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CNN Live At Daybreak
Wake-Up Call: Christmas At Camp David
Aired December 24, 2002 - 06:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us on the phone now for this morning's "Wake-Up Call."
Suzanne, I know the president is spending Christmas at Camp David, but no doubt Iraq, North Korea on his mind this morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Catherine. Absolutely, you know, President Bush and the first family are at Camp David for the holiday, and they'll be going on to Crawford afterwards.
But, of course, the Bush administration is really confronting an increasingly defiant North Korea. We have just seen within the last 48 hours the International Atomic Energy Agency has been tracking these kinds of alarming developments coming from North Korea.
Saturday, they began dismantling their monitoring equipment at a nuclear reactor complex. Sunday, the followed up. They started disabling cameras, breaking seals to get access to these spent fuel rods and equipment that would be used to turn them into weapons-grade materials. And experts are now saying that conceivably, North Korea could begin producing this kind of plutonium-based bombs in as little as six months.
Now, of course, the administration has been responding to this. The White House insisting that diplomacy is the way to go.
Yesterday, we heard from Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, who warned North Korea, don't assume that the United States is incapable of confronting two -- you know, two threats at the same time, being Iraq as well as North Korea. But obviously, this is going to be playing out in the weeks and months to come.
And the Bush administration also very concerned about the possibility of the United States and South Korea's alliance of perhaps being some weakened by this as well.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Suzanne, we've been talking the last couple of days about the importance of this story coming out of North Korea, and as you mentioned, Rumsfeld has addressed it. Do you think that President Bush sometime during the next few days is going to have to address this himself to the public?
MALVEAUX: Well, the president is really going to have to take a very close look at this, and we are told that, of course, he is consulting with his national security team, and we saw Secretary Powell also consulting with our allies in Japan and Russia and South Korea to put more economic pressure on North Korea and more diplomatic pressure. As you know, the United States cut off the fuel supplies just recently to that country.
But the White House, yes, is going to have to confront this, this very real threat, and so far, they are still saying that, yes, they believe that diplomacy will work in this case. But, of course, they're ratcheting up the rhetoric.
CALLAWAY: Yes, they are. All right, thank you so much. That's Suzanne Malveaux. Have a good day, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Thank you. You too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired December 24, 2002 - 06:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us on the phone now for this morning's "Wake-Up Call."
Suzanne, I know the president is spending Christmas at Camp David, but no doubt Iraq, North Korea on his mind this morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Catherine. Absolutely, you know, President Bush and the first family are at Camp David for the holiday, and they'll be going on to Crawford afterwards.
But, of course, the Bush administration is really confronting an increasingly defiant North Korea. We have just seen within the last 48 hours the International Atomic Energy Agency has been tracking these kinds of alarming developments coming from North Korea.
Saturday, they began dismantling their monitoring equipment at a nuclear reactor complex. Sunday, the followed up. They started disabling cameras, breaking seals to get access to these spent fuel rods and equipment that would be used to turn them into weapons-grade materials. And experts are now saying that conceivably, North Korea could begin producing this kind of plutonium-based bombs in as little as six months.
Now, of course, the administration has been responding to this. The White House insisting that diplomacy is the way to go.
Yesterday, we heard from Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, who warned North Korea, don't assume that the United States is incapable of confronting two -- you know, two threats at the same time, being Iraq as well as North Korea. But obviously, this is going to be playing out in the weeks and months to come.
And the Bush administration also very concerned about the possibility of the United States and South Korea's alliance of perhaps being some weakened by this as well.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Suzanne, we've been talking the last couple of days about the importance of this story coming out of North Korea, and as you mentioned, Rumsfeld has addressed it. Do you think that President Bush sometime during the next few days is going to have to address this himself to the public?
MALVEAUX: Well, the president is really going to have to take a very close look at this, and we are told that, of course, he is consulting with his national security team, and we saw Secretary Powell also consulting with our allies in Japan and Russia and South Korea to put more economic pressure on North Korea and more diplomatic pressure. As you know, the United States cut off the fuel supplies just recently to that country.
But the White House, yes, is going to have to confront this, this very real threat, and so far, they are still saying that, yes, they believe that diplomacy will work in this case. But, of course, they're ratcheting up the rhetoric.
CALLAWAY: Yes, they are. All right, thank you so much. That's Suzanne Malveaux. Have a good day, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Thank you. You too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
