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U.N. Debates Actions Regarding North Korea; Tension Along DMZ; Illegal Immigrants Rescued from Storm Drain; More Details on Foley Scandal; Rapist Targets Indian Reservation; Summit Address School Safety

Aired October 10, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CO-HOST: And I'm Don Lemon.

PHILLIPS: Sounding off on the Foley scandal. A former page tells all to the FBI, and a congressman tell us why he reported Foley. It's all coming into this NEWSROOM right now.

LEMON: And the YouTube phenomenon. Steve and Chad are selling the farm. Where will YouTube and your videos go now?

PHILLIPS: Always provocative, always selling something. What's up with the hair? My interview and all these unanswered questions with the Donald, straight ahead, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Nuke or no nuke? We don't know and maybe we'll never know. A day and a half later, still no confirmation North Korea actually conducted an underground nuclear test in defiance of the rest of the world, but the communist nation isn't backing off, and neither is the U.S. as it leads a push for punishment.

CNN has correspondents around the world, and you'll see their reports right here in the NEWSROOM. But we start at the U.N. Headquarters, where the Security Council is wading through a pile of proposed sanctions. CNN's Richard Roth is there -- Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, the U.N. Security Council's big powers wrapped up the first round of talks this morning. No agreement on the whole package that was, of course, expected, because it's going to be a very complicated process to get adoption of this sanctions resolution aimed at Pyongyang, North Korea.

One of the key aspects of this resolution is a virtual embargo on goods going in or out of North Korea by sea. The resolution calls for inspections and also calls for a ban on takeoffs or landings of planes inside North Korea.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton explained why that's necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We think it's important to get these discussions in train because the North Koreans for years now have been engaged in a variety of covert methods to -- both to proliferate their ballistic missile technology, for example, and to acquire that technology through front companies and other devices in other countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: China is the big ally of North Korea, and will be very cautious about really putting the hammer down on North Korea, a country that's isolated and starving, 23 million people. China's ambassador addressed what his view initially is of the resolution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANG GUANGYA, CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: I think this morning the P-5 and also the president of the council, the six met, and since some of them including mine received initial instructions from the government so we exchanged where we are. We compare notes. And we agree that we will continue to meet this afternoon at 3:30.

I think this morning's exchange is good.

I think that certainly I see many of the elements in the 13 point proposals are good, provided good basis for working. But I think we're a country that will exchange views, yes, good, thanks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: China recently said that -- Guangya, the ambassador, said he wants a resolution that contains punitive measures but is also prudent -- Don.

LEMON: Richard, speaking of that resolution, when will it be done?

ROTH: The British and others say they'd like it by the end of the week. Japan, the president of the counsel, says it's time to act. There's a need to get the council's act together.

But it's so complicated with some very severe measures it's going to be difficult to see by the end of Friday, but it's possible considering the nature of what happened.

LEMON: Richard Roth, the U.N., thank you, sir.

PHILLIPS: Peppered with mines, strung with barbed wire, brimming with tension, the DMZ between North and South Korea is one of the most armed and defended borders, probably the most armed and defended border of the world.

Our Dan Rivers found out just how tense things are.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I'm taking a tour of the most heavily defended border in the world, seeing up close this infamous division that slices the Korean Peninsula in half.

(on camera) You get a real feeling of the proximity of the North Koreans right here. It's just over there. You can see where those mountains are. That is North Korea. That's how close these two opposing armies are. And this is what they've been like for the last 50 years, facing each other off through the razor wire.

(voice-over) You can just make out North Korean villages on the other side, cut off from the outside world. Only a handful of roads cross the border. This river crossing heading north has been named Unification Bridge.

(on camera) This was built by the South Korean government, hoping that it would be a symbol of unity, with the whole of the Korean Peninsula. But they are very sensitive about it now, as we're probably about to find out. And they were hoping that one day this will be the main road that will lead from Seoul to Pyongyang.

Obviously, the army aren't particularly happy about us filming here, and it's raised tensions, and very sensitive here so we'll have to get out the way. But you can see this is as far as most people are allowed to go.

(voice-over) Next stop, a section of fence that's become a focal point for a nation.

(on camera) This has become the shrine to Korean reunification and lots of school trips come here, and lots of children leave their pictures up on this fence.

But none of these children have known anything other than a divided Korea. For 50 years, more than 50 years, it's been like this. This is as close as anyone can get to the north.

(voice-over) I meet Mr. And Mrs. Pak (ph), who have family on the other side. She said, question, "When I look at that place it upsets me; it's so sad."

The husband says, "My heart is always there, where my countrymen are and where my ancestors used to live."

Many South Koreans hope one day Korea will be one country. But the nuclear test has worsened relations, making this barrier seem even greater.

Dan Rivers, CNN, on the border of North and South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And I reminder, you might hear the media referring to North Korea's actions as a nuclear test, but we want to stress this: no one has confirmed that Pyongyang actually tested a nuclear device.

Now this note, Wolf Blitzer sits down with Secretary of State Condoleezza rice in "THE SITUATION ROOM" at 7 p.m. Eastern.

LEMON: Let's head to the newsroom now and T.J. Holmes with a developing story for us.

T.J., what do you have?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Don, this is one we've been keeping an eye on for a little bit this morning. But Border Patrol agents actually found some people where people shouldn't be this morning on the California-Mexico border.

This was in San Diego. This is the Otay Mesa border crossing there. It is in San Diego there. But seven undocumented immigrants, as custom enforcement agents are telling us, they had to pull out of a tunnel or a storm drain is what it's being described as. But seven people are trying to cross the border there from Mexico into California illegally.

You're looking at pictures of the rescue that happened a little bit ago. Trying to get from Mexico into California illegally, and they got stuck. Not enough room for everybody in there. So indeed they had to cry out and had to be pulled out and rescued by some officials there. The fire department had to help out in that rescue.

But this happened about 7 on the -- on Pacific Time this morning. Again, seven of them had to be pulled out of there. And no serious injuries or anything related to that.

But as we talked to someone from ICE earlier, Immigration Custom Enforcement, they say more and more, really, after 9/11 as they began to lock down the border or get tighter on border security, I should say, along the borders, that more and more people are coming up with more and more creative ways and trying to find other ways of getting into the country. And sadly enough, this is one of the ways.

Custom enforcement actually has a task force dedicated to just keeping an eye on drains and tunnels and things like that. And sure enough this morning, they really didn't have to go find them. They were looking for help, according to at least one official we talked to earlier. These people were calling out. They were stuck. They needed help getting out.

But again, this is something we're keeping an eye on. We have video we want to bring you a little later. But again, seven people, undocumented immigrants, trying to get into the country from Mexico into California had to be rescued today.

We're keeping an eye on it, Don. Back to you guys now.

LEMON: Pretty amazing they weren't hurt. Thank you very much for that, T.J.

PHILLIPS: Straight to the CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras tracking severe weather in central Texas.

What's going on, Jacqui?

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Jacqui, thanks so much.

Well, a new take on the Mark Foley scandal from one of Foley's former Republican colleagues. And a former congressional page whom Foley allegedly approached is talking to the feds.

CNN congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel has all the details for us -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kyra.

That's right, a couple of developments today. One has to do with Congressman Jim Kolbe, Republican of Arizona, who issued this statement today, in which he clarified a lot of the questions that had been on the mines of folks, regarding a former page of his who contacted his office, looks like about six years ago, to talk about some e-mails, some troubling e-mails that he had received from now ex- Congressman Foley.

Now, according to Congressman Kolbe, there was only one incident. And he said, "Sometime after leaving the page program" -- and he's referring now to this former page -- "an individual I had appointed as a page contacted my office to say that he had received e-mails from Representative Foley that made him uncomfortable. I was not shown the content of the messages and was not told that they were sexually explicit. It was my recommendation that this complaint be passed along to Representative Foley's office and the clerk who supervised the page program. This was done promptly. I did not have a personal conversation with Mr. Foley about the matter. I assume e-mail contact ceased, since the former page never raised the issue again with my office."

This is significant, Kyra, because until now, we've heard from the Republican leadership that the first time that they heard about troubling e-mails between former Congressman Foley and pages was back a year ago, in November 2005. According to Congressman Kolbe now this goes back about six years.

The other development today has to do with a -- one of those former page, one of the ones who allegedly received these sexually explicit instant messages from Mark Foley. He is being interviewed today by the FBI in Oklahoma where he is now working on a gubernatorial campaign, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Andrea Koppel from the Hill. Continue to follow it. Thanks.

LEMON: No resignation but no blanket protections for the staff, so spoke House Speaker Dennis Hastert today at home in Illinois. Hastert told reporters he's still not quitting and he believes -- he still believes his office did the right thing in the Foley matter. But if someone didn't...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We have investigations going. We have the ethics committee doing an investigation. We have the U.S. attorney general or the -- and the FBI doing an investigation. And on Foley, we have the state of Florida doing investigation.

If anybody's found to have hidden information or covered up information, they really should be gone.

Twenty/twenty hindsight probably could do everything a little bit better. But if there is a problem, if there was a cover-up, then we should find that out through the investigation process. They will be under oath. And we'll find out. If they did cover something up, then they should not continue to have their jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A new CNN poll shows 52 percent of Americans think Hastert should quit.

Another dip in President Bush's approval rating. It hovers in the 30s according to four polls conducted over the weekend. It's a 39 percent -- it's at 39 percent in the CNN/ABC/"Washington Post" surveys. "USA Today"/Gallup puts it at 37 percent. And CBS/"New York Times" at 34 percent. The average of all the polls is 37 percent, down from 42 percent in three polls just before the Foley scandal.

As we head into the midterm elections, stay up to date with the CNN Political Ticker. The daily service gives you an inside view of the day's political stories. See for yourself at CNN.com/ticker.

PHILLIPS: He comes out of the shadows, pretends to make arrests, then attacks.

LEMON: Police are on the trail of a reservation rapist in Arizona, and we're on the story ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Living in fear in Fort Apache. Investigators in Arizona say that a man posing as a police officer is assaulting young women on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, always at night, on a trail used by many as a short cut.

Reporter Courtney Zubowski of CNN affiliate KTVK brings us more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FE MALE: It's beautiful, it's a nice reservation.

COURTNEY ZUBOWSKI, KTVK CORRESPONDENT: In the tiny town of Whiteriver, Arizona.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Such a beautiful place that you don't think that these things could be happening.

ZUBOWSKI: On the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's kind of scary for the kids just to be running around loose.

ZUBOWSKI: A heavily traveled path at the base of this ridge lately for some has become a trail of terror.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been in law enforcement 26 years, and this is as serious of a multi-event situation on a reservation that I know of.

ZUBOWSKI: A man posing as a police officer is casting a dark shadow over the community of Dark Shadows.

(on camera) Investigators say it's on this trail where the serial rapist comes out of the darkness when these young girls are walking alone. He tells them they're under arrest, then takes them to a remote area where police say he rapes them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's more of an approach the group or approach the person with a flashlight, portray themselves as a police officer, ask for names and addresses.

ZUBOWSKI: Investigators say there's nothing legit about his request, but because he portrays himself as a police officer, victims, some that have been attacked as far back as March, have been afraid to come forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they're traumatized by what happened, they're embarrassed to come forward, and initially they've all been very reluctant to share what happened.

ZUBOWSKI: Now, though, the victims are telling their stories. While investigators won't confirm it, some are said to be as young as 13.

DEBBRA ADLEY, WHITERIVER, ARIZONA: I think that's disgusting, touching young girls.

ZUBOWSKI: It's especially hard for 20-year-old Debbra Adley.

ADLEY: It's very scary because a lot of little girls walk around, and they act like there's no rapist out there.

ZUBOWSKI: Three years ago, she says it happened to her.

ADLEY: When I was walking home, a guy like stopped me in the car. He told me, "You have to get searched."

I said, "For what?"

He said, "Because I'm a security guard."

ZUBOWSKI: Debbra ran away. But besides her grandmother, she never told anyone about it. She wonders if this might be the same man.

ADLEY: I want our reservation to be safe. ZUBOWSKI: And so do special agents with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but so far there's been no arrest of the man who claims to have a badge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope that they find him for the safety of people here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The Bureau of Indian Affairs has set up a task force now of agents from five states. There's also a $10,000 reward.

LEMON: Let's head back to the newsroom. T.J. Holmes has a developing story out of London -- T.J.

HOLMES: Yes. This is another one we had our eyes on earlier today. They had to evacuate part of a terminal at Heathrow Airport in London. Of course, this is a busy, busy airport, not good any time you have to evacuate, any disruptions over at this airport. This was because of a suspicious package that was found in part of one of the terminals.

We do get word now that that terminal has been reopened. And right now a man has been arrested. And authorities there are talking to him. They say he's been arrested under their terrorism act in that country. But they reported earlier, airport official, that actually a man was seen running into the terminal and dropping a bag.

That bag, according to a source now at the airport, said that, sure enough, after that bag was swabbed (ph), it did show up that there were some traces of explosives on the bag.

However, it did not appear that nothing -- anything in the bag really was much to it, even though, according to this airport source, there were some traces of explosives on it.

Again, this terminal was closed for a short time earlier today. Has reopened a short time ago, and some disruption should be expected for the rest of the day. Even though the terminal has reopened, they don't expect everything to be running smoothly just yet anytime soon.

But again, just wanted to bring you the word that, indeed, in fact, Terminal Two over there has completely reopened. They've cleared it, found the bag, not much to it, even though still, according to one airport source or at least one authority source, that sure enough there were some traces of explosives. They took the proper precautions. But still, no danger at this point.

Reopened, but still, don't expect things to be up and running and smooth just yet. And again, one man still in custody. We'll probably get some more details on that and continue to bring those to you, as well -- Don.

LEMON: All right, T.J., thank you very much.

Reading, writing, panic buttons and security sweeps. PHILLIPS: Schools search for ways to be safer after a series of attacks. Victims, first responders, educators and parents are meeting today in Maryland. We'll listen in, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: They don't call it Foxy for nothing. Some 250 cartons of California lettuce that may -- repeat, may -- be contaminated with E. coli, well, they're still unaccounted for. In all, more than 8,000 cartons of Foxy brand lettuce have been recalled in seven western states. So far, no illness has been reported and no contamination confirmed.

PHILLIPS: Well, we heard rumors last week, and now it's official: Google is buying YouTube. Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with all the details.

Susan, this was a huge discussion in our editorial meeting this morning. Pretty much try to understand the culture and the generation. At the same time, pretty powerful, the way we've watched this develop.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, and that's the thing. You know, with -- with this kind of phenomenon, that is YouTube, it could be -- it is considered the next step in how we view our entertainment. And there's no question that YouTube is the destination online. Yahoo! apparently thought it was worth spending that kind of money, $1.65 billion.

A couple of 30-something-year-olds buying a company run by a couple of 20-something-year-olds. It is the biggest acquisition in Google's 8-year-old history. Only eight years old, folks.

Some analysts, of course, are questioning whether YouTube is worth the money. It's the biggest online video site by a wide margin, with 50 percent of the market share last month.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We're going to talk more. We just have to break away for a moment, go to the president, Susan, talking school safety in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... taking place, it's best to be proactive. And that's what this meeting is. And so I want to thank you all for joining.

I got a firsthand report on one of the panels from Laura, who said that -- I think if I can summarize your words, it was really interesting and very important. And so I thought what I would do is ask Al and Margaret to begin this session and maybe hear from some of the folks here. And then, time permitting, hear from you all out in the audience.

Again, I want to thank Margaret and Al for setting us up. And really, thank you all for coming and taking an interest. I know we've got people from all around the country. And it's -- this is a nationwide effort to help people who are responsible to protect our children. So...

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for asking Margaret and I to host this important conference.

We've had some good panel discussions, as you've already heard already. You've met some of the panelists that we've invited back. And just for our audience, again, we've asked Dr. Marlene Wong (ph), Craig Scott, Fred Ellis and Sheriff Jeff Dawcy (ph) back, to help us speak with the president about this important issue.

Mr. President, I'm going to talk a bit about our -- the panel that I moderated, which dealt with the scope of the problem from the law enforcement perspective. Margaret is then going to talk to you a little bit about the two other panels that we've heard from today: one dealing with responding to the tragedy, prepared for the tragedy at the parent level, the school level. The other is how do communities heal? How do they recover from these kinds of tragedies?

With respect to the first panel, the good news we heard was that, generally, America's -- America's schools are safe places to be. Your kids are much more likely to be safer in school than they are at the mall. That's the good news.

We are, however, are seeing some indications in the last two years that those trends are changing a little bit. And so that's something that we want to watch very carefully, monitor that and see what can be done to reverse that, if in fact, that is a trend that we need to be worried on.

We also learned that the U.S. Secret Service and other federal agencies are doing a lot of good work already in dealing with this issue. The Secret Service, in particular, has been working on a threat assessment guide that they -- that they make available.

And there's someone in the audience that I would like to -- to have come to the microphone. He is the police chief -- police chief...

PHILLIPS: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the president of the United States, first lady, a number of principals, counselors, parents, students, coming together there in Chevy Chase, Maryland, to discuss school safety.

You know, parents send their kids off to school each day, hoping they're going to learn something. And after three deadly shootings in just the past two weeks, some pray that their children just come home alive. And that's what's behind this school safety summit called today by the president.

Our Kelli Arena is joining us with more.

Obviously, this is going to be an ongoing discussion there with the president, Kelli. But you tend to wonder, even just going back to Columbine, I know a lot of studies were done, and there was a lot of talk about school violence. Some might say why has it taken so long to get to this point and have this conference and wait for two weeks to have a number of shootings to hold this?

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're exactly right, Kyra. You know, the goal of this conference, according to the White House, is basically threefold.

It's to share lessons that were learned from past incidents. It's to discuss best practices for making school safer. And it's also meant to bring together the experts that you saw to discuss how to prevent future violence.

One recurrent theme that came up is that schools need to have emergency plans. They need to make sure that everyone knows what those plans are, and they need to practice them regularly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERICK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: You can't learn to dance the night of the ball. It's too late. It's just not going to happen. So the next best thing to having lived through an experience is to get some experience in terms of exercises, drills and tabletops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Now, Kyra, there's a lot of discussion -- seemed pretty obvious, about looking for warning things that a student might be in trouble, about making sure that the entrances to schools are monitored. But the experts who have studied this problem for a long time are raising the same questions you are. They are skeptical that this conference will result in any action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH TRUMP, NATL. SCHOOL SAFETY, SECURITY SERVICES: The question isn't whether any high-profile incidents is a wake-up call, the question is whether we'll hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. Six months or six years after the school safety conference, will we still be having as many discussions about school safety if there's not another spate of incidents in the news?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: We thought it best to get out of the conference and on the front lines. We visited an elementary school in Alexandria, Virginia this morning. The superintendent there says that security is a top priority, but she says that putting it into practice sometimes is at odds with what she's trying to do, trying to accomplish as an educational institution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA PERRY, ALEXANDRIA, VA. SCHOOLS SUPT.: It's a difficult task. You want your schools to be friendly to the community. You want your schools to be friendly to parents. But at the same time, your safety of children has to No. 1 concern, always. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: And of course this being Washington, politics come into play. Congressional Democrats from the House Homeland Security Committee say the conference is merely a PR extravaganza. They say the president has eliminated funding for school security grants.

But you know, regardless of where you stand on this conference, you know, what it may or may not do, the issue is very real, Kyra, it needs to be dealt with. According to one tally, 13 people were killed in school shootings so far this year. It is only October. Twenty- seven were killed last year.

PHILLIPS: Kelli arena will continue to follow the cop fence the conference there in Chevy Chase. Thanks.

LEMON: We have only North Korea's word to go by, but so far it's going to have to be enough. The U.S. is pushing for sanctions, swift and severe, and the communist nation is pushing back.

Full coverage of the nuclear standoff ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A kaleidoscope of killings, bombings, tortured bodies, the war in Iraq. Today, as people stood in line outside a bakery in the Sunni section of Baghdad, a bomb exploded under a car. Ten civilians were killed. In the same area, a roadside bomb killed a policeman. Other police found the bullet-riddled bodies of 60 men in several Baghdad neighborhoods in the past 24 hours. Many showed signs of being tortured. South of the capital in Diwaniya, more conventional combat between U.S. and Iraq troops and fighters of the Shiite Mehdi militia. The U.S. says at least 11 militia are dead.

He held his peace yesterday, lost his cool today. Saddam Hussein got into another shouting match with the chief judge at his genocide trial. And once again, the judge had the final word. He once again kicked Hussein and six codefendants out of the courtroom, but they're all expected back tomorrow.

PHILLIPS: Deals didn't work; threats didn't work -- is war the next step with North Korea? No one knows. But no one doubts that war would be a worst-case scenario, to say the least.

CNN's Brian Todd takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a peninsula that has been heavily militarized and preparing for confrontation for more than 50 years, scenarios for war are detailed and frightening. We discussed them with a former senior U.S. Army intelligence officer assigned to Korea, a former Delta Force commander who also has a CIA background, and a former strategic planner at the National War College who developed a war game on Korea.

They all make clear war is a very remote possibility, so the prospect of a U.S. preemptive strike.

MAJ. JEFFREY BEATTY, FORMER DELTA FORCE CMDR.: If you're going to do a preemptive strike, you have got to make sure you get everything because if you don't, they are going to launch what they have left and they're going to probably launch a full-scale attack against the south.

TODD: Our experts say if America struck first, the best case scenario is casualties in the tens of thousand on both sides. If North Korea attacked first, they say, thousands of its special operations commandos would likely swarm into the south from the air and sea, linking up with sleeper agents who have already infiltrated through tunnels. Then...

BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Step two would be they have to secure the Demilitarized Zone that separates north from south, and they would do that with light infantry, simply to hold the shoulders of the penetration, not go very deep but to hold the door open, if you will.

TODD: Holding the door for North Korea's heavily armored million man army to push toward Seoul and points south. At the same time, the North Koreans would launch missiles.

MARKS: They would be conventionally tipped. We have to assume they would be chemically tipped.

TODD: Prompting U.S. forces to launch air strikes on North Korean artillery positions, many of which can be hidden in deep underground bunkers. And inevitably, experts say, U.S. and North Korean ground forces would engage, likely on very difficult terrain.

(on camera): Terrain in what has turned into a very urbanized region over the past 50 years. That means possibly hundreds of thousands of casualties, military and civilian, and that leaves out North Korea's nuclear capability, which our experts say is too crude to be used effectively for the moment.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: You can see more of Brian Todd's reports on "THE SITUATION ROOM,: 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

And this note, Wolf Blitzer is going to sit down with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the "SIT ROOM" at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

LEMON: Despair and defiance in Moscow, as hundreds mourn a journalist who many believe was murdered for what she reported. That is next, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In Moscow, hundreds of people paid their final respects today to a Russian journalist whose contract-style killing triggered international outrage.

CNN's Matthew Chance joins us with more on who showed up and who was noticeably absent -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, thanks very much. She was brave beyond belief, according to one of her admirers, one of her colleagues, in fact. Many of her colleagues turned up to see, attend the funeral of Anna Politkovskaya, one of Russia's leading journalists. She was independent, like no other reporter in Russia. She worked for a Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, and she was one of the few reporters who continued to work in the terribly dangerous breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya.

She was killed, though, at the weekend in her Moscow apartment building, in what police say was a contract killing. Hundreds turned out to pay their last respects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): She was one of Russia's most outspoken journalists, a fierce critic of the Kremlin and a tireless campaigner for human rights. Through her reporting, Anna Politkovskaya touched the hearts of many. Hundreds gathered to pay their respects.

For years, Anna risked her life covering Russia's war in Chechnya. She is killed in her Moscow apartment building, shot four times at close range. Security cameras recorded a few glimpses of the man police say may have been the killer. But few believe he was anything more than a hired gun. This had all the hallmarks of a contract killing.

She's hardly the first Russian journalist murdered for her work. The country has an appalling record of protecting its reporters. Advocates for a free press say those who expose corruption or, like Anna, investigate abuses of power, are most at risk.

OLEG PANFILOV, JOURNALISM IN EXTREME SITUATIONS (through translator): Since 1994, not one murder of a journalist killed for their profession has been solved. I think it's because most of those crimes were initiated by members of the ruling establishment. I doubt we'll ever find out who ordered the murders of any of them.

CHANCE: At the offices of Novaya Gazeta, the Russian-language newspaper where Anna worked...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, we want to head out now, a congressional page in Oklahoma City just spoke to the FBI. Let's listen in.

STEPHEN JONES, JORDAN EDMUND'S ATTORNEY: ... approximately a two- and-a-half hour interview with special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who are assigned to investigate this murder. Jordan answered all of their questions, relying upon his memory as it exists. He was not served with any subpoenas to appear before any grand jury. He was not asked to return. This morning, I was contacted by the House official committee -- or the House Committee on Official Standards, known as the Ethics Committee. I will speak with them this afternoon. I do not know the extent of their interest.

And that's all I can tell you at this time. I'm not able to discuss the interview, except to say that it occurred and that our client answered their questions and cooperated to the fullest.

Thank you.

LEMON: All right, you're looking -- that was an attorney for Jordan Edmund, who is an intern -- or was, rather, a congressional page back in 2001 and 2002. He was speaking before the FBI this morning in Oklahoma City. His attorney there saying he answered all the questions and that he also got a phone call from the Ethics Committee this morning, which the attorney will speak to later on this afternoon.

But he said he answered all his questions. He was not subpoenaed. He was not asked to return. But his next stop may possibly be the Ethics Committee. Not sure when that's going to happen. But again, Edmund Jordan (sic) -- or Jordan Edmund, rather, was a congressional page from 2001 to 2002. And his e-mails actually got out after an ABC news report where it was failed -- they failed to conceal his name in one of the IMs that they broadcast on television.

PHILLIPS: And we're going to continue, of course, to follow the fall-out from that. And more on the Mark Foley scandal, as we continue here from the CNN NEWSROOM. We've also got new information and old allegations on this investigation.

LEMON: Plus, brr, bundle up. Word is we're in for an icy winter. Our Jacqui Jeras is in the NEWSROOM with a frosty forecast. She's just ahead.

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PHILLIPS: Under water and under a state of emergency. This road in Seward, Alaska, impassable after nine inches of rain swamped the city. Some roads have since reopened. And it's getting chilly in Alaska and the people of Nelson Lagoon have little money. Regardless, they're turning down free money to buy heating oil. The offer comes from oil-rich Venezuela, whose leader recently called President Bush the devil. You know who we're talking about, Hugo Chavez. One person in Nelson Lagoon puts it this way, foreigners don't have the right to bash our president. About 150 Indian and Eskimo towns have accepted the Venezuelan money for oil, calling it a matter of survival at this point.

Well, there's a bit of a chill in the air in some parts the country, but just wait.

LEMON: Starting to feel it, not much here, southeast, but we're starting to feel it. Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has a new and frosty forecast for us from the Weather Center. Hey, Jacqui. (WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Let's go back to the Google/YouTube deal we've been talking about here on CNN NEWSROOM a lot.

PHILLIPS: A lot.

LEMON: A lot. Our very own Susan Lisovicz join us from the stock exchange. What was it, $1.6 billion? Do you think it was worth it?

PHILLIPS: Well, I'll tell you what. Those two guys in their 20s, it goes to show, always do what you love, right? They're hanging out in their garage, screwing around basically. Next thing you know, they're billionaires.

LEMON: Billionaires, not so bad.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two really smart guys screwing around in the garage.

PHILLIPS: Yes, that's true, that's a good point. They did have a gift.

LISOVICZ: I mean, it's the American dream, and it really shows what an entrepreneurial nation that we have. I mean, a lot of folks are saying it's shades of the dot-com boom. But this is -- a lot of folks see this as the next generation of TV. It attracts a great demographic, really young people. Advertisers covet them. Certainly Google wants to be the destination for them. It can increase its online advertising value.

So it is coughing up $1.65 billion. However, it's still the subject of much debate. On Wall Street today, some analysts are questioning whether YouTube is worth the money. In its favor, it's the biggest online video site by a wide margin, with nearly 50 percent of the market share last month.

Those are the two twenty-somethings who started it in a garage 19 months ago. So it's less than two years ago. Users watch a whopping 100 million videos on YouTube every single day, including this video. It's one of the popular current favorites. It's OK Go on the treadmill. They're dancing around on a treadmill and people love to watch it.

LEMON: That is a great video, come on, you've got to watch that.

PHILLIPS: Here's my question, though. Who seriously sits there during the day and logs on to stuff like this and watches it all day? I mean do you have time to watch guys dancing on a treadmill? Seriously?

LISOVICZ: I have to -- at the beginning of the day, I did. But I kind of find it like eBay. You know, when you go in there, you're at your own risk because you just never come out and then you have Atlanta calling you and say, hey, you're supposed to be on the air. So I generally don't go there. When I'm supposed to be working at the beginning of the day, at the end of the day, it's another story. Perhaps I'm giving you too much information.

LEMON: When you come out and your eyes are all red and blurry because you've been watching too much video on your computer.

LISOVICZ: But that's the thing, it's really become a phenomenon. Google feels apparently it's well worth the money.

PHILLIPS: What about the copyright infringement issue?

LEMON: Yes, remember all that stuff happening?

LISOVICZ: Ah, detail, details. That is a problem. You know, when it just started maybe not so much a problem, but you know, it does all those homemade videos but it does a lot of movies as well.

So YouTube has been racing to sign deals with media and entertainment companies to license their content and head off lawsuits. In fact, hours before the agreement with Google was reached, YouTube reached agreements with Universal Music Group and Sony BMG to make their music videos available online.

Google is also hoping it can use YouTube's video capabilities to boost its ad revenue. Just very quickly, Google's shares down one percent. Of course YouTube is privately held. The market overall, just down modestly. The Dow hit another intraday session high yesterday.

And that's the latest from Wall Street. More from NEWSROOM, straight ahead.

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