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American Morning
Iran Test-Fires Long-Range Missile; Obama Administration Considering New Sanctions for Iran; General Stanley McChrystal Weighs in on Situation in Afghanistan; Gas Prices Slide; Portrait of Najibullah Zazi, From Street Vendor to Terror Suspect
Aired September 28, 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: Good Monday morning to you. It is the 28th of September. Thanks for joining us on the "Most News in the Morning." I'm John Roberts.
Did you have a good weekend?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Lovely weekend. Too short. Busy.
ROBERTS: They always are, aren't they?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: I saw the Yankees clinch the A.L. East. Great game yesterday with the Red Sox.
CHETRY: Yes, a lot to celebrate. I can't believe they actually got to play because of the rain this weekend.
ROBERTS: It just cleared up just in time. One-hour delay and then great afternoon.
CHETRY: There you go. All right. Well, thanks so much for being with us this morning. We have a lot of big stories we're going to breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
First, it's breaking news. Iran testing the world's patience by firing a long-range missile early this morning. Tehran's claiming that it could reach American bases in the gulf region, Israel and parts of Europe. It's the latest in a series of launches after Iran was called out on its secret nuclear facility.
This morning, we're tapping into the global resources of CNN to cover this story like no one else.
ROBERTS: A bleak view of the war in Afghanistan from the U.S. commander there. In short, General Stanley McChrystal says the situation on the ground is a little worse than he expected. So what does he think needs to be done to stop the Taliban from gaining ground? We're live at the Pentagon this morning.
CHETRY: Never-before-seen footage showing the chaos immediately after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. And this video is sparking some controversy this morning as well, not because of what the video shows but because of what it doesn't show. We're hearing from the lawyer who obtained the security camera tapes and why he claims they were edited.
ROBERTS: We begin with breaking news this morning. More missiles, more defiance. Iran reportedly test firing a long-range missile this morning. The launch coming after a series of short-range missiles were fired over the weekend. And the timing, no coincidence. It comes just days after the White House called out Tehran for building a secret nuclear facility.
Our Dan Lothian is live at the White House with reaction. But let's start with Reza Sayah. He's live next door to Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan. And, Reza, these launches are intended to be some sort of statement to Washington? What are they up to?
REZA SAYAH, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, I think whenever Iran holds these military exercises, these test firings, they are indeed sending a message to Washington. Keep in mind, they consider the U.S. the bully of the world and Iranian leaders will tell you one of the pillars of the Islamic revolution has been to stand up to Washington, and they have a penchant of doing it by flexing their military might. And they have been doing it over the past 48 hours with these military exercises, test firing two short-range missiles on Sunday and two more long-range missiles overnight on Sunday, one on Monday.
It's important to note, though, especially considering the delicate climate and the escalating tension between Tehran and Washington over the sudden revelation that Iran has a second uranium enrichment plant, that these test firings, these exercises, were planned long ago as part of military exercises to commemorate the 29- year anniversary of the Iran/Iraq war. The Iran foreign ministry today said these test firings were not in response to the accusations that are coming from Washington, but Washington condemning these test firings, nonetheless, John.
ROBERTS: Reza, give us some idea of how sophisticated are these missiles? Are they conventional weapons? Could they be armed with nuclear weapons somewhere down the line?
SAYAH: They are conventional weapons. And experts say they could be armed with nuclear warheads, but they are not at the moment. You can call these Iran's most advanced, most sophisticated, conventional, ballistic missiles. And I think you want to keep your eye on two of them, the Shahab-3, which was test-fired overnight. That is a liquid fuel missile. An then today, they test-fired the Sajil (ph), which is a solid fuel missile, much easier to store and to transport.
You can see them make an advancement over the past couple of years with these conventional missiles. But, again, it's important to note, experts say, they still don't have the capability of arming them with a nuclear warhead, John.
ROBERTS: All right. At least not yet anyways. Reza Sayah for us in Islamabad this morning. Reza, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Also this morning, the administration is turning up the heat in the showdown with Iran. Here's some of what the president's top cabinet members had to say about the revelations of this secret nuclear facility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have made it clear to Iran that they have a right to peaceful nuclear energy for civilian purposes under appropriate safeguards and monitoring but not to a nuclear weapons program. And if we don't get the answers that we are expecting and the changes in behavior that we're looking for, then we will work with our partners to move towards sanctions.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: If they wanted it for peaceful nuclear purposes, there's no reason to put it so deep underground, no reason to be deceptive about it, keep it a secret for a protracted period of time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, our Dan Lothian is the only reporter live at the White House this early.
And, Dan, so we're hearing some tough talk from some members of the administration. What is the latest especially in light of this latest missile launch Iran's claiming happened?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, good morning. No official reaction from the White House yet, to these latest test firings in Iran, either this morning or over the weekend. But certainly this will be the key focus today here at the White House.
But as you pointed out, the tone really has been ratcheted up by this administration. Mr. Obama calling on Iran to really step up to its international responsibilities, to abandon its nuclear ambitions, and the United States, joined by key allies like France and Great Britain in pushing very hard.
The U.S., as you just heard, doesn't believe that Iran is developing nuclear facilities for peaceful purposes. They seriously believe that this is simply for the intent of nuclear weapons. And so that is why you #see this very hard push from this administration. The Obama administration really hoping that Iran will listen, but still holding out that there could be stronger, stronger sanctions to remain a possibility if Iran doesn't back down.
CHETRY: And Iran's also not the only item competing for the president's attention. Health care still a big item on the agenda. What's the latest there, Dan?
LOTHIAN: That's right. As you know, you know, last week, so much attention by this administration focused on the global economy and also on Iran. Well, this administration, again, pushing hard on health care reform.
The president, over the weekend, was speaking to the Congressional Black Caucus and again talked about how this does continue to remain a top priority for this administration. He said this is not something that can wait for ten years or five years or even two years but has to happen this year. The president pointing out that Americans who need health care simply can't wait. And he does believe that he will get legislation soon, Kiran.
CHETRY: Dan Lothian for us this morning at the White House, thank you.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, on the ground in Afghanistan, the spread of violence worse there than expected. That is the bleak assessment from the top U.S. commander on the ground, General Stanley McChrystal. He spoke with CBS' "60 Minutes."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are things worse or better than you expected?
GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, U.S. COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN: They are probably a little worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's worse than you thought?
MCCHRYSTAL: Well, I think that in some areas the breadth of violence, the geographic spread of violence, places to the north and to the west, are a little more than I would have gathered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our Chris Lawrence is live at the Pentagon this morning. And, Chris, if the top commander on the ground is saying that things aren't that great, how long can the White House wait to make a decision on sending in more troops? And is that the logical decision to make?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, something else that General McChrystal said, he said in an average organization, when someone asks you when you need something, they pull out a calendar. He said in a good organization, they look at their watch. And I think that tells you a lot about the time line that he is talking about.
Secretary Robert Gates has said that this overall strategy review will take a few weeks. And he said also right here on CNN that the troops, even if authorized, wouldn't begin arriving until January. And the key there is begin arriving because the numbers that they're talking about, 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 troops, that would take several months to deploy that number of troops.
General McChrystal has been very honest with the administration that they will also face more risk. He wants those troops off those forward operating bases, out of those armored vehicles and mixing with the population -- John.
ROBERTS: Well, if the president didn't go with General McChrystal's recommendations for increasing the number of combat troops, what are the alternatives to that and alternatives to continuing, I guess, what McChrystal wants is an expanded counterinsurgency as opposed to counterterrorism operation?
LAWRENCE: That's right. I haven't heard very many people in this building talking credibly about a pure counterterrorism operation which is just a remote bombing, things like that. Everyone I've talked to here said you've got to have a presence there in Afghanistan.
One sort of half-measure that I have heard discussed is going to the Taliban, trying to negotiate more with some of the moderate Taliban and holding off on the troop requests to put more pressure on the Afghan government to say, look, we're not going to go all in here until you clean up your own corruption. The problem with that is, one senior official with very detailed knowledge of the situation told me flat out, the Taliban believe they're winning. A lot of Afghan people believe they're winning. So trying to co-op them at this point is going to be very tough because why would you jump ship if you already think you're on the winning side? John?
ROBERTS: Good point to make. Chris Lawrence for us at the Pentagon this morning. Chris, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, some other stories new this morning, for the first time in 14 years, we're getting a never-before-seen video showing the chaos immediately after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings. But these tapes are sparking some controversy because not of what's on them but because of what's not on them.
Attorney Jesse Trentadue (ph) obtained this video and three others through a freedom of information request. But he says all the tapes go blank in the minutes before and after the explosion around the Alfred P. Murrah building and appeared to have been edited. Trentadue (ph) was conducting his own inquiry into the bombing. One hundred sixty-eight people were killed in that booing. There's been no comment from the FBI.
ROBERTS: Right now, director Roman Polanski is being held in custody in Switzerland and his lawyer says he will fight extradition to the United States. Polanski was arrested on Saturday after he arrived in Zurich to receive an award at a film festival. Polanski wanted on a U.S. warrant stemming from a 1977 statutory rape charge of a 13-year-old American girl. The governments of France and Poland have both condemned the filmmaker's arrest.
CHETRY: And Michael Jackson is still playing to sell-out crowds. Advanced screening tickets to the music documentary "This is It" sold out within two hours yesterday in Los Angeles. Fans started lining up three days in advance to get their hands on those tickets. The documentary opens nationwide October 28th.
ROBERTS: Iran test firing missiles this weekend as revelations appear about a secret nuclear facility that it has tried to keep hidden from the world. Where is all of this heading? Is it really a danger or is it just an excuse to try to put more sanctions on Iran to get it to give up its nuclear program? We'll find out when we asked those questions, coming up next.
Ten minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Iran pushing its aggression and America's patience. This morning, Tehran test firing two types of long-range missiles that had the potential to threaten American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It's a defiant show of force by a regime accused of building a covert uranium enrichment facility and comes just days before the U.S. holds its first diplomatic talks with Iran in 30 years.
Joining me now is Jim Walsh. He's an international security analyst at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jim, great to see you this morning. The secretary of Defense was asked about all of this over the weekend about where this is all headed. Let's listen to a little bit of what he said here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The Iranians are in a very bad spot now because of this deception in terms of all of the great powers, and there obviously is the opportunity for severe additional sanctions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The opportunity for severe additional sanctions here. My question, Jim, to you this morning is, how much of a real threat is this nuclear facility? And how much is it just a reason for the United States and some of the other countries of the world to try to pursue these aggressive sanctions against Iran?
JIM WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, John, that's a good question. I think it's a little bit of both. On the one hand, any time a country is not transparent, forthcoming about its nuclear facilities, that's unwelcome. That raises questions about Iran's intentions. But if you step back and look at the big picture, it doesn't really fundamentally change the trajectory that Iran is on.
So now we know they have 3,000 more centrifuges. Now, those are under -- going to be under IAEA safeguards. And in the big picture, does it mean that they're going to get a bomb any faster if that's what they want to do, or it doesn't mean they've decided to go for the bomb? It means they still want a bomb option.
Now, on the sanctions, obviously, if you can get all the parties to agree and to be more resolute, it improves your negotiation position. And I think that's part of what's going on here. Going into these crucial October 1st talks, these revelations help pull the parties, Russia, China, the U.S. and others more to be on the same page. ROBERTS: You know, last week at the U.N. General Assembly when President Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, we heard Medvedev say the right things, saying, well, sometimes sanctions are inevitable. But how likely is it that Russia, which wants to continue to do business with Iran, and particularly China, which has got some pretty tight agreements with the Iranian regime, how likely is it that they would sign on to a new round of sanctions?
WALSH: Well, John, I think they might. If you get Russia, you'd probably get China. China doesn't want to be out there on a limb by itself. But the fundamental question is, if you could get any sanction you wanted, would the sanctions by themselves be enough to get Iran to change course, to reverse itself on what is a very public commitment by them to enrichment? I think the answer to that is no.
Sanctions are part of the process. They help give incentives to negotiate, but not to capitulate. So if we put all our eggs in the sanctions basket, we're going to come up losers. Sanctions are a part of it, but they're not the most important part. At the end of the day, those negotiations are the most important part.
ROBERTS: And a big question, too, Jim, is how tough do you get with these sanctions? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned the speaker of the House and several other lawmakers at the end of last week saying that Israel would like to see "crippling sanctions leveled against Iran." But how far can you go before those crippling sanctions affect the Iranian people as opposed to the Iranian regime, and how likely would be it that countries like France and Germany sign on to a regime like that?
WALSH: Well, I don't think they would sign on to that regime. I don't think people are going to suddenly tomorrow stop buying Iranian oil. You know, not in this world economy.
Number two, we saw, during the Iraq experience, that broad sanctions can have a devastating impact on the civilian population. But we're never going to get those. The real deal here is what's going to happen.
This is the first time ever, John, in 30 years that American negotiators are going to sit down with Iranian negotiators in the same room for serious talks. And the question is, can we carve away where we come out of that with a deal where they get to have some sort of nuclear program, some sort of civilian nuclear program, but that we get what we need in terms of assurances so we know it's not being misused for military purposes.
ROBERTS: Right.
WALSH: That's the center of gravity.
ROBERTS: Yes, that word "safeguards" which is what the secretary of state was talking about.
Give us a little personal perspective here, Jim. You happen to have dinner with Ahmadinejad last week in a group setting. It's the fourth time that you have met with him. Was he any different this time around than the previous three?
WALSH: Yes, John, he was different. I mean, this is -- I've spent, like, 15 hours in these meetings. You get different Ahmadinejads. One year, he was very angry and defiant. Another year he was more professorial.
This year, it was the most conciliatory that I've seen him. He had positive things to say about the P-5 plus one talks. Said they could be useful, said they were an opportunity. Said that the U.S. and Iran could both take advantage and try to resolve them through these talks. So that was striking and different this time around.
ROBERTS: Yes. And just for folks who might not be familiar, P- 5, the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council plus one, Germany.
So, Jim, it's great to talk to you this morning. Thanks so much. Really appreciate you coming in.
WALSH: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks - Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, Christine Romans is going to be "Minding Your Business." She joins us in just a moment with more good news about gas prices.
It's 18 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Twenty-one minutes past the hour right now. We have Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" in our AM playlist. "I'm Going Down," Bruce Springsteen, talking about gas prices.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Gas prices, they're in a two-month retreat -- gas prices. And if you filled up your tank recently, you know this yourself.
Gas prices down seven cents in two weeks. The good news here -- the good news is when you compare this with last year, you're paying about more than $20 less a tank a gas. And so, if you're driving to work, you know that $2.50 a gallon is a lot better than $3.66 from last year.
But the bad news is, that's because demand is down and down sharply because people are not driving as much to go to work because businesses who use gasoline are using less of it because of a recession. So the good news is, prices are coming down. The bad news is, the demand going down is because the economy is not in good shape still.
Anchorage is the highest. St. Louis is the lowest. And even the president acknowledging that the reasons behind this move, the economy still quite weak. Even the president acknowledging, we still have a lot of work to do in the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is much further to go. Too many Americans are still out of work and struggling to pay bills. Too many families are uncertain about what the future will bring. Because our global economy is now fundamentally interconnected, we need to act together to make sure our recovery creates new jobs and industries while preventing the kinds of imbalances and abuse that led us into this crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. This is all about jobs, right? Gas prices are down.
One of the reasons gas prices are down is because if you don't have a job, you're not filling up the tank to go -- to go to work. And we're seeing, according to the census, that people are carpooling more. People are taking public transportation more. So people are really changing the way they behave right now. And gas prices, I think, are a reflection of that.
CHETRY: You did mention to us a few months back, though, that gas prices weren't dropping as much as people thought they would given the current state. So there were concerns about inflation, right?
ROMANS: That's right. When we look at oil prices, which gas is, you know, a pendant (ph), when we look at oil prices still even in the '60s, if you look, we're just coming out of this incredible historic recession. You've got oil still in the 60s, there are people who say wow. What's going to happen when the economy really starts roaring back again? Should we be concerned down the road?
But it's a very near term at least, gas prices at $2.50. That's something that people can at least take a little solace in right now.
ROBERTS: You've got a "Romans' Numeral" for us this morning?
ROMANS: I do, and it's 63 percent. And it has to do with just the impact of the global recession on the way people behave. Sixty- three percent. The percentage of people.
CHETRY: Percentage of people?
ROMANS: It's a percentage. This is 63 percent of the people say that how they save and spend, how they deal with their money has changed forever.
ROBERTS: Oh, why didn't I get that?
ROMANS: Forever.
ROBERTS: That is so obvious.
CHETRY: That's not necessarily a bad thing, though? ROMANS: It's not necessarily a bad thing. But, you know, if people aren't spending money, then that can mean the recovery will be a little bit slower. So...
ROBERTS: There are economists who say we have to change our ways.
ROMANS: We have to.
ROBERTS: In a more conspicuous consumption.
ROMANS: Absolutely. And you know what? We have to. But for some people there's no other choice because they can't conspicuously consume if the credit card companies aren't giving them free money anymore.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans this morning "Minding Your Business." Christine, thanks so much.
Najibullah Zazi, the man that investigators say was behind this terror plot to attack the New York subway system and maybe some other sites in and around New York, who exactly is he and how did he get to where he is today? We'll find out coming up.
It's 24 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Najibullah Zazi is in New York to face terrorism charges. Federal prosecutors say he may have been planning to bomb a New York target on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks. So just who is this guy, and how did he allegedly go from street vendor to terrorist?
Our Susan Candiotti has been digging into Zazi's background. She joins us this morning with the latest.
So who is this guy? How did he go from street vendor to alleged terrorist?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's the question, and where did he get all the money, you know? But it's still not clear when the FBI started tracking Zazi. And by the time they did, investigators say he had already been to an al Qaeda training camp, and he had already bought bomb-making materials back here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Before Najibullah Zazi got a police escort to New York, those who knew him in Colorado said he showed no signs he had terror on his mind.
KARIM ABDULLAH, AURORA ISLAMIC CENTER: When I see him, you know, he would come. He was pleasant when he attended here, you know. He never espoused any of his beliefs or ideas. He would just attend, make the prayer and leave.
CANDIOTTI: But for Zazi, according to coworkers, friends and court records, making it in America was a struggle.
RICHARD GROSS, ZAZI'S EMPLOYER: The best adjective to describe him is hardworking. He would work approximately 80 hours per week.
CANDIOTTI: Born in Afghanistan, Zazi's family moved to Pakistan and then joined his father who drove a taxi in New York. In the 1990s, Zazi went to a Queens, New York high school but dropped out. He ran a sidewalk coffee cart in Manhattan's financial district.
Last March, records show he filed for bankruptcy. He racked up more than $51,000 in credit card debt, citing an $800 monthly income. Zazi named more than two dozen creditors including several banks, a department store and other retailers including Radio Shack. Last August, a month before his arrest, his bankruptcy file was closed. His huge debt left unpaid. Yet somehow he managed trips back and forth to Pakistan where he has a wife and children.
Investigators say Zazi admitted a trip to Pakistan last year that included weapons and explosives training at an al Qaeda camp. When Zazi returned in January, he moved from New York to an apartment outside Denver. Employers say he passed TSA security checks and drove an airport shuttle.
GROSS: Mr. Zazi had indicated that he was receiving harassment from certain airport officials about his beard. There's been some harassment of Middle Easterners at the airport.
CANDIOTTI: Last summer, investigators say Zazi and others bought bomb-making ingredients at beauty supply stores, and his laptop had bomb recipes. Days before the 9/11 anniversary, court records say he booked a suite like this at a Colorado hotel where a chemical residue was found in a vent above a stove.
On September 9th, authorities say Zazi drove a rental car to New York intending to carry out an attack but was tipped off that he was being watched and flew back to Colorado. He calls the charges a fantasy, ready to do battle in court.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: And investigators are still trying to find all those chemicals he bought, still trying to find the others they say were helping him. And what was his target? That's another mystery.
ROBERTS: Do they have any kind of a case if they can't find that evidence?
CANDIOTTI: Well, certainly they'll have a lot of circumstantial evidence. And will they be able to pull those things together for a jury? We'll have to wait and see how a jury accepts that. The arraignment is tomorrow morning here in New York.
ROBERTS: Susan Candiotti with the very latest on that for us. Thanks, Susan.
We're crossing the half hour now and taking at look at our top stories. A month's worth of rain in just a matter of hours has killed at least 100 people in the Philippines. A typhoon has brought more rain the country has seen in 40 years. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes, and many more are still trapped. More than 80% of Manila was under water at one point yesterday. Search and rescue teams are continuing to look for more victims.
CHETRY: The de facto leaders of Honduras suspending key civil liberties. They say it's a response to quit calls for insurrection by ousted President Manuel Zelaya who was deposed in a coup. Police and soldiers have been given power to break up unauthorized public meetings, to arrest people without warrants and also to restrict the news media. Zelaya snuff back into the country last week.
ROBERTS: A new study finds fewer terror suspects are going to trial. According to a research group at Syracuse University, the government is prosecuting about one out of every four terror suspects. According to the study, most are set free because of a lack of evidence or agencies unable to agree on who is a terrorist. The justice department says it's significantly improved its ability to dismantle terror plots.
CHETRY: President Obama's foreign policy is taking center stage this week with issues of Iran and Afghanistan at the forefront. My next guest is keeping the President on us checking to see if his campaign promises as a candidate are now in line with his positions as president. Joining me is Bill Adair, who is the founder and editor of Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact.com. Bill, good to see you this Monday morning.
BILL ADAIR, EDITOR, POLITIFACT.COM: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: So as we talk about the President's foreign policy challenges, we can't forget another big one that hasn't necessarily been in the headlines lately, but on the campaign trail, President Obama, then candidate Obama, stated that he would close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay within a year. So that would be by January 21, 2010. Where does he stand now on that campaign pledge, Bill?
ADAIR: We've got it rated stalled on our Obameter which rates the president's promises. He's run into significant difficulties here, the first one being Congress. Congress is concerned about the -- what would happen to the -- about 240 detainees at Guantanamo Bay. And now he's run into some internal problems. It appears, according to an article last week by "The Washington Post" and Pro Publica that Gregory Craig, the White House aide who's been in charge of closing Gitmo, is going to relinquish those duties soon. And there's now some talk -- in fact, even yesterday -- that maybe they may not make their deadline of doing it by January 22nd of next year.
CHETRY: Right.
ADAIR: We've got that one rated stalled on our Obameter. CHETRY: All right. So, we have that one stalled. Meanwhile, what's interesting because as you said, there has been talk from some of these cabinet secretaries about what's going on. Defense Chief Robert Gates talked about it yesterday on CNN'S "State of the Union." Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GATES: I was one of those who argued for a firm deadline because I said that's the only way you move the bureaucracy in Washington. And if you have to extend that date, if at least you have a strong plan showing you're making progress in that direction, then it shouldn't be a problem to extend it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go. So you have Secretary Gates sort of explaining why that deadline was made and why they've extended it, but does it defeat the purpose of making a campaign promise?
ADAIR: I think this was a really difficult one. And he made it one of his key promises during the campaign that the issue, really, here was the wisdom of setting a one-year deadline. And as Gates said, hat does sort of push things along. But when you can't make it, then it looks like you didn't achieve your goals. At this point it looks like it's going to be tough to make that one-year goal.
CHETRY: All right. Also one of the promises on the trail taking on new meaning this morning is about Iran's secret nuclear facility and then a candidate Barack Obama said as president he would "seek deep and verifiable reductions in all U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons and work with nuclear powers to reduce global stockpiles dramatically by the end of an Obama presidency. So where does that campaign promise stand right now? Does it look like he'll be able to accomplish that by the end of his presidency given some of the new monkey wrenches, I guess you could say, being thrown into the mix like Iran's situation?
ADAIR: Well, we've got that one rated in the works on our Obameter. And that one, specifically because it relates to Russia, there's been considerable progress. Their goal is to replace the stark treaty which expires at the end of the year, and they made a lot of progress to do that. The U.S. and Russia have signed an agreement that would continue to reduce the number of nuclear warheads and delivery devices. There was also a U.N. security council resolution on this supporting it all. So there's definitely been some progress. So on this one, at least, as it relates to Russia, President Obama gets an in the works on our Obameter.
CHETRY: All right and we want to get to one truth-o-meter item. We caught filmmaker, Michael Moore, on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." He was promoting his new documentary, "Capitalism, a Love Story." This is an interesting claim that he made. Let's listen to the exchange between Colbert and Michael Moore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Your film is helping me like Obama because you're a critic of this, right?
MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: Uh-huh. Well...
COLBERT: You think he's in a popular guys like Goldman Sachs.
MOORE: I point out in the film that Goldman Sachs is his number one private contributor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Goldman Sachs, the number one private contributor of President Obama. Is that a true statement, Bill?
ADAIR: It is indeed. We gave that one a true on our truth-o- meter. When we checked the data with the Center for Responsive Politics, we found that when you add up all the employees of Goldman Sachs, indeed it is the number one private contributor to the Obama campaign in 2008. It's going to be an interesting week. Michael Moore's film comes out later this week, and we'll be fact checking as many claims from it as we can. He's known for making some pretty provocative assertions. So it will be fun to put them to the truth-o- meter.
CHETRY: It sure will. He knows that they're going to be fact checked as well, so it will be interesting to see what you guys find. Bill Adair, always great to talk to you. Thanks so much
ADAIR: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: And if you'd like to find out more about the truth-o- meter and PolitiFacts truth-o-meter, go to our blog, cnn.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: School students sing a song about President Obama. Did they go too far? Some people say yes. Thirty-six and a half minutes after the hour.
CHETRY: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We're playing "Detroit Rock City" because, a quick look at the "A.M. Rundown." You knew it had to happen eventually after a 19-game losing streak, the Detroit Lions finally won a game. It's just too bad the people in Detroit could not actually see it. We'll tell you why in a moment.
Also, Former President Bill Clinton says that the right-wing conspiracy that attacked him during his presidency is still at it. And now after President Obama. But we are going to hear what he thinks or why he thinks they may not be as strong as they once were.
Also, a nonprofit medical group under fire again for missing embryos. How does this happen? And does the industry need more regulations? We are going to get some answers on that as well. John?
ROBERTS: Our next story is yet another example of the polarizing political climate that we live in. When a song sung by schoolchildren appeared on YouTube, it struck a sour note. You see the kids were singing about President Obama during Black History Month. But critics say the song went too far, that the kids were being brainwashed with a political message.
Our Mary Snow reports for us this morning from New Jersey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GINA PRONCHIK, PARENT: That's my son right there.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gina Pronchik says she was shocked to find her son, Jimmy, and his classmates singing about President Obama. It's gone viral after being posted on YouTube, and it set off a firestorm of emotions.
SNOW: Your thoughts watching that again?
PRONCHIK: The chanting is what upsets me.
SNOW: Gina and her husband, James, say they had no idea their son's class last school year even sang the song.
G. PRONCHIK: I feel like they were brainwashing my child rather than teaching him. They were pushing their political views rather than educating him. So I just think they overstepped.
JAMES PRONCHIK, PARENT: And I think the groundswell has to do with people that don't want politics mixed with school.
SNOW: Parent Brenda Morrison doesn't see a problem. She says the kids are adorable.
What do you say to critics who say that the song about Barack Obama was indoctrinating kids?
BRENDA MORRISON, PARENT: It's just laughable. You know, it's ridiculous.
SNOW: but difference of opinion has spread far beyond Burlington, New Jersey's, B. Bernice Young Elementary School, becoming front-page headlines and a hot topic on the blogosphere. Police were added outside the school after the superintendent e-mailed parents saying it did receive harassing calls.
A repeated request to speak with school officials were denied. The district in a statement explained the song, saying, "The activity took place during Black History Month in 2009." And it says the recording was unauthorized. But the State's Education Commissioner is now reviewing what happened to "ensure students can celebrate the achievements of African-Americans during Black History Month without inappropriate partisan politics." Dejay Duckett lives in the area and is stunned by all the attention.
DEJAY DUCKETT, PARENT: To me, the biggest issue is all of the anger and where is it coming from?
SNOW: Parent Leslie Gibson says attention on the video is justified.
LESLIE GIBSON, PARENT: A lot of people are saying they want the media gone. They want the media gone. I'm glad you guys are here because they're trying to sweep this under the rug.
SNOW: Mary Snow, CNN, Burlington, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: We want to know what you think about all of these. Head to our Web site at cnn.com/amfix and leave a comment or call our show hotline at 877-my-am-fix. When it comes to politics maybe those school students in Atlanta had it right when during the campaign they sang the song political version of "you can have whatever you like." Vote McCain, vote Obama, whatever. You take one side and you tend to get in trouble.
CHETRY: Yeah, exactly.
All right. It's 43 minutes after the hour right now. When we come back, Rob Marciano is going to be joining us with check of extreme weather on the move in the Midwest and the Northeast. What's coming up for the week ahead in weather? Rob will tell us in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty-six minutes past the hour right now. There's a shot of Atlanta this morning. It's 63 degrees. Pretty chilly. Going up to 80 though a little later and should be mostly sunny. So, finally a little bit of nice weather for Atlanta.
ROBERTS: Yes, after all that rain. It's going to be nice and warm in Atlanta today . Not so much, though, in the Northeast. Rob Marciano is tracking all of the extreme weather across the country and is at the weather center in Atlanta. What kind of day are we in for today, and more importantly, Rob, as we go throughout the week?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not as much rain as you've seen in a - a little bit over the weekend. But cool weather, really, that's going to be the main focal point for not only New York, not only D.C., but Chicago, a good chunk of the eastern third of the country really seeing an unusually strong front come through the area.
With that, you'll see a little bit of rain. But more importantly, I think wind and temperatures that will be falling fairly rapidly. Area of low pressure right here in through parts of Michigan. And everything wrapping around this thing. The Windy City certainly will be windy as we get through tomorrow and the next day as well.
Temperatures will be in the 60s. Might not even get out of the 50s in some spots. Just to give you an idea of that. Also with winds gusting to maybe 40, 50, 60 miles an hour, that's enough to bring down tree limbs, maybe a couple trees, might knock down some power, so be aware of that.
And 70s getting all the way as far south as Dixie. So, here we go, my friends, with temperatures getting a little bit on the chilly side. Chicago, Milwaukee, you'll see some travel delays. Minneapolis and Cincinnati with wind as well . It might even add New York into the mix there. So hope you guys are in the mood for some fall weather because you're getting it here in the next day or two.
ROBERTS: Didn't get a whole, didn't get a whole lot of summer, though. I don't think I'm ready for fall.
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: Come on, John. Embrace it.
CHETRY: Can't wait. We have no choice anyway. I'm just happy because it's football season.
ROBERTS: I think we should move the show to key West.
MARCIANO: I'll meet you there.
CHETRY: Yes, in January I'm all for that.
Meanwhile, our coming up, our resident football fan, Carol Costello, weighs in after, you know, any given Sunday, which was yesterday. Michael Vick's back.
ROBERTS: Yes. You know, the Detroit Lions. What was Carol's old joke? Why do people run to the Detroit stadium in a tornado? Because there's never a touchdown there.
CHETRY: Her other one was, how do you keep Lions out of your front yard? Put up goalposts. But anyway so, she's now has something to cheer about because they won for the first time since 2007. She joins us in a moment. Forty-eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on nine minutes to the top of the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. What's worse than being the Detroit Lions today?
(LAUGHTER)
Seeing the Washington Redskins. Also after 33 months out of an NFL uniform, Michael Vick is officially back. In just a few months, he went from a federal prison cell back to the gridiron with a different bird on his helmet this time.
CHETRY: Yes, and I guess if you were expecting huge protests, that didn't happen. But if you were expecting major yardage, that didn't happen either. So our resident football fanatic, Carol Costello, has all the NFL action. What team do you like again, Carol?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't know, but no one is talking to me here in Washington. I can't figure it out.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Carol, all the guys, the studio guys were saying that hat looks too new. They said that you went out and bought it after they won. You were too embarrassed to buy it before this because...
COSTELLO: I got this for Christmas, OK?
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Where in Washington can you ever buy a Detroit Lions hat?
COSTELLO: You can't! Exactly. I'm a long suffered Lions fan, will get to that happy news in just a minute. But Let's start with Philadelphia. You're right. No offensive fireworks there. In fact, on the field, Michael Vick was downright unimpressive against the Kansas City Chiefs even though the Kansas City Chiefs were unimpressive.
To be fair, Vick was rusty and says now he's got that out of his system. He was quoted in several papers talking about his grandmother. She died while Vick was in prison. And he talked about making her proud again. Vick also says he was a little nervous. In fact, NBC sports analyst Tony Dungy who's, of course, also one of Vick's mentors, said, quote, and "Vick told me he can't remember having butterflies before a game, but he had butterflies today."
There were a few dozen protesters outside of the stadium. They held signs. But instead of bothering the fans, it was kind of the other way around. One Eagles fan actually shouted at them saying, "we're trying to get a Super Bowl here!" The Eagles won easily, 34-14. They're off next Sunday, and there's no word if Michael Vick will take the field in weeks. Of course, we'll keep you posted.
CHETRY: We'll have to see if McNabb's healthy again. And by the way, so we know your team is the Lions, long suffering, even though the hat does look a little new. But hey finally showing some life.
COSTELLO: I know! Look at the headline in "The Washington Post" today. It says, "Washington bails out Detroit."
ROBERTS: We're bailing out everybody, aren't we?
COSTELLO: Exactly. "The Detroit Free Press," by the way, it says attendance was the lowest in 20 years, but hey, we won. In fact, the game was blacked out in Detroit because they didn't sell enough tickets. But the Lions finally snapped a 19-game losing streak. This was the first win since December 23rd, 2007. Look at them celebrating. I'm telling you, it was a great game.
After the game, the team went into the locker room. They celebrated there. They prayed and then the coach convinced them to come out to the field again to celebrate with the fans. You see them doing that there. The Lions made the Redskins look so bad, you can bet the chatter on talk radio will be can the Redskins' coach, Jim Zorn, keep his job?
You checked out "The Washington Post" headline with me this morning, instead of "Hail to the Redskins," it's "Fail to the Redskins." "The Detroit Free Press says, "Blacked out, knocked down, Lions arise!" And everybody's saying oh, the Redskins looked so bad, but the Lions looked pretty darn good. A 99-yard drive?
ROBERTS: What are you going to do with all your Detroit Lions jokes?
COSTELLO: I don't know, I have to come up with new, more positive ones.
CHETRY: Don't worry, there's still time for them to lose. It's early in the season.
COSTELLO: Stop that Redskins fan.
CHETRY: I'm just laughing because I'm happy for you. I am, Iam. You have something new to talk about because before it was all depressing for Carol.
ROBERTS: See, it's really easy to be a Giants fan, you know? What can I say?
COSTELLO: Oh, stop it.
ROBERTS: Carol, thanks so much. Great to see you this morning. Love the hat.
CHETRY: You know what we've talked about not having the Lions win in a very long time. We also haven't heard the term "vast right wing conspiracy" in a while, have we?
ROBERTS: No.
CHETRY: It's back again.
ROBERTS: There you go.
CHETRY: Former President Clinton talking about the vast right- wing conspiracy. We'll have more for you coming up. Fifty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. He tried many of the same things and took many of the same shots as President Obama. And former President Bill Clinton says the vast right wing conspiracy is still alive and well in America. His wife, then first lady Hillary Clinton, coined the term during the Clinton administration during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Here he is sitting down with NBC's David Gregory yesterday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GREGORY, HOST, NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": Your wife famously talked about the vast right-wing conspiracy targeting you. Do you look at this opposition on the right to President Obama, is it still there?
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, you bet. Sure it is. It's not as strong as it was because America has changed demographically. But it's as virulent as it was. I mean, they're saying things about him. You know it's like when they accused me of murder and all that stuff they did.
But it's not really good for the Republicans of the country, what's going on now. I mean, they may be hurting President Obama. They can take his numbers down. They can run his opposition up. But fundamentally, he and his team have a positive agenda for America.
Their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail. And that's not a prescription for a good America. We actually need a credible debate about what's the right balance between continuing to expand the economy through stimulus and beginning to move back to fiscal balance. We need a credible debate about what's the best way to get to universal coverage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Former President Clinton was also asked will this debate over health care hurt the democrats in the upcoming midterm elections like the same debate did back in 1994?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: There's no way they can make it that bad. For several reasons. Number one, the country is more diverse and more interested in positive action. Number two, they've seen this movie before because they had eight years under President Bush when the Republicans finally had the whole government, and they know the results were bad. And number three, the Democrats haven't taken on the gun lobby like I did, and they took 15 of our members out. So I don't think -- it will be -- whatever happens, it will be manageable for the President.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Seems to have no trouble remembering things, does he? Former President also said he's proud of the job that his wife, the secretary of state, is doing for the country.
