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American Morning
North Korea Back to Bargaining; Sadr City Showdown; Key Races in November's Elections
Aired October 31, 2006 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, Iraq's prime minister handed victory to Shiite militants. He orders the U.S. to end security blockades around the turbulent Sadr City.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A diplomatic breakthrough. North Korea agrees to return to talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons program.
And seven days until the midterm elections. We've got revealing new poll numbers from the battleground states. You'll see them only on CNN.
M. O'BRIEN: And suspicions that lettuce and tomatoes are causing a salmonella outbreak all across the country.
Those stories and more ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. It is October 31st. That's Halloween.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Let's get right to it.
A diplomatic breakthrough to tell you about in the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis. The Kim Jong-il regime apparently agreeing to resume talks with the U.S. and five other nations.
CNN's Ed Henry at the White House with details for us.
Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
That's right, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack confirming to CNN that in fact North Korea has finally agreed to come back to those six-party talks. The U.S. looking for the resumption of these diplomatic talks by the end of the year, but for now, the U.S. still pressing ahead with those sanctions, as you know, already passed by the United Nations Security Council, just to make sure that North Korea follows through on this agreement to come back to the six-party talks. Why now? You may ask. Sean McCormack at the State Department saying it's clear that "North Korea was faced with the unified voice of the international community, that there was a cause to their behavior."
You can bet you're going to hear now from the Bush administration, after taking so much criticism for the North Korea situation. They're really going to be hitting hard the idea that it was those sanctions before the United Nations that really forced North Korea back to the diplomatic table.
You can bet the president is going to say that this is a vindication of his strategy. He's been taking a lot of criticism from Democrats in particular leading up to this election that North Korea is another crisis and that the president's handling of the situation has only made it worse. You can bet now the White House is going to be saying that the president's strategy has been vindicated, at least in the short term, that they're finally getting North Korea back to the six-party talks.
But, of course, in the long term, the White House still has to deal with the fact that so far these six-party talks have really yielded very little and, meanwhile, North Korea has been getting closer and closer to nuclear weapons -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ed Henry at the White House for us this morning.
Thanks, Ed.
Let's turn now to the fight for Iraq. Here's what's new this morning.
Iraq's prime minister has ordered U.S. checkpoints taken down in Sadr City. The U.S. troops had been setting up blockades after an American soldier disappeared.
And there's news overnight that three more American soldiers have died in combat. That brings October's death toll to 103.
The total number of U.S. troops stationed in Iraq is up to 150,000 now. That's the high end of what has become the normal deployment.
And Iraq is ordering U.S. troops out of the Sadr City checkpoints today. Those checkpoints part of a crackdown that generated lots of anger among Shiites, as we've been telling you about.
Let's get right to CNN's Arwa Damon in Baghdad for us this morning.
Arwa, good morning.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And according to the senior spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division -- that is the division that actually controls Baghdad -- Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Withington (ph), he said that the U.S. military did receive orders from their higher command based on this announcement by the Iraqi prime minister.
They have right now opened up these checkpoints that are around Sadr City and in some other isolated parts of the city. All of them in eastern Baghdad, where Sadr City is located. They have not shut down these checkpoints entirely. They are still manning them; however, they have opened them up.
They are not checking vehicles. They are not checking individuals that are passing through them. But let's take a quick look at why all of this happened and why we reached such a point.
Sadr City is a Mehdi militia stronghold that has not seen a U.S. presence for the better part of the last three years. It is controlled by the militia.
Last Monday, a U.S. soldier was kidnapped. U.S. forces entered Sadr City, among other places, searching for their missing soldier. This caused the people of Sadr City to protest, to hit the streets in demonstration. It also caused the offices of Muqtada al-Sadr -- that is the radical Shia cleric to whom the Mehdi militia is loyal -- to announce and request, call for government employees not to go to work, to call for shops to remain closed.
We did see that, according to witnesses in Sadr City today.
Then, later on in the day today, an announcement from the Iraqi government ordering all checkpoints around Sadr City, as well as all checkpoints that have been set up since the kidnapping of that U.S. soldier last Monday, to be dismantled. It does seem right now that this is a victory for the Mehdi militia, for Muqtada al-Sadr -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Arwa Damon in Baghdad for us this morning.
Thanks, Arwa -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Here at home, the campaign for control of Congress heading into the home stretch. Exactly one week from the midterm election. We have some new CNN poll numbers out this morning on the nation's hottest races.
President Bush, meanwhile, is making a major push, trying to keep some key House seats on his side of the aisle.
The best political team on television has this covered this morning.
Candy Crowley is in St. Louis. John King in Nashville. Dana Bash in Alexandria, Virginia.
Let's get started with Candy Crowley.
Candy, yesterday we were talking about playing to rural Missouri and the issues which are important there. I noted yesterday that the president brought up the issue of same-sex marriage, one of those so- called wedge issues, those social issues, those moral issues.
Is that an issue that is going to get any sort of traction in Missouri?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely it's an issue. I can tell you that yesterday, Jim Talent was campaigning in southeastern -- which is to say a very rural part of Missouri -- and in every stop he mentioned gay marriage and his opposition to it.
It is definitely one of those things that gets the core of Republicans here in Missouri out to vote. And that is the social issues.
Chief among them at this point, the gay marriage, which was -- was stirred up, as you know, by the New Jersey court opinion. So obviously this is something that gets them out to vote.
There are other issues here, the stem cell research. No one really knows exactly whose voters come out on that one particularly.
There's also a minimum wage initiative on the ballot here which Democrats are hoping will hope the Democratic challenger, Claire McCaskill.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, in an era, in an election where people are so concerned about the war in Iraq, do these issues really rise to the surface? Do they -- do they -- are they -- in voters' minds, do they equate?
CROWLEY: No. You still have to look at Iraq and the economy as the major issues that are -- that people are thinking about. But when you look at what drives voters to the polls, particularly among Republicans, who at this point are disillusioned, there is some fear that they will stay home, a reminder of the issues which brought them to the Republican Party in the first place can bring them out to the polls, however reluctantly.
So, as you see Republicans returning to these issues, it is a -- directly aimed at the base. And in Missouri, that means their rural base. And that is a very conservative constituency that they're trying to bring out.
So, while Iraq and the economy are still the overlay of this election, there are those initiatives that will bring voters out to the polls.
M. O'BRIEN: And it won't take too many voters to tilt it one way or another. All right.
Candy Crowley, thank you very much.
On now to a very tight and a very ugly race in Tennessee. That's where Republican Bob Corker facing off against Democrat Harold Ford Jr.
Let's go live now to our chief national correspondent, John King. He's in Nashville this morning.
You know, the ads there, I think the total -- I saw a figure this morning, John -- $2.6 billion spent on ad campaigns, on commercials this year. Certainly the local TV stations do enjoy this time of the year.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they do.
M. O'BRIEN: But the question is -- so many of them are nasty and negative. And there's one ad, in particular, in Tennessee that has really kind of risen to the top or dropped to the bottom, whichever way you look at it.
The question is, does it motivate voters one way or another? Do they stay home, or does it inspire them to go to the polls?
KING: Well, Miles, that is one of the strategies of using negative ads. In one case, it is to motivate your own supporters to come out, to say, if you elect the other guy, look how horrible things will be. But another part of using negative ads is to convince people to stay home who you know won't vote for your candidate, so you try to scare them away from the other candidate to try to get them to stay home.
That has long been a tactic in negative ads. In every campaign voters complain about them, and in every campaign the consultants keep using them. Why? Because they are proven to work in campaigns.
Here in this campaign in Tennessee you noted there have been some ugly ads on television, some race-baiting, according to those who work and support the Democratic candidate, Congressman Harold Ford of the Memphis area. He is African-American, he hopes to be the first African-American senator from the South since reconstruction. He's running in a close race here.
Our new CNN poll out this morning shows things breaking, according to this one poll, a bit for the Republican, Bob Corker. He's the former mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Our poll shows among likely voters that Bob Corker has opened up an eight-point lead, 52 percent to 44 percent. I just spoke to Congressman Ford on the phone this morning, though. He says his own polls show the race much closer than that. Some other public polls show it much closer than that.
But it is a critical Senate race for the seat now held by the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist. One of the races Democrats need to win, Miles, if they hope to get control of the Senate.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, John King, in Nashville.
On to Virginia we go. That's a real horse race there as well. A new CNN poll out this morning has the Democratic challenger, James Webb, leading the Republican incumbent, George Allen, but it's still within the margin of error. And this -- let's go to Dana bash. This truly is a novel campaign as we have -- I can't recall a candidate ever having to defend fiction he wrote years ago -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's a golden rule of politics, Miles. As the race gets tighter, as Election Day draws nearer, it definitely gets nastier. And that is absolutely what's happening here in Virginia.
You know, this is a race, as you said, that now, according to our latest poll this morning, is a statistical dead heat. And what Republicans have been trying to do over the past week or so is really get -- attack Webb hard on an issue, an appeal to a constituency, women, that Republicans really want to take away from Webb.
What they've been trying to do is air ads saying that Webb, who is a former Navy secretary, said some things about women, that they should not be allowed in combat. Also, as you mentioned, these novels.
Webb is a novelist. He's written several military novels. And in them he has some pretty sexually explicit passages.
Well, the Allen campaign and even the senator himself have been -- they've been out on the trail. We've been with them over the past couple of days. At every stop he's been talking about these passages. The message from Allen is that this shows he thinks that Webb is demeaning towards women.
Now, why is this all happening? It shouldn't have been like this, Miles. This is a race that had Allen well ahead.
He is somebody who was thinking about 2008, a presidential bid. Much more, in fact, perhaps, than he was about this Senate race, keeping his Senate seat. But we've had a few self-inflicted wounds, though, that we've seen here in Virginia. The biggest of which was Senator Allen and what has been known here as his "Macaca" moment, talking about one of the Webb's campaign aides at his event and what appeared to be a racial slur.
Things devolved from there. That is what has made this a neck- and-neck race, which really wasn't supposed to happen. And this race really could -- is giving Democrats some of the positive feeling that they have about potentially taken over the Senate, which was not even in the mix, in the cards just a couple of months ago -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash in Alexandria.
Thank you.
Candy Crowley and John King, thank you as well. Part of the best political team on television.
You'll want to catch a special two-hour edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM". It begins at 7:00 Eastern tonight. Paula Zahn joining Wolf Blitzer live from CNN election quarters all this week -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, an outbreak of salmonella affecting 172 people in 18 states. Health officials say it may have spread through lettuce or tomatoes. No deaths, but 11 people have been hospitalized.
In California, two men have been questioned and then released in connection with that deadly arson near Palm Springs. The wildfire killed four firefighters, critically injured a fifth, and destroyed dozens of homes. This morning that fire is fully contained.
A drill in the Persian Gulf is now focusing on weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. and its allies practicing boarding and searching a British ship carrying mock nuclear detonators. It's taking place only about 20 miles from coastal waters of Iran. Officials called the drill a success.
And they're cleaning up the damage in the northern Philippines from Typhoon Cimaron. Ten people died as the maximum Category 5 storm hit, causing extensive flooding and damage. Cimaron is now churning toward Vietnam.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, which party has the more energized base heading into the midterm elections?
We'll take a look.
Plus, the fight for Iraq. News this morning that neighboring Saudi Arabia has a plan to stop the violence. The latest from the Saudi ambassador to the United States ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Top stories we're following for you this morning.
October's deadly toll in Iraq inches up overnight. A hundred and three American service members have died this month alone.
And a slight dip in the number of illegal immigrants arrested while trying to enter the U.S. last year. Arrests down about 100,000. But more than a million arrests were made overall.
It's about 15 minutes past the hour. You're headed out the door. Stop, wait one second.
Chad Myers has some words for you.
Hello, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Stop if you're flying to Seattle.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Just a week until the midterm elections. Several key races will determine which party is going to control the Senate.
Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, joins us in person with a closer look.
Good morning. Nice to see you, as always.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to be here.
S. O'BRIEN: As we've been saying, the Democrats now need six seats in order to control the Senate.
With a week to go, how's it looking for the Dems?
SCHNEIDER: Close. This could get really exciting down to the wire.
How about this? We have three seats that a lot of polls show the Democrats are likely to pick up from Republicans. That's Rhode island, Pennsylvania, Montana. Our own poll shows -- shows the Democrat ahead in Ohio. So that's a total of four.
Now, there are three other states where they could pick up states. They need two of them.
Our poll shows the Democrat, Jim Webb, slightly ahead in Virginia, but not safely ahead. Missouri, an absolute dead heat. And behind in Tennessee.
So to win the majority in the Senate, they're going to have to take both Virginia and Missouri. It's going to be down to the wire and very exciting.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it could be an exciting night in seven days.
Turnout is key. In the past, turnout has favored Republicans. And I think even really in Tennessee turnout is going to be very, very important in that race.
SCHNEIDER: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Who's favored now this time around?
SCHNEIDER: Democrats have a lot more enthusiasm or somewhat more enthusiasm than Republicans. And this is kind of rare. Because Democrats are angry.
Our polling asked people, "Are you more enthusiastic than usual about voting this year?" You see here, Democrats, 65 percent say they're more enthusiastic than usual. Republicans, 53.
That Democratic number has gone up in the past month. That Republican number has not changed.
One reason that -- one thing that's driving the Democrats' enthusiasm is anger. About 40 percent of Democrats say that they're voting against their Republican opponent rather than for the Democratic candidate.
So, what that says is, a lot of anti-Bush, anti-war voting among Democrats. They're angry.
S. O'BRIEN: Anger will motivate you right to the poll, won't it, sometimes?
SCHNEIDER: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, the president is campaigning today. He's in Georgia. He's supporting Mac Collins who is up for reelection there.
Some people have said, though, that with the president's own poll numbers, he's more of a liability than a help. And yet, you see him working hard campaigning.
How can both things be true?
SCHNEIDER: Well, they are both true. He's a help with his own base and he's a problem because he also drives up Democratic support.
He's picking the districts carefully. You mentioned Georgia. He's been to Texas, he's been to Indiana.
These are places where there are more Republicans than Democrats in these districts. So, the expectation is that he can fire up the Republican base at less risk of also firing up the Democratic base. And one of the ways he's doing that is by stirring up anger on the Republican side.
He's saying, be aware of what can happen if the Democrats take over Congress. The Democrats are the party of "just say no." So he's trying to stimulate their anger at their ancient enemy, the Republican's enemy, the Democrats. And he's warning them, the Democrats look very happy right now, they have high expectations, but don't forget what happened in 2004.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some of those high expectations. There are real risks of that, because you can raise expectations, and then if you don't make what you've set up, you have a problem.
SCHNEIDER: That's exactly right. There's always a -- I call it a phantom candidate in every election called expected. It's not enough to win, you've got to do better than expected.
And right now we did a poll about this and asked people, "Who do you expect to win control of Congress?" And most Americans say they expect the Democrats to win.
S. O'BRIEN: That's kind of been the headline...
SCHNEIDER: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: ... that the Democrats could take over control of Congress.
SCHNEIDER: Exactly. So suppose the Democrats gain 10, 12 seats, but not the 15 they need to win the House, or they come just shy of winning a majority in the Senate. They will have done worse than expected. And that will be seen as a very crushing and bitter defeat, and there will be recriminations and the usual ceremonies.
But the Democrats have to beat expectations in this case, and their biggest problem is expectations are rising fast.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, they really are. And they've got seven days to go.
SCHNEIDER: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: They could still rise.
Bill Schneider in person. Nice to see you as always. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
SCHNEIDER: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: "THE SITUATION ROOM" is expanding to two hours starting tonight, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Wolf Blitzer is going to be joined by Paula Zahn. They'll be live in New York all this week -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Soledad.
Stories we're following for you right now.
The Pentagon is considering boosting the number of Iraqi troops in Iraq.
And authorities question two men about that deadly arson fire in southern California.
More ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Top stories for you this morning.
An outbreak of salmonella in 18 states. The source could be contaminated lettuce or tomatoes.
One week until the midterm elections. New numbers out this morning in our CNN poll. Missouri and Virginia Senate races in dead heat, while in Tennessee, Republican Bob Corker opens an eight-point lead over Democrat Harold Ford Jr. -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, this is a story of a different sort of stem cell research, you might say.
Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business," telling us how to build a better pumpkin, Franken (ph) pumpkin or something.
ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Yes, that's right.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
SERWER: And these scientists are hard at work. First of all, I want to point out that we do have some Halloween candy here after that...
S. O'BRIEN: Ooh, bring that on right over here.
SERWER: We didn't bring it out right away because, Soledad, you weren't here. So it's here for you now.
M. O'BRIEN: You mean it wasn't good enough for me. It was just for Soledad.
SERWER: I wanted you to share.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, I see.
SERWER: You would have taken it all. That's the problem.
M. O'BRIEN: That's a good point. That's a good point.
SERWER: Yes.
Now, Building a better pumpkin -- and you might wonder what that's all about. Well, it's really about the peduncle. And the peduncle...
M. O'BRIEN: Excuse me? I'm sorry.
SERWER: The peduncle is the stem of the pumpkin. And scientists at Monsanto, which is the big chemical and agribusiness company in St. Louis, Missouri, are working hard to build a better pumpkin, which means a better peduncle.
And if you know about pumpkins, which I'm sure you do, there's nothing worse than getting a pumpkin, picking it up by the stem, and having the stem fall off.
M. O'BRIEN: It happened to me.
SERWER: You can't...
M. O'BRIEN: I got five pumpkins. They were lousy stems.
SERWER: It's not a pumpkin unless it has the stem. And so, believe it or not, scientists are working hard. The pumpkin business is $106 million crop annually. And as you can imagine, most of this spent right around this time of the year.
The pumpkin belt, which is where most pumpkins are raised -- grown in the United States, I guess you would say, not raised. That's farm animals.
S. O'BRIEN: Cattle is raised.
SERWER: Yes, exactly.
S. O'BRIEN: But we're following you. Go ahead. SERWER: Cold weather between Illinois and New Hampshire. It does better in the northern part of the United States because that kills the funguses that attack the pumpkins. So, you can grow them in the South, but they're better grown in the North.
M. O'BRIEN: Right. And for some reason, big ones always come from Rhode Island.
SERWER: Is that right?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Year after year they have a good crop.
M. O'BRIEN: Year after year.
SERWER: Really?
M. O'BRIEN: They always do well there.
SERWER: Well, maybe it's cold. How are the peduncles there?
M. O'BRIEN: Very good peduncles in Rhode Island, yes.
SERWER: Stern and sturdy peduncle.
M. O'BRIEN: I think that's a town in Rhode Island -- Peduncle, Rhode Island.
SERWER: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
SERWER: All right. Moving on to some other Americana here. And this is a sad story.
The pink flamingo is probably going to be no more. At least the main factory that makes the pink flamingos that started it all in Leominster, Massachusetts.
M. O'BRIEN: Leominster there -- yeah.
SERWER: Leominster, Massachusetts. A company called Union Products, which made the original pink flamingo -- do we have Polly here? Why don't we bring her in.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, excellent. Thank you.
SERWER: Come on, Polly. Thank you, Pete, for bringing in Polly.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
SERWER: Everyone knows what this looks like, but it's so sweet.
And 49 years old this year. Tomorrow the factory is shutting down. They're citing -- I like holding this and doing this report. They're citing higher resin cost and higher electricity cost.
I would suspect that lower demand for the end product might have something to do with it as well.
M. O'BRIEN: Might have something...
(CROSSTALK)
M. O'BRIEN: I thought it kind of had come back, because you see them on people's yards for their birthdays and so forth.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes.
SERWER: I guess. But, you know, they can be recycled. She'll last a long time.
M. O'BRIEN: You're kind of sticking your neck out there, pal.
SERWER: I see.
M. O'BRIEN: You know what we should do? We should go put 49 flamingos in front of their factory. Somebody should do that.
SERWER: That would do it. Pass the flamingo?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Thank you.
SERWER: You're welcome.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you so much.
All right.
S. O'BRIEN: I'll keep the candy. Thanks.
SERWER: Yes, now that's a bargain.
M. O'BRIEN: How did I end up with this deal?
S. O'BRIEN: I definitely won that one.
SERWER: Yes, you did.
S. O'BRIEN: Here's a look at some of the stories we're following for you this morning.
The U.S. death toll in Iraq is now 103 for the month of October.
And NASA is expected to announce today whether it's planning another mission to repair the Hubble telescope.
Much more news in just a moment. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: New this morning for you, Iraq's prime minister hands a victory to Shiite militants. He's ordered U.S. security checkpoints around the Sadr City section of Beirut dismantled -- Beirut, Baghdad dismantled. My apologies.
S. O'BRIEN: And North Korea returning to the table. The country agreeing this morning to resume talks about ending its nuclear weapons program.
M. O'BRIEN: And a burning debate, can soda burn fat right off your body? Really?
Those stories and more ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Really, but maybe not. Welcome back everybody. It's Tuesday, October 31st. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us. Happening in America, another food scare to tell you about. A Salmonella outbreak in 18 states, at least 170 are sick. The likely source, contaminated lettuce and tomatoes. Government investigators are on it but so far have not identified any particular brands.
In California, that huge, deadly arson fire near Palm Springs is contained, but the investigation continues. Authorities have now released two men they hauled in for questioning. Four firefighters killed. A fifth is in critical condition.
In the Philippines, ten people have been killed by a violent typhoon. The storm brought pounding rains and howling winds to the nation yesterday. Thousands of people are now in shelters. The storm is expected to hit Vietnam later this week.
S. O'BRIEN: Word of a break through in Asia this morning as North Korea agrees to return to the six-party nuclear arms talks. Hugh Riminton is just back from the news conference at the U.S. embassy in Beijing. Good morning Hugh.
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Soledad. Well, it took seven hours of secret talks but some rare good news coming out about North Korea. The chief U.S. envoy, Christopher Hill, emerging to say he's not breaking out the cigars and the champagne just yet, but North Korea is coming back to six-party talks. Apparently late last week China got a message through to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and said how would you feel about having some quiet talks in Beijing about returning to the negotiating table?
They sent across the envoy Christopher Hill. Those talks took place today and it turns out North Korea says no preconditions. We'll come back. We'll talk about this. We'll take all this back, in fact, to before we tested a nuclear weapon, back to September last year, where North Korea agreed to a statement in which it said it would de- nuclearize the Korean Peninsula, dismantle its nuclear weapons program in return for power supplies and other concessions from other parties to the talks. It says it wants to go back there. Its only complaint is it wants to have some seized assets, held in Macao, released.
The United States says it's willing to talk about releasing that. That's always on the table and that was the only thing that even remotely approached a precondition. In the meantime, U.N. sanctions stay in place. The talks likely to be held in December, if not, perhaps, a little earlier. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Hugh Riminton in Beijing for us this morning. Hugh, thank you. Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Violence in Iraq out of control and part of the Pentagon's newest plan to get a handle on the violence calls for increasing the size of Iraqi security forces.
CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon with more. Hello Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again Miles. Well, senior Pentagon officials tell us that actually the U.S. and the Iraqi government have been talking about this idea now for some time. But it has come now to the fruition, if you will, to be more of a definite proposal than it's been before, perhaps increasing the size of the Iraqi army by 20,000 to 40,000 troops. That's what's on the table. That's what the two sides are talking about.
Of course, this will be something that has to be worked out. Both sides have to agree that this is the way to go forward. Prime minister Nuri al Maliki is said to want this. He believes it will give him more flexibility in gaining control over the security situation if he has more troops. But, it will cost. It will cost in terms of putting more U.S. military trainers in Iraq to increase the number of trainers to make these troops able to function and do their jobs. So still a proposal, still a final decision to be made, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Explain how this would work. Obviously there's been difficulty getting the troops trained and ready and up to speed. How would they actually go about doing this?
STARR: Well what they are thinking about doing first is increasing the size of the U.S. military training teams that are with each Iraqi unit. That will give them more flexibility. Adding Iraqi forces. And the other ideas on the table are to increase the budget for the Iraqi military, perhaps at the cost to the U.S. taxpayer in the initial years, because they may not have the money to pay for it themselves; increasing the level of their capabilities, again, better training, more training; and moving up the timetable, that's the real driver here.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wants to see more rapid progress in getting Iraqi forces able to look after their own security. You'll recall it was just last week when General George Casey said his time frame was at least 12 to 18 months before Iraqi security forces could fully take over. And there's a lot of doubt at this point whether even that timetable will be met, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you very much.
When the history books are written on the Iraq war, this October may be remembered as a tipping point, when the level of violence prompted a permanent change in course. The question now is which direction are we headed? It is a big question all throughout the Middle East, of course, and particularly vexing for Iraq's immediate neighbors, worried that that country may disintegrate and create ever more instability. Prince Turki al-Faisal is Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States. He joins us from Washington to talk a little bit more about this.
Mr. Ambassador, good to have you with us. You gave an important speech yesterday in Washington. And you said this, this really struck me, you said since America came into Iraq uninvited, it should not leave Iraq uninvited. What do you mean by that?
PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL, SAUDI AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: First of all, happy Halloween to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Same to you. Same to you.
FAISAL: America, as I said, came in uninvited. When it is going to leave Iraq, it should leave with the full cooperation and understanding and working out the plans with the Iraqi people and Iraqi government. It should not cut and run, as it were, but also engage in talks and the parameters and wherewithal of that withdrawal, when it comes, should be decided by both sides and not unilaterally.
M. O'BRIEN: Do you have a sense that that could happen, that sort of unilateral withdrawal?
FAISAL: I don't have that sense, but there is talk in your media and in -- well, this election campaign you have here is fascinating for someone who is learning, really, the election process from you, that so many proposals are on the table here, that somebody may decide at one time or another to take some action. And I think the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government deserve the kind of cooperation that they have been getting from your government so far.
M. O'BRIEN: Now, the president, the other day, reached out to moderate Arab states, asked for help in trying to stabilize Iraq. How will Saudi Arabia respond to that request?
FAISAL: We responded immediately. And even before the president asked, we've been extending our hands to our Iraqi brothers, not only in providing aid and support, but also in engaging with them on what is in their interest and asking them what they want from us. The prime minister has been to the kingdom. Other political figures have visited the kingdom. We've hosted a conference of religious leaders from the Shia and the Sunni in the holy city of Mecca just last week, which came out with a very important declaration for cooperation and the removal of any irritants between Shia and Sunni in Iraq. So the kingdom has been in the forefront of trying to bring peace to Iraq.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, a lot of people would say maybe it's time, perhaps, to do even more. I know a couple years ago the kingdom suggested there be some sort of pan-Arab force to try and stabilize Iraq. How would your country feel about that now, about that notion?
FAISAL: Well, it is something that has to be talked about. Two years ago it may have been the right time to do it, and it would have perhaps been easier to do then than it is now.
M. O'BRIEN: Why is that, sir? Why would it be -- is it -- would it be impossible to do it now or is it still possible?
FAISAL: No, I was going to say that it is something that will still have to be looked at from both -- from all sides. The kingdom has been cooperating with the contiguous states and with Iraq for the last three years in providing aid and support to Iraq. I think the United States and the contiguous countries should discuss these issues together.
M. O'BRIEN: Do you think that in some way having a pan-Arab force, would that be a better way toward sort of tamping down and stabilizing and causing that Sunni/Shia divide to go away, or would it make matters worse?
FAISAL: I think it would be up to the Iraqi people to decide on that, if they want to have a pan-Arab or Arab and Muslim forces to come in, then I'm sure Muslim and Arab countries would be ready to go forward on that. But it's a decision that the Iraqi people have to decide for themselves.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, it might be difficult for the Iraqi people to come to a consensus on something this. They are having a difficult time agreeing on much of anything.
FAISAL: They have a government and they have a parliament and they have chosen a political process where they discuss things and reach consensus. So, it would not be too difficult to envision that they would reach consensus on this issue.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, I want to shift gears before we lose our time here. Osama bin Laden, I know you have a lot of familiarity with him over the years in your previous role as an intelligence chief in Saudi Arabia. Where is he right now? Where is Osama bin Laden and will he ever be caught?
FAISAL: I don't know where he is. I suspect that he's in the area between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is a very rugged and very intractable geographic location. Whether he's going to be caught or not depends on what assets are deployed to catch him. At the moment, there just seems to be not enough assets on the field to do that.
M. O'BRIEN: So, what are you suggesting? Should the U.S. do more? Should the Pakistanis do more?
FAISAL: I think all of us should do more. I think there should be cooperation on a worldwide scale because bin Laden and his cohorts affect all of us with their terrorist activity. And so more of an international effort to get him should be deployed at the present time.
M. O'BRIEN: Prince Turki al Faisal, Saudi ambassador to the United States, thank you for your time sir.
FAISAL: Thank you. M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: "ANDERSON COOPER 360" airs week nights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Anderson has a got a look at what's on his program tonight. Hey Anderson.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, tonight, if you think the campaign's already been nasty, you ain't seen nothing yet. With seven days to go, we could be entering a whole new phase, tougher talk, trashier ads, deceptive phone polling, you name it.
"360" tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Some of the other stories we're following for you this morning. The feds bust up an alleged immigrant smuggling ring. We're going to tell you how many people were involved and just how long it went on for.
And a new drink with a staggering promise. Can you burn calories just by guzzling it? Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with a fact check just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: About quarter of the hour. Let's get a quick check of the forecast. Chad has that. Hello Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Chad.
U.S. officials say tighter security along the border with Mexico is working. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says new fences, along with 1,900 new border patrol agents, helping to stop illegal immigrants and drugs from crossing the border. Still, arrests are down, just over a million made in 2006. That's down about 100,000 from the year before, while 186,000 illegal immigrants were kicked out, up 10 percent from last year. The agents seized 1.3 million pounds of marijuana, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: And news from the border tops what's happening in America this morning. In Arizona, 44 people are charged with smuggling hundreds of illegal immigrants into the United States; 11 more people are still wanted. The FBI says the ring operated for more than ten years.
In California, an alleged bounty hunter (INAUDIBLE) voters. Twelve suspects are accused of paying ten bucks a head for each newly registered Republican that they signed up. The prosecutors say it happened three dozen times, where a Democrat or member of the Green party was registered as a Republican.
Disturbing story from St. Albans in Vermont this morning. Police say a 16-year-old high school student attacked fellow students with a dirty needle that he found by the side of the road. That students are now being urged to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B and the suspect is facing assault charges.
In Louisiana, a terrible sense of deja vu for residents in Mt. Herman. Residents are living there since Hurricane Katrina and they've been flooded out again after heavy rains. They say that could have been avoided since the trailer park is on low ground and it's surrounded by two creeks.
In northwest Indiana the parents of Girl Scouts allegedly had their hands in the cookie jar. Scout officials are taking some parents to court. They are asking for $8,000 in the missing cookie money.
And an update now on the Almond caper in California. Did you hear about this one?
M. O'BRIEN: No.
S. O'BRIEN: This guy makes off in Fresno with 44,000 pounds of stolen Almonds.
M. O'BRIEN: What, did he put it under his jacket or something.
S. O'BRIEN: No, he drove off with the truck actually. The suspect was caught trying to sell the Almonds on the black market, worth over $130,000.
M. O'BRIEN: Almonds are way up now, right?
S. O'BRIEN: Apparently. Who knew?
And in Florida, a little bit of a wild west to tell you about in Bravard County (ph), 21st century cowboys in squad cars, trying to corral cattle. Cattle got loose in a hole in the fence.
M. O'BRIEN: Ah, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: And so the Sheriff's Department was out there, trying to round them up off the highway.
M. O'BRIEN: And after they were done, they said that's a bunch of bull.
All right, CNN NEWSROOM is just moments away. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead. Hello Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there Miles. We do have these stories that we're working on for NEWSROOM. We are live from Baghdad where the prime minister ordered security forces to abandon checkpoints around Sadr City. So, what does it mean? Is a radical cleric actually calling the shots now?
Also get the White House's take on this and more when Press Secretary Tony Snow answers questions live. That will come your way 10:30 eastern. So, we'll have that for you.
And with just a week to go before the big election, we'll talk politics with radio host and CNN contributor Bill Bennett. So join Tony and me in THE NEWSROOM. We get started at the top of the hour, right here on CNN.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks Heidi, see you then.
Some stories we're following for you right now, President Bush on the road again, making a final campaign push one week from the elections.
And a soft drink that actually burns calories? I want this product. But wait a minute, you better hold on to your wallet.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: In this morning's House Call, a new soft drink promises to burn calories and help you lose weight.
M. O'BRIEN: Do you believe that?
S. O'BRIEN: No, not even a little, actually. These calorie- burning products, including one from the makers of Coca-Cola, are they the real thing?
M. O'BRIEN: Our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to tell us the real story. Does this stuff work Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You got me gamed from the very beginning. You're asking me if it works or not. There's two products out here. And it's interesting, a new generation of soft drinks talking about not just zero calories, but negative calories. That's the --
M. O'BRIEN: Negative calories.
GUPTA: Negative calories, that's the big pitch here and there's two different products. Enviga (ph), actually, is going to hit the store shelves tomorrow. Celsius is actually already out on the store shelves. They are hailed as something that actually causes something known as thermo-genesis. It increases your body's heat. That increases your metabolic rate and therefore you actually burn more calories than are actually in the drink. And that's the whole basis of this whole thing. About five calories in here. They say you're going to burn more than that.
A couple things, Enviga has an ad campaign. You're going to start seeing that. That's coming out pretty quickly, talking specifically about the sparkling green tea. You see it there. And talking again about the fact that these are calorie burners. We've talked to the makers of both these products and they're very quick to point out that at no point do they say that these are weight loss products. You decide. They say they are calorie burners, but not necessarily weight loss products.
M. O'BRIEN: Wait a minute, wait a minute, they're kind of parsing their language a little there, aren't they?
GUPTA: Yes, that's sort of what I thought as well. And you know, if you talk about calorie burning, you know, we're not talking about enough calories to burn off a Big Mac, for example, you know, maybe 60 to 100 calories, for example.
S. O'BRIEN: That doesn't sound like a whole lot of calories. And how does it taste? I mean, what's in it?
GUPTA: You guys want to try some?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, what is in this?
S. O'BRIEN: What makes the thermo-nuclear-dynamic or whatever it is?
GUPTA: Thermo-genesis.
S. O'BRIEN: I was close.
GUPTA: Green tea and caffeine is sort of the basis of a lot of this. And there have been a lot of studies looking specifically at those combination of products and there is some, probably some metabolic quality to that. The whole idea of weight loss, sort of longer term, is can you change your body's metabolism. So, even when we're sitting like this, do you actually continue to burn more calories than you otherwise would? That's how people stay lean. They did studies on this. They actually did a study in Switzerland, the Coca-Cola company, who makes Enviga, about 32 people who were already pretty fit, and they found, in fact, that they did burn more calories than they otherwise would have. So, it does seem to have some calorie-burning effect.
M. O'BRIEN: Tell me are these peer-reviewed studies in the big journals or are these, you know, bought and paid for?
GUPTA: Sponsored by Coke in Switzerland, small study. So yes, obviously a lot of places to criticize that, but you know, that's what they found.
S. O'BRIEN: Can we taste it and can we ask you another question while you're poring as well? Aren't there other ways to raise your metabolic rate that you wouldn't have to drink? Because if you're talking about burning, what, 100 calories, but you have to drink three of them, right.
GUPTA: Right, you'd have to drink three of these a day.
M. O'BRIEN: That looks terrible, by the way. I don't even want --
(CROSSTALK)
GUPTA: As I poured that, I thought to myself hmm. That is the Berry flavor Enviga.
M. O'BRIEN: You sure it's discount green tea? That's all I want to know.
GUPTA: How is it?
S. O'BRIEN: It's actually not bad. It tastes like a fruit drink. This is one with green tea in it?
GUPTA: That's got green tea in it, right.
M. O'BRIEN: What's in here?
S. O'BRIEN: That's not bad.
GUPTA: But, you know, you asked a good question. When it comes to metabolic rate, you are going to increase your metabolic rate just for a very short term by drinking these. They say if you drink three cans of these, that's what the studies have shown, you can actually start to have weight loss, or burning calories over time, I should say. Actually, increasing you metabolic rate, sort of, longer term is probably going to be more related to exercise and strength training. Increasing muscle mass, for example, will probably make it so you're actually burning more calories, even at rest.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, but 100 calories isn't that many calories. I mean what do you do to burn a 100 calories? Just walk around the block a couple of times?
GUPTA: Yes, I mean, you can walk for 15 minutes. You can jog for about five minutes. You can carry your golf clubs for a few minutes, although those things will all burn --
S. O'BRIEN: I was going to say, hi, I'm the golfer here, hello, sexist.
GUPTA: But yes, you can. The interesting thing is well, with the Celsius studies specifically, they said if you exchange a regular soda for one of these, you're going to lose 17 pounds over a year if you're doing it three times a day.
S. O'BRIEN: A regular soda which has a lot of calories in it already, right?
GUPTA: There you go. See, we did the math as well. You're right. It sometimes has 150 calories. So, you're just getting rid of those calories and adding this instead. The taste may be something that sells it ultimately. I don't think you should buy it for the either burning calories or weight loss benefits.
S. O'BRIEN: Do you burn more calories if you just have a glass of ice water? Doesn't your body heat up in order to melt the ice?
GUPTA: Yes, anything you eat or drink, you're going to cause some process of thermo-genesis. I'm creating some thermo-genesis, I think, right now.
(CROSSTALK)
M. O'BRIEN: I'm going to have a whopper and six Enviga. All right, thank you very much Sanjay.
S. O'BRIEN: Sanjay, thank you.
Coming up at the top of the hour in THE NEWSROOM, live from Baghdad, a closer look at Iraq's prime minister and his relationship with that powerful militia leader. That's ahead. Stay with us.
S. O'BRIEN: We're out of time. Let's get right to CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins.
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