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Florida Turnpike Killings; Houston Flooding; Cleanup Continues From Hawaii's 6.6 Quake; North Korea Threat

Aired October 16, 2006 - 10:59   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. You are informed, you smart person, you.
Good morning. I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming in to the NEWSROOM this Monday, October 16th. And here's what's on the rundown this hour.

A black Jeep found this morning. Could it hold clues to the brutal killing of a Florida family? The bodies dumped beside the turnpike last week.

HARRIS: The sun rising next hour over Hawaii. It will shine light on earthquake damage.

COLLINS: Super soaker in the South. Nearly a foot of rain drenches Houston. We've got the flood covered right here in the NEWSROOM.

New developments this hour in the killing of a young Florida family. The sheriff's department says this Jeep that you'll see here, pulled from the water just moments ago, does in fact belong to the family killed last week. The Jeep was found about 70 miles from where the bodies were dumped along the turnpike near St. Lucie County.

Police say Jose Escobedo was just a day away from his 29th birthday when he was shot on Friday. His wife Yessica and two young sons also killed. All of the victims were shot several times.

Investigators believe the attacker was in the Jeep at some point before the family was killed. They're hoping the vehicle can provide some crucial evidence. They're also studying bullets, casings and blood from the crime scene.

Our Susan Candiotti has been following this story. She joins us now live with more of these details -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just talked to a spokesperson from the West Palm Beach Police Department who says he thinks that the way they found this car was through a tip, but he is trying to confirm that. Of course, it wouldn't be hard for police to confirm that this was the same car, because they had the VIN number. This was the family's car -- it belonged to the Escobedo family, and it had been missing since they -- their bodies were found discovered in the predawn hours of Friday morning.

Right now, as you can see, the vehicle is moving, and it is on its way to up St. Lucie County, which is roughly 70 miles north of where it was found. The car was found near Palm Beach County International Airport, an industrial area in that -- in that community. And when it arrives at the sheriff's office, naturally they'll be looking for all kinds of forensic evidence. For example, any signs of blood, any hair that might be inside, any clothing fibers, any fingerprints that might possibly have belonged to the killer or killers responsible for this horrific event.

This family of four, each shot, police say, multiple times by a killer or killers, well before dawn Friday. They were taken to an area, a grassy area, just south of the Fort Pierce, Florida, exit off the Florida turnpike. Police say made to get out of the car, and they were then shot multiple times as they were lying in the grass.

The mother, we will all remember very well, police said, was found with her two young sons clutched under her arms -- they were ages 3 and 4 -- as though she was trying to use her body to shield them from the bullets that were about to be aimed at them. All of those victims, autopsies are being performed on them at this hour. We are told by the medical examiner's office they might have some preliminary results by day's end.

Again, this could be a crucial piece of evidence, as police try to locate whoever is responsible for this crime.

COLLINS: It is just an absolutely heartbreaking story, Susan. And I remember on Friday when we first told our viewers about it, they were looking -- investigators were hoping for some video to be providing some clues anyway because of the DOT cameras that are there. About 500 hours worth of tape to look at. Instead, though, you say it is possible that this tip came in from a caller.

CANDIOTTI: That's what police say. They are trying to confirm that that's the way it was found.

You know, there was a lot of talk early on. They were having such great difficulty trying to locate this car, but all kinds of water in the state of Florida, and oftentimes cars are dumped into bodies of water. In fact -- if, in fact, reportedly that's where it was located.

So that would make it that much more difficult to find. So, if a tipster led them to it, of course that would have made things a lot easier.

COLLINS: All right. Susan Candiotti on top of this story for us today.

Susan, thank you.

HARRIS: Let's get you to Chad Myers now in the weather center.

And Chad, if you would, take us to Houston, to Texas, and update everyone on the situation there. A lot of rain overnight. And there are people who are trapped, in trouble now, through no fault of their own, just a lot of rain in a short amount of time.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, between six and 10 inches all around the city, just east of downtown, around 10 inches of rain in the past 24 hours. We have pictures of this. We had pictures overnight. And the problem was that the water came up so fast.

I was looking a little bit farther to the east of town and some of the bayous over there. We're talking about a 50-year flood event that happened overnight.

Some of the numbers now, about 45 feet above sea level. Obviously the water runs off down near the Galveston Bay and eventually down into the Gulf of Mexico. But that's a 50-year number, not a 100-year number. But these are numbers that we shouldn't be seeing every three months., and we have seen so many pictures like this out of Houston the past couple of -- I mean, at least six times I've seen this since I've lived here, since I worked at CNN.

Now, that's seven, eight years now. But I've seen this same type of water here in Houston three times in the past six months.

So, I know we're paving the ground. You can't soak in if it's on concrete. But till, these are getting a little sublime when these storms just sit right over Houston, or up over Lake Charles, or even farther to the northeast of there. Lumberton picked up almost 10 inches of rain. That water is now flooded. A lot of the roadways around that area are under water.

And Houston, to the north of you, even to this little black area right there, little brown, gray, whatever color that is on your screen, that is all six inches of rain expected on top of what you already have, or more. And everywhere that was white, that's an additional three.

So, we're going to see more flooding today. The storm doesn't move very much for tomorrow, and the rain does move on up to Chicago, also into Cincinnati. And we're not expecting severe flooding up farther to the north because the Gulf moisture isn't going to get any farther than probably Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, or Tennessee and Georgia.

It's not going to get into the Northeast. But boy, a significant rainmaker. When it happens, it comes down in buckets. And that's what Houston has had today.

New York City today, 66. Some rain showers tomorrow, 57.

We'll go to Boston. You won't get the rain. You'll get mostly cloudy skies for tomorrow.

Chicago getting rain today and also some rain tomorrow. Then it clears out for the rest of the week.

Atlanta warming back up into the summertime temperatures, 82 and 81 for Wednesday and Thursday.

And Phoenix, you had some rain over the weekend. It has now dried up and you have a pleasant week. Temperatures in the middle 80s.

Back to you guys.

HARRIS: Man, you describe a situation there in Texas that's a real mess...

MYERS: Yes.

HARRIS: ... a headache, and potentially dangerous for a lot of folks.

Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

Hawaii waking up to cleanup today. Here's what we know right now about the earthquake that jolted Hawaii's big island on Sunday.

The state's governor puts out a disaster declaration. It was the strongest quake since 1983 to strike the big island. Only minor injuries that we know of, but some areas did get hit with heavy damage to homes and roads.

The latest now from CNN's Chris Lawrence. He joins us on the phone from Waimea.

Chris, what's the latest from where you are?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, I'm looking at a road that is cracked and buckled from the earthquake. And I was just at a bridge that the authorities have shut down because they could actually see pieces of it falling off. But a lot of the damage may not be visible to the naked eye.

Even if you can't see that something is wrong, the earthquake still could have compromised the structural integrity of some of the roads and bridges. And they've got crews fanning out all over the big island right now, testing those roads, testing the bridges to see where exactly the damage might be.

Also, most of the power has been returned to the big island. I was visiting a hospital earlier which had to evacuate a number of patients over to the other side of the island.

They're still running a small intensive care unit. They've got some mothers there with their babies, one pregnant woman who actually went into labor during the earthquake. But overall, they seem to have weathered the storm pretty well.

They had some damage to the -- to some ceiling tiles that collapsed and put some debris on the floor. And that's why they ended up moving the patients out. But overall, it seems like the big island has come through this earthquake in pretty good shape -- Tony.

HARRIS: And we'll see how things look at first light, less than an hour from now.

Chris Lawrence.

Chris, thank you.

COLLINS: North Korea facing new condemnation over its nuclear programs. Sanctions approved by the U.S. Security Council over the weekend. The big question today, though, China's role in the enforcement of those sanctions.

More now from CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry.

So, it looks, Ed, like China is actually conducting some inspections.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A little bit of a change this morning from what we heard yesterday, over the weekend, from the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, suggesting China would not be moving forward on inspections along that 880-mile border that it shares with North Korea.

If that were the case, if there were no inspections, that would really take the teeth out of the sanctions passed this weekend by the United Nations. But this morning, Nicholas Burns, a senior State Department official, telling CNN that the administration has gotten reports that some Chinese officials have started some inspections along the China-North Korean border.

But an Associated Press report this morning about those inspections stressing that it's only the backs of trucks that are being opened, the actual bags and boxes in those trucks. The actual cargo, not necessarily being inspected yet.

I pressed Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, on that, whether or not these really are tough inspects that China is following through on. He said that everyone needs to take a breath, give this a little bit more time.

Obviously the sanctions have just passed this weekend. But Secretary Rice, Condoleezza -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is heading to the region tomorrow. She's going to be in China, she's going to be in South Korea and Japan, really trying to make sure that these sanctions are enforced. And we're going to be hearing from her in a short time, 1:30 Eastern Time today, from the State Department. She will be previewing her trip.

You can bet making sure these sanctions stick will be a top topic of the trip, but also about getting these six-party talks started again on the diplomatic front so that the sanctions are followed up with even more diplomacy -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Ed. So we'll be watching for that at 1:30.

I want to move to Iraq now quickly. New developments there, and actually some concern now from the prime minister.

HENRY: That's right. Prime Minister Maliki this morning, in a phone conversation with President Bush -- it lasted about 14 minutes -- that's not unusual. They speak pretty frequently by phone. But what was unusual, White House spokesman Tony Snow saying that Prime Minister Maliki asked the president and pressed him on rumors that they're picking up in Iraq that maybe there's some sort of a two-month deadline for U.S. support for the mission in Iraq, maybe some sort of timetable to start withdrawing troops.

Obviously that's a big issue in the upcoming midterm elections here. The president assuring the prime minister there's no plan to pull out troops -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Ed Henry, thanks so much from the White House today.

HARRIS: A court hearing this morning for a young man accused of killing his family. Twenty-two-year-old Shawn Bentler charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his mother, father and three teenaged sisters. The family lived in a small town in southeast Iowa.

Bentler was arrested over the weekend in Illinois on unrelated drug charges. The hearing today is aimed at bringing him back to Iowa. Investigators say they were led to the crime scene on Saturday by a chilling 911 call from Bentler's 14-year-old sister, who later died. Police haven't offered a motive for the killings.

COLLINS: New violence explodes on Iraqi streets today after a very bloody weekend. We'll be live from Baghdad right here in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: The players in the Mark Foley page scandal in for a grilling. The House Ethics panel meeting again today.

COLLINS: And powerless in western New York. Three days after a major snowstorm, life still a struggle.

It's all coming up right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Car bombings, bodies riddled with bullets, insurgent and sectarian violence rip through Iraq.

CNN's Cal Perry live from Baghdad with late details -- Cal.

CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Tony.

It has been a very violent month of Ramadan that has carried through to this weekend and into today. Attacks all across the country today, and they're still ongoing. Less than an hour ago, police telling us that two car bombs going off nearly simultaneously to each other have killed at least 20, 17 others wounded in this single attack. Again, less than an hour ago.

We understand the target was a mourning tent. There was some kind of funeral under way for the father of an Iraqi police officer.

Now, this -- this follows what has been a very bloody day in the capital. Four other explosions have caused six deaths, 17 others wounded. And sectarian violence has also continued in the north, in the city of Baquba. A variety of shootings have killed at least 12, wounding some dozens others. We understand from police in Baquba that many hundreds of families have been fleeing the ongoing sectarian violence as it continues in Baquba and across the country.

Now, the U.S. military also seeing their fair share of the violence. Over the weekend, at least 11 U.S. soldiers have been killed in combat. That's over 50 for this month.

And Tony, today we have crossed the grim milestone of 3,000 casualties amongst coalition forces here in Iraq.

HARRIS: Boy. Cal, that whole report was grim.

Cal Perry for us in Baghdad.

Cal, thank you.

COLLINS: Sentencing for a civil rights attorney in New York this morning. Lynne Stewart convicted last year of helping a jailed Muslim cleric keep in touch with his followers. That cleric, Omar Abdel Rahman, is serving life for plotting to blow up New York landmarks. Two weeks ago Stewart sent the judge a letter. She said she's no traitor but admitted being naive and careless.

HARRIS: On the Mark Foley investigation, the House Ethics Committee hearing for Congressman Rodney Alexander's chief of staff is scheduled for today. Alexander, a Louisiana Republican, sponsored the page at the center of the e-mail scandal. Alexander's chief of staff says concerns over Foley's messages to the page were passed on to Speaker Dennis Hastert's office a year ago.

Hastert and his staff haven't yet appeared before the Ethics Committee. The investigation is not expected to wrap up before the crucial midterm elections.

COLLINS: Highly skilled in his home country. This analyst went from audit to coffee clerk. Not quite the American dream. But things have changed. You won't want to miss this story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: They are doctors, lawyers and accountants in their native land, only to become cab drivers, waiters and bellmen in America. For immigrants who have studied and been trained in another country, culture and language barriers often send potential employers looking to the next resume.

Here now, the story of a high-level analyst from Indonesia who has become a little too familiar with his morning cup of coffee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WASPADA PERANGINGUN, INDONESIAN IMMIGRANT: Thank you so much.

COLLINS (voice over): Serving coffee and pastries wasn't exactly what Waspada had in mind when he left his life and family behind in Indonesia five years ago.

PERANGINGUN: I had, you know, a track record with multinational companies, American companies, and I end up, you know, serving at barista, which -- you know, it's something that really is bugging me.

COLLINS: Back home, Waspada had worked as an auditor for several American companies, including Arthur Andersen. He has a finance degree, he's a CPA, and was doing post-graduate work.

PERANGINGUN: We had political chaos in Indonesia. The old regime is to try to suppress of based on race and religion. And In my perspective, if I remain in Indonesia, at that time, I don't see any future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. Good morning, sir.

COLLINS: Waspada won't say exactly what made him leave his country, only that he sought asylum in the United States for political and religious reasons. But once he got here, he found that achieving the American dream, even for a highly skilled immigrant, was not easy.

PERANGINGUN: After probably more than 20-something interviews with accounting firms, with investment banking, even with head hunters, I don't know what's going on. It just say -- they send in a letter, "You didn't pass a credit check."

I'm a new immigrant here. I mean, I don't have this kind of a background at this moment.

COLLINS: The only job Waspada could get was as a barista at Starbucks in the famed Waldorf-Astoria hotel in Manhattan.

PERANGINGUN: I had no choice. I had to survive. You know, being an immigrant here in the United States is not as easy as what people might think about it. It's not -- what I supposed to do? I think I'm capable of doing something better than this.

COLLINS: Determined, Waspada looked for help from Jane Leu at Upwardly Global, a head hunter for immigrants with professional skills. The small nonprofit helps immigrants with university degrees handle challenges like credit checks, foreign educations and cultural differences to get jobs in their fields.

JANE LEU, UPWARDLY GLOBAL: At any given time there's about 250,000 to 500,000 immigrant Americans who in their home countries earned degrees and had experience, and they come to the U.S. and they're vastly underemployed, drastically underemployed. So back home they were doctors and lawyers and scientists, and in the U.S. they're nannies and cab drivers and house cleaners.

COLLINS: Leu says more than half of the 400 immigrants she's worked with have found jobs. Mock job interviews, resume building, mentoring sessions, Upwardly Global works one on one with immigrants to help them navigate the U.S. job market. It also introduces companies to immigrants to help them get beyond the foreign-sounding names.

LEU: Some of the employers that we work with are starting to really -- are starting to realize they are missing this pool of talent. And they know that there's -- there's talent there and there's people who want to contribute.

MARTHA GALLOW, EMPLOYER: What better source of employees than these new Americans who are coming from developing countries. They're bilingual, they're experienced. And they're self-starters.

COLLINS: Martha Gallow met Waspada at one of Upwardly Global's one-on-one sessions and helped him move from behind the counter at Starbucks to behind an auditor's desk at JPMorgan Chase.

PERANGINGUN: Now, you know, I'm back on track, because what I'm doing right now is something what I was really into and what I liked. I'm happy. You know, I'm very excited.

COLLINS: Now that's an American dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Just about the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet.

Census officials say the U.S. population will crack the 300 million mark for the first time this week. Anderson Cooper has a one- hour special looking at the consequences of that. Watch "300 Million: Melting Pot or Meltdown." It's tonight at 10:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

And they say -- I was just speaking with the gal who's in charge of Upwardly Global...

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: ... helping folks to get new jobs. And Waspada has really taken the networking lesson seriously. He's helping everybody else...

HARRIS: Oh, that's great.

COLLINS: ... get jobs now because he's just so happy for the opportunity.

HARRIS: That's a great story.

COLLINS: Yes. HARRIS: And loved that he learned that skill, brought it here, and was able, with some help, to transition in to his new life. That's a great story, Heidi.

COLLINS: Finally, yes.

HARRIS: All right. Yes -- thanks.

Let's talk about Pope Benedict naming four new saints at a Vatican ceremony. One, an American frontier woman. Her work goes on today.

CNN's Delia Gallagher has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT (voice over): She was a businesswoman in a man's world, a pioneer who thrived amidst Indiana's wilderness in the 1840s. Mother Theodore Guerin left France on a mission to establish a convent and schools in what was then undeveloped frontiers of the United States. Her journals and historic letters paint a picture of a tough negotiator.

Despite constant ill health, she negotiated contracts with civic leaders and bought up property for her schools, all the while maintaining a deeply spiritual presence. Some 150 years later, this is the result of her labors, St. Mary of the Woods College in Indiana, the oldest Catholic college for women in the country. And a thriving order of 460 sisters of providence. With 10 novices this year, her work is still carried out today in the United States and Taiwan.

The Vatican has attributed two miracles to her, the spontaneous healing of a nun from breast and abdominal cancer, and the sight regained by a man from Indiana after praying to Mother Guerin.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Wow.

Well, the walls came tumbling down. Earthquake experts say more danger could lurk under foot now in Hawaii. We'll be watching that story and bringing it to you coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: North Korea faces new sanctions over its nuclear threat, but are they tough enough? And how will North Korea and its reclusive leader react? A former Defense Department official weighs in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go Saints.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Go Saints. An 8-year-old boy facing adversity but teaching others about life. You'll see it coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Quickly now we want to get straight to the Pentagon. We have some information just into CNN now from CNN's Barbara Starr.

Barbara, some information about the North Korean nuclear test.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Heidi. Just within the last five minutes, a statement now being issued by the office of John Negroponte, the director of national intelligence on that North Korean test. The statement says, quote, "Analysis of air samples collected on November 11, 2006 detected radio activity debris, which confirms that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion on October 9th. The statement goes on to say, the explosive yield was less than 1,000 kiloton."

Now there had been a good deal of back and forth for the last week about this test. The first air sample collected by U.S. intelligence came up negative, no radioactive debris. Late on Friday night, the word came that the second air sample did indicate radioactive debris in the air, but the intelligence community was very cautious and would not confirm their finding that it was an underground nuclear test. They wanted to do more analysis. They weren't sure.

What we know now is perhaps one of the things they were analyzing is apparently, according to our sources, there is a Russian nuclear facility just over the border inside Russia, and there was some concern they might have picked up some stray debris, radioactive debris in the atmosphere left over from that Russian site, not sure if that site is still operational, but that there might have been debris in the air of some sort.

Now they say, however, for the first time today, they are, quote, "confirming" that it was an underground nuclear test that North Korea conducted last Monday -- Heidi.

COLLINS: It also tells us it was at least big enough to detect, of course. I wonder if this will make changes to the sanctions as far as the way Russia and china, in particular, look at them and the way they might enforce them?

STARR: Well, you raise a very good point. One of the key things in this very short two-sentence statement was that the explosive yield was less than one kiloton. Here's what's so interesting about that, most initial tests by countries seeking nuclear capability are significantly larger. The North Koreans, in fact, said that they hoped to detonate four kilotons. That's still pretty small. So one of the assessments now being made is whether the North Koreans had a partial failure in this test. One of the things the U.S. intelligence community needs to find out is what this result tells them about the North Korean design, and how sophisticated that design is, because now, of course, what they want to determine is whether North Korea is still on the international market, looking for suppliers for its nuclear program, because that's going to be very important also for sanctions, to make sure that nothing gets into that country, that might be used in their nuclear program -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Boy, you hit the nail on the head there.

Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon today. Thanks, Barbara.

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Meanwhile, when you don't have power, life is pretty darn tough. Just ask the people in Buffalo, New York. More than 200,000 people still without electricity after last week's record snowstorm. Schools still closed. Several suburban districts have canceled classes for the entire week, in fact. Downed power lines and falling trees make it tough to get around. Power for much of the region is not expected to be back on until the weekend. President Bush declared a state of emergency.

HARRIS: New information this hour on the North Korea nuclear threat. The director of national intelligence confirms analyze of air samples show the north did conduct a nuclear test. That confirms a report from our Jamie McIntyre here on CNN. With North Korea now staring at new international sanctions over that test, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Asia tomorrow to try to ease tensions in the region. We're expected to learn more about that trip at a news conference in a couple of hours. Sanctions cleared the security council over the weekend.

Now the key issue is enforcement. A U.S. diplomat talked about the sanctions on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLAS BURNS, UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE: I think you'll see that North Korea is isolated because of this action, and it's going to impose on countries like china and Russia, South Korea, ourselves, Japan, the necessity of making sure that all of us are stopping trade in nuclear items. We're banning visits by North Korean officials to our countries. And we do have the ability, if there is suspicious cargo on ships, to stop those ships and to search them. That is a resolution with real teeth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The White House is, of course, watching how things play out. President Bush hopes to sit down today with Rice and U.S. ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton. The question, are the new U.N. sanctions on North Korea tough enough? How will the communist country respond? Big questions today.

Ashton Carter with Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government was with us earlier this morning. He was an assistant secretary of defense in the Clinton administration. I asked him whether the new U.N. resolution is enforceable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASHTON CARTER, FMR. ASST. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, it's not as tough as we wanted. It doesn't threaten force. It doesn't cover all kinds of goods. It doesn't allow a shutdown all air and sea transport going in and out of North Korea.

On the other hand, it's the toughest thing that North Korea has ever faced, at least on paper. But as you pointed out earlier, the resolution doesn't require everyone to take all these steps. Some of them are just encouraged to. And China, for example, which is critical, has already made it clear that it may not enforce this resolution the way we, the United States, think it ought to be enforced.

HARRIS: OK, Ash, let's break down these sanctions and see if we can get some clarity on this. First of all, banned goods related to weapons programs. In order to do that, it seems to me you need what you just described, kind of a total embargo, a total blockade, land, air and sea. Do we have that in place, with the sanctions program?

CARTER: Well, that's a very good question. We put in there -- obviously, it's a no-brainer that weapons of mass destruction ought to be included in the sanctions. So nobody could oppose that. And as you say, though, we can use that as a camel's nose in the tent to get at a larger sort of -- almost a blockade on North Korea's shipping. And I think that that's the kind of thing that the United States government is going to be looking to do, to expand from the point of this resolution the amount of pressure we're applying on North Korea. And, of course, China is probably going to be looking to do the opposite.

HARRIS: Gotcha. John Bolton says what we covered here are warships, combat aircraft, battle tanks, high-end artillery equipment, many of the mechanisms by which nuclear, chemical or biological weapons can be delivered. Is that the right path?

CARTER: Yes, that's good. And now that means you can stop a ship and try to see whether any of the things is on the ship. That's all for the good. But what you got to ask yourself about this whole thing is, punishment is certainly something the North Koreans deserve. But punishment by itself isn't going to serve our security. So where's all this headed? Is it headed towards getting North Korea back to the negotiating table, or is it headed towards containing and ultimately crushing and toppling North Korea?

HARRIS: Well, what do you think?

CARTER: That's the big question.

HARRIS: Answer your own question. What do you think?

CARTER: Well, I don't know whether it's possible at this stage to talk the North Koreans out of it. We have continually fallen back from one red line after another. They've gotten emboldened. But what I do know is that if we're going to go the other path of containment and try to topple the North Korean regime, nobody is going to go down that path with us unless and until we've tried to talk them out of it and shown that to have failed. So you got to do one before you do the other, whichever one you end up with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And, once again, another reminder -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Asia tomorrow to try to ease tensions in the region. We are expected to learn more about that trip, 1:30 this afternoon.

COLLINS: Wine enthusiasts rejoice. Is that a Bordeaux, Cabernet? Find out the latest...

HARRIS: Nice, Heidi.

COLLINS: ... news on red wine. May actually be good for you. You'll like this one. The findings, coming up right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: YOUR WORLD TODAY coming up in just about 15 minutes or so. We have Jim Clancy standing by to tell us what he'll have. Hi, Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Heidi and Tony there.

Well, Israel's embattled leadership. You know, the prime minister is so roundly criticized for his handling of the war in Lebanon, now suing Beirut for direct peace talks. There's a new one. He also says that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is a legitimate partner for peace. Haven't heard that in years. In the meantime, the country's president, Moshe Katsav, in serious trouble. Police recommending he face rape charges.

Madonna with child? Well, rock star Madonna is in the spotlight again, not for her music, but her desire to be the mother of an impoverished African boy. A child advocacy group charges she's using her star status to short-circuit the vital adoption safeguards.

And in focus, Islamic schools in Britain. Just how far should the British government go to enlist schools help in fighting terror? We'll have those stories and much, much more coming up at the top of the hour on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Back to you.

HARRIS: Jim, thank you.

COLLINS: All right, Jim, thanks.

HARRIS: So in our "Daily Dose" of health news, you may want to stop by the wine store -- wine shop, I guess is better -- for some vintage medicine. New research shows red wine may work to protect the brain from damage after a stroke. Also, experts say drinking a couple of glasses a day might provide stroke protection ahead of time. Researchers at Johns Hopkins fed mice -- go through it, man -- a moderate dose of a compound found in red grape skins and seeds before inducing stroke-like damage. But before you raise your glass, researchers say more studies are need to translate the findings from mice to men and women.

So to get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, logon to our Web site. You will find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address, CNN.com/health.

COLLINS: It's a natural anticoagulant.

HARRIS: Co what? Cougulant (sic)?

COLLINS: It keeps your blood thin.

HARRIS: Very nice. Say that again? A natural what?

COLLINS: Anticoagulant.

HARRIS: Your skill level is beyond compare.

COLLINS: I had a blood clot so that's why I know. Oh gosh. All right. Enough on that. You can go to the Web site, as Tony said, to get more health news.

Meanwhile, though, just ahead, a terrific story. Take a look at this. An 8-year-old boy there facing adversity, teaching others about life. You are certainly not going to want to miss this beautiful story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

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COLLINS: A story of heartbreak and hope out of Louisiana. An 8- year-old boy facing an illness that will likely take his life, but not his dreams.

Sean Callebs has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a southern Louisiana story that has nothing to do with levees, flooding, debris, but everything to do with perseverance in the face of adversity.

Eight-year-old Cameron Steig is coping with a disease that is taking his muscle control, motor skills and will likely soon claim his life.

JULIE STEIG, CAMERON'S MOTHER: It's very difficult to be strong, but then when you look at him, he sort of guides me. You know, simple things make him excited. He only says good things, joyful things.

CALLEBS: Cameron has a rare disorder called Leigh's Disease and now can only speak in a whisper.

CAMERON STEIG: Go, Saints!

CALLEBS: Just a couple weeks ago, his doctor began laying out plans for long-term treatment to Cameron's parents.

J. STEIG: That's when I stopped her and told her, you know, Cameron is already having a hard time walking. You know, he's having a hard time swallowing and choking. And so that's when she told me, you know, don't listen to anything I've said. Really there's nothing you can do but let him live a full life while he can.

CALLEBS: He had a simple wish: to see a New Orleans Saints game. A charitable group based in New Orleans called A Child's Wish got the ball rolling. Cameron and his three siblings loaded up on Saints' gear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a Saints pumpkin!

C. STEIG: Wow!

CALLEBS: But a meeting with players, stars like rookie sensation Reggie Bush and quarterback Drew Brees, ignited something special.

MARION STEIG, CAMERON'S FATHER: It's been amazing. You know, and that's what he does, he brings the love out of people.

CALLEBS: Hulking players that can seemingly move mountains were moved to tears by Cameron's inner strength. So when the Saints' captains walked to mid-field for the opening coin toss, there was Cameron, his dream come true and more.

New Orleanians have been pushed beyond the limits over the past 14 months, but helping others, especially children, somehow survives. The Saints won a nail-biter against a good Philadelphia team. Saints' coach Sean Peyton said Cameron inspired the team and was awarded the game ball.

SEAN PEYTON, SAINTS COACH: I'm just glad we were able to make him smile today. I don't know how many smiles he's got left, but we made him smile today.

J. STEIG: You don't realize how much it affects him, but, you know, you look back -- for the next couple months, he'll look at these pictures and these videos and just be in awe.

CALLEBS: Cameron is showing a lot of people winning has nothing to do with numbers on a scoreboard.

Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: You got to love that.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, that's a tear jerker. COLLINS: I know.

PHILLIPS: Boy, how do we go from that to earthquake in Hawaii?

COLLINS: That's your job.

HARRIS: Well, we welcome you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, that's true. I need to compartmentalize and move on, don't I? I know. We don't want to for forget those sort of humbling stories.

We will talking about, actually, coming up, isolated in the islands, you know, the struggle for tourists to get home after a quake rocked their vacations. We're also going to check in on how the locals are coping with no power, damaged homes and roadblocks right now.

And it was a nuclear test. It happened here, you heard with Tony and Heidi, the air samples now confirmed, radioactive activity, and we're waiting to hear there Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, scheduled to speak live in the 1:00 Eastern hour. How's she going to respond to North Korea's nuclear test? Sanctions are imposed, but what about military action? We have a former Naval commander who's going to join us as well. His background, East Asian defense policy. And as you can imagine, he has plenty to say about North Korean nuclear missiles and homeland security. Join me and Don Lemon in the NEWSROOM, 1:00 Eastern hour.

HARRIS: Can't wait. Can't wait.

COLLINS: Well, apparently it is the end of an era. A few final chords for a legendary rock club. Keep it right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Punk rock will have to find a new mecca. The legendary CBGBs has officially closed its doors. The club hosted a musical revolution -- The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, they all got their start there. Fans jammed the club for a final show last night. After 33 years on the cutting edge, it is now gone. But don't fret, the owner says, he's thinking of reopening in the west. Where else, but Las Vegas. Perfect place for it.

CNN NEWSROOM continues just one hour from now.

HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news happening across the globe and here at home. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. We'll see you tomorrow, everybody.

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