Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
U.N. Security Council Considers Tough Sanctions on North Korea; Investigating Iraq Poisonings; Gay Republicans Speak Out About Foley Scandal
Aired October 10, 2006 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It is Tuesday, October 10th.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Let's begin at the news wall for a look at some other stories we're following for you today.
Ominous words from North Korea, as reports that Pyongyang is threatening to fire a nuclear tipped missile. We're monitoring all aspects of this developing story.
M. O'BRIEN: Also happening this morning, the investigation into the Foley scandal widening. Lawmakers now contacting all ex-pages to see if the former Congressman preyed on them, as well.
In the wake of the recent rash of school shootings and threats, the White House today holding a national summit on school violence.
S. O'BRIEN: Was it intentional sabotage that caused the food poisoning of hundreds of Iraqi policemen? Or was it just negligence? The man in charge of the mess hall is now under arrest.
Those stories and much more ahead.
First, though, a check of the forecast with Chad Myers, who's watching the colder temperatures for us.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Hey, Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right back to the North Korean nuclear threat. The Security Council is considering tough sanctions and our correspondents are covering all aspects of this developing story.
Kathleen Koch is live at the White House this morning.
Sohn Jie-Ae is in Seoul, South Korea. Also, Aneesh Raman. He's reporting for us from Tokyo, Japan -- Jie-Ae, let's begin with you.
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is almost a cloud of trouble hanging over South Korea's campaign, Seoul today, a day after North Korea says it conducted nuclear tests. There are some tough words against North Korea coming not only from South Korean politicians, but from global leaders. And it doesn't help that a Yanhof (ph) report quotes an unidentified Beijing official saying that North Korea could be prepared to launch a nuclear tipped missile if Washington does not reciprocate.
Although they did not go into specifics, the understanding was that North Korea wanted Washington to come to the negotiating table and to ease financial sanctions on North Korea. If not, North Korea was prepared to up the ante.
Since Washington did not seem to show any signs of backing down on its stance that it would not negotiate directly with North Korea, the sense of uneasiness here in Seoul is great.
Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, scandal.
S. O'BRIEN: The Bush administration is pushing for tough sanctions now on North Korea. A draft resolution is already being drawn up.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is live at the White House for us -- Kathleen, good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And the administration wants to make it very clear to North Korea that it made a serious mistake by going ahead with this apparent nuclear test on Sunday. President Bush coming out in the White House yesterday calling it, the test, provocative. Reaching out, making phone calls to the leaders of Russia, South Korea, China and Japan. All of them roundly condemning the test.
The question now, of course, is how to keep North Korea from going any further. And the United States right now does firmly believe that strong sanctions are the answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER HILL, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: we are going to take all actions we can, working with our partners, to make it very difficult for the North Koreans to get the equipment, get the technology, get the funding, and their ability to market these weapons around the world. So we're going to work very hard on that. And that's the main purpose of this U.N. Security Council discussion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: The draft proposal of U.S. sanctions being presented at the United Nations includes an international embargo on any goods and materials that could potentially be used in North Korea's missile nor nuclear programs; also, inspection of cargo going in and out of North Korea; prohibiting financial transactions that might benefit North Korea's missile program; and, finally, a ban on luxury goods.
As you can see, the United States doing its best to come up with sanctions that would not hurt the already suffering North Korean population. And the U.S. says that these sanctions would go ahead whether or not it turns out this was a successful nuclear test.
Determining that, Press Secretary Tony Snow says, could still take a couple of days -- back to you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch is at the White House for us.
Kathleen, thanks.
KOCH: You bet.
S. O'BRIEN: Now, sanctions are also being weighed by North Korea's neighbors and Japan is ready to back any action by the Security Council.
Let's get right to CNN's Aneesh Raman.
He's live in think this morning -- Aneesh, good morning.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you.
Japan wants more than what the U.S. is pushing at the U.N. Security Council. The Japanese prime minister returning to think late last night after a round of talks, both in South Korea and China. The Japanese, this is what they want in terms of demands within any draft resolution at the U.N. -- a ban on North Korean ships and planes from entering other territories; a ban on imports of any North Korean products; and a ban, as well, on travel by high level North Korean officials. That's all in addition to what the U.S. is pushing for.
The Japanese have long been and are now the strongest voice in the region for harsh acts -- harsh action against the North Koreans.
And just off that trip to Beijing, the Japanese prime minister hopes that this country can bring China on board. China is a key country in all of this. It has veto power in the Security Council. And China is very weary of sanctions that will essentially strangle the regime in Pyongyang, perhaps lead to its destabilization and perhaps then leading to a humanitarian crisis of refugees streaming into Chinese territory.
The Japanese are hoping to use what leverage they can, in addition to what leverage the U.S. has, to bring China on board and send a clear, unified message to North Korea and ratchet up the sanctions that that country faces -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Aneesh, does that leverage include any kind of military options? RAMAN: Well, the Japanese, for the moment, are keen to downplay any rising tensions in the military realm. We heard from the Japanese prime minister say that Japan is not going to enter an arms race, essentially, with North Korea. That was a fear after this nuclear test. Japan has an inherently pacifist constitution that was required of it after World War II. It is not allowed any action except self- defense on Japanese soil.
No change in that policy yet from Japan's prime minister. And Japan really is at the forefront of all of this. While the U.S. faces a potential threat from North Korea, the long-range missile that North Korea tested in July really failed seconds after being launched. The short-range missiles, which could hit Tokyo, have been tested successfully by North Korea. So Japan is dealing, perhaps, with a missile defense system that the government says could work in congruence with the pacifist constitution.
So that debate is still brewing on the ground -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman is in Tokyo for us.
Aneesh, thanks -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: In Iraq, that poisoning of Iraqi police still puzzling investigators. The man in charge of that mess tent and several food workers arrested while authorities try to find out if hundreds of police were intentionally poisoned at a Ramadan fast ending meal on Sunday.
CNN's Arwa Damon is in Baghdad with that plus what has been a very deadly month for U.S. troops.
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Iraqi government is continuing its investigation of a bizarre case of food poisoning that left hundreds of Iraqi policemen ill after they consumed their evening meal on Sunday. Initial suspicions were that it was deliberate food poisoning. However, test results so far indicating that it was simply a case of negligence.
Meanwhile, clashes erupted once again in the southern city of Diwaniyah Monday evening, when U.S. and Iraqi soldiers came under grenade, small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade fire in that area. At least seven suspected terrorists were killed. Two U.S. soldiers wounded.
The clashes there follow heavy clashes in that same area on Sunday in which at least 30 suspected terrorists were killed. One U.S. Abrams tank destroyed.
Meanwhile, only 10 days into October, at least 32 U.S. service people have lost their lives here and in the capital of Baghdad alone, Iraqi police have discovered at least 250 bodies.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
M. O'BRIEN: And there's new violence just this morning. Ten people killed, four wounded by a bombing in Baghdad today. The bomb went off near a mosque. But police say its target was a bakery.
Saddam Hussein was kicked out of court today. The ejection followed a heated argument with the chief trial judge. Saddam and his six co-defendants have repeatedly clashed with the judge. Saddam on trial for genocide against the Kurds in the 1980s. He faces execution if convicted.
The families of two New York City employees killed in action in Iraq will not have to repay the city a dime. Mayor Mike Bloomberg waiving a rule that precludes municipal employees from double dipping salaries while serving in the military. Bloomberg forgave the debt owed by the families of Police Officer James McNaughton and Firefighter Christian Engledrum -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Congress steps up its investigation of the Congressional page scandal.
We'll bring you an update on that.
And the mid-term elections now four weeks away. Both parties are already talking to their lawyers, though, about disputing the outcome. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back.
Let's get a check of the forecast.
Chad Myers at the CNN Center -- hello, Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: In Washington today, the FBI and Congressional investigators are casting a wider net as they continue their focus on the Mark Foley e-mail scandal. And if you were a Congressional page while Foley was in office, it's likely you'll be getting a call in the near future.
let's go live now to CNN's Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill with more -- Andrea, good morning.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well, with exactly one month to go before mid-term elections, investigations into who knew what when are knocking into high gear today.
According to the "Oklahoman" newspaper, a report in that newspaper, one of the former pages who allegedly received those sexually explicit e-mails, instant messages, I should say, from Congressman Foley, is expected to talk with and be interviewed by the FBI today in Oklahoma City.
Now, according to the young man's attorney, who spoke with CNN last week, he said that there was no physical contact between Foley and Jordan Edmund, who's Californian who is now working as the deputy campaign manager on a gubernatorial campaign in Oklahoma.
Now, Edmund worked as a House page between 2001 and 2002. Congressman Foley, through an attorney, has absolutely denied having any sexual contact with minors.
Now, while here in Washington we've got the House Ethics Committee investigation, which is going to pick up steam this week, we know that the former chief of staff for Congressman Foley, Kirk Fordham, is expected to testify, perhaps as soon as today, under oath. I shouldn't say as soon as today. As soon as this week, according to his attorney.
Now, CNN has confirmed through an independent Congressional source what Fordham has claimed. And that is that he notified Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of the House's chief of staff, several years ago about Congressman Foley's disturbing behavior around pages.
Now, we also know, through this same source, that Congressman Foley did meet with -- with Scott Palmer, the chief of staff to Dennis Hastert, about a year ago to discuss Congressman Foley's behavior.
Now, these are claims that this chief of staff, that Dennis Hastert's chief of staff denies. He says he did not, that that meeting did not happen.
Now, the House Ethics Committee has also circulated a letter to all of its members saying that they need to contact their current and former pages to see if there were any inappropriate exchanges or contacts between their pages and Congressman Foley -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill.
Thank you very much -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Are you ready for election confusion?
Well, the Democrats and Republicans apparently are. They've already got their teams of lawyers ready to file legal challenges over the results of the upcoming election.
CNN political analyst Bill Schneider is live for us from West Palm Beach, which, of course, was the scene of so much confusion back just six years ago -- Bill, good morning.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, yes, here I am in ground zero. Palm Beach County was the center of the Florida recount effort in 2000 and this could happen all over the country. It's four weeks until election day, but we may not know the answer on November 8th because there could be election challenges all over the country.
I spoke to Deb Markowitz, who is the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, and she says they're ready for it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEB MARKOWITZ, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SECRETARIES OF STATE: In the targeted areas where there's targeted races, the political parties are getting teams of lawyers ready to go in the secretaries of state know that. And we're -- we're watching it with interest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER: That's right, teams of lawyers all over the country. There could be a record number of election challenges stretching out this election day for quite some time.
S. O'BRIEN: What are the main issues, would you say, Bill, are the with these new voting procedures?
SCHNEIDER: Well, the main thing is the technology issues. There are a lot of new voting machines, voting equipment, touch screen voting, no more punch cards, no more pregnant chads and hanging chads.
The technology creates a lot of questions -- could they be hacked into? How secure are the machines?
But there's a second issue, and we saw this in primaries around the country, namely human error. A lot of the people who staffed these voting machines on election day are non-professional. They require a lot of training. They are unfamiliar with the equipment. There's a lot of human error. They are volunteers. They are retirees. That's another big issue.
And, third, there's the concern about voter suppression and voting fraud. Who participates?
I should point out that today, in 14 states, is the last day you can register to vote for the November election and there's a lot of concern about whether the right people are getting the opportunity to register and whether there's widespread voter fraud.
S. O'BRIEN: At the end of the day, Bill, why do you think is the most interesting national race that everybody should be watching?
SCHNEIDER: Well, here's one possible outcome. This could be very close all over the country, which is why the lawyers are ready to pounce. Here's one possibility. Suppose the Senate of the United States ends up 50-50, 49 Republican senators plus the vice president of the United States, who has a vote in the Senate, 50 Democratic senators. And then, let us suppose that an independent senator ends up getting elected in Connecticut.
His name?
Joe Lieberman.
What could happen?
Well, Joe Lieberman has promised that he will caucus with the Democrats. He was on their ticket running for vice president in 2000.
But I think if that were to happen and if here were to cast the deciding vote for which party would organize the Senate, which party would be the majority, the Republicans would spare no effort trying to attract him to join their party, or at least support them in organizing the Senate.
There'd be a lot of things they could offer him and they would be able to say, you know, Joe, the Democrats fired you. You lost their primary. They didn't support you in your run-as an independent.
I think it would be very interesting and Joe Lieberman would certainly be the man of the hour -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow!
Now, there's a lot of ifs in that whole scenario there...
SCHNEIDER: That's right.
S. O'BRIEN: ... but wow! If that were to happen...
SCHNEIDER: There's a lot of its but...
S. O'BRIEN: Wow!
SCHNEIDER: It would really be something.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, it sure would. And you'd still be there talking about it.
Bill Schneider for us this morning.
SCHNEIDER: We would.
S. O'BRIEN: Obviously, part of the best political team on TV.
Thanks, Bill.
If you want more on this story or any political story, you can go right to our Web site at cnn.com/ticker.
Coming up, the folks in Alaska are getting ready for another bitter winter and high heating bills.
So why are they turning down free heating oil?
We'll take a look at that ahead.
Plus, Harley-Davidson is famous for its hogs.
But what about its beef jerky?
Andy explains as he minds your business.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Happening in America this morning, in Ohio, it turns out that there was no emergency for a Continental Airlines flight from Cincinnati. The flight was diverted to Cleveland last night when a passenger said there was a bomb on board. Well, no bomb was found. The passenger was taken into custody. Thirteen passengers and three crew members were unharmed.
In New Orleans, a National Guard soldier on patrol show a man. It's the first time any Guardsman patrolling that city has opened fire. Police say the Guardsman felt threatened after he broke up a fight between two men. The man is expected -- who was shot, that is -- he is expected to make a full recovery.
In California, the search is on for 250 cartons of recalled lettuce. Those cartons, unable to track them down after more than 8,000 others were recalled. It's the Foxy brand lettuce and the company was concerned it might be tainted with E. coli bacteria. No illnesses have been reported from eating the lettuce.
Three small towns in Alaska are telling Venezuela to keep your oil. The Alaskan natives are reacting to last month's U.N. speech by the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, you know, the one where he called President Bush the devil? Well, they're refusing an offer of free heating oil for the bitterly cold winter. Residents there pay at least $300 a month to heat their homes -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Harley-Davidson is out with a product which -- I guess it's sort of like an accessory to motorcycle riding.
Andy Serwer is here to explain.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: It's closely tied, but I'm not exactly sure, let's just put it that way. Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: You can ride and eat a beef jerky at the same time, right?
SERWER: I think that's right.
Well, heretofore, if you had said jerky to a Harley-Davidson executive, he might have been offended.
M. O'BRIEN: You might say so.
SERWER: But -- he might have said it's a real smooth ride.
But now, as it turns out, Harley-Davidson is moving into the snacks biz, lending its name to beef jerky. That's right, Harley- Davidson Beef Jerky coming to a store near you soon, presumably a convenience store. The flavors will be teriyaki, pepper, and, of course, original. I like it when they roll out a new product and the original is one of the three, right?
M. O'BRIEN: Well, yes. SERWER: That's always good.
M. O'BRIEN: Something has to be the original, right?
SERWER: And -- that's right.
The beef jerky biz is big stuff, up 75 percent last year, $2.7 billion of jerky and related products.
M. O'BRIEN: Really?
SERWER: That would be Slim Jims are your related products here.
M. O'BRIEN: What do you suppose is really in those things, though?
SERWER: Meats.
M. O'BRIEN: It is good.
SERWER: Meat products and spice.
M. O'BRIEN: Some kind of meat product.
SERWER: Yes. They're good.
M. O'BRIEN: Don't ask too many questions.
SERWER: They tide you right over between meals, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, some days.
SERWER: They do.
OK, this is the food and beverage segment, so we're going to move on to beverages.
Miller is going to -- this is an innovative program which I think is kind of cool. Miller, which is owned by SAB, the South African British conglomerate, beer company, is going to be importing beers from its parent company into the United States. That's not news. It happens all the time.
Here's the wrinkle. They're going to be taking brands from specific countries and then marketing it to populations of immigrants in the United States. For instance, there's one called Cusquena, which is a Peruvian beer. They're going to be selling that in Peruvian neighborhoods in the United States. There are a million Peruvians living in the U.S. Tyskie -- I don't know if I'm saying that right -- a Polish brew, six million Poles in New York and Chicago alone.
They are also doing this with a Colombian beer, Aguila. Peroni is another one of their brands that -- an Italian beer they sell all over the place anyway.
And this company has 150 beers from 60 countries, so we could be seeing a lot more different brews coming in.
M. O'BRIEN: You know what's interesting about the beer business is, it's really gone back to the -- its earliest days, when you have just tiny little brands, almost neighborhood brands.
SERWER: Right.
And that's kind of fun-and you get to try different kinds. I mean you're right, it's going back from this there's going to be one national beer, you know, three or four big mega brands and now we've got all these little mega -- little micro breweries, as well as the imports.
Imports up 7 percent last year in the business and imports now account for 12 percent of beer consumed in the United States.
M. O'BRIEN: So...
SERWER: So it's still got room to grow, I would say.
M. O'BRIEN: But compared to what Miller sells in their main brands, it's still a small piece of the pie, right?
SERWER: Right. And Budweiser, too, obviously.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
SERWER: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
Andy, what you got next?
SERWER: We're going to be talking about kids art on a stamp. So you can lick that if you want. We'll be getting to that in a little bit.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, you won't be mailing that one in, I'm sure.
SERWER: No I won't.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks.
SERWER: Thanks.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, security in Boston's subway system is being ratcheted up. The question is why now?
Plus, John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. will join us live right after the break. We'll tell you what he thinks about North Korea's latest threat.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien taking a look at our news wall.
Here are some of the stories we are following for you this morning.
Ominous words from North Korea this morning. Pyongyang apparently threatening to fire a nuclear missile.
S. O'BRIEN: In the wake of the recent string of school shootings and threats, the White House is holding a national summit on school violence. That summit is going on right now. Live pictures of the conference about to get underway in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It's being attended by the attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez. He'll be speaking in just a few moments. And, of course, we're going to monitor that for you this morning -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
And the National Weather Service releasing its first official winter forecast, as we speak. Which brings us to Chad Myers at the Weather Center -- hello, Chad.
MYERS: Good morning.
The press conference starts in four seconds, three, two, one.
We'll tell you what this says -- more sun, more winter.
What's it going to look like this winter, coming up in 15 minutes.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Chad.
Appreciate that.
MYERS: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's begin with South Korea, shall we? This morning, a stern reaction to possible U.N. actions, saying now that they're going to oppose any resolution that calls for military action against their neighbors to the north. Still, though, tensions are heightened as the South Koreans look north for what might come next.
CNN's Dan Rivers had the chance to get an up close look at the physical separation between the north and south along the closely watched demilitarized zone. It's a story you're going to see only on CNN. (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 rivers 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 would be the main road that would 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 a shrine to Korean reunification, and lots of school trips come here, and also, the 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): Meet Mr. and Mrs. Pak (ph), who have family on the other side. She says, "When I look at that place, it upsets me. It's so sad." Her 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)
M. O'BRIEN: Another threat from North Korea. Pyongyang now apparently vowing to launch a nuclear missile two days after that earth-shaking explosion that might very well have been a nuclear bomb test. The rest of the world is scrambling for response. The U.S. pushing the United Nations for tough economic sanctions aimed at North Korea.
John Bolton is the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He joins us once again.
Good to have you back, Mr. Ambassador.
JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Good morning.
M. O'BRIEN: I want to read you just a brief passage from this statement, which comes from an unnamed North Korean official, via a Chinese news agency, which is about how things get out of North Korea. And listen to this.
He says this: "We hope the situation will be resolved before an unfortunate incident of us firing a nuclear missile comes. That depends on how the U.S. will act." What he doesn't say there, which is implied, is that he's saying he'd like the U.S. to come to the negotiating table unilaterally.
What do you say to that at this point?
BOLTON: Well, first, this is the way North Korea typically negotiates, by threat and intimidation. And it's worked for them before. It's not going to work for them this time. The fact is, we are prepared to sit down with North Korea, we have sat down with North Korea bilaterally, in the context of the six-party talks hosted by China. It's North Korea that's been boycotting those talks for 13 months. So if they want to talk to us, all they have to do is buy a plane ticket to Beijing.
M. O'BRIEN: And they have been reluctant to do so.
BOLTON: Well, I think because they're not getting what they want out of the talks. What we want the elimination of their nuclear weapons program, which they don't seem inclined to give up.
M. O'BRIEN: Will sanctions really work? Is this the kind of thing that puts a stranglehold on the regime of Kim Jong-il, or does it punish a group of people who are already pretty badly oppressed?
BOLTON: Well, our aim in the sanctions we proposed is precisely not to do anything to worsen the terribly oppressed condition of the North Korea people who have suffered for decades under this regime. These sanctions are aimed at the North Korean programs of weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, chemical, biological, their ballistic missile program. And their other illicit activities: the sale of drugs through diplomatic pouches, counterfeiting our money, to cut off their supply of resources that they use to keep these programs going.
M. O'BRIEN: But is it really possible to be that selective without hurting people who are innocent?
BOLTON: Well, there's very little that's left of the North Korean economy. But our draft resolution, in fact, carves out explicit exemptions for humanitarian supplies. So, to the extent that we're able to, we will try and keep that flowing to the North Korean people who need it, and not have the North Koreans diverted to their army.
M. O'BRIEN: You bring up an important point, though. There isn't much of a North Korean economy. It must be difficult to level sanctions against it.
BOLTON: Well, the way the North Korean regime works is they engage in all these illicit activities, earn hard currency and use it to support the elite and the lifestyle they're accustomed, as well as their WMD programs. So one of our sanctions will be against the importation of luxury goods for Kim Jong-il and his counterparts.
M. O'BRIEN: There's a lot of military analysts who will tell you there really isn't a viable option military option here. Would you agree?
BOLTON: Well, we keep the military option on the table because North Korea needs to know that. But President Bush has been very clear for quite some time here he wants this resolved peacefully and diplomatically. That's what our objective is in the Security Council today.
M. O'BRIEN: So the military option is low on the list at this point?
BOLTON: The clear preference is to solve this peacefully.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's listen for just a moment, I want to share with you something from former Senator Sam Nunn. He's currently working in the Nuclear Threat Initiative the non- proliferation group. He says this: "We started at the wrong end of the axis of evil. We started with the least dangerous of the countries, Iraq, and we knew it at the time."
What do you say to that?
BOLTON: Well, I'd say 20/20 hindsight is always perfect. We had every reason to believe that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction or certainly that he was going to pursue them. And he had a 12-year record of defying the U.N. Security Council.
It wasn't really a question of which end we started at. I think that's why President Bush labeled the axis of evil as he did. We had problems with all of these countries pursuing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
M. O'BRIEN: But given what we've seen unfold in Korea, isn't there more of a clear and present threat?
BOLTON: I think that the North Korean threat was really uncovered during the Bush administration. You know, the North Koreans signed an agreement in 1994 called the Agreed Framework, where they were supposed to give up their pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for some tangible carrots. They never did.
As far as we can tell now, they probably began violating that agreement before the ink was dry. President Bush and his administration uncovered that, confronted the North Koreans with it, and we've been on a path for more pressure on them ever since.
M. O'BRIEN: Former Secretary of State James Baker, who was secretary of state on the previous Bush administration.
BOLTON: My former boss.
M. O'BRIEN: And your former boss. Was on "This Week" with ABC, this past weekend. I'm sure you saw it. I want to share with our viewers a brief excerpt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES BAKER, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I believe in talking to your enemies. Is don't think you restrict your conversations to your friends. At the same time, it's got to be hard nosed, it's got to be determined. You don't give away anything. But in my view, it's not appeasement to talk to your enemies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: That would be a good case for unilateral talks with the North Koreans. I want to ask you personally, though, have you talked to your North Korean counterpart?
BOLTON: No, the North Koreans won't talk to me. You know, Kim Jong-il issued a statement some years ago calling me human scum, but -- which would make me a good partner to talk to him, actually, if we ever did. The North Koreans can talk to us any time they want, on a bilateral basis, if they'll come back to the six-party talks, which they've been boycotting for 13 months. So Jim Baker's point is exactly the policy President Bush has been pursuing.
M. O'BRIEN: And would it be your personal policy to at least have a dialogue with your counterpart at the United Nations?
BOLTON: If I were instructed to do so, I would. And I would also follow that other piece of Jim Baker's advice. I would be hard nosed.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Ambassador John Bolton, always a pleasure to have you drop by.
BOLTON: Glad to do it.
M. O'BRIEN: Good to have you in today.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, one major city is beefing up its subway security. Why now? We'll take a closer look, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. You're looking at pictures there from the school safety summit. That's under way right now in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The first panel is called Preventing Violence in Schools. It's moderated by the U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. We're obviously going to be listening in on this conference, talk about it throughout the day.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: The Transportation Security Agency spends $18 billion a year trying to keep us safe when we fly, but only $250 million on mass transit. So individual transit systems all across the country are coming up with their own ways to keep bus and train riders safe from terrorists.
AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian with a snapshot of a growing trend across the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Men in black, the new reality in Boston's subway system. So-called impact teams, trained in anti-terrorism and behavioral recognition techniques, are now on patrol.
SGT. MIKE MORRIS, MASSACHUSETTS BAY TA: It's a high-visibility patrol looking for anything out of the ordinary.
LOTHIAN: Transit officers will also be randomly testing for explosives on bags and packages, like they did during the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That means this bag is clean.
LOTHIAN: Swabbing, then analyzing samples in a machine. They will also have the power to search inside a bag, if something is suspicious.
CHIEF JOSEPH CARTER, MASSACHUSETTS BAY TA: What we hope to achieve, and will achieve in this program, is a high degree of deterrence, detection and prevention of a potential terrorist attack.
LOTHIAN: Subway passengers have mixed feelings about this latest effort.
JACOB BAUDER, SUBWAY PASSENGER: Well I have nothing to hide, so I don't care. I mean, they can check my bag. That's fine.
CARMEN ROSES, SUBWAY PASSENGER: I feel violated. And that's also going to take a lot more time in the morning.
LOTHIAN: There are also concerns about profiling and whether or not this random plan will be productive across a vast network of subway stations. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are they going to try and make us feel secure? I don't think so.
LOTHIAN: But patrols and random searches are only part of the security equation. In this sweeping effort, a new video and computer software system is being tested here. It's designed to identify potential threats, like an unattended bag.
BRIAN HENRY, SR. PROJECT ENGINEER ISYS: If somebody leaves a bag in frame for a certain amount of time, auto detection will go off notifying the system that a bag has been left.
LOTHIAN: Governor Mitt Romney says fighting terrorism requires a creative approach.
GOV. MITT ROMNEY, MASSACHUSETTS: Given a very different threat, we need different tactics to prevent the attack of our citizens by those that would cause us great harm.
LOTHIAN (on camera): This high level of security is expected to be permanent. Civil libertarians say they'll be watching closely to make sure the rights of passengers are not violated.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: In a moment, the top stories, including the Mark Foley scandal. It seems there were more signs of trouble years ago. We'll tell you what they were, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: One month until the election and Washington is still embroiled in a defcon-one scandal. The latest on the Mark Foley e- mail scandal, a House page saying he began raising the red flag about Foley back in 2000. Once again, the question remains, what did the Republican leadership know? And when did it know it?
Congressional correspondent Dana Bash has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As far back as the year 2000, six years before Mark Foley's inappropriate conduct with pages became public, a former page contacted Congressman Jim Kolbe's office to complain about an e-mail he got from Foley. We got a complaint that this made the former page uncomfortable, Kolbe spokeswoman Koreanna Cline confirms to CNN.
Cline says it's unclear if Kolbe directly confronted Foley about the complaint or if it was handled by staff. It was Kolbe's understanding that corrective action was taken and the matter was resolved, but his office did not know specifics. Kolbe is retiring from Congress this year. Like Foley, he's a gay Republican, but unlike Foley, Kolbe has been open about his sexuality since 1996.
Even as Kolbe's awareness of Foley's behavior is becoming public, another Republican is emerging as a central figure in this drama, former House clerk Jeff Trandahl. CNN is told Trandahl, who left his job last year, repeatedly raised red flags about Foley's behavior towards years before Republicans confronted Foley about an e-mail with a former page, according to several sources familiar with the situation.
Trandahl took his concerns to Kirk Fordham, Foley's former chief of staff, many times, the sources tell CNN. As clerk, Trandahl had authority over pages, and was one of a handful of Republicans who met with Foley at the end of 2000 about a non-explicit e-mail between Foley and a former male page.
Multiple sources, including one familiar with Trandahl's version of events tells CNN that Trandahl had both observed and was told about worrisome Foley behavior in the House cloakroom and elsewhere, and was actively monitoring Foley's interaction with pages.
How Congressman Kolbe and senior Republican staff members handled all this is a key question for the investigations. It is also central to an undercurrent in the GOP, which the Foley scandal has thrown into the open: tensions between gay Republicans and some Christian conservatives who consider homosexuality a sin.
TONY PERKINS, PRES., FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: This is what you end up getting, you get Congressman chasing 16-year-old boys down the halls of Congress.
BASH: Foley publicly acknowledged he is gay just over a week ago. Congressman Kolbe announced he is gay ten years ago. Both Fordham and Trandahl are also gay. But gay advocacy groups insist suggestions by some conservatives that there was an effort to protect Foley are ludicrous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the gay men who actually tried to do something about it. And yet people are saying things like, well, they were involved, they tried to cover it up. Well, actually, the evidence appears to be just the opposite.
BASH (on camera): The investigations are the best hope of resolving conflicting accounts about who knew what when. Resolving ongoing tensions between gay Republicans and cultural conservatives is a whole different challenge.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Mark Foley scandal is causing concern among gay Republicans on Capitol Hill about a backlash. Yesterday, I spoke with gay Republican, political consultant and former congressional staffer Brian Bennett. I asked him about the challenges of being gay on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRIAN BENNETT, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Certainly when I was on Capitol Hill in the '70s and the '80s for 17 years, it was a lot different than it is now. I mean, today there are a lot of gay Republicans, out gay Republicans, all over the Republican party, both in the political machinery and in the legislative machinery. So it's an easier situation than it was when I was on Capitol Hill.
I don't know Mark Foley personally, but certainly rumors were around long enough that that was one reason he didn't run in the Senate race that Martinez ran in, was that he was afraid he was going to be exposed. And so it was an open secret that the ex-congressman was gay, and that's why he chose not to run in the Senate race.
As far as the text messages go, I think the investigations will, you know, provide light as to how long -- for how long that information was known.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, based on how open the secret was, do you think that the GOP leaderships will be faulted in this one?
BENNETT: I think they should be faulted with the revelation that just came out about Congressman Jim Kolbe -- a great guy, by the way -- who apparently notified the leadership many years ago about the indiscretions of ex-Congressman Foley. That they should be faulted if they knew and didn't take action to protect the pages at the time that Congressman Kolbe alerted the leadership, they didn't take significant action at that time, then I think some action should be taken by the leadership that knew and didn't do something.
M. O'BRIEN: On the right flank of the Republican party, a lot of talk, angry talk, about all of this. The Family Research Council had a statement that just came out. I want to share part of it with you. It said this: "This is the end result of a society that rejects sexual restraints in the name of diversity. Maybe it's time to question when is tolerance just an excuse for permissiveness."
Do a lot of gay congressional staffers, gay members of Congress, do they feel under siege, feel as if there's potential backlash here?
BENNETT: Listen, this is the same old crap that comes out of the Family Research Council, quite frankly. I might, just to parse it, go the first part of what the Family Research Council said. This is a question of excess. You know, to use the language of my fellow Christians, this is about personal sin. This is not collective sin that's at stake here. This has nothing to do with sexual orientation, but everything to do about the unfortunate falling from grace of a man who needs help and, if necessary, should have the full weight of the law come down on him and be punished.
M. O'BRIEN: But this is an important bloc inside the Republican party. That kind of talk, that exchange with that statement and how you responded, could this lead to a fracture?
BENNETT: There is a fracture. There's been a fracture. You know, and it's up to the American public to decide if they're going to go with the dinosaurs that the Research Council represents or they're going to go and understand that we need tolerance, understanding and acceptance, that there is diversity in America and the gays and lesbians are part of the American social fabric.
(END VIDOETAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Republican political consultant Brian Bennett, thank you very much.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: In a moment, a look at our top stories, including threatening rhetoric from North Korea one day after it claimed to test a nuclear device.
That story and much more ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): Have you been pondering the shape of the universe? Scientists in Italy say it appears the universe may be stretched in shape like a pill, rather than perfectly round.
Terrible story out of Pittsburgh. Police say a woman got in a fight with her boyfriend and used her four-week-old baby as a weapon, swinging the child in the air like a bat. The baby is now in serious but stable condition with a fractured skull. The mother is charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
And in India, a photographer says he was manhandled by security for Angelina Jolie. You can see the security guard grabbing the British photographer by a neck. Angelina Jolie is in town with her family to shoot scenes for a movie about the life of Daniel Pearl, the American journalist who was kidnapped and killed in Pakistan.
For more on these stories or any stories, log on to our website at CNN.com.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning. It is Tuesday, October 10th. I'm Miles. O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Let's begin at the news wall, where the weight of the world is coming down on North Korea. The White House wants a trade ban, Japan wants even more severe sanctions and Russia is not ruling anything out. Plus, China's patience is wearing thin.
M. O'BRIEN: And some other stories we're tracking this morning. The House Ethics Committee asking lawmakers to contact current and former Capitol Hill pages in search of information about former Congressman Mark Foley.
S. O'BRIEN: And a summit is underway right now. It's happening in suburban Maryland. (INAUDIBLE) it's about keeping kids safe at school. President Bush called for the summit after a recent string of school shootings.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
