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A Controversial Call in Baghdad; Back to Bargaining

Aired October 31, 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 good morning, everyone.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Tony Harris.

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

For the next three hours, watch events unfold live on this Halloween, Tuesday, the 31st of October.

Here's what's on the rundown now.

A controversial call in Baghdad. The prime minister orders checkpoints abandoned around Sadr City.

What's it about?

A live report straight ahead.

HARRIS: And with just a week to go, CNN is your election headquarters. Get the latest news from the best political team on television, and our guest, Bill Bennett.

COLLINS: Biting back at Iraq -- get a taste of the real Kazakhstan, including a sip of fermented horse milk.

HARRIS: Oh my gosh.

COLLINS: Just wait until you hear what's on his plate.

All of that and more today, in THE NEWSROOM.

It is a blighted slum nestled in the Iraqi capital. Yet today, Sadr City may be among the most important turf in the Iraq war. It is proving -- a proving ground, that is -- for a radical Shiite cleric who has shut down the area in a protest strike against the military crack down. And Iraq's prime minister is seemingly adding to the anti-American tone with orders of his own.

Let's go ahead and get the very latest now from Baghdad and CNN's Arwa Damon -- Arwa, what is this relationship now between Al-Maliki and Muqtada al-Sadr?

It seems very interesting on this day.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, it is very interesting and it is a very complex and delicate relationship that these two men share.

On one hand, you have the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Al-Maliki. On the other hand, you have Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric who has -- who basically is leading the Mahdi Militia, which is one of the better armed militias that exist in this country right now.

For the large part, Nuri Al-Maliki does owe his prime ministership to the support of Sadr's bloc. And we have also seen the Iraqi government increasingly reluctant to at least have a heavy hand in terms of dealing with his militia.

And let's just take a look over what we have seen unfold over the last week that helps really illustrate what this relationship is, what it has become and how it affects things that happen here on the ground in Iraq, especially in Baghdad.

Last Monday, an American soldier was kidnapped. U.S. and Iraqi forces spread throughout all of Baghdad looking for this missing soldier. They also established checkpoints outside of Sadr City. Sadr City is the Mahdi Militia's stronghold, again, the militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

They entered the -- they entered Sadr City looking for their missing soldier, searching homes, and, again, setting up these checkpoints outside. This caused the residents of Sadr City to launch out in a number of demonstrations that we saw happen over the last few days.

Then, yesterday, we heard a call from Muqtada al-Sadr's office for all government employees to stay at home, for all shops to remain shut. We saw this happening in Sadr City, again, demonstrating the U.S. presence, demonstrating these checkpoints that have been set up just outside of Sadr City.

Following that, just a few hours ago, the Iraqi government, Nuri Al-Maliki himself, calling for all checkpoints that have been established outside of Sadr City and in some other parts of Baghdad, which is basically these checkpoints that we saw set up since Monday, last Monday, again, the date that this U.S. soldier was kidnapped. Nuri Al-Maliki calling for these checkpoints to be dismantled.

And, in fact, within hours, we heard from the U.S. military. A spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division -- that is the division that controls Baghdad -- telling CNN that the U.S. military has not fully dismantled these checkpoints, but they are not -- they are no longer searching vehicles, searching pedestrians that are passing through them.

They are still manning these checkpoints, although it is important to point out this moment, these were checkpoints, for the most part, that were already in place. They were manned by the Iraqi security forces.

Following this massive search for the U.S. soldier, we saw a U.S. presence at them, searching the vehicles, searching personnel. We also saw some of the checkpoints that entirely blocked off traffic. And that is where we stand right now, Heidi.

And, again, the main question being why did the prime minister order these checkpoints to be dismantled -- Heidi.

COLLINS: That's for sure.

I know you'll be watching it for us throughout the day, Arwa Damon.

It will be interesting, too, to see what the U.S. military's response is to this action, as well.

Arwa Damon live from Baghdad.

Thank you.

HARRIS: Back to bargaining. North Korea now ready to rejoin talks three weeks after conducting a nuclear test.

CNN's Ed Henry is following the story from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: State Department Supplementation Sean Mccormack confirming to CNN that North Korea has agreed to come back to the so-called six party talks. The U.S. looking for the resumption of those diplomatic talks by the end of the year.

For now, though, the U.S. will continue to press ahead with those tough sanctions passed by the United Nations Security Council, Security Council Resolution 1718.

Why now, you ask? Why is North Korea finally coming back to the table?

Sean McCormack at the State Department saying, "It was clear North Korea was faced with the unified voice of the international community, that there was a cost to their behavior."

You can bet that we'll hear a lot more of that in the coming days from the Bush administration, that basically this is a vindication of the president's strategy, to try to pursue diplomatic channels here.

The president has faced a lot of criticism, particularly from Democrats on Capitol Hill, that the six party talks strategy has really not worked.

But this is a short-term victory for the White House, the fact that they are getting North Korea back to the table. The challenge for the White House long-term, however, is to actually get some progress from those six party talks, because so far they've yielded little at a time when North Korea is getting closer and closer to obtaining nuclear weapons.

Ed Henry, CNN, the White House. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So here's the question.

Did U.N. sanctions drive North Korea back to the bargaining table?

Here's a reminder about U.N. Resolution 1718, passed earlier this month.

The world body demanded North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program. The resolution placed a ban on military and technology hardware and luxury goods. That's backed by international inspections of cargo going into and out of North Korea.

COLLINS: Seven days and counting until voters make their decision.

CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider looks at how they're leaning.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): In the closing stretch of this campaign, Democrats have a couple of things going for them. One is President Bush. Fifty-eight percent of Americans disapprove of the president's job performance.

Democrats are trying to turn that opinion into votes for Democratic candidates. Right now, Democrats have 53 percent of the likely vote across the country. A lot of that Democratic vote is being driven by opposition to President Bush.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: For Democrats, it gives them an opportunity to associate that candidate with Mr. Bush and the Iraq War.

SCHNEIDER: Forty percent of Democratic voters say they are voting to express opposition to the Republican candidate. Less than half as many Republicans say their vote is driven by opposition to the Democrat.

Another factor going for Democrats, enthusiasm. Sixty-five percent of Democrats say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting this year. That number has gone up in the past month. Fifty- three percent of Republicans say they are more enthusiastic than usual. That number has not gone up.

The issue driving all that negative energy?

Iraq. The war remains deeply unpopular.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iraq will lead to victory and glory for the United States, for the Iraqis and for the moderates around the world. SCHNEIDER: The public is skeptical. Just over half of Americans believe the United States will never accomplish its mission in Iraq. Sixty-two percent are ready to withdraw some or all U.S. troops from Iraq. Sixty-nine percent want to see either major changes or a complete overhaul of U.S. tactics and strategy, something the president seems aware of.

BUSH: The events of the past month have been a serious concern to me and a serious concern to the American people.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): Democrats are worried about a November surprise. A verdict, and possibly a sentence, in the Saddam Hussein trial could in fact come before, maybe even shortly before, November the 7th. But no one knows if that would lead to reconciliation in Iraq or to more violence and instability.

Bill Schneider, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: CNN prime time next Tuesday night, beginning at 7:00 Eastern. Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Paula Zahn, Lou Dobbs lead the best political team on television, as your votes are counted. The races, the results, the ramifications, Tuesday night, beginning at 7:00 Eastern.

HARRIS: Under control. Firefighters put the clamps on that massive fire near Palm Springs, California. The blaze burned for five days, destroying 34 homes and scorching more than 40,000 acres. Four firefighters were killed. Another remains in critical condition this morning.

Investigators believe the fire was deliberately set, but so far they have made no arrests -- and, Chad, this is -- I mean, first of all, great work to the firefighters.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.

HARRIS: The conditions certainly changed to help them out, because we were talking about the Day Fire for a month, weren't we?

MYERS: Yes. Absolutely.

HARRIS: Yes.

MYERS: And you can't get your hand around or your mind around 40,000 acres.

HARRIS: Right.

MYERS: That's 60 square miles of burnt.

HARRIS: Man.

MYERS: I mean you think about how big a square mile is, especially if you're a farmer trying to farm it... HARRIS: Right.

MYERS: ... 640 acres. Then do the multiplication. And so that's an awful lot of ground to cover.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Changing topics now, on a mission in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Nearly 3,000 innocent lives were lost and this is why I think we should be fighting this war on terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: U.S. troops talk frankly about fighting the Taliban.

HARRIS: Also, the war on terror -- Pakistan targets suspected militants. Dozens of people are dead. What the Pakistani military is saying about the U.S. role in this attack.

COLLINS: And electronic voting machines -- at issue, who is making them and what does that mean for your vote?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM and we're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The war on terror in Pakistan. The Pakistani Army says it used U.S. intelligence to carry out air strikes Monday. About 80 people were killed near the Afghan border. Pakistan says the religious school targeted was a front for an al Qaeda training camp. The Pakistani military calls those killed suspected militants. Among them, an associate of terrorist leader, Ayman el-Zawahiri.

But thousands of people are protesting in towns across the region. They say innocent students and teachers were killed.

COLLINS: In Afghanistan, the Reuters News Agency reports three NATO soldiers died today. Reuters quotes a NATO official saying a roadside bomb hit a patrol in Nuristan Province. A fourth NATO soldier was wounded. The nationalities of the troops have not been released.

U.S. forces make up most of the NATO contingent in that part of Afghanistan.

Fighting the war on terror in Afghanistan -- G.I.s from the 10th Mountain Division spoke with CNN's Jennifer Eccleston about their mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I'm all for this war. This is where we need to be. Nearly 3,000 innocent lives were lost and this is where I think we should be fighting this war on terror.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: We're here to fight for the right for them to say and feel however they want to feel. They can like us here, not like us here, but when it all comes down to it, if we ever become attacked again in our homeland, they're going to want us right back over here.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What will it take to win that war?

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: It's going to take the government of Afghanistan standing on their own two feet and taking the flag from us, taking the fight from us. Kind of like in the picture where it portrayed us taking the flag over from the firemen in New York City, well, it's going to be taken from us by the Afghan government. And it might take 20 years. It might take five years. It's going to take as long as it takes and we're here for the push.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: To pullout now would be -- we'd be failing the people of Afghanistan. Not only would we be failing the people back home, but we'd be failing the people of Afghanistan because there's a chance. There's a good chance that they're going to be successful and it's going to work out. But it takes time to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: If we pull out, we'll give the Taliban a sense of victory. If we give them a sense of victory, then they'll be like, OK, now let's go hit them on their turf. And then it's just 9/11 all over again.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Back home, they talk about the loss is too great. Well, to me, that's right, the loss is too great. The loss is too great to quit now because everyone that we've lost would be for nothing if they pulled us out now.

We went in there with an objective, a goal, a mission. And in a war you lose soldiers.

But to quit? It's going to create, in the public's perception, another Vietnam, another failed war. And I don't want to have that feeling. Those veterans lived with for years that they were failures when they weren't, that the public, losing its backing of the military, you know, cost us that war. We're here. Let us finish our job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: CNN's Jennifer Eccleston from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the fight of control of Congress. The mid-term elections just a week away. Ahead in THE NEWSROOM, we'll check out the latest poll numbers on the pivotal Senate battle in Virginia. You won't believe how close it is to call.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So now that MySpace and YouTube have corporate ownership, those new owners have to crack down on copyright violations.

Andy Serwer is here this morning, Minding Your Business -- Andy, good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you, Tony.

And, yes, these Web sites are grownups now and they've got to play by big, grownup corporate rules. And it might disappoint some people who are used to the cutting edge behavior that went on on those Web sites.

Let's start out with MySpace, which is now owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. They now have a new audio fingerprinting system in place that blocks users from uploading copyrighted material.

So basically, you know, what was going on is people would just kind of load up songs on their Web sites that were, you know, pirated music and do whatever the heck they wanted.

HARRIS: Yes.

SERWER: This new system will be able to detect whether people are doing that.

HARRIS: So are they only going to be able to stop this, what, one song at a time, perhaps?

SERWER: Well, what's going to happen is they're going to actually be able to target repeat offenders.

HARRIS: Oh.

SERWER: So that if you start doing it a lot, Tony, what's going to happen...

HARRIS: Well, this is no fun.

SERWER: This is no fun. You're going to be permanently barred from the party. I mean what -- you know, this is not non-conformist behavior any more, is it?

HARRIS: Yes, exactly.

So we've just opened up a new opportunity for someone else to create a whole new site.

SERWER: That's probably true.

HARRIS: OK, what about YouTube?

They must be feeling some heat from their new corporate owner. SERWER: Yes, exactly. YouTube, of course, owned by Google. And what's going on here is, of course, they have tens of millions of videos on that site. A lot of them are just uploaded from goodness knows where...

HARRIS: Yes.

SERWER: ... much of it copyright material. Now, Viacom has ordered the company, YouTube, to remove thousands of videos, including videos from "The Jon Stewart Show" and Steven Colbert. And this is very ironic with the Steven Colbert thing, because -- there's Jon Stewart.

HARRIS: Yes.

SERWER: And there are just, oh, dozens of these clips on there. But Steven Colbart said that he was on YouTube so often that he deserved $700 million of the $1.65 billion that Google paid. And, of course, that clip was on YouTube and that clip has now been removed.

HARRIS: Yes.

SERWER: So, you know, around we go in circles with this stuff.

I actually think that, you know, YouTube is such great exposure that, you know, if I was in this business, I might not want to look to get the stuff taken down.

HARRIS: Right.

SERWER: Of course, you know, this stuff is also sold at Viacom's site or available there. So they're trying to get traffic back to their site, as well.

HARRIS: I'm telling you, there's a new opportunity and then we could be talking about all of this money from a corporate buyout.

SERWER: Yes, we could.

HARRIS: Come on, Andy.

Let's get to work here.

SERWER: I know. We need to start a site.

HARRIS: How about that?

All right, what's coming up a little later in the hour?

SERWER: You know, we're going to be talking about that "American Icon," The Pink Flamingoes. And if you're a fan, it's a very, very sad day today, and I'm not going to tell you why, Tony. You're going to have to stay tuned.

HARRIS: It makes me think of Parma, Ohio.

OK, Andy.

See you a little later in the hour.

SERWER: OK, Tony.

Thanks.

COLLINS: A slum in Baghdad -- a line in the sand. A radical cleric on one side, the U.S. on the other, and possibly tipping the scales, an Iraqi government at odds with Washington.

We'll explain, coming up in THE NEWSROOM.

And electronic voting machines -- who makes them and what does that mean for your vote?

Plus, a new movie that pokes fun-at the people of Kazakhstan. And they're ready to poke back. Don't miss it, coming up in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: North Korea says it's ready to return to six party talks over its nuclear program. This comes just about three weeks after North Korea's first nuclear test, about two weeks after the U.N. passed a resolution calling for sanctions.

But there is still some skepticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER HILL, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: We are a long way from our, from our goals still. I mean I'm very pleased, we're very pleased that the DPRK is committing to return to the talks, to implement the statement. But as someone who's been involved in this, I'm -- I have not broken out the cigars and champagne quite yet, believe me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill went on to say he believes the talks could start as early as next month.

HARRIS: A showdown in Sadr City today. The Baghdad slum is a proving ground for an Iraqi prime minister apparently at odds with Washington.

Here's what we know right now. Nuri Al-Maliki has ordered the lifting of joint U.S.-Iraqi military checkpoints around the city. The crack down was implemented last week during the unsuccessful search for a missing U.S. soldier. Prime Minister Al-Maliki's move seemingly gives weight to a shutdown strike called by a radical Islamic cleric.

Transferring security in Iraq, some say it's a matter of money, military hardware and minds.

CNN's John Roberts is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ROBERTS, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the dangerous neighborhoods of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi Army soldiers work side by side, a clearing operation to rid the area of weapons and militia members, an attempt to break the escalating cycle of sectarian violence.

SGT. THOMAS VANANTWERP, U.S. ARMY: They're doing actually pretty good. I was actually pretty impressed. A little slow getting motivated, but once they got working on it, they were doing pretty good.

ROBERTS: Homegrown security forces are not just the key to Iraqis controlling their own country. They are also the best hope that U.S. troops will one day be able to come home. But there are complaints in both America and Iraq that the process is taking too long. Iraq's prime minister on Saturday urged President Bush to accelerate training. And the general in charge of this Iraqi brigade says he doesn't yet have the weapons to build a complete army.

"We have enough vehicles," says General Rezak Saleem. "But weapons, we only have light weapons. So we need heavy weapons or fixed weaponry."

Saleem, who fought the Americans as a member of Saddam's army, says it was a mistake for the Pentagon to disband the Iraqi security forces after the invasion. The U.S. wanted to get rid of Saddam's apparatus. But Saleem insists Iraq would not be racked by the current violence had the military stayed intact.

The army would have affected and controlled the situation from the beginning, he says.

(on camera): The best estimate the U.S. military has for how long it's going to take to transfer authority for security of Iraq to the Iraqi Army and police is 12 to 18 months. That's what General George Casey said last week.

(voice-over): But Nuri al-Maliki, the country's prime minister, is complaining about that, saying if he had the weapons that he needs, he could get the job done within six months.

Whether that's true is open to debate. But weapons are just one complaint you will hear when you talk to these soldiers off camera. They also gripe about bad pay, an average of $300 a month for basic soldiers. Then there's the lack of armored vehicles, they say, and few spare parts. The brigade doctor who didn't want to be identified complains there's no military medical care. Wounded soldiers go to civilian hospitals, where they're at risk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They come to the hospital...

ROBERTS: The terrorists come to the hospital looking for military personnel and they attack them and kill them? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes. Sometimes it happens.

ROBERTS: Accelerating training and the handoff to Iraqi forces could bring its own problems. In many areas where they have taken control, they haven't been able to keep a lid on the violence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want them to put some guards over here in this wood line.

ROBERTS: And it's clear from this joint operation they still need a lot of coaching. Until recently, the U.S. battalion commander says their main job in Baghdad had been manning checkpoints.

LT. COL. CHUCK WEBSTER, US ARMY: It's very hard for them to come off that type of tactic because that's what they're used to. That's what they're taught. That's what they lack more than anything else, is an offensive mindset.

ROBERTS: The Americans are attempting to turn the Iraqis into hunters, to rout out the insurgents and militia members driving the violence. They all seem genuinely enthusiastic about the partnership. And why not? Each side is the best investment the other has got.

John Roberts, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: Heading for the home stretch. The midterm elections now just one week away. At stake, control of Congress. Democrats need 15 seats to take back the House, and 6 to regain control of the Senate. Several states considered pivotal in the fight for the Senate and here's how the numbers stack up: In the latest CNN poll of likely voters by Opinion Research Corporation, take a look at this now. In Missouri, a dead heat -- 49 percent support incumbent Republican Senator Jim Talent, 49 percent back his Democratic challenger, Claire McCaskill. And onto New Jersey, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez holds an 51 to 44 percent edge over his Republican challenger Tom Kean. In Ohio, Republican Senator Mike DeWine trails his Democratic rival Sherrod Brown by a margin of 54 to 43 percent. Down in Tennessee, 52 percent of elected voters there support Republican candidate Bob Corker, 44 percent back the Democrat Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. And in Virginia, Republican Senator George Allen trails his Democratic opponent, Jim Webb, 50 to 46 percent.

COLLINS: The bruising Senate battle in Virginia certainly a race to watch. Here now CNN's Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Senate race here in Virginia was supposed to be a lock for the incumbent Republican George Allen, but things all changed over the summer when Allen had what's known here in Virginia as his "maccaca" moment, when he referred to an aide of his opponent, Jim Webb, by using what appeared to be a racial slur. Now, Allen has since apologized and explained but what has happened in the past two and a half months is his 16- point lead has evaporated.

In a new poll, for CNN conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, Jim Webb, the Democrat, has 50 percent and Allen has 46 percent. It's a statistical dead heat but shows why this Senate race here in Virginia has become so rough and tumble. Now, Jim Webb is a Republican turned Democrat. He is a former Navy secretary who wrote several things about women in the military, including the fact at the time he did not believe that women should be in combat. Well, Republicans are airing an ad now in Virginia suggesting not so subtly that Webb has a problem with women. And, in fact, the Allen campaign over the last several days has been pushing some sexually explicit passages in some novels that Webb wrote, again, Senator Allen himself on the campaign trail over and over trying to make the case that Webb has said some things, written some things, that are degrading to women.

Now, this race has become quite nasty when it comes to the personal attacks. But it also is about the issues. Iraq looms large over Virginia, as it does on the campaign trail across the country. And Senator Allen is a Republican who, for a long time, was very much supportive, in lockstep with the Bush policy when it comes to Iraq. But Democrat Jim Webb is a former Vietnam veteran. He has made Iraq, his opposition to the war, a primary part of his campaign. And now Senator Allen is one of several Republicans in trouble who has changed his tune when it comes to Iraq. He now says that the a administration should think about changing its strategy, changing its tactics. He told us over the weekend, the results and progress in Iraq are insufficient.

Dana Bash, CNN, Alexandria, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Don't forget, CNN primetime next Tuesday night, beginning at 7:00 Eastern, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Paula Zahn, and Lou Dobbs lead the best political team on television, as your votes are counted. The races, the results, and the ramifications, Tuesday night, beginning at 7:00 Eastern.

HARRIS: Well, as we told you just a short time ago, North Korea has agreed to return to six-party talks, just three weeks after conducting a nuclear test. The president right now is meeting at the White House with the U.S. special envoy to Sudan but we are getting some word of how the president feels about this announcement from North Korea. The president saying that he is very pleased with the progress with North Korea on the nuclear issue. The president saying that the U.S. is going to send teams to the region to ensure current U.N. resolution, that the current U.N. resolution on North Korea is enforced. So, some of the comments that we're getting from the president now we will hear more shortly as we get some tape in of that meeting between the president and the U.S. special envoy to Sudan.

(WEATHER REPORT) COLLINS: A new movie pokes fun at the people of Kazakhstan, and they're ready to poke back. We will talk about that coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And you thought your commute was beastly. A highway hazard to be sure. A hazard that gives new meaning to the term cattle drive. (INAUDIBLE) That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: White House correspondent Ed Henry is standing by now.

And, Ed, in my ear, I guess we've just received a two-minute warning to the tape of the meeting between the president and the U.S. special envoy to Sudan. But at the end of that, the president will take some questions on the news that North Korea is heading back to six-party talks.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony. I was in the Oval Office, and in fact, the president ended up not taking questions, but you're right, he addressed the situation in North Korea on his own, after dealing with Sudan.

On Sudan, obviously a very serious international crisis, the president saying he received a, quote, "grim report" from this special envoy about the situation, pledging as well the United States will work with the international community to come up with a single plan to deal with this situation and help save lives.

Then he turned on his own to North Korea. The president saying he's, quote, "very pleased" that North Korea has now agreed to restart the six-party talks, to sit back down at the table with those five other nations, including the United States. The president, in particular, singling out the Chinese, saying they helped with this initial breakthrough.

But the president also stressing what he's been saying amid all this criticism about the six-party talks, the president saying it's important to have all these nations sitting down at the table instead of just the U.S. and North Korea.

Now an important note, the president also said he is now sending -- the U.S. is sending teams to the region to make sure that the U.N. sanctions are still enforced in this time period before the actual six-party talks commence again. We're told that the U.S. wants those talks to get restarted by the end of the year, but obviously they want to make sure North Korea still abides by the sanctions passed by the U.N., and also to make sure that there's actual progress with these six-party talks. As you know, a lot of critics have said just because they're sitting down at the table, does not necessarily mean that there's progress at those six-party talks, but you can bet the administration feels this is a bit of a vindication of the president's strategy, and I understand the tape is about to start, Tony.

HARRIS: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've just had a meeting with the presidential special envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios.

I asked Andrew to serve our country and really serve the cause of humanity by taking on this important assignment. He's working very closely with Secretary Rice.

He brought -- he was just there for 10 days and he came back with a grim report about the human condition -- a lot of people who suffer. And, you know, Andrew -- the good thing about Andrew is -- one thing, he puts a report out there, but he also understands we got to do something about it.

And the United States is going to work with the international community to come up with a single plan on how to address this issue and save lives.

And Andrew is going to work with other partners in peace and they'll take that plan to the current government of Sudan.

One element of the plan is something that I strongly supported all along: and that there needs to be a credible and effective international force to go into Darfur to save lives, to make it clear that the international community respects human life and the international community will work in concert to save human life.

Andrew, I want to thank you for taking on this assignment. The situation in Darfur is on our minds. The people who suffer there need to know that the United States will work with others to help solve the problem.

And the government of Sudan must understand that we're serious, when you deliver a message to them on behalf of our government; that we're earnest and serious about their necessity to step up and work with the international community.

So thank you, Andrew, for that.

Today, as well, we had news out of the Far East. There's an agreement to restart the six-party talks concerning North Korea.

I'm pleased. And I want to thank the Chinese for encouraging the meeting that got the agreement to get the six-party talks restarted.

I've always felt like it is important for the United States to be at the table with other partners when it comes time to addressing this important issue. And so I thank not only the Chinese, but the South Koreans, the Japanese and the Russians for agreeing to come back to the table with North Korea.

We'll be sending teams to the region to work with our partners to make sure that the current United Nations Security Council resolution is enforced, but also to make sure that the talks are effective; that we achieve the results we want, which is a North Korea that abandons her nuclear weapons programs and her nuclear weapons in a verifiable fashion in return for a better way forward for her people.

And so, I'm very pleased with the progress being made in the Far East.

Obviously, we've still got a lot of work to do. But I want to thank the secretary for her good work when she went out to the region and assure the American people we'll continue to work to resolve this in a peaceful way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And there you have it. The president is reacting to the news that after seven hours of talks in Beijing, there is an agreement, North Korea is going back to the six-had party talks. Our White House correspondent Ed Henry is standing by.

Ed, this is a positive step forward. You can't get a negotiated settlement until there are talks.

HENRY: That's right. And certainly in the short term, the White House is going to hail this as a major victory and a vindication of the president's strategy to try the diplomatic tract, whereas a lot of critics on Capitol Hill have been saying that you needed direct talks with North Korea, between the U.S. and North Korea, not the six-party talks. Of course, in the long term, though, the White House still has to deal with the challenge of will these six-party talks, whether they get started or not, will they actually yield any real progress in stopping North Korea's development of nuclear weapons.

I think it's also interesting that this morning word is coming out of Japan that they're opposing a return to the six-party talks until North Korea specifically renounces nuclear weapons. Obviously we're not hearing that yet from North Korea, something the president didn't mention. Since he did not take any questions we didn't get to ask him about that. But Tony Snow in the next hour will be briefing reporters, and you can bet he'll be asked about that -- Tony.

That's interesting, because the world body has demanded in 1718 that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program. So that's an interesting little sidebar there.

HARRIS: Ed, appreciate it. Thank you. Ed Henry at the White House.

COLLINS: Did U.N. sanctions drive North Korea back to the bargaining table? Here's a reminder about U.N. resolution 1718. It was passed earlier this month. The world body demanded North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program. The resolution placed a ban on military and technology hardware, as well as luxury goods. That's backed by international inspections of cargo going into and out of North Korea.

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(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: Look, here's a cattle drive you have to see to believe. For this roundup, the cowboys rode in on squad cars, right?

COLLINS: This is the wimpy way to do it. You've to go out there and you've got to have the ropes, and you've got have to have the gear, and you've got to get...

HARRIS: Which is the right way to do it. Right, so they corralled 15 cows on Florida's busy interstate 95 near Titusville. How did the cows get there? Well, a hole in the fence. How'd they round them up? An interesting question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL MOORE, FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL: Luckily the cattle were in an area of where the guardrail was, so we just closed both ends of that area and were able to kind of corral them until we got ahold of the rancher. As soon as they saw daddy, they followed him back into the hole where they came out of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Following big papa. Way to go. The cows are all safely back on their pasture. No one injured, happy to say.

COLLINS: Very happy.

From nuclear tests to nuclear talks, North Korea says it is ready to return to the table. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And this is no Tennessee waltz. It's a high-stakes race for the Senate, Harold Ford Jr. versus Bob Corker. We will find out where things stand, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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