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CNN 10

North Korea Moves Missile, Launch Parts; Twitter and Freedom of Speech

Aired April 05, 2013 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: I think our response has been appropriate. Cool, calm, but at the same time, putting our military resources ready in case there`s an emergency, but if they try anything with the United States, it`s suicidal. That`s not going to happen.

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CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Former Ambassador Richardson talking about the tension between the U.S. and North Korea. He`s not the only one. China and Russia are traditionally allies of North Korea. Those countries are urging everyone involved in this situation to stay calm. An American official says North Korea moved a missile and launch parts to its east cost in the last few days. The U.S. has intercepted communications that indicate North Korea might be planning a launch sometimes soon. You can see the range of one type of North Korean missile outlined by the red circle here on your screen. You see the island of Guam, down toward the bottom? That`s U.S. territory, and it`s home to a major U.S. military base. The U.S. is sending a missile defense system to Guam. It will be like the one you see here. It`s designed to shoot down incoming missiles.

So far, nothing has been launched, no shots have been fired. Tom Foreman talked with a military experts about what might happen if a conflict did start and why this expert doesn`t think it will.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Despite the global implications that would follow if North and South Korea went to full-on war, the truth is the Korean Peninsula would really bear the brunt of all of this, and that`s where most of the fighting would take place. So, we know that the DMZ between the South and the North is so heavily fortified ...

GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS: That`s correct.

FOREMAN: That neither side can just charge in and go across that land to attack the other. So, if the North wanted to step this up and make it happen, what do they do?

MARKS: Tom, the very first thing we are going to see is large concentrations of artillery and missile fire from the north against targets in the south, for example, Seoul. Which is just a little south of the DMZ. The North is going to activate the insertion of special operations forces, both along the coasts.

FOREMAN: Taking them in by ship or by submarine?

MARKS: By submarines, most likely, as well as the activation of sleeper agents that have been in the south, in some cases as many as a couple of decades, identifying targets for these missiles and for these artillery pieces.

FOREMAN: OK, the U.S. and South Korea is not just going to sit there while all of this happens. So what is the immediate response, if such an attack took place? MARKS: Number one is the U.S. Navy will increase its presence. For example ...

FOREMAN: More aircraft carriers ....

MARKS: With aircraft carriers ...

(CROSSTALK)

MARKS: More aircraft is what we`re looking for. So you have aircraft that`s in Japan, you have aircraft that`s in South Korea. You now have these aircraft go against these firing positions that are targeting the South. It`s called the counter-fire fight, and once that`s accomplished, they will then go after the command and control capabilities as well as the air defenses.

FOREMAN: Communications, air defenses ...

MARKS: You got it

FOREMAN: So they can control the sky.

MARKS: Completely own this air space above North Korea.

FOREMAN: But you don`t think this is going to happen? You think ultimately that that`s not what is going to happen?

MARKS: Not at all. I don`t - I think ...

FOREMAN: This is worst case scenario ...

MARKS: - the risks are way too high, the North understands it, and the United States and South Korea certainly understands.

FOREMAN: So what would we expect?

MARKS: Mostly limited objective attacks. Not unlike what we saw before.

FOREMAN: When they bombed those islands, when they attacked the boat off the coast, that sort of thing?

MARKS: You`ve got it, where the North Koreans will go after South Korea specific targets. Not targeting the United States and trying to keep it contained somewhat.

FOREMAN: And yet send a very clear message that they have a strong new leader and a strong military and that they still need to be respected in that way in the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Our next story today is also in Asia. This time in China. It`s about a type of virus called avian or bird flu. You can tell from the name this type of virus usually infects birds, but humans can get sick from it, especially if they come in contact with contaminated poultry. At least 14 cases have been reported so far. At least five people in China have died after they caught this virus.

Viruses like bird flu can mutate. This specific strain is called H7N9. It had never been seen in humans before. Authorities are trying to figure out how exactly the people in China got infected.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this legit? The word "Semitic" refers to members of the Hindu religion. This one is false. Semitic is usually used to refer to people who are Jewish.

AZUZ: Series of anti-Semitic tweets is at the center of a lawsuit against Twitter. In the United States, hate speech like anti-Semitism is usually protected under the First Amendment. In Europe, it`s not, and when the speech happens in France on an American social media site, situation can get complicated. Atika Shubert fills in the details.

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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This case revolves around the Twitter hashtag @unbonjuif, which translates as a good Jew. Now, this hashtag became third most popular in France on Twitter last year in October. Unfortunately, some people were using this hashtag to post anti-Semitic comments and jokes, even tweeting photos of the Holocaust. Now, frankly, many of these posts are so offensive, we will not be repeating them on CNN, but these tweets did pose a legal dilemma for Twitter.

Twitter did remove some of the most offensive posts, but the Union of Jewish Students in France wanted Twitter to take it a step further, and they sued the company demanding that they hand over the details of who posted these abusive comments online. Twitter refused, but in January, a French court ruled that Twitter must hand those details over, and that split public opinion in France. Take a listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The French law should be strong with people who say such things.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that it should not be. I mean, it is a free land of expression, and it is (inaudible) we can tweet whatever we want to say or whatever you think.

SHUBERT: Now, Twitter has ignored the ruling. Arguing that is it based in the United States and protected by the First Amendment, the right to free speech. The French court, however, has said that Twitter must hand those details over, and until it does, it is fining the company $1,000 a day. Not much perhaps for a company like Twitter, but the Union of Jewish Students is also suing Twitter for $50 million, so it could get a lot more expensive.

Atika Shubert, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: As the brackets narrowed down and the court was built up, millions of Americans watched NCAA men`s basketball teams either advance to the final four or hope for another shot next year. We had our own tournament of sorts here at the CNN STUDENT NEWS. It played out on the court of our Facebook site. And while you may or may not have done well in bracketology, everyone is a winner in puntology. When I asked on Twitter yesterday, people just describe our puns. Ali (ph) wrote they were Carlful (ph). We had a comment from Elvir (ph) who said, they`re awful-ly fantastic, and Jordan said I can`t lie, they`re just awful. But whether or not you agree with Jordan or if you agree with Alex, who said they are quirky and endearing social satire, or Trevor, who called them sweeter than sonic sweet tater tats, you can choose between the two punology (ph) finalists if you are on Facebook. After a story about an egg, we said to egg-splain the mystery, you just have to crack the case. After a story about a dog, we said it deserved a round of a-paws. Which will win? The final round will soon be upon you at facebook.com/cnnstudentnews.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today`s shoutout goes out to Mr. Ward`s, Mrs. King`s, Mr. Gant`s, Mrs. Haugland`s and Mrs. Purkey`s classes at Trenton public school in Trenton, North Dakota. What type of degree do law school graduates earn? You know what to do. Is it a JD, Ph.D., MBA or DDS? You`ve got 3 seconds, go.

Law school graduates earn a JD, which stands for juris doctor, or doctor of jurisprudence. That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.

AZUZ: Some people who have JD`s aren`t able to find work using their JD`s. They are still involved in the legal system. They are suing the law schools where they earned their degrees. Dozens of law school graduates from around the country have joined lawsuits against their alma maters. They claim the schools committed fraud advertising that most graduates have jobs within a year after getting their degrees. The numbers were based on graduates who had any job, but not necessarily full-time jobs as lawyers. A lawyer representing some of the schools said they followed the rules when they reported their graduate employment numbers. Some of the lawsuits have been thrown out; others are moving forward.

Our newest blog post, college expectations. If you`re planning to go to college, what are you hoping to get out of it? Talk to us at cnnstudentnews.com, and teachers, you can talk to us there too. Hit the feedback link to share your thoughts on today`s show.

And finally today, some golfers walk the course, some use a cart, then there is this. It`s a hovercraft, or in the case of this Youtube video, it`s a Bubba hover. The man at the wheel is Bubba Watson, the winner of last year`s Masters Tournament. The hovercraft glides over greens, flies over fairways and lets you take the direct path cross water hazards. Of course, this kind of vehicle flips one of golf`s great moments on its head, because you want to totally avoid getting a hole in one. It would just be totally deflating. We tried to wedge in a few puns, and we appreciate you putting up with them, especially when they go a little off course.

All right, that wraps up our hover to that story, and today`s show. Hope you have a great weekend.

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