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Day Two of UN General Assembly; Searching for the White Widow; Greek Protests Turn Violent; Drawdown in Full Swing in Delaram; Cell Phones Potentially Dangerous; U.N. Chief Plays Host to the World

Aired September 26, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to "Newsroom International." I'm Suzanne Malveaux. We're taking you around the world in 60 minutes.

We're starting with New York. Most of the world's leaders gathering this week at the general assembly at the United Nations that's happening right now. Day two. You are seeing live pictures there. Speaking later today, we're going see the prime ministers of Britain as well as Japan. Also, the new president of Yemen, leaders from the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.

These two men have most of today's attention. Of course, today's session. It is the president of Egypt and the president of Iran. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The general assembly did not attend when Iran's president walked in. Certainly not an unusual thing, walking out. Essentially how the delegates quietly protest the speakers of the United Nations, for whatever reason. Here's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (via translator): Policies of the world's main centers of power are based on the principle of domination and the conquering of others. These centers only seek supremacy and are not in favor of peace and definitely not at the service of their nations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Want to bring in Jill Dougherty, our foreign affairs correspondent in New York covering this, and, Jill, we have been listening. We watched most of this speech here. It wasn't a lot that was really different than what we've heard from years prior, but there is this common theme here. It the little guy versus the big guy, and I imagine that there are at least some people in that stage, in that audience where that resonates, that message?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: It's definitely true, Suzanne. Sometimes we look at Ahmadinejad as the man that's about to explode every two seconds with some sort of, you know, bombshell. When he doesn't do it, then we say he doesn't have a lot to say, but he actually does, as you point out, have a message that kind of resonates, and he is saying that, look, Marxism is dead, capitalism can't do anything. There are these hegemonic powers that are taking advantage of the little people around the world, and we [inaudible] the nonaligned nations, have to lead the charge. We're the ones who understand how the world really works, and it's not a nice world. It takes advantage of little people. You know, I couldn't help thinking, Suzanne, during that speech, he is, in a sense, talking about, like, the 99 percent. Think of, you know, some of the demonstrators m United States or in Europe who have also said that the system is rigged against them. There might be some resonance.

MALVEAUX: The American delegation, they walk out. Clearly, that was not unexpected, but you did have some real power players who are sitting there. He does have a world audience, a wobbled stage. You've got Russia. You have Iran. China. The U.K. Many of these other very powerful players here. How do they respond to him?

DOUGHERTY: You know, if you look at Russia and China, they believe that each country should be allowed to do what it wants, and if they want to talk, let them talk. Although Russia does support the let's say movement to try to limit Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, and that would put them on the side of the United States. When it comes to kind of let them talk, they would sit there and listen to it. The United States decided not to even walk out. They didn't even walk in. They issued a statement. Maybe we can read that statement if we have it. Yes. Coming from the spokesperson the spokeswoman for the moan mission to the United Nations. Over the past couple of days we've seen Mr. Ahmadinejad once again use his trip to the u.n. Not to address the legitimate aspirations of the Iranian people, but to, instead, spout paranoid theories and repulsive slurs against Israel. now, they were there, a couple references, but not as much as you might expect about Israel. They talked about Zionism and the uncivilized Zionist threats. That is what I heard. Perhaps there were a couple more. It wasn't really, you know, let's attack Israel at all.

MALVEAUX: We're talking about Egypt's new president Morsi. We know he has already visited Iran, and all eyes are going to be on him in terms of whether or not he really can control and rule his own country. What do we expect to learn from his address?

DOUGHERTY: Well, you're right. I mean, in a sense he is kind of aligning a little bit many terms of Iran too, but here's another man who could be talking about the economy and people who really need help. After all, don't forget that after the revolution, Tahrir Square where people in Egypt really rose up and wanted to change during the Arab spring, what happened? at this point they have an economy that's in very bad shape. They need help. There was a very big delegation from the United States of gigantic companies that went trying to drum up investment in Egypt, and so their problem too is giving jobs to the people in Egypt and making these revolutions pay off.

MALVEAUX: Alright. Jill Dougherty, good to see you as always.

We played a little of what Ahmadinejad said to the United Nations earlier today. This is a common theme that he uses over and over, and he essentially talks about blaming everybody else for Iran's problems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMADINEJAD: I do not believe that Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and others have any problems among themselves. Or are hostile against each other or live together in an atmosphere of peace. They are all devoted to the cause of justice, purity, and law. The [inaudible] of the world and the situation of history are due mainly to the wrong management of the world and the self-proclaimed centers of power who have entrusted themselves to the devil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We're bringing in Karim Sadjadpour, he's the senior associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Also an expert. You have met with and you have discussed, sat down in a kind of roundtable, if you will, with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Does he seem to have changed at all?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, IRAN ANALYST: Not a whole lot, Suzanne. I met with him in a larger setting the first visit he made to the United Nations in 2005, and I have seen his perhaps slightly matured over this eight- year period, but the speech today was the regular combination of platitudes about international justice and peace, attacks against the United States and Israel, but I think it's important for an American audience to understand that within Iran, Ahmadinejad is really a figure head. Is he somebody who doesn't really hold much authority on the issues of major import, whether that's the nuclear issue or relations with the United States.

MALVEAUX: So why do people pay so much attention to him?

SADJADPOUR: Suzanne, Ahmadinejad is almost like a villainous figure from an international reality television show. He is almost like a Kim Kardashian type figure in that he makes these bombastic statements even though he doesn't really hold authority to do anything, but he loves the media. He loves attention. I have always thought -- I personally find it much more insightful to talk to psychiatrists about Ahmadinejad than political analysts because my psychiatrist friends tell me that this is someone with a severe narcissistic disorder who loves the limelight. He loves the media attention, and for him this week at the U.N. is really the highlight of his year every year.

MALVEAUX: I don't know the Kardashians, but I imagine Kim Kardashian would not appreciate the comparison there.

SADJADPOUR: Of course.

MALVEAUX: Obviously. Talk a little bit about do you think it's effective at all to actually speak and to sit down and continue diplomacy with Ahmadinejad. This is the American delegation wasn't even in the room, but the president has said that he has been willing to talk and listen to Iran. That doesn't seem to have worked very well.

SADJADPOUR: No. I think the White House recognizes that if we are to engage Iran, if we're to have dialogue with Iran, it doesn't make sense to do it with President Ahmadinejad because, again, he doesn't pull any of the strings on these issues of major concerns for the United States. We would have to find the channel to engage with the real power in Iran, the supreme leader. The problem is Khomeini hasn't left Iran since 1989, hasn't left the country since 1989, and what I have found over the years is that those Iranian officials who do want to talk to America really can't deliver and those Iranian officials who can deliver don't want to talk to America, and this is I think the conundrum which any administration faces.

MALVEAUX: And, of course, you have those sanctions that are really squeezing in the lower and middle class there in that country. Thank you so much. Really appreciate your perspective.

There's a suspected militant who is now on the run, and she is being hunted in Kenya. We said she. We're going to tell you why the British are worried about who they call the white widow. Plus --

The damage is extraordinary. The death toll incalculable. Aleppo is being destroyed to make it safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Today Syrian rebels brought the battle to the army's front door. Watch this.

Rebels staging a daring attack on the government's joint chiefs of staff building. That is in Damascus. They set off two explosions and then they opened fire. Government forces fought back in what is being described now as a raging gun battle. Syrian army officials say they have killed all the attackers. The building now secure. State TV reports four military guards were killed in that attack. More than a dozen people injured.

Syrian government is calling the rebels terrorists, promises to fight them until the very end. Over the past two days, ITN's Bill Neely has been embedded with Syrian forces battling rebels in Damascus in Aleppo, three Syrian cities that are now battle grounds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NEELY, ITN: In one city this would be bad enough. In three this is a disaster. This is now the reality of three main cities in Syria. The troops fighting rebels for control of whole districts. Aleppo is Syria's biggest city, a business capital. Engulfed now in the business of war. The damage is extraordinary, the death toll incalculable

Aleppo is being destroyed to make it safe. Syrian troops are on the offensive in the country's third city, Homs, recapturing many areas from what they say are foreign fighters and extremist Muslims -- rebels, they say, directly armed by Arab states.

In one district they took, they showed us what they said was an abandoned rebel headquarters, backed with Saudi Arabian markings scattered around. A makeshift scaffold with ropes and a meat hook was there. They said rebels tortured and hanged people here. We have no way of proving this. The U.N. mostly accuses the regime of mass torture but says rebels are guilty of human rights abuses too.

But it's clear this is a dirty war. Here in Homs and every city, no one is safe, no faith is spared. Christian churches and Muslim mosques are battleground.

But one man is an optimist. The new governor of Homs, Syria's third city. These rebels, he says, will be beaten and we'll win the war in Homs in one month.

(on-camera): One month. That seems very optimistic.

(voice-over): One month, he insists, but Britain and America should stop supporting terrorists. They are his master's words.

Throughout the interview, explosions echo across the city. Explosions too in Syria's capital city today; one at a military base. Bombs smuggled inside and detonated by rebels. Here, too, troops crack down on restive areas with brute force.

Three cities, one war, tens of thousands dead. And at the United Nations, complete failure to stop it.

Bill Neely, ITV News, Homs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Tear gas scuffles, burned tires, smoke and chaos. That's what's happening in the streets of Athens today. Thousands take to the streets to protest budget cuts. Are they going to change the government's mind and how is it going to impact tourism?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: More than 50,000 angry Greek workers, they took to the streets of Athens today. Now, hey shut down part of the transportation system. They closed businesses, tourist sites, like that in the Acropolis. I mean, they're upset, basically, that the government planning mother round of budget cuts.

Take a look at those pictures there. I mean, you got fires, you got smoke. Already Greece has slashed government pensions and benefits for those workers that are out in the streets -- cuts in the European Union is demanding in exchange for another loan to stop Greece from going into bankruptcy.

You can see all those people who are quite frustrated there. I want to bring in Michael Holmes to talk about those folks, and clearly, that, I mean - it's kind of surprise when you think about it, when you see this turned into violence. This is over budget cuts.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is.

MALVEAUX: This is not the kind of thing we see here.

HOLMES: I got to tell you, I mean, it was a very small group that got violent. I have to say that just to be fair. But, yes, half the country was shut down by this, and as you point out, even the tourists got caught in the middle of it. Like Greece is in a position to be offending tourist with their dollars at the moment.

The government isn't going to change its mind despite these protests and the reason for that is because it can't. As you said, if it doesn't get this next round of money, I mean, the country literally goes broke. They won't be able to pay pension; they won't be able to pay government workers. It would be an absolute disaster. To get that money, though, they've to qualify and come up with the $15 billion, or billion euros, in cuts.

You know, the feeling is that those public sector wages and pensions will again be cut, and that's making these people angry. The retirement age can go to 67. And let's remember, this is their fault in a way. You know, during the good times they lived large on the credit card, you know, lived beyond their means. It was a debt binge and then everything fell apart.

MALVEAUX: Now we're talking about a bust here. Talk a little bit about the people who are on the streets. Obviously it's not, you know, the violent protesters, but the people who are frustrated. You've got a country now, 24, more than 24 percent unemployed.

HOLMES: Yes, 50 percent if you're counting under 25s. It's a horrible situation. When you talk about the people, you've got a third of Greeks live below the official poverty line. One of the most disturbing things, I think, is suicide -- way, way up. I mean, the country is suffering. The economy shrunk 20 percent in the last five years. That will be 25 percent by the end of next year.

MALVEAUX: You talk about suicides. Who is taking their lives?

HOLMES: These people who end up with nothing. These people who have lost their jobs or lose their homes. I think that you're talking about huge numbers of people. This is not just small numbers of people.

I heard an interesting story today. Under the way Greece is set up, too, if you are unemployed and your dad dies and leaves you the family home, when you get that home, that is counted as income in Greece. So you will be taxed on that home month to month -- so not only do you not have a job, you can't sell it because the economy is in the toilet, and you're stuck -- now you're getting bills. So it's a --

MALVEAUX: It's really discouraging situation.

HOLMES: And homicides are up too. I mean, because of family tension.

MALVEAUX: Homicides and suicides. When we see these pictures today, Michael, do you think we're going to see these pictures or are we going to see more and more of this in the days and weeks to come?

HOLMES: Yes, we've seen in the months in the past too, because this isn't over by a long shot. I mean, Greece is going through an awful lot of pain to get back on track. A lot of people say -- in Greece are saying, you know, it's too much. It's too much. Let's leave the euro. Let's get out of the euro altogether, leave Europe. And then you have others like the unions who are saying, well, that's going to cause way too much pain. We've got to stay in the euro, but these cuts are targeting the wrong people. They're targeting the middle class, people that haven't gotten anything. It should target the rich and more and more.

You've also got tax evasion is rampant in Athens, and that's got to be sorted. I got, actually, a little sound bite from the Chamber of Commerce about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONSTANTINE MICHALOS, PRES., ATHENS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: The rich are not getting richer. Going to show you the tax measures that have been implemented over the last three years have hit all social classes, including the upper to middle class here in Greece. We've seen property taxes that have been increased immensely. Business taxation, unfortunately, is running at the moment at approximately 50 percent when you add the business tax, the dividend tax, including all the extraordinary taxation measures that have been implemented over the last two and a half years. So there isn't so much inequality as far as that side is concerned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes. And, you know, when we talk about Greece, which is, you know, really a small part of the European Union in a financial sense, tomorrow the Spanish are handing down their budget. Spain is a huge deal. They are at the epicenter of European financial crisis. You know, if they need money, you know, the contagion that could condition.

MALVEAUX: And it all has a domino effect. I mean, eventually it spills over to the United States and the financial impact here. Michael, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

HOLMES: -- trading partner.

MALVEAUX: Thousands of troops coming home from Afghanistan, but there is still a lot of work to be done in that war-torn country. We'll take you along one very dangerous road where Afghan troops show us how they diffuse IEDss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Going to live pictures there. This is the United Nations General Assembly. That is the new Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi. He is addressing world leaders there. Of course, he has a lot on his place. He has a lot to account for. He's a new president, he is of the Muslim brotherhood; he has to show that he is in control and power of the situation there in light of a lot of unrest in that part of the world.

NATO drawdown from Afghanistan has been happening in phases, as we know, with thousands of American troops now finally coming home. Well, the ultimate goal is for Afghan forces to take control, full control, of their own security by 2014.

CNN's Anna Coren, she's looking at one facet of this power transfer and how they actually do this, and that is the dangerous job of trying to diffuse IEDs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Above the dusty plains of southwestern Afghanistan, a U.S. military crew flies from Camp Leatherneck to Delaram, a trip once made by road, but now too dangerous because of the IEDs planted daily by insurgents.

Delaram used to be home to more than 1,000 U.S. Marines, but only 28 remain. The drawdown here is in full swing and the transfer of power virtually complete.

CAPT. CHARLES ARVISAIS, U.S. MARINES: We're concerned that with the drawdown that there would be a setback in progress, but the ANA have really taken a step forward.

COREN: The man now in charge is General Abdul Wasea Malad (ph) from Afghan National Army, or ANA. He controls 5,000 soldiers in some of the most dangerous territory in the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is an IED out by the police station.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

COREN: The marines hand over a block of c4, a military explosive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is yours?

COREN: There was a time when the Americans would have been leading this operation. Now the Afghans are in complete control. The general takes us in his humvee to the suspected IED three kilometers away.

Who reported the IED?

GENERAL ABDUL WASEA MALAD (ph) , AFGHAN NATIONAL ARMY: The police.

COREN: How did they find it?

(INAUDIBLE)

COREN: Armed with a metal detector, a drag rope, and detonators, a bomb disposal team leads us to the location. We walk in single file in case any other IEDs have been laid on the road. Recently the Taliban have been planting IEDs that are almost impossible to detect because they contain little if any metal. A sign that the enemy is becoming much more sophisticated. Lieutenant General Mohammed is leading this operation. The 30-year-old who earns less than $300 a month tells me I do this because it's my job. I'm prepared to lose my own life, but I don't want other people to die. At the beginning of this year the Afghan national army here in Delaram had no idea how to diffuse an IED other than to shoot it or set it on fire. Well, now with the right training and equipment, they have the skills to disable these deadly devices.

After 20 minutes the soldiers determined the site is clear, claiming the Taliban either removed it once it had been reported or a local took the IED to claim the $100 reward. In the last few months there have been alarming reports of the Taliban returning to Delaram, even overrunning checkpoints. The general admits the Taliban are a resilient enemy and are constantly trying to infiltrate the ranks. And while there have been no insider attacks by the men under his watch, he says all commanders must be vigilant. "We are in a very dangerous war against terrorists, an enemy that doesn't hesitate using anything to harm us." The true test for the Afghan soldiers is whether they can maintain security on their own once the U.S.-led coalition leaves. A mission General Wasseya believes his men will live up to. Anna Corin, CNN, Delaram, Afghanistan.

MALVEAUX: All right. Nowadays, you can't walk down the street without passing somebody on their cell phone, even young kids picking up the habit. Our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he's up next to explain what this radiation can do to your brain.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All this week we're looking at how mobile technology is change our world. It's CNN's our Mobile Society Initiative, and today we're looking at how safe use using cell phone is. The F.C.C. has not set new radiation exposure limits in the past 15 years, and since then there's been a lot of research that has surfaced. So much so that the government is now urging the F.C.C. to update the safety regulations. CNN's own resident brain surgeon, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, of course. Nice to see you. I thought that was pretty cool. You have to remind people you're a brain surgeon as well. Journalist and many other things, author. Tell us what you know about how safe or unsafe cell phones are.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, that 15-year number, you were just saying, the last time these guidelines were updated. You think about 1997. Cell phones were really starting to become more in use at that time. They hadn't been around that long. People forget that. So when you think about cell phone usage, it's a relatively new thing still, and that's important because when you are trying to determine if something is potentially harmful, you want to see, you know, if there's a cause and an effect here, and it can take a long time to sort of establish that. We just don't know yet just how potentially problematic cell phones are, and I think that's what is prompting us to do more research. We know that the cell phone has non-ionizing radiation. It's not ionizing radiation.

MALVEAUX: What's that mean?

GUPTA: Ionizing is a thing that comes out of X-rays, for example. We know that too much of that is bad. The non-ionizing, though, we're starting to learn more about it. We know, for example, these phones can change your brain a little bit. They can increase the way that your brain in that area absorbs glucose. They get hot. They actually heat up certain areas of your brain. So, what do these things do in the long run? That's part of what's prompting us. The World Health Organization already refers to cell phones as a possible carcinogen. Carcinogen means cancer-causing agent.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

Is there anything -- so we love to use these. I'm not going to get rid of it. I don't think they're going to get rid of yours because everybody is trying to reach you all the time.

GUPTA: Right.

MALVEAUX" Do -- how can we protect ourselves? Is there anything we can do?

GUPTA: I think there's the good news, there's a couple of important tips, and these are things that I do in my own life. First of all, remember this. If you have a really bad signal, it means your phone is working even harder than normal to try to get a better signal. So, it's letting off even more radiation. Your best bet if you can't hear the person, probably say, look, I'll call you later. I'll call when you in a better area or text the person. That's one good tip, something I do. But also, simply using an ear piece, and I know this is not particularly sexy, and you look like a bit of a geek when you wear this.

MALVEAUX: Trying to come up with something better.

GUPTA: But I think doing that automatically pushes the phone away from your head. If you read the information pamphlet that comes with your phone, it says don't hold these phones right next to your head. It says keep it about a half an inch.

MALVEAUX: It actually says that in the pamphlet.

GUPTA: It says it on the thing and that's why they give you ear pieces with your phones as well. They say that in the pamphlet, and an ear piece is an easy solution to that.

MALVEAUX: Finally, a lot of kids, you've got a lot of kids on cell phones, is it any more dangerous for young developing minds as well?

GUPTA: I think the concern -- there's two concerns. One is that their skulls are thinner, so they can absorb more radiation, and, you know, we actually visited one of the safety labs where they do this research, and they always test a model of an adult male, a 200 pound male. They don't have good safety data on children, first of all. And the second thing is unlike us, they're going to probably use cell phones their entire lives. They start at a pretty young age, I haven't given my kids cell phones yet, but a pretty young age. And then presumably their whole lives. They're going to have a longer duration of exposure.

MALVEAUX: I wonder if it's safer to text because it's --

GUPTA: I think so.

MALVEAUX: It's farther away. A lot of young people are big on texting as opposed to calling. GUPTA: I am not a young person, but I am big on texting as well, but I think as soon as move the phone a even little further away from your head, the radiation exponentially drops off. That's the good news. So, yes, texting, you know, using speaker phone, things like that.

MALVEAUX: Okay. I'm going to text you now that I know how to reach you.

(CROSSTALK)

Sanjay, thank you.

GUPTA: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Be sure to check out CNN.com mobile society --/mobile society to hear more advice from Sanjay Gupta and other stories about how mobile technology can changing our world.

Kenyan police are searching for a British woman they say might be a terrorist, but is this mysterious woman known as the White Widow more myth than reality? We'll investigate with a live report from Nairobi.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: As anger against the United States swells across the Arab world, authorities say they are also tracking western terrorists with ties to al Qaeda. One suspected militant known as the White Widow is being hunted now in Kenya. CNN's David McKenzie has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This British mother is a wanted woman. Samantha Lewthwaite was once cast as a victim. The pregnant wife of one of the suicide bombers who hit London in 2005. She condemned the attack and then vanished. As she surfaced here in Mombasa. Intelligence sources say Samantha Lewthwaite was now part of an East African-based terror cell. They she became known as the White Widow. We're here to track her down. In December, Kenyan police helped by British authorities raided these three homes in the dead of night in pursuit of a complex web of terror.

ERIC KIRAITHE, KENYA POLICE CHIEF SPOKESMAN: Devastating. Devastating.

MCKENZIE:: They found enough bomb-making equipment to wreak havoc.

KIRAITHE: The nature and amount of weapons we recovered in that house, and the information received prior and after that, it would mean that the intentions must have been sinister.

MCKENZIE: Kenyan intelligence officials say the cell planned to destroy the Miali (ph) bridge, the Mombasa ferry, and unspecified western targets. Police arrested several Kenyans and a Britain, Jermaine Grant. Grant has been detained before trying to cross the Kenya/Somali border. But Somalia militants then raided the border jail where he was being held and freed him. Kenyan police say Grant knew Samantha Lewthwaite, who entered on a South African passport and moved among Mombasa's radical Islamists. One of them, Abubaker Sharif, is on a U.S. terror watch list, though he denies any links to terror groups.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Didn't come across her or talk to her?

ABUBAKER SHARIF: Nobody in Mombasa came across her, except the anti- police unit. Nobody knows about her. Nobody has seen her. She's a myth. And I'm giving you a challenge. Go out (INAUDIBLE) Mombasa. Find somebody who has seen her.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): So we tried. First heading north out of Mombasa on a tip.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Intelligence officials believe that Lewthwaite spent a significant amount of time in this luxury villa north of Mombasa.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): The caretaker says an Arabic looking man paid three months up front, but he never saw a woman. In another upscale neighborhood, we catch a break.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): She did not want to say her name. And she used to hide her face.

MCKENZIE: A security guard, who didn't want to show his face, says a white woman moved into the compound with her three young children. She was always in a full hijab.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She never wanted people inside her house. It was just her and her children. So when she wanted to send me, she would give me money through the hole in the gates. She would send me to the shop to buy water or meat.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Do you feel that was strange at the time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it was very strange.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Authorities say Lewthwaite was living with Habib Ghani, a naturalized Britain. They are both accused of planning terror attacks. One day he watched the woman leave with her three children. At night, the police raided. The "white widow" had vanished.

Her intentions remain a mystery. Some intelligence officials believe she is a committed jihadist involved with an international terror cell. Others say she's little more than a sympathizer. As for where she's gone --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish I knew. I wish I knew exactly where she is. (INAUDIBLE).

MCKENZIE: Rumors abound. Only the mystery of the "white widow" remains.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Dave McKenzie, he's joining us from Nairobi, Kenya. Wow, it's just really fascinating. Where do we suppose this so-called "white widow" might be hiding or has she escaped somewhere?

MCKENZIE: Well, Suzanne, really there are many rumors and outlandish headlines I've seen on this story as fact. But we do know that when she escaped Mombasa, she seems to have stayed within Kenya. The latest we hear is that Kenyan officials might have tracked her towards a Somali border in a town near that border.

What's quite extraordinary is this mother with three maybe even four young children (INAUDIBLE) officials. We're not clear whether she was directly linked to that terror cell in terms of operational linkages. But we do know that at least she was there at the time that they were active and her house where she was staying was raided when others were also raided.

MALVEAUX: All right. Do we know if she's targeting any specific sites? Do they know?

MCKENZIE: Well, the targeting was a possible site within Mombasa. I mentioned the ferry there. Also a western interest. It's unclear exactly what those were. What officials say here is while local extremists, they can track more easily. Any foreign terrorist, especially (INAUDIBLE) --

MALVEAUX: All right we lost him and we'll try to bring him back when we can, but obviously a really interesting story out of Kenya as they search for who they suspect to be a terrorist.

Close to 200 world leaders are in New York right now. The man who's hosting the events managed to carve out some time to give CNN a behind the scenes tour. Also talks about the intense pressure that he's under.

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MALVEAUX: The protests in Greece, as well as budget problems in Spain, they're affecting the investments here at home. We want to take a look at the markets here. Stocks have been trading low across the board today. Right now the Dow looking down 28 points or so. S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also in negative territory because of concerns about Europe.

Today's political landscape, transparency, of course, more important than ever. Check this out. This is the prime minister of United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum takes to Twitter frequently expressing his views. So here's what he tweeted today about his own government. Said, "in a visit to a government entity, number of managers behind closed doors was a shock. I decided doors were no longer needed there." Pretty cool.

Playing host to the world. That's what U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon, he is doing this week at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. So, how is he handling this big job? Alina Cho, she went behind the scenes to ask him and to find out.

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ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: In the U.S., so early, early.

CHO: Nice to see you. Very early.

CHO (voice-over): It's just after 7:00 in the morning, and we're at the home of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

BAN: I normally should get up at the 4:00, 4:30, but particularly during these day.

CHO: Especially on this day, the opening day of high level debate at the U.N. General Assembly.

CHO (on camera): They call the UNGA the super bowl of diplomacy.

CHO (voice-over): For Ban Ki-moon, it's the busiest time of the year.

BAN: This week we have around 190 leaders above the level of foreign ministers. Above the level of prime ministers and the presidents, we have more than 120. I'm going to meet most of them.

CHO (on camera): How much pressure do you feel?

BAN: Of course, I am under a lot of pressure.

CHO (voice-over): So much so --

BAN: These days I cannot sleep no more than four hours. I have only 24 hours like everybody else.

CHO: In this 24 hour period, Secretary General Ban will meet with the leader of the free world.

CHO (on camera): What will you say to President Obama today?

BAN: We need U.S. leadership. President Obama's leadership and influence. You see how tight the security will be yourself.

CHO (voice-over): We're off. We quickly learn being the SG has its perks.

BAN: Special lane, only for the leaders of U.N. delegations.

CHO: Minutes later, we arrive at the United Nations. And the handshakes begin. Once inside, more handshakes in multiple languages.

CHO (on camera): How many hands did you shake?

BAN: Hundreds.

CHO (voice-over): The SG's schedule is minute by minute.

CHO (on camera): How do you read that?

BAN: Yes, we can -- you have to have, you know, very fine glasses.

CHO (voice-over): A quick meeting with Brazil's president, and it's nearly time.

CHO (on camera): Deep breath.

BAN: Deep breath. Yes.

CHO (voice-over): Time for Secretary General Ban to address the world's leaders on a world stage.

BAN: OK. Thanks for coming (ph).

CHO (on camera): Good luck.

CHO (voice-over): Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

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MALVEAUX: Pretty cool.

Bollywood movie is driving one song to the top of the charts. You're going to hear it right after this break.

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MALVEAUX: Welcome back to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL. We're taking a look at what has climbing the charts. This is India this week. Take a listen.

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MALVEAUX: All right. Who's this? This is Kareena Kapoor singing her smash hit (INAUDIBLE) from the upcoming Bollywood film (INAUDIBLE).

All right, if you like to experiment with your dining choices, check out this new burger. It's at Burger King. It is launching in Japan this week. So, check it out. It looks kind of weird, I know. It is a black burger. The bun almost pure black made from bamboo charcoal. Yes. Ketchup mixed with black squid ink. And I'm not kidding. But despite the name, the burger itself is not black. The burger being launched to celebrate Burger King's five-year anniversary in Japan. It does not look to appetizing to me. I don't know. Maybe it's just me.

Several stories caught our attention today, photos as well. Take a look at this.

Women dressed in red took part in a march in the west African nation of Togo. It is the latest in a string of protests by a group demanding political reform.

And in Manchester, England, police observed a moment of silence at a vigil near the scene where two officers were killed in a gun and grenade attack. The officers were responding to what they thought was a burglary.

I'm Suzanne Malveaux. This hour in the CNN NEWSROOM we're watching two live events in Ohio. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney, they are campaigning.