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Terror Plots Foiled; Iran Nuclear Deal Reached. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 2, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:02] JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: And we will continue to stand by that commitment in the years and days ahead.

Obviously, we remain deeply concerned about Iran's destabilizing actions in the region. And we remain fully committed to addressing to full slate of the issues that we currently have with Iran.

But it is because we are so concerned about those issues and about the region's security, precisely because of that concern, that we believe this deal is critical. The status quo with respect to Iran's nuclear program is unacceptable.

And, certainly, we will continue to consult closely in the days ahead with the United States Congress. They and we understand that an Iran that had nuclear weapon in the context of today's troubles would be even more problematic.

I spent almost 30 years in the United States Senate, and I had the privilege and responsibility of chairing the Foreign Relations Committee when we put tough sanctions in place, when this regime was put in place. And that is the regime that indeed has brought this negotiation about.

We are deeply grateful for Congress' support of the diplomatic path to date. And we appreciate their patience. There were those agitating to take action earlier. Responsible voices held off and they helped us to get to this moment, and we appreciate that.

We sincerely hope that members will continue to give us the time and the space that we need to fully explain the political agreement that we have reached and to work out the remaining details of a final deal.

Before I take a few questions, I just want to take a moment to thank some very important people. The team...

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so I want to break away and get some analysis to what we just heard.

The secretary of state, John Kerry, worked feverishly over these many months to put this deal together. He says the deal is a good deal. He is very pleased with what has been achieved. They still have to finalize several technical details, but he's appealing to the United States Congress, hold your fire. Don't go ahead and do anything that could undermine this deal.

The president of the United States made a similar case just moments earlier.

I want to bring in our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, who has been watching what is going on. He's over at the State Department.

The question, I guess from the U.S. perspective Jim, will Congress heed this warning from the president and the secretary of state, hold your fire, don't do anything right now, complete the deal by the end of June, and see what happens next, or will the opposition in Congress muster enough support to go ahead and undermine it? The president believes it would be undermined if they pass new sanctions against Iran.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's a big question. It's still an open question. You're seeing some of the initial reaction now.

For instance, Republican Senator Bob Corker, he says it's important that we wait to see the specific details of today's announcement. He goes on to say we must remain clear-eyed regarding Iran's continued resistance the concessions, so a bit of an element of skepticism there, but not dismissing the deal entirely.

You will be watching for those sorts of reactions over the coming days and particular this will be verified over time. Just one piece of context here when you think about it. Until 20 months ago, the U.S. and Iran were not even speaking to each other. Remember that handshake at the U.N. General Assembly in September of 2013, some 20 months ago.

In that time then, talks between the U.S. and Iran became a daily event. They were almost boring. Javad Zarif and Kerry and their assistants and deputies would be speaking all the time through these negotiations. And what a remarkable change in under two years' time, after 36 years of division between these countries.

And now you're seeing the results, frankly, surprising results, today at least, from those negotiations, because the other thing they have done, Wolf, over the time -- and I have covered the negotiations since the beginning -- they have done a great job, both side, of keeping details under wraps. And they continued that this week, because these outlines at least of this agreement were announced a couple of hours ago, there were a lot of questions as to whether they had made really any progress on the biggest issues.

And, indeed, as you look at the details, they have made enormous process. Lots of work to go, as Secretary of State John Kerry said there. They have got to put the dots on the I's and cross their T's going forward. But on those key issues, sanctions that we have been talking about for some time, the disposition of Iraq's (sic) nuclear facilities, how much inspectors, really a remarkable amount of progress during these negotiation.

And then bigger picture, just a remarkable change in the relationship between these two countries that have been divided, standing against each other nearly four decades and in a remarkably short period of time.

[15:05:00] BLITZER: And, Jim, you noted -- I think you noted that Iranian state TV, they were broadcasting President Obama's remarks live? Is that right?

SCIUTTO: They were.

And I'll tell you, I'm not a historian. I have been to Iran more than 10 times. I have never seen anything like that, an American president getting in effect a live megaphone into and around Iran. Everybody in Iran will have Iranian state TV. Everybody has got satellite dishes. And to see him playing those comments live -- one caveat, of course, they would have been translated.

We don't know who was translating them and what the commentary was afterwards. But that's just another point to keep in mind. Here in the U.S., the American people tend to view Iran through really just that one prism, their nuclear program, the "Death to America" chants.

When you visit Iran, this is about a much broader situation for them. This is a country that's lived largely in international isolation for 40 years. The economic sanctions being lifted here, that's really the focus in Iran.

People there, and I have seen the tweets coming out and I have heard from contacts in Iran, they're celebrating right now. They're putting out videos as they celebrate this deal, because they have been under pariah status for some four decades. And they see the opening of this.

From the American perspective, it's all about the nuclear program. For the Iranian people, for this government that was elected, keep in mind, President Rouhani, to change the dynamic with the West, for them, it's about opening up this country to the world after so long being isolated and being squeezed by sanctions, et cetera. A long way to go for all those sanctions to be lifted. But I think you're going to be hearing a lot of celebration inside Iranian homes tonight.

BLITZER: Yes, because there's billions and billions of dollars will be pumped into the Iranian economy once those sanctions are removed.

Stand by for a moment, Jim Sciutto.

The president is insisting this is a good deal. He says the U.S. core objectives have been achieved. And he says this if Iranians decide to cheat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Iran cheats, the world will know it. If we see something suspicious, we will inspect it.

Iran's past efforts to weaponize its program will be addressed. With this deal, Iran will face more inspections than any other country in the world. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right.

Those are the words of the president of the United States.

Gloria Borger, so he began his selling campaign. The secretary of state is selling this. They're both saying this is a good deal, give it a chance. Will the Congress, for example, go ahead and give it a chance?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the Congress will say is that we need to approve it. We need to have input on it.

And what you saw today was the president putting the Congress on notice that they need to cooperate on this. In talking to people in the administration, they believe that this is the largest diplomatic achievement of this administration, that this is a legacy moment for this president.

And the question we all have now is whether this president's legacy moment, as he regards it, will in fact be killed by domestic politics. What he said very directly in putting the Congress on notice, that is, if Congress kills the deal -- and he used the word kills -- if Congress kills the deal, the United States will be blamed for the failure of diplomacy.

Those are not kind of weak words there. He was telling everybody who is looking askance this, take another look at this. I believe you ought to have oversight of this. And we're going to answer all your questions. And I'm going to bring congressional leaders down to the White House. But he says, look, compared to the alternative, this deal will give us knowledge. Knowledge is power.

He also kept using the word unprecedented, unprecedented verification, unprecedented transparency, unprecedented inspections, an unprecedented timeline here which goes out 25 years, right, Wolf? He's making the case to the Congress, yes, you want to review this? Fine. We're all for that.

But what Congress says is, we want a vote on it. He says, no, no, no, you just get some oversight and input on it. We will see how that plays out.

BLITZER: Yes. The president says he's going to making a phone call to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, later today to make his case. He's also invited several of the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, among others, to come to Washington, to come to Camp David and discuss, because they're obviously very concerned about all of this as well.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Congress will have a significant role because some of the toughest U.S. sanctions, financial sanctions against Iran were imposed by Congress, not by an executive order by the president. Only Congress can ease those sanctions.

He's appealing, the president of the United States, to Congress, don't do anything that could undermine this deal, because if those sanctions aren't eased, that presumably could undermine the deal.

We're going to have a lot more on this story. There's a lot of breaking news happening on this busy day here in the United States, indeed around the world. That's it for me.

[15:10:04] I will be back 5:00 p.m. Eastern in "THE SITUATION ROOM.'

In the meantime, the news will continue. And there's a lot breaking news right after a quick break. The news will continue with Brooke Baldwin.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, I will take it from here, just to let everyone know what's going on question here on everything Iran and these negotiations here.

I can tell you Fareed Zakaria will join me live to react to this deal with Iran.

As you mentioned, other breaking stories. The feds say these two young women allegedly inspired by ISIS plotted to detonate a bomb in New York City. But their alleged plot didn't stop there. We have details on that.

Also ahead, other breaking news with regard to that co-pilot in the downing of Flight 9525. Prosecutors say evidence found on his computer tablet shows this is a case of premeditated murder. Those are new words we're hearing today, premeditated murder. Hear what they found.

You're watching CNN's special live coverage. I'm Brooke Baldwin. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:16] BALDWIN: All right. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We will take you back to that breaking news on the U.S. reaching this nuclear deal with Iran, but first some breaking news here out of New York City, the feds making multiple arrests after the discovery of these two separate terrorist plots all involving American citizens.

Here's what we're learning from this federal complaint. It claims these two women, roommates, were planning to build bombs and set them off in the United States here in New York, their plan apparently inspired by ISIS. They are set to appear any minute now in a Brooklyn federal court.

And moments ago in that very same courthouse, I can tell you that another terrorist suspect just stood before the judge. Investigators say he conspired to recruit people to kill American citizens and U.S. military members abroad. FBI agents say all three, and I'm quoting now this complaint, espoused violent jihadist beliefs.

So, first to our correspondent Jason Carroll. He is in just front of that Brooklyn federal courthouse.

Jason, let's just begin with these two women. Who more do we know about them and their so-called inspirations?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot, according to this complaint.

The two women notified as Noelle Velentzas, 28 years old, and also Asia Siddiqui, 31, both U.S. citizens, both roommates, both of them lived together in Queens. One of them, Noelle Velentzas, married, apparently one daughter, according to two of her neighbors who CNN spoke to.

In terms of their plot, they are charged with conspiring to build a weapon of mass destruction. Their plan, according to this complaint, was to use an IED, an improvised explosive device. What would that device be? Well, according to the complaint, Siddiqui had possession of multiple propane gas tanks.

In addition to that, instructions on how to transform those gas tanks into explosive devices. Apparently, they were also obsessed with pressure cooker bombs, this after the Boston bombing as well. Their goal was to learn how to use these types of IEDs, not in terms of a suicide bombing, Brooke, but to learn how to detonate these bombs from a distance.

In terms of their target, here's what's interesting. When you read the complaint, one of the suspects seemed to try to focus on targeting not regular people, so to speak, but perhaps police officers. In one specific case, you remember that story not too long ago about the police officer who was killed while he was sitting in his car, officer Rafael Ramos. This was discussed allegedly as potentially targeting his funeral.

And one of the suspects says, well, how many regular people will be standing close to those officers? Apparently, what these two wanted to do was target perhaps police officers, people like them, perhaps people in government as well. This is what will yet to be determined as this case develops -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: A lot of details, as you mentioned, in this criminal complaint. Jason Carroll, thank you so much in Brooklyn.

Let's go through some of these details here with my panel.

I have got CNN political commentator and former CIA counterterrorism analyst Buck Sexton, and Ali Soufan, former FBI supervisory special agent who was one of the first people to interrogate the first high- profile al Qaeda terror suspect captured after 9/11. He's also the author of "The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against Al Qaeda."

Gentlemen, welcome to both of you. First, I think what struck me, there's a lot to talk about. Ali,

first to you, but when we -- we have heard about even active military recently being inspired by ISIS. But these two young women, 28 and 31 years of age, we will get into these various inspirations, almost cherry-picking different terror groups, but the sheer fact that they're American and that they're young women.

ALI SOUFAN, FORMER FBI INTERROGATOR: Absolutely. That's something new, that they're young women.

They didn't travel to conflict zones. They didn't get any training in places like Syria. They're self-radicalized, from everything that we know. And the most important thing I see out of this is that we have to focus on the motivation of their affiliation.

BALDWIN: OK.

SOUFAN: We have been focusing on their affiliation. But recently, especially with all these plots and terrorist attacks in France and other places, we have to start looking at what motivated these individuals. These two women were probably radicalized by AQAP, from what I read from the complaint.

BALDWIN: Apparently, they were communicating with AQAP.

SOUFAN: Exactly. One of them, Siddiqui, sent a poem to an AQAP magazine to be published in an AQAP magazine.

[15:20:02] If you look at the fact they watched some ISIS tapes of beheading, it doesn't mean that they're really motivated by Islamic State. At one point, Siddiqui said she's that a citizen of the Islamic State. But I don't know if this is a concept of the Islamic state or the caliphate of Islamic State that exists today.

So, it seems to me that affiliation and motivation should not confuse us anymore. We have to focus on motivation. And one of the things that Osama bin Laden will be remembered, not necessarily 9/11, but he will be remembered for creating a violent extremist ideology that still inspires people years and years after his death.

BALDWIN: So, to Ali's point, it's not about the affiliation and it's not necessarily how they were looking into pressure cookers in the wake of the Boston bombing, the marathon, and that they were communicating apparently with AQAP and that they were inspired by ISIS videos.

If you're looking then at their motivation and they're talking about espousing jihad, beyond that, how do investigators determine motivation?

BUCK SEXTON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: By looking at their statements and also of course what they said to an informant, which is this follows a pretty familiar script really, based on what FBI, NYPD counterterrorism and intelligence divisions have done in the past.

You have an informant that gets close that essentially allows the person or persons to say these are our motivations and these are our plans. You have sloppy operational security here from these two women. They obviously were talking a lot more than they should have. They didn't have any sort of training. They didn't even really have a basic awareness.

As you pointed out, they're reaching out to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula? Even your average run-of-the-mill citizen would probably think that's an incredibly dumb idea if you're trying to evade the eyes of the authorities. But really what we see is a sort of general pan-jihadist, general jihadist philosophy at work. They have photos of bin Laden. They have different videos from different events around that world, jihadist videos.

They also were obsessed with the Boston Marathon bombing. And, tactically, they were very sloppy. And that's why they have been caught it, seems. But we have to point out that even being sloppy can be very dangerous. They had -- the decision to take pressure cookers, for example, the Boston Marathon bombings were not tactically proficient either, but they were able to inflict a mass atrocity.

They have to be taken seriously, despite the mishaps.

BALDWIN: Well, obviously, they were interesting in inflicting mass atrocity, because, as we have been reading. the fact that they wanted to kill, they were inspired by this police officer funeral, mass casualty, not just ordinary people, but our men and women in uniform.

SEXTON: That shift in jihadist has occurred in the past as well, going after authority figures. They think this sends a stronger message. It also sends a message, of course, of even the police, the authorities can't protect you.

But then it plays into their philosophy of we're actually trying to bring recruits to our cause, see? That's why they would try to separate out, because obviously jihadists, ISIS, al Qaeda will kill civilians, have killed civilians countless times. But in this case, they feel they might get more propaganda value out of specifically attacking the police, which I think is also -- the moment that happens, obviously, the police are going to take particular care in looking at it. A mass casualty attack against a police funeral? This will get a lot of resources and attention right away.

BALDWIN: Of course it would.

Here's my question, former FBI. At what point -- you're talking about -- to your point of them being sloppy and reaching out and sending poetry to AQAP, at what point do bells start going off, do they get on FBI radar, do they remain on FBI radar? Because the FBI is saying no one general public would have been in harm's way because they were tracking them long enough. You wait until that point in time where you then swoop in.

SOUFAN: The only reason we're talking about all these things is because the FBI were on top of it and the FBI were able to stop them.

If FBI were not able to stop them and they carried, God forbid, this terrorist attack, then the situation will be totally different. They have been very un -- sloppy because from everything we are reading in the report and in the indictment is because you have sources that's talking to them. They are monitored. We don't know if they reached to AQAP and that's what alerted the FBI on them or they probably knew about them before they reached to AQAP.

(CROSSTALK)

SEXTON: There's a Facebook connection, I think, to one individual, for example, who was already arrested for trying to...

(CROSSTALK)

SEXTON: ... for ISIS.

SOUFAN: Exactly.

And there's a lot of things here that we have to think about. We have to think about the importance of monitoring all these sites, the importance of monitoring social media and the Internet for the law enforcement and for the intelligence, because a lot of the recruitments now aren't happening in training camps. They're not happening in guest houses.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Happening across the seas over the Internet.

SOUFAN: Exactly. It's happening on the Internet.

And this is one of the things. And the moment that the FBI starts focusing on this, they will now probably try to see, is this for real or not? And then if they realize that these guys are really or these women are really serious about what they want to do, then they will introduce a source.

(CROSSTALK)

SOUFAN: And that operation is a very detailed operation, because they don't want it to bring the issue of entrapment at all. And I was undercover doing stuff like that before.

There are a lot of people who focus. And they probably gave them so many ways out. But these two women insisted they want to go ahead with the operation. And that's why...

(CROSSTALK)

SEXTON: They build a mass of evidence. They have to build a mass of evidence to get these kinds of charges together to avoid that kind of defense of entrapment.

[15:25:02] BALDWIN: Yes.

SOUFAN: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Buck Sexton and Ali Soufan, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Next here, we have got more breaking news on this co-pilot here. He's accused of taking down Germanwings Flight 9525. Prosecutors saying now today evidence found in all these searches, they found his computer tablet and it shows this is a case of premeditated murder. We will walk you through exactly what investigators found there.

Also, another breaking development. The second black box, that flight data recorder, has been discovered in all of that wreckage in France. It was buried under rubble, as you can see, mangled metal -- what searchers can glean from this and what else they're finding next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)