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American Morning
Bush Announcement on North Korea; Senator Bob Casey Interview; Mistreatment of Beef Cattle Alleged
Aired June 26, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is expected to speak from the White House in about 40 minutes' time, and he has got some big news to make this morning.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is live at the White House. Kathleen, what's the president going to say?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, first of all, it's important to point out that this is something that the Bush administration has certainly been anticipating. But it was not definitively clear that the North Koreans would proceed today.
In a statement from Press Secretary Dana Perino, she says that the Bush administration welcomes North Korea's declaration of its nuclear program, calling this an important step in the six-party talks between North Korea, South Korea, China, the U.S. and Japan and Russia. And the statement goes on to say, "The United States will respond to North Korea's actions by lifting the provisions of the trading with the Enemy Act as well as announcing our intent to rescind North Korea's designation as a State Sponsor of Terror in 45 days."
Now, the declaration is certainly expected to include many, many details particularly on North Korea's plutonium stockpile. North Korea, in its declaration, promises it is going to be publicly dismantling a controversial nuclear reactor. And these are all key steps that are really meant to allay the concerns of the rest of the world about North Korea's nuclear activity. But the real key here is verification.
Dana Perino yesterday said this will be action for action. There will be a lot of very close scrutiny on the part of nuclear experts of what North Korea's doing and is it following through -- John.
ROBERTS: Kathleen, if you go down to the next paragraph following the statement about verification, the White House says, "There is still a lot more work to be done." What else needs to be done?
KOCH: Quite so. There are a number of things, again, that North Korea needs to do. It's got to give up its separated plutonium. It's got to resolve outstanding questions, the White House says, on its highly enriched uranium and proliferation activities.
And then the Japanese for their part would like to see some kind of action taken on the abduction issue. Many, many Japanese have been abducted by the North Koreans, or I should say South Koreans were concerned about this as well. But they wanted some kind of resolution of this in this agreement. It doesn't look like that is going to be happening, but that's another issue that some countries would really like to see taken care of.
ROBERTS: Kathleen Koch on the North Lawn of the White House for us. And 38 minutes from now, the president will be in the back of the White House in the Rose Garden talking more about this. Kathleen, thanks.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Now, we have some new video into us right now. Again, a look at the worldwide resources of CNN in full effect.
This is a North Korean car that's headed right now into the Chinese embassy in Beijing. Again, new video coming to us. This whirlwind of negotiations taking place and the stunning -- what will end up being a stunning turnaround in U.S. policy toward the communist regime that President Bush had once called part of an axis of evil. And now, we're talking about lifting sanctions and verification.
A lot of breaking news going on with this this morning, and we are all over it. State Department correspondent Zain Verjee joins us now to talk a little bit more about what happens next. And first of all, how do you go about verifying that what they're saying is, indeed, full and accurate?
ZAIN VERJEE, STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've got the declaration so that's a significant process. But what happens next, that's really the hard part.
When you're getting into verification, essentially what you need to do is take a look at what North Korea is saying. How much plutonium does it have? Take a look at that number. Then what the U.S. and the other countries need to do is get inspectors on the ground.
They need to take samples of the plutonium, samples in the reactors, samples of nuclear waste. It's kind of like going to North Korea's garbage and trying to come up with a picture. So no one's going to be going through tunnels looking for plutonium or radioactive material. But they need to see whether North Korea is telling the truth and it's going to take a few months to do that.
CHETRY: What are some of the other shortfalls in the declaration, if you will?
VERJEE: Well, there are two major things. You know, it's great that this declaration has happened. It is a milestone, but there are some really significant things missing from this.
The first thing is that what about the highly-enriched uranium program that the U.S. says North Korea has? North Korea is just going to acknowledge the U.S.'s concerns but there's no details or information. There's no information about weapons. There's no information about weapon sites.
And very importantly, there are no details on proliferation. What did North Korea do to help Syria? What kind of exchange of information, knowledge, technology was there? We don't know, and North Korea isn't telling us. That is something really significant.
The U.S. went to war with Iraq over suspected weapons of mass destruction. And here we have North Korea who's done all sorts of shady things in helping Syria, but we don't know and they're not giving us the answers. But this is a key issue and critics are going to latch on that.
CHETRY: This is interesting because within 45 days the United States intends to take North Korea off the state sponsor of the State Department list of states that sponsor terror. So they say they are going ahead with that despite what you said about some of the shortfalls in that declaration. But what does that mean for North Korea to get off that list?
VERJEE: Well, firstly, it's likely the president will have a lot of resistance from many members in Congress who don't like this whole idea, who don't feel that they were consulted along the process, and don't think that we should trust North Korea. But what it means in tangible terms is that North Korea can get things like low interest loans from the World Bank and other international organizations. And really in practical, that's in practical terms.
But what this really is for North Korea is that it's really symbolic. Kim Jong-Il can now go to his military guides and his people and say, look, you know, they're no longer insulting us. We're off the list.
CHETRY: Zain Verjee for us this morning in Washington. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning as we find out more and continue to follow this breaking story. Thanks, Zain.
ROBERTS: And a reminder that 35 minutes from now President Bush will be in the Rose Garden talking about this, talking about lifting sanctions. He'll also caution that North Korea has still got a long way to go before they're fully satisfied that the nuclear program has been dismantled. We'll be carrying that live. The president at the Rose Garden, 7:40 Eastern right here on the "Most News in the Morning."
Meantime, to the "Most Politics in the Morning," Karl Rove is taking a shot at Barack Obama calling the Democratic candidate "arrogant." Critics are all over it today. Some are trying to figure out if he meant anything else by it. Our Jason Carroll joins us now with more on that.
Arrogant, huh?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's what he's saying. And as you know, candidates are used to name calling during campaigns, especially presidential campaigns. But when Karl Rove is doing the name calling, both Republicans and Democrats take notice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): It's the latest attack on Senator Barack Obama. And leading the charge, none over than former Bush adviser Karl Rove. And Rove's word of the day, arrogant. Here he was last night on FOX. KARL ROVE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I will say, yes, I do think Barack Obama is arrogant.
CARROLL: Rove started the arrogant line of attack Monday. ABC News reported he told Republicans at a breakfast that Obama's "the guy at the country club with a beautiful date holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone."
To be sure Obama's given his critics ammunition, like his faux presidential seal last week. Remember that, with his campaign slogan, yes, we can, translated into Latin? Blogs had a field day attacking Obama as arrogant and pompous. The campaign quickly said the seal was a one day thing, but it did add to a perception problem.
STU ROTHENBERG, THE ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT: He continues to have a style that is kind of distant, almost professorial. And some of the people will regard that as elitist or arrogant.
CARROLL: "New York Times" political correspondent Jeff Zeleny says Republicans may be using catch words like "arrogant" to set Obama apart as different.
JEFF ZELENY, N.Y. TIMES POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Arrogance in this campaign will be perhaps more loaded than it would be in other campaigns. Is it a code word for his race? I'm not sure, but they're trying to say, exactly right, he's not one of you.
CARROLL: And they've said it before in a slightly different way when Obama's critics questioned his patriotism and branded him an elitist. This after Obama said people in small towns were bitter over the economy and were clinging to their guns and religion.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think those comments are elitist.
CARROLL: But in some ways it just didn't seem to stick, perhaps in part because elite doesn't match Obama's upbringing.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am amused about this notion of elitist given that, you know, when you're raised by a single mom, when you are on food stamps for a while when you were growing up, you went to school on scholarship.
CARROLL: Jeff Zeleny says the Obama campaign knows it's got a problem to solve.
ZELENY: In the last week or so, the campaign manager, the top officials in the campaign, have sent word throughout the campaign that, look, we would not have gotten this far if we were not always viewing ourselves as the underdog. So keep that mindset.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And now, some political analysts are wondering if this "arrogant" claim doesn't stick, what will Obama's critics then come up with next?
ROBERTS: Kind of wonder if a guy who bowls like he does could ever be considered arrogant.
CARROLL: Good point.
ROBERTS: Jason, thanks so much.
CHETRY: We're following breaking news this morning. North Korea revealing its nuclear secrets to the world. The U.S. to lift sanctions. President Bush coming out at 40 minutes after the hour for a Rose Garden address, and we'll be following all of these latest developments throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: And New York City's East River getting a $15 million makeover this morning in the form of four manmade waterfalls. Some of them tower almost 12 stories tall. You can see it just at the far end of the Brooklyn Bridge there. We're going to show you more about that coming up.
CHETRY: Also, the story of a Washington State couple. They were ready to adopt a toddler from China when last month's earthquake hit. And as they fear the worst, CNN tracks down the little girl. We're going to watch the family come together a little later on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Everybody is looking for relief from these hard times. Allan Chernoff here this morning, and the Fed indicating that, well, there may be some more economic problems ahead that they're worried about.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They certainly are worried. You know, part of their job is to always worry so they are continuing to do that. But they're saying they're not worrying quite enough right now about a possible recession.
So they didn't lower interest rates yesterday after having done so time and time again. In fact, seven times since September, bringing the Fed funds rate, which is the overnight bank lending rate, down to two percent from 5.25 percent. So that means that banks can borrow more cheaply.
But what about us? What about consumers? Well, it can affect the price that we have to pay for say, a home equity loan, but it's actually not affecting long-term mortgages. Let's have a look to see what's happened to mortgages since the Fed started cutting.
How about a look at that? 6.6 percent now for the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. An increase while the Fed has been cutting. What's going on?
Well, the Fed affects short-term interest rates, not long-term interest rates. Long-term interest rates are affected by inflation expectations. And inflation expectations and inflation, going way up. Have a look at this.
When the Fed started cutting, the CPI, consumer price index was only 2.8 percent. Wow, up 4.2 percent. You are looking at those increases at the gas pump, in the supermarket all reflected in that. In fact, the Fed said yesterday in its statement that it is worried about inflation.
Let's have a look at that -- a little bit of that statement. It said the upside risk to inflation and inflation expectations have increased. The Federal Reserve right there is telling us, next step is almost certainly going to be higher on that short-term interest rate -- John.
ROBERTS: So you got economic slowdown, falling dollar, people losing their jobs and inflation. That's a recipe for not good times ahead.
CHERNOFF: Yes, the Fed has to really walk a tight rope there. They want to keep the rates low to help juice the economy, but they can't do that too long if inflation is picking up. And if inflation does pick up more, they're going to have to raise interest rates to try to limit the growth in inflation.
ROBERTS: Oh, it's like NASCAR driving. One foot on the brake, one foot on the pedal.
CHERNOFF: It's treacherous.
ROBERTS: Wow. All right. Allan, thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: I'm trying to picture Alan Greenspan in one of this racing cars, you know, rolling down the street, rolling on the track.
ROBERTS: And Ben Bernanke chasing him.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly.
All right. John McCain launching a new attack on Barack Obama this morning. We're going to talk to Mitt Romney about the GOP strategy ahead.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, disaster. Thousands of miles away hits close to home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within two weeks, you know, we're supposed to go get Sophie (ph), and, boom, there it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A Chinese orphanage leveled. An American family waits and waits for news about their adopted daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My friends that have been pregnant, they can feel their baby inside of them. And for me, it's just, I hold on to that photo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And finally, a family reunited.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh. She's so beautiful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Don't go chasing waterfalls. Well, actually you can if you're in and around New York City. It's a huge public art project that's getting a lot of buzz this morning. It's summer's monumental public art project.
The New York City Waterfalls -- that's what the project is called. And our own Rob Marciano is near the Brooklyn Bridge where one of those installations is up. I guess you should say it's down because it's a waterfall. Gorgeous, though, to look at this morning. Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. Hi, John. Yes, it is gorgeous and you'll be able to enjoy it all summer long. It's the most ambitious public art project here in New York City, certainly since those Gates a few years ago back in Central Park, but the idea is similar. Do it in grand scale like you would in New York.
And the artist, Olafur Eliasson, said he wants -- he likes to bring some of the environmental and natural wonders into an urban landscape. And that's exactly what he did here.
You can kind of see through that water some of the scaffolding, which is ubiquitous to some of the construction here around here in New York City. There are four waterfalls anywhere from 90 to 120 feet in length. This one behind me right off the bottom of the Brooklyn Bridge is another one. Just down river off the piers of Brooklyn and four in total. You can enjoy them all summer long.
Thirty-five thousand gallons a minute in totals is what these suckers are pouring out. There are pumps working obviously to pump some of the water from the East River up and over the top. And don't worry, though, for the fish. It's environmentally friendly. We've got precautions in order for them not to be too disturbed.
A little bit of showers here in New York shouldn't be a problem today. I can't tell if it's a sprinkle or some of the spritz from the waterfall behind me. Come down and check it out. It will run all summer long. Back to you guys in New York.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks a lot, Rob.
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, undercover investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's sickening behavior. It's got to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: More injured and diseased cows abused. Caught on tape being kicked and shocked. And fears that they could have ended up here, at the market.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The industry is committed to producing safe, high quality wholesome beef for our dinner tables.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve looks at the growing danger of downer cows. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: John McCain is launching a new line of attack this morning. His campaign released a memo just a couple hours ago saying that Barack Obama has consistently put his party and his own self-interests ahead of the nation. This comes after Karl Rove said that the Democratic candidate was "arrogant."
Joining me now from Boston is one-time Republican presidential candidate and current McCain supporter, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
Governor, it's good to see you. What's this all about? This idea that Senator Obama is putting his party's and his own self-interest ahead of those of the nation?
MITT ROMNEY (R), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you have in Barack Obama, I think, a very charming individual that a lot of people are attracted to. He's well spoken and thoughtful. But the fact and reality is that he's not a very experienced person. And he's somebody who has not shown, if you will, the kind of leadership I think America needs right now at such a critical time.
He has consistently voted with his party on the most partisan issues and put his party and personal interests ahead of those of the nation. I think been unable during his career at any time to reach across the aisle, find compromise, find ways to get things done other than simply towing the party line.
I think people feel we've had too much of that in Washington, and that's in part why I think John McCain will be successful. His reputation and record is as a leader who reaches across the line. Sometime, you know, his thumbed his nose in his own party and said, look, you guys are wrong. He does what he thinks is right.
ROBERTS: Let me drill down on that, if I could, just a little bit here, because what you said reflects what Steve Schmidt, a McCain campaign spokesperson, put in that memo, talking about Senator Obama. He said, "He has never been part of a bipartisan group that came together to solve a controversial issue."
Yet, we did some research on this. He worked with Senator Lugar on a nonproliferation measure that passed last year. And listen to this campaign ad from Republican Senator Gordon Smith of Washington State.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CAMPAIGN AD, GORDON SMITH FOR SENATE)
NARRATOR: Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment? Barack Obama. He joined with Gordon and broke through a 20-year deadlock to pass new laws which increased gas mileage for automobiles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So there, you have him working with Senator Lugar on nonproliferation issues. You have Senator Smith of Washington State saying I worked with Senator Obama to increase gas mileage.
It looks like a bit of a problem on two fronts there because it does contradict what the McCain campaign is saying. And here you have Senator Smith praising Senator Obama saying how well he worked together with him and not John McCain.
ROMNEY: You know, actually in both cases you're talking about two liberal positions, nonproliferation, as well as the gasoline mileage. They are very much down the mainstream of what the left wing of the Democratic Party has been pushing for for a long time.
ROBERTS: Wait a minute. Aren't Republicans pushing for nonproliferation too? I spent five years covering the Bush administration. That's what they were all about.
ROMNEY: John, there's no question. There are a number of Republicans, John McCain included, who are willing to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats. There's no question of Senator Lugar and Senator Smith they're showing examples like that. They're willing to work with Democrats.
But I'd like to see a time when Barack Obama has said, you know what, I disagree with my party. I agree with conservatives on this issue. I'm going to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans on -- well, take something like energy.
Barack Obama, he's against nuclear power. He wants to tax coal and natural gas. He doesn't want additional drilling offshore. It's exactly what the left wing of the Democratic Party has always stood for. And even at a time like this he's not willing to say, you know what? It's time for me to sit down with Republicans and get more energy for this country. He's a guy who's proven time and a again he'll always be on the left wing of the Democratic Party putting his own interests and his party's interests ahead of those of the nation.
ROBERTS: You know, there's an interesting column that Robert Novak has got out today. He's talking about this group of people called the Obama cons, conservatives who may support Barack Obama. And he suggested Senator John McCain is at risk of losing some conservative votes not necessarily because they agree with Senator Obama's positions, but because they do not like the Bush administration and are looking for something different.
And he quotes a conservative, Larry Hunter, who says, "The Republican Party is a dead rotting carcass with a few decrepit old leaders stumbling around like zombies in a horror version of weekend with Bernie, handcuffed to a corpse."
Do you agree with any of that? Is that what the Republican Party is these days?
ROMNEY: I don't think so. You know, you're going to find some discontents in any party. And are there things that our party can do better? Absolutely.
And are there opportunities for new ideas and strong leadership? Absolutely. I think John McCain represents that.
At the same time, I think you're finding in our party that people are rallying strongly around Senator McCain. I had the chance to speak now at conventions in Maine and Nevada. Frankly, all over the country. Texas. And people are enthusiastic about Senator McCain, in part because they recognize how critical the times are right now and how wrong Barack Obama is.
Look, he's a very nice fellow. But on the issues of the day, he's just simply wrong. In the area of the economy, for instance, he wants to raise taxes. He's not willing to get us additional energy, get us energy independent. These things would just kill our economy, and people recognize they need new leadership, strong leadership, not somebody who is consistently putting himself and his party ahead of the interests of the nation.
ROBERTS: Governor Romney, it's good to see you. Thanks for taking the time to come in this morning.
ROMNEY: Thanks, John. Good to be with you.
ROBERTS: Take care.
CHETRY: Bottom of the hour now. Here's some of the top stories we're following.
Breaking news as North Korea finally submits a report on its nuclear activity. President Bush is expected to talk about the next step just minutes from now. The White House releasing a statement announcing plans to take North Korea off the state sponsor of terror list easing some key sanctions. All of this coming just a day before North Korea plans to destroy a key part of its nuclear reactor.
Zimbabwe's opposition leader denying that he wrote an editorial calling for U.N. peacekeepers ahead of tomorrow's run-off election. The op-ed appeared in a British newspaper, but today they said that "The Guardian" -- whoever said in "The Guardian" that he wrote the article was not telling the truth. He dropped out of the reelection saying he fears for his life.
The U.S. military reportedly faces more than $100 billion in repairs for equipment, vehicles and weapons worn out or destroyed in Iraq. According to "USA Today," Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha says that the Pentagon failed to plan for a long and expensive war and now we're paying a heavy price for it. Murtha is saying that the enormous repair bill may actually force the Pentagon to scrap plans to add more than 90,000 soldiers and marines to the ranks. Congressman Murtha is an outspoken critic of the Iraq war.
Well, there are some new concerns over the meat on your dinner table. Once again, claims that sick and weakened livestock are being mistreated. CNN's Jeanne Meserve has the story. We want to warn you that some of the images you're going to be seeing in this piece are quite disturbing.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, an undercover investigation by the Humane Society has unearthed another instance of livestock being mistreated. The Secretary of Agriculture is responding by asking for a voluntary ban on the slaughter of downed cattle. But critics say that isn't good enough. A word of warning, this video is graphic and disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): Cows too weak or sick to stand. Kicked, shocked with electric prods. Hauled by chain. The Humane Society of the United States says this cruelty took place at New Mexico's Portales livestock auction last month.
WAYNE PACELLE, HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE U.S.: It's sickening behavior. It's got to stop.
MESERVE: A previous Humane Society video showed downer cows being hauled to slaughter in California. Because downed cattle may carry mad cow disease and pose a risk to human health, the footage prompted the largest beef recall in U.S. history. The Humane Society has no proof that the animals at Portales made it into the food chain. Though its investigators say they saw three downer cows sold, possibly for slaughter. The owner of the Portales livestock auction said some employees apparently violated his rules on the treatment of animals, but he insists no downed cattle were sold, saying, there are no downer cattle that went to any packing house or the food supply.
All downer cattle are euthanized here. Agriculture Secretary Edward Shafer has asked the beef industry to voluntarily ban the slaughter of downed animals. The industry says that's already being done.
DAREN WILLIANS, NAT'L CATTLEMENS BEEF ASSOCIATION: The industry is committed to providing safe, high quality, wholesome beef for our dinner tables, for our school's lunch table.
MESERVE: The Humane Society says this latest video proves that a voluntary ban at processing plants is not doing the job. This is the sixth livestock operation where alleged cruelty to downer cattle has been uncovered since January. The beef industry and the Agriculture Department maintained the U.S. beef supply is safe. But the Humane Society and some members of Congress say until there is a permanent and wide ranging ban on downer cattle, that may be an overly optimistic opinion. John, Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve this morning. Jeanne, thanks.
Last month's earthquake in China affected thousands of families including some far from the epicenter. One Washington state couple suffered an agonizing struggle, fearing the worst about the little girl that they hoped to adopt. CNN's Kyung Lah was in China and tracked down their soon to be daughter. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When disaster struck China it hit home for Michelle and Rick Houston of Washington state. The epicenter of last month's earthquake was an orphanage inside was Sophie Wei, the little girl the Houston's has waited nearly three years to adopt.
RICK HOUSTON, FATHER: Within two weeks, we're supposed to go get Sophie. And boom, there it is.
LAH: The Houston's feared the worst.
MICHELLE HOUSTON, MOTHER: My friends that have been pregnant, they can feel their baby inside of them. And for me it's just - I hold on to that photo. I - I put it everywhere. And I just love her. That's just - that's all I know.
LAH (on-camera): Information about adoption slowed to a crawl after the earthquake. For families waiting to adopt, all they can do is wait some more.
But we were in China in the days after the quake. And were able to track little Sophie down, safe and sound. She knows her American parents and her sister also adopted from China. But only from pictures. After our short visit we called Rick and Michelle in Washington state over the internet.
Hello.
RICK HOUSTON: Hello.
LAH: The place that I'm sitting is a hotel in Chengdu. I'm going to send you the video file. MICHELLE HOUSTON: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. She's so beautiful! Look at Sophie. Oh, my god, there's our picture album. Look!
LAH: A week later the wait was finally over. The Chinese government gave their adoption the green light.
RICK HOUSTON: Where are we going? Chengdu.
LAH: They landed at the airport and drove straight to the orphanage.
MICHELLE HOUSTON: I can't believe it.
LAH: Sophie is among the lucky. There are so many more in need of families. In addition to those already awaiting adoption, it's estimated 2,000 children were orphaned in the quake. But for now, the Houston's are thankful for their little girl. Who for years had been an image in a photograph. But is now real, a child in their arms.
RICK HOUSTON: Our family is complete now.
LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Chengdu, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And here's more on adopting from China in an "AM Extra" for you. More children are adopted from China than any other nation. About 5,500 were adopted last year. That is down though from almost 8,000 in 2005. 91 percent of the children adopted were girls. The other top countries for adoption are Guatemala, Ethiopia and Russia. Kiran.
CHETRY: We have breaking news. North Korea revealing its nuclear secrets to the world this morning. And President Bush will be speaking at the Rose Garden any moment now. The U.S. expected to announce the lifting of sanctions against the nation that the president once called part of the axis of evil. We'll bring it to you live any minute, coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And a live look at the White House right now where the President is due to speak any moment now about North Korea's nuclear declaration. The President is going to be talking about this after the communist nation handed over a long-awaited accounting of its nuclear arsenal and its nuclear work to Chinese officials. This happened earlier and fulfilled a key step in the entire denuclearization process.
Our own Zain Verjee has been following these developments for us this morning. Zain, when we talked to you earlier you explained a little bit about what this declaration does and also significant what it does not contain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE CORREPONDENT: Exactly, Kiran. As we wait for the President's statement there, the declaration basically is going to say how much plutonium North Korea has. The reason we care about that is because you need plutonium to make a nuclear bomb. The Bush administration has been trying to get North Korea to get rid of its nuclear weapons. So what it's lacking, though, in here is two very critical things.
Number one, any kind of a declaration or information about the uranium enrichment program the U.S. suspects. Because you can also make a nuclear bomb with uranium. And North Koreans haven't said anything about that. They haven't given specifics about their weapons. They haven't said where their weapons are. And very significantly, there's no information about proliferation, what kind of information or technology have the North Koreans shared with the Syrians or anyone else. We don't really know those details, Kiran.
CHETRY: It's also interesting that the U.S. is promising to ease these and lift some of these trade sanctions within this 45-day window despite the fact that as you said there are some parts of this that probably the United States and other countries would like to know more about.
VERJEE: Right. That's part of the deal. This is part of the process. North Korea, you do something, the U.S. will do something. And we're just going to go step by step, action for action. So, they gave over the declaration. So the U.S. has to do two things. The U.S. now, President Bush is going to say - he's going to notify Congress that the U.S. wants to take North Korea off the list of countries that are state sponsor of terrorism and also remove sanctions under the trading with the enemies act. I just want to make a point about that. Removing these sanctions doesn't mean that everything's great then. You know, there are still many sanctions that the U.S. has under other areas of U.S. law that do not allow trade with North Korea.
ROBERTS: Let's break away to the president here in the Rose Garden.
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES: ... free of all nuclear weapons. This morning we moved a step closer to that goal. When North Korean officials submitted the declaration of their nuclear programs to the Chinese government as part of the six-party talks. The United States has no illusions about the regime in Pyongyang. We remain deeply concerned about North Korea's human rights abuses, uranium enrichment activities, nuclear testing and proliferation, ballistic missile programs and the threat it continues to pose to South Korea and its neighbors. Yet we welcome today's development as one step in the multi-step process laid out by the six-party talks between North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
Last year North Korea pledged to disable its nuclear facilities. North Korea has begun disabling its Yongbyon nuclear facility, which was being used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. This work is being overseen by officials from the United States and the IAEA. And to demonstrate its commitment, North Korea has said it will destroy the cooling tower of the Yongbyon reactor in front of international television cameras tomorrow.
Last year North Korea also pledged to declare its nuclear activity. But today's declaration, North Korea has begun describing its plutonium-related activities. It's also provided other documents related to its nuclear programs going back to 1986. It has promised access to the reactor core and waste facilities at Yongbyon as well as personnel related to its nuclear program. All this information will be essential to verifying that North Korea is ending its nuclear programs and activities.
The six-party talks are based on a principal of action for action. So in keeping with the existing six-party agreements the United States is responding to North Korea's actions with two actions of our own. First, I'm issuing a proclamation that lifts the provisions of the Trading with the Enemy Act with respect to North Korea. And secondly, I am notifying Congress of my intent to rescind North Korea's designation as a state sponsor of terror in 45 days.
The next 45 days will be an important period for North Korea to show its seriousness of its cooperation. We'll work through the six-party talks to develop a comprehensive and rigorous verification protocol. And during this period the United States will carefully observe North Korea's actions and act accordingly. The two actions America is taking will have little impact on North Korea's financial and diplomatic isolation. North Korea will remain one of the most heavily sanctioned nations in the world. The sanctions that North Korea faces for its human rights violations, its nuclear test in 2006 and its weapons proliferation will all stay in effect. And all United Nations Security Council sanctions will stay in effect as well.
Six-party process has shed light on a number of issues of serious concern to the United States and the international community. To end its isolation, North Korea must address these concerns. It must dismantle all of its nuclear facilities, give up its separated plutonium, resolve outstanding questions on its highly enriched uranium and proliferation activities, and end these activities in a way that we can fully verify.
North Korea must also meet other obligations it has undertaken in the six-party talks. The United States will never forget the abduction of Japanese citizens by the North Koreans. We will continue to closely cooperate and coordinate with Japan and press North Korea to swiftly resolve the abduction issue. This could be a moment of opportunity for North Korea. If North Korea continues to make the right choices, it can repair its relationship with the international community. Much as Libya has done over the past few years. If North Korea makes the wrong choices, the United States and our partners in the six-party talks will respond accordingly.
If they do not fully disclose their plutonium, their enrichment and their proliferation effort and activities, there will be further consequences. Multilateral diplomacy is the best way to peacefully solve the nuclear issue with North Korea. Today's developments show the tough multilateral diplomacy can yield promising results. Yet the diplomatic process is not an end in itself. Our ultimate goal remains clear. A stable and peaceful Korean peninsula where people are free from oppression, free from hunger and disease, and free from nuclear weapons. The journey toward that goal remains long. But today we have taken an important step in the right direction. I'll take a couple of questions, Mike? QUESTION: Mr. President, thank you very much. After declaring them a member of the axis of evil and then after that underground nuclear test that North Korea conducted this 2006, I'm wondering if you ever doubted getting to this stage? I'm also wondering if you have a message for the North Korean people.
BUSH: I - I knew that the United States could not solve or begin to solve this issue without partners at the table. In order for diplomacy to be effective, there has to be leverage. You have to have - there has to be consequential diplomacy. And so I worked hard to get the Chinese and the South Koreans and the Japanese and the Russians to join with us in sending a concerting message to the North Koreans. And that is that if you promise and then fulfill your promises to dismantle your nuclear programs, there's a better way forward for you and the people.
As I said in the statement, it's action for action. It took a while for the North Koreans to take the six-party talks seriously. And it also took there to be concerted messages from people other than the United States saying that, if you choose not to respond positively, there will be consequences. And so I'm - it's been a multi-lateral diplomacy is difficult at times. It's hard to get people heading in the same direction and yet we were able to do so. Our partners helped a lot. Don't get me wrong.
The message to the North Korean people is, is that, you know, we don't want you to be hungry. We want you to have a better life. That our concerns are, you know, for you, not against you. And that we have given your leadership a way forward to have better relations with the international community. This is a society that is, you know, regularly going through famines.
You know, when I campaigned for president, I said we will never use food as a diplomatic weapon. In North Korea we have been concerned that food shipments sometimes don't make it to the people themselves. In other words, the regime takes the food for their own use. So my message to the people is that we'll continue to care for you and worry about you. And at the same time pursue a Korean Peninsula that's nuclear weapons free. And today we have taken a step. It's a very positive step, but there's more steps to be done. Deb.
QUESTION: Mr. President, what do you say to critics who claim that you've accepted a watered down declaration just to get something done just before you leave office? I mean, you've said that it doesn't address the uranium enrichment issue, and of course it doesn't address what North Korea might have done to help Syria build its reactor.
BUSH: First, let me review where we have been. In the past, we would provide benefits to the North Koreans in a hope that they would fulfill a vague promise. Because that's the way it was before I came into office. Everybody's concerned about North Korea possessing a nuclear weapon. Everybody was concerned about the proliferation activities. And yet the policy in the past was, you know, here are some benefits for you. And we hope that you respond. And, of course, we found they weren't responding. And so our policy has changed that says, in return for positive action, in return for verifiable steps, we will reduce penalties.
And there are plenty, you know, restrictions still on North Korea. So my point is this. Is that, you know, we'll see. They said they're going to, you know, destroy parts of their plant at Yongbyon. That's a very positive step. After all, it's the plant that made plutonium. They have said in their declarations, if you read their declarations of September of last year, they have said specifically what they will do. And our policy and the statement today makes it clear, we will hold them to account for their promises. And when they fulfill their promises, more restrictions will be eased.
If they don't fulfill their promises, more restrictions will be placed on them. This is action for action. This is, you know, we will trust you only to the extent that you fulfill your promises. So I'm pleased with the progress. Under no illusions that this is the first step, this isn't the end of the process, this is the beginning of the process of action for action. And the point I want to make to our fellow citizens is that we have worked hard to put multi-lateral diplomacy in place because the United States sitting down with Kim Jung Il didn't work in the past. Sitting alone at the table just didn't work.
Now, as I mentioned in my statement, there's a lot more verification that needs to be done. I mentioned our concerns about enrichment. We expect the North Korean regime will be forthcoming about their programs. We talked about proliferation. We expect them to be forthcoming about their proliferation activities and cease such activities. I mentioned the fact that we're beginning to take inventory because of our access to the Yongbyon plant about what they have produced. And we expect them to be forthcoming with what they have produced and the material itself.
So today I'm just talking about the first step of a multi-step process. And I want to thank our partners at the six-party talks. It's been incredibly helpful to achieve - the beginnings of achieving a vision of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. Have the Chinese to be as robustly involved this early. You noticed that the North Koreans passed on their documents to the Chinese. After all, we're all partners in the six-party talks. The other thing is I want to assure our friends in Japan is that this process will not leave behind, leave them behind on the abduction issue.
The United States takes the abduction issue very seriously. We expect - we expect the North Koreans to solve this issue in a positive way for the Japanese. There's a lot of folks in Japan that are deeply concerned about what took place. I remember meeting the mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office. It was a heart wrenching moment. To listen to the mother talk about what it was like to lose her daughter. And it is important for the Japanese people to know that the United States will not abandon our strong ally and friend.
ROBERTS: There's President Bush this morning at the Rose Garden on what is a significant day in relations between the United States, North Korea and the other five countries involved in trying to get North Korea to give up its nuclear program. The President describing it as one step in a multi-step process the fact the North Korea has begun, as the president said to describe its plutonium program related to its nuclear programs there in the north.
CHETRY: Yes and he talked about also this 45-day period where North Korea has to help in the verification process. And he said we're going to be watching closely. You know, these are - the next 45 days are very important. And he was quick to make sure of the point that this is not the end and also that there are still a lot of work that still needs to be done as it relates to the final verification and whether or not North Korea will be dealt into the international fold. He also said not a lot is going to change if you're living in North Korea right now. Even though they are talking about lifting key sanctions and taking them off the list of states that sponsor terror.
ROBERTS: Let's get a little more on the significance of all of this. David Albright is a former United Nations weapons inspector. He is also the president of the Institute for Science and International Security. He is on the phone with us from Alexandria. David, it's a long way from early October of 2002 and Deputy Secretary of State James Kelly first said that we believe that North Korea was cheating on its agreed frame work that it signed with the United states back in 1994 to where we are today. Just how significant do you see this development?
VOICE OF DAVID ALBRIGHT, FMR. U.N. ARMS INSPECTOR: It has been a long road. And I think it's a very significant development. For many months North Korea has been taking action. They've disabled or destroyed - probably destroyed facilities at their Yongbyon complex. They turned over thousands of pages of operating records for the United States to peruse and see if - what North Korea said makes sense. And so in a sense today, the United States is taking its action to the North Koreans and demonstrating that it's going to respond. And as President Bush said, that if there's positive action, then they'll reduce some of the penalties that have been imposed to North Korea. I think that's what happened today. There is a lot of work left to do. North Korea has not shown the United States the plutonium. This declaration is really about how much it's produced, how much it's turned into nuclear weapons - well, how much it's produced, how much has been separated and turned into a form usable for nuclear weapons. But they didn't show them the weapons or the plutonium.
ROBERTS: And David, this is a regime that just loves to thumb its nose at the international community. It cheated on that 1994 agreed frame work. What's to say that Kim Jung Il is not going to cheat on this as well?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I think one thing is the Bush administration exaggerated the cheating. I mean they made some fundamental mistakes in assessing the level of cheating by North Korea. I mean, there was cheating for sure. So, first of all, both sides tended to see the other in absolutely evil terms. And so I think what we're seeing now is they're starting to work together. And because North Korea has cheated in the past, verification to check on what North Korea says is going to be very robust. ROBERTS: And David, one very important point here is that this couldn't have been done without the cooperation of China. What do we now owe China as a result of this?
ALBRIGHT: Well, we owe China a lot and also I think President Bush is trying to reach out to Japan. Japan has not been happy about how this has progressed without the abduction issue being resolved. And I think he said very clearly the United States fully intends to try to work to resolve that. So I think we owe a lot to our allies in North Asia. And China's played an extremely important role of pressuring North Korea. So, I think certainly I would expect that the United States and China can cooperate in the future much better.
ROBERTS: All right. David Albright, former U.N. inspector. David, it's always good to hear your thoughts. Thanks for joining us this morning.
CHETRY: Also joining us now, Obama supporter Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey live in Washington. Good morning, Senator. Thanks so much for being with us today.
SEN. BOB CASEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Good morning.
CHETRY: I want to ask you a little bit about the latest developments of the morning. We have North Korea revealing its nuclear secrets, at least in part today. A big breakthrough deal with the United States. So if Barack Obama becomes president, this is the plan he will be inheriting. How will he deal with North Korea?
CASEY: Well, I think he'll be very much focused on what we all have to be focused on, which is to make sure that this declaration today leads to a complete and verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of their nuclear weapons capability. And this is a good development today. And it's the result of a lot of hard work by people in the administration, principally Christopher Hill and his team. But we've got a long way to go on this and I think President Obama, if he were to be elected, would want to continue this progress. But there's still a ways to go.
CHETRY: So would he, in essence, be continuing the Bush administration policy as it relates to North Korea?
CASEY: Well, maybe part of it. But there may be other developments that he will want to bring to bear on this. Because this is a very complicated problem. It doesn't happen with one declaration or one announcement. It's a process. And the situation will change between now and under a new presidency. He's going to have to be flexible enough to make changes, but I think it's a positive development and we should recognize it as that.
CHETRY: All right. Senator Casey, I want to ask you about this memo that the John McCain camp sent out today. It's titled "Country first versus self-serving partisanship." And in it, they go on to write "on campaign finance Barack Obama had to choose between keeping his word or enjoying a monetary advantage. He chose the money." How does Senator Obama explain to voters why he broke the promise of agreeing to public financing if his competitor did as well?
CASEY: It sounds like the McCain campaign is getting very desperate. It's only the end of June. No candidate in American history has demonstrated more through their campaign their commitment through the kind of reform we need in our election laws than Barack Obama. Ninety percent of his donors have contributed $200 or less.
