Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

International Wrap: Eye on World

Aired December 31, 2002 - 06:37   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.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is back with us this morning. We're going to be talking a little bit now more about North Korea and your coverage there...
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right.

CALLAWAY: ... trying to get correspondents in to cover this.

CLINCH: Yes, it's a very difficult situation for us. It's a tough story. And you know, as we were talking about it a couple of days ago, CNN is its own worst enemy in the sense that people expect us to be in North Korea because it's a story. It's not as easy as that. The North Koreans do not want us or anybody else there right now. We will keep pressuring them and asking them, and hopefully that will change.

It's such a complicated story, though. And in the meantime, we have to look at this unfortunately, from our point of view again, as another story which is going to continue over the next weeks and months. There is no easy way out for the United States on this story.

Militarily, I suppose there are some options they could pursue, but nothing that's very pretty, if you know what I mean. A large- scale military strike is almost unthinkable in terms of what that would mean in confronting North Korea. A pinpoint strike, I suppose it's possible, but again, North Korea is so unpredictable and now they have more nuclear weapons. It's hard to imagine a military development here.

But diplomatically even, everything we're covering today -- you saw in South Korea how complicated it is for the South Koreans, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Russians. Everybody the United States wants to help in this situation is in an extremely difficult situation themselves in terms of trying to maintain their own long-term relationship with North Korea, and also not wanting to appear to bend over backwards for the United States.

So, in the meantime, it continues, and again, no easy way out.

CALLAWAY: Despite conflicts, even while it's going on in Iraq, CNN has been able to keep a bureau in Iraq. How difficult is it going to be to follow this crisis in North Korea?

CLINCH: Well, it's very difficult. I mean, it's -- I don't know whether we've reported it on this show, but it's public knowledge that, at the moment, our Baghdad bureau, Jane Arraf, is banned from Iraq by the Iraqis. We have reporters there. We will have reporters there. But as that illustrates, it's not a simple story for us to cover. Even if we did have Jane Arraf there as our Baghdad bureau chief, it still isn't an easy story for us to cover.

But again for the record, I mean, we have been in Baghdad with a bureau or a presence there since the last Gulf War almost without break and certainly for the last 12 months, and we'll continue to be there whatever it takes. If they throw us out, we'll cover it however we can cover it. But we'll be in Baghdad, and we'll be everywhere else on that story.

It's never easy to cover, but again, the expectation is that CNN will be there, and we have to live up to that.

CALLAWAY: Yes, and we seem to somehow do it, don't we?

CLINCH: Yes.

CALLAWAY: All right, David, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired December 31, 2002 - 06:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is back with us this morning. We're going to be talking a little bit now more about North Korea and your coverage there...
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right.

CALLAWAY: ... trying to get correspondents in to cover this.

CLINCH: Yes, it's a very difficult situation for us. It's a tough story. And you know, as we were talking about it a couple of days ago, CNN is its own worst enemy in the sense that people expect us to be in North Korea because it's a story. It's not as easy as that. The North Koreans do not want us or anybody else there right now. We will keep pressuring them and asking them, and hopefully that will change.

It's such a complicated story, though. And in the meantime, we have to look at this unfortunately, from our point of view again, as another story which is going to continue over the next weeks and months. There is no easy way out for the United States on this story.

Militarily, I suppose there are some options they could pursue, but nothing that's very pretty, if you know what I mean. A large- scale military strike is almost unthinkable in terms of what that would mean in confronting North Korea. A pinpoint strike, I suppose it's possible, but again, North Korea is so unpredictable and now they have more nuclear weapons. It's hard to imagine a military development here.

But diplomatically even, everything we're covering today -- you saw in South Korea how complicated it is for the South Koreans, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Russians. Everybody the United States wants to help in this situation is in an extremely difficult situation themselves in terms of trying to maintain their own long-term relationship with North Korea, and also not wanting to appear to bend over backwards for the United States.

So, in the meantime, it continues, and again, no easy way out.

CALLAWAY: Despite conflicts, even while it's going on in Iraq, CNN has been able to keep a bureau in Iraq. How difficult is it going to be to follow this crisis in North Korea?

CLINCH: Well, it's very difficult. I mean, it's -- I don't know whether we've reported it on this show, but it's public knowledge that, at the moment, our Baghdad bureau, Jane Arraf, is banned from Iraq by the Iraqis. We have reporters there. We will have reporters there. But as that illustrates, it's not a simple story for us to cover. Even if we did have Jane Arraf there as our Baghdad bureau chief, it still isn't an easy story for us to cover.

But again for the record, I mean, we have been in Baghdad with a bureau or a presence there since the last Gulf War almost without break and certainly for the last 12 months, and we'll continue to be there whatever it takes. If they throw us out, we'll cover it however we can cover it. But we'll be in Baghdad, and we'll be everywhere else on that story.

It's never easy to cover, but again, the expectation is that CNN will be there, and we have to live up to that.

CALLAWAY: Yes, and we seem to somehow do it, don't we?

CLINCH: Yes.

CALLAWAY: All right, David, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.