Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

North Korea's Nukes; Latest on Weapons Inspections in Iraq

Aired December 26, 2002 - 10:13   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: There's much more concern about the potential fallout from North Korea's nuclear plans. The communist nation is transferring fresh fuel to a reactor. That, experts say, could produce enough raw material to restart North Korea's nuclear weapons program. It is the latest move by North Korea that's testing the will of Washington.
CNN's White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us from the White House.

Hi, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

Well, the president is at this hour heading to Crawford, Texas, where he has his ranch. He'll be spending time there through the new year. He is going from Camp David, where he spent the Christmas holiday. All that time we are told he was keeping tabs on the situation in North Korea as members of his cabinet, Secretary of State Colin Powell, in particular, making calls to allies in the region like China and Japan, trying to get them to use their leverage with North Korea to try to convince them to cease and desist with restarting its nuclear program.

Now, this morning on CNN, the head of the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammed Al-Baradei, he thinks the situation is very serious, and he accused North Korea of playing politics with nuclear weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED AL-BARADEI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, IAEA: I think they are trying to use their nuclear capability, which is supposed to be for peaceful ends, to achieve strategic and political objectives, which is totally unacceptable. It is basically a policy of brinkmanship, and that's what they're trying to do, that if we do not get what we think we should be getting, we are going to use or to use our peaceful nuclear program for questionable activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, this is a game of brinkmanship that so far the Bush administration has refused to engage in directly. They say they will not be blackmailed by North Korea into starting direct talks with that country for issues that North Korea wants, to talk about, for instance, a nonaggression pact, and discussions over restarting shipments to that country on fuel and on food. So far, the U.S. is saying they will not have direct negotiations on that despite some experts urging them to do so. But there's no question, especially with the focus on Iraq over the past few months, that the situation in North Korea presents another problem for the U.S -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dana, thank you very much from the White House.

Now the latest on the weapons inspections in Iraq. It's the fifth week of the weapons hunt, and inspectors are not only checking rather suspected weapons site, but they're also talking to Iraqi scientist.

Our Rym Brahimi joins us with the latest.

Hi, Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka.

Well, as you said, they seem to be expanding their search now. They're gone from searching purely for equipment and any traces of weapons of mass destruction to now trying to find out who are the people who could potentially be making those weapons.

They went to the University of Technology here in Baghdad for the second time in three days. A couple of days ago, the inspectors interviewed the first Iraqi scientist, the first formal interview conducted with a scientist. They also interviewed a nuclear researcher, and they were back again today, and asked the staff of the university for a list of the top researchers of that Technology University.

Now, according to the president of the university, the questioning, the discussions that the inspectors had with the members of the staff went smoothly. He said they were highly skilled and professional, and there seemed to be no problem there.

The inspectors also went to the chemical engineering department, and they went to check on some of the equipment that had been already monitored by the teams of inspectors that were here until 1998, just very fine, making sure the equipment was all accounted for.

Another couple of teams, Fredricka, went out today to various sites, again, one of them mainly a petrochemical plant.

As you know, those are the areas that are called dual-use facilities, that could potentially be used for military purposes, but that are used for civilian purposes right now -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rym. Thank you very much, from Baghdad.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Iraq>


Aired December 26, 2002 - 10:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: There's much more concern about the potential fallout from North Korea's nuclear plans. The communist nation is transferring fresh fuel to a reactor. That, experts say, could produce enough raw material to restart North Korea's nuclear weapons program. It is the latest move by North Korea that's testing the will of Washington.
CNN's White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us from the White House.

Hi, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

Well, the president is at this hour heading to Crawford, Texas, where he has his ranch. He'll be spending time there through the new year. He is going from Camp David, where he spent the Christmas holiday. All that time we are told he was keeping tabs on the situation in North Korea as members of his cabinet, Secretary of State Colin Powell, in particular, making calls to allies in the region like China and Japan, trying to get them to use their leverage with North Korea to try to convince them to cease and desist with restarting its nuclear program.

Now, this morning on CNN, the head of the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammed Al-Baradei, he thinks the situation is very serious, and he accused North Korea of playing politics with nuclear weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED AL-BARADEI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, IAEA: I think they are trying to use their nuclear capability, which is supposed to be for peaceful ends, to achieve strategic and political objectives, which is totally unacceptable. It is basically a policy of brinkmanship, and that's what they're trying to do, that if we do not get what we think we should be getting, we are going to use or to use our peaceful nuclear program for questionable activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, this is a game of brinkmanship that so far the Bush administration has refused to engage in directly. They say they will not be blackmailed by North Korea into starting direct talks with that country for issues that North Korea wants, to talk about, for instance, a nonaggression pact, and discussions over restarting shipments to that country on fuel and on food. So far, the U.S. is saying they will not have direct negotiations on that despite some experts urging them to do so. But there's no question, especially with the focus on Iraq over the past few months, that the situation in North Korea presents another problem for the U.S -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dana, thank you very much from the White House.

Now the latest on the weapons inspections in Iraq. It's the fifth week of the weapons hunt, and inspectors are not only checking rather suspected weapons site, but they're also talking to Iraqi scientist.

Our Rym Brahimi joins us with the latest.

Hi, Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka.

Well, as you said, they seem to be expanding their search now. They're gone from searching purely for equipment and any traces of weapons of mass destruction to now trying to find out who are the people who could potentially be making those weapons.

They went to the University of Technology here in Baghdad for the second time in three days. A couple of days ago, the inspectors interviewed the first Iraqi scientist, the first formal interview conducted with a scientist. They also interviewed a nuclear researcher, and they were back again today, and asked the staff of the university for a list of the top researchers of that Technology University.

Now, according to the president of the university, the questioning, the discussions that the inspectors had with the members of the staff went smoothly. He said they were highly skilled and professional, and there seemed to be no problem there.

The inspectors also went to the chemical engineering department, and they went to check on some of the equipment that had been already monitored by the teams of inspectors that were here until 1998, just very fine, making sure the equipment was all accounted for.

Another couple of teams, Fredricka, went out today to various sites, again, one of them mainly a petrochemical plant.

As you know, those are the areas that are called dual-use facilities, that could potentially be used for military purposes, but that are used for civilian purposes right now -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rym. Thank you very much, from Baghdad.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Iraq>