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South Korea Drills May Begin in Hours; Storms Slam West Coast; Monumental Snowfalls Across Europe; American Tourist Killed in Israel
Aired December 19, 2010 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right now. Hello everyone, I'm Don Lemon.
We start with this: the Korean peninsula is on pins and needles right now. South Korea says it is -- its live fire military exercises will go ahead possibly within hours after delaying the drill due to weather.
Those exercises are to be held Southwest of the island of Yeonpyeong which North Korea hit with deadly shelling just last month. The North says if South Korea proceeds with the military drills it will result in disaster.
The potential flare-up is happening just as New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is in Pyongyang trying to prevent it.
And our Wolf Blitzer is traveling with Richardson and has exclusive access to the governor and his meetings with the North Korean officials. We should stress the governor is not in North Korea in an official capacity.
Wolf and Governor Richardson join us now by phone from Pyongyang. What do you snow, Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE SITUATION ROOM" (via telephone): Don, thanks very much.
I think all eyes right now are on the United Nations Security Council, they are meeting an emergency session at the request of the Russians and everyone is hoping that they can come up with some sort of a way out of the crisis which is an awful crisis. The tension level is really, really serious right now. There's a lot at stake.
Governor Richardson is with us, Don. Let me just ask him what he hopes emerges from this U.N. Security Council meeting, he himself is a former United States ambassador to the U.N. So he knows how these -- these situations unfold.
What -- what is your best case hope?
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO (via telephone): Well, my best case hope would be a resolution or short of that a presidential statement, not just expressing self-restraint on both sides, but a little bit of a -- a -- maybe condemnation is a little too strong a word, but expression of extreme concern over North Korea's recent activities. I think they need to get poked a little bit for the shooting of the civilians, the -- the sinking of the ship.
I think it would be a good message to them that it's important to show restraint in light of the situation here with the West Sea and the potential shelling of the South Koreans, so more than anything, exercise self-restraint on both sides. This may give cover to both sides not to act. That's my fervent hope and all eyes are on the U.N. Security Council because it involves the big powers that -- that have leverage with North Korea, like China, like Russia.
The United States and France will probably be close together, and it could be Great Britain playing sort of a broker role on what emerges in terms of a resolution or a presidential statement.
BLITZER: The South Koreans say they're going to go ahead with its live fire exercise maybe within a matter of hours. The North Koreans say if they do, they will retaliate militarily.
How worried are you that North Korea would respond militarily if -- if South Korea goes forward with these exercises?
RICHARDSON: Well I'm extremely worried because it seems that there will be a response. Diplomacy, however, can play an important role. And this is why the U.N. Security Council can be a real linchpin for an easing of tensions. Both sides saying we're going to respect what the U.N. Security Council is putting forth. But at the very least, I don't see any action on both sides, while the Security Council is meeting.
So once again, it shows that the United Nations is important. Security Council is important. And so what we need to do is, is hope that there's a strong-worded resolution that exercises self-restraint on all sides, but also a little bit of a poke or a condemnation on what North Korea has been doing because what they've been doing aggressively is really unacceptable.
BLITZER: All right. Governor Richardson thanks very much.
So there you have it, Don, he's going into a meeting now in the next -- within the next hour with the Vice President of North Korea, Kim Yong Dae (ph) and then he'll continue his meetings with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong Ho. So he's got more meetings today. He's hoping we'll get some answers from them.
But the North Koreans based on everything he's heard so far are making it clear that if South Korea goes ahead with this exercise at this island, Yeonpyeong they will respond militarily. So there's -- a potential level I guess, I can only stress as -- is real serious right now.
LEMON: Hey Wolf, we have been covering this on the network. And you know, who is really in charge there, is it Kim Jong-Il, is it his son, is it the military? Who would be in charge as far as stopping or starting or any retaliation for these exercises in South Korea?
BLITZER: Well, there's no doubt that Kim Jong-Il is in charge of everything here and there's the succession process under way with his youngest son Kim Jong-Un. But that's going to take a while.
On this issue the military seems to be playing the major role and in it there is the South Korean exercise, the military will be responding. That's why the meeting that Governor Richardson had yesterday with the chief of the North Korean military, along the demilitarized zone, the Armistice agreement, Major General Pak Rim Su are so significant. Because he -- he did express an openness to consider some proposals for a hotline between North Korea and South Korea, military to military and a joint U.S./North Korea/South Korea military commission.
Richardson was encouraged by that but -- but there's still a long, long way to go. This crisis is by no means over and -- and as you know, the stakes are enormous with a million North Korean troops just north of the demilitarized zone, hundreds of thousands of South Korean troops, nearly 30,000 U.S. soldiers along the border between North and South Korea, missiles, rockets --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Right.
BLITZER: -- and even nuclear weapons.
So the stakes couldn't be higher.
LEMON: And that's what I was going to ask you Wolf, people at home here in the U.S. will be sitting around and wondering what does this mean for me -- almost 30,000 U.S. troops there.
BLITZER: It -- it means that you know that this is -- I think it's fair to say and I've covered a lot of serious stories over the years, I think it's fair to say this Korean peninsula right now is the most dangerous spot on earth. Years ago they used to say Kashmir along the border between India and Pakistan when they both developed their nuclear capability was the most dangerous spot on earth given the rivalry, the hatred between the Indians and the Pakistanis at the time.
But I think it's fair to say that right now this Korean peninsula is a tinder box, it could explode. That's why there's a meeting -- this emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council is so significant right now. It's -- it's a situation that can be resolved but it's going to take enormous, enormous work and everybody is going to have to calm down and there's -- the South Koreans are under a lot of domestic pressure to show some firmness in the face of what the North Koreans have done. And it's unclear you know whether they're going to be able to and not go forward with their exercise.
LEMON: All right, Wolf Blitzer, along with Bill Richardson in Pyongyang thank you, Wolf. We will get back and if you get more information please call in. We'd love to hear from you.
On the show coming up in a little bit -- a little bit later on, the rapidly escalating crisis on the Korean peninsula with an expert on the region, we're going to talk about that. Mike Chinoy is the author of "The Meltdown: The inside story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis". He's a former senior Asia correspondent and he has visited North Korea 14 times.
Also we're going to be checking in with our Kyung Lah who is in South Korea and Richard Roth, who is at the U.N.
But first, let's get a check on some of the other news of the day here on CNN. An American tourist killed while vacationing in Israel. Police found the body of Christine Logan outside Jerusalem this morning.
A friend who was with her says two men attacked them both at a picnic spot tying them up and stabbing them both. Her friend survived and made it to safety. She is now listed in stable condition. Police haven't ruled out the possibility that the attack was terror related.
The West Coast is getting pounded by massive storms. There's snow in the higher elevations, torrential rains elsewhere, all accompanied by howling winds. Up to ten feet of snow is possible in the Sierra Nevadas and up to 18 inches of rain could trigger flash flooding and mud slides in the central valley and Southern California. Not a good day to be on the West Coast.
And it's not just the West Coast that's getting hammered. Harsh winter weather has virtually shut down parts of Europe as much as 40 inches of snow has fallen in some areas. Thousands of passengers are stranded at airports like London's Heathrow workers there are scrambling to remove about 30 tons of snow from each of the airport's 200 gates.
Kroger is recalling pet food from stores in 19 states because some of the products may contain a chemical harmful to animals. The recall includes Pets Pride or Pet Pride Cat Food, Pet Pride Kitten Food, Old Yeller Chunk Dog Food, Kroger Value Cat Food and Kroger Value Chunk Food. It includes states in the South and Midwest. Kroger is urging customers to consult their vet if their animals show any signs of sluggishness or reluctance to eat.
At least 23 people were killed and 51 injured today in a huge oil pipeline explosion in central Mexico. Officials say it appears the explosion was caused by somebody trying to steal oil from the pipeline. It's a growing problem in Mexico especially since Mexican drug cartels have stepped into highly lucrative practice.
New hope for the 9/11 first responders' health care bill; it looked all but dead but New York's two Democratic senators now claim they have the votes to pass it by the end of the week. They say they won over some Republicans by cutting the bill down by more than $1 billion to $6.2 billion over ten years. They've also found a different way to fund it.
Senate Republicans are intensifying efforts to postpone a vote on the new arms control treaty with Russia. Democrats want to vote on the START Treaty before the lame duck Congress resolves. And they say they have the votes needed to get it passed but Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told our Candy Crowley this morning that the treaty is a non-starter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: I've decided I cannot support the treaty. I think the verification provisions are inadequate and I do worry about the -- the missile defense implications of it.
The McCain amendment yesterday regarding missile defense was defeated and I know the administration actually sent a letter up yesterday indicating they are committed to missile defense. But an equally important question is, how do the Russians view missile defense and how do our European applies view missile defense and I'm concerned about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The treaty will need at least ten Republican votes to be ratified, a number that will climb higher once the new Congress is seated in January.
Up next on CNN, more on the snow in Europe that is stranding hundreds of thousands of holiday travelers. Plus a check of the forecast right here in the United States where a massive storm is expected to dump ten feet of snow in some parts of the west, and then later, more on the American tourist found murdered in Europe.
And also we want to you reach out to us. We're online and you should be too. Check our social media accounts. And let's connect.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Monumental snowfalls across Europe have shut down airports and stranded thousands of passengers. Airports all across Europe are dealing with the significant delays.
This is London's Heathrow that you're looking at, today as a matter of fact, workers there scramble to remove tons of snow from the airport's 200 landing gates. More than 200,000 passengers were scheduled to take off from Heathrow today. Airline officials said most won't be able to if you're stuck. Patience. I hope they have lots of food and drink there.
The bad weather in France even affected Lady Gaga who said on her Facebook page that all 28 of her tour trucks had been detained by the government. Hundreds of trucks had been barred from entering Paris because of the heavy snowfall, she said. Lady Gaga concert set for tonight was rescheduled for Tuesday.
And there's bad weather right here at home, the entire West Coast is getting pounded by massive storms up to ten feet of snow possible in the Sierra Nevadas -- Nevadas.
Karen Maginnis, our meteorologist here, tracking it all for us in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Boy oh boy, it's everywhere, we've got flooding, we've got snow, do we have ice? (CROSSTALK)
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
LEMON: What do we have? Have we got sunshine anywhere?
MAGINNIS: Sunshine, it's southeast.
But I don't know if you remember this, but some of the long range outlooks initially for this winter said this is going to be a milder than normal winter.
LEMON: What happened to that?
MAGINNIS: I don't know. Something happened in between that we have these huge dips in the jet stream across Europe, and now we've got these torrential rainfalls across southern California, did produce some minor mud slides around Mulholland Drive. The L.A. Basin, some of those burn areas are going to be a little tricky over the next 24 hours.
What we've seen is up in the mountains, mammoth lakes has already seen 108 inches of snowfall, and as far as the rainfall goes, for the L.A. Basin, three to six inches will be some of the common amounts. Already in Los Angeles, just about three inches reported there.
The other big story is going to be across the Midwest, the deep freeze, temperatures single digits, Fargo is 7 degrees now. They'll start to pick up some snowfall and, Don, I know you were asking about Chicago, are they going to see a white Christmas. Looks like for Christmas Eve about a 40 percent chance of some light snowfall, temperatures in the 20s.
LEMON: What are our chances here in Atlanta? Not much.
MAGINNIS: Just about zero.
LEMON: We could do that fake snow. I wonder if I could get a snow machine and put it in my backyard. There you go.
MAGINNIS: Now, that would be fun.
LEMON: Yes. My neighbors probably would not appreciate that.
MAGINNIS: They'd be talking about you, that's for sure.
LEMON: Thank you, Karen. Appreciate it.
Still ahead here on CNN, as South Korea gets ready to go forward with its military exercises I'll check in with our correspondent in South Korea and I'll talk with an expert on the region about what it all means.
And we'll go to Israel where the body of an American tourist has been found.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's go back to our breaking news now and back the Korean Peninsula. It is perhaps the most dangerous spot on earth now.
South Korea's live fire military drills could begin in hours and North Korea vows to retaliate if the drills go ahead. Our Kyung Lah is live in Seoul, South Korea. Is there any indication when the military drills will begin?
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From what we're gathering from the South Korean military, Don, they are expected to happen sometime between now and the next seven or eight hours. We haven't gotten the exact time frame of exactly when they are expected to start. But what we can tell you is that these live fire naval drills near Yeonpyeong Island will be taking place today according to the South Korean military and then what happens after that we just have to wait and see.
North Korea has said if these navy drills do take place that North Korea will respond with even stronger fire power than what we saw from a month ago. And so if North Korea responds to these, then South Korea says it will respond. So you can quickly see how this could escalate and spiral out of control.
We want to remind you that there are almost 30,000 U.S. Troops stationed here in South Korea. Could the United States be sucked into this? At this point it's too early to tell.
What we can tell you is that things certainly are going to be escalating this morning. South Korea does appear to be making other security considerations elsewhere here in South Korea.
The Taesung Industrial Complex, which has an unusual setup, one of the last remnants of the Sunshine policy here, South Korean companies who hire North Korean workers -- South Koreans are not going to be allowed into that complex. They'll be allowed out but they will not be allowed in, Don, because of security concerns -- Don.
LEMON: And you mentioned -- Kyung you mentioned the U.S. So explain to us about this drill. The U.S. says it is defensive and South Korea has done it before.
LAH: Absolutely. These are routine drills. This is something that when we went to the island and spoke to residents they say this is something we've seen many times. And according to the South Korean military something as frequently as every month or so.
What's different now, though, is that North Korea has decided to pay attention. What North Korea is saying is that these are waters that are their territory, and so that they will respond if these drills do take place.
LEMON: Kyung, more than 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea; any word from American commanders there, any sign that U.S. Troops are on heightened alert there?
LAH: Certainly they're paying attention but no specific movement from the U.S. troops as far as we understand.
LEMON: Ok. It's Monday morning there, what is it, 9:21 there. What's the mood in Seoul?
LAH: From what we can gather, people here are certainly concerned. The very big difference now from months ago is that people do actually consider the possibility of war for many, many years. Koreans had felt that it's such a remnant possibility of the times of the armistice. So that's something that simply couldn't happen, but certainly that reality is apparent more today especially as these drills do appear to be taking place.
LEMON: People there, feeling the mood of war for the first time in many, many years. That's a good way of describing it. Thank you very much, Kyung Lah in Seoul, South Korea.
The U.N. Security Council has been meeting in an emergency session all day trying to resolve this impending crisis. And CNN's senior United Nations correspondent, Richard Roth is at the U.N., where it appears the Security Council has hit an impasse. So Richard, what's happened?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Security Council negotiations have indeed hit an impasse. The Russian ambassador, who called for this meeting, wanted it yesterday. He is disappointed; he wanted a council statement urging calm and peace. The U.S. and others wanted more condemnation of North Korea. He's speaking now to the Press Corps outside the U.N. Security Council.
Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VITALY CHURKIN, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: A public statement to that effect. No, I did not, but you know, we had, these past two, three days there were numerous contacts in the Capitols and of course we also have contacts in Seoul, conveying that message. We had contacts in the capital of GPRK conveying various messages. We've been active on all the fronts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were told by some diplomats that the real sticking point was the demand of we were told most council members for condemnation of North Korea for the November 23rd attack, and the sinking of the Cheonan and I wondered whether that was the case today.
CHURKIN: First of all, I don't want to go into the detail of that, because there is still an ongoing negotiation, ongoing contacts between delegations and capitals and maybe I hope still that those contacts will result in a successful outcome.
However, I would like you to recall that there was a statement delivered by the Security Council on the Cheonan situation, and November 23 somehow was not brought to the Security Council.
The Russian delegation expected it to be brought to the Security Council. In fact, we were talking to the president of the council and then the UK delegation about that, expressing our sort of surprise that it was not brought to the council.
And I think -- I think it complicated our work today, because colleagues kept talking about November 23 quite a bit, even though we had plenty of time in the weeks since November 23 to formulate the council's position. And had that happened, then it would have allowed us, in my view, to be focused more on the current problems on the Korean peninsula.
But you know, what has been done or not done is a fact of life and today we're trying to focus on the future.
ROTH: I want to hang in one more question?
CHURKIN: On 23, we made statements as you know, we made high level statements in Moscow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: This is Russian Ambassador Vitaly Cherkin, the Russian ambassador; disappointed the Security Council has so far today in New York, has not been able to reach agreement on a statement. He warned that -- he's worried that tensions will spiral into conflict, he said, before the Security Council can issue some type of statement urging calm and restraint.
There is some doubt whether any Security Council words agreed to on a piece of paper will do anything to affect North Korea's reaction to South Korea's planned shelling. There was deadlock in the council between Russia, China on one side primarily and the United States and other countries on the other.
There was an interesting meeting, Don, inside the Security Council with North Korea and South Korea representatives, present and speaking. Some countries didn't want the meeting to be held in public, saying that there were already high enough tensions, they even didn't want to exacerbate it by having these speeches seen in public which is somewhat rare at the height of some conflict. So there is division inside the Security Council.
This is Vitaly Cherkin, the Russian ambassador who was addressing the press. When he says DPRK, he was referring to the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea and the Security Council wasn't able to even reach an agreement on the shelling of that island in late November, Don.
LEMON: So Richard --
ROTH: Those divisions are still on display here.
LEMON: Can you -- just sum it up for us at this point, we said these talks are at an impasse. We're being told -- it's been reported that people in South Korea, some people are being asked to go into military bunkers. So if there's an impasse here, South Korea says they're going to continue to do these exercises. Where are we right now in this process?
ROTH: The Russian ambassador said that the president of the Security Council, who happens to be the U.S. Ambassador, Susan Rice, is still going to look for some sort of compromise language that will please all parties. That may happen later tonight, it could happen Monday.
If North Korea doesn't react, so far, it's all clear but North Korea has threatened war countless times. The Security Council has not rushed in all the time. This, though, does reach a high escalation point. The diplomats have been deadlocked as we know whether it's Iraq or the Balkans. This has happened before.
This was just to issue a simple statement asking for calm and with a little bit of condemnatory language is not even happening here, so far, on a Sunday night in New York.
LEMON: All right. Richard Roth at the U.N. Richard, thank you. We will check back with you.
And when we come back here on CNN I'll check in with an expert on the region. His name is Mike Chinoy, he's the author of "Meltdown: The inside story of the North Korean nuclear crisis". He'll join us just moments after break to break all of this down for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. To help make sense of this very scary situation, I want to bring in one of the world's foremost experts on North Korea, Mike Chinoy. He's a die-hard journalist who spent many years as CNN's senior Asia correspondent. He has been to North Korea more than a dozen times.
So Mike -- Mike is now a senior fellow at the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California, and he's also the author, I want to say, of a book called "Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis." He joins us now from Los Angeles via Skype.
Listen, before I ask you why this is happening how much power, if any, does the U.N. have at stopping any of this going on, from going on?
MIKE CHINOY, SENIOR FELLOW, U.S.-CHINA INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: I think the U.N. has very little power. There was some speculation that if the security council had passed a resolution calling for calm, it might have given South Korea a face- saving way to back off, but the reality here is you have a very dangerous dynamic between the two Koreas, each of them jostling to show the other who's boss.
The South Korean government in particular did not respond militarily in any meaningful way after its ship was sunk in March or after North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong island in November. So President Lee Myung-Bak is under tremendous domestic pressure to look tough. And I think all this talk about these are routine exercises in these circumstances nothing is routine. I think the south wants to flex its muscles and show the north who's boss. The North isn't going to take it.
The North Korean Army has publicly in a statement carried by the North Korean news agency warned of a very strong response if the South goes ahead. I wouldn't discount those warnings, so we're at a very dangerous moment.
LEMON: All of this, Mike, is to look tough, is that why all of this is happening?
CHINOY: I'm sorry?
LEMON: All of this is happening to look tough. I want our viewers to understand why all of these is taking place right now.
CHINOY: Well, it's very complicated. The short version of it is that in 2008, President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea took office and discarded the policy of engaging North Korea, that his two predecessors had followed and instead got tough on Pyongyang. That started a cycle of escalating tension which culminated in these military exercises. And so you have the two Koreas in a sense jostling to look tough and North Korea is now undergoing a very delicate succession.
The North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il had a stroke. He's trying to pass power to his son, Kim Jong-un. So the north is feeling particularly vulnerable and oversensitive to anything that it sees as a potential threat, and South Korea carrying out live fire artillery exercises in waters that the north claims as its own just a few miles off the North Korean coast, something the North reacted very badly to, that's why they fired artillery in November and that's why I think they're likely to respond militarily if the south exercises go ahead now.
LEMON: I want to ask why people here in the United States should be concerned about this, our Wolf Blitzer who is in Pyongyang said that this is perhaps if not one of the but the most dangerous regions in the world right now because of these exercises.
CHINOY: The danger here is if the South goes ahead and the North responds, there is no question, the South will retaliate. I just came back from Seoul and all my conversations with diplomats there and South Korean officials, it's clear the South Koreans are looking for an excuse to respond militarily to North Korea, because they didn't do so in the previous two episodes, and they want to look tough, and once that happens, the North will unquestionably respond and then you get into this very dangerous cycle of escalation.
And the vice chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff said a few days ago under those circumstances, it may not be possible to control where the escalation goes and with 28,000 American troops in South Korea, the U.S. committed to defend South Korea under a security treaty that goes back to the days of the Korean War, the potential is if this isn't controlled, if it gets out of control, you could see a very serious cycle of escalation in which the U.S. would inevitably be involved.
So there are grave dangers for the United States if this goes in the dangerous direction that it may very well.
LEMON: Mike, let's talk more about that. I want to remind you when I introduced you, I said that you had been to North Korea more than a dozen times, I believe it was 14 times and part of that when you did visit, it was partly when you worked with CNN. Here's my question to you and you talked about a little bit here, if this all plays out as you see it and as many people think it's going to happen, are we headed toward a full-out war here?
CHINOY: My gut sense tells me probably not. There will be, if there is a clash in the coming days or hours, there will be tremendous pressures to contain it. I think whatever it's doing publicly, privately, U.S., the U.S. forces command in Korea will be urging the South Koreans to keep any response short, narrowly focused and to not let it spread.
The Chinese clearly have interest in trying to restrain things. So I don't think the risk is that great, but once you get into a cycle of escalation, anything can happen. Mistakes can be made on either side. We don't really know enough about how the North Korean decision-making process works. The South Korean military in both the sinking of their ship in March and then the shelling in November demonstrated real problems almost incompetence, according to some observers. So there are doubts about the skill, about the command and control on the South Korean side.
So it's a situation of a giant game of chicken between the two Koreas where if it's not managed carefully then it could get out of control.
LEMON: Mike Chinoy, thank you very much.
Mike, stand by, we're going to be needing you as a lot as this continues to go on here and we try to figure out if we are indeed headed for war, if the North and the South in Korea are headed for war.
When we come right back, we're awaiting the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice to come out and give a statement on exactly what's happening again. This has escalated very quickly with just within the past couple of hours, really the past couple of minutes. You saw the Russian ambassador come out moments ago, our Richard Roth was there.
The Russian ambassador saying that talks are at an impasse now when it comes to trying to stop South Korea and these military exercises that many believe could escalate a war in that very unstable region.
Also when we come right back here, we have a quick check on other headlines of the day, including the death of an American tourist in Israel.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A look at the headlines right now.
Senate Republicans are intensifying their efforts to postpone a vote on the new arms control treaty with Russia. Democrats want a vote before the lame duck Congress dissolves and they say they have the votes to pass the new S.T.A.R.T.. The treaty will need at least 10 Republican votes to be ratified, a number that will climb higher once the new Congress is seated in January.
It looked all but dead but now there's new life for the 9/11 first responders health care bill. New York's two Democratic senators now claim that they have the votes to pass it by the end of the week. They say they won over some Republicans by cutting the bill down by more than $1 billion to $6.2 billion over 10 years. They've also found a different way to fund it.
The West Coast is getting pounded by massive storms. There's snow in the higher elevations, torrential rains elsewhere, all accompanied by howling winds, up to 10 feet of snow now possible in the Sierra Nevadas. And up to 18 inches of rain could trigger flash flooding and mudslides in the central valley in Southern California. Not a good day to be on the West Coast.
OK. An American tourist killed while vacationing in Israel now investigators want to know was it terrorism related?
CNN's Paula Hancocks has more for us from Jerusalem. Paula?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A murder inquiry is under way here in Israel, after the body of a female American tourist was discovered just outside Jerusalem this Sunday morning. The search for this woman had started on Saturday, after a second woman had reached a picnic area in a forest in (INAUDIBLE), just west of Jerusalem. She had stab wounds and she also had her hands tied. She said that her and her friend had been hiking in this area and they had been attacked by two men. They were tied up and then they were stabbed. The woman said that she had pretended to be dead so that she could then run away and raise the alarm. Now she's currently in hospital. We understand her condition is -
LEMON: We pardon that interruption, we want to get you to the U.N. now. You see Susan Rice, the U.N. ambassador there speaking, let's listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: The gist of it is that the United States has strongly condemned as we did at the time the November 23rd attack by North Korea on Yeonpyeong Island and the deaths that resulted from it. We have condemn the sinking of the "Cheonan" and we think that it is very important for the council to be able to speak with clarity and unity to condemn these acts as unprovoked aggression by DPRK against the Republic of Korea.
We also outlined our position that it is important for the two sides to act in a fashion that promotes peace and security and we believe the Republic of Korea has throughout exercised enormous restraint, the planed exercises are fully consistent with South Korea's legal right to self-defense. It has been done and notified transparently, responsibly and will not occur in a fashion we believe North Korea gives any excuse to respond in the fashion that it is threatened to do.
We have also spent much of today trying to discuss in the context of the council how we might respond to the call of the Russian federation for council press statement. I want to say very clearly that we thank the Russian federation for the constructive role that it's played. We worked very, very closely with them and others in an effort to try to come together.
The majority of council members made clear their view that it was important to clearly condemn the events of November 23rd and the attack by DPRK on Yeongpyeong Island but that view ultimately achieve consensus, and while we still are awaiting firm clear instructions from the capital, I think it's safe to predict that the gaps that remain are unlikely to be bridged. With that I'm happy to take a few questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: North Korea has a history of making hollowed threats about all-out war. But can you assess the risks that are involved here in calling their bluff and your support for South Korea going through with the tests?
RICE: I'm not in a position in any scientific way to assess the risks. Obviously, our view, the United States' view is that North Korea has no right to threaten, to attack another member of the United Nations, when that member of the United Nations is purely conducting routine defensive exercises. If the events of the last year have shown anything, it is that the Republic of Korea has every need and right to ready its self-defense having lost 50 citizens simply over the course of the last nine months. So that's well within their rights and it's something that they have every justification for doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you said you were going to try and continue talks, but you just said you don't think the gaps can be bridged. So could you explain why you don't think they can be bridged and secondly - I forgot my question.
RICE: Let me work on your first one while you think about it.
First of all, I said that, you know, obviously we will wait to hear if every delegation has clear instructions from Capitol. We don't have that at this point, but I say that I think it's unlikely that the gap will be bridged based on what I heard over the last eight hours, where the vast majority of the council was insisting on a clear-cut condemnation of the November 23rd attack by DPRK on the ROK or willing to accept language to that effect, but there was not unanimity on that point.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you give us your thoughts -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over here. Consequences of not coming up with a unified council statement?
RICE: I think that it would have been all of our preference to be able to do so, provided that such a statement contributed to the maintenance of peace and security, and I think the vast majority of members of the council believe that it would not be productive for there to be a statement that was ambiguous in some fashion about what had transpired in the run-up to today, and simply to pretend that time began today. That's not the case.
There's a history. There have been two very serious attacks by DPRK on the Republic of Korea over the last nine months and the vast majority of the council thinks that needs to be clearly stated and condemned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ambassador, could you give us your thoughts -
LEMON: OK. Here is - that's the ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, speaking right now. And they are really at an impasse. She said the U.N. had failed to reach an agreement on trying to stop or at least the language that should be presented to South Korea for these attacks, because they did not want to go into this thinking that time began today because there had been several attacks before this by DPRK and by North Korea, and they wanted some language on that and no one in the U.N. could agree unanimously on the language there, because they wanted to condemn the attack that took back in November, and then find new language on this and they couldn't bring the two together.
So that's what's happening now with the U.N. and they said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador said they would still talk, continue to talk but so far, there is no agreement here. It's very serious, folks, because the North and South in a very unstable region. You heard our Wolf Blitzer talked about it, you heard Mike Chinoy, they're on the verge of war now.
If South Korea does indeed go ahead with these military exercises, the north has said that they would retaliate, and if the north retaliates and the south retaliate, and then there is a full-on war there and then the U.S. has 30,000 troops already in the region and that means the U.S. could be pulled into another war. That has not happened.
We'll have to see as our Kyung Lah who is in South Korea said moments ago, people are at the ready and for a very long time, for the first time in a very long time they have the mind-set of war in South Korea. So we're standing by, and we're watching this to see how it plays out, a very big deal, a very important story from a very unstable region. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: -- at the U.N., our Richard Roth and we're going to continue to update you on that. In the meantime, we have other stories to tell you about including this one. State funding for higher education has dropped significantly during the past 10 years and college tuition rates are really rising faster than inflation, but there are ways to cut college costs.
CNN's education contributor Steve Perry investigates in tonight's "Perry's Principles."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE PERRY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Kara Finn is graduating this month from the University of Connecticut but her college journey began on another campus.
(on camera): You were going to a private college in D.C., you are originally from Connecticut and you made a decision to leave the private college. Why was that?
KARA FINN, UNIV. OF CONNECTICUT STUDENT: I wanted to get the best education possible but I also wanted to get the most out of my money and I didn't feel that I was getting that in my previous institution. I think a lot of the time, people sort of equate quality with costly and that's not necessarily true. I have been far more academically stimulated here at UConn than I had in my previous institution.
PERRY (voice-over): Lee Melvin is Uconn's vice president of enrollment planning management. He says there are several ways to cut down on college costs.
LEE MELVIN, VICE PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: One creative way is that students are recognizing the importance of graduating in four years. So what some students are doing, is while they are in high school, they are taking dual enrollment classes, where they are enrolled in high school and college. They are talking advanced placement courses. So once they arrive us to, many students will have completed half of their freshman year.
The other ways the students are being creative is they are looking at the cost both in state and out-of-state schools and they all right also comparing their private schools and now more students are starting to look at two-year institutions.
PERRY: UConn senior Robert Hermann relies on loans and grants to fund his education but worries about how he would pay it all back.
(on camera): If you were to talk to a student coming out of high school, what would you tell them?
ROBERT HERMANN, UNIV. OF CONNECTICUT STUDENT: Don't just go to college for the sake of going to college. Have an idea of what you want to do with yourself. Do some research. Find out about job prospects.
PERRY (voice-over): Steve Perry, Stores, Connecticut. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Steve, thank you.
When we come right back, we will take you live to the U.N. and CNN's Richard Roth. You saw the U.S. ambassador Susan Rice speaking there just moments ago, saying they have come to an impasse with language on a resolution about these exercises in South Korea. We are back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Breaking news here on CNN.
South Korean military exercises are expected to begin within hours and that could trigger an aggressive military response from North Korea. The live fire drill will take place just miles from the North Korean coast which North Korea warns is a provocation that will end in disaster. The U.N. security council held an emergency meeting today to address the impending crisis but so far, it has not been able to reach agreement on an official statement aimed at cooling off the situation there. We just heard from U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice.
And I want to get straight now to CNN's senior United Nations correspondent, Richard Roth. Not good news from the ambassador.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, depending on your viewpoint, the security council failed to come up with a unified statement regarding the Korean Peninsula tensions. The ambassadors met for about eight hours. There was total deadlock regarding who to blame for the increase in tensions. U.S. ambassador Susan Rice happens to be the president of the security council.
Following the meeting, she said it appears that the session is over. She will still see if there's any ambassadors who are willing to reach compromises after various phone calls but it appears that the live drill testing by South Korea will proceed without any security council call for either calm or condemnation of North Korea for raising the tensions on the peninsula.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICE: It is important for the two sides to act in a fashion that promotes peace and security and we believe that that the Republic of Korea, has throughout exercised enormous restraint, the planned exercises are fully consistent with South Korea's legal right to self- defense. It has been done and notified transparently, responsibly and will not occur in a fashion that we believe gives North Korea any excuse to respond in the fashion that it has threatened to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: The United States felt that it would be unfair to South Korea to have a statement asking both for calm and without condemning North Korea for its attack on South Korea, on the island on November 23rd. Others like China disagreed on that, most of the countries sided with the United States. You need all 15 countries, Don, to agree on a statement. Russia, which demanded this meeting, left frustrated that they were not able to reach some type of unity before any testing began. Don?
LEMON: Richard, I think it's important to point out, because people are wondering why couldn't they come one some sort of language, some sort of resolution condemning this and you spell it out there but I want you to talk more about it what the ambassador said. She said the clock didn't just start, doesn't just start from today with the possibility of these strikes or practices, drills in South Korea. It should go back, November 23rd, that date that strike should be included in that as well.
ROTH: The United States and others remain frustrated that China blocked any type of diplomatic criticism of North Korea for its attack which killed four South Korean people on that island. The security council never really officially condemned North Korea for its sinking of the South Korean ship. So that's what she is talking about, you just can't run in now and start dealing with this.
LEMON: Richard Roth at the U.N..
Richard, thanks for explaining to our viewers. I want to tell our viewers if anything happens here, we will bring it to you live here on CNN. So stay tuned. I'm Don Lemon. In the meantime, with the CNN World headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, if not before with any new developments on the South.
