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March for Justice in Washington, D.C.; Barry Bonds Faces Federal Indictment; Killer Cyclone Hits Bangladesh; Conference With President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda

Aired November 16, 2007 - 10:59   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 again, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody.

I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Friday, the 16th of November.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Chance or cheat? Questions about baseball's homerun king and the record he holds. Barry Bonds indicted.

HARRIS: March for justice. Thousands demand protection from hate crimes. A noted author stops by with her thoughts.

COLLINS: An old guy with something new. This dinosaur had a mouth like a vacuum cleaner. Eureka, it's a Hoover, in the NEWSROOM.

A march against hate, a rally for justice revving up right now in Washington. Taking a page from civil rights history.

Our Don Lemon is there.

And, Don, if you would, sort of bottom-line this for us. What's the real purpose behind this rally today?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Tony -- and hang with me for a little bit here. You were down in Jena, Louisiana, and you saw the thousands and thousands of people who were -- who were there, so this basically is sort of the same thing. This rally is really a summation of that, or a continuation of that, Tony, I should say, because people are saying the situation that happened in Jena, all the noose incidents that happened after that, and other -- other incidents that they deem as race or hate crimes, that the Justice Department needs to intervene and something needs to be done.

Take a look. This is a crowd that's starting to build here.

The difference between this, Tony, and Jena is that folks were able to drive right up to Jena and get into the area pretty close. Well, here they have to go to the armory, which is about two miles away, and then get onto the metro to bring them here to Freedom Plaza, which is starting to fill up now. And then you see the crowd of people here with the Capitol as a backdrop.

But this march is also about young people as well, not just the old folks who have been doing this for a while, the Reverend Sharptons of the world and what have you. It's about young people using new technology to make a difference.

Let's take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice over): 1963, a quarter of a million people inspired by the message and the messenger to march for justice in the nation's capital. Tyrone Brooks was just a teenager.

TYRONE BROOKS, GEORGIA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: As a 16-year-old child standing in this ocean of people, it was unbelievable.

LEMON: Forty-four years later, the long-time Georgia state representative marched again. This time in Jena, Louisiana, where hangman's nooses, symbols of hate from a time gone by, came back to haunt, yet inspire, a new generation.

BROOKS: That became kind of a national call. Students primarily were fueling that as students fueled the city movement across the South in the 1960s.

Our chapter is 85 percent under 40.

LEMON: For Marcus Coleman and young civil rights leaders, 1960 sit-ins have given way to 21st century online activism.

MARCUS COLEMAN, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK : We have a lot of perks and pluses which the civil rights movement in the past did not have as far as being able to utilize, collecting people together.

LEMON: The new director of Atlanta's chapter of the National Action Network used radio and the Internet to organize 10 busloads of marchers headed for D.C. and a national protest led by his mentor, the Reverend Al Sharpton.

REV. AL SHARPTON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: And the reason why Jena has hit such a nerve is because of the imbalance and unfairness in how justice is dispensed in various parts of America.

LEMON: Sharpton and Coleman want intervention by the U.S. Justice Department, not only for Jena, but for the string of noose- related incidents that followed. Also for cases like Genarlow Wilson, the 17-year-old high school student convicted of having consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl, sentenced to 10 years before the courts ordered his release; the shooting of an unarmed African-American man, Sean Bell, by New York City Police officers; and the kidnapping, rape and torture of 20-year-old Megan Williams by a group of whites in West Virginia. The Justice Department would not agree to an on-camera interview with CNN about the protest, but released a statement saying, "In the last several years, the criminal section of the civil rights division has set records and achieved notable successes in prosecuting defendants for civil rights violations." Yet government records show a decrease in hate crime reports, investigations, and convictions in the last 10 years. And civil rights activists, both past and present, want to know why.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So you see the speakers there on the stage now doing their thing. A little bit later on, about noon, when this march will kick off, the Reverend Al Sharpton and other dignitaries will get up there and speak and lead off that march.

And we mentioned Genarlow Wilson and all those other cases. Genarlow here today. Sean Bell's fiancee, or wife now -- he was killed by New York City police officers -- she is here today, as well as Mychal Bell from the Jena Six. His dad is here today.

So we'll be following this, continue to follow it as they march today seven times around the Justice Department. And again, this plaza is starting to fill up with people from all over the country -- Tony.

HARRIS: Don Lemon for us this morning.

Good to see you, Don. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Hate crimes -- does justice turn a blind eye? Activists confront Washington today. We confront the legacy of lynching with a noted author ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Barry Bonds, he sits atop the throne of baseball's top sluggers. Today he's perched on a hot seat. The homerun king faces a federal indictment. He is accused of lying in a steroids investigation.

Kara Finnstrom is in Bonds' hometown, San Francisco.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While all of America was watching Bonds chase that homerun title, prosecutors were chasing him, slowly and quietly putting together their case.

Just behind me here you can see AT&T Park. This is where he slugged out a lot of those homers. The claim of prosecutors is that he used performance-enhancing drugs to artificially boost that power, and that he then lied about doing so to a federal grand jury that was investigating the use of such drugs by professional athletes.

Now, the charges that he's facing, perjury and obstruction of justice, carry up to a maximum of 30 years in prison. So what's the evidence against him? Well, prosecutors have released a 10-page indictment that says that they have found evidence that he did test positive for using these performance-enhancing drugs. There's also been some talk that perhaps Greg Anderson -- that's the personal trainer of Bonds who up until now has refused to answer questions -- might flip and might actually answer questions about Bonds. But his attorney has told the "L.A. Times" that is not the case and that he will remain quiet.

Bonds' own attorneys have been pretty quiet thus far, although they have said speaking to reporters late yesterday that they don't believe the evidence is there to support these charges.

MICHAEL RAINS, ATTORNEY FOR BONDS: Now that their biased allegations must finally, finally be presented in open court, they won't be able to hide from their unethical misconduct any longer. The public is going to get the whole truth, not just selectively leaked fabrications from anonymous sources.

FINNSTROM: Well, Bonds is due to first appear in court on these charges on December 7th. This is an especially difficult time for him to be facing all this because he didn't re-sign with the Giants, and right now he's looking for another park to call home.

Kara Finnstrom for CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We want to give you a closer look at the time frame of the Barry Bonds scandal.

He's been dogged by whispers of steroids since his physical transformation began in the late '90s. At the same time, his power at the plate surged.

The indictment says investigators found so-called doping calendars. They were marked "bb" and were dated 2001. The indictment accuses Bonds of lying during a 2003 investigation into steroids. Steroid suspicions hung over Bonds as he chased the homerun record, one of the most sacred titles in sports. On August 7th, he hammered number 756 and eclipsed Hank Aaron's longstanding homerun record.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A killer cyclone barrels into Bangladesh. Hundreds are dead, tens of thousands homeless.

CNN's Dan Rivers now reports from the capital, Dhaka.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A huge emergency relief operation is beginning to swing into place after Cyclone Sidr smashed into the coastal districts of Bangladesh. Here in the capital, Dhaka, damage has been kept to a minimum, although large parts of the city will be in darkness tonight with huge electricity outages across the country.

The latest death toll is the government saying that at least 500 people are known to have died and 60 to 70 percent of houses in the affected areas have been destroyed. We understand that some 600,000 people have been evacuated, many to storm shelters that have been built in previous years, especially after the devastation of a previous cyclone in 1991, Cyclone Gorky, that left 130,000 people dead.

At the moment it appears that the scale of the destruction and death is nowhere near that of Gorky, but it's very early days and it's very difficult to get a real picture of what's going on down on the coastal areas. Three of the worst-hit districts are Baguna, Baduacarli (ph), and Pirojpur. All three of those are without communication, cut off really from the outside world as the government and army tries to get in to find out how many people have perished.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Bangladesh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: As you might expect, Washington wants to help with relief efforts. CNN has learned Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to approve plans today to help. It would mean sending up to three marine amphibious warships to the coast of Bangladesh. They would assist only if Bangladesh wants help.

COLLINS: Look beyond abortion. Bishops now suggesting Catholic voters look at all the issues.

CNN's Mary Snow reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's a message about politics from the pulpit. U.S. Catholic bishops met and approved guidelines for Catholic voters. High on the list, opposition to abortion, which the church calls intrinsically evil. But the bishops opened a door to supporting abortion rights candidates.

Father Thomas Reese, a Catholic scholar who attended the conference, explains that bishops are telling voters to weigh their decision on a number of moral issues, such as war.

REV. THOMAS REESE, WOODSTOCK THEOLOGICAL CENTER: If there are serious moral reasons for voting for a candidate who is pro-choice, then it would be legitimate for a Catholic to vote for a pro-choice candidate.

SNOW: What the bishops didn't mention is whether abortion rights Catholic candidates should be denied communion.

In the 2004 presidential election, then Democratic candidate Senator John Kerry was thrust into a firestorm when a Catholic bishop in St. Louis said he would deny Kerry communion. That same bishop recently suggested in a newspaper article that he'd also deny communion to Republican Rudy Giuliani.

Besides Giuliani, other Catholic presidential candidates supporting abortion rights, Democrats Joe Biden, Christopher Dodd, Bill Richardson, and Dennis Kucinich. Some critics say the communion question was created by extremists and they hope they are shut out of this election cycle.

JON O'BRIEN, CATHOLICS FOR A FREE CHOICE: I think there's nothing worse, there's nothing that turns the Catholic people off as much as when we see the holy sacrifice of the mass, something that we believe in very strongly, when we see an attempt to try to politicize that by denying communion.

SNOW: Along with abortion, the Iraq war was also high on the list. Bishops urged the U.S. for a quick transition to end the war in Iraq.

(on camera): The bishops conference has been issuing guidelines like this since 1976, but this marks the first time the full body of 200-plus bishops have considered the document.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: You did it once and now it's time for history to repeat itself. Go to CNN.com/youtubedebates and post your questions for the Republican presidential candidates. The debate, Wednesday, November 28th. Your voice will be heard only on CNN, your home for politics.

HARRIS: She was brutally beaten, raped, ant left for dead. The woman who became known as the "Central Park Jogger" nearly 20 years ago is now ripping Oprah Winfrey. Back in 2002, Trisha Meili broke her silence and gave her first interview to "O" magazine. Now Meili tells New York One TV she was stunned by a question Winfrey asked her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRISHA MEILI, CENTRAL PARK JOGGER: You know, she kind of leaned over to me and said, "What were you doing in the park at that hour?"

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right off the bat.

MEILI: And I thought -- you know, I was thinking, oh, my gosh, OK, you know, a million things going through my mind. How do I answer this? And, you know, and I just -- I said basically, "Well, you know, it was a time to relax," but it in no way justified what happened to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Now, according no New York One, a spokesperson says "O" magazine is sorry Meili feels that way, adding Winfrey has always been an advocate for sexual abuse victims.

COLLINS: Decision day for Georgia's drought crisis. Water for people or endangered mussels?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

HARRIS: A league of their own. Some may think older woman should be weaving baskets, but this group is scoring them.

John Garcia of affiliate WLS reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN GARCIA, REPORTER, WLS (voice over): They are grandmothers and great grandmothers. Some have played organized basketball.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a little rusty, but it will come back. It will come back.

GARCIA: Others, not so much. But they're all here to try out for teams in the Granny All-Star League.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shoot! We got one!

GARCIA: The only qualification, they have to be older than 50.

(on camera): What do your friends and family say when you tell them you're doing this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "You're crazy."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I told friends and family, you know what the first thing they did? Laughed.

GARCIA: The league will play six on six basketball based on a league that started a decade ago in Iowa.

Barbara Lee Cohen got the idea after seeing a story about the league.

BARBARA LEE COHEN, LEAGUE FOUNDER: They were 50 to 100 years of age. So I went ahead and decided to find out who they were.

GARCIA: At the time she was thinking it would be good halftime entertainment for a Bulls game. Instead, now she's starting a league.

One of the coaches, 53-year-old Mary Kay Monaghan, had a brief professional career for the old Chicago Hustle in 1978. The skill level here, just a little bit different.

MARY KAY MONAGHAN, COACH: There are some women that are here that, you know, have no idea, have never played basketball or touched a basketball.

GARCIA (on camera): The term "Granny Ball" is not actually a reference to the age of the players, but to the style of shooting. See, in granny ball, you get two points for shooting it overhand, but three points for shooting it underhand, granny-style.

(voice over): The turnout on this, the second day of tryouts, is encouraging to organizers. They had no idea what to expect. But it turns out there are plenty of women, senior citizens, anxious to get out and play.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me this is wonderful. This is what I dreamed of.

GARCIA: John Garcia, ABC 7 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And good morning again, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi there, everybody.

I'm Heidi Collins.

Bradford County, Florida, schools all closed today in what the superintendent calls an abundance of caution. The decision follows a fight yesterday involving as many as eight girls at Bradford County High.

The fight drew more than 100 others and the local police. It came one week after a noose was found on a student's car. Initially it was thought the noose had something to do with the fight, but the sheriff there says after interviewing students, they determined the fight was over boys.

HARRIS: We are following a major civil rights rally in Washington this hour. Activists are gathering for a march on the Justice Department, demanding protection from hate crimes.

With me from my hometown, Baltimore, Maryland, law professor Sherrilyn Ifill. She is the author of "On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century."

Sherrilyn, it's been a while since we've talked. Good to see you, lady.

I've got to ask you, what does today's march and rally in Washington, what does it mean to you?

SHERRILYN IFILL, LAW PROFESSOR: Well, I think it's an important follow-up to the activism that's happened around the Jena Six case and several other cases that has really brought to I think the attention of many African-Americans, and particularly young African-Americans, an issue that's been discussed internally in the African-American community but that's gotten little national attention until the Jena Six case, and that's the case of -- the matter of prosecutors overcharging cases involving young African-American men in particular, and what people regard as an inequal -- unequal system of justice as it relates to the kind of charges that are brought against African- American criminal defendants and the kind of sentences that are imposed on them as well.

HARRIS: Sherrilyn, you know as well as I do that prosecutors have always overcharged in cases. It's a way they can go back to the public and say, hey, look, I have been tough on crime, and if it fails on appeal, it fails on appeal.

IFILL: Well, unfortunately, the pawns in this though become the disproportionate number of young African-American men who, for a variety of reasons, end up in the criminal justice system. Some of it has to do with the actual commission of crimes, but some of it has to do with zero tolerance policing policies that round up lots of young people, regardless of whether or not they've committed a crime.

It has to do with inequities in policing. It has to do with racial profiling.

And so if you recognize that there are -- there is racism within the justice system, within police practices and so forth, then you have to also balance that out. And I think what most of the people who are out there today are really thinking about is ensuring that prosecutors recognize and that the federal government recognizes, first of all, the question of hate crimes. That it's important, that it's ongoing, that this is not something that just existed in the past, but also that we give attention to the fact that young African- American men, like the Jena Six, are being treated in ways that young whites who are arrested are not.

HARRIS: So what ultimately, as we look at the picture from Washington, D.C., what ultimately -- I understand the themes and I understand the message. What is -- what can be accomplished?

IFILL: Well, I think there's a federal message and there's a state message. The federal message I think is about hate crimes and about ensuring that the Justice Department recognizes that this is an important part of its mission, to prosecute hate crimes. Also, to be conscious of these matters as they happen in local communities. The Justice Department has a broad array of powers. They have community relations officers and so forth that can go down and investigate matters as -- by the way, they have done in the Jena Six case.

And so, at the federal level, I think that the protesters want to raise consciousness, particularly with a new attorney general who's been sworn in, to recognize this is an important part of the mandate. There were criticisms about Alberto Gonzales, the former attorney general for his failure ...

HARRIS: Yes.

IFILL: ...to pay sufficient attention to hate crimes, and so, that's one aspect of it.

The second aspect of it I think is at the state level to address the question of the way prosecutors charge these cases, to also address the way police officers deal with African-American criminal defendants, and to raise consciousness in the community.

And I would have to say thirdly, it's also to harness the activism of particularly young people, who really have been moved by the story of the Jena Six, who were moved by the story of Genarlow Wilson, and to give them an opportunity to continue that activism and to recognize that there's more to be done.

HARRIS: Well, let me circle back to the kids involved there in Jena, Louisiana.

IFILL: Yes.

HARRIS: What do you say to the people who suggest that this whole out crop, this outgrowth of rallies and marches tied to Jena, I mean this is -- I mean, these kids were no angels, and they are unworthy, unworthy of the kind of outpouring of emotions and sentiments that we're seeing, particularly in light of the -- their role in the alleged beating of Justin Barker.

IFILL: Yes, you know, I've heard this strain, and I've heard people talking about this, saying that they are unworthy, as you say, of being poster children for civil rights. And I'm quite troubled by this. I mean, the idea that you need perfect people in order to call out or to recognize injustice simply just doesn't make sense. I understand it from a tactical standpoint because people in the media and others will ask the question, they will look at the lives of these young men and say they're no angels, why are you turning them into heroes?

But they're not heroes. They don't have to be heroes. You know, if we look back at old cases that brought to light injustices in the criminal justice system, the Scottsboro boys cases ...

HARRIS: Yes.

IFILL: ...these boys were not scholars...

HARRIS: Yes.

IFILL: ...they were not college students, they were drifters, they were hang about boys on the train. Does it change the fact that they were railroaded by all-white juries in a mob atmosphere? It led to an important case called Powell vs. Alabama in which the Supreme Court laid out the requirements of due process for trials of African- American men in the deep south. An important landmark case.

We don't need perfect people. In fact, most often, the people who run afoul of the law and have the opportunity to expose injustices in the criminal justice system are not perfect people. They're people like these young men who've made mistakes. Does that mean their lives should be thrown away? Does that mean that there's not injustice in the justice system? No, and so to me, it's irrelevant ...

HARRIS: Got you.

IFILL: ...whether they are perfect people or not. HARRIS: Sherrilyn Ifill, great to see you again. Thanks for your time.

IFILL: Good to see you.

HARRIS: Yes, thank you.

IFILL: Thanks for having me.

COLLINS: Want to take a moment now to get back out to Don Lemon. He is in the middle of a very big crowd on the mall of Washington, D.C. Hey there, Don, what's going on?

LEMON: Hey, absolutely, Heidi. And you know what, as we're using our technology to take you right in the middle of this march. We're actually walking across the street right now (ph) for this protest. We'll be able to go the entire march all the way around the Justice Department. You see us walking now. So, we'll be walking with the people who are doing this.

Michelle's (ph) here from New Orleans, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LEMON: What are (INAUDIBLE). Why are you here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) he's 16-years-old, and he needs to know that (INAUDIBLE).

LEMON: OK. That is why we're here, to bring you stories like this.

We're going to swing around here and show you this is where folks are gathering to start the march right here (INAUDIBLE) pit. We'll be able to take you right (INAUDIBLE).

This guy will be watching (ph) the entire march -- this is Dave for CNN.com. So, when we're not on domestic air, television air live, you'll be able to logon to CNN.com and you'll be able to be in the middle of the march as well.

Again, all of these folks are gathering. There's the Capitol right there, right there to my right. And to the left over here -- (INAUDIBLE). So, check at (ph) 12:00 p.m. Eastern time, you'll be right in the middle of it, and we'll bring it to you live, of course, in the CNN NEWSROOM at the top of the hour at 1:00 p.m. So, there you go.

COLLINS: All right. Don, unfortunately, it's really, really difficult to hear you. So, I'm going to give the viewers just an opportunity to understand a little bit better where you are and what is going on today. It is hard to hear you because there are so many people.

You can see now once again, this is a march for justice. It's taking place in Washington, D.C. It has been put together by the Reverend Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, and members of Sharpton's National Action Network. This is a march on hate crimes. Again, it's going to take the group from Freedom Plaza to the Justice Department. Our Don Lemon is there watching all of the action and bringing some of the speakers to us. So, we'll keep our eye on this. You can see the live shot coming into us right there on your screen.

Meanwhile, has Barry Bonds broken his bond with baseball fans? The homerun champ indicted in a steroids investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: No joy in Mudville, but plenty of jeers. There's new tarnish on the crown of baseball's new homerun king. Barry Bonds faces a federal indictment, accused of lying in the government's investigation into steroid abuse. Bonds repeatedly denied he knowingly took banned substances during his testimony. If convicted, he could face 30 years in prison.

Steroid rumors have long chased Bonds. He's added dozens of pounds of muscle over the last decade. He's been despised by many fans and even some teammates. Bonds' attorney says his unpopularity made him an easy target for the Feds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL RAINS, ATTORNEY FOR BONDS: All you need to know about the government's case is that it leaked an official indictment to every media outlet in the nation and withheld it from Barry, his lawyer, and everyone else who could read it and who could defend him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And here's what a sports attorney had to say earlier in the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN SMITH, BET TALK SHOW HOST: They've been investigating him for two years for this, so, and they have been building a case slowly but surely. So, it was hard to tell when they might have an indictment. A lot of people thought there might not be an indictment to come, but I'll tell you what, they have been serious about building this for two years.

A year ago, the prosecution came out and said -- or the U.S. attorney came out and said, you know, we are investigating him, talked about the investigation. That's highly unusual for a U.S. attorney. There may be some issues here that caused it to take this much time. They wanted to build as strong a case as possible. We've got some political issues, so now, it's finally coming to light.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Bonds is due to appear in federal court next month.

HARRIS: And very quickly, President Bush and Japan's new Prime Minister Fukuda making a joint statement. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ...freedom, security and prosperity in our respective regions and beyond.

We discussed a lot of ways that we can make the world a better place by working together. We discussed North Korea and the six-party talks. I appreciate Japan's participation in the six-party talks.

Together with China, Russia and South Korea, our two nations are pressing North Korea to fulfill its obligation to abandon all its nuclear weapons programs, as well as its proliferation efforts. The six-party talks have delivered measurable results. The plutonium production facilities at Yongbyon are now being disabled under six- party supervision.

Hard work still remains to be done. North Korea has agreed to provide a full declaration of all its nuclear programs and proliferation activities by the end of this year. Full declaration is one of the next steps North Korea must take to keep the six-party talks moving toward the goal of a Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons.

We also discussed the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea. I reminded the prime minister of one of the most moving moments of my presidency: when the mother of a young girl who had been abducted by the North Koreans came to visit me. I told her, and I'm going to tell the Japanese people once again, we will not forget this issue.

I understand, Mr. Prime Minister, how important the issue is to the Japanese people, and we will not forget the Japanese abductees, nor their families.

We discussed Afghanistan and Iraq. Japanese naval forces have made valued contributions to Operation Enduring Freedom, which supports Afghanistan's young democracy. Over six years, Japanese vessels refueled ships from 11 coalition nations nearly 800 times.

Mr. Prime Minister, I appreciate the great leadership that you are showing as you work to reauthorize the Japanese refueling mission.

Japanese air defense -- self-defense forces continue to serve bravely to support coalition efforts in Iraq. Japanese planes have flown more than 600 sorties carrying more than a half a million tons of cargo for many nations.

And, Mr. Prime Minister, like I told you in the Oval Office, I appreciate the contribution that the Japanese people are making to help this young democracy.

We discussed the realignment of our military forces and will continue to do so with Secretary Gates over lunch. The two nations continue to implement changes in our force posture that will help our alliance meet the challenges of the 21st century. We discussed Iran. The prime minister and I agree that a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten the security of the Middle East and beyond. The two nations are united in our efforts to change the regime's behavior through diplomacy. We agreed that unless Iran commits to suspend enrichment, international pressure must and will grow.

We discussed Burma. The prime minister and I condemn the regime's crackdown on democratic activists. We call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners. We're for a genuine dialogue between the regime and those who seek a democratic future for Burma. U.S. sanctions on the regime are in place. Japan has canceled an aid grant. The prime minister told me his government is reviewing other aid projects to ensure that they directly benefit the people of Burma.

We discussed our strong economic relationship. Prime Minister Fukuda and I discussed his plans for economic reform in Japan. We discussed Doha and will continue our discussions over lunch.

I think we're going to serve the prime minister -- I hope we serve him some good U.S. beef, which is a good way to bring up the subject of beef. We hope we're able to have the Japanese market fully opened to all U.S. beef and beef products, consistent with international guidelines.

We discussed climate change and energy security. The two nations share a similar approach to addressing the issues of climate change and energy security. We see real promise in our ongoing efforts to bring measured, developed and developing economies together around key elements of a future global agreement on climate change and energy security.

And the truth of the matter is we need to be in the lead, Mr. Prime Minister, because it's going to be our economies and our nations that will develop most of the new technologies that will enable us to be better stewards of the environment.

And finally, we discussed the G-8. And I want to thank you for taking the lead in the G-8. And I'm looking forward to attending.

All in all, we had a great discussion that will be continued during lunch.

Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the United States, and I thank you for your friendship.

YASUO FUKUDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): (OFF-MIKE) I have come to this one and only ally for Japan, the United States of America. And I had a very substantive meeting with President Bush just now. And I look forward to further exchange of views with the president after this.

This is a very good opportunity. I'd like to express some of my views on the basis of the discussions we had earlier. First of all, we agreed with -- we agreed that Japan-U.S. alliance is playing an indispensable role in enabling Japan and the United States to address global issues together and also provides the basis for our active diplomacy in Asia.

For over half a century, Japan and the United States at times have overcome difficulties together and have built a solid and resilient alliance. And we today enjoy this relationship thanks to the efforts made by countless people in our two countries and exchanges among them.

Now, to further cement the foundation for bilateral relations in the future, without taking for granted our current solid relations, I explained to the president my initiative to strengthen Japan-U.S. exchanges, including intellectual exchanges. And I received heartfelt support for the idea from President Bush.

Secondly, we discussed synergies between ...

HARRIS: I think a lot of (ph) President Bush and Japan's new Prime Minister Fukuda offering a joint statement after their one-on- one meeting. And a lot was discussed, a lot of ground covered there, as you could hear from the president. North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Myanmar, also recognized by the administration as Burma, economic development, climate change, and energy security, and now it is time for lunch for the two men after they wrap up the joint statement.

COLLINS: A fossil that really cleaned up. See the dinosaur with the vacuum cleaner mouth.

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COLLINS: A new creature to tell you about. He's actually pretty old. Just look at that face. Paleontologists say this dinosaur's vacuum cleaner-shaped mouth is unlike anything seen before, with hundreds of tiny sharp teeth, all up front, designed to hoover up and graze food. It walked the Earth more than 110 million years ago. It's name, Nigersaurus. Is that what it says? We don't know. After the African country, Niger, where it was found. Now that makes sense. You can check out the old guy on display at the National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington. I hope they weren't watching me pronounce that.

HARRIS: And you know it will be one of the most popular items at CNN.com. This kind of thing always is.

COLLINS: Probably will. Pretty cool.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues just one hour from now. We've got quite a few big stories developing.

HARRIS: Yes, that's right. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news happening across the globe and here at home.

I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins.

We'll see you tomorrow? You will see them tomorrow.

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: OK. Bye, everybody.

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