Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
How Close is North Korea to Building Nuclear Weapon?
Aired February 04, 2003 - 09:12 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Question in Washington today, how close is North Korea to building a nuclear weapon? A Senate hearing on that topic begins in about 20 minutes in D.C. Let's get down there now, David Ensor now watching and waiting for that hearing to begin.
David, hello. Good morning.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Well, this could be a fairly contentious hearing. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is having a series of hearing on kind of hot-button foreign policy issues. He had Iraq a day or two ago, and now North Korea, which many believe is an even more difficult question. There are Democrats on this committee who are quite critical of the Bush administration for dropping the dialogue with Kim Jong-Il's government in North Korea that the Clinton administration had going, and the deal that was made there; in exchange for fuel and a light water reactor, the North Koreans would give up their plans to build a reactor using bomb-grade plutonium that is a byproduct of that.
So now, of course, the North Koreans have openly said they're going to build nuclear weapons, they've taken, they say, the plutonium out of its storage space, and there have been reports from U.S. intelligence that they have satellite photos showing a lot of trucks around the storage area there, so there are fears that North Korea may now be on its way toward North Korea weapons.
There also is the assumption they may already have a couple of nuclear weapons, and some of the Democrats on this committee is saying that the Bush administration is sending a very bad message by saying that it will go against Iraq for trying to build weapons of mass destruction, for trying to have a nuclear weapon, but it's treating North Korea with kid gloves, because it fears North Korea may already have one. The message to others would be, of course, build one quickly, and do it secretly, that's the way to have power in this world.
So, could be a fairly contentious hearing. The lead witness is Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
HEMMER: Thank you. Another reminder of the dangerous world today circulating in D.C. Thank you, David. Talk to you later.
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 February 4, 2003 - 09:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Question in Washington today, how close is North Korea to building a nuclear weapon? A Senate hearing on that topic begins in about 20 minutes in D.C. Let's get down there now, David Ensor now watching and waiting for that hearing to begin.
David, hello. Good morning.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Well, this could be a fairly contentious hearing. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is having a series of hearing on kind of hot-button foreign policy issues. He had Iraq a day or two ago, and now North Korea, which many believe is an even more difficult question. There are Democrats on this committee who are quite critical of the Bush administration for dropping the dialogue with Kim Jong-Il's government in North Korea that the Clinton administration had going, and the deal that was made there; in exchange for fuel and a light water reactor, the North Koreans would give up their plans to build a reactor using bomb-grade plutonium that is a byproduct of that.
So now, of course, the North Koreans have openly said they're going to build nuclear weapons, they've taken, they say, the plutonium out of its storage space, and there have been reports from U.S. intelligence that they have satellite photos showing a lot of trucks around the storage area there, so there are fears that North Korea may now be on its way toward North Korea weapons.
There also is the assumption they may already have a couple of nuclear weapons, and some of the Democrats on this committee is saying that the Bush administration is sending a very bad message by saying that it will go against Iraq for trying to build weapons of mass destruction, for trying to have a nuclear weapon, but it's treating North Korea with kid gloves, because it fears North Korea may already have one. The message to others would be, of course, build one quickly, and do it secretly, that's the way to have power in this world.
So, could be a fairly contentious hearing. The lead witness is Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
HEMMER: Thank you. Another reminder of the dangerous world today circulating in D.C. Thank you, David. Talk to you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
