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CNN Live At Daybreak

Annan and U.N. Share Nobel Peace Prize

Aired October 12, 2001 - 07:20   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEMMER: You know, at a time when we're talking about war, there is talk of peace today in New York City. The U.N. and Secretary General Kofi Annan awarded a dual Nobel Peace Prize today.

CNN's Richard Roth outside Kofi Annan's home in New York with more now -- Richard, good morning.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. The prize to the U.N. and Secretary General Kofi Annan, and the two go hand in hand. The organization, the Nobel committee, was looking for peace and security and countries getting along, especially in these vulnerable times, though the award was voted months ago.

Secretary General Kofi Annan came out of his Manhattan residence about 20 minutes ago and accepted the award.

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KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: This is a wonderful award. We are extremely pleased, particularly coming as it does at this time when we are tackling some very difficult issues around the world. In my kind of work, you don't get this kind of news every day and usually when the phone rings early in the morning, it's some bad news.

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ROTH: Secretary General Annan was praised by the Nobel committee for bringing new life to the organization and also receiving plaudits by the Nobel committee for his work on behalf of AIDS and human rights.

The organization itself has never won, the United Nations, in its 55 years of existence, though various U.N. agencies have won. One previous secretary general of the U.N. has won posthumously, Dag Hammarskjold, who was killed in a plane crash in the Congo.

Annan says the award is humbling, he doesn't know what he's going to do with the hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money yet and he says it's a great booster shot for the organization -- Bill.

HEMMER: Richard, thank you.

As he says, when the phone rings in the middle of the night or early in the morning, usually it is bad news. But not the case this morning.

Richard, thank you.

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