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American Morning
North Korea Convicts U.S. Journalists; Bodies Recovered from Air France Wreckage; Palin Hits New York; U.N. Designates Today World Oceans Day
Aired June 08, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBERTS: And a following breaking news for you on this Monday morning, the 8th of June. Thanks for joining us. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
We're following all the latest developments this morning on the North Korea situation. Two U.S. journalists that have now been sentenced to time there have been found guilty in North Korea. Laura Ling, Euna Lee sentenced to a dozen years of hard labor after they were picked up just at the border with China. They were doing reporting on refugees in China. North Korea claimed that they inadvertently went and crossed the boundary.
Right now, Washington is working many channels to try to secure their freedom. We have some updates for you. We're going to be speaking to Governor Bill Richardson, somebody who has secured the freedom of others stuck in North Korea in the past.
Well the news comes as the Obama administration is warning it's considering placing Pyongyang back on the list of states that sponsor terrorism. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling North Korea's recent nuclear provocations very dangerous for the region and the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We will do everything we can to both interdict it and prevent it and shut off their flow of money. If we do not take significant and effective action against the North Koreans now, we'll spark an arms race in northeast Asia. I don't think anybody wants to see that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The regime, the communist regime has conducted recent nuclear and missile tests. And they're also concerned about North Korea's shipping nuclear material to other rogue nations.
Well, it could be some new sticker shock at the gas pump if you filled up lately. Today marks the 41st straight day of increases. This morning, the price for a gallon of regular gas is up nearly a cent to $2.62 a gallon. In a moment, we're going to break down why gas prices keep going up. They're up 50 percent since the beginning of the year. ROBERTS: But we start with the breaking news, and what's now a human face on the escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea. Overnight, U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years at a hard labor camp after being convicted of what the North Korean's called, quote, "grave crimes."
CNN's Jason Carroll joins us now with the very latest.
Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. You know, North Korea's state-run media is reporting the country's high court has sentenced the American journalists to 12 years of reform through labor. That means Laura Ling and Euna Lee's sentence will be served at a labor prison for what the court is calling a grave crime committed against the Korean nation for their illegal border crossing.
And just in to CNN this morning, the White House is responding. The president saying -- a spokesman for the White House saying that "the president is deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities. And we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release."
Ling and Lee were working on a report about North Koreans fleeing the country when they were detained by soldiers patrolling the border between China and North Korea. They were working for Current TV, a media company co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the charges, quote, "baseless" and demanded their release. And just before the sentencing, Laura Ling's sister, Lisa, spoke about her sister at a commencement speech in San Diego.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA LING, LAURA LING'S SISTER: Quite honestly, the story that my sister went to do wasn't one that we were that concerned about because they had no intention when they left the United States to cross into North Korea. My sister is an amazing journalist, and she's very passionate about what she does.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And courageous.
LING: Yes, she's -- I mean, she is a good person who wanted to tell a story. And this unfortunate event has happened, and we just hope that she's OK and that she'll be returned home to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: North Korean experts say the U.S. will continue back toward negotiations. Several senior administration officials say the idea of sending Al Gore to help is under consideration. Also a possibility, sending New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson who has worked in the past to release people held by North Korea. In the meantime, Swedish officials will be working behind the scenes.
Also when you talk to experts who know the region, they say that there is a possibility that once you were sentenced, you know, there is a wait period of time about ten days, several days to ten days before you're actually sent to prison. So, obviously, this time could be very key.
ROBERTS: Yes. Maybe a little window of opportunity here.
CARROLL: Correct.
ROBERTS: We'll be speaking with Bill Richardson about that, coming up just the next couple of minutes, by the way.
Thanks, Jason.
CARROLL: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, this morning, the State Department is also expressing deep concern for the well-being of Laura Ling and Euna Lee.
Jill Dougherty live from the State Department now.
It didn't take long for U.S. officials to respond to this news, put out a statement about the situation.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Right, Kiran. And, actually, just a few minutes ago, we were talking with Ian Kelly, who is the spokesman for the State Department. And he says that actually now the Swedish ambassador in Pyongyang has confirmed with North Korean officials that that indeed is the sentence.
Up to this point, Western countries were actually relying on news reports coming out of North Korea. But now they can confirm that is, indeed, the sentence, 12 years.
And the statement that the State Department put out, actually, if you look at it, it's exactly the wording of the White House. This is very, very carefully phrased right now. Here's the full statement from the State Department. "We are deeply concerned by the sentencing of the two American journalists by North Korean authorities. We are engaged to do all possible channels to secure their release. We once again urge North Korea to grant the immediate release of the two American citizen journalists on humanitarian grounds."
And I think you have to look at two phrases there. "Through all possible channels," that could be an indication indirectly of using former vice president al gore or perhaps Bill Richardson as special envoy. And then "on humanitarian basis" would refer to the fact that if the scenario were to go ahead, now that they've been sentenced, the idea was then either the former vice president or Bill Richardson could then go to Pyongyang and hopefully get them released. All right, Jill Dougherty for us at the State Department this morning. We'll keep following this throughout the morning.
Thanks.
ROBERTS: It is the story getting the most hits this morning on CNN.com. The recovery of 17 bodies for the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean. Rescuers right now narrowing their search. Apparently there are more bodies that have been spotted in the ocean.
Our Paula Newton is live in London this morning with the latest on the recovery effort. And what might have brought the plane down.
And, Paula, is there any talk about the safety of these aircraft?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. But right now, you know, it's more than a week since this crash, and we still aren't any closer to knowing exactly what went on onboard that flight.
ROBERTS: You know, I always talked about it a lot in the past week. The speed of the aircraft. Did the pilots know the speed that they're going out? Were they moving too slow or too fast?
The problem, John, was even if that was, in fact, a catastrophic event. They're saying there must have been more than that. And, John, as that recovery effort continues, those black boxes still as many as two miles beneath the surface. French were on its way. Hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday will they get more specialists deep sea teams in there to see if they can find those black boxes - John.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, what about the safety issue? We know that Air France was putting out some documentation over the weekend regarding air speed indication, sensors and the program to replace them. This particular plane had not yet had its sensors replaced. So was there any talk about whether some of these A330 aircraft may have to sit on the ground until these sensors are replaced?
NEWTON: A very sensitive topic right now, as you can imagine, John. It's true, you know. Those sensors on that Air France jet confirmed by French investigators this weekend, they were not replaced even though there was some type of indication that they should have been replaced as far back as late 2008.
What they're saying, though, Air France and Airbus on the same page here saying, look, we still don't think this is enough to actually ground airbus jets. It's making a lot of fliers nervous, though, John, as you can imagine. We'll continue to look for this recovery effort to see if they find more clues in the middle of the Atlantic - John.
ROBERTS: Paula Newton for us this morning from London with the latest on Air France 447. Paula, thanks so much.
Governor Bill Richardson, certainly knows a lot about trying to get people out of North Korea. He did it twice in 1994 and 1996. Might he play a role in the case of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were sentenced to12 years in a labor camp? We'll be talking with the governor coming right up.
Seven minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: All right. Back with our breaking news this morning.
If the North Koreans are trying to get America's attention, it's certainly working. North Korea's highest court convicting two U.S. journalists overnight, sentencing them to 12 years in a labor camp. Now, Secretary of Hillary Clinton is threatening to put North Korea back on the terrorist state watch list.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson knows the North Koreans well. He has negotiated with them many times before, including for the release of Americans being held by them. He may have to do it again. He joins us live this morning from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Governor, what do you make of this sentence that was handed down by this North Korean court?
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: Well, obviously, the 12 years is very harsh. It's disappointing. And I feel for the families of these two young women who were only doing their job.
On the other hand, John, the news is good if you see a silver lining in this in that the legal process has ended with a North Korean. So, therefore, now you can possibly conduct negotiations for their release. When I was over there twice before, you couldn't do anything until their courts had handed out their verdicts and their sentences. So now is a critical period.
Another piece of good news is their rhetoric of the North Koreans on the two women has been muted. It hasn't been on the standoff on nuclear issues with testing. But that is good news that they've allowed the Swedish ambassador in three times to see them. They've allowed the two women to call their families. There's not a charge of espionage. So I see some positive hopeful signs to getting them out.
ROBERTS: So what do you think is going on here? Are they being made an example of? Or is North Korea trying to use them as a bargaining chip?
RICHARDSON: North Korea is always very, very alert to how the international community views them. And they like to be unpredictable. They are using them as bargaining chips. It's a high stakes poker game that they're playing. But they're also realistic in wanting to resolve any kind of standoff on the humanitarian issue. I believe that has been consistent in their behavior in the past.
So I expect the next few days, the next few weeks, something unfolding that points to the separation. And I think the Obama administration has done a good job of separating the humanitarian issue from the political differences we have. The administration's rhetoric has been restrained. They've been -- Secretary of State Clinton I know has worked very hard on this with third party countries, with envoys that have been in North Korea like the Russian foreign minister. And so I see some good signs.
ROBERTS: All right. Do you think that you might play a role? I know that you've been consulting with the administration. Might you make a trip to Pyongyang? I mean, on 1996, you got an American out. In 1994, you got American helicopter pilot Bobby Hall out. Could you go back there and do it again?
RICHARDSON: Well, you try to get rid of me again, John. Well, I think that that's premature. I think the next few days at the highest levels, the Obama administration is doing the right thing, separating the issues, starting contacts through third parties, working very hard publicly to get the release to happen.
Who knows what will happen? If they ask for my help, of course, I'd be ready to do anything. But this is something that is very sensitive at this stage.
But the good news is that their legal court process is over. And now you can start, I think, avidly, directly, indirectly, third parties to secure their release. And these are two women journalists that need to come home. They were only doing their job. They have wonderful families in the United States. And it's time to get them out of the political impasse that exists on the other issues.
ROBERTS: Sometimes when countries, you know, convict people and they sentence them to terms in prison, they're really saying to the country that, you know, these people are citizens of, hey, help us out here, you know, give us an offer to try to bring them out.
When you got Bobby Hall out in 1994, were they saying, hey, we'd really like to get rid of him, help us out here. Or were they not in the mood to get rid of him?
RICHARDSON: Well, at the time, that was the first time I was involved. They were unhappy with the entry of Bobby Hall and another American serviceman into their territory. So that was very prime ground. But shortly thereafter, they did enter into negotiations with the Clinton administration to terminate their nuclear program.
So, look, they see advantage and disadvantage in negotiating. They always have a long-range goal. They don't do these issues in isolation. And the time has come, though, to -- you have to keep the issues separate of humanitarian release. And I think the Obama administration's done a good job of doing that from the very serious political differences that we have over testing, the Six-Party talks, the entire nuclear developments in North Korea.
ROBERTS: So knowing North Korea as you do, do you think that Laura Ling and Euna Lee will be released, or do you think they'll actually be shipped off to this labor camp?
RICHARDSON: No, I think eventually they'll be released. I'm an optimist here. But North Korea's unpredictable. They play a high-stakes poker game. They know the international community is watching them. They want attention.
But they don't always think the way we do. We think of traditional diplomacy and quid pro quos. You know, they have their own game plan. But I think it's important to keep the issues -- I'm going to say it again -- separate. And they've kept the issues separate. We've kept them separate.
So I'm relatively hopeful that we can secure the release. And this has to be done by the highest levels of the administration. And I think they're doing very well in that regard.
ROBERTS: Well, we certainly hope that you're right, Governor. And I know that the family would greatly appreciate anything you can do to try to get them released.
Thanks very much for being with us this morning. Good to see you again.
RICHARDSON: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: All right - Kiran.
CHETRY: We've been talking this morning about the debate raging on about the stimulus money -- how it's being spent, is it being spent fast enough, is it doing what it's supposed to do. And then what about the bailouts? Well, Christine Romans is back with her "Romans' Numeral."
Here's a hint. It's $2.7 trillion. It's a dollar figure. Can you figure out what she's talking about?
Fifteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Good morning to the nation's capital. Look at the Capitol building there with a little bit of sunshine shining off of it. But unfortunately, it's mostly cloudy there right now. Later on today, isolated thunderstorms, a high of 85. That will definitely affect air traffic in the area, if thunderstorms get bad. So, keep your plans fairly flexible today.
Eighteen and a half minutes after the hour. Quick look at the AM run down, stories coming up in the next few minutes.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States may put North Korea back on the list of states that sponsor terrorism. What would that mean exactly? We're live in Washington with the new developments on that front.
Plus, environmentalists and celebrities banding together today for World Oceans Day. So, what's the controversy? Actor Ted Danson explains when he joins us, coming up live.
Plus, why the country is going vampire crazy. Yes, vampire crazy. All the rage these days.
CHETRY: Would you like a sip of some blood? Energetic in the morning.
ROBERTS: I'm kind of full.
CHETRY: Well, gas prices up again this morning. National average now $2.61 a gallon. Has a lot of people talking, calling into our show hotline. They're up 50 percent from a year. Here's what they're saying on 877-MY-AM-FIX.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: You see a lot of stores. They cut the price to help the economy out. Why does the gas company keep raising their prices left and right?
CALLER: I just want to let the president know that the price of gas is hurting a lot of American workers. I realize he's focusing on health care, but the price of gas is just getting out of control and it's hurting everybody.
CALLER: I'm just wondering why the gas prices are starting to take a giant leap again. Nobody's talking about oil and gas. What's going on?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, to find out what's going on, Christine Romans is here. She is "Minding Your Business" this morning. She joins us now.
Because they said it wasn't going to go over, what, $2.50.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's what they said, and they were wrong. I mean, these prices keep going up.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: And you know -- who is "they" after all? No, when you look at what's happened over the past five months in gas prices, we have never seen such a big percentage jump in gas prices ever. So this -- you're feeling it and that's why you're concerned and you want to talk about it because it has been a big jump. And, remember, nothing like it was last year, but still, you've seen gas prices continue to move higher and I'm going to tell you why.
You can blame the bailouts for part of this. You really can. Because oil prices are moving higher. And the reason oil prices are moving higher is not because there's increased demand for oil, it's because, A, people think that the economy will eventually get better. And as they think about that, they're wondering what's going to happen with all of the money we're borrowing to bailout, rescue, give these loans to all these different industries, homeowners, auto industry, to the banks.
What's going to happen longer term? It's going to hurt the dollar. It's going to spike inflation. That's going to mean commodities are going to have to go up. And so people are buying commodities now on that idea. And that's when you fill up your gas tank right now and the prices are up. You're paying for gas and an awful lot of expectations in that tank of gas. And that's what's happening here. And it's got people very, very upset.
ROBERTS: I don't think people are looking for expectations when they fill a gas tank.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: They're looking for some gas.
ROBERTS: They're just looking to get from here or there, right?
ROMANS: But, gas, you know -- gas is one of those funny things that sent by world markets. And there are a lot of interconnectedness and that's what's happening.
CHETRY: Yes. A lot of speculation as you said.
All right. Well, it's time now for "Romans' Numeral." Christine brings us a number every day that's driving a story about your money. So today's "Romans Numeral," I saw a lot of zeros. A lot of zeros.
ROMANS: It's 2.7 trillion. 2.7 trillion.
Oh, my gosh, it just says 2.7.
CHETRY: Well, there were a lot of zeros, the last time I look them. Maybe they didn't fit there on the screen.
ROMANS: Wow. That is the erroneous "Romans Numeral." It's 2.7 trillion.
CHETRY: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: These days, it could be anything. Anything.
ROMANS: I'm sorry, I'm speechless. It is.
ROBERTS: I mean, it used to be, it used to be the amount of foreign held debt. But that's like so many trillions ago. ROMANS: No, you're right. $2.7 trillion is the total value of all of the bailouts, loans, guarantees, rescues. If you put it all together. This is what we've spent so far. Not even what we have promised. That's what we have spent so far. And that's $2.7 trillion.
So when you fill up your tank of gas, think, wow, those global markets are thinking, that's an awful lot of money. How are we going to pay that back? What's it going to do for the dollar?
There you go.
CHETRY: All right.
ROMANS: 2.7 trillion. You can follow that at CNNMoney.com bailout tracker.
It's fun. It's one of the things that I do...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: We should put a little sign on the gas pump that says you're paying not only gas, but expectations.
ROMANS: There you go.
ROBERTS: Twenty-two minutes after the hour. Actor Ted Danson joins us coming up. There are some reports that suggest that within the next 40 years or so, you may not be able to find any wild- caught fish to put on your plate. In fact, they're saying that the next decade could be the last time that we see widely available fish. So, you know, nutritionist are saying, "got to eat fish." So, maybe the thing is, we've got to protect the oceans. We'll talk with Ted coming up about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-five and a half minutes after the hour. New this morning, a bomb ripping apart a minibus in Baghdad that killed at least seven people and injured two dozen during the morning rush hour. That underscores the challenge facing Iraqi troops in the area with U.S. forces set to leave the region in three weeks, or at least set to leave major urban areas within three weeks.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa using Twitter to tweet President Obama. The top Republican on the Finance Committee said, "The president had nerve for telling Congress to deliver on health care reform while he was sightseeing in Paris." In the Sunday morning tweet, Grassley likening the president to a hammer that acts like everything else is a nail.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin accused of paraphrasing an old article that was co-written by Newt Gingrich. Last week while introducing Ronald Reagan's son to an Anchorage audience, Palin appears to have paraphrase passages from an article that Gingrich helped write in 2005 urging Republicans to study Ronald Reagan. Palin's attorney said Palin adequately attributed her comments to Gingrich.
Sarah Palin took the Big Apple by storm this weekend. The Alaska governor raised money last night on Long Island for a charity that benefits special needs kids. And she walked with thousands of people with autism. Among them, her own nephew.
Our Mary Snow here now.
Mary, a lot of people think that the governor is dipping her toe in the water in all the appropriate places for potential run at the White House in 2012.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly the sense you got this weekend, John. It was something that Sarah Palin didn't want to talk about. But just about everywhere this weekend, there was no shortage of speculation about whether she's gearing up for round two on the national political stage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): She traveled thousands of miles to mark a page in Alaska's past. Governor Sarah Palin paid tribute in Upstate New York to William Seward, who negotiated the purchase of her home state in 1867. But it was her political future that became a focus in the crowds. And she made clear she's watching Washington.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), ALASKA: We know decisions being made lately we believe are not in the nation's best interest.
SNOW: And Palin took aim at the Obama administration over proposed cuts to Alaska's missile defense network.
PALIN: Reducing Alaska's defense readiness in these careless times is a show of weakness. It's not a sign of strength.
SNOW: Palin's political action committee paid for her New York trip that took her to a Yankee's game with fellow Republican Rudy Giuliani, an autism walk and a fund-raiser for an organization dedicated to the disable, where Palin talked about her 1-year-old son, Trigg, who has Down syndrome.
PALIN: Just because our ticket placed second, second out of two, you still have an advocate for the cause.
SNOW: She took no questions from reporters, but at least one New York Republican is reading into her trip.
REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: I think she's touching the water. That's just my own opinion. I think she wants to get the feel for how it is out there.
SNOW: A recent CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll shows in a hypothetical Republican presidential race in 2012 she's virtually tied with Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. Palin says Republican Congressman Peter King will have to overcome unfavorables and filling gaps such as foreign policy. But he says he's urged her to get out there.
KING: She has star quality. And not many people in our party have it today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: Now, after leaving New York was on to Washington for staff meetings. But still a question is whether she'll attend a big fund-raiser tonight for congressional Republicans. Over the weekend, there was behind-the-scenes drama between her camp and organizers about whether she would speak or not. She will not speak, but, John, something tells me the drama not yet over.
ROBERTS: Yes. I guess the issue was -- she was originally invited to be the keynote speaker. And then...
SNOW: There's a lot of confusion.
ROBERTS: And then she's noncommittal, so they invited Gingrich to do it.
SNOW: Correct. And then, apparently over the weekend, her spokeswoman said that she was invited to speak but then disinvited, so there's a lot of back and forth.
ROBERTS: Because they don't want her to overshadow Newt Gingrich.
SNOW: Newt Gingrich, exactly.
ROBERTS: Maybe a real sign that she does have some political punch going into 2012.
Mary, thanks so much for that.
SNOW: Sure.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Coming up on half past the hour. We're following breaking news this morning. North Korea sentencing two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor. North Korea saying that Laura Ling and Euna Lee were convicted of, quote, "committing hostilities against the Korean nation," and it was after an illegal entry, after a four-day trial that ended this morning. We're going to be live at the White House, the administration looking at all avenues to try to secure their release. We're going to have an update on what's going on there.
A warning from the man accused of killing a Kansas abortion doctor. He says similar acts of violence are in the works across the country. Scott Roeder making that claim in a phone call to the Associated Press from his jail cell. The Justice Department has ordered stepped up security at abortion clinics.
The mayor of New Orleans and his wife are far from the French Quarter this morning. They have been quarantined in China. Ray Nagin and his wife in Shanghai on an economic development trip. The mayor's office says that a passenger on his flight showed symptoms of swine flu. That prompted the quarantine. The mayor says he's fine and being treated well.
Well, back to our breaking news. The verdict is in from the North Korea's highest court. Guilty as charged. American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. They were convicted and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally crossing the border.
What they were doing at the time was a story on China and refugees there when they were accused of "a grave crime" against the communist regime. The State Department says it's deeply concerned, prepared to engage in all possible channels to free the Americans. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has helped free other Americans detained in North Korea. Earlier this morning, he talked to John about Pyongyang's possible motives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: North Korea is always very, very alert how the international community views them. And they like to be unpredictable. They are using them as bargaining chips. It's a high stakes poker game that they're playing. But they're also realistic in wanting to resolve any kind of standoff on the humanitarian issue.
I believe that has been consistent in their behavior in the past. So I expect the next few days, the next few weeks, something unfolding that points to the separation. And I think the Obama administration has done a good job of separating the humanitarian issue from the political differences we have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Richardson also says that if the president asked, he would be ready to do anything to try to help secure their release.
We're also following a story from the White House this morning. CNN's Elaine Quijano is working her sources and were also hearing from the administration for the first time about this this morning. Elaine, good morning.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, well, we now have a statement from the White House on this situation. It comes to us from White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton who said in a statement "the president is deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release."
So there is the reaction from the White House at this hour. But this news that's happening on the heels of some already tough talk by the Obama administration. When it comes to North Korea, tough talk that really could signal a possible change in the U.S.'s approach.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): After North Korea's provocative actions, including its missile and nuclear tests last month, the regime could wind up back on the U.S.'s list of state sponsors of terrorism. According to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
CLINTON: Well, we're going to look at it. There's a process for it. Obviously we wouldn't want to see recent evidence of their support for international terrorists.
QUIJANO: Clinton says the U.S. is just beginning to look for that evidence, but if officials do press ahead, it would ratchet up tensions even further. The move would mean South Korea could possibly intercept North Korean ships, suspected of supplying missiles and nuclear materials to other countries. Actions Kim Jong-il's regime has warned would provoke retaliation. Still President Obama on his trip to Europe made clear the U.S.'s patience with North Korea is wearing thin.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think that there should be an assumption that we will simply continue down a path in which North Korea is constantly destabilizing the region.
QUIJANO: CNN foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty says behind the scenes, U.S. officials are grappling with how best to deal with the regime.
DOUGHERTY: There is enormous frustration about how to really put the pressure on them and get them to do what they have promised to do, which is end their nuclear program.
QUIJANO: For now, the U.S. wants tougher United Nations sanctions.
CLINTON: If we do not take significant and effective action against the North Koreans now, we'll spark an arms race in northeast Asia. I don't think anybody wants to see that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: Now, as for the journalists, over the weekend, Secretary Clinton said that the detention of the two women was a humanitarian issue that should be kept separate from political matters and she also called, of course, on North Korea to release the two women. Well, now that North Korea has ignored those calls, or at least appears to be ignoring them for now, it's only going to add to the pressure, Kiran, on the U.S. to change its approach.
CHETRY: Elaine Quijano for us at the White House, following this new development this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: It's Monday, and it happens to be World Oceans Day. And on this World Oceans Day, a dire warning about the shape of fish stocks worldwide and whether or not you will continue - you'll be able to continue to put fish on the table. Actor Ted Danson has been an activist on ocean issues since 1987. He's here to join us, coming up next, to talk about the plights of fish globally and whether or not you'll be able to continue to eat it. It's an important issue. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBERTS: Circle today on your calendar. It seems like it might be a little too late to do that, but you might. It's World Oceans Day, the U.N. picked this day to raise the awareness of the responsibility that we have to all of the living creatures that call the oceans home. Actor and activist Ted Danson has taken on this issue, narrating the film "The End of the Line," which premieres at this year's Sundance Festival. Its message: Don't just go green, go blue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED DANSON, ACTOR/ACTIVIST: For many years scientists have been predicting that the king OF the tuna would be hunted to extinction, but now it has actually happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ted Danson joins us this morning in the studio. It's great to see you. Thanks very much for coming in. I watched this documentary last week. It's a great film. And it has a dire warning too that by the year 2048 according to some calculations and there's some dispute about this that the fish stocks ocean wide, globally, may have collapsed to the point where we can't put any more wild caught fish on our table.
DANSON: True. True. I mean, trends are trends. The time line is always, you know, risky to say exactly when. But if we continue at the rate we're fishing, that will, indeed happen. 1/3, 30 percent of our fisheries around the world have collapsed as Canadian, you know, Canadian cod is not coming back because of that.
So, when you reduce the stock down below 10 percent of its historical level, you do run the risk of it never coming back.
ROBERTS: I remember in 1992 there was a big controversy when the Canadian government stepped in and said the cod stocks off the grand banks of Newfoundland have collapsed. They're going to put a moratorium on it. Thousands of people out of work in the fishing industry. They thought, give it a couple of years, it'll come back. And this was a staple for fish and chips and fish sticks. So many people would eat the cod coming of the northwestern Atlantic, and they never recovered.
DANSON: Yes.
ROBERTS: And this documentary says that the cod stocks in the northwest Atlantic are like a canary in a coal mine for what's going on globally. DANSON: Absolutely true. The U.N. says that 75 percent of the world's fisheries are either fully fished or over fished. And the way we're fishing, we have twice the amount of boats out there that we could, you know, responsibly fish. Nine out of 10 of the big fish that were around when I was growing up, the tuna, the marlin, the sharks, sword fish, nine out of 10 of those are gone. Ten percent of the swordfish -
ROBERTS: These trawlers literally just come along and they vacuum up everything in the sea.
DANSON: And then throw away 10 to 30 percent of what they catch because it's not the fish they're after, it's the wrong size. So, you're dumping overboard, you know, almost one-third of what you catch worldwide, dead or dying back into the sea. You're scraping the bottom with the bottom trolling. So, the size of the United States every year, you're just devastating, turning into gravel pits and destroying the nurseries at the same time.
ROBERTS: So, people at home might say, well, you know, a lot of the fish that I'm eating is farmed fish anyway. So what's the problem? It's going to be fished from somewhere?
DANSON: Big problem. Salmon, for example, salmon farm fish, you have to kill three to four pounds of wild fish, grind it up to make one pound of farm salmon. That math is crazy. You may not feel it in the United States, but in Chile, when you go to the market locally, those fish are getting smaller and smaller because they're being ground up to feed, you know, the north.
ROBERTS: And those big fish farms create their own pollution problems, as well.
DANSON: Huge.
ROBERTS: Why are you so interested in this?
DANSON: I don't know, you know, my father's an archaeologist and anthropologist. And I think one part of me growing up absorbed it. It's not about your life, it's about your stewardship of what you're given. There's that, I think there's the irritation that, you know, my children may not - it's insane. My children, your children may not be able to eat fish. May not be able to go fishing. Fishing families sort of fished for centuries, will not be able to continue doing that. A billion people around the world depend on fish for their protein and they're mostly poor people. It's this huge problem that is not talked about. And absolutely - it's also one of those problems that can be fixed.
ROBERTS: Yes. You know, I'm a scuba diver and I'm shocked every time I go in the water and see the state of the reefs. But quickly, what steps could be taken?
DANSON: Let me just say one thing that's really huge is acidification. We haven't even started to talk about that or global warming produces, you know, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, floats down in the water and the water can only absorb so much and it turns the ph balance acid, which means you're going to wipe out the bottom of the food chain at the same time, those critters that makes shells.
ROBERTS: But in terms of what we can do to make fishing sustainable -
DANSON: As an individual, you should be conscious when you go in. What am I buying? Is it sustainable? There are cards that you can go online that have the -- what's the fish that you should be eating. You can go to your supermarkets and make sure they tell you that too. That should be listed. You need to be an activist, honestly, you need to change policy. I'm pushing oceanic, that's something the organization that I'm part of. Find an organization that's doing this work on an international level and become an activist because the time is running out literally.
ROBERTS: Yes, there was a protest at the Nuvo (ph) Restaurant here in New York over the weekend.
DANSON: Right.
ROBERTS: Thirty artists including Sting, Sienna Miller sent a letter to the Nuvo (ph) in London saying do something about this. Stop serving blue fin tuna. Are some restaurants beginning?
DANSON: Yes, they are. Absolutely. People are becoming more and more aware. Blue fin tuna is not just, you're not just wiping out a species, which is what we're at the brink of going. You are also, one out of six women, you know, have too much mercury in their system to safely give birth to a child without neurological damage. One out of 6 may get that mostly from eating fish.
ROBERTS: Well, as I said, it's a tremendous documentary, the Sundance Film Festival. And it's some thing that everybody should be aware of. Ted Danson, it's great to see you this morning.
DANSON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Thanks for dropping by. We really appreciate it. For more on this, by the way, check out a commentary written by Ted, he wrote about how the show "Cheers" got him involved in this issue in the first place. Why it matters so much to him now. You can find Ted's commentary on cnn.com/amfix. It's a great read. Forty-four minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Oh, wow. I was really liking the shot of D.C. a little bit better than that. It looks a little soupy out there in New York. Doesn't it?
ROBERTS: It's a little bit humid this morning.
CHETRY: Yes, 68 degrees. A little bit later, we're going up to 76. That's true but bring your umbrella if you're going to be in the tristate because a few showers. But hey, someone knows it way better than I do. That's Rob Marciano. What do you think?
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ROBERTS: Well, vampires, they're all the rage. We'll show you why coming up. Stay with us.
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ROBERTS: It's been a tough year for the travel industry. And looks like it might be getting worse. Christine Romans here. She's "Minding your Business." And I can't quite figure this out. I fly a lot and every time I fly, I'm like this on planes that are just jammed.
ROMANS: I've noticed the same thing on small planes that are jammed, but it's because they're flying maybe fewer flights and they're putting everybody on a smaller plane, they're trying to get more money and more capacity out of the flights they have. But that passenger load is down, meaning that a lot of flights are not full. And frankly, they're cutting fares to try to get you on those flights. You might have noticed that this summer that if you're trying to book travel - this is a pretty good time to be booking some travel because they are cutting fares to try to get you on there.
And the International Air Transport Association says they expect the airline to lose $9 billion this year. $9 billion revenue disappearing, $80 billion in revenue, and they list just all of these things that are coming together to be terrible. A recession in the sky is really, falling demand, collapsing yields, broken consumer confidence and then you throw on pandemic fears and it's been really difficult for them. We know that after sort of Lehman Brothers collapsed, and the real problems began, the financial system late last year, we know that air freight dropped like 23 percent. It's stabilized, but stabilized at these much lower levels, down about 20 percent. And we know the passenger traffic is down about eight percent. And now, one thing that's been good for the airlines is the lower energy prices. You know, they're much lower than they were a year ago. And that has been helpful.
ROBERTS: But they're on the way back up.
ROMANS: But they're on the way back up. And so now they're concerned about that too. They're concerned about those rising, what it's going to mean for the industry. So they have sharply, sharply ramped up what they are expecting for losses in this industry this year.
CHETRY: I always wonder what Christine does in her free time, you know, besides raise her kids. Are you into vampires? Vampire books, movie?
ROMANS: No, but I have a lot of nieces and I'm telling you something, they love the vampire stuff. Yes.
CHETRY: The "Twilight"?
ROBERTS: Do you think she's a vampire in her spare time?
CHETRY: No, I was just wondering what she reads, and you know, it's probably, you know...
ROBERTS: She's dressed in black.
ROMANS: I know. I read "Barron's" and the "Financial Times." I'm not a lot of fun I'm telling you.
CHETRY: She puts down her copy of the "Economist" long enough to read the "Twilight" series. My sister, always paging to me, anyway, I remember reading the Anne Rice ones. I love those but it looks like our obsession with vampires is still strong as ever.
Carol Costello is going to break it down for us, coming up.
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CHETRY: And Def Leppard this morning. "Love Bites." Well, if you're trying to target certain audiences in your advertising. What about tapping the undead market? Carol Costello takes us to look at the latest vampire craze.
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DRACULA: I am Dracula. I bid you welcome.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And we have. Americans have always been vampire crazy, except now we don't fear them, we...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had sex with a vampire?
COSTELLO: Love them.
It's certainly part of why HBO's "True Blood" is a bona fide hit after just one season.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, but you have other very juicy arteries.
COSTELLO: Fans are obsessed with the amorous, blood-drinking, gorgeous vampires who live among us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'm just saying, there's a reason things are the way they are.
COSTELLO: To keep viewers immersed in "True Blood's" faux vampire world, HBO has come up with a faux world of advertising. Behold Tru Blood in a bottle that you can drink just like on the show.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any of that synthetic bottled blood? COSTELLO: The ads that started to pop up online appear to advertise real products aimed at the vampires that live among us.
COURTENEY MONROE, HBO: The goal is not to deceive anyone. But if it takes somebody sort of a second look to get it, that's great too.
COSTELLO: Some companies were so intrigued by HBO's campaign, they've now partnered with HBO to capture that young hip vampire audience. Hence Gillette has agreed to advertise a dead sexy razor for vampires who prefer the fusion shave, and the Mini Cooper is running ads for vampires who want to feel the wind in your fangs.
ANDREW HAMPP, "ADVERTISING AGE": If any of these, the awareness of these fake ads drive actual ratings or even subscriptions to the show, I think it's all, you know, good.
COSTELLO: HBO certainly hopes so, but it's leaving some consumers confused. They actually want to buy the fake products made for vampires that really don't live among us. The blogger energyfiend (ph) writes, "I looked all over the place. I thought it was like a juice or energy drink." Another blogger, anemic stitch, writes, "Very disappointing to learn that this was all just a sick joke." Still, as they say in the TV biz, any buzz is good buzz, or bite.
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COSTELLO: That's right. Anything that will get you watching, they'll take. HBO's advertising blitz won't end there. Soon you'll be seeing more fake products for fake vampires popping up on billboards and in bus stations. Just remember, Kiran, you cannot buy that synthetic blood no matter how smooth you think it'll go down.
CHETRY: Oh, darn. My weekend plans ruined again.
You know, it is funny that kids are crazy though for these newest "Twilight" and all of the "Red Dawn," what's it called?
COSTELLO: Red... no, there is the sequel to "Twilight." It's coming up in November. That will be a movie. "True Blood" is on HBO. That new season starts on June 14th. I just saw another vampire show advertised. It's new. I forget what network it's on but there are so many shows and movies concerning vampires, you can't keep them straight. We love vampires in this country, I don't know why. It's a sexual weird playful thing.
CHETRY: Yes, it was, I mean, all the way back from (INAUDIBLE) but the "Lost Boys," we were into that. Do you remember? 1987.
COSTELLO: I remember a lot. I do. I remember vampires used to be really, really scary and you wanted to run away from them and they'd kill you. Now we love them.
CHETRY: Right. Now they're sexy. All right. Carol.
ROBERTS: But they still kill you though, that's the problem. COSTELLO: Not in "True Blood."
ROBERTS: Just might enjoy it a little bit more.
Thanks, Carol.
Finally this morning, people can't seem to get enough of this story. A struggling South Dakota rancher winning the $232 million Powerball jackpot. Twenty-three-year-old Neil Wanless takes home some $88.5 million in a lump-sum payment after taxes. The rancher's family had fallen behind on taxes at a mobile home and their property repossessed. Now Wanless says he plans to buy more land and repay the community many times over for helping his family through some tough times.
CHETRY: Look at that.
ROBERTS: He made it. Now he's going to give back.
CHETRY: That was their property as we talked about. And he said he had used abandoned cars on the property...
ROBERTS: As closets.
CHETRY: Yes, closets. Really tough times.
It was called "New Moon" and "Breaking Dawn," not Red Dawn. I've got to brush up on the "Twilight" series because...
ROBERTS: I'm a little rusty on the whole vampire thing. So I'll brush up too.
CHETRY: Hey, thanks so much for joining us this morning. Continue the conversation on today's stories. Go to our blog cnn.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING, we'll see you back here again, bright and early tomorrow.
CHETRY: Yes, right now the news continues with Heidi Collins.
