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Rice Visits Asia; Details Emerge on Foley Molester

Aired October 19, 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: And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Good morning, everyone.

I'm Tony Harris.

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

For the next three hours, watch events unfold live.

It is Thursday, the 19th of October.

Here's what's in the rundown.

Smiles in Seoul. Washington's top diplomat pressuring South Korea to be tough on its northern neighbor.

HARRIS: Two key figures testifying before the House Ethics Committee today about the Mark Foley e-mail to pages scandal.

COLLINS: And NFL stadiums facing a terror threat this weekend. Homeland Security's game plan for Sunday right here in THE NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: It was just a little more than a week ago that disgraced Congressman Mark Foley revealed that he had been sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest in his childhood. At the time, he refused to name that priest. We have since learned the name of that priest.

Susan Candiotti has the very latest details on this story -- Susan, good morning.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

Three sources tell CNN that the name of the priest is Anthony Mercieca and that he lives Italy now. Now, the rest of the details from this come from a newspaper in Florida called "The Sarasota Herald-Tribune" and they have spoken with the priest. The priest has told the newspaper that he massaged Foley while the little boy was naked.

At the time, Foley, you'll recall, said he was between the ages of 13 and 15 when the alleged molestation happened. The newspaper, who spoke with the priest, says the priest says that they were naked, going in the same room on overnight trips, that they went skinny dipping together and the priest told the newspaper there was one sexual encounter when Foley was 12 or 13, but that he was a little unclear about excellent what had happened because he was influenced by drugs at the time.

Now, to recall -- remind everyone -- Mr. Foley has so far only said through his lawyer that he was molested and yesterday the lawyers turned over the name of the priest, after making these allegations, turned over the name to the state attorney's office in Palm Beach County, Florida.

That state attorney's office, in turn, has turned over the name to the Miami Archdiocese.

The Archdiocese has said that it planned to release the name to the public at some point so that it could reach out for anyone else who might have had an encounter with this priest, as the Archdiocese went on to investigate these allegations -- Tony.

HARRIS: Susan, do we know to which parish the priest was assigned to at the time there in Florida when he had the contact with Mark Foley?

CANDIOTTI: Yes. I've confirmed that the priest was assigned to Sacred Heart Church at the time the congressman has claimed these incidents took place.

Now, remember that Mr. Foley was an altar boy at one point and also that he has said that he did not want to get into any of the details while he is receiving treatment for alcoholism, he says, and psychological counseling, as well.

Mr. Foley claims that he is not using the allegations to excuse his behavior in the Congressional page scandal.

HARRIS: And maybe we know this, maybe we don't at this point.

Have there been any other allegations against this priest coming out of this church that have surfaced since Foley made his -- his initial announcement about being abused?

CANDIOTTI: Certainly that's part of the investigation now and what the Archdiocese will be looking into, what we will, naturally, be looking into. But it would appear from what the "Herald-Tribune" has been looking at, to the best of my recollection, they have not yet found any other reports of abuse.

But naturally that's something we'll be looking at.

HARRIS: Right.

CNN's national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, for us.

Susan, thank you.

COLLINS: Condoleezza Rice on the road. Washington's top diplomat in Seoul today, just across the border from North Korea and its defiant nuclear program. Rice won more support for international sanctions.

Will it curb or -- curb the critics or escalate things?

Well, CNN's Zain Verjee is the only TV journalist accompanying Rice on her travels.

She's joining us now via broadband from the South Korean capital -- Zane, how are things going there now?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, to you, Heidi.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the U.S. is still willing to talk to North Korea. But she adds that North Korea has got to give up its nuclear program and it's got to choose to the return to the six party talks.

Secretary Rice, in a press conference earlier today said that she's hoping that the visit of a senior level Chinese official to Pyongyang will have some kind of effect on North Korea and bring it back to the table.

While we were on the plane riding over here to Seoul, one senior administration official said that this Chinese official is carrying a very strong message to Pyongyang. It's not clear at this time what that message is, but we will find out.

Secretary Rice also wants the regional powers here to use their leverage against North Korea. But she was quick to emphasize today that the U.S. doesn't want to do anything in the region to make things worse than they already are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States has no desire to do anything to escalate this situation. And so the idea that somehow we would want 1718 to be implemented in a way that escalates tensions on the Korean Peninsula or on the high seas, for that matter, simply could not be more wrong.

What we want is effective implementation of Resolution 1718 and its measures or its elements that declare an obligation of all states to keep North Korea from trafficking in nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons technologies, financing their programs, receiving support for those programs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: And Secretary Rice wants South Korea to live up to that obligation. She wants South Korea to take action, to inspect North Korean ships that go in and out of the country that may be carrying suspicious material, fissile nuclear material.

The question now, though, is what will South Korea do? Is it going to play ball? Is it really going to lash out at North Korea and do something that will really squeeze the regime?

The big concern here in South Korea is, look, if you squeeze the regime too hard, it could collapse and there would be a massive problem in the region -- Heidi.

COLLINS: What about the Sunshine Policy, though, Zane? Is that not designed to do that very thing by South Koreans?

VERJEE: The Sunshine Policy is really a policy of engagement by South Korea. South Korea believes, look, you engage the North, you bring it into the fold, you know, the hostile way is not the way to go.

South Korea has a couple of quite significant investments in North Korea. It's sort of a symbolic gesture to the policy of engagement. It's got an economic zone where it trades with North Korea. They have South Korean factories set up in this place called Kasong (ph) and North Korean workers, cheap labor. They make kitchen utensils and clothes, as well.

They also invest in a big tourism area known as the Kyungong Mountains (ph), the Diamond Mountains, where North Korea gets something like hundreds of millions of dollars in remittances.

Analysts we spoke to here said it's really unlikely that this engagement policy is going to change at all, that South Korea is going to stick to it. The president believes that's the way forward.

COLLINS: All right. Understood.

Zain Verjee, thanks so much.

HARRIS: Bombs and bullets leave dozens dead in Iraq. We tell this story everyday because it seems to happen everyday. Sunni-Shiite violence rages on.

CNN's Arwa Damon joins us live from Baghdad -- Arwa, good morning.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

And you couldn't have said it better. The violence here does keep happening everyday. Just today, 27 Iraqis killed, at least another 74 wounded, in a string of attacks across this country.

In the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb exploding, targeting an Iraqi Army police patrol that happened to be passing next to a bank where Iraqi Army soldiers were receiving their monthly salaries. That deadly explosion left eight Iraqis dead, at least, and wounded over 40.

And in Kirkuk, a string of suicide car bombs targeting the Iraqi police and U.S. military convoys, killing seven Iraqis, wounding at least another 20 in that attack. One of those explosions happening right across from a university.

And in the capital, Baghdad, a string, again, of explosions left eight Iraqis killed, dozens more wounded. We are also hearing from the Iraqi emergency police that another 31 unidentified bodies were found in the capital. And the U.S. military announcing yet another death of one of its soldiers here, bringing us to a total of 69 just for the month of October.

Now, the senior spokesperson for U.S. military forces here in Iraq, Major General William Caldwell, attributed this up tick in violence that we are seeing to the fact that we are in the holy month of Ramadan right now and to the upcoming U.S. mid-term elections. He said that this year we are seeing a 22 percent increase in violence compared to Ramadans past. He said that despite ongoing efforts to secure Baghdad, namely Operation Together Forward, that saw an influx of U.S. and Iraqi security forces into the capital, whilst there has been signs of progress in some areas, he said that this operation has not yet deceased the overall violence, saying that the U.S. military was working very closely right now with the Iraqi government to try to figure out how to best refocus their efforts.

It seems like we might be seeing a new strategy in securing Iraq -- Tony.

HARRIS: Arwa, let me take you off the path just a bit here. You mentioned a moment ago that there are some signs, that General Caldwell is pointing to that there is some progress.

give me a sense of what you have seen over the last two days or week that would indicate progress.

DAMON: Well, just to give you one example, Tony, when U.S. forces enter areas as part of Operation Together Forward, what they do is they go in, first they secure the area. Then they hold it. They set up a permanent presence. And then they start to rebuild.

What we are seeing in pockets of Baghdad is that when the U.S. forces enter, in those areas the violence does seem to decrease. This decrease in violence, though, does come at a cost to U.S. forces.

However, when they do end up needing to pull out at times, that's when we see the violence increase again. It is this entire mentality of presence is a deterrent to the insurgents. However, sustaining that presence is sometimes what's causing the problem -- Tony.

HARRIS: So it is just difficult to sort of balance out this picture, but we'll keep trying.

All right, Arwa Damon, appreciate it.

Thank you.

COLLINS: Who knew about Mark Foley's conduct and when did they know? And what did they do about it?

The House Ethics Committee trying to find out the answers to those questions.

Today, the former House clerk who oversaw the page program goes before the panel.

And CNN's Dana Bash has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last year, Former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl confronted Mark Foley about an e-mail with a former male page. But sources familiar with Trandahl's version of events say he repeatedly raised red flags about Foley years earlier, long before GOP leaders say they knew about Foley's inappropriate contact with pages.

Two sources close to Trandahl tell CNN that he had observed and was told about Mark Foley's troubling behavior in the House cloak room and elsewhere, and was actively monitoring Foley's inaction with pages.

CNN is told Trandahl took his concerns to Kirk Fordham, Foley's former chief of staff, many times. Fordham testified under oath last week that he warned the House Speaker's chief of staff three or four years ago about Foley's conduct, according to a source familiar with his version of events.

Among the many questions for Trandahl -- what did he do about the early warnings?

For example, Arizona Congressman Jim Colby says he told Trandahl five or six years ago that Foley sent a former page an e-mail that made the young man uncomfortable.

Several former colleagues describe Trandahl as a by the book guy who took his job overseeing 16-year-old pages very seriously, one source saying he watched the teenagers closely and had "zero tolerance" for problems, expelling pages for drinking and smoking pot, no matter how senior a lawmaker the page's sponsor was.

Craig Shniderman is a long time friend of Jeff Trandahl and says he's confident if Trandahl was aware of something improper, he would have reported it.

CRAIG SHNIDERMAN, FRIEND OF TRANDAHL: Jeff is a guy who always does the right thing. He lives by the truth. He lives by one truth. He's not a man that tells different stories to different people. He's not, probably, what some people think of as the ultimate Washington guy.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: Dana Bash joining us now live -- Dana, why exactly, then, is Trandahl so important today?

BASH: He's really critical, really, could be one of the most important witnesses that the House Ethics Committee hears from. And I should tell you that he actually did arrive here on Capitol Hill just a short while ago, went into the room. So he is currently behind closed doors beginning his testimony.

But to answer your question, look, he is the person who oversaw the pages, as you just heard. He had a reputation for being pretty tough on them and keeping a close eye and watch on them. He also is somebody, in his role as House clerk, that served at the pleasure of the House speaker. And so the question is not only did he tell Mark Foley's former chief of staff about his concerns about Foley's behavior, did he tell the House speaker or members of the House speaker's staff?

That is one of the critical questions that he could answer and really one of the key things that this House Ethics Committee is looking into -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Dana Bash live from Capitol Hill.

Thanks, Dana.

BASH: Thank you.

HARRIS: It seems we've been following this story of severe weather...

COLLINS: Yes.

HARRIS: ... particularly along the Gulf Coast, since Monday.

COLLINS: I think so.

HARRIS: Chad is here with a further update for us -- good morning, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Meanwhile, a chilling threat, but is it credible?

Why some NFL stadiums are on alert and what Homeland Security officials are saying.

HARRIS: Also, an amber alert out this morning for a missing baby girl in Florida. Police think they know who took her.

COLLINS: And a freak incident off Florida's east coast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did not feel the barb in the heart. It may still be in the heart or it may have gone out through the major artery to a different part of the body. He has a reasonable chance of recovery, but it's not guaranteed and it's very...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: It's unbelievable. You have heard the tragic crocodile hunter story. This story of a stingray attack still playing out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: On any given Sunday, a football fan's biggest worry is whether their team wins. Well, this Sunday, a dirty bomb threat against seven NFL stadiums may put some fans on edge. But officials say the threat is not credible.

Allan Chernoff is in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Giants and Jets play. But the Jets are home this weekend -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, go deep.

We will be playing football this weekend. Yes, it's true, there was a posting on a Web site saying new attack against America, be afraid, specifically mentioning the idea of seven dirty bombs at seven stadiums around the country, including New York.

But guess what?

We are in New Jersey, where the New York Giants and the New York Jets play. The Jets are scheduled to play here against Detroit Sunday at 1:00 Eastern time.

The FBI says these threats are not credible. It did mention them to the NFL as a precaution. And the NFL is saying hey, fans, do not worry. The NFL says the stadiums are secure, they are checked on the perimeter, everybody going into games knows that they are always checked, patted down; also, the bags are checked, as well.

So the NFL is saying to fans come on out to the game. The Department of Homeland Security is saying go enjoy the game.

And so I say go Jets -- Tony.

HARRIS: Hey, Allan, where did this threat come from?

I'm sure investigators are looking into it.

What do we know about that?

CHERNOFF: It was just a posting on a Web site.

HARRIS: Yes.

CHERNOFF: So, really, nothing, you know, it could have been anyone, theoretically, anyone just posting something onto a Web site.

So, you know, again, let's -- let's emphasize...

HARRIS: Right.

CHERNOFF: ... that the FBI, the government is saying this is not a credible threat.

HARRIS: So don't turn in your tickets, go and enjoy the football games this weekend.

That's the word? CHERNOFF: Absolutely.

HARRIS: OK.

Al, appreciate it.

Thank you.

COLLINS: We are minding your business.

Andy Serwer is here now with a little bit of a preview.

NBC -- there's something happening there.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: That's right.

It looked like Allan Chernoff was about ready to suit up, Heidi, didn't it?

COLLINS: I know.

It did, right?

SERWER: We're going to be talking about NBC, that's right, the major cutbacks there. We'll tell you why, plus, what that means for how you watch television, coming up on THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The way we watch TV is changing and that is forcing changes at one TV network.

Andy Serwer Minding Your Business.

It's not here, is it?

SERWER: No.

COLLINS: No.

SERWER: Well, they change things here every day. We're used to it.

At NBC...

COLLINS: I didn't say it.

SERWER: Yes, at NBC they're making some very, very big changes, though, I want to tell you about. A $750 million cost cutting program through the end of next year they announced this morning. You know, people are changing the way they watch TV, as you suggest. The Internet, cable, YouTube, you name it.

And so what's going on here, they're looking to save money, obviously. One thing they're looking to do, for instance, is to cut back on the amount of money they spend in prime time. For instance, if you have a show like "Friday Night Lites," that costs $2.6 million per episode. They're going to look, probably, to do cheaper programs, sort of reality type programming like "Deal Or No Deal." That only costs $1.1 million per episode.

So you can see right there, that's, you know, $1.5 million a night in savings, Heidi.

COLLINS: I've got to tell you, I love the show.

SERWER: Good.

COLLINS: I only watch it during the commercial breaks of our CNN programming here, but I love it.

HARRIS: There you go.

COLLINS: So, what do you think, though, about job cuts?

I mean whenever we hear about cuts, we immediately assume that people are going to be losing their jobs.

SERWER: Yes, sadly, that is a real way to save money and it looks like NBC is going to be doing that. Apparently, about 700 jobs will be at risk here, job cuts to the tune of 5 percent of the workforce. A lot of those coming in the news division.

Big changes over at MSNBC. That company had been operating out of Secaucus, New Jersey. Now those operations will be split. Half of them will move to Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, the other half over to CNBC's operations in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

So you can see there are probably going to be some job cuts there, we're talking about, Heidi.

COLLINS: And, of course, for the people at home who are watching NBC, are there going to be any changes in their television programming?

SERWER: Well, this is what's really interesting. We talked about the change, perhaps, to cheaper reality shows. But what's even more important and down the road probably for some of these networks is less prime time programming per se.

Fox and CW have already gone from three hours to two hours during prime time.

COLLINS: OK.

SERWER: That may happen to NBC, as well.

COLLINS: All right, we'll watch it.

Andy Serwer Minding Your Business.

Thank you.

SERWER: Thanks, Heidi.

HARRIS: Nuclear secrets -- a man with firsthand knowledge of North Korea's program will be here in THE NEWSROOM.

And dozens dead and many others wounded -- another day in Iraq. Live to Baghdad straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Look at -- Heidi, look at the little man up here about to ring the bell to get the business day going, to get it cracking here...

COLLINS: Oh.

HARRIS: ... at the New York Stock Exchange. There we go. The opening bell. First Mercury Financial Corruption celebrating its IPO, initial public offering, today.

You have the president there, and CEO Richard Smith and the former CEO, Jerome Shaw there, as well.

How about yesterday? At the start of the business day, the Dow shooting above that 12,000 mark before falling back a bit, ending the day at 11,992 where it begins trading today.

COLLINS: Took about 34 seconds for it to get going.

HARRIS: We will watch it throughout the day for you.

COLLINS: She's on the Korean Peninsula in the middle of a global crisis, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in South Korea today. She's looking for support for strong enforcement of U.N. sanctions against North Korea. All the while, stressing diplomacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We want to leave open the path of negotiation. We don't want the crisis to escalate. The sooner that North Korea would choose to unconditionally come back to the table and take up the very good -- very good statement or very good agreement that is there, framework agreement, that is there as of September, it would be to the betterment of everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Our next guest has intimate knowledge of North Korea's nuclear program. Jon Wolfsthal served as the U.S. government's on-site monitor at the North's nuclear complex in Pyongyang. He is now a fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, joining us from our Washington Bureau.

Appreciate your unique perspective here today. Take us back to the time that you spent there, if you would, specifically, you have an interesting story about New Year's Eve and what you saw. JON WOLFSTHAL, CSIS, INT'L. SECURITY PROGRAM: Well, I was there over the December-January period of 1995, 1996, and New Year's celebration is important to Koreans as it is to Americans. So there were a couple days of down time and we actually ended up in a joint U.S.-North Korean pool tournament, at a pool table that was available for us at the guest house. And I actually played with the head of the North Korean guest house, and we beat our opponents, so we had a pretty good day.

COLLINS: But interesting, this guest house was about a half a mile from the most secretive nuclear site in North Korea, made of cement. Tell us what else you saw there.

WOLFSTHAL: Well, we had actually very good access to the nuclear facility, both the reactor and the pool, where the spent fuel containing plutonium was actually stored, when we arrived. This is the very same plutonium that we now believe either fueled the nuclear bomb that went off a couple weeks ago, or that's now available for North Korea to build bombs out of.

And we would routinely, every day, go twice a day to the guest house, from the guest house to the reactor site, have to pass through four or five police and military check points, most of them with either machine gun nests or AK-47s, checking our passports very carefully, making sure we were, in fact, still given permission to arrive at the facility and do our work.

COLLINS: So, given your experience, being inside the country, certainly in a way that many people will never and have never been, what is your opinion 10 days out now from the first nuclear test? What's the most significant thing about it?

WOLFSTHAL: Well, I think the most significant thing is that this didn't need to happen. The North Koreans, when we were there during the mid 1990s were committed to working with the United States because they felt they were going to get something good out of it.

They wanted to get the modern nuclear reactors that are proliferation resistant, that we were going to provide to them. They wanted the engagement with the United States. And to eventually work out a much closer relationship with the West.

That now has fallen apart, in large part because North Korea cheated on its agreement, but also because the United States did not fulfill its end of the bargain. When we had an opportunity to bring North Korea back into compliance, the Bush administration took an alternate approach, that is resuming pressure and regime change.

COLLINS: And just to remind everyone, of the history there, it was about four years, 1998, when North Korea launched a missile over Japan, in violation of the agreed framework of 1994. In fact, I want to show you, if I could Jon, a letter that was written -- actually this is a statement in the Security Council, a letter then sent on to President Bush. This is from John Bolton. He said this, I want to get your reaction. "When North Korea launched a missile over Japan in 1998 we were not aware at the time that Pyongyang was pursuing a covert uranium enrichment program in violation of the 1994 agreed framework. In the intervening eight years North Korea has withdrawn from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, kicked out inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and declared not just that it is pursuing a nuclear weapons capability, but that it already possess them."

WOLFSTHAL: Well, I would correct you in one thing, that the missile test itself, while dangerous, is not covered by agreed framework. We don't want North Korea testing missiles. In fact, they were under a missile test moratorium until 2002. I would say that Ambassador Bolton has used a very convenient time frame. It is not in the past eight years, but in the past six years, that North Korea has undertaken these steps.

COLLINS: But isn't it fair to say, Jon, if I could, that if they violated that agreement it is going to be pretty darn tough to trust them for whatever Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is going to be able to come up with?

WOLFSTHAL: Well, we don't sign treaties with our friends, we sign them with our adversaries. And we don't trust them. We verify that they are actually in compliance. When they are not in compliance we put their feet to the fire and bring them back. That's what we did with the Soviet Union.

COLLINS: Is that possible?

WOLFSTHAL: That's what we did with the Soviet Union for over 30 years.

COLLINS: But this is not the Soviet Union.

WOLFSTHAL: I would say it's actually very similar to the Soviet Union. The rationale that the administration appears to have taken is, if at first you don't succeed, quit trying.

I would like to see the United States doing everything it can, bilateral negotiations, multi-lateral negotiations. True efforts at engagement to try and rein in North Korea's nuclear weapon program. The Bush administration's approach has been we don't like this regime, we're not going to deal with it in a serious way, and we are going to hope that it goes away. And North Korea has proven time and time again that it's not going anywhere, and as former Secretary of Defense Perry has said, we need to deal with North Korea as it is, not as we might wish it to be.

COLLINS: All of this while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the region and as investigations continues as to whether or not there could be a second nuclear test coming.

Jon Wolfsthal, we appreciate your time.

WOLFSTHAL: Thank you very much. HARRIS: More explosions rock Iraq. Authorities say this bombing at a police station in Mosul killed seven people, 20 others wounded. The attack prompted a curfew. Another eight people were killed and 40 wounded at a crowded commercial district in Kirkuk a short time ago. Iraqi soldiers were collecting their paychecks, when the car bomb went off.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad, a roadside bombing targeted a police convoy. Two police and three civilians were killed in that attack and a dozen people were wound in other violence across the capital. Police say they found 31 bodies. They say the execution-style deaths appear to be the result of the raging Sunni-Shiite hostilities.

On dangerous duty with the U.S. troops, CNN's Arwa Damon takes on the hunt for explosives in Iraqi's notorious triangle of death.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice over): To the untrained eye it seems like there is nothing lurking here, but Captain Sean Finn and his company have quickly learned the little things to look for.

CAPT. SHAWN FINN, U.S. ARMY: This burn (ph), right before the tree line, there's boot prints in the mud, shows that they have been walking in here. You can see when they get to the road they lay the IEDS in.

DAMON: Captain Finn says it's been on-the-job training.

FINN: Hanging off the reed here, broken off. We found one about 50 meters away. These are the type of things we look for.

DAMON: First they find the spotter's position. Farther down, they pull up wiring. Another short distance away, they dig up plastic explosives. Mortar rounds are buried under the tumbleweed. All the parts in place to assemble IEDS at any moment, right in this field.

FINN: They got the explosives in, they got the wire in, and probably within the next 12 hours under cover of darkness they would reseed the road with the IEDs.

DAMON: The final component hidden across the street.

(on camera): These are all IED roadside bomb trigger devices, they are quite primitive yet highly effective. This, for example, is the timer off a washing machine. Once the timer has been set the IED is ready to detonate.

(Voice over): Since this operation began two weeks ago, the U.S. has found enough material for at least 1,000 roadside bombs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Chad Myers is standing by Severe Weather Center now here at CNN.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Halloween, what? A week and a half away. Costumes, all right. To do list.

Still to come, a mother, her boyfriend, and a baby on the run. A social worker killed. The latest on a Kentucky manhunt. That's still ahead.

COLLINS: And then, this: She says, he says; new allegations in the McCartney-Mills breakup. See them -- if you want to -- right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We want to get this information to you now that we have been reporting this morning regarding the Mark Foley incident. And the very latest information that has come to us about the priest that Mark Foley was accusing had sexually abused him.

We have been able to identify him as this man you see here. Anthony Mercieca. And we have Susan Candiotti, she is on the scene at the Miami bureau. She's going to tell us more about it. But he said that these events happened about 30 years ago or so. We will get more details in just a few moments here.

HARRIS: The NFL says it is ready for some football and ready to deal with an unsubstantiated threat against seven of its stadiums. Homeland security officials say a website posting warns of dirty bomb attacks during games this Sunday. They stress that the threat is not credible and the warning is just a precaution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE POMERANTZ, FMR. FBI COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: In the post-9/11 world the very worst outcome would be if the government had some sort of threat information, fail to pass that information on, and something were to occur.

I mean, that's just the worst nightmare possible. So, in order to preclude that, and prevent that, sometimes they pass on information even though they know it's not the most credible information out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The NFL issued a statement saying its stadiums are very well protected, with comprehensive security procedures in place.

COLLINS: She's just four months old and she's missing. Police in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, have an Amber Alert out for this baby. They think the infant may have been taken by an acquaintance of her mother.

Investigators say 15-year-old Kaneesha (ph) Black went with the mother to a baby-sitter's home yesterday morning. They say the teen came back later and claimed she had permission to pick up the child. Black is 5'4" and was last seen wearing a tan shirt and blue cropped pants.

Kentucky place wading through phone calls now about a bizarre kidnapping and murder. Some tipsters reporting possible sightings of a mother, her boyfriend, and her nine-month-old son. Police say they are on the run following the killing of a social worker on Monday.

Police say the social worker was attacked after taking the baby for a visit with the mother, Renee Terrell. Police have issued a warrant for Terrell on kidnapping charges and we will get an update on the search later in the NEWSROOM. A police detective will be talking with us about the very latest information.

HARRIS: And Thomas Roberts joins us from the NEWSROOM.

And Thomas, you're following the story of a missing boy and that boy's father out of Oregon. Correct?

THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM: Tony, Good morning.

We are continuing to follow this story. It's now day six of the search that's taking place near Crater Lake in Oregon. For little Sammy Boehlke. He is only eight years old. It was on Saturday that he and his dad Kenneth, they went for a father-son hike together. The dad says, hey, we've got to get back in the car and move on. Well, that's when little Sammy decides to run off on his own, and play a little game of hide and seek with his dad. He got away from his father.

Now there has been an extensive search to find little Sammy. Just to point out he was only wearing a winter coat, long sleeved T-shirt, cargo pants and light shoes, some are saying just slip-on shoes. They have had some really tough weather conditions there, including rain, snow, subfreezing temperatures at night, which really has the rescue teams there very concerned.

But there's an extensive search and rescue mission going on there with rescue crews from Yosemite National Park, they are repelling down different steep ravines, looking for him. Boats have been along the lakeshore there. Horseback teams are also looking along an old road. Helicopters searching open areas there.

About 145 people right now are keeping a very close eye and looking out for little Sammy. Again, he was only wearing a winter coat, long sleeved tee shirt, Tony, and they are saying light slip-on shoes. They are hoping that his intuition kicks in and he hides, kind of getting out of the elements, so then he can be found.

HARRIS: Somewhere where he can stay warm. Six days now?

ROBERTS: Six days now. A lot of people have also asked about the possibility of abduction. And they say that there really was no traffic throughout the park that day. Only two cars were seen going in and out. They are both staffed areas, entrance points, and they say they didn't see any children in the car.

HARRIS: Oh, man. We are hoping for the best. Thomas, appreciate it. Thank you.

We are "Minding Your Business" this morning, Andy Serwer here now with a preview.

Andy, good morning.

SERWER: Good morning to you, Tony.

On the road to 12,000 on the Dow. Are we there yet? We will check that out. Plus Apple Computer, just how many i-Pods has it sold over the past 12 months? You won't believe it. We'll tell you about it, next, on the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The Dow finally hit 12,000, but couldn't hang on. Let's get a check on stocks right now. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

Andy, this was fun yesterday. What was it, Heidi, 35 seconds into the trading day?

COLLINS: Yes, something like that. Right out of the gate.

SERWER: We tried. We tried -- I tried. I tried to help, you know, and we just couldn't stay there. Dow up yesterday, but we didn't end up over the 12,000 mark. As you suggested, we crossed it yesterday.

Let's see how we are doing this morning. Stocks were down a little bit earlier. Go down to the Big Board. You can see, slipping just about 7 points, so again, the good news is the Dow is not making any major retreats as it keeps going higher and higher. It is not going to go up every single day. I can predict that, Tony, with absolute certainty. How about that for a prediction?

HARRIS: I was going to ask you is 12,000, is it really significant, or is this just a psychological barrier? Could you really see people making money yesterday?

SERWER: Well, you know as well as I do that 12,000 is sort of just a meaningless thing. Of course, a couple points to be made. First of all, when the Dow goes or any index goes from 11,000, to 12,000, it's much less on a percentage basis than say when it goes from 2,000 to 3,000. So it's less of a big deal in terms of the amount of money that people are making. That's number one.

Number two, though, it does serve to draw in investors because they see this and they get excited and it could be just at the wrong time, as the market is peaking. So, those are some things to think about there.

HARRIS: Hey, do you have one of these i-Pods? I have that old 3- p, that 3mp and I guess that's so old now?

SERWER: That's old. You're old school, Tony. HARRIS: How many of these i-Pods -- no surprise there. How many of these i-Pods has Apple been able to sell here?

SERWER: Just amazing. Apple is on the move. They reported earnings last night and they are really strong. That stock is up about -- over $4, just under $80. The reason why, Tony, the company is selling i-Pods as fast as they can make them. A lot of people thought this trend was going to slow down.

The latest quarter, they sold 8.7 million. The last 12 months, 39 million more i-Pods out there. And the real good news for Apple, there's this thing called the halo effect which means that people try out the i-Pods they like them and go, huh, maybe I should buy one of this company's computers. So their computer business is starting to pick up steam again. They sold 1.6 million PCs, which is the biggest quarter ever for Apple. The company is running on all cylinders right now, Tony.

HARRIS: Our population is, what, 300 million? They have some work to do.

SERWER: Maybe they can start export -- they are exporting, of course, but it's a big world out there.

HARRIS: Andy, good to see you.

SERWER: Good to see you, Tony.

COLLINS: Freak attack. An 81-year-old Florida man in critical condition this morning. A stingray jumped into his boat yesterday, striking him in the chest with its stinger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did not feel the barb in the heart. It may still be in the heart or it may have gone out to the major artery, to a different part of the body. He has a reasonable chance of recovering, but it's not guaranteed. And it's very serious, and freaky injury. I have never seen anything like this. I don't think many people have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Wow. Well, I'm sure you remember Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin died last month when a stingray hit him in the chest, off Australia's northern coast. Amazing.

Hey, I want to let you know that at 10:00 this morning, White House briefing coming up. Obviously hot topics there, the escalated violence in Iraq and North Korea, new sanctions, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the region. So, we'll bring that to you top of the hour.

HARRIS: And still ahead, she says, he says, new allegations in the McCartney-Mills breakup. We have it all for you in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Have you been following all of this, this private dispute, pretty much aired out in public now?

COLLINS: Yes, Paul McCartney's split from Heather Mills. You have probably seen some press on this. Making tawdry tabloid headlines. In fact, CNN's Paula Hancocks has a look at the dirty laundry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, NEWSROOM: It was described as a lavish wedding held in a 17th century castle in Ireland. Thanking well wishers who camped out at the castle gates, former Beatle Paul McCartney and Heather Mills looked in love.

But four years later they are in the process of a bitter divorce, a divorce which is fast becoming one of the most acrimonious and high profile in years, and a court date hasn't even been set yet.

British tabloid "The Daily Mail" says it received leaked court papers allegedly filed by Heather Mills citing unreasonable conduct and mistreatment by Paul McCartney. The law firm for Mills says it will "not comment on leaked or allegedly leaked documents". But their client "stands by everything that has been filed at court on her behalf and intends to prove its truth in due course, should this be necessary."

And McCartney's lawyers say McCartney would "very much like to respond in public and in detail to the allegations," But he recognizes on advice, that "the only correct forum for his response is in the current divorce proceedings. Our client will be defending these allegations vigorously and appropriately."

But could this alleged leak have any impact on the divorce itself?

BARBARA SIMPSON, DIVORCE LAWYER: It's about two people, and when there's that level of invective being bandied around, against them, and there's one way of stopping it, then that way is settlement. So, really, it puts pressure on the person who feels worst about it.

HANCOCKS: When the couple initially announced their separation in May of this year, they suggested they wanted amicable proceedings for the sake of their three-year-old daughter, Beatrice. But that hasn't happened.

In an echo of the bitter fight between Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana, McCartney and Mills have hired the same divorce lawyers as the royal couple. And there's a lot at stake. McCartney stands to lose a substantial part of his $1.5 billion fortune. Paula Hancocks, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Good morning, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins. I'm Tony Harris. Spend the second hour in the NEWSROOM this morning and stay informed. Here's what's on the run down.

A report of a stunning admission, the priest in the Mark Foley scandal, identified. Capitol Hill's lurid e-mail scandal needs to another blot on the Catholic Church.

COLLINS: The secretary of State in Seoul, pushing South Korea to be tough with sanctions against the nuclear North.

HARRIS: They dropped like a rock, but why? The Wall Street connection to your gas tank this Thursday.

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