERTS: Robina Niaz is raising awareness in New York's Islamic community to prevent women from suffering in silence, and she is our CNN hero of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBINA NIAZ, PROTECTING THE POWERLESS: Abuse cuts across race, religion, culture.
I'm a Muslim, born and raised in Pakistan. I migrated in 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'm Robina Niaz and I'm helping Muslim women end abuse in their lives.
We do a lot of community outreach. 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 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: Islam's duty is protect ourselves. It's important we tell them how to get into a shelter and 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)
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