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Hawaiians Survey Damage, Begin Clean Up After 6.6 Quake; Lack Of Power Is Primary Concern
Aired October 16, 2006 - 09:00 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 at a new start time, 9:00 in the East and 6:00 in the West.
Good morning, everybody.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.
Good morning, everybody.
For the next three hours, watch events unfold live this Monday, the 16th day of October.
Here's what on the rundown this hour.
Hawaii unplugged by a huge earthquake. Crews struggle to get the power back on. Damage in spots called significant. We'll get to that.
HARRIS: President Bush and his team trying to enforce new sanctions against the regime in North Korea.
Is China playing the U.S. for a chump?
COLLINS: And Iraq sees attack after attack -- dozens killed across the country. We revisit the deadly weekend in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And we get started this morning with Chad Myers -- Chad, you are watching a lot of weather warnings, watches in Texas, Louisiana and so on and so forth.
COLLINS: That's for sure.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know, I got here this morning and all this moisture was coming out of the Gulf of Mexico-and now it's affecting Louisiana, Texas and we have tornado damage on the ground in China, Texas and Lumberton, Texas.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: So these areas are going to be under the gun-for most of the morning.
There's the storm that went through China.
COLLINS: Wow!
MYERS: China, the word -- just above the word just in.
And go that's a...
HARRIS: OK.
MYERS: ... this is a two hour loop. We'll back it up about two hours. There's the storm over China. There it goes of Lumberton and now it's actually into places like Fort Polk in Louisiana. So any of these towns around here, as you have watched, everywhere from Texas to Mississippi, all the towns there under the gun.
If you see a storm coming in from the south, that could be one that's rotating. Those are the ones that are most dangerous this morning.
COLLINS: Wow!
Yes, all right.
We know you'll be watching that.
HARRIS: We'll keep you up to date.
MYERS: I'll be right here.
COLLINS: Yes, we'll check back.
MYERS: All right.
COLLINS: All right, Chad, thank you.
HARRIS: Thank you.
Jittery nerves, rumbling aftershocks -- here is what we know right now about the earthquake that jolted Hawaii's Big Island 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 from CNN's Chris Lawrence.
He joins us on the phone from Kona -- Chris, good morning to you.
First of all, give us a sense of -- tell us what time of day it is where you are in Kona.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, Tony, I drove up from Kona about an hour ago. I'm now in Waimea, which is a little bit north, toward the northern tip of the Big Island. It's about 3:00 in the morning here and it's literally pitch black.
Now, we've heard reports of some damages to homes and things like that. But it's really hard to see anything off the main road. There's absolutely not very much light at all.
I'm at a point in Waimea where the road is literally buckled and cracked from that earthquake. You can see where part of the road has started to collapse. And the work crews here have pretty much blocked off that side of the road and are pushing all of the traffic over to the other side.
As I was driving up from Kona, I could see rocks and a few larger rocks along the side of the road. But the crews seem to have done a pretty good job of pushing it off the highway. I didn't see anything blocking the main highway.
Again, it's dark out here, very early in the morning. I spent some time at a hospital down in Kona where they evacuated a lot of the patients there. They've got about a dozen maybe left. They have been taken to a hospital on the other side of the island.
Some of the patients who are left are some young mothers and a couple of babies who are in the ICU right now. In fact, I spoke with one family who was waiting outside who said their daughter-in-law went into labor this morning, earlier, yesterday morning, I should say, when the earthquake hit, an induced labor. They rushed her to the hospital. And so far she has still been waiting to deliver her baby -- Heidi.
HARRIS: Hey, Chris, just a couple of quick questions.
Talk to us about airports. You mentioned hospitals just a moment ago.
How about airports?
Can you get flights in and out?
LAWRENCE: I know you can get into Kona. I flew into Kona last night and there were people at the gate. It looked like there were planes on the tarmac. There didn't seem to be any damage to the airports. I know you can get in and out of Kona.
HARRIS: And how about power outages?
LAWRENCE: I know there have been some power outages, significant power outages earlier. By the time I got here, like late in the afternoon, early evening, I saw a lot of the power on. And just driving up and down the coast, it looked to me like a lot of the power had been restored.
HARRIS: OK.
We'll see where things stand at first light.
Chris Lawrence for us -- Chris, thank you.
LAWRENCE: You're welcome, Tony.
COLLINS: One week after a still unverified nuclear test, North Korea faces new international sanctions today. They cleared the Security Council over the weekend in a unanimous vote after a major push from the U.S.
The key issue now?
Enforcement.
How do you do that?
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 China -- 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 VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The White House, of course, is watching how things play out very closely. President Bush hopes to sit down with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton.
This, as Rice sets off tomorrow for a trip to Asia.
Well, South Koreans practicing for a possible military attack from the North. But not everyone is following the program.
CNN's Dan Rivers now with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We can just hear, right on schedule, the beginning of this civil contingency exercise. There is an air raid siren sending here in the middle of Seoul. And this is part of a regular drill. And as soon as people hear this siren, they are supposed to go inside, either go down into the metro or inside shops.
As you can see, most people seem pretty complacent about it at the moment. People were looking around wondering what they should do.
The idea is this is a practice for some sort of military attack on Seoul from North Korea. And the idea is that all the traffic is supposed to stop. People are supposed to get out of their cars and go inside. People on the streets are supposed to clear off the streets and go down into the metro.
And this drill has been going on on and off in some form since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
You can see the streets are beginning to empty here. There's no real sense of urgency, it must be said. You would think, though, given the events in the last week, it's only a week since North Korea announced that nuclear test, you would think there would be an added sense of urgency, an added edge to this drill. It certainly seems pretty relaxed, from what we're seeing here.
But this is taking place amid a backdrop of continuing shuttle diplomacy in the region. The secretary of state for America, Condoleezza Rice, is due out in this area later on in the week. Ahead of her, the America's point man on this issue, Christopher Hill, will also be here. He'll be here in Seoul. They're discussing how to implement those sanctions and how to make them bite.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: Well, life is certainly a struggle today for hundreds of thousands of people in the Buffalo area. Power is out. Schools out. Patience running short. The region caught off guard by last week's early snowstorm.
Melissa Holmes of affiliate WIVB reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MELISSA HOLMES, WIVB CORRESPONDENT: This is the command post for 2,000 utility crews from all across the Northeast who have come here to Western New York to lend a hand during the region's largest power outage in history.
This morning, 250,000 homes and businesses are still in the dark. But that's down from the nearly 400,000 who lost power on Thursday and Friday after two feet of snow was dumped on the Buffalo region.
Thousands of trees snapped and fell on thousands of power lines, creating a huge mess and a massive blackout.
Now, many people are seeking heat and food in numerous emergency shelters. Today, many communities are still in states of emergency, which driving bans still in effect. And the region's largest school districts have canceled classes for the entire week.
Now, even with all of these crews here, it's estimated power won't be restored until the end of next weekend. President Bush has officially declared the City of Buffalo and its four surrounding counties as a federal disaster area, meaning hundreds of thousands of residents here could be getting some much needed federal aid to help rebuild after this devastating snowstorm and blackout.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: New violence explodes on Iraqi streets today after a bloody weekend there. We'll be live from Baghdad coming up next in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A key player in the Mark Foley page scandal in for a grilling. The House Ethics panel meeting again today.
COLLINS: And a family of five shot to death. Chilling enough. But wait until you hear who is the suspect.
Find out next, in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Bodies riddled with bullets, cars shredded by bombs -- a deadly weekend of violence spills over into Monday.
CNN's Cal Perry live now from Baghdad this morning -- Cal, good morning to you.
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Heidi.
It's not only been a bloody weekend, it's been a very bloody Ramadan on two fronts. Insurgent attacks on both American forces and Iraqi security forces, and the ongoing sectarian violence. That weekend has continued into a very bloody Monday, as you said, in the town of Sawara (ph). That is about 50 kilometers to the south of Baghdad.
A car bomb exploding there, a very powerful bomb, indeed. Nine people killed. At least 35 others wounded, according to hospital officials.
Now, north of Baghdad, about 60 kilometers to the north, in the town of Baquba, we have seen ongoing sectarian fighting there. Throughout the course of the day, a variety of shootings and bodies found. They have uncovered at least 12 people dead there, some dozens of others wounded. Police telling CNN that the town of Baquba has seen ongoing sectarian strife in recent weeks, that hundreds of families have fled that area.
And here in the capital, the attacks continue. Four separate bombings today and a shooting. Most of the targeting in these attacks were security forces, as I said. Six dead there. At least 17 others wounded in the capital alone -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Cal, I'm just curious as to where you are in Baghdad.
Do you have a sense of how people react to this?
I mean we do talk about this increased violence when Ramadan comes. But I mean it seems specifically and especially ugly this time around.
Are people off the streets? Are they staying in their homes?| what do you see around you|?
PERRY: Well, what we're talking about are really two things covering at once, this huge military offensive to secure the capital -- that is Operation Together Forward -- and the holy month of Ramadan. Now, this has taken, as you know, a heavy toll on U.S. forces. At least 49 dead so far this month in combat operations and a heavy toll on Iraqi security forces.
Now, the government does a lot to sort of combat the ongoing violence around the capital. We see random curfews. We saw one over the course of the entire weekend two weeks ago and curfews around Friday prayers.
So it's very strange, in Baghdad, you can be standing out in the street on midday on a Friday and the streets can be deserted. This an attempt from the Iraqi government to secure the capital -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Cal Perry live from Baghdad today.
Cal, thank you.
HARRIS: New York -- Attorney Lynne Stewart learns her fate today. The prominent civil rights lawyer convicted of helping terrorists.
The Back Story now from CNN's Allan Chernoff.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Defense Attorney Lynne Stewart walked out of federal court after being convicted for struggle terrorism, vowing she would be vindicated.
LYNNE STEWART, CONVICTED ATTORNEY: I will fight on. I'm not giving up. I know I committed no crime.
CHERNOFF: That was back in February of last year. After a jury found her and two co-defendants guilty of helping her client, the radical Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel Rahman, deliver messages to terrorists around the world.
That violated a strict ban on any communication because Sheikh Rahman and his followers after his conviction in 1995 for conspiracy to try to blow up buildings and tunnels in New York City.
Stewart blamed her prosecution and conviction on post-9/11 hysteria.
STEWART: And I still see myself as being a symbol of what people rail against when they say that civil liberties are eroded, that we don't live in the same America that we lived in even three or four years ago.
CHERNOFF: But now Stewart admits she violated prison rules imposed on Rahman. In a letter to the judge sent just two weeks ago, Stewart says: "I permitted Sheikh Rahman to communicate publicly and these statements, if misused, may have allowed others to further their goals."
But she added, "These goals were not mine."
Stewart told the judge she's no traitor but was naive and careless not to realize that in a post-9/11 world, her zealous advocacy on behalf of a convicted terrorist client could be misunderstood.
Former New York FBI director Pat D'Amuro says Stewart has only himself to blame.
PAT D'AMURO, FORMER NEW YORK FBI DIRECTOR: She violated the law and she provided information and allowed for the transfer of information in a terrorist organization. Being an attorney, she should have realized that was wrong.
CHERNOFF: Prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence Stewart to 30 years behind bars.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: We are Minding Your Business this morning.
Andy Serwer is here with a preview -- Andy, good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you, Tony.
A high profile CEO caught up in the wave of stock option scandals quits and he appears to be making financial amends.
Or is he?
We'll explain, coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It's still the same question this morning -- who knew and when, the question the House Ethics Committee wants answered in the Mark Foley page scandal. Members meet again this morning.
CNN's Gary Nurenberg has a preview of the week to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Republican congressman in charge of pages was asked questions by the Ethics Committee Friday.
REP. JOHN SHIMKUS (R-IL), HOUSE PAGE BOARD CHAIRMAN: Who knew what, when and where and we answered their questions honestly and forthrightly.
NURENBERG: The committee is scheduled to question Wednesday Louisiana Congressman Rodney Alexander, who received complaints about Foley from the parents of a former page. His chief of staff is slotted for Monday. Former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl and House Majority Leader John Boehner are expected to testify about what they knew, as are staff members for Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, who has been criticized for not acting more quickly.
KEN MEHLMAN, RNC CHAIRMAN: The fact is the Speaker and our leadership could not have been more aggressive. The moment they found out about this, they gave Mark Foley the political death penalty. They said get out of Congress or we're going to throw you out.
NURENBERG: Hastert told a weekend fundraiser, Republicans should be talking about Congressional legislative successes.
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: But those are the stories that we have to tell, not this trash that you see coming out and spread and this blame game.
NURENBERG: Democrats, embarrassed by an FBI investigation that found $90,000 in the freezer of their Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson still think they have the corruption upper hand in a year when guilty verdicts were recorded on corruption charges against Republican Congressmen Duke Cunningham and Bob Ney, and when former Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted on campaign finance violations.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: You have a series of corruption scandals -- Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Mark Foley. All Republican led abuses that I think the American people are fed up with.
NURENBERG (on camera): Democrats are clearly trying to make the most of the Foley scandal, a scandal that will be kept alive by testimony before that House Ethics Committee, which resumes its work on Monday.
Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: Another one bites the dust -- one more CEO stepping down because of the stock option scandals.
Andy Serwer is here Minding Your Business -- Andy, good morning.
SERWER: Good morning, Tony.
Let's talk about this gentleman in question here. We're talking about William McGuire, the CEO of United Health Group. Embattled as he is, he'll step down as CEO of that company as of December 1st, after an investigation by an outside law firm concluded that his option grants were, in fact, manipulated.
You remember this guy. He was sort of the poster child of this whole problem after the "Wall Street Journal," back in the spring, found out he had this trove of options worth $1.78 billion.
HARRIS: Wow! Wow! Wow!
SERWER: And he got these options, most of the time, 85 percent of the time these options were granted on either the lowest price of the stock trading on a quarter or the year or the second lowest. In other words, you want to get an option when the stock is low so that when it goes up, you make a bundle of money.
HARRIS: Right.
SERWER: This guy apparently tried to get this so that he would make a ton of money and he sure did.
Now, though, he's stepping down, Tony. And he also says that he's going to reprice the options so that they're granted on days where the stock price was higher.
HARRIS: OK.
So, Andy, how much could this repricing actually cost McGuire?
SERWER: Well, you know, it's interesting, because it sounds like he's doing the right thing, Tony. And I guess he is.
On the other hand, he still stands to make just a ton of money and here's why. You know, stock options are valuable if the stock of a company goes up a lot. And that's what happened at United Health Group. So even though his stock won't go up as much, the stock trove won't be worth as much as $1.78 billion, when he reprices, I still think it's going to be way north of a billion dollars.
HARRIS: Got you.
Well, but what are the chances that the options really were sort of granted on the best day possible in those years?
SERWER: You mean if they were just sort of coincidentally handed out on those days?
HARRIS: Coincidentally, yes.
SERWER: Yes, well, the "Wall Street Journal" did the work on that. They crunched the numbers and they concluded it would be a 200 million to one shot.
You know, coincidence, it just doesn't wash, does it?
HARRIS: Right. I don't think so.
Andy, good to see you.
What are you working on later in the hour?
SERWER: Later on we're going to be talking about sleep and how it affects how we work and all that good kind of stuff. We'll get some facts.
HARRIS: OK, see you a little later, Andy.
SERWER: Thank you, sir.
HARRIS: Appreciate it.
COLLINS: Boy, more weather to tell you about now.
I want to bring Chad Myers in -- to the Houston area -- Chad, 10 inches of rain over the past, what, couple of hours?
MYERS: Just a couple of hours. I mean all the way down through about the Huntington Bayou area. The whole area here, the moisture coming off the Gulf of Mexico-and that rain is falling in disproportionate proportions across the city. And this is obviously one of them where the weather and the water has been coming up here.
This is from our affiliate KHOU. We had video earlier in the dark of the water, people trying to drive through it and not doing very well. At least the road here that you see, at least on the bottom of the screen, is above that high water. And the water is not going to come down any time soon because there's still more rain falling to the north of Houston. That water all has to go on down into the bay and eventually it starts to get into the Gulf of Mexico. But not before some damage is done.
Back to the maps, this big red box you see behind me, that right there is a tornado watch box, which means tornadoes are possible anywhere in that box. And we even have some warnings where Doppler introducing enough rotation that some of the storms may have a tornado on the ground. Nothing confirmed on the ground now. But we did have damage from the storms before, China, Texas not that far from Lumberton, Texas.
We talked to the mayor of Lumberton. He said he doesn't know anything about it. It may be away from the city a little bit.
From Houston all the way back into Little Rock, up into Memphis, seeing some rain showers, some thunderstorms there in that white. Everywhere that you saw white there, that was three inches of rain or more in the next day-and-a-half. Expect it. Not on what you got. That's more on top of what you're already getting.
San Francisco, 15 minutes.
Houston, an hour delay. Expect that number to go up. If you're going to Houston today, if you have a meeting, you may not even want to call the airport. You may want to call about the meeting to see if it's still taking place, because a lot of things are going to be...
HARRIS: Call about the meeting, don't call the airport.
MYERS: A lot of things are going to be canceled today.
COLLINS: Yes, and you know what? Don't drive through that water when you can't see the bottom.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: I hate to see that video that we saw before.
MYERS: Yes.
COLLINS: So, all right, Chad, thank you.
MYERS: OK.
You're welcome.
COLLINS: We'll check back a little bit later on.
Another weather story, too. The Earth shook, the walls crumbled -- Hawaii after a big quake there.
It's coming up 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 live in THE NEWSROOM after the break.
COLLINS: A family tragedy -- today, the search for suspects. Florida's turnpike murders coming up right here in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: There it is. You are looking at some officials from the Food Bank for New York City ringing the opening bell today. Very nice. Good for them.
Also want to remind you that, once again, the Dow ended at another record high on Friday, 11,960.51 So we will watch that today, see if we can get another record. We like them like that.
The perils of paradise: Many Hawaiians are facing a daunting list now of challenges. Cleaning up after a powerful earthquake jolted the island. The quake measured 6.6, making it Hawaii's most powerful in a generation. Only minor injuries, though, reported but damage is said to be pretty heavy in some areas.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
STEPHANIE LANDERS, HAWAII COMMUNITY HOSPITAL: We have a whole lot of rocking and rolling, ceiling tiles falling, lights falling from the ceiling. We had some air conditioning lines break. Shelves, books, glass all falling, breaking.
Lots of screaming going on. I can tell you that all the patients have been accounted for and are safe. There are no fires. And we activated the disaster mode and everything has been running smoothly.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COLLINS: Hawaii's governor has issued a disaster declaration for the state. Today, the state is sending out inspection teams. They will check on roads and bridges.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: North Korea staring at new international sanctions today. They cleared the Security Council over the weekend in a unanimous vote, after a major push from the U.S. The key issue now, enforcement; a U.S. diplomat talked about the sanctions on "CNN American Morning."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLAS BURNS, UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE: I think you will 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 VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, the White House, of course, is watching how things play out. President Bush hopes to sit down with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton. This, as Rice sets off tomorrow for a trip to Asia.
A closer look now at the new U.N. sanctions on North Korea. Among other things they ban good also related to the country's weapon program. They freeze financial activities that support North Korea's nuclear program, also banned, a travel ban on senior officials with the Communist country. And a ban on luxury goods imported by North Korea.
One State Department official says the ban on luxury goods is to deprive Kim of quote, "women, wine and song."
Are the new U.N. sanctions tough enough? Ashton Carter is with us now from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He was an assistant secretary of Defense in the Clinton administration.
Ash, good to see you.
ASHTON CARTER, FMR. ASST. SEC. OF DEFENSE: Good to see you.
HARRIS: What do you think here, the new Security Council resolution, enforceable or unenforceable?
CARTER: 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, 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 sort of a total embargo, a total blockade, land, air and sea? Do we have that in place with the sanctions program?
CARTER: That's a very good question. We put that 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.
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'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. Of course China is probably going to be looking to do the opposite.
HARRIS: Got you. John Bolton says what we cover 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: Yeah, that's -- that's good, and now that means you can stop a ship and try to see whether any of those things is on the ship. That's all for the good. What you have 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 is 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: 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. What I do know is that if we're going to go to the 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 have to do one before you do the other, whichever one you end up with.
HARRIS: Let me play some of your own words back at you this morning. Here's what you said on the program, a week ago, and let's sort of expand on it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARTER: The Chinese have their hands on the North Koreans' throats. In an afternoon they could cut off energy and food to North Korea that would make it impossible for North Korea to sustain itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: It's all about China, it seems to me, at this point. So, give us -- what happens in these talks with China? They have indicated they're not going to do a whole bunch of inspections, and then there are conflicting reports that there are actually some inspections going on right now, at least at one check point.
Talk to us about China, and what's the carrot stick, what is it that you give China to get them to play here?
CARTER: China has the big stick, but they're not wielding it. They are just not going to wield it as strongly as we want them to, for two reasons. The first is they don't feel as threatened by North Korea's nuclear weapons as we do. The North Koreans say their weapons are for us, not for China.
Secondly, the Chinese got into the six-party talks fearing that we were going to take harsh action against North Korea. And they wanted to avoid that. As well as avoiding a nuclear North Korea. But I'm afraid they've gotten the impression, over the last few years, that we're never really going to do anything about North Korea. They have gotten the same impressions the North Koreans have. They figure, well, in the Americans aren't going to do anything, we aren't going to either.
Last, of course, they don't really want North Korea to get pressured to the point where it collapses, because then they have 23 million poor people on their border, they have no buffer between them and South Korea anymore.
HARRIS: Ash, why do you sign -- if you're China -- why do you sign this resolution with this kind of sanctions program attached, if you don't intend to enforce it?
CARTER: Well, they were boxed in. Even they said that if the North Koreans did something as -- I think the Chinese word was "brazen" -- as conduct an underground test they had to do it. So now they had to sign the sanctions resolution and they're trying to weasel about whether they are going to enforce it or not.
Obviously as you gathered from what Nick Burns said earlier, the United States is going to keep the pressure on North Korea to make them enforce this resolution to the maximum extent.
HARRIS: All right. Last quick question: What everyone wants to know is will this sanctions program work in getting North Korea to heel? What do you think?
CARTER: It gets back to work, for what? It may work to get them back to the negotiating table, but once they are back at the table, we'll just be back at the table. And with those talks haven't gotten anywhere. On the other hand, if you think China is going to allow, through sanctions, North Korea to be toppled, you are probably kidding yourself. Let's see if it gets them back to the negotiating -- I don't want to be Pollyannish. I'm not sure it will work. But we have to go through that step, whatever lies beyond.
HARRIS: Ashton Carter. Ash, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.
CARTER: Good to be with you.
COLLINS: I want to head straight to Chad Myers now, with the weather, because there's a whole heck of a lot going on pretty much across the country. Namely, right now we are talking about Houston and a ton of rain, even some tornado sightings.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Just a horrible story to tell you after the break, a family of five shot dead. Chilling enough, but wait until you hear who the suspect is.
COLLINS: And a water source for seven thirsty states. What happens when there's not enough to go around? Find out coming up next in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A court hearing this morning for a young man accused of killing his family; 22-year-old Shawn Bentler charged with first- degree murder in the shooting deaths of his mother, father and three teenage sisters. The family lived in a small town in northeast 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 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.
In Florida, investigators review evidence in a gruesome attack, a family of four shot to death, their bodies dumped along the turnpike in St. Lucie County. Police say Jose Escabedo, was just a day away from his 29th birthday, when he was shot Friday. His wife, Yessica, and two young sons also killed. All the victims shot several times.
Police say the killer or killers took off in the family's four- door Jeep Cherokee. Investigators have looked at 500 hours of surveillance video from tollbooth plazas. They are studying bullets, casings and blood from the crime scene. The sheriff says a search warrant has been issued for the family's home in Palm Beach County.
COLLINS: One of life's necessities now in danger in the West. Water levels are dropping, but demand is rising. CNN's Correspond Kareen Wynter has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): Cheryl and Brett Lawrence's home is a lifeline for of the region's most endangered resources. The Colorado River supplies water to 25 million thirsty souls in seven Western states, including Nevada. That's where a population surge, combined with the persistent drought, has depleted the water supply to dangerously low levels.
BRETT LAWRENCE, NEVADA RESIDENT: Shocking. You know that there's a massive chance -- a massive chance.
WYNTER: The Lawrences' water efficient home includes smaller toilets that use less water, and pressure sensitive faucets.
B. LAWRENCE: Here, we can save hot water. And it's instinct.
WYNTER: Their front lawn looks like the desert landscape. It limits water use. They're not the only ones with this idea. The entire state of Nevada has taken drastic conservation measures to ease the water demand. Some officials argue that alone isn't enough.
PAT MULROY, SO. NEVADA WATER AUTHORITY: Year after year of less than normal runoff, with some years being as bad as 25 percent, are a very frightening proposition.
WYNTER: Pat Mulroy with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, says the entire desert Southwest is in a fragile state from years of climate change. Major metropolitan cities from Phoenix to Las Vegas to Southern California are among the fastest growing areas in the nation.
(On camera): And 90 percent of southern Nevada's water supply comes from the Colorado River, which fuels the area's main reservoir. Lake Meade, it's now just half full and falling.
(Voice over): Residents, ranchers and environmental groups are fighting the Southern Nevada Water Authority's proposal to build a massive pipeline, one that would pump billions of gallons of groundwater from northern Nevada into Las Vegas.
A.J. MCCLURE, OPPOSES PIPELINE PLAN: If you take that groundwater, once it's dry or once you start taking it, it's not going to come back. It won't replenish itself. They do stress, well, you know, we're going to pump. And then if we feel that it's doing too much damage in the environment, we're going to stop. They say that, but we don't see a plan for that.
MULROY: If the negotiations fall apart, I think the consequences will be pretty dramatic because we don't know what Mother Nature is going to do.
WYNTER: Residents like the Lawrences fear that if the state doesn't act quickly to reverse the river's dry spell, some of life's simple necessities could one day dry up. Kareen Wynter, CNN, Las Vegas, Nevada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Three weeks to the election, Republicans dodging scandals, Democrats trying to score points. COLLINS: And we are "Minding Your Business". Andy Serwer here with a preview. Are we talking coffee?
ANDY SERWER, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hey, Heidi. Yes, how's it going?
Will the stock market set a new record today? Plus, guess what's come back to New Orleans. And what if your company had a corporate sleep policy? We will answer those questions coming up on the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Just what the Republicans don't need, another scandal. The Justice Department looking at Pennsylvania Congressman Curt Weldon, National Correspondent Bob Franken now, and the mounting GOP woes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): The most intense focus recently has been on Mark Foley, but this week's guilty plea by GOP Congressman Bob Ney on bribery charges demonstrates that the Republicans' real problem in this election is the cumulative impression of corruption. At least that's how the Democrats see it
SEN. JOHN KERRY, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: You have a series of corruption scandals, Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Mark Foley, all Republican-led abuses that I think the American people are fed up with. It's time for change. It's that simple.
FRANKEN: Add to that new word that the Justice Department is investigating allegations that Republican Congressman Curt Weldon steered consulting contracts to a company co-owned by his daughter. Consequently, GOP leaders are having a tough time staying on message.
KEN MEHLMAN, RNC CHAIRMAN: What the American people are going to vote on, they want the economy, wonder where the economy is.
FRANKEN: Democratic leaders say the economy is just one of the issues out there.
HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: What I'm interested in is ethical reform and honesty in government. I'm interested in balancing the budget, which we haven't -- which Republicans have made a mess of. I'm interested in restoring moral values to the Congress of the United States. Those are the things I think you are going to see high on the Democrats' agenda should we win three weeks from now.
MEHLMAN: I'm confident, Wolf, we are going to maintain our majority in the House and Senate.
FRANKEN (on camera): The major polls, CNN's, "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", all suggest that the election, particularly the House election, is the Democrats to lose. The question many have is, can the Democrats avoid losing? Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: So, are you a little sleepy at work this morning? You are probably not the only one. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business".
Hey, Andy, yeah, so a lot of coffee being --
SERWER: Yeah, a lot of coffee to get you through the morning, Heidi. Particularly, this morning, for you. I know it's a little earlier than usual. Here we go.
Let's go down to the Big Board, though, first of all, and see how stocks are faring. We are at the start of the session, only 40 points away from a new record on the Dow, and look at that -- well, we're just exactly flat there. Slightly down. Down less than a point, as trading starts off the week.
And here's a news flash. Americans don't get enough sleep. Well, anyone could have told you that. But there's a new study out by a Harvard Medical School professor saying that companies should do something about that. That companies are responsible. In fact, they should develop guidelines as to how much sleep their employees should get.
I like that. Can you imagine? You can't come to work unless you've had eight hours of sleep? Sign me up for that policy. No over- scheduling, no red-eye flights. I mean, I guess it would be sort of like truckers, you know. They can only drive eight hours on and eight hours off. In this world we live in, you guys know it, that sounds impossible to me, right?
COLLINS: I guess it does. But I like your thinking. I like it a lot. We will start the campaign, OK?
SERWER: Yeah.
COLLINS: Andy Serwer, thanks so much.
SERWER: Thanks.
HARRIS: The walls come tumbling down. Earthquake experts say more danger could lurk underfoot in Hawaii. We are live from Hawaii. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: The United Nations aiming at North Korea over its nuclear program. Sanctions in place; now, they have to be enforced. We will go live to White House.
And hidden face, but clear intentions. One of Iraq's leading insurgent groups want to sit down and talk with the Americans? Details in the next hour of the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good morning, everyone, I'm Heidi Collins. HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris, good morning, everyone. Let's spend the second hour in the NEWSROOM this morning and stay informed. Here is what's on the rundown this hour.
Spotty damage, but take a closer look. It's severe in places. Hawaii, waking up to cleanup from the big earthquake.
COLLINS: Sanctions against the North Korean regime, a done deal, but questions today about China's role in enforcing them.
HARRIS: And exactly what Republicans don't need, another congressman said to be under investigation, this Monday, October 16th. You are in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: We're taking you straight to the Gulf Coast now, and Texas, quite a few tornado warnings in the area.
HARRIS: Chad Myers following the weather for us there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
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