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North Korea Threat; Foley Fallout

Aired October 09, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: There you have it. Comments from the president of the United States on the news that North Korea has tested a nuclear device. That happened yesterday. Last evening, as a matter of fact.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

HARRIS: About 9:30 Eastern Time. More on the president's comments in just a moment.

Good morning, everyone, I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: New concerns this morning about a nuclear North Korea. Here is what we know. North Korea announces it carried out an underground nuclear test. The U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and the European Union are all strongly criticizing the move. The issue is front and center at a U.N. Security Council meeting today. The U.S. has been talking to allies around the world and is calling on the U.N. to take immediate action. Even Pyongyang's closest ally, China, says it strongly opposes the move by North Korea. Negotiators want North Korea to return to six-party talks on the nuclear issue. Pyongyang has refused to attend the discussions for about a year now.

COLLINS: To the White House now and our Kathleen Koch with the very latest.

Kathleen, reaction from where you are to what we learned about overnight.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly we just heard the words of President Bush coming out with, again, a very strong statement. Saying that this is unacceptable. This constitutes a provocative action.

The president said that he spoke with allies in the six-nation talks that collapsed back in November when North Korea walked away from the table. He spoke with China, South Korea, Japan, Russia. And all of them recommitted their insistence to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. Again, as he said, that the actions taken were unacceptable and deserve an immediate response.

Now what will that immediate response be? The United Nations Security Council was due to begin meeting some 35 minutes ago and the United States has expressed its intention to push for very strong sanctions. And senior administration officials tell us they believe they have significant support for those strong sanctions.

And what could they include? Right now, North Korea, an impoverished nation, is very, very dependent on China, very dependent on South Korea for energy supplies, for trade. Now that's one of the possibilities, cut both of those off. Another possibility would be intercepting and inspecting sea shipments into the area. So a lot of different options out there.

And for quite some time, the United States has been pushing hard, pushing on its own to get some sanctions in place to convince North Korea that it was taking a wrong course of action in not abandoning its nuclear program. And many of these other nations, Russia, China, South Korea, had really avoided sanctions. They wanted to stick with dialogue. But certainly the belief right now is that with the actions that North Korea took yesterday, apparently that the equation has certainly changed.

Back to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, it seems the situation has certainly upped itself a notch.

All right, Kathleen Koch from the White House this morning, thanks.

HARRIS: And let's go straight now to the United Nations and get more details about that Security Council meeting. Our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth, is there.

Richard, good morning.

The president saying that the international community will respond to this provocation. I guess the question is, how?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're meeting right now to elect a new secretary general of the United Nations. The nomination from the security council. But it's a South Korea, the foreign minister there, and that makes this sort of a twin story running together. No one knows if North Korea timed its test to coincide with its neighbor's triumph diplomatically.

The Security Council will then quickly move to North Korea. Several ambassadors from the major countries have said they've condemned this act and the Council's going to have to respond with a resolution, which is its strongest legal instrument, and also with the possible threat of sanctions. But that's still undecided as to exactly what kind.

North Korea's ambassador, outside his country's mission to the United Nations, nearby the U.N., said the Security Council is really not doing the right thing by condemning North Korea for its actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAK GIL YON, NORTH KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: This is my view. It will be better for the Security Council of the United Nations to congratulate the DPRK scientists and the researchers, instead of doing such notorious (ph), useless and reckless resolution, or whatever the statement against the DPRK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: The DPRK, the official title of the country, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Many say it's certainly not democratic.

Tony.

HARRIS: Richard, just a quick question. U.N. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, last week said in part, the world would be different with a nuclear North Korea. OK. How is the world different?

ROTH: Well, he didn't want to comment when he walked into the U.N. this morning. And the Security Council letting President Bush go first. But we don't know how different it is. Certainly it opens some say a pandora's box, North Korea officially having nuclear weapons, if it is indeed proven. He has to explain himself as to what is different today, though, since it's been long known by many that North Korea may have had this capability already.

HARRIS: Our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth, for us. Richard, appreciate it. Thank you.

Over the last few years, no luck on the diplomatic front in trying to convince North Korea to back away from its nuclear plans. Talks stalled last November. The negotiations were aimed at getting the north to abandon its program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. The six-nation talks have been on again, off again since 2003. The host, China, North Korea's closest ally and biggest supplier of food and energy. Other countries involve the U.S., Russia, which shares a border with North Korea, Japan and South Korea, a country that's had an uneasy truce with the north for more than a half century. North Korea walked out on the talks nearly a year ago in protest over U.S. sanctions on its alleged illicit financial activities.

COLLINS: To Washington now and David Albright. He is a former United Nations nuclear inspector who can help us sort of look at this situation today a little bit better.

David, I just want to cut straight to it. Is North Korea actually trying to provoke military confrontation here?

DAVID ALBRIGHT, FORMER U.N. NUCLEAR WEAPONS INSPECTOR: No, I don't think so. No, I think from a North Korean point of view, and we hear this from the North Koreans themselves, is that they feel backed in a corner by the U.S. actions, particularly the imposition of financial sanctions. The army in North Korea is more dominant now. We hear that the North Koreans believe that the world is underestimating North Korea's deterrent. And so I think all that sets up the basis for this test. But I don't think the North Koreans are trying to provoke a military action in response. Unfortunately, blowing off a nuclear weapon is not the best way to get the world to stop sanctioning it.

COLLINS: No, that's right. And you mentioned that North Korea feeling a little bit forced into a corner by the United States. What are the options there? I mean I know your area is not diplomacy. But when we're talking about possible sanctions today, and we heard the president just say that the other countries are on the same page, moving towards sanctions, what does that do?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think there will be sanctions. I think China is also being backed into a corner by North Korea and I think it's going to have to respond by supporting the Security Council. But I think the sanctions should be measured and that the Security Council should try to avoid escalating the situation, particularly given that the North Korean military feels backed into a corner.

So I think we're hearing rumors of possible interceptions of North Korean ships. I think that's a step too far at this point and could trigger a military response from North Korea. So I think we should think carefully about the sanctions.

And if President Bush truly believes that the point of all this is to get back to negotiations, to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, then I think that a measured set of sanctions is the way to go and clearly telling the North Koreans that you can come back to the negotiating table, we will listen to you, you will have to give up your nuclear weapons. But if you do, you will receive significant rewards or incentives for doing that.

COLLINS: Yes, I think that's been sort of the option or the thinking all along. But that being said, David, take a look at this. I want to read this to the viewers and get your reaction on the back side here.

This was coming to us from the state television in North Korea. It says, "the nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 percent. It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the KPA and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability."

Your thoughts?

ALBRIGHT: Well, one is, is that I think they want to -- certainly want to rejoice in their accomplishments and it clearly is a signal that the North Korean military is to be feared and that the United States should not attack. And so I think that goes without said.

I mean one thing is on the indigenous technology. One of the questions that's been plaguing us for a couple years is, did the Pakistani AQ Khan (ph) provide North Korea with nuclear weapons design that may have allowed North Korea to short-circuit the process and actually be at the point now where it could put a nuclear warhead on something like the no-dong missile.

So this question of indigenous is at issue. But I do think that North Korea has demonstrated the capability and I hope that it's gone far enough and it is willing to consider coming back to the negotiations.

COLLINS: Well, and quickly, about the technology, is it possible, though, that North Korea could continue to advance its program in order just to sell that technology to another country?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think -- I would worry more that they may test again. That they may not have been satisfied with the one test if they wanted to develop more sophisticated nuclear weapons and they may go on with testing. I mean, that's what India and Pakistan did when they tested in '98.

Now I don't particularly worry they're going to sell it. But President Bush made it clear that if there is ever going to be a red line that the United States is going to hold to, it's going to be on the transfer of nuclear explosive material or nuclear weapons to a terrorist group or another nation.

COLLINS: That's right. He did mention that.

All right, David Albright, former U.N. weapons inspector, we appreciate your time here today.

ALBRIGHT: All right. Thank you.

COLLINS: Thanks.

HARRIS: One of the questions we're asking this morning, how did they do it? North Korea's reported nuclear test. A closer look in the NEWSROOM.

Also, a chilling look inside the secretive North Korea. Simply taking pictures like these could get you killed.

COLLINS: And when was Mark Foley's inappropriate conduct first known on Capitol Hill? A new report says one congressman confronted him years ago. The story next. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And let's take you to the U.N. now and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton.

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It's really quite an appropriate juxtaposition that today, 61 years after the temporary division of the Korean peninsula at the end of World War II, that we're electing foreign minister of South Korea secretary general of this organization and meeting as well to consider the testing by the North Koreans of a nuclear device. Can't think of a better way to show the difference in the progress of those two countries. Great progress in the south and great tragedy in the north.

As the president said, we will be seeking a resolution under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter. I'll be discussing elements of that resolution with members of the Council today. We've also had conversations in their respective capitols. We're awaiting reactions from them, but we've been working very, very closely with the government of Japan on this, and with the permanent members.

So don't want to get into the specifics now, but we're looking, as the president said in his comments, for very swift action by the Security Council. We think it's important to respond even to the claim of a nuclear test by the North Koreans. And we'll be going 24/7 if we need to be to get this resolution adopted quickly.

I will come back later, because I have to get back into the Council, to try and answer your questions. Thank you very much.

HARRIS: And there you have it. U.S. ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton, making comments about the claims by North Korea that it tested a nuclear weapon last evening. The ambassador will be seeking a Chapter 7 U.N. Resolution to condemn the nuclear test by North Korea and is gauging reaction from world leaders all across the globe right now to this news of this claim of a nuclear test by North Korea. We'll continue to follow these developments.

Certainly new concerns this morning about a nuclear North Korea. Here's what we know now. North Korea announces it carried out an underground nuclear test. The U.S., China, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union are all strongly criticizing the move. The issue is front and center, as you heard just a moment ago, at the U.N. Security Council meeting today.

The U.S. has been talking to allies around the world and is calling on the U.N. to take immediate action. Even Pyongyang's closest ally, China, says it strongly opposes the move by North Korea. Negotiators want North Korea to return to six-party talks on the nuclear issue. Pyongyang has refused to attend the discussions for about a year now.

COLLINS: And a lot of questions this morning about the claim of a North Korean nuclear tests. For starters, how did they do it? CNN's Zain Verjee takes a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It's impossible to know immediately the method North Korea used to test its nuclear bomb, but U.S.-based experts, with knowledge of the program, say this -- North Korea would have reprocessed its existing fuel rods and extracted plutonium likely at the Young Beyong (ph) nuclear facility. The plutonium, the critical ingredient for a nuclear bomb, would be shaped into a sphere about the size of an orange. It's likely to have been surrounded by conventional explosives. Their detonation carefully timed to create shock waves that compresses the plutonium sphere, triggering the atomic chain reaction and a nuclear explosion several hundred feet underground.

There's a global network of stations that will track the seismic signals from the blast so we can tell how large it was. Sensors and so-called sniffer planes will test the atmosphere for radioactivity. Will also be able to fingerprint the bomb, assess its composition and the quality of the plutonium.

Experts say even after this test, it doesn't mean that North Korea will have a deliverable weapon.

Zain Verjee, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: As North Korea faces world condemnation for its reported nuclear test, get a rare look at life inside the communist nation. CNN Presents "Undercover In The Secret State." That's tonight at 11:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

HARRIS: And when was Mark Foley's inappropriate conduct first known on Capitol Hill? A new report says one congressman confronted him years ago. The story next. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A Republican congressman and a former aide, both men say they new of Mark Foley's inappropriate Internet messages years ago and tried to stop it. CNN's Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill now with more on this developing story.

So more Internet exchanges back in 2000?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Heidi.

That's according to Congressman Jim Kolbe, at least in this morning's "Washington Post," that he personally intervened with Mark Foley about those e-mail exchanges. Now CNN has tried to contact Kolbe's office and we haven't heard back from them yet today. But Kolbe is the only openly gay Republican in the House and he's not running for re-election.

Nevertheless, that former aide to Mark Foley, his lawyer tells CNN that when Kirk Fordham testifies under oath this week before the House Ethics Committee, he's going to say that he told House Speaker Dennis Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, about Foley's troubling behavior back in 2003. Now, Fordham claims that he warned Palmer about these overly friendly e-mails. Palmer himself has denied Fordham's claims.

Now needless to say, House Republicans on the Sunday talk shows were both jumping to Dennis Hastert's defense, the House speaker, saying that his behavior since this scandal came to public light last week has been appropriate and he has been aggressive in the way he's handle it. Others say that they are concerned about the constant drip, drip, drip of the news and the impact that it could have on their own races this November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM DAVIS, (R) VIRGINIA: Right now there are so many people pointing fingers in so many different directions. And I think the speaker, like anybody else, is entitled to a thorough investigation. But it will be thorough. It will be bipartisan. You have the FBI looking at it as well. And once we know all the facts, we can determine that. I think clearly, if he was part of any coverup or anything else, he's going to have to step down. Nobody is above that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Now, no House Republican, as yet, is calling for Dennis Hastert to resign. What they're doing is to continue the theme of what they started last week, and that is to try to turn the tables on Democrats to find out what they knew and when they knew it, questioning the timing of that leak to ABC News a couple of weeks back and saying that there's a political motive behind this, Heidi. One ally of Dennis Hastert, Ray LaHood in Illinois, said what is on the minds of many. He said that the next 30 days, between now and November 7th, are going to be the toughest 30 days that House Republicans have dealt with since the last 12 years when they first came into power.

Heidi.

COLLINS: What else is the Ethics Committee working on in doing its investigation, beyond interviewing Palmer?

KOPPEL: Right. Well, actually, they're going to interview Kirk Fordham this week about what he told Mr. Palmer back in 2003. In addition, what they've done is they've circulated this dear colleague letter to every single member in the House, Democrat and Republican, asking them to contact their current and former pages, the ones that they sponsor, and to find out if there have been any instances in which they felt either that they were approached by Mark Foley or, for that matter, by any other member of Congress or their staff, and to say that that communication has to be passed on to the Ethics Committee and it will be done so in a confidential manner.

Heidi

COLLINS: All right, Andrea Koppel, thanks for that.

HARRIS: Facing off over North Korea's nuclear program. How the world got to this day. And what's next. Find out in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Taking a look at the numbers. It's been really exciting over the past few days, but I think we're going to be in a little bit of a lull for a while. That's what the analyst in me says.

HARRIS: Is that right?

COLLINS: Yes. The Dow 11,827. Down about 22 points. The Nasdaq down just a skoesh (ph), as our procedure says. A skoesh.

HARRIS: A skoesh, yes. We can't spell it, but it sounds good.

Coming up in just a few minutes, 10:45 Eastern Time this morning, the church bells in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, will be ringing, marking the sad, sad news. One week ago five Amish girls hot to death inside their schoolhouse. The bell ringing will coincide with the very moment Charles Roberts stormed the school and began his deadly assault. Five other girls were wounded. We will take you to this community for today's remembrance when it happens.

COLLINS: A country stuck in a time warp. Today, North Korea shocks the world with claims of a nuclear test. More on that ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Outrage around the world after North Korea claims to carry out a nuclear test. Here is what we know right now. The reclusive communist country may have made good on a threat. North Korea says it conducted an underground nuclear test just hours ago. That claim immediately met with a barrage of criticism from around the world. The United States, Japan, South Korea, Britain among the countries weighing in. They are all condemning North Korea. The issue, a major concern for event, the United Nations Security Council as it meets today.

HARRIS: And if you're just joining us, at the top of the hour, President Bush made some remarks about the claims from North Korea that it tests to a nuclear device last night.

Here's what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: Last night, the government of North Korea proclaimed to the world that it had conducted a nuclear test. We're working to confirm North Korea's claim.

Nonetheless, such a claim itself constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The United States condemns this provocative act.

Once again North Korea has defied the will of the international community, and the international community will respond.

This was confirmed this morning in conversations I had with leaders of China and South Korea, Russia and Japan. We reaffirmed our commitment to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. And all of us agreed that the proclaimed actions taken by North Korea are unacceptable and deserve an immediate response by the United Nations Security Council.

The North Korean regime remains one of the world's leading proliferators of missile technology, including transfers to Iran and Syria.

The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or nonstate entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States, and we would hold North Korea fully accountable the consequences of such action.

The United States remains committed to diplomacy. And we will continue to protect ourselves and our interests.

I reaffirmed to our allies in the region, including South Korea and Japan, that the United States will meet the full range of our deterrent and security commitments.

Threats will not lead to a brighter future for the North Korean people, nor weaken the resolve of the United States and our allies to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Today's claim by North Korea serves only to raise tensions, while depriving the North Korean people of the increased prosperity and better relations with the world offered by the implementation of the joint statement of the six-party talks.

The oppressed and impoverished people of North Korea deserve that brighter future.

Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: North Korea's nuclear plans always a major concern for the U.S. military, so straight to the Pentagon now and CNN's Barbara Starr.

Barbara, what is the intelligence community trying to assess now about North Korea's actions?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, this story is about to get even more interesting, if that's at all possible. Just a few moments ago, a senior intelligence official told our Jamie McIntyre, senior Pentagon correspondent, quote, "The intelligence community detected a sub-kiloton explosive event in North Korea. We cannot confirm it was a nuclear explosion."

This is very significant -- a sub-kiloton event. What does that mean? That means it was less than 1,000 pounds of explosive power. Analysts we are talking to tell us at the sub-kiloton range, it is very difficult for sensors to really discern between a nuclear event and a potentially conventional explosive, non-nuclear event, just the explosion of conventional weapons.

So, this now is emerging clearly as the major reason for the last several hours. The U.S. intelligence community and intelligence services around the world are not able to definitively say if it was, in fact, a nuclear explosion.

Because just to repeat, a senior U.S. intelligence official saying, quote, "We cannot confirm if it was a nuclear explosion."

But let's say they do confirm it in the next several hours. Again, a sub-kiloton event is very interesting because, most of the time when we have seen other countries conduct their first nuclear tests, it is usually something much larger, several kilotons, several thousand pounds of explosives.

And the U.S., the Bush administration, has long said that it wants to do sub-kiloton testing, because it wants to do the small tests to assure the reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, so the fact that North Korea may have chosen to do a very small test is something that is going to sort of tweak the nose, if you will, of the Bush administration, which wants to do the same thing, according to experts.

So, it's a very dicey picture at the moment.

Pardon me.

We now know also technical experts are meeting in Vienna as we speak under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to assess all of the data they have gathered, the seismic data and the radionucleide, radioactive data that they have gathered to try and come to a consensus here now about what exactly North Korea has done -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. So the big question, I think, for all of us, and certainly the analysts on this, how long do you think, or do the people at the Pentagon, what are they saying about when North Korea could actually put a weapon on top of a nuclear warhead?

STARR: OK, let's say it does go to the next step, that it is now determined -- it may take about 72 hours, by the way, to determine if this was a nuclear event, definitively, or as definitively as the intelligence services can determine that.

So what's the next step? Can North Korea then miniaturize its nuclear technology in a fashion that will allow it to put it on the front end of a missile and deliver that missile somewhere in the world? Is that really their goal here? Who can say? On July 4th, their missile test didn't work very well. By all accounts, none of their missile launches on that day reached their target.

So, still at the end of the day, it is believed that this is mainly a political statement by North Korea, but certainly also a very destabilizing security statement, because one of the great concerns is who will show up in North Korea, the Iranians, al Qaeda, who? Who will show up in North Korea to try and buy this technology?

Heidi?

COLLINS: That's right. All right.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning. Thanks, Barbara.

HARRIS: The world's nuclear club. Among the countries with confirmed nuclear weapons, the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, India and Pakistan. Israel is suspected of having nuclear weapons, but that's not confirmed. Then there's North Korea, with its claim today of carrying out a nuclear test. Plus, the U.S. and its allies also accuse Iran of having a secret program to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran denies it. North Korea is a secretive, poor, but heavily militarized state.

COLLINS: You're about to get a rare look inside the communist nation from a "CNN PRESENTS" documentary now, "Undercover in the Secret State." Here's an excerpt from Frank Sesno.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FRANK SESNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the past year, a movement of dissident filmmakers, some motivated by money, others by the desire of change, have used undercover cameras to expose a chilling picture of North Korea that has never been seen before. If they are caught filming, they will face prison, or death.

Korean reporter Jung Eun Kim is searching for some of these dissident cameramen and for the rare images they've captured and smuggled out of the country.

Images like these: This is Yodock (ph), a concentration camp. Authorities deny it exists. The inscription above the entrance says: "Give up your life for the sake of our dear leader Kim Jong Il." Human Rights Watch estimates that there are 200,000 political prisoners inside North Korea. These men and women are ferrying buckets of their own waste for fertilizer.

On the city streets, another cameraman captured these images. Homeless and hungry children, forced to fend for themselves, steal from the markets. A pickpocket is caught and justice is carried out on the street.

This is rice donated by the U.N.'s World Food Program. It should be rationed out directly to the people. But instead, it is sold for profit in the street market. Only the well-off can afford it, leaving the rest with nothing. This woman is lying in the street dead. North Korean refugees say it's a common sight.

The man who secretly filmed these images calls himself "Mr. Lee." He says he will meet Jung Eun if he can cross the treacherous border between North Korea and China. He is bringing brand new pictures out.

This is the Chinese side of the border. Over there is North Korea, and that's the Tumen River, across which those fleeing Kim Jong Il's regime will make their dash for freedom.

On that side of the river, North Korean border guards have a shoot-to-kill policy. Somewhere over there, Mr. Lee hides and waits for the chance to cross over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: As North Korea faces world condemnation for its reported nuclear test, we're going to give you a rare look at life inside the communist nation.

CNN PRESENTS: Undercover in the Secret State" tonight at 11:00 Eastern, only right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Outrage around the world after North Korea claims to carry out a nuclear test. Here is what we know right now. The reclusive communist country may have made good on the threat. North Korea says it conducted an underground nuclear test just hours ago. That claim immediately met with a barrage of criticism from around the world. The United States, Japan, South Korea, Britain among the countries weighing in. They are all condemning North Korea. The issue a major concern now for the United Nations Security Council as it meets today.

HARRIS: Checking developments surrounding former Florida Congressman Mark Foley. Today's "Washington Post" reports Congressman Jim Colby knew about Foley's inappropriate Internet messages back in 2000. "The Post" says a former page showed Colby the messages, and Colby personally confronted Foley.

Also a former Foley aide is expected to go before the House Ethics Committee this week. An attorney for Kirk Fordham says Fordham expects to tell the panel this, that House Speaker Dennis Hastert's chief of staff knew of Foley's conduct in 2003. That aide, Scott Palmer, has denied Fordham's accounts.

Less than a month to go now, and the Foley scandal could be a factor in the midterm elections. Amy Walter from "The Cook Political Report" joins us this morning.

Amy, good to see you. It's been awhile.

AMY COOK, "THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT": It has been.

HARRIS: Good to talk to you.

OK, you know what, I recall when we were talking about Democrat Congressman William Jefferson allegedly having, what, $90,000 in cold hard cash right there in his freezer, and I don't recall hearing a lot of talk about that scandal forcing Democrats to run for cover. Why will the Foley scandal resonate so much so among Republican voters?

COOK: Well, let's look at the stories. First, politics is all about timing, and the timing of this scandal couldn't be worse. As you pointed out, we're less than a month away from the election. And it's not the scandal itself or the action as much of Mark Foley as the reactions from the Republican leadership that's been the bigger problem, the finger pointing and who knew what when, and really the focus and the nonstop attention on what looks like a very dysfunctional Republican leadership, very dysfunctional handling of this issue.

For the Democrats, the Jefferson story was a story for some time. The fact is, the leadership of the Democratic Party said to Congressman Jefferson that he had to relinquish his post on a very important committee.

HARRIS: That's right.

COOK: And so that sort of got it off the front pages. In this case, the question is just how much more oxygen there is in the room for the story to dominate, with just a couple weeks -- I'm sorry, just about four weeks left until the election. The more that this story, the more the focus is on the dysfunction in Congress. Congress, by the way, the American public already thinks is not doing a very good job as it is, the harder it is for Republicans to get out from under this.

HARRIS: So, Amy, let me ask you, with the news of North Korea today, claiming it tested this nuclear device, doesn't it make this Foley story feel like 10 days ago?

COOK: It very well could be. You know, if we were talking two and a half weeks ago, three weeks ago, we would have been talking about a very different scenario for what the House was looking like, what the elections were looking like going into the election. Obviously last week we'd have another different scenario. So this is very week to week. We are a very event-driven society, and it certainly impacts the way that voters think about who they're going to pick in November.

At the same time, I think that the closer we get to the election, the harder it is to change people's minds. They start to get sort of settled in where they are going, whether they are going to vote for the status quo or whether they're going to vote against the status quo, and that's where, I think, Republicans have some problems here, that voters start to get kind of solidified in their beliefs that they don't like what's happening nationally, and they make their vote against the party in power.

HARRIS: But, Amy, Amy, Amy, Amy, people are going to go to the polls and they're going to vote for their individual Congress person, not the Foley scandal. They're going to vote based on issues that are happening in their communities and they're going to send that Congress person to Washington to say, hey, look, address these issues.

COOK: You know what, you are exactly right. All politics is local.

HARRIS: Yes.

COOK: Except when it's not. OK, and this is a case where it may not be.

Every 10 or 12 years or so, we have these elections that are driven by the environment, rather than the micro issues, like my own congressman or the issues in my own congressional district driving my vote.

The big issue here in this election could be not so much that voters are going out to support or vote against the current incumbent member of Congress, it's not really about that person, it's about something bigger, which is changing the direction in Washington, changing the leadership in Washington. So what happened to Democrats in 1994. There were a whole lot of Democrats in 1994 who went into the election with very high approval ratings, and they still lost, because voters said I may like you, I really do, but I don't like the direction the country is going in, so I've got to make a change.

HARRIS: You know, it feels like the Foley scandal is a problem for Republicans because it kind of fits in, when you talk about the finger pointing, it fits into the whole pattern of responses from Republicans in power. You think about Katrina, and the response to Katrina, is that perhaps probably the bigger problem, is this perception of how Republicans handle difficult news?

COOK: Well, you have a Congress right now that has an approval rating of 28 percent, 26 percent in some polls long before the Foley scandal broke. And they're expressing continuous frustration, whether it's the earmarks, the deficit, Katrina, as you pointed out, Terry Schiavo, the Jack Abramoff scandal, right. We've had issue upon issue where voters, the real sense they get from Washington right now is the whole system is broken.

HARRIS: Amy, good to see you.

COOK: Good to see you.

HARRIS: Take care of yourself.

COLLINS: New concerns this morning about lettuce and beef. Foxy brand lettuce is being recalled in several Western states now because of possible E. Coli contamination. It was grown in the same area as the tainted spinach that is suspected in the deaths of three people.

If you live in one of these seven states -- you can see them on the map there -- you should take the lettuce back to the store for a refund or, of course, you can always throw it out. This comes days after an Iowa company recalled 5,200 pounds of ground beef from the market. But it is believed most of that meat already has been eaten.

So far, no reports of illness from the lettuce or the beef.

You can always find more information on our Web site, CNN.com.

HARRIS: Our top story today, the North Korea nuclear issue. High stakes. Are there low expectations for a resolution?

COLLINS: The world reacts, details right here in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And as North Korea faces world condemnation for its reported nuclear test, we're going to give you a rare look at life inside the Communist nation.

COLLINS: "CNN PRESENTS: Undercover in the Secret State" tonight at 11:00 eastern, only on CNN. It is an incredible piece.

We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: North Korea in the news once again this morning as they claim to have conducted a nuclear test overnight. Here in the U.S., though, still not yet known whether or not it was an actual nuclear explosion or a conventional weapons test.

HARRIS: Well, everyone seems to think that the goal of this test is regime survival. That's the goal, according to many. It sees the U.S. as the main threat.

CNN's Zain Verjee reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The U.S. and North Korea, capital and Communist foes forced to confront each other over the North's nuclear program. One former Clinton State Department expert says since the Bush administration took office, the uneasy relationship has gone from bad to worse.

WENDY SHERMAN, THE ALBRIGHT GROUP: The Bush administration has decided that it wants to try to isolate North Korea , squeeze North Korea, maybe end the regime.

VERJEE: After seeing regime change in action in Iraq, the feeling in Pyongyang, according to analysts, we're not going to let what happened to Saddam Hussein happen to Kim Jong Il.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN SR. ASIA CORRESPONDENT: North Koreans have concluded this administration is not serious about negotiating with them.

VERJEE: Experts say the relationship started to deteriorate after 9/11. In January 2002, President Bush branded North Korea as part of an axis of evil. In October 2002 North Korea was discovered to be secretly enriching uranium, a violation of the agreement with the U.S.

In December 2002 the U.S. cut off heavy fuel shipments to North Korea, angering Kim Jong Il. North Korea kicked out weapons inspectors, fired up its nuclear facility at Yongbyong (ph) and pulled out of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. Diplomatic efforts, the six-party talks, have stalled.

Angering North Korea, too, financial sanctions. The U.S. accuses North Korea of illicit activities, like counterfeiting and drug smuggling and has frozen North Korea accounts and turned off money supply.

July 2006, North Korea test fired seven missiles, including a Taepodong-2 missile believed capable of hitting Alaska. Experts say North Korea's goal is regime survival. And its style?

CHINOY: Combination of brinksmanship and confrontation, on the one hand, and negotiations on the other.

VERJEE (on camera): Now North Korea has tested a nuclear bomb. It's a nuclear power, and Washington appears powerless to change that.

Zain Verjee, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: As North Korea faces world condemnation for its reported nuclear test, we're going to give you a rare look at life inside the communist nation.

COLLINS: "CNN PRESENTS: Undercover in the Secret State," tonight at 11:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

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