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Priest who Allegedly Sexually Abused Mark Foley Identified; 'Disheartening' Iraq; President Bush Speaks at Pennsylvania Fund- Raiser for Rep. Don Sherwood; NFL Threat

Aired October 19, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: When scandals collide. The investigation into the lurid e-mails of a disgraced former congressman now leads to allegations of decades-old abuse at the hands of a priest. Here's what we know now.
Sources familiar with the Mark Foley investigation say that Foley has reported being molested as a young teen by Father Anthony Mercieca. Another source confirms that Mercieca, who now lives in a Mediterranean island near Malta, worked at Sacred Heart Church in Lakewood, Florida, in the 1960s. CNN has confirmed that Foley served as an altar boy at that church about the same period.

Well, there's more on this story in today's "Sarasota Herald Tribune". Reporter Mark Doig (ph) spoke with Father Mercieca from his island home. He says the priest admitted to some encounters with young Mark Foley that could be viewed as sexually inappropriate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His main concern was to stress the point that this was a one-time situation with Mark, the extremely inappropriate encounter. I mean, he said in hindsight, there were -- lot of the relationship was inappropriate, the skinny-dipping, naked back massages, that type of thing, but he stressed over and over that throughout his career there's only been this one allegation against him. And other reporting that's been done kind of backs this up, that this was a one-time encounter with Mark Foley and this may be the only allegation that's been leveled against him, at least to this point.

You've got to imagine, especially back in the 1960s, when nobody was thinking about priests molesting kids, if you grow up in a very Catholic family, it's an honor to have a priest over to your house for dinner and to befriend your son or, you know, want the take him on trips. I mean, the reporting that my colleague Mo Tamin (ph) did, you know, through the Foley family, showed that this was -- the family did take it as an honor. And that's why there's, I think, struggling so much to come to terms with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And Foley's attorneys say he won't press charges but will accept counseling from the Archdiocese of Miami.

CNN's Delia Gallagher will be in the NEWSROOM next hour with more on the church's response. KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We sound like a broken record. Appalling violence in Iraq, dozens of people killed, suicide bombings, execution-style killings, American casualties. A U.S. Army general now says coalition strategies might have to change.

CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins me now with more details.

Hey, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

Well, very sober words today from the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Major General William Caldwell, who called the increase in violence over the last three weeks "disheartening". He noted there had been a 22 percent increase in attacks since the U.S. military began an operation to secure Baghdad and try to get a handle on the violence. He said that that operation "... has not met our overall expectation," and he said there is now an effort under way, in consultation with the Iraqi government to "determine how to best refocus the efforts."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: We are taking a lot of time to go back and look at the whole Baghdad security plan. We're asking ourselves if the conditions under which it was first devised and planned still exist today, or are the conditions changed and, therefore, a modification to the plan needs to be made?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: And as you know, Kyra, the idea of securing Baghdad first and then moving to the rest of the country is key to the U.S. strategy to bringing stability to Iraq. Major General Caldwell said so far this month, by the U.S. military's count, 73 U.S. troops have died in hostile situations in Iraq, making October on a pace to be the deadliest month in quite some time.

At the White House today, they downplayed the idea that the strategy is not working. Spokesman Tony Snow insisted that all U.S. military commanders are doing are adjusting to the realities on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Tactics change all the time. Generals talk about changing tactics all the time. It happens regularly. It is nothing new in a time of wear. As a matter of fact, it would be a dereliction of duties if generals did not constantly adjust to the changing conditions and tactics on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Great anticipation in Washington here about what the Iraq Study Group, an independent group headed by former secretary of state James Baker, will suggest next month in terms of a possible change of course.

Today, the White House ruling out any cutting and running or partitioning of Iraq. White House spokesman Tony Snow said the consequences of leaving Iraq as a failed state are so disastrous, that the U.S. really has no option but to stay until it can declare victory -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Have you been able to work your sources and find out anything more about the military's release of this al-Sadr aide who allegedly has ties to death squads?

MCINTYRE: Well, you know, that's a tricky situation for the U.S., because they are trying to reinforce that Iraq is a sovereign country, that Iraq is in control. So when the prime minister requests that somebody be released like that, even though the U.S. military believes that this person was responsible for death squad activity, they felt compelled to release him.

All the U.S. military would say was, well, perhaps the prime minister has more information than we do. They also noted that this sheikh signed a statement pledging support for the Iraqi government and renouncing violence as a condition of his release. But other than that, they are -- they are deferring that to the Iraqi government.

And again, they are trying to transition to a state of being where the Iraqi government is in control. So in order to do that, they've got to -- to exceed to them sometimes.

PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre from the Pentagon.

Thanks, Jamie.

LEMON: Well, they say politics makes strange bedfellows. Nineteen days before the election, a case in point in Pennsylvania. Despite his stand on family values, President Bush is trying to re- elect a congressman who admits he had a long and messy affair.

CNN's Kathleen Koch reports from the White House.

Hi, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, yes, President Bush right now is taking the podium in La Plume, Pennsylvania, where he is campaigning for Congressman Don Sherwood. Now, Sherwood's seat once was considered one of the safest seats in Congress in a conservative Republican district.

The past two elections Democrats hadn't even put out a candidate to compete against Sherwood. But obviously, as you mentioned, things very different now, that seat in jeopardy after he admitted to a five- year extramarital affair with a much younger woman.

Now, this evening President Bush goes south to Virginia, where he will also be campaigning for another embattled Republican, this time Republican Senator George Allen, who is also in a tight race, also facing some problems of his own, making racially insensitive remarks, facing accusations that in the past that he may have used racial slurs.

Press Secretary Tony Snow in his press briefing this morning insisted that President Bush does not see any downside to campaigning for these gentlemen, to appearing on stage with them. Though, Snow would not say very much about the president's personal thoughts on the controversies these two men are facing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: I think the president understands that it's important to set high standards, but the other thing the president's doing is he's going out and -- you know, let the candidates speak for themselves on this. The president will have his say as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: So, again, words of support from President Bush expected today, both for candidates Sherwood and Allen. And CNN obviously is going to be able to bring these comments from the president to you, because these two fund-raising events this afternoon are both open to the press, unlike many of the events that President Bush has attended. Many, many private, closed fund-raisers at this campaign year -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. And you know what? Extramarital affairs have been in the news a lot. Some people have even had to resign over them, Kathleen. So the president is backing these candidates despite these controversies?

KOCH: Yes, indeed. Important to point out, with Sherwood, in his case, his wife has come out in support of his candidacy. She is standing by him, saying basically, if I can forgive him, so should the voters.

But in the president's case, this is a tough year. The House is certainly in jeopardy, the Republican-controlled House, potentially even of the Senate.

These are the candidates that the Republicans have, so the president is going out there, standing by them, campaigning for whatever candidates want to be seen with him. Though interesting today from the podium, Tony Snow would not echo words of support that he had used off camera on Friday about these candidates, saying President Bush supported them, that George Allen was not a bigot, and that when it came to Sherwood, the president "believes we're all sinners and asks for forgiveness."

So a little tap dancing from Snow today on that. Very interesting.

LEMON: Kathleen Koch, thank you very much for that.

And politicians, beware. CNN's Jack Cafferty is taking on the left, the right, and the center. Jack says it's time to vote all of them out and start all over.

Tonight he cuts through the bull to see if America's government is broken. It's a CNN election special, tonight at 7:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

PHILLIPS: All together now. The U.S. secretary of state today in Seoul, South Korea, in search of allied unity surrounding that unanimous vote for U.N. sanctions against North Korea. As she did in Tokyo and as she will in Beijing and Moscow, Condoleezza Rice pressed her host to pressure Pyongyang into curbing its nuclear ambitions. She downplayed South Korea's well-known reluctance to get tough, though.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea is one of the firm pillars of stability and security for the Korean Peninsula and for the region as a whole. And I wanted to make certain that in the changed circumstances given the North Korean nuclear test, that it was very clear that the United States take -- takes its obligations under our defense arrangements very seriously and we'll act on those obligations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Seoul's foreign minister said that the U.S. and South Korea agree that a second nuclear test in the north would bring what he called more grave consequences.

LEMON: Turning now to a terror threat that has caught the attention of football fans for sure. The FBI interviewed a man in Milwaukee today about the online posting that warned of attacks against NFL games this Sunday. The man was released, but an FBI official says he still could face charges later.

The feds still believe the posting is bogus. It said trucks would deliver radioactive bombs to seven NFL stadiums, including the ones we're showing you right now -- Dallas, notwithstanding. The government did notify the NFL and local police as a precaution.

Are you willing to be patted down to see the Packers?

PHILLIPS: I'm a big Packer fan, so don't look at me.

LEMON: So you're willing.

PHILLIPS: That's right. I've spent time in Green Bay.

Or have your bags searched to see the Seahawks? Well, I can't relate to that one, unfortunately.

Now, in an age of heightened security, the NFL is on the offensive to secure its stadiums.

That story straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A Washington scandal reverberates across Florida. Sexual encounters allegedly took place between a Catholic priest and former altar boy, Mark Foley, 40 years ago. Now Miami's Archdiocese scrambles for decades-old details and hustles to do damage control.

Our faith and values corespondent, Delia Gallagher, is in New York.

Delia, has the Catholic Church responded to this matter at all?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, just a few hours ago I spoke with the pope's spokesman, Father Lombardi, who hadn't heard that this Father Mercieca had been found, as it were, and he did offer a statement, but with the caveat that this was the first that they had heard about it. I'll give you his statement.

He said, "If the news stories we are hearing are correct, we participate in the pain that this deplorable situation has caused. We trust in the competent ecclesial authorities to investigate and clarify the events that have been reported."

There he is referring, Don, to the are Archdiocese of Miami, as you mentioned. But we should say that as of the moment, the Archdiocese of Miami is claiming that they have not heard officially either from the -- from the offices in Florida that this is indeed the man. So everybody seems to be in a sort of holding pattern before they can actually begin the investigation into Father Mercieca.

LEMON: So basically, Delia, are they saying that they were caught off guard by this? Is that what the archdiocese is saying?

GALLAGHER: Well, just that they need to know officially. Somebody has to bring an official complaint to them so that they can start their investigations. You know, there are just sort of procedural issues that are involved.

You can't just go calling on a priest because of a journalist's story. So what they are saying is they need to have that official confirmation from Mark Foley's attorneys, which as of at least on their Web site at the moment -- and we've called their offices many times -- and as of this morning, they had said that they did not have that official confirmation. So it is something that, you know, has to be taken care of procedurally as well.

LEMON: OK. Now, what about more allegations? Typically, sometimes when you hear these allegations from priests, sometimes the fallout is that there are other allegations from other people.

Are you hearing anything of this?

GALLAGHER: Well, we know that he was in several parishes in Florida and then he has retired to Malta. He is a priest from Malta, so he was made a priest there, then went to Brazil, then went to Florida, and back to Malta. So he's been in a number of parishes.

But there is also to ascertain this, Don, that in both the news article from "The Herald Tribune" and in the conversation that he had with our producer from the "PAULA ZAHN NOW" show, he seems a little bit baffled by -- by the accusations. And he does admit to some activities such as the swimming naked and being in a sauna, he says, with a towel on, and giving Mark Foley a neck massage, but he seems a little unclear about actual molestation.

So there is still quite a huge investigation that has to go on as to what exactly happened between those two.

LEMON: Delia Gallagher, thank you so much.

GALLAGHER: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: Oil prices drops, the nation celebrates. Well, most of us celebrate. Coming up, some big trouble over high-risk investments that didn't pan out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Some people might say you need to sweat about your hedge funds right now. We're up here -- it's a little warm. You're glistening.

LEMON: You took your jacket off it's so warm.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm telling you. This vest is going to have to come off soon.

PHILLIPS: Ooh, goodness.

VELSHI: Nice to be here, guys.

PHILLIPS: Great to have you here.

LEMON: Good to see you.

VELSHI: Yes, we need to pick things up a little, you know?

LEMON: How are you?

VELSHI: It's been pretty clean. I've been watching the show all afternoon.

PHILLIPS: Good. Hedge funds...

LEMON: You can dirty it up. That's fine.

VELSHI: No, we're going to -- I'm going to -- I'm going to get my hands dirty telling you about oil -- hedge funds.

PHILLIPS: Right. Affecting them. Good, bad -- some people are saying forget it, others are saying, no, give them a chance. VELSHI: Well, you had this whole story about how -- you know, some people thought it was the Republicans who were pushing the price of oil down before the election. Well, a lot of folks believed it was actually the hedge funds that had an impact on that.

Bottom line is most of us are probably pretty happy that the price of oil is down, but this might actually cost you something in the end because it might have affected your pension.

Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI (voice over): Oil going up to $100 a barrel. Admit it, you thought it was coming. The problem is, so did they.

"They" in this case are the hedge funds, the investment choice of the very rich. Hedge funds, like mutual funds, are large pools of investment money. But unlike mutual funds, they don't have as many rules. They often make riskier investments with the potential of earning higher returns for their investors.

Back in early summer, the smart money was on oil going higher, based largely on forecasts for another devastating hurricane season. Israel and Hezbollah were fighting, and tensions with Iraq were mounting. How could oil prices drop?

So some hedge funds went on a multibillion-dollar buying spree, pushing oil prices even higher. They bet really big. And they bet really wrong.

Doomsday never arrived, not in the Gulf of Mexico, not in the Middle East. So the hedge funds started selling their oil, 40 million barrels of it. Whether the hedge funds actually triggered the drop in oil prices, or just helped push them lower is a chicken or the egg question. But with more a trillion dollars to trade, when the hedge funds sell, we all feel it.

It wasn't just oil. One bet on natural gas and lost $6.5 billion. That fund had to shut down, taking more than just rich folks' money with it. Investors included the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Fund; the New Jersey State Employees' Deferred Compensation Plan; the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System; and the San Diego County Employees' Retirement Association, which lost up to $90 million in that hedge fund.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: And we talked to the president of that particular pension fund and he said to us he had no idea that the hedge fund they were invested in was -- he thought it was more diverse than it was.

OK, so the president of the pension fund didn't know how risky hedge funds are. How are folks who are expecting to live off of those pensions supposed to know?

LEMON: Right.

PHILLIPS: Yes, how do we know? What do we do?

VELSHI: Well, you can ask.

PHILLIPS: Right.

VELSHI: (INAUDIBLE) pension fund.

PHILLIPS: But if the pension fund doesn't even know...

VELSHI: Right. People don't know. They think their pension funds are in these conservative long-term investments.

Now, we spoke to the pension funds. They said a very small part of their investments are in these hedge funds. They're diversified. And frankly, unlike 401(k)s, if you have a pension and you don't like what they're invested in...

LEMON: Right.

VELSHI: ... too bad for you. You can't do anything about it.

PHILLIPS: So no matter what, it's just -- you're just -- it's a leap of faith.

VELSHI: Right. You're going to be calling and find out they're in hedge funds? No.

In fairness, hedge funds are not inherently risky. They're not all risky. A lot of hedge funds are actually more stable than mutual funds.

PHILLIPS: How do you know which ones are the stable ones, though?

VELSHI: You don't. You don't know.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: There's no information out there, and there a lot of people moving to get more information out of hedge funds. Just have them register so you can have -- they have these crazy names and nobody knows what they invest in.

LEMON: You should lead the charge for that, Ali Velshi.

VELSHI: Like a -- yes, you know, a campaign.

LEMON: Yes.

PHILLIPS: All right. What are we going to talk about in the next hour?

VELSHI: We're going to talk about the fact that you can take it with you. Everybody says when you die you can't take it with you. Well, you can if you're a baseball fan.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Oh, yes. I know what you're talking about.

VELSHI: Big baseball night tonight. Game seven.

LEMON: Unusual.

PHILLIPS: Yes. I know you'll be watching.

VELSHI: 8:05 p.m.

PHILLIPS: From business, to sports, to...

VELSHI: I mean, you should -- if you're on CNN, don't -- don't change to watch the baseball game.

LEMON: Of course. Our viewers...

VELSHI: In fact, forget it. There's no baseball game. It's going to get rained out.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: No baseball game. Forget I said that.

PHILLIPS: That's right.

VELSHI: It's my first time here.

PHILLIPS: Ali Velshi, great to have you here.

VELSHI: See you.

PHILLIPS: Added a spunk and energy.

VELSHI: Oh, it was fun. And I told people to watch a different channel.

LEMON: Ali Velshi...

PHILLIPS: We'll see you next hour.

LEMON: ... put some clothes on, will you? Thank you.

VELSHI: See you, guys.

LEMON: Every day it seems like the Dow sets a record. So can it do again today?

Susan Lisovicz down on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

LEMON: Past as prologue? PHILLIPS: A new twist in the Mark Foley case scandal as a Catholic priest acknowledges his inappropriate relationship with Foley.

We've got the latest developments ahead from the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It's recent to Florida and even to the Vatican, but now back to Washington. The big question in the Mark Foley page scandal, who knew what when.

CNN's Andrea Koppel has more on today's testimony before the House Ethics Committee -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, that's right. Now, John Boehner, who is the House majority leader, he is the second highest-ranking member of the House Republicans, has just arrived to take his turn in the ethics committee hot seat. He just arrived a few moments ago here on Capitol Hill and members are sure to ask Boehner to clarify seemingly contradictory comments that he's made since the Foley scandal erupted late last month.

In particular, they'll want Boehner to elaborate on remarks that he made during an interview with a Cincinnati radio station in which he said that he had told Speaker Hastert about these e-mails last spring. And he said in this interview that the speaker told him, quote, "it had been taken care of."

Now, according to a timeline of events that were released by Hastert's office a couple of weeks ago. Hastert claims that he first learned about the Foley e-mails on September the 28th. And, Don, as we all know, that is the day that ABC News first broke their story.

LEMON: That's right, you mentioned Boehner. Boehner is the second witness to testify before the committee today. Jeff Trandahl, he's a former House clerk, he was also there. What did he have to say?

KOPPEL: Well, he was here for just about four hours. That should give you a little window into just how important his testimony could turn out to be. Trandahl was the House clerk until he left Congress last year, and he is one of those who oversaw the entire page program in the House.

He's also one of those who is believed to have met with Mark Foley in September of 2005. And the reason that we know that is that the head of the page program, John Shimkus, told us about that last week. He said that he and Trandahl sat down with Foley to discuss those inappropriate e-mails that he had sent a 16-year-old former page. That's when they told him to knock it off.

Now, Trandahl didn't answer any reporter questions, either going into or leaving the ethics committee room. But his lawyer just released this statement, and even though he didn't say quite that much, what he said was that Trandahl had answered every question asked of him, and stands ready to render additional assistance required, Don. He also said that under his advice, the attorney's advice, Jeff Trandahl would not be making any other comments.

LEMON: All right, Andrea Koppel, thank you.

PHILLIPS: North Korea is many things, depending on who you ask. A member of the nuclear club, maybe; a threat to the world, arguably; an enigma, definitely.

CNN's Alina Cho met two men who set out to make a movie and to get inside the North Korean mindset. They got much more than that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The scene seems all too familiar.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CHO: It could be any Korean-American household in America, but it's not. It's North Korea: a secret world, a closed society, until now. The documentary "A State of Mind" is the work of two British filmmakers, Dan Gordon and Nick Bonner, who filmed North Korea the way it's never been seen by the Western world. It is February 2003, the beginning of an eight-month project.

DANIEL GORDON, DIRECTOR, "A STATE OF MIND": And we couldn't believe, I think, when we were -- when we were granted the access to go into homes, to go into schools, to go into workplaces, that kind of thing, that they would actually follow through and do that for us. But there was an awful lot of trust involved.

CHO: "A State of Mind" is about the mass games, and the people who participate in them. The concept is simple -- no single person is more important than the whole.

(on camera): It really seems to be the ultimate metaphor for communism.

GORDON: Yes, and really, it was, you know, a metaphor for the country. Everything's about the team. We kind of flipped that and took it from our own sort of Western perspective that we wanted to find out about the individual within that team.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CHO (voice-over): The filmmakers follow two North Korean schoolgirls, chosen by the government, as they trained for the mass games: 13-year-old Pak Yon Sun (ph) and 11-year-old Kim Song Yon (ph). They are two of the country's best young gymnasts.

GORDON: At first, they were very stand-offish. I mean, we were the first Westerners they'd ever set eyes on.

CHO: Much of the day is spent training.

(on camera): So much has been made in the film about the training. How demanding is it? How important is it?

GORDON: Have you ever tried to do a cartwheel on concrete? It is unbelievable.

CHO (voice-over): At home, state radio was piped to every kitchen, every morning.

(on camera): You can't turn the volume off.

GORDON: No.

NICK BONNER, ASSOC. PRODUCER, "A STATE OF MIND": You can turn it right down.

GORDON: You can turn it right down, but you can't turn it off.

CHO (voice-over): The TV is a gift from the government, a reward for Yon Sun's performance in the 2002 mass games. There's only one channel, and only for five hours a day. You see, most nights here are spent without electricity.

GORDON: The power went, and we carried on filming. And it ended up being quite a funny moment within the film when the lights go back on.

CHO (on camera): But do they hate the United States, or do they fear the United States?

BONNER: It's a bit of both, I think. They've got a reason to hate the Americans, because of the Korean War, this horrendous war. And they see, because the way their government interprets it, that it is due to U.S. policies that they are -- they've had these problems.

CHO (voice-over): Yet, students learn English.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I've got to go to work with my brother.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wonderful!

CHO: But current events are taught from a North Korean point of view. Take the Iraq war.

(on camera): You get the sense at times when you're watching this that they're brainwashed.

GORDON: Brainwashed is a word that, you know, consistently comes out when you're dealing with that kind of conscious and our perceptions of that. Ultimately, the film remains non-judgmental.

CHO (voice-over): A parade on the eve of the mass games. This is a massive display of organized devotion for their dear leader, Kim Jong-il.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As they march past, they cry "mance" (ph), which means long live.

CHO (on camera): More than a million North Koreans take part in the festival. All the while, Yon Sun and Song Yon, and hundreds of thousands of little girls just like them, are in their final rehearsals. The goal is perfection. The general would accept nothing less.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGAUGE)

CHO (voice-over): Millions of man-hours go into training for the mass games, with the most intensive preparations in the final hours. Sun Yon is selected to perform in the second row, a high honor for an 11-year-old.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CHO: The older Yon Sun is already a veteran. This is her fourth mass games. She's 13.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CHO: Yon Sun and Song Yon perform brilliantly. The result of endless hours, days and months of training is perfect execution.

The girls perform twice a day...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And coming up in the NEWSROOM, our guest hasn't seen a movie about North Korea. He's been there. We're going to talk about his observations, his feelings, especially about sanctions, right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Before the break, two filmmakers gave us an incredible glimpse into daily life in North Korea and the minds of North Koreans. They chose not to judge the clothes and isolated society, and the Kim Dynasty that created it. My next guest has stronger feelings. Han Park, a professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia, one of the few people allowed to travel freely between North and South Korea.

Dr. Park, it's an honor to have you with us.

PROF. HAN PARK, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: Thank you, glad to be here.

PHILLIPS: I think I want to start with the myths that you say surround North Korea. We've heard it from the U.S. administration. We've heard it from other world leaders that Kim Jong Il is a madman. You say no.

PARK: No. He's not a madman. He's very a rational calculator. And, in fact, if he were a madman, we're in deep trouble. But his behavior, if you know -- if you know his mindset, the political culture there, everything he has done would have been predicted.

It's not a terribly unusual thing. He has negotiated with outside people in such a way that he maximized his own national interests, his own political interests. He's not crazy man.

PHILLIPS: But isn't it at the cost of the North Korean people?

PARK: Well, that's something you have to see in greater perspective. The fact that North Korean people are hungry, dying of starvation, North Korean people who are suffering themselves are not blaming Kim Jong Il or the government. They are blaming the outside circumstances, the demise of socialist allies and cutoff, of course, aid from the Soviet Union and China, and Eastern Europe and American hostility.

They are unable -- inability to participate in international economy because of the sanctions and all these. Of course, there are some reasons why they are being sanctioned, but people do not know that.

PHILLIPS: U.S. military leaders say, look, this is a man that trades everything on the black market. This is how he gets his arms, this is how he gets his narcotics. He's so corrupt and so deep into that corruption that he could do something for his people.

PARK: Yes, that is something. Where do we get all this information? We get invariably from those North Korean defectors' confessions. These defectors' accounts are just as unreliable as North Korean propaganda itself.

You've got to have first hand information. Kim Jong Il is not ruling the country with iron fist. Maybe in the beginning, his father's days, the political community and mass belief system is such that he is revered. Believe it or not, he's revered by his people.

PHILLIPS: Pathological nationalism?

PARK: Yes, I mentioned they're pathological. It's a little unusually strong nationalism. If you ask the North Koreans, they almost have illusional perception that the universe is evolving around them. They have an enormous amount of pride.

For example, their ability, in the eyes of North Korean people, to stand against the United States, one to one, toe to toe, is really -- it's a source of extreme pride, national pride. They don't want to undermine that.

PHILLIPS: What about the nuclear threat, though? I think that that's what Americans sit back and think, wow, he's pushing it. He's testing these. What if it could affect me? What about dirty bombs? What if he puts on it a -- that's the -- that's what Americans are thinking about.

PARK: You see, in North Korean political culture, in the mass belief system is so simplistic. It's all nationalism, nationalism, and survival of the regime. Now, after North Korea was put along with Iran, Iraq, and in the axis of evil, early 2000 -- the year 2002, North Koreans have developed a sense of fear. They will be targeted. They will be invaded by the United States. They have seen Iraq, Saddam Hussein going down. Now, they are thinking Kim Jong Il might be.

And they -- in fact, they told me not too long ago -- they, meaning high-ranking officials -- told me that the United States would not have invaded Iraq, had Iraq, Saddam Hussein, had nuclear weapons. That's the conviction that they have. So once they are equipped with the nuclear deterrent, they are convinced, North Koreans, they will not be attacked.

PHILLIPS: So why will -- why does Kim Jong Il continually say, we're testing nukes, we have nukes, we're going to show you, we're going to test, we're going to prove to you that we can be a threat to you?

PARK: Yes, the main reason is, right now, we are suspecting -- we're maybe anticipating a second test. The reason is, he's hearing that their first test was a failure. So he wanted -- they want to demonstrate once and for all they are a nuclear power to reckon with. So that's the single goal.

PHILLIPS: Will sanctions work, or do you think sanctions will create a military confrontation?

PARK: The latter, more likely. Sanctions, once implemented, it will most likely create military skirmishes.

PHILLIPS: Why?

PARK: Because North Koreans will not give in. They are not going to let their boats be inspected forcefully by foreigners. They are not going to allow that. Then what options do we have? We demolish going -- we have enough inability (sic) to demolish and flatten North Korea.

And if we are politically prepared to face the ramifications, consequences of that, we should do that. But I don't think we should -- we should -- we have prepared and therefore ...

PHILLIPS: What does that ...

PARK: ...the only alternative now is sit down with them and negotiate. You know, the foreign policy is negotiation. If we set aside North Korea as a regime of evil and we don't want to sit down with the evil guys -- we are much civilized, they are not good enough -- you know, that is a lot of attitudes. But attitudes do not solve real problems such as nuclear crisis.

PHILLIPS: Dr. Han Park, we could talk for a very long time on this topic.

PARK: Certainly. Certainly.

PHILLIPS: I know we'll discuss more. Our pleasure. Thank you for your time.

PARK: Thank you for inviting me.

LEMON: A mind-blowing threat, but is it legit? Ahead in the NEWSROOM, hear why some NFL stadiums are on alert, and what the FBI is saying about that. We're back in a moment.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's only a matter of time before politicians wake up and realize how important the Internet is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Politicians and policy can be effected by an opinion that's expressed on an Internet blog.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politicians could use the blog to promote themselves to people they wouldn't usually see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For just your average voter, the Internet is really a very valuable resource.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see the web basically being the future of politics.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Sixty million Americans say the Internet helped them make major decisions in their lives in the past two years. But when it comes to politics, how much will the web affect what we hear, what we see, and how we vote?

(voice-over): Henry Farrell (ph) of George Washington University says personal websites, known as weblogs or blogs, will continue changing the political landscape.

HENRY FARRELL, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Blogs are becoming more and more a way in which ordinary people can communicate, can express their political opinions, can engage in certain kind of political actions and have real consequence as a result.

M. O'BRIEN: It was chatter on the so-called "Blogosphere" that ultimately led to Trent Lott's resignation as Senate Majority Leader, and Howard Dean effectively used the Internet to raise interest and money, making him a viable contender for the 2004 Democratic presidential run.

In the future, Farrell says, while its role is ever-changing, the Internet is sure to remain a political force. FARRELL: The future impact of the Internet on politics is enormous. Politics is going to become much more unpredictable than it has been in the past, much more difficult to control, a lot more interesting, a lot more lively.

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