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American Morning
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Slips into Iraq Unannounced; Valentine's Day Suicide Pact Arranged Over Internet
Aired February 11, 2005 - 08:00 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Surprise inspections -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld slips into Iraq unannounced for a progress check, while not far away, insurgents take a heavy toll.
A race against time. Police have one piece of the puzzle. They're now searching North America for the others who have signed onto a Valentine's Day suicide pact.
And not a single word for 20 years, then suddenly an accident victim is talking again on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
8:00 here in New York.
Good morning.
Welcome to the end of the week here.
The Democratic Party has been under the microscope since losing the election early in November. We're going to talk to the outgoing chairman today, Terry McAuliffe, about what went wrong and what incoming Chairman Howard Dean is now up against. A number of questions. We'll get to most of them in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: Also, is North Korea playing a dangerous game with nuclear weapons? We're going to ask our "Gimme A Minute" crew just how far the White House might be able to be pushed.
HEMMER: All right, Jack Cafferty, what's on your mind in "The File," huh?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming up in the "Cafferty File," Bill, British courts are protecting a convicted sex offender who's been a fugitive from the United States for 27 years. We have video of the world's only mammal that can do something extra special with its tongue. And how it feels on Monday versus how it feels on Friday.
HEMMER: And do tell.
O'BRIEN: How what feels on Monday?
HEMMER: Life.
CAFFERTY: Think about it. Just think about it. It'll come to you.
HEMMER: All right.
Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: I'm just really naive, but I don't know what you're talking about.
CAFFERTY: Well, yes. How many children do you have?
O'BRIEN: Oh, will you stop? Why do we always go straight for the drain on this?
CAFFERTY: I am so naive. Wait, I've got to get home and take care of the four kids.
O'BRIEN: OK, I'm moving on.
Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Nice to be with you, darling, now.
O'BRIEN: It's always nice to sit next to you.
Appreciate that -- Bill.
HEMMER: Let's get to new developments in Iraq to start this hour.
At least 13 are dead in a suicide car bomb just northeast of Baghdad. This just hours after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in that country for a second surprise visit.
Straight away to Nic Robertson.
He starts out coverage this hour.
Nic -- what happened?
Hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
Well, certainly another very big explosion here just northeast of Baghdad, in Diala Province. The explosion occurring outside a Shia mosque. Now, we have been told, the very latest figures we're getting, and, of course, these figures do keep changing. We're being told 12 people dead, four of them Iraqi National Guardsmen who were on patrol; eight of them civilians; 23 people wounded. This is the second attack already today on a Shiite place. The other attack came at a Shiite -- a Shia Muslim bakery earlier in the day. The police say there 12 gunmen burst out to two vehicles, went into the two small bakery stores and killed nine of the workers in those stores. So already 21 Shias dead.
What the police fear is that the Sunni Muslim insurgents are trying to ignite sectarian violence. And that is when Donald Rumsfeld, who has arrived in Iraq, and, of course, one of his primary focuses while he's here, is he's congratulated both Iraqi and U.S. troops on delivering safe and secure elections and congratulated them on the sacrifices they and their families have made.
But his primary focus here has been to oversee and the see the development in the training of Iraqi security forces. He met with General Patreas, the three star general here who oversees the building of Iraqi security forces. He watched Iraqi special forces training on a weapons range with assault weapons and handguns, saw them doing simulated stormings of buildings and also he saw them descending ropes from helicopters as they simulated the storming of a building.
This all part of the special forces training to deal with the insurgent threat in Iraq, and that's what Donald Rumsfeld is really focusing on, at least this afternoon here in Baghdad -- Bill.
HEMMER: Nic Robertson, thanks, from the Iraqi capital -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Other headlines this morning with Carol Costello -- good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Good morning to all of you.
Now in the news, North Korea is reportedly demanding bilateral talks with the United States. That's according to a South Korean newspaper. The report appears one day after North Korea announced it is a nuclear power and pulled out of multilateral nuke talks.
A civil rights lawyer in New York faces as much as 45 years in prison for aiding terrorists. Lynne Stewart had been accused of giving a jailed cleric a message from an overseas dissident. She was convicted yesterday in a series of charges, including conspiracy and defrauding the government. Stewart maintains she did nothing wrong. She is set for sentencing this summer.
The Chicago Police Department says it is shelving plans to expand its use of taser stun guns for now. This morning, an investigation is underway into the case of a man who apparently died after he was stun gunned in his apartment building and a teenager who says he was injured by a taser. One police official says the stun guns have made Chicago's streets safer, but the plan to expand their use now on hold.
Authorities in Florida are asking for help in the search of a couple suspected of tossing a baby out of a moving car. The county sheriff telling us last hour the baby was only an hour old when he was found with a plastic bag over his head and his umbilical cord still attached. He's in serious condition this morning, but he is expected to improve.
That is just amazing that baby could survive that.
O'BRIEN: It is. It's incredible.
COSTELLO: It was a pretty big baby for a newborn, so maybe that's why. Like...
HEMMER: The sheriff says thank a good Samaritan for spotting that baby on the side of the road...
COSTELLO: And investigating.
HEMMER: ... who thought it was a dog.
COSTELLO: Oh.
HEMMER: And it turned out to be a boy who was less than an hour old.
Carol, thanks.
We want to get the Oregon right now.
A man accused of soliciting an Internet suicide pact now behind bars today, while investigators both in the U.S. and in Canada desperately search for those who agreed to take part in that plan.
CNN's Kimberly Osias is live in the store this morning.
She has more there -- Kimberly, good morning.
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
Well, the Internet hub of activity, police say, was in this home behind me. It all started, the suicide Internet chat room, they say, in December, and since then, at least 32 people, maybe even more, were planning to take their lives all in the same day, all in the same way.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
OSIAS (voice-over): This is 26-year-old Gerald Krien, the man police say is behind the bizarre suicide pact. Authorities charged Krien with solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy to commit manslaughter. Police acted on a tip from a Canadian woman who they say was in on the pact.
Now authorities are desperately trying to identify those who agreed to participate, including a mother they believe who planned to murder her two children, then kill herself.
SHERIFF TIMOTHY EVINGER, KLAMATH COUNTY POLICE: Obviously we're trying to capture information, e-mails, maybe some chat information and then we'll be issuing some further subpoenas, I'm certain, through the district attorney's office, to ascertain who the other individuals were, where they are and to try to deem them safe.
OSIAS: Neighbors here in Klamath Falls were stunned by the news. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so close to the house, so close to my grandkids and we're peaceful people in here. We don't want that kind of stuff going on, you know?
OSIAS: Wednesday, police seized Krien's computer, along with other material from the home. Thursday afternoon, they issued subpoenas to several Internet providers. Both the FBI and the Canadian authorities are involved in the investigation.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
OSIAS: The grand jury is expected to get this case on Monday, Bill. Of course, that is Valentine's Day, the day in which the suicide pact was supposed to be carried out. Of course, an investigation will be continuing. As these subpoenas and the information comes back and they get more names, then they will subpoena those individuals. And it may be across many jurisdictions, so it may take several more days before we have more answers -- Bill.
HEMMER: Kimberly, is there a known motivation that authorities are pointing to at this point?
OSIAS: They believe that maybe this young man, the 26-year-old, may have been bullied as a child and this may be a rather macabre way of getting back.
HEMMER: Kimberly Osias live this morning in Oregon -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: A weird story.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Well, the faithful in Rome are waiting to see if Pope John Paul II will appear for a mass today at St. Peter's Basilica. The 84-year-old pope left a Rome hospital last night, riding his familiar pope mobile along a street that was lined with well-wishers. The pope was scheduled to attend today's mass marking the World Day of the Sick and his schedule has not yet been officially changed.
HEMMER: Word in business news this morning.
Now, G.M. is recalling about 200,000 vehicles because of various safety defects. G.M. has recalled the 2004 Cadillac XLR Coupe, SRX SUVs and Pontiac Grand Prix sedans. They say extreme cold can cause the gas pedal to stick. 2005 Buick Raniers, Chevy Trailblazers, GMC Envoys and Isuzu Ascenders are also being recalled because the windshield is not properly fitted. Also recalled are the 2004 and 2005 models of the Hummer H2, the Chevrolet Silverado and Suburban and the GMC Yukon XL for faulty parts in the brake system. G.M. says the defects have not caused any injuries.
O'BRIEN: Wow, that's kind of a lengthy list to talk about this morning.
HEMMER: A long list, that's right. O'BRIEN: A week of cold for the people in South Central U.S. A light earthquake hit at 8:05 a.m. yesterday morning, rattling several states. It was centered near Caraway, Arkansas. The tremors were felt as far away as Memphis, Tennessee. It registered 4.1, which is strong enough to knock things off shelves, but not really cause any major damage.
That brings us right to the weather this morning.
Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the latest for us -- hey, Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: The Oscar winning actress Catherine Zeta Jones can now brag about her Hasty Pudding pot. Harvard University's prestigious drama club gave her its Woman of the Year award yesterday in Cambridge. Rain forced the club to cancel its annual parade. Zeta Jones did pose for the classic photo-op with club members dressed in drag.
O'BRIEN: That's actually...
HEMMER: Did you ever go?
O'BRIEN: I did.
HEMMER: Yes?
O'BRIEN: They have a big parade through the streets of Cambridge, which is a lot of fun. Yes, it was great. It's always got the hugest, you know, the biggest celebrities, the biggest actors and actresses.
HEMMER: It makes for a heck of a picture, doesn't it?
O'BRIEN: Yes, always.
HEMMER: Oh, yes.
O'BRIEN: So it's just nice. So it's fun.
Well, a broken heart, believe it or not, can do you more than just pull you down into the dumps. Doctors now believe it could land you actually in the hospital. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" ahead on broken heart syndrome.
HEMMER: Also, "Gimme A Minute" is back on a Friday. Tackling the Charles and Camilla announcement and is the upcoming wedding big news or is it a royal snooze? We'll get to that.
O'BRIEN: And the face of the Democrats steps down. Does outgoing Chairman Terry McAuliffe think that the party needs an overhaul? He joins us up next on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Howard Dean is all but certain to be elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee this weekend. But is Dean, widely viewed as a liberal, the right choice for that job?
In a recent survey, CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll found that most DNC members surveyed said they want the party to swing in a more moderate direction.
The retiring DNC chairman is Terry McAuliffe.
He's my guest now in D.C.
Terry, good morning to you.
We have a lot to cover here, by the way.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Bill, good morning.
Great.
HEMMER: Thanks for joining us.
If the Democrats are right and the polling is right, you need a moderate. Is Howard Dean the moderate the Democrats need at this point?
MCAULIFFE: Well, Bill, but you know what the party chairman is response for is raising money, building the ground game, doing the voter mobilization, you know, getting the grassroots fired up. And Howard Dean has proven that he can do that.
My main responsibility was to make sure that technologically, organizationally and financially we were in good shape, and that's what we did, and I think Howard, you know, will take it on as we go forward.
I remind you, Bill, that John Kerry did get 59 million votes for president, nine million more than we received in 2000. We've got to build upon that going forward.
HEMMER: Listen, last night I think your voice was lost a little bit during this Democratic pep rally down there in D.C. This was your outgoing soiree, essentially.
MCAULIFFE: Yes.
HEMMER: Former President Bill Clinton, who many consider still to be the main piece in the center point of your party, talked about embracing centrist politics, stop beating up on one another.
MCAULIFFE: That's right.
HEMMER: What does it say about the state of your party, Terry, when your former president has to come out and deliver a missing like that?
MCAULIFFE: Well, I think what President Clinton was trying to say is everything now for the party is in very good shape. We're in the best shape financially we've ever been, as you know, Bill. We've rebuilt our party technologically. We've got to make sure that our message is resonating in those red states. And we can't do it if we're having internal squabbles within our fights. You know, I used to like to say the Democrats love to form circular firing squads. We've got to get past all that.
The issues are so great facing this country, we need to make sure that we are unified against what George Bush is trying to do in this country. And when we do it, we will win. And Bill Clinton better than anyone knows that when we all come together -- you know, Bill Clinton was the first two term Democratic president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt because he appealed -- as he said, he's a little blue and a little red.
HEMMER: Well, listen, you two described your party as in very good shape, the words you just used.
MCAULIFFE: Right. Right.
HEMMER: And before that you said in good shape. So that's twice by my count.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
HEMMER: For Democrats across the country, when they know George Bush was reelected in November, you've lost seats in the House and seats in the Senate, how can you still describe your party that way, Terry?
MCAULIFFE: Well, let me say first, the die was cast for us when those planes went into the World Trade Center, Bill. This election in 2004 became all about national security. We were trying to unseat an incumbent president while at war. It had never happened in the history of our country. John Kerry got closer than anyone has ever gotten to beating an incumbent president while at war.
2008, we won't have an incumbent president. I pray we're not at war in 2008. But, you know, the mechanics are in great place. Now we need to make sure that we get our messaging done. The Republicans were very effective coming into our neighborhoods and taking our voters away from us. They took married white women. They won for the first time and they did it by scaring women, by talking about the issues of terrorism.
We now need to be going into those red states and talking about the Democratic Party's strength on values, job creation, health care, education. And when we do that, that will resonate.
But we've got to convince people that we'll keep you safer.
HEMMER: And let me show you another thing here.
MCAULIFFE: OK.
HEMMER: The polling shows when Democrats are asked about major changes or overhauls, 64 percent say a complete overhaul or major changes are in order. And I think you're admitting to part of that in your previous answers here. But as you leave this position four years later, answer a Ronald Reagan question for us. How is you're party better off now than it was four years ago?
MCAULIFFE: Well, the party technologically, financially -- as you know, Bill, last year we beat the Republican National Committee in fundraising for the first time ever. When I became chairman four years ago, we were mired in debt, no headquarters to speak of, not a single voter file.
Today, we have a 175 million name database, a brand new spanking headquarters with the latest technology. We can use these tools.
HEMMER: But Republicans would come back and say you're not winning elections.
MCAULIFFE: And I said a lot of that was cast in 9/11 -- national security. Obviously, people rallied around the president after September 11. But as we move forward -- and a big issue for us is making sure we get those issues of national security on the table, talk about them as we move forward in these elections, and when we do, we -- listen, there are sharp contrasts between George Bush and where we stand on so many issues.
Look at the deficit, privatizing Social Security -- those issues we can talk about. We've got to make sure that people know we'll keep them safer, and we will keep them safer. It's all about our message development. Once we get out there with our message, with all the tools we have, we're going to win a lot of elections, Bill.
HEMMER: Terry, good luck to you.
Terry McAuliffe leaving...
MCAULIFFE: Thank you, Bill.
It's been great working with you.
HEMMER: You, too, as well.
MCAULIFFE: Thank you.
HEMMER: Leaving the DNC, and Howard Dean coming in this weekend.
And we will speak again, I am certain. The circles are small.
See you, Terry.
MCAULIFFE: Yes.
Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad.
O'BRIEN: North Korea tops our newscast this morning. Also, it's the Question of the Day -- good morning.
CAFFERTY: A pretty good little newspaper there in stock. The Hankyoreh newspaper scored a bit of an exclusive yesterday. They did an interview with a North Korean diplomat and this guy came out and demanded in this interview -- and it's in their paper -- that the United States hold bilateral talks with North Korea. The day before they said we have the bomb. Now in this interview they say we want to talk with the U.S. and nobody else.
The U.S. has always said you've got to talk with your neighbors, like China and Japan and Russia and South Korea.
The United States, should they hold bilateral talks with North Korea, is the question.
We get this from Rufus in New York: "No. Bush should stick to his guns about multinational talks, no pun intended. What North Korea wants is for Uncle Sam to give them a big sack of goodies to keep their nation afloat. Trying to buy off the North Koreans' good behavior is how we got into the situation to begin w."
Greg in Leavenworth, Kansas writes: "Yes, talk, listen, believe nothing."
Guillame writes from New York. We hear from Guillame every day. Occasionally we use one of his letters, because he has a lucid moment, and he had one this morning: "What a beautiful success has been the foreign policy of the Bush administration. People have been dying every day in Iraq, a country that didn't have WMD and wasn't an imminent threat to the Western world. Meanwhile, nuclear dictatorships such as Iran and North Korea have become more bullying and bolder than ever before. No wonder the pope is feeling sick these days."
And Zigfried in Alpine, Texas. I would like to meet a guy named Zigfried who lives in a place called Alpine, Texas. I just -- it sounds like an interesting guy.
HEMMER: Easy to spot.
CAFFERTY: He says: "Dear, Jack: Oh, yes, by all means, we should talk with the North Koreans and their dictator leader. Tape a letter to the nose of a 15,000 pound daisy cutter and drop it on their legislature the next time it convenes."
HEMMER: Ooh.
CAFFERTY: That'd be from Zigfried down there in Alpine, Texas.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: A good strategy.
CAFFERTY: Where what's his face is running for governor. Huh?
HEMMER: Rick Perry?
CAFFERTY: No, no, no, no. His band was the Texas Jewboyss.
HEMMER: Oh, oh, the singer.
O'BRIEN: Oh...
HEMMER: Come on. Come on. Huh? For $500.
O'BRIEN: No, come on.
CAFFERTY: Not Zigfried.
HEMMER: Kinky Friedman.
CAFFERTY: Kinky Friedman.
O'BRIEN: Kinky Friedman.
CAFFERTY: There you go.
HEMMER: Thank you, the voice in my ear says.
CAFFERTY: Was that Jerry that saved us there? Who gave us that answer?
HEMMER: Jerry's gone. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Jamie.
CAFFERTY: There's nobody on the...
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Lane.
CAFFERTY: Oh, Lane from lighting. Very good.
O'BRIEN: We appreciate it.
CAFFERTY: Sorry I brought it up.
HEMMER: We've got all these voices coming and going, don't we?
Let's get a break here.
An amazing story to talk about. A drunken driver left her in a coma like state 20 years ago. She could not talk for two decades, then last week something happened. Her parents say it's only a medical miracle. They will share their story in a moment here as we continue live on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: More than 20 years ago, Sara Scantlin's parents were told that they were lucky that their daughter survived at all. A drunk driver ran into her and then drove off. She suffered brain injuries so damaging that she was left unable to speak. That is, until a week ago.
Sara's parents, Betsy and Jim Scantlin, also Sara's doctor, Brad Scheel, join us from Hutchinson, Kansas this morning.
Nice to see you both.
Thanks for being with us.
I've got to ask you, what did your daughter say? What was her first word? BETSY SCANTLIN, SARA SCANTLIN'S MOTHER: Hi, mom.
JIM SCANTLIN, SARA SCANTLIN'S FATHER: Hi, dad.
O'BRIEN: And it was completely understandable after 20 years of no communication, verbal communication, at all?
J. SCANTLIN: Absolutely understandable. A bit strained, of course, because she hadn't spoken for so long and, you know, the brain damage. But it was certainly understandable, and a joy to hear.
O'BRIEN: Take us back 20 years when your daughter was hit by a drunk driver.
What happened and what did doctors tell you at the time about her condition?
B. SCANTLIN: She had a severely closed head injury. They operated, took a blood clot out -- when she hit the pavement, when she fell off the back of the kid's car. And so there was a very large blood clot inside.
And when she woke up and opened her eyes, they told us at that time that she would be very, very low level, and she has been very low level, although she's recognized her surroundings and people. And we know it to be a fact, because the speech therapist worked with her for several years after her dismissal from the hospital. And she could -- they would place pictures in different places and she would look at us on those placements of where the pictures were.
O'BRIEN: So there was, Mr. Scantlin, some kind of communication, but no verbal communication whatsoever. But you guys kind of rigged up a system so that you could sort of figure out what she was trying to tell you, right?
J. SCANTLIN: No.
O'BRIEN: No?
J. SCANTLIN: Yes, we did. Remember the...
B. SCANTLIN: Well, we tried to.
J. SCANTLIN: ... the Plexiglas sheet we fixed. It was so long ago. We had a Plexiglas sheet with clips on it. We would put pictures of individuals she knew and family pets, symbols like a glass of water or a comb. And we would say, Sara, where or who is and name a name. And we were standing behind the glass. Her eyes would go across and lock in on whatever. Or we'd say you're thirsty, you need a drink? What would you do? And she would get her eyes across and lock in on, say, the glass of water or the comb or whatever.
O'BRIEN: But no...
J. SCANTLIN: So we knew that she...
O'BRIEN: But no words whatsoever, right?
J. SCANTLIN: We knew that she could -- yes. No. Oh, not until the other day.
O'BRIEN: So let's turn to Dr. Scheel.
I've got to ask you, how unusual is this? I mean we've been talking about it as a coma like state, not exactly a coma.
How unusual, how remarkable, how much of a miracle that this young woman has come out of it?
DR. BRAD SCHEEL, SARA SCANTLIN'S DOCTOR: I think this is very unusual and I think it's miraculous change of events and we're, you know, we're just all really thrilled how she started to communicate.
O'BRIEN: What's her prognosis, Dr. Scheel?
SCHEEL: I don't think we really know what her prognosis is. We're just happy to see the improvement from day to day that's happening right now.
O'BRIEN: I bet you are.
Mr. And Mrs. Scantlin, you know, when your own doctor is using the words like miracle, which I know doctors generally don't tend to go there with that word, how does that make you feel and how are you doing? I mean it is just completely remarkable.
J. SCANTLIN: Well, it's amazing. You resign yourself. You condition yourself to be able to try to cope with something like this and then all of a sudden the world instantly changes from despair to joy because it's amazing how important communication is between human beings. And to have this happens has made Sarah whole again. She's a hundred percent Sarah again. And the family is back together and it's just simply a joyous situation. It's beyond description.
O'BRIEN: Is she really back to, you think, 100 percent? I mean has she been able to remember things as if it were just, you know, yesterday, these things that happened 20 years ago?
B. SCANTLIN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Really? Like what? J. SCANTLIN: She remembers her high school friends. She can look at pictures and identify them. We questioned her about all of the various family pets, even to the point I'd throw in a bogus name occasionally. And she'd say no, no. She remembers where her grandparents lived. She remembers her birthday. People have walked in the room that she hadn't seen in years and years, 20 years, and in high, you know, it's astonishing when the -- with the extent of her injury we're amazed that she has been able to retain, had the retention that she has. It's remarkable.
O'BRIEN: Well, Jim and Betsy Scantlin, congratulations to you. That is such great news. We are so happy for you for -- and amazed, as well, at what she's been able to do.
J. SCANTLIN: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: And Dr. Scheel, as well.
Thank you for talking with us this morning.
We certainly appreciate it.
J. SCANTLIN: Thanks for having us.
O'BRIEN: You're welcome.
B. SCANTLIN: It's our pleasure.
SCHEEL: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: We need more stories like Sara's.
Remarkable.
Let's get a break here. In a minute, North Korea talking tough about its nuclear weapons program. What does Kim Jong Il really have, though, up his own sleeve? The "Gimme A Minute" gang looks at that in a minute, as we continue right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired February 11, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Surprise inspections -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld slips into Iraq unannounced for a progress check, while not far away, insurgents take a heavy toll.
A race against time. Police have one piece of the puzzle. They're now searching North America for the others who have signed onto a Valentine's Day suicide pact.
And not a single word for 20 years, then suddenly an accident victim is talking again on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
8:00 here in New York.
Good morning.
Welcome to the end of the week here.
The Democratic Party has been under the microscope since losing the election early in November. We're going to talk to the outgoing chairman today, Terry McAuliffe, about what went wrong and what incoming Chairman Howard Dean is now up against. A number of questions. We'll get to most of them in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: Also, is North Korea playing a dangerous game with nuclear weapons? We're going to ask our "Gimme A Minute" crew just how far the White House might be able to be pushed.
HEMMER: All right, Jack Cafferty, what's on your mind in "The File," huh?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming up in the "Cafferty File," Bill, British courts are protecting a convicted sex offender who's been a fugitive from the United States for 27 years. We have video of the world's only mammal that can do something extra special with its tongue. And how it feels on Monday versus how it feels on Friday.
HEMMER: And do tell.
O'BRIEN: How what feels on Monday?
HEMMER: Life.
CAFFERTY: Think about it. Just think about it. It'll come to you.
HEMMER: All right.
Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: I'm just really naive, but I don't know what you're talking about.
CAFFERTY: Well, yes. How many children do you have?
O'BRIEN: Oh, will you stop? Why do we always go straight for the drain on this?
CAFFERTY: I am so naive. Wait, I've got to get home and take care of the four kids.
O'BRIEN: OK, I'm moving on.
Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Nice to be with you, darling, now.
O'BRIEN: It's always nice to sit next to you.
Appreciate that -- Bill.
HEMMER: Let's get to new developments in Iraq to start this hour.
At least 13 are dead in a suicide car bomb just northeast of Baghdad. This just hours after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in that country for a second surprise visit.
Straight away to Nic Robertson.
He starts out coverage this hour.
Nic -- what happened?
Hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
Well, certainly another very big explosion here just northeast of Baghdad, in Diala Province. The explosion occurring outside a Shia mosque. Now, we have been told, the very latest figures we're getting, and, of course, these figures do keep changing. We're being told 12 people dead, four of them Iraqi National Guardsmen who were on patrol; eight of them civilians; 23 people wounded. This is the second attack already today on a Shiite place. The other attack came at a Shiite -- a Shia Muslim bakery earlier in the day. The police say there 12 gunmen burst out to two vehicles, went into the two small bakery stores and killed nine of the workers in those stores. So already 21 Shias dead.
What the police fear is that the Sunni Muslim insurgents are trying to ignite sectarian violence. And that is when Donald Rumsfeld, who has arrived in Iraq, and, of course, one of his primary focuses while he's here, is he's congratulated both Iraqi and U.S. troops on delivering safe and secure elections and congratulated them on the sacrifices they and their families have made.
But his primary focus here has been to oversee and the see the development in the training of Iraqi security forces. He met with General Patreas, the three star general here who oversees the building of Iraqi security forces. He watched Iraqi special forces training on a weapons range with assault weapons and handguns, saw them doing simulated stormings of buildings and also he saw them descending ropes from helicopters as they simulated the storming of a building.
This all part of the special forces training to deal with the insurgent threat in Iraq, and that's what Donald Rumsfeld is really focusing on, at least this afternoon here in Baghdad -- Bill.
HEMMER: Nic Robertson, thanks, from the Iraqi capital -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Other headlines this morning with Carol Costello -- good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Good morning to all of you.
Now in the news, North Korea is reportedly demanding bilateral talks with the United States. That's according to a South Korean newspaper. The report appears one day after North Korea announced it is a nuclear power and pulled out of multilateral nuke talks.
A civil rights lawyer in New York faces as much as 45 years in prison for aiding terrorists. Lynne Stewart had been accused of giving a jailed cleric a message from an overseas dissident. She was convicted yesterday in a series of charges, including conspiracy and defrauding the government. Stewart maintains she did nothing wrong. She is set for sentencing this summer.
The Chicago Police Department says it is shelving plans to expand its use of taser stun guns for now. This morning, an investigation is underway into the case of a man who apparently died after he was stun gunned in his apartment building and a teenager who says he was injured by a taser. One police official says the stun guns have made Chicago's streets safer, but the plan to expand their use now on hold.
Authorities in Florida are asking for help in the search of a couple suspected of tossing a baby out of a moving car. The county sheriff telling us last hour the baby was only an hour old when he was found with a plastic bag over his head and his umbilical cord still attached. He's in serious condition this morning, but he is expected to improve.
That is just amazing that baby could survive that.
O'BRIEN: It is. It's incredible.
COSTELLO: It was a pretty big baby for a newborn, so maybe that's why. Like...
HEMMER: The sheriff says thank a good Samaritan for spotting that baby on the side of the road...
COSTELLO: And investigating.
HEMMER: ... who thought it was a dog.
COSTELLO: Oh.
HEMMER: And it turned out to be a boy who was less than an hour old.
Carol, thanks.
We want to get the Oregon right now.
A man accused of soliciting an Internet suicide pact now behind bars today, while investigators both in the U.S. and in Canada desperately search for those who agreed to take part in that plan.
CNN's Kimberly Osias is live in the store this morning.
She has more there -- Kimberly, good morning.
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
Well, the Internet hub of activity, police say, was in this home behind me. It all started, the suicide Internet chat room, they say, in December, and since then, at least 32 people, maybe even more, were planning to take their lives all in the same day, all in the same way.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
OSIAS (voice-over): This is 26-year-old Gerald Krien, the man police say is behind the bizarre suicide pact. Authorities charged Krien with solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy to commit manslaughter. Police acted on a tip from a Canadian woman who they say was in on the pact.
Now authorities are desperately trying to identify those who agreed to participate, including a mother they believe who planned to murder her two children, then kill herself.
SHERIFF TIMOTHY EVINGER, KLAMATH COUNTY POLICE: Obviously we're trying to capture information, e-mails, maybe some chat information and then we'll be issuing some further subpoenas, I'm certain, through the district attorney's office, to ascertain who the other individuals were, where they are and to try to deem them safe.
OSIAS: Neighbors here in Klamath Falls were stunned by the news. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so close to the house, so close to my grandkids and we're peaceful people in here. We don't want that kind of stuff going on, you know?
OSIAS: Wednesday, police seized Krien's computer, along with other material from the home. Thursday afternoon, they issued subpoenas to several Internet providers. Both the FBI and the Canadian authorities are involved in the investigation.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
OSIAS: The grand jury is expected to get this case on Monday, Bill. Of course, that is Valentine's Day, the day in which the suicide pact was supposed to be carried out. Of course, an investigation will be continuing. As these subpoenas and the information comes back and they get more names, then they will subpoena those individuals. And it may be across many jurisdictions, so it may take several more days before we have more answers -- Bill.
HEMMER: Kimberly, is there a known motivation that authorities are pointing to at this point?
OSIAS: They believe that maybe this young man, the 26-year-old, may have been bullied as a child and this may be a rather macabre way of getting back.
HEMMER: Kimberly Osias live this morning in Oregon -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: A weird story.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Well, the faithful in Rome are waiting to see if Pope John Paul II will appear for a mass today at St. Peter's Basilica. The 84-year-old pope left a Rome hospital last night, riding his familiar pope mobile along a street that was lined with well-wishers. The pope was scheduled to attend today's mass marking the World Day of the Sick and his schedule has not yet been officially changed.
HEMMER: Word in business news this morning.
Now, G.M. is recalling about 200,000 vehicles because of various safety defects. G.M. has recalled the 2004 Cadillac XLR Coupe, SRX SUVs and Pontiac Grand Prix sedans. They say extreme cold can cause the gas pedal to stick. 2005 Buick Raniers, Chevy Trailblazers, GMC Envoys and Isuzu Ascenders are also being recalled because the windshield is not properly fitted. Also recalled are the 2004 and 2005 models of the Hummer H2, the Chevrolet Silverado and Suburban and the GMC Yukon XL for faulty parts in the brake system. G.M. says the defects have not caused any injuries.
O'BRIEN: Wow, that's kind of a lengthy list to talk about this morning.
HEMMER: A long list, that's right. O'BRIEN: A week of cold for the people in South Central U.S. A light earthquake hit at 8:05 a.m. yesterday morning, rattling several states. It was centered near Caraway, Arkansas. The tremors were felt as far away as Memphis, Tennessee. It registered 4.1, which is strong enough to knock things off shelves, but not really cause any major damage.
That brings us right to the weather this morning.
Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the latest for us -- hey, Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: The Oscar winning actress Catherine Zeta Jones can now brag about her Hasty Pudding pot. Harvard University's prestigious drama club gave her its Woman of the Year award yesterday in Cambridge. Rain forced the club to cancel its annual parade. Zeta Jones did pose for the classic photo-op with club members dressed in drag.
O'BRIEN: That's actually...
HEMMER: Did you ever go?
O'BRIEN: I did.
HEMMER: Yes?
O'BRIEN: They have a big parade through the streets of Cambridge, which is a lot of fun. Yes, it was great. It's always got the hugest, you know, the biggest celebrities, the biggest actors and actresses.
HEMMER: It makes for a heck of a picture, doesn't it?
O'BRIEN: Yes, always.
HEMMER: Oh, yes.
O'BRIEN: So it's just nice. So it's fun.
Well, a broken heart, believe it or not, can do you more than just pull you down into the dumps. Doctors now believe it could land you actually in the hospital. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" ahead on broken heart syndrome.
HEMMER: Also, "Gimme A Minute" is back on a Friday. Tackling the Charles and Camilla announcement and is the upcoming wedding big news or is it a royal snooze? We'll get to that.
O'BRIEN: And the face of the Democrats steps down. Does outgoing Chairman Terry McAuliffe think that the party needs an overhaul? He joins us up next on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Howard Dean is all but certain to be elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee this weekend. But is Dean, widely viewed as a liberal, the right choice for that job?
In a recent survey, CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll found that most DNC members surveyed said they want the party to swing in a more moderate direction.
The retiring DNC chairman is Terry McAuliffe.
He's my guest now in D.C.
Terry, good morning to you.
We have a lot to cover here, by the way.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Bill, good morning.
Great.
HEMMER: Thanks for joining us.
If the Democrats are right and the polling is right, you need a moderate. Is Howard Dean the moderate the Democrats need at this point?
MCAULIFFE: Well, Bill, but you know what the party chairman is response for is raising money, building the ground game, doing the voter mobilization, you know, getting the grassroots fired up. And Howard Dean has proven that he can do that.
My main responsibility was to make sure that technologically, organizationally and financially we were in good shape, and that's what we did, and I think Howard, you know, will take it on as we go forward.
I remind you, Bill, that John Kerry did get 59 million votes for president, nine million more than we received in 2000. We've got to build upon that going forward.
HEMMER: Listen, last night I think your voice was lost a little bit during this Democratic pep rally down there in D.C. This was your outgoing soiree, essentially.
MCAULIFFE: Yes.
HEMMER: Former President Bill Clinton, who many consider still to be the main piece in the center point of your party, talked about embracing centrist politics, stop beating up on one another.
MCAULIFFE: That's right.
HEMMER: What does it say about the state of your party, Terry, when your former president has to come out and deliver a missing like that?
MCAULIFFE: Well, I think what President Clinton was trying to say is everything now for the party is in very good shape. We're in the best shape financially we've ever been, as you know, Bill. We've rebuilt our party technologically. We've got to make sure that our message is resonating in those red states. And we can't do it if we're having internal squabbles within our fights. You know, I used to like to say the Democrats love to form circular firing squads. We've got to get past all that.
The issues are so great facing this country, we need to make sure that we are unified against what George Bush is trying to do in this country. And when we do it, we will win. And Bill Clinton better than anyone knows that when we all come together -- you know, Bill Clinton was the first two term Democratic president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt because he appealed -- as he said, he's a little blue and a little red.
HEMMER: Well, listen, you two described your party as in very good shape, the words you just used.
MCAULIFFE: Right. Right.
HEMMER: And before that you said in good shape. So that's twice by my count.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
HEMMER: For Democrats across the country, when they know George Bush was reelected in November, you've lost seats in the House and seats in the Senate, how can you still describe your party that way, Terry?
MCAULIFFE: Well, let me say first, the die was cast for us when those planes went into the World Trade Center, Bill. This election in 2004 became all about national security. We were trying to unseat an incumbent president while at war. It had never happened in the history of our country. John Kerry got closer than anyone has ever gotten to beating an incumbent president while at war.
2008, we won't have an incumbent president. I pray we're not at war in 2008. But, you know, the mechanics are in great place. Now we need to make sure that we get our messaging done. The Republicans were very effective coming into our neighborhoods and taking our voters away from us. They took married white women. They won for the first time and they did it by scaring women, by talking about the issues of terrorism.
We now need to be going into those red states and talking about the Democratic Party's strength on values, job creation, health care, education. And when we do that, that will resonate.
But we've got to convince people that we'll keep you safer.
HEMMER: And let me show you another thing here.
MCAULIFFE: OK.
HEMMER: The polling shows when Democrats are asked about major changes or overhauls, 64 percent say a complete overhaul or major changes are in order. And I think you're admitting to part of that in your previous answers here. But as you leave this position four years later, answer a Ronald Reagan question for us. How is you're party better off now than it was four years ago?
MCAULIFFE: Well, the party technologically, financially -- as you know, Bill, last year we beat the Republican National Committee in fundraising for the first time ever. When I became chairman four years ago, we were mired in debt, no headquarters to speak of, not a single voter file.
Today, we have a 175 million name database, a brand new spanking headquarters with the latest technology. We can use these tools.
HEMMER: But Republicans would come back and say you're not winning elections.
MCAULIFFE: And I said a lot of that was cast in 9/11 -- national security. Obviously, people rallied around the president after September 11. But as we move forward -- and a big issue for us is making sure we get those issues of national security on the table, talk about them as we move forward in these elections, and when we do, we -- listen, there are sharp contrasts between George Bush and where we stand on so many issues.
Look at the deficit, privatizing Social Security -- those issues we can talk about. We've got to make sure that people know we'll keep them safer, and we will keep them safer. It's all about our message development. Once we get out there with our message, with all the tools we have, we're going to win a lot of elections, Bill.
HEMMER: Terry, good luck to you.
Terry McAuliffe leaving...
MCAULIFFE: Thank you, Bill.
It's been great working with you.
HEMMER: You, too, as well.
MCAULIFFE: Thank you.
HEMMER: Leaving the DNC, and Howard Dean coming in this weekend.
And we will speak again, I am certain. The circles are small.
See you, Terry.
MCAULIFFE: Yes.
Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad.
O'BRIEN: North Korea tops our newscast this morning. Also, it's the Question of the Day -- good morning.
CAFFERTY: A pretty good little newspaper there in stock. The Hankyoreh newspaper scored a bit of an exclusive yesterday. They did an interview with a North Korean diplomat and this guy came out and demanded in this interview -- and it's in their paper -- that the United States hold bilateral talks with North Korea. The day before they said we have the bomb. Now in this interview they say we want to talk with the U.S. and nobody else.
The U.S. has always said you've got to talk with your neighbors, like China and Japan and Russia and South Korea.
The United States, should they hold bilateral talks with North Korea, is the question.
We get this from Rufus in New York: "No. Bush should stick to his guns about multinational talks, no pun intended. What North Korea wants is for Uncle Sam to give them a big sack of goodies to keep their nation afloat. Trying to buy off the North Koreans' good behavior is how we got into the situation to begin w."
Greg in Leavenworth, Kansas writes: "Yes, talk, listen, believe nothing."
Guillame writes from New York. We hear from Guillame every day. Occasionally we use one of his letters, because he has a lucid moment, and he had one this morning: "What a beautiful success has been the foreign policy of the Bush administration. People have been dying every day in Iraq, a country that didn't have WMD and wasn't an imminent threat to the Western world. Meanwhile, nuclear dictatorships such as Iran and North Korea have become more bullying and bolder than ever before. No wonder the pope is feeling sick these days."
And Zigfried in Alpine, Texas. I would like to meet a guy named Zigfried who lives in a place called Alpine, Texas. I just -- it sounds like an interesting guy.
HEMMER: Easy to spot.
CAFFERTY: He says: "Dear, Jack: Oh, yes, by all means, we should talk with the North Koreans and their dictator leader. Tape a letter to the nose of a 15,000 pound daisy cutter and drop it on their legislature the next time it convenes."
HEMMER: Ooh.
CAFFERTY: That'd be from Zigfried down there in Alpine, Texas.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: A good strategy.
CAFFERTY: Where what's his face is running for governor. Huh?
HEMMER: Rick Perry?
CAFFERTY: No, no, no, no. His band was the Texas Jewboyss.
HEMMER: Oh, oh, the singer.
O'BRIEN: Oh...
HEMMER: Come on. Come on. Huh? For $500.
O'BRIEN: No, come on.
CAFFERTY: Not Zigfried.
HEMMER: Kinky Friedman.
CAFFERTY: Kinky Friedman.
O'BRIEN: Kinky Friedman.
CAFFERTY: There you go.
HEMMER: Thank you, the voice in my ear says.
CAFFERTY: Was that Jerry that saved us there? Who gave us that answer?
HEMMER: Jerry's gone. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Jamie.
CAFFERTY: There's nobody on the...
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Lane.
CAFFERTY: Oh, Lane from lighting. Very good.
O'BRIEN: We appreciate it.
CAFFERTY: Sorry I brought it up.
HEMMER: We've got all these voices coming and going, don't we?
Let's get a break here.
An amazing story to talk about. A drunken driver left her in a coma like state 20 years ago. She could not talk for two decades, then last week something happened. Her parents say it's only a medical miracle. They will share their story in a moment here as we continue live on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: More than 20 years ago, Sara Scantlin's parents were told that they were lucky that their daughter survived at all. A drunk driver ran into her and then drove off. She suffered brain injuries so damaging that she was left unable to speak. That is, until a week ago.
Sara's parents, Betsy and Jim Scantlin, also Sara's doctor, Brad Scheel, join us from Hutchinson, Kansas this morning.
Nice to see you both.
Thanks for being with us.
I've got to ask you, what did your daughter say? What was her first word? BETSY SCANTLIN, SARA SCANTLIN'S MOTHER: Hi, mom.
JIM SCANTLIN, SARA SCANTLIN'S FATHER: Hi, dad.
O'BRIEN: And it was completely understandable after 20 years of no communication, verbal communication, at all?
J. SCANTLIN: Absolutely understandable. A bit strained, of course, because she hadn't spoken for so long and, you know, the brain damage. But it was certainly understandable, and a joy to hear.
O'BRIEN: Take us back 20 years when your daughter was hit by a drunk driver.
What happened and what did doctors tell you at the time about her condition?
B. SCANTLIN: She had a severely closed head injury. They operated, took a blood clot out -- when she hit the pavement, when she fell off the back of the kid's car. And so there was a very large blood clot inside.
And when she woke up and opened her eyes, they told us at that time that she would be very, very low level, and she has been very low level, although she's recognized her surroundings and people. And we know it to be a fact, because the speech therapist worked with her for several years after her dismissal from the hospital. And she could -- they would place pictures in different places and she would look at us on those placements of where the pictures were.
O'BRIEN: So there was, Mr. Scantlin, some kind of communication, but no verbal communication whatsoever. But you guys kind of rigged up a system so that you could sort of figure out what she was trying to tell you, right?
J. SCANTLIN: No.
O'BRIEN: No?
J. SCANTLIN: Yes, we did. Remember the...
B. SCANTLIN: Well, we tried to.
J. SCANTLIN: ... the Plexiglas sheet we fixed. It was so long ago. We had a Plexiglas sheet with clips on it. We would put pictures of individuals she knew and family pets, symbols like a glass of water or a comb. And we would say, Sara, where or who is and name a name. And we were standing behind the glass. Her eyes would go across and lock in on whatever. Or we'd say you're thirsty, you need a drink? What would you do? And she would get her eyes across and lock in on, say, the glass of water or the comb or whatever.
O'BRIEN: But no...
J. SCANTLIN: So we knew that she...
O'BRIEN: But no words whatsoever, right?
J. SCANTLIN: We knew that she could -- yes. No. Oh, not until the other day.
O'BRIEN: So let's turn to Dr. Scheel.
I've got to ask you, how unusual is this? I mean we've been talking about it as a coma like state, not exactly a coma.
How unusual, how remarkable, how much of a miracle that this young woman has come out of it?
DR. BRAD SCHEEL, SARA SCANTLIN'S DOCTOR: I think this is very unusual and I think it's miraculous change of events and we're, you know, we're just all really thrilled how she started to communicate.
O'BRIEN: What's her prognosis, Dr. Scheel?
SCHEEL: I don't think we really know what her prognosis is. We're just happy to see the improvement from day to day that's happening right now.
O'BRIEN: I bet you are.
Mr. And Mrs. Scantlin, you know, when your own doctor is using the words like miracle, which I know doctors generally don't tend to go there with that word, how does that make you feel and how are you doing? I mean it is just completely remarkable.
J. SCANTLIN: Well, it's amazing. You resign yourself. You condition yourself to be able to try to cope with something like this and then all of a sudden the world instantly changes from despair to joy because it's amazing how important communication is between human beings. And to have this happens has made Sarah whole again. She's a hundred percent Sarah again. And the family is back together and it's just simply a joyous situation. It's beyond description.
O'BRIEN: Is she really back to, you think, 100 percent? I mean has she been able to remember things as if it were just, you know, yesterday, these things that happened 20 years ago?
B. SCANTLIN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Really? Like what? J. SCANTLIN: She remembers her high school friends. She can look at pictures and identify them. We questioned her about all of the various family pets, even to the point I'd throw in a bogus name occasionally. And she'd say no, no. She remembers where her grandparents lived. She remembers her birthday. People have walked in the room that she hadn't seen in years and years, 20 years, and in high, you know, it's astonishing when the -- with the extent of her injury we're amazed that she has been able to retain, had the retention that she has. It's remarkable.
O'BRIEN: Well, Jim and Betsy Scantlin, congratulations to you. That is such great news. We are so happy for you for -- and amazed, as well, at what she's been able to do.
J. SCANTLIN: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: And Dr. Scheel, as well.
Thank you for talking with us this morning.
We certainly appreciate it.
J. SCANTLIN: Thanks for having us.
O'BRIEN: You're welcome.
B. SCANTLIN: It's our pleasure.
SCHEEL: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: We need more stories like Sara's.
Remarkable.
Let's get a break here. In a minute, North Korea talking tough about its nuclear weapons program. What does Kim Jong Il really have, though, up his own sleeve? The "Gimme A Minute" gang looks at that in a minute, as we continue right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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