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Pentagon Keeps Eye on North Korea; U.S. Relying on Allies in North Korean Standoff; Space Shuttle Seemingly Safe for Return; Video of London Suicide Bomber Promises More Attacks: Most Children with Flu Misdiagnosed

Aired July 06, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Kyra Phillips.
The North Korean standoff. They say, "Don't bully us." The U.S. and other nations say, "Come to the table." who will make the next move? Former chiefs weapons inspector Hans Blix weighs in this hour.

Shuttle Discovery meets the International Space Station. Our space correspondent, Miles O'Brien, joins us with the crews docking and why this flip-flop right here in space is so important.

And espionage at Coca-Cola? Pepsi busts some Coke employees for allegedly trying to sell secrets. And that is just the beginning of the story. The details straight ahead.

LIVE FROM begins right now.

Almost two days since North Korea's missile tests and, yes, still fallout. If Pyongyang was angling for the world's attention, it certainly got it. Here's what we know.

The U.N. Security Council, by a lopsided majority, votes to prepare a resolution condemning North Korea. Also at the U.N., talks of sanctions. President Bush speaks by phone with the presidents of China and Russia, both of whom are against cutting off money and aid to North Korea. They both have veto power on the Security Council.

And still more test launches? Maybe. North Korea's foreign ministry reserves the right to test weapons without anyone being asked for permission.

United we stand, says President Bush. If you've been watching CNN, you heard Mr. Bush field reporters' questions for almost an hour alongside the visiting prime minister of Canada. We'll try to get you some of his comments later on.

Meantime, world reaction runs the gamut, from diplomacy aimed at heading off escalation, to visions of the worst case scenario in case diplomacy fails. Pentagon officials are watching and listening as the diplomats give it their best shot.

Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, joins me live -- Jamie. JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, with North Korea vowing to continue testing missiles, especially some of their short range and medium range missiles, which they basically can fire any time they want, the Pentagon is keeping a close eye on the Korean Peninsula for signs of activity.

Of course, what the U.S. is really concerned about is whether they'll be another test of the long-range Taepodong, such as the one that was fired on Friday. Right now, officials tell us that they see no signs that North Korea is planning anything imminent, although they say if North Korea had a Taepodong missile in the works, propositioned, it could launch one in a matter of days, but at this point they see no sign that that's happening.

In fact, they see no activity at the launch site at all. But they also caution that could be read one of two ways. It could be that there's no activity because there's no plans to do anything. Or because they want to keep things in place for a possible second launch.

The fact that the missile failed on Friday after just 42 seconds is not a source of comfort, says the Pentagon, and, today, President Bush said it's not the kind of provocation the United States can ignore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We take -- and we all should take threats seriously. That's one of the last things of September the 11th, is that what takes place in other parts of the world can come home to hurt the American people.

See, a failed government in Afghanistan, you know, enabled plotters and planners to train and then come and kill 3,000 of our citizens. And so it used to be that's OK if something were happen from afar. Oceans could protect us. We assume that's how some in Canada used to feel. The lesson of September the 11th is that we're vulnerable and, therefore, we got to deal with each threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Part of dealing with that threat is the U.S. National Missile Defense, which was activated in anticipation of the North Korean test, but it didn't really get much of a workout because, as I said, the missile failed just about 40 seconds into the flight.

No indication yet about exactly what happened, although it appears that there was a problem with the first stage or the separation of the rocket. At this point, the U.S. says if this were a NASA program, they'd be shutting down to do a complete evaluation of what went wrong. But since this is North Korea, there's no predicting exactly how the North Koreans will proceed -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, Jamie, is it safe to say that there is some relief and a lot is being learned of the technology North Korea has because of the fact that the launch failed? MCINTYRE: Well, there is -- there's some relief in the sense that it appears that North Korea's missile program is not as advanced, at least as North Korea claimed it was.

But there's -- you know, that's moderated by fact that they know North Korea's spending a lot of time and energy developing missiles, specifically missiles that would have the range to reach the United States. Just because this particular one failed doesn't mean they won't be able to do it in the future.

And by the way, the last time they tested this, back in 1998, the missile did separate and go much higher in the air, although it did apparently fail in the third stage, which would have given it the range to reach the U.S.

So they're taking it -- the threat very seriously and they would very much like to see North Korea deescalate the situation by not firing any more missiles.

WHITFIELD: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thanks so much.

Well, they were both in President Bush's "axis of evil" but North Korea is no Iraq. And the White House is approaching this latest tension much differently, some say much more delicately. Here's CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush is playing down the threat from North Korea and playing up the support he's getting from allies. Just the opposite of how he handled Iraq.

BUSH: I view this as an opportunity to remind the international community that we must work together. It is much more effective to have more than one nation dealing with North Korea. It's more effective for them to hear from a group of nations rather than one nation.

HENRY: A White House accused of rushing to war in Iraq moved quickly to reassure Americans the U.S. is not on the brink of another military conflict.

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There are attempts to try to describe this almost in breathless World War III terms. This is not such a situation.

HENRY: An administration previously accused of not going the extra mile diplomatically is now all about doing just that.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We've had expressions from countries all over the world of concern about this provocation that the North Koreans have engaged in.

HENRY: Once accused of thumbing its nose at the United Nations, the White House embraced the Security Council, which met in emergency session to consider a resolution rebuking North Korea. JOHN BOLTEN, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: No member defended what the North Koreans have done.

HENRY: The president is sending State Department official Christopher hill to the region, to urge North Korea to return to the six-party talks with the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.

CHRISTOPHER HILL, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: We're prepared to go ahead with it. And meanwhile, North Korea seems to want to go in a different direction.

HENRY (on camera): Tony Snow asserted the White House has succeeded for now in a diplomatic consensus that North Korea has to come back to the table for those six-party talks, but so far those talks have yielded very little.

Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A risky rendezvous: the shuttle and the space station. You saw it here on CNN, all the flips, the pitch, the docking. And now the reunion. Taking it all in and wishing he were there, but I know it's only a matter of time, our Miles O'Brien.

It's right around the corner. I know it's going to happen for you.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I don't know about that one, Fredricka. There was a time when I could have said so, but not now.

WHITFIELD: Really?

O'BRIEN: Let me tell you what we're looking at right now.

WHITFIELD: OK.

O'BRIEN: This is -- this is the docking ring. That's pretty much the point, right there. On this end, that is the space station, ISS, and then that's the Space Shuttle Discovery down there. Thank you for irising a little for me; I appreciate that.

The two are joined. That's the point I'm trying to make here. That's live pictures from space. Inside, nine crew members now.

Take a look at what happened as this all progressed. First of all, there they are, floating in the hatch, hugs and pictures and, of course, you never know which way is up when you're in space, as they kind of come in. That's Mark Kelly, the shuttle pilot. He's hugging, there, Jeff Williams. That's Jeff Williams. He's the NASA astronaut aboard there. Always looks like they're having fun when they do that.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Let's go back in time a little bit. We'll tell you about this amazing flying that led up to this. I just love that shot. It almost looks like something out of a movie, doesn't it? "2001"...

WHITFIELD: Yes. It looks slow motion, too, peaceful and serene.

O'BRIEN: Yes. You notice -- you notice the shuttle's doors are always open in orbit? You know why that is? That's the radiator system for the space shuttle. That's how they get -- keep the temperature just right on board.

And there you see on there, that's the MPLM. That's a giant "you store it" moving crate which has about 5,000 pounds worth of stuff which they're going to put on board the International Space Station.

WHITFIELD: Stuff like the food and water, drinking water?

O'BRIEN: Yes, food and all that good stuff, which they need. They're also leaving a crew member behind. I'll tell you a little bit more about this.

But check out, as they got closer, Steve Lindsey, the commander of the shuttle at the controls, doing some things that he could only have dreamed of when he was at the Air Force Academy a few years ago. Here he is, doing a somersault maneuver in the space shuttle. I'm told it flies like a dream, Fredricka.

But let's remember what we're talking about. By the way, this is an just an antenna in the foreground. They're traveling at 17,500 miles an hour.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

O'BRIEN: Yes, both of them, and yet the relative motion at the end is about an inch a second. Why would they do this maneuver? Where, for a time there, the shuttle is blind, at least visually, to the space station. The two space station occupants were taking pictures like mad at this point, especially in those locations, right near the landing gear doors, that kind of thing. To make sure that that heat shield there is intact and there's no problems.

You'll remember, a year ago when they did this the first time, they found a spot here that needed to be fixed. It was a gap-filler that stuck out. They were afraid it would cause a "hot spot." And fortunately, they were able to pull it out with an emergency spacewalk.

But anyway, Steve Lindsey was able to conduct the docking. You see the pictures, as he came in. He's back here, by the way, in the afore (ph) deck -- excuse me, the flight deck, as they call it. And looking out those windows. He's got a cruise member with a laser range finder. Then he's got all kinds of computer displays, to make sure everything lines up right over here. He did it, no problem.

And now the question is, how safe is this shuttle heat shield. We're taking a look at some of the pictures they've already been sending down. We'll get some more pictures of that maneuver you just saw. I want to call your attention to this spot right here. We saw -- here I'm going to make a better one, better circle. We saw some foam fall off about 2 minutes, 46 seconds after launch. It came from that spot right there. They're not sure why that happened. But it was harmless, didn't cause any problems to shuttle because it happened so high or the atmosphere so thin.

Take a look at the back side of the tank. And you'll see a couple of gouges here. Should we be worried? Well, it's the back side of the tank. Doesn't matter. I'm sure they'll want to know why it came off but there's no harm that is caused on that side of the tank.

WHITFIELD: So there wouldn't be concern upon the return?

O'BRIEN: No, there's nothing to worry about because...

WHITFIELD: Isn't that potentially when there could be a problem?

O'BRIEN: No. Let me show you one other thing, though, that you would think would cause a concern. There was - remember, I told you about those gap fillers, those little pieces of almost like thin cardboard...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... well, it's not cardboard -- which goes between the heat-seeking -- heat-seeking. Heat-repellent tiles. There is one sticking out. Now, they replaced 6,000 of these gap fillers after Discovery.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

O'BRIEN: But this one is sticking out. They say they do not have to go get it, though, because it's in a location on the orbiter that doesn't get so hot. And so it's not a big deal.

So as it stands right now, they have a pretty safe bird to come back. These pictures that they took today will be critical, though. So we'll let you know how that goes.

WHITFIELD: Will there ever have to be another kind of examination, more of a manual close-up examination, meaning a space- walk-related examination? Would they ever do that?

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, if in fact they found a problem area with the camera, they would certainly do that. They'll be out there doing some spacewalks during this mission. If they see anything, obviously, they'll report it.

And there will be one more inspection at the end of the mission. Because there's one other thing to think about. Besides the debris on launch, micro meteorites could cause some damage, as well, so they'll do an inspection at the end.

WHITFIELD: Sure. Interesting. That's fascinating stuff. Glad you're able to bring it to us there, Miles. Thanks so much.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Talk to you soon.

Coming up, LIVE FROM London and new developments in a terror case on the eve of a very sad anniversary.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matthew Chance in London with a message from beyond the grave from one of the city's suicide bombers.

WHITFIELD: Also ahead, when kids get the flu, their doctors usually get it wrong. Now a new study finds most children don't get the medicine they need when they come down with the flu. The disturbing findings and advice for parents when LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: On the eve of a grim anniversary, a message from beyond the grave stirs disturbing memories, while inspiring more fear.

CNN's Matthew Chance has more on the release of a videotape made by a London suicide bomber.

Matthew, what is it about this video that implies there is an al Qaeda connection?

CHANCE: Well, Fredricka, it will be a chilling message from the grave, because, particularly for the people of London, because it does come on the eve of the anniversary of the July 7 bombings, which of course killed 52 people and injured several hundred more.

In the video that was released, first broadcast on the Al Jazeera Arabic language television news network, Shehzad Tanweer, who was one of the British suicide bombers involved in those attacks a year ago, sitting down, giving his essential last will and testimony, recorded before the attacks took place, obviously.

It was meant to be heard after the event, as well, because he spoke in the past tense. He spoke in English, but it was dubbed into Arabic. This is the translation. "What you have witnessed," he said, "now is only the beginning of a string of a tacks that will continue and become stronger until you pull your forces out of Afghanistan and Iraq and until you stop supporting America and Israel."

So clearly, a message there to the British governments. And Shehzad Tanweer clearly believing that there would be more attacks, more attacks to follow his, something that has not happened in the British capital for a year now.

WHITFIELD: Matthew Chance in London, thanks so much for that update.

On to health matters now. When it comes to young children and flu, a new study finds doctors make the wrong diagnosis most of the time.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me with more on that.

Elizabeth, this is pretty alarming and frightening, isn't it, to a lot of parents.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is stunning. It is stunning. And this comes out of the "New England Journal of Medicine" just this week.

Researchers looked at children who got the flu and then went back to see if they had been originally diagnosed correctly. And what they found is that most doctors get it wrong. And in fact, they found among a group of preschoolers that doctors missed the flu in four out of five young children. These are children who went to the pediatrician or the emergency room. They missed it four out of five times.

Instead, the children were diagnosed with asthma. They were diagnosed with some kind of other seasonal virus, just -- you know, the parents were told "it's just a virus."

WHITFIELD: That means they were given wrong medication and treatments, too?

COHEN: Well, what they were missed -- they weren't necessarily given the wrong thing. What they missed, what the doctors missed is an opportunity to give these children the right medicine for the flu. There are antivirals that are given specifically for the flu. And these children would have missed it, because they weren't diagnosed with the flu.

A problem for the children. But also, Fredricka, a problem for everybody else. Because any parent knows, a small parent say powerful disease vector. They're more contagious than the rest of us and for longer period of time. Problem for everyone.

WHITFIELD: It sure is. So what do parents need to equip themselves? What can they do to perhaps -- I mean, I guess increase the chance that their child will be diagnosed correctly?

COHEN: Well, one thing a parent can do even before a child is diagnosed is prevention, which is, of course, even better than treatment. And that will come in the form of a flu shot.

For the first time the Centers for Disease Control this year is recommending all children 6 months to 5 years old get a flu shot and the household contact, so parents and other people who live with the children. It used to be the CDC said kids 6 months to 2 years old. Now they're saying 6 months to 5 years old. And so pediatricians will, of course, know this and be recommending that to children.

WHITFIELD: So are there concerns now that they're encouraging so many more people to get their kids vaccinated that there will be enough vaccinations for the next season? COHEN: There definitely are concerns, always, every year about supply, because some years there just aren't enough flu shots. However, the FDA says that there should be enough.

One little glitch: one of the companies that makes flu shot, the FDA just sent them a warning letter, saying, "Hey, you've got some contamination issues in your manufacturing process." That company needs to now go back and fix those contamination issues, which could potentially slow things down. The company says it will be fine and there will be plenty of vaccine.

Now we were talking earlier about what parents can do. Another thing the parents can do is they can watch out for the symptoms of the flu during the flu season. And they can say, "Look, my child has these symptoms." A fever of over 101, cough and congestion, which of course are also signs of other viruses, but if it's during the flu season, they can say to the doctor, "You know what, Doctor? I know it might not be the flu, but it might be. Can we think about given a rapid flu test?"

That's a pretty simple thing to do. It's a rapid test done in 30 minutes. And this study found most kids who had the flu were never tested for it.

WHITFIELD: Right. Wow, interesting stuff, meaning, you know, parents, entire families have to be a lot more cognizant and pay closer attention to what some of these symptoms are.

COHEN: That's right, and have that conversation with your pediatrician.

WHITFIELD: Right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, a huge blow to former smokers who were fighting big tobacco.

And stolen secrets, an espionage case involving Coca-Cola and Pepsi heading to court this afternoon. We'll hear how authorities got on the suspects' trails. More LIVE FROM next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A record ruling against the tobacco industry goes up in smoke. Susan Lisovicz is live from the New York Stock Exchange with more on that.

Hello to you, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fred.

Well, the Florida Supreme Court has thrown out a record $145 billion ruling against the tobacco industry. The verdict upheld a lower court's decision and reverses the biggest punitive damage award by any jury in history. The case, originally decided in 2000, in favor of 700,000 Florida smokers who accused the tobacco companies of lying about the dangers of cigarettes. But an appellate court overruled that decision in 2003 for several reasons, including a challenge to the lawsuit's class action status. It said the plaintiffs in the suit were too diverse to have their claims all lumped together.

The Florida Supreme Court decided to review that ruling and today gave the cigarette makers a huge victory -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Susan now what does this now mean for the tobacco companies moving forward?

LISOVICZ: It immediately frees up millions of dollars that had been tied up because of the verdict and potentially lots more. If the $145 billion award had been upheld it would have inflicted massive damage on the industry. It could also pave the way for Altria group, the parent of Marlboro maker, Philip Morris, USA, to break up into as many as three separate companies.

But it may not be total victory for the cigarette makers. One anti-smoking crusader notes that today's court decision upheld awards to two individuals and simplifies the procedures for other individuals to sue. And we've seen a lot of litigation, as you well know, Fredricka, when it comes to tobacco.

WHITFIELD: Yesterday it seemed like the market reacted to just about every news item. So today is there some reaction to this verdict?

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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