All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

The United States moved to accuse Iran of
allegedly harboring a covert, underground uranium enrichment facility this morning in order to “beat Iran to the punch,” CBS News Pentagon correspondent David Martin said on “Washington Unplugged” Friday.

The clandestine facility, Martin said, “is big enough to hold about 3,000 centrifuges. That number is important because 3,000 centrifuges is not remotely enough to produce enough enriched uranium for a power plant, which is the stated purpose for Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.”

“It is enough,” Martin said, “for about one bomb a year. So this is very suggestive, even convincing evidence that Iran did have and does have a secret plan to build for the making of nuclear weapons.”

The Pentagon reporter said that the United States had been apparently “tracking the site for years” and that by the beginning of 2009 they have evidence to conclude that this was a secret enrichment facility.

The timing of the announcement, Martin said, was based on the fact that Iran “found out that the U.S. knew about this facility and rushed to the International Atomic Energy agency to disclose it” so they could not be accused of breaking the law.

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PITTSBURGH - The U.S., Britain and France went public with their highly-classified intelligence about a secret, underground Iranian nuclear facility only after Iran discovered that its cover had been blown.

Senior U.S. officials won't say how Iran found out that the western allies detected the plant. But it strengthens the allies long-held view that Iran is seeking to produce nuclear weapons and is lying to the world when it denies it.

"We've known for some time" about the Iranian facility, said a U.S. official briefing reporters at the G20 Economic Summit in Pittsburgh. And other officials said President Obama was first informed of the facility after his election last year.

To beat the U.S., Britain and France to the punch, Iran on Monday informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the nuclear facility. That was three days before the allies presented the United Nations watchdog group with its intelligence.

"It's very clear the Iran letter (to the IAEA) is too little, too late," said a U.S. official. It'll be difficult for Iran to "mount a defense" of its efforts to avoid exposure of its nuclear fuel processing facility.

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Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**Obama becomes the first U.S. president to chair a UN Security Council meeting...

** Deval Patrick names an interim senator to replace Ted Kennedy...

**The Senate slogs through health care...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: The president winds up his attendance at U.N. by chairing a Security Council meeting this morning – the first U.S. president to do so. Later, he and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown co-chair a meeting on Pakistan.

This afternoon, Mr. Obama heads to Pittsburgh for the G-20 Summit and attends a working dinner there tonight.

At the U.N. Security Council meeting this morning, the president "will use the forum of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to press his efforts to slow the spread of nuclear weapons and reduce global stockpiles," reports the Washington Post's Mary Beth Sheridan and Colum Lynch. "Diplomats have finished negotiating a Security Council resolution that affirms many of the steps Obama plans to pursue as part of his vision for an eventual 'world without nuclear weapons.' They include a new worldwide treaty halting production of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium and the strengthening of the global Non-Proliferation Treaty, which has controlled the spread of nuclear weapons for decades but now is in danger of fraying."

Meantime, what's expected at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh this week?

McClatchy Newspapers' Margaret Talev and Kevin G. Hall report, "As the leaders of the Group of 20 nations gather Thursday and Friday for an economic summit in Pittsburgh, they'll be testing two themes: How much appetite remains for coordinated economic decision-making among the world's leading and developing nations as the global crisis shifts into recovery mode?

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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith Wednesday that the United States has not put itself in a position of owing North Korea any diplomatic favors by securing the release of two journalists arrested for entering the country illegally.

As former President Bill Clinton flew home with Laura Ling and Euna Lee, Richardson said that in the diplomatic "chess game" between North Korea and Washington, "it's equal right now".

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President Obama said Wednesday night that he plans to host a nuclear security summit in Washington in March.

The Associated Press reports that Mark Lippert, Obama's deputy national security adviser, said the president revealed the plans at a dinner with world leaders at the G-8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy.

Lippert said that Mr. Obama believes the top short-term threat facing the United States is nuclear terrorism. The president is seeking to address the breakup of nuclear black markets and how best to detect nuclear materials when they are in transit, he said.

Lippert also told the AP that Mr. Obama plans to formally invite 25 to 30 leaders to the national security summit next week, after he returns to Washington.

President Obama today delivered a speech at the New Economic School on his vision for the U.S.-Russia relationship. Here are some key quotes from the address:

"Your lifetime coincides with this era of transition. But think about the fundamental questions asked when this school was founded. What kind of future is Russia going to have? What kind of future are Russia and America going to have together? What world order will replace the Cold War? Those questions still do not have clear answers, and so now they must be answered by you – by your generation in Russia, America, and around the world. You get to decide. And while I cannot answer these questions for you, I can speak plainly about the future that America seeks. To begin with, let me be clear: America wants a strong, peaceful, and prosperous Russia."

"In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonizing other countries. The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chess board are over… The pursuit of power is no longer a zero-sum game – progress must be shared."

"America has an interest in reversing the spread of nuclear weapons and preventing their use. In the last century, generations of Americans and Russians inherited the power to destroy nations, and the understanding that using that power would bring about their own destruction. In 2009, our inheritance is different."

"There is extraordinary potential for increased cooperation between Americans and Russians. We can pursue trade that is free and fair and integrated with the wider world. We can boost investment that creates jobs in both our countries. We can forge partnerships on energy that tap not only traditional resources, but the new sources of energy that will drive growth and combat climate change. All of that, Americans and Russians can do together."

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President Obama is in Moscow today for a two-day summit with top Russian officials and the White House has released a transcript of an interview between the President and Novoya Gazeta – a Russian newspaper known for investigative work in politics.

The interview, published today, discussed the goals of the trip and touched upon the cause of the current economical crisis.

Mr. Obama said the U.S. is not responsible for the world's economic difficulties, contrary to the general opinion of the Russian public.

"We all are experiencing a severe economic crisis that is affecting the lives of many people in countries around the world," Mr. Obama said . "We need to spend less time thinking about who is to blame and more time working together to do what needs to be done to get all of our economies moving in the right direction."

Mr. Obama also discussed his financial regulation reform and the role it plays in the U.S. financial system.

"The plans include three important components," Mr. Obama said. "First, we're proposing a set of reforms to require regulators to look not only at the safety and soundness of individual institutions, but also -- for the first time -- at the stability of the financial system as a whole. Second, we're proposing a new and powerful agency charged with just one job: looking out for ordinary consumers. Third, we're proposing a series of changes designed to promote free and fair markets by closing gaps and overlaps in our regulatory system -- including gaps that exist not just within but between nations."

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"The stakes are high, and the world is watching" President Obama's trip to Russia next week, an expert on Russian relations told CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr today on Washington Unplugged.

The president travels to Russia on July 6 for a summit meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"It's a very big test," said Heather Conley, a senior fellow for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "This is where we're going to have to cut through some of the rhetoric and see how much President Obama can get done with his Russian counterparts."

It will be critical to see, Conley said, what the president is willing to compromise on in his pursuit of a new nuclear arms pact to replace START, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Russia is likely to see concessions from the United States on that and other issues, such as a U.S. missile shield in Europe and the expansion of NATO.

A White House official this week said Mr. Obama would stand his ground on those issues, adding that "we don't need the Russians."

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The government mistakenly published a detailed list of the nation's civilian nuclear sites online, sparking an flurry of debate on how dangerous the breach really was before it was reported and called into question by the New York Times.

The 266-page report was marked "highly confidential," and listed the many sites across the country which comprise the civilian nuclear power network — and some weapons testing locations — but not, according to the Times, any sensitive information on military programs or the security systems in place to protect the nuclear sites.

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President Obama on Tuesday reiterated his message that the United States must be a leader in the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons in order to meet the security challenges of the future.

"It is absolutely imperative that America takes leadership, working with not just our Russian counterparts but countries all around the world, to reduce and ultimately eliminate the dangers that are posed by nuclear weapons," Mr. Obama said. "We are going to be pushing this as one of our highest priorities, to take specific steps, measurable steps, verifiable steps, to make progress on this issue, even as we keep a long-term perspective and a long-term vision about what can be achieved."

He said de-proliferation is particularly important because countries like North Korea and Iran are developing nuclear weapons capacity, and because al Qaeda, which is trying to seek fissile material, is growing its forces in nuclear-armed Pakistan.

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