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President Bush Hopes to Contain Two Possible Nuclear Threats With Diplomacy; A Fight Against the Flames in Southern California

Aired July 12, 2006 - 10:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: "A failure to cooperate," that is how U.S. envoy Christopher Hill sums up North Korea's response to diplomatic efforts on the nuclear issue. Hill met today in Beijing's with China's with foreign minister. The U.S. is calling for firm stance against North Korea after Pyongyang test-fired seven missiles last week. Hill says North Korea should stop its tests and return to disarmament talks. A proposed U.N. resolution about sanctions is on hold while China tries its hand at diplomacy.
Mending fences and building support, President Bush hopes to contain two possible nuclear threats with diplomacy. Right now he's on his way to Germany to nurture a growing friendship with that country's chancellor, and then he travels on to the Group of Eight Summit in Russia.

Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president and previews his first stop. Why Germany?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: And now I'm going to take her to lunch.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: From their first meeting in January, President Bush and Germany's new chancellor, Angela Merkel, hit it off.

BUSH: She's smart. She's plenty capable. She's got kind of a spirit to her that is appealing.

MALVEAUX: Less than four months after that first meeting, Merkel was invited back to the White House for more face-to-face talks.

BUSH: The way I view the relationship is it's growing and it's strengthening.

MALVEAUX: President Bush's outreach is part of a strategy aimed at improving U.S.-German relations, which soured over the Iraq under Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder.

CHARLES KUPCHAN, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: There was no personal chemistry at all. With Merkel, there seems to not just be an agreement on policy, but a friendship that is developing.

MALVEAUX: That friendship is considered key to Mr. Bush's influence in the larger Europe. KUPCHAN: Bush has focused on Germany, now that Chancellor Merkel is in office, as the key link to Europe.

MALVEAUX: Not only is Merkel Germany's first female chancellor, but she's the first to come from the former communist East Germany. Like Mr. Bush, she operates from the political right, and identifies with his focus on freedom.

BUSH: I'm talking to a very sophisticated leader who knows what it's like to live in a world that isn't free.

MALVEAUX: Unlike President Bush, Merkel is wildly popular at home, enjoying an 80 percent approval rating. Merkel has also scored points at home for publicly criticized the Bush administration, specifically over the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

KUPCHAN: Merkel can only go so far in appearing to be a close ally of the president.

MALVEAUX: The Iraq war remains highly unpopular in Germany. But the government is helping train Iraqi police in the United Arab Emirates, and has pledged some reconstruction relief. But Germany has taken the lead on Iran. Merkel, along with the leaders of Britain and France, backs Mr. Bush's call for tough sanctions against the regime, if it fails to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And, Daryn, of course, the stop in the former communist East Germany sends a very powerful symbolic message to Russia, specifically Vladimir Putin, that the United States is committed to democratic reforms as well as freedom. It's an area that the United States, the administration has been very frustrated with, with Putin. They feel like he's really been backsliding in that particular dimension -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne, there was a line in your piece that caught my attention, Angela Merkel's popularity -- 80 percent approval. This is a woman squeaked into office, and a lot of people thought she wouldn't be able to be effective because she just barely got into office. That's an incredible turnaround.

MALVEAUX: And she just took office really in November. So that really is quite a statement, an accomplishment, if you will. The economy has gotten a little bit of a boost, and she has taken credit for that, but she is also beyond her own country, really seen as a leader on the world stage. She has actually forged some coalition and some compromises with the European Union, the larger 25-member group, as she has really taken the lead, and that is one of the reasons why President Bush is riding her coattails, if you will. He sees that she is really the emerging powerful leader in Europe. We know that Tony Blair, somewhat of a lame duck; change in leadership when it comes to Italy and Spain. So this is an alliance that President Bush thinks is very, very important at this time.

KAGAN: All right, Suzanne Malveaux from the former Eastern Germany.

We take quite a ride and go all the way to Southern California. It is a fight against the flames there, and also against time in the desert in Southern California. Crews battling the blaze have a new worry, that the wind could kick up even more fires. More than 1,000 residents of Yucca Valley, north of Palm Springs, have been forced from homes.

Our Kyung Lah is live with the latest. Good morning.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

We're just getting some updated information from the California Department of Forestry. What they are telling us now is that there are 26,000 acres that have burned so far, and they have gotten some headway as far as trying to contain this fire. They are now saying it is 16 percent contained, but far from full containment.

I'm standing actually at the southern edge of this fire. You can see that the smoke, and the fire and everything is pushing toward the north.

Some of this fire that you're looking at, some of the smoke, is actually intentionally set. This is called a backfire, and the reason firefighters do that is to try to create a circle around it.

They do believe at this point that because of the weather, because we haven't seen any extreme, strong winds, that they have able to contain part of it. Some 300 residents now, the CDF tells us, have been evacuated, but 1,500 structures are threatened. They have lost a hold of 30 structures. Unclear at this point how many of those structures are homes, and they are saying that about 1,000 people, though, are in the path of this potential fire, and they also do say that this potentially could grow to 100,000 acres, but that Daryn, is an absolute worst-case scenario.

KAGAN: We'll be watching that.

Now most people watching today have never been to Yucca Valley, will never go, but there's a good chance they've seen movies or televisions that have been shot nearby. What can you tell us about Pioneer Town?

LAH: You are absolutely right, and Pioneer Town has actually been extremely hard hit. There's a main street in Pioneer Town. It's primarily a place of businesses. That's where all the historic homes are. This is a setting for many of those Hollywood hero movies set about the Old West. What they have able to save is that particular main street area. It's the homes surrounding that area in Pioneer Town that they have lost. So at this point, the CDF says they're optimistic that they will be able to preserve at least some of the history in this region.

KAGAN: Knug Lah reporting from Southern California, Yucca Valley, thank you. New development to tell you about in the intensifying situation in the Mideast. Here is what we know now. Israeli forces are pounding southern Lebanon. Ground troops and warplanes moved in after clashes along the border this morning. We've learned that three Israeli soldiers were killed and the group Hezbollah says it has captured two others. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says that he considers that capture an act of war. His cabinet meets in about 90 minutes to consider its next step.

In northern Gaza, security officials say, Israeli forces destroyed a house where top Hamas leaders were believed to be meeting. More than a dozen in today's Gaza violence. The military says it will keep up its Gaza offensive until an abducted army corporal is free and militants stop lobbing rockets into Israel.

It is only one day after terror on the trains. Family members in Mumbai, India still searching hospitals and morgues for loved ones. Officials a short time ago raised the death toll to more than 185. Another 700 people are injured.

Meanwhile, trains are rolling again, and they're packed with commuters. Also today, police say they found timers in pencils at three of the seven blast sites. The timers are believed to have detonated bombs made of RDX, which is one of the most powerful military explosives.

Our Anderson Cooper now takes a look at why Mumbai is a target for terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mumbai knows terror. Even before these bombings, it has seen hundreds of deaths in terrorist attacks. In 1993, more than 250 people were killed in a series of explosions blamed on Muslim groups with ties to Pakistani militants. One prominent target, the stock exchange.

In 2003, an attack on a commuter train killed 10. And later that same year, two taxis exploded at a tourist attraction in the city. 16 million people live in Mumbai, making it an enticing target for Islamic militants who want India out of Kashmir.

Once known for its grinding poverty. Over the past two decades, Mumbai has become India's most cosmopolitan city, home to its fast growing stock market, multinational companies and India's movie industry. Mumbai now has a thriving middle class and millions of them crowd onto commuter trains every day.

NEIL LIVINGSTONE, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Mumbai is the engine of the Indian economic miracle today. And you know, the early reports, saying that many people called up the injured in the trains and called for help on their cell phones. Well, that's a far cry from the India of 20 years ago.

COOPER: By striking here, terrorists hope to strike a blow at the commercial heartbeat of one of the world's most dynamic economies. Hours after the attack, Indian companies that trade in New York were sharply lower.

If this was the work of Islamic extremists, and most analysts believe it was, there's another seemingly perverse reason to attack Mumbai. It's home to more than a million Muslims. Attacking here makes a backlash from hard line Hindu groups more likely and ignites sectarian hatreds.

RAM RAMGOPAL: Mumbai has had a history of religious tensions, certainly going back to 1992. But those are the sorts of incidents that can lead to a flare-up. And now, for instance, there was a lot of anger among the commuters.

COOPER: The bombers may also have been looking well beyond Mumbai too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ultimately the terrorists do want to create problems, the social problems and the economic problems. And, of course, they want the attention of the international community, as well. Let's not forget that the G8 summit is convening towards the end of the week.

COOPER: Should such a coordinated and high profile attack on India's biggest city stoke tensions between Hindus and Muslims and between India and Pakistan, the terrorists will have found their real target.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And that report is from CNN's Anderson Cooper. You catch his show weeknights at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific right here on CNN.

Police say they see no signs of terrorism or foul play. So what did cause a train derailment and fire in Chicago? We'll update the investigation.

And we expect to hear from the city's mayor about the accident in about 20 minutes.

Also, a high-flying mission, two Shuttle Discovery astronauts. Look at this, live pictures from space, taking a little walk, doing a little fix-it job there. They're testing a procedure that NASA hopes it never has to use. Details ahead on LIVE TODAY.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Expecting a news conference in the next hour, actually in a few minutes, from Boston and the Massachusetts Turnpike chairman Matthew Amarello, talking about the fatal accident when the huge slab of concrete fell on that Honda Accord two nights ago, taking the life about a woman. A lot of concerns about the Big Dig and about the tunnel and what officials are doing about that. We will listen in to that news conference coming up. Meanwhile, let's head to space. A caulk gun and some putty -- this is what the astronauts are using here. Sounds like your average home-repair job, this one taking place high above Earth, and it's happening right now. It's part of the third and final spacewalk for the shuttle discovery astronauts.

Our space correspondent Miles O'Brien joining me live with details.

Miles, this sounds like something Sandy will ask you to do on the weekends -- honey, here's some putty and a caulk gun.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, except in this case if I don't do it right, my life doesn't necessarily depend on it.

KAGAN: Well, there's that.

O'BRIEN: Depending on how mad Sandy gets.

But it is the case, and it's very similar. You look at what they do up there, they've got basically a thermally insulated caulk gun. They've got a putty knife, which has kind of got a little longer handle to make up for those big gloves they've got to wear. And the only thing that makes it more difficult for them is they're floating around and they have to find some kind of leverage so when they push in the putty knife it doesn't send them in the other direction.

Here's what this is all about, though -- three and a half years ago, Columbia, can't forget that, that moment there when the big piece of foam, about a pound and a half, fell off that external fuel tank and struck the leading edge of the wing, right in there, causing that huge hole that of course NASA didn't know about. Sixteen days later the crew came back and Columbia disintegrated.

The question that came out of that was, if you got to space and you saw a problem, a hole in that thermal shield, what could you do about it? NASA did not have any repair kit, didn't have any tools, didn't have any techniques. Ever since then, they'd been working on some notions, and the focus, the real focus today -- last mission, they focused on the tiles, 25,000 of them all over, a bunch of them in the belly. But here's the key -- these are the hottest spots, the nose cone and the leading edge. Gets up to about 3,000 degrees here. This is the spot where Columbia's breach in the heat shield occurred.

Now if something on the size of the Columbia occurred, which was big, you know, a couple feet across, if something that big occurred, you wouldn't try to repair it. That's just too big. You'd have to go to another option. But if you had a scratch, or a dent or a dimple that might be on the order of something repairable, maybe this is a technique you would try. Now, they call it -- the technical term is no-wax (ph). The astronauts have just been calling it goo. Give them credit for calling it what it is. But I mean, that caulking gun is very familiar to all of us who have done any work around the house.

Here's the trick, though, Daryn -- when they tried this last go- round, they had real problems with air bubbles that would prop up right in there, and it's very temperature-sensitive, and so what they're trying to figure out is what is the right portion of the orbit to do this on? Right at orbital sunset, when the temperature is about highest, right before the sun goes down, and then allow it to cure as it cools by night? Of course you get a lot of sunrises and sunsets up there.

And so that's what they're working on now. They're going to do this repeatedly. They have some infrared devices that will be able tell them exactly how good the repair is, and then of course they'll bring all that back and take a look at it in a lab.

There's Piers Sellers.

KAGAN: He's staying up there, right?

O'BRIEN: No, no, he's coming home.

KAGAN: He's coming home?

O'BRIEN: No, Thomas Ryder (ph) is.

KAGAN: Thomas Ryder is staying, OK.

O'BRIEN: Yes, yes. He's staying up there, but these guys will come back, and they'll debrief, and they'll talk about whether it's realistic.

The real question on my mind though is, how are they going to know? there's only one way to test whether these techniques work, and that is by sending an orbiter home with the repair. Who is the NASA manager who is going to sign on the dotted line and say, you know what, that's a good enough repair to risk the entire crew on. So it's something they've got to try, but it's also something they hope they never, ever have to contend with or use.

KAGAN: So they want it to work, but they just hope they never have to use it.

O'BRIEN: Exactly.

KAGAN: Fascinating.

Hey, I want to change subjects here -- your kids into myspace, speaking of different kind of space? Speaking of a different kind of space.

O'BRIEN: We've had some discussions about myspace. And we -- I'll tell you, I am not going to say flat out no to it. My rule on that is, though, that lots of constraints on who can drop in on their accounts. In other words, has to be an invitation issued. I think that's a real key point for parents, and a parent should be online with them, very important, don't you think? Get your own account. It's very important.

KAGAN: Get your own -- Miles myspace. Well, myspace in the news. We're going to get to that in a little bit. I just wanted to ask the father of kids who would be in that kind of demographic.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's not easy.

KAGAN: Thank you, Miles.

Oh, by the way, people can watch the spacewalk on Pipeline, CNN.com. Go to Pipeline, one of the pipes carrying the spacewalk consistently, constantly, and you can stay up there with the astronauts and watch their fix-it job right now.

Also coming up on LIVE TODAY, more than just a headache for commuters. Boston's Big Dig tunnel collapse took one life and changed another forever. A live news conference in just minutes. You'll see it on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We are looking for updates on two transportation-related incidents. On the left side, that was the aftermath of that train derailment in Chicago. Officials there plan a news conference at the top the hour.

Also at the top of the hour, officials in Massachusetts, in Boston, talking about Monday's fatal Big Dig accident. They'll be doing that from the Big Dig operation center. We'll be listening to both for updates on both of those stories.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

KAGAN: Police say there nor signs of terrorism or foul play, so what did cause a train derailment and fire in Chicago? We will update that investigation.

We also expect to hear from the city's mayor about the accident in just minutes.

Also we're expecting to hear from officials in Boston about Monday's fatal accident involving the tunnel that leads to Logan Airport. A tragic story and a couple heartbroken over the loss of a wife. We'll have more on that just ahead.

Right now, a quick break here on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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