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American Morning

Shooter Kills Young girls at Amish Schoolhouse; 'Washington Times' Calls for Dennis Hastert's Resignation; Spinach Back on Shelves

Aired October 03, 2006 - 08:59   ET

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

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jason Carroll in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Police are learning more about the plans a shooter had to kill young girls at an Amish schoolhouse. I'll have the details coming up.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill.

A major conservative paper is calling for Speaker Hastert to resign at once. Will he? I've spoken to his camp and I'll tell you what they're saying coming up.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sean Callebs.

A Louisiana congressman who sponsored the page involved in the controversy now surrounding former representative Foley says the ex- page is receiving hate e-mails.

That and much more on this AMERICAN MORNING.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Welcome, everybody.

M. O'BRIEN: A target of opportunity, that's what police are saying this morning about the shooting at an Amish schoolhouse.

Also this morning, a fifth fatality, and that number may rise. But still no real indication why 32-year-old Charles Roberts attacked that school. Though police are saying it may have to do with a 20- year-old grudge.

CNN's Jason Carroll joins us now from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania -- Jason.

CARROLL: And Miles, if a few more details about the planning of this that we're getting this morning from investigators. They tell us that Charles Roberts, 32 years old, had been planning this for at least two or three days. They base that on -- from what they discovered, they say that just within the past few days he purchased some of the items that he ended up using in the shooting. Charles Roberts, again, a former truck driver, he wanted to exact some sort of a revenge on young girls because of a 20-year-old grudge that he had been holding on to for quite some period of time. He found out the way that he could exact his anger would be at this one- room schoolhouse, this Amish schoolhouse. He came in, broke in with a semiautomatic weapon, a shotgun, a stun gun, 600 rounds of ammunition.

He himself was not Amish. Apparently, according to police, he chose the schoolhouse simply out of convenience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. JEFFREY MILLER, COMMISSIONER, PA. STATE POLICE: We don't believe that there's any link that we've been able to uncover that would -- that would show that he had some animus toward the Amish community. We don't believe that was the case at all.

We believe that this was a target of opportunity. That he -- he, living in the community, knew where it was. It was a one-room schoolhouse. I believe he felt he could get in there pretty easily and secure it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And Roberts' wife describes him as a thoughtful man. Police have spoken to some of his co-workers. They say that he was outgoing, but lately had become somewhat withdrawn and "moody," but they said within the last few days or so that his spirits seemed to be lifted.

And police also say that at this point, in terms of trying to find out more about that motive, about that grudge, they are going to be looking through the notes that he left behind, left behind to his wife, to his children. Perhaps they can get something there. But they say they may never know with 100 percent certainty why Charles Roberts did what he ended up doing here in this Amish community -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Jason, we all know the Amish live a very separate life from the rest of us. Is there ongoing tension there in Lancaster County between the Amish and the rest of the population?

CARROLL: I would have to say no, and I'll tell you, you know, why I say that. Just in terms of talking to some of the few members of the Amish community here that we've had the opportunity to meet -- and, you know, that's very difficult because they shun cameras, they don't even like having their picture taken. But you really get a sense of them wanting to heal, because at one point I specifically asked this man -- I said -- how he felt about someone from outside the community coming in and doing this, and he said it didn't matter where the person came from, it's just about healing and trying to come to some sort of understanding -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Jason Carroll in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Thank you. The Amish schoolhouse shooting the third in less than a week in this nation. President Bush calling for a White House conference with educators and law enforcement, looking for answers on some sort of way to stop the attacks.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Dan Lothian joining us now from Boston with more on this subject.

Dan, good morning.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

And of course all these cases attracting a lot of attention, because it's a place where students should feel safe, but there's concern that schools continue to be easy targets for people trying to send a message with violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice over): The deadly trail of recent school shootings stretches from Colorado to Wisconsin, and now rural Pennsylvania.

KENNETH TRUMP, NATIONAL SCHOOL SAFETY SEC. SVCS.: The common refrain we hear time and time again is, "We never thought it could happen here." If there's one lesson we've learned from Columbine, it's that we can't have that "it can't happen here" mentality.

LOTHIAN: Ken Trump and the National School Safety and Security Services began tracking cases after the 1999 rampage at Columbine High School, where 15 people died. Since then, by his count, there have been 219 deaths, not including Monday's attack.

TRUMP: The good news is schools have done a much better job since Columbine working on preventing incidents and improving their emergency preparedness measures.

LOTHIAN: But he says there's no way to make a campus 100 percent safe. School shootings have taken place for decades.

Before Columbine, there was Pearl, Mississippi. Two students killed. Seven wounded.

And Jonesboro, Arkansas. Four students and one teacher killed.

What's behind the violence? Boston College sociologist Joseph Tecce says sometimes it's revenge.

PROF. JOSEPH TECCE, BOSTON COLLEGE: There's a certain vendetta involved. There's a certain payback. "I was treated badly in school and, boy, I'm going to get back with those kids because the bully got me and now I'm going to get them."

LOTHIAN: And the fact that some of these shootings seem to occur in some kind of serial order leads Tecce and other experts to suspect copycats. TECCE: Maybe the murderer or the killer says, "Wow, this other guy got a lot of publicity on this and he nailed a couple of kids. I think I'll try the same technique, because it worked for him and it may work for me. I think I'll get my vengeance the same way as he did."

LOTHIAN: Besides the deadly consequences, attacks can often leave students feeling vulnerable. But experts say they should not be paralyzed by fear.

TECCE: Parents can tell their children these are unusual circumstances, they don't happen every day. Don't go to school expecting it to happen. Go to school zeroing in on your studies.

LOTHIAN: At the same time, there's a growing effort to have schools prepare and practice. Much like they would for a weather emergency drill.

TRUMP: Very often after an emergency, parents want to focus on physical, tangible measures such as security cameras, metal detectors and armed officers. It's the training alertness and preparedness of staff and students that really makes a difference on a day-to-day basis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: The idea here is to jolt school officials out of a sense of complacency so they will be just as prepared to protect their students as they are to educate them -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Dan Lothian in Boston.

Thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: In Washington this morning, more heat for the Republican leadership. The conservative "Washington Times" newspaper today is calling for the resignation of the House speaker, Dennis Hastert. A Hastert spokesman says Hastert's not going anywhere.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Andrea Koppel spoke with Dennis Hastert.

Good morning, Andrea. Sorry for mangling your next name.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don't worry. I've been called worse, Soledad.

Thanks. Good morning to you.

Well, with midterm elections now just five weeks from today, and Democrats continuing to accuse Republicans of an election-year cover- up, this morning scathing editorial in "The Washington Times" is sure to just increase pressure on Republican leaders and Speaker Hastert. But don't look for Speaker Hastert to step aside any time soon.

According to his spokesman, in a statement to CNN, he said, "The speaker has and will lead the Republican conference to another majority in the 110th Congress. Mark Foley has resigned his seat in dishonor and the criminal investigation of this matter will continue. The speaker is working every day on ensuring the House is a safe, produce environment for members, staff and all those who are employed by the institution."

Now, during my interview with Speaker Hastert yesterday, I asked him the question that is surely on the minds of many: what did he know and when did he know it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: The first I was really aware of this was last Friday when it happened, and all of a sudden it -- the press came out and said that there were these e-mails that were from 2003, I guess. And Congressman Foley resigned. That's when I learned of it, at that point.

I don't recall Reynolds talking to me about that, but if he did, he brought it in with a whole stack of things. And I think if he would have had that discussion, he would have -- he would have said it was also resolved, because my understanding now, that it was resolved at that point. The family had gotten what it wanted to get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Now, Speaker Hastert said there that he had heard originally about this from Reynolds. He's referring to Tom Reynolds, the New York Republican who is also the head of the Republican House Congressional Campaign Committee.

Now, Reynolds, who is in a tight race in Buffalo, held a press conference last night just to talk about this, and, Soledad, he is standing by his story that he told Dennis Hastert about this last spring -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: And everybody is watching for where it's going to go. Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill for us this morning.

Thanks, Andrea.

The teenager at the center of this e-mail scandal got his job as a page, as Andrea mentioned, through Louisiana Congressman Rodney Alexander.

CNN's Sean Callebs spoke with Congressman Alexander in an exclusive interview.

Good morning, Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

I had the chance to sit down with Alexander last night after he spent a day campaigning, and as you can imagine, this controversy is on the minds of the constituents here in this area. Alexander says he found out about those e-mails almost a full year ago, back in November. He says he's disappointed there are growing calls for Hastert, the speaker, to step down. He calls the speaker a great man and a fine gentleman. But he also says it has simply been a brutal week for the former page, as well as the teenager's family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RODNEY ALEXANDER (R), LOUISIANA: Again, my job was to do what I could to protect the young man and his parents' interest. And I failed, and I apologize for that. The parents have had a horrible week. The young man is beginning to get some threats. The media has been aggressively seeking his conversations at school, his home, and that's the most disturbing thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: Alexander calls this a sad situation. And he goes on to say he has talked with the family on a number of occasions as late as last night. And Alexander says the family has made it clear they don't want to pursue charges, Soledad. They simply want this controversy to go away.

S. O'BRIEN: So explain to me exactly how long Congressman Alexander knew about this e-mail exchange. And, did he know about the content of the e-mails?

CALLEBS: Yes. More on this timeline. And he did know the content once the e-mails were played out for him.

He actually found out about this 11 months ago, back in mid- November when a reporter came to him and asked him about e-mails from Foley to the page from this area. He says he first went to the speaker's office, then two months later -- two months later he got another journalist's request about information. Then he went to Tom Reynolds' office. And Andrea explained his connection with this.

Alexander went on to say that he believes the GOP leadership has handled this controversy well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: As a parent, if a 16-year-old son of mine gets an e- mail from a 50-year-old single man who's in Congress asking for a picture, asking what he wants for his birthday, I'm concerned. Do you think a red flag should have been raised before they were raised?

ALEXANDER: Well, I mean, that's why I notified them and called the parents. It was something that I would be uncomfortable with if one of my children was approached that way or one of my grandchildren.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: And a bit more. Alexander says that the page didn't work for him. He simply sponsored the page, and he worked at the discretion of the speaker and the clerk. And he went on to say that this has been just a simply brutal time for the family and they've actually received hate male, hate e-mail over this.

A very difficult time for them -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Sean Callebs for us this morning.

Thanks, Sean -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Donald Rumsfeld under fire again. The latest volley coming from Bob Woodward in his book, "State of Denial," where he writes about efforts to oust the defense secretary. Woodward was on "LARRY KING LIVE" last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB WOODWARD, "STATE OF DENIAL": I think he believes -- believes in him. And one of the things I reported in the book is that Andy Card, when he was chief of staff, at least three times, really, went to president and recommended specifically that Rumsfeld be replaced, and Card just didn't say it that way. He said, "And I think you should put Jim Baker," who was the former secretary of state, "in as defense secretary."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Andy Card shared his side of the story with John Roberts last night on "ANDERSON COOPER 360".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: In this book, Bob Woodward claims that you encouraged the president to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at least twice. Is that true? And why did you think he needed to go?

ANDREW CARD, FMR. WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We talked about change in the cabinet, and my job as chief of staff was to remind the president when the cadence for change could be complemented. And we talked not just about the secretary of defense, we talked about the chief of staff's position, we talked about virtually every member of the cabinet and most of the senior White House staffers.

But I did talk with him about potential changes at the Defense Department, and it was a normal thing to do. In fact, I think it's the obligation of a chief of staff to do that.

I think it was a little bit of a misrepresentation that there was -- there was a campaign to remove Don Rumsfeld. That's not what I was looking to mount, and we were trying not to have a campaign. But I did offer quiet counsel to the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Now, Card confirms he had a lengthy list of possible replacements kept in a blue notebook called the "Hit By the Bus Book". He told John Roberts he had advised the president not to make a change in the Defense Department right now.

Let's get a check of the forecast. Chad Myers at the CNN Center with that.

Hello, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Coming up, more on the fallout from the Mark Foley scandal. Will it keep social conservatives away from the polls on Election Day? We'll take a look at that.

Plus, bagged spinach is back in your grocery store, but a lot of folks still aren't sure about its safety. We'll tell you what you need to know ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The Mark Foley scandal is perhaps the last straw for many of the most conservative members of the Republican Party, already upset about the GOP's failings on a number of issues, including abortion, federal spending and illegal immigration. Many social conservatives are now ready to stay home and perhaps tilt the election.

Our next guest is the author of the book "Conservatives Betrayed".

Richard Viguerie joining us from Manassas, Virginia.

Mr. Viguerie, good to have you with us.

RICHARD VIGUERIE, AUTHOR, "CONSERVATIVES BETRAYED": Good morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Do you think social conservatives will sit this election out?

VIGUERIE: Well, that's been the fear all along. Karl Rove famously said in -- after the 2000 election there were four million value voters, religious conservative voters that didn't show up that they were expecting to show up. Now after six years of getting little more than -- than lip service, it's highly likely that many millions will not feel a need to turn out for this -- this election.

M. O'BRIEN: Do these so-called value voters feel betrayed, as your title of your book says?

VIGUERIE: Oh, absolutely. The -- we all know the importance of the value voters, the religiously conservative voters to this president's election and re-election and the control of Congress, but what have they gotten other than a few perfunctory votes? Where are the personnel in this White House? This president has surrounded himself with mostly big government, corporate types. The Republican conservatives, the religious voters, they are not a wing of the party. They are the party.

They're the base of the party. And they've gotten nothing but basically lip service from this president and this Congress. And now that they need them to turn out to vote, I'm not sure what argument they're going to bring forth to tell them why they are better than the Democrats.

M. O'BRIEN: There are a lot of people talking about Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, "The Washington Times" this morning call for his resignation. Would you like to see the speaker step down?

VIGUERIE: Oh, absolutely. I would like to see the -- most of the leadership of the Republican party. In my book, "Conservatives Betrayed," I relate conservatives to much like the biblical Jews who had to wander through the desert for 40 years until that generation of immoral, corrupt leaders had passed away.

And conservatives and value voters are much in the same position. We are not going to get to the political promised land until we have new leaders. And it's time for pretty much all of the leaders to leave. And let's try some new leadership.

M. O'BRIEN: There's a lot of buzz inside conservative circles -- see if you go along with this -- that actually a democratic victory, perhaps the Democrats getting control of the House, would actually be good in a somewhat Machiavellian way.

VIGUERIE: Well, I don't advocate that, I don't want that. You never go into an election wanting to lose.

But what I tell conservatives is, if the worst happens and the Republicans are in the minority, don't fear that. Don't fear a Democrat victory, because conservatives' best and strongest victories have usually come after terrible defeats.

Ronald Reagan would not have been elected president in 1980 if Ford had been re-elected -- or elected in 1976. And there would not have been a Republican Congress in 1994 if George H. Bush had been re- elected in '92.

So we can expect good things possibly to come out of defeat even though you don't look for it and don't want it.

M. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this. You are obviously disenchanted with the GOP. What alternative do you and other social conservatives have right now?

VIGUERIE: Well, my advice to conservatives is not to think of ourselves as Republicans, because the Republicans have abandoned us, they have betrayed us from the White House to the Congress, to the national committees, and we should think of ourselves as a third force, not a third party, but a third force where we act independent. Let's go out there and support principled conservative organizations, principled conservative candidates, and let's pull both the Republicans and the Democrats to the conservative view on public policy issues.

And we can act as Reagan conservatives and greatly influence the country here. But we have been abused and mistreated by the Republicans, and it's time for us to act independent of the Republican Party and no longer think of ourselves as an arm of the party.

M. O'BRIEN: Richard Viguerie, author of "Conservatives Betrayed," thank you for your time, sir.

VIGUERIE: My pleasure.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, grocery stores are putting bagged spinach back on the shelves. How safe is it after the E. coli outbreak?

We're going to take a look, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Have you been craving a spinach salad ever since spinach was yanked from grocery store shelves? Well, spinach is now making a comeback now that the E. coli-tainted batch has been traced back to California. Are people buying it, though, is the big question.

CNN's Judy Fortin takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Spinach is going back on the supermarket shelves nearly three weeks after it was removed when linked to an outbreak of E. coli. The Food and Drug Administration identified the source of the contamination, a large producer of greens in California.

DR. DAVID ACHESON, FDA: There is no reason at this point for concern over that in the context of the consumers.

FORTIN: Still, some retailers say they will wait until they can be certain the spinach they sell is not from California. Others will stock spinach in bunches but not in bags, which can act as incubators for the bacteria. Giant Foods and Stock "n Shop (ph), an East Coast chain, will sell bagged spinach grown in Colorado or Canada, but some consumers are wary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to have to wait for a while. I can't -- I'm not going to rush up on it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And until I hear a lot of people actually buying it, and they are OK off it, that's when I will probably start buying it. FORTIN: Food experts say risks of contamination increase when part of the processing is done in the field, rather than in a factory. Another problem, bags don't always show where the spinach was grown.

ACHESON: It's very difficult for a consumer to know where -- where was this grown, you know, is it -- is it OK for me to eat this?

FORTIN: The FDA says half of E. coli outbreaks in the last decade have been traced to central California, and it wants growers and processors to develop a plan to minimize the risk of another outbreak in spinach and other leafy greens

ACHESON: The industry needs to step up to the plate and to do more to correct the problem and demonstrate to consumers that they have done more, because that's what's going to restore consumer confidence in this.

FORTIN: There's not much the consumer can do but rely on best practice from growers, grocers and restaurants -- or boil their spinach.

Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Top stories straight ahead, including the latest on those deadly shootings at that Amish school in Pennsylvania.

Plus, the Mark Foley scandal leads to calls for another top Republican to resign. More on the political fallout ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: This morning the former Congressman, Mark Foley, is the focus of an investigation into his relationship with male teenage House pages. He's in rehab. His friends, his attorney are all keeping that location secret.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is live outside of Foley's condo building, which is on Hutchison Island, in Florida.

Hey, Susan, good morning.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Mark Foley's reported alcoholism was also a well-kept secret. His friends said they had no idea about it, and his lawyer talked about that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Saying recent events, quote, "crystallized long-standing alcohol and emotional problems," Mark Foley announced he checked himself into a rehab center over the weekend.

Monday night, Foley's attorney put it bluntly.

DAVID ROTH, MARK FOLEY'S ATTY.: Mark is an alcoholic. He drank in secret.

CANDIOTTI: If Foley suffered from alcoholism, friends contacted by CNN, and even Foley's own brother-in-law, say they knew nothing about it, nor did Washington insiders.

THOMAS MANN, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: It wasn't something that was known widely on Capitol Hill, which raises the possibility that it's a step being taken for tactical purposes more than anything else.

CANDIOTTI: At the consignment shop where she works, long-time constituent Sally Spillone (ph) calls his treatment a coverup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not a youngster, and I've met many people who are alcoholics, and I don't think that that is a -- that isn't a reason for what he's doing.

CANDIOTTI: Within the last few months, two other Congressmen entered rehab when faced with political and legal scandals. Rhode Island Representative Patrick Kennedy completed treatment after a car crash, after admitting to a problem with mood-altering medications. He remains on the job. Ohio Congressman Bob Ney, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges, he also entered an alcohol abuse rehab center. In Foley's case, his attorney says the disgraced congressmen has received mental health counseling before. The attorney would not say why. The lawyer insisted Foley's e-mails Foley's e-mails and sexually explicit instant messages to congressional pages were nothing more than inappropriate behavior.

ROTH: He is absolutely, positively not a pedophile. Mark Foley has never, ever had an inappropriate sexual contact with a minor in his life.

CANDIOTTI: Foley's lawyer, David Roth, says he has not discussed any possible legal trouble with his client, not now, while he's in treatment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: The FBI is now leading an investigation, assisted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, looking into whether Foley's alleged misbehavior with minors broke any federal or Florida laws -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Susan Candiotti for us this morning. Thanks, Susan -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: With the election five weeks away, the Foley scandal is creating a political opportunity for Democrats, meaning it's time to start making some new campaign commercials. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken joining us from Washington with more.

Good morning, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

And if you're wondering how long it took the Democrats to make a political calculation about all this, well, would you settle for a nanosecond.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): The White House was the setting in July as President Bush signed the Child Safety and Protection Act. Among the honored guests, Congressman Mark Foley, and that's providing an opportunity for Democrats who have been the target of Republican attack ads like this one that ran in Indiana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you imagine a suspected child rapist being captured in Vanderburgh County, but then mistakenly released by Brad Ellsworth's sheriff's department? At the time, Sheriff Ellsworth, whose department released the suspect, was in Washington campaigning for Congress.

PAUL BEGALA, POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: The Republicans for a long time have acted like they have a monopoly on virtue, that somehow they're closer to God or to children or to families. This is nonsense. Neither party has a monopoly on that.

FRANKEN: And Democrats are particularly enjoying the fact one of the Republicans ensnared in this controversy is the chairman of the party's Congressional Campaign Committee, New York Representative Tom Reynolds.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and the Congressional Page Board Chairman John Shimkus portrayed themselves as victims too of Foley's deceit.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), HOUSE SPEAKER: I have known him for all the years he has served in this House and he deceived me too.

FRANKEN: But now Republicans are giving careful thought to their advertising strategy.

REP. JON PORTER (R), NEVADA: As parents, we need to know that our schools are not hiring teachers that are sexual predators. That's why I wrote a law in Congress that gives our local school districts the information they need to ensure that sexual predators are not teaching our children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Of course, Republican Mark Foley was a leader in the legislation against child sexual predators. And Democrats are wasting no time whatsoever, Miles, in making sure that they mention that every chance they get.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and that district, that particular district, Foley's district, is a pretty red district. But now there's a lot of talk that a Democrat could win there.

FRANKEN: Well, could win, probably will win, because Foley's name will stay on the ballot even though there's another Republican candidate. And the House majority leader, John Boehner, said yesterday it's very doubtful that people are going to mark Mark Foley's name, even if it's not really for him.

M. O'BRIEN: All but a concession there. All right, Bob Franken in Washington. Thank you.

New reaction to a threat from North Korea this morning to tell you about. North Korea says it will conduct a nuclear test, no set date or any further details beyond that.

Barbara Starr is -- whatever details we have, she has them at the Pentagon for us.

Hello, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again to you, Miles.

No further details out of Pyongyang, but already there is reaction from the Bush administration, from U.S. officials, expressing their concern about this North Korean statement, as well as reaction from the British government, expressing their concern that North Korea has said now it will conduct a nuclear test.

There's very little question in the minds of U.S. intelligence services that North Korea has a nuclear capability, but they have not conducted a test and that would be absolute public confirmation of all of this.

Pentagon officials say they are watching this situation very carefully. There are U.S. intelligence assets, satellites, aircraft with airborne sensors, that continue to monitor the North Korean peninsula to look for any signs that preparations may be under way.

You may recall, Miles, just a few weeks ago, there was such a notice of a preparation. U.S. intelligence picked up signs that North Korea had placed wire cabling bundles at a suspected test site. That was seen to be preparation. Not clear what has come of that, but U.S. intelligence and military officials now watching again very carefully to see if there are any signs that such a test may be about to happen. And South Korea now saying today it has raised its security alert level out of its concern about the announcement from Pyongyang -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Here's a big question, where we might -- we might not be able to connect these dots, but let's try. We know they can do -- they're successful with missiles, at least some kind of missiles. They've have several missile tests. Do they have the capability of putting a nuclear weapon inside the nose cone of one of those missiles?

STARR: Ah, well, let's go back a minute. Successful. North Korea, as you may remember, July 4th weekend, I think it was, conducted a number of missile launches. Most of those, in fact all of them, I think, were seen by the West as being not successful. Very short flight time on those missiles, and no indication that they hit the target they were looking for.

Now, to put a nuclear warhead on a missile is actually a pretty complex issue, because you have to miniaturize that warhead, make it small enough but yet accurate enough to be placed on top of a missile. Miniaturizing a nuclear device is something that's not that easy to do. All indications would be, North Korea would have had to have learned that technology somewhere. Whether they can actually carry it off, and whether they even plan to do such a test or this is just another move by them to rattle the Bush administration, of course -- that's all the question that remains to be answered -- Miles

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, much more on those deadly shootings at the Amish school in Pennsylvania. How do students -- how does a community recover from the tragedy? We'll ask someone who knows all too well, the principal of Columbine High School. That's ahead. Stay with us.

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S. O'BRIEN: There have been three fatal school shootings in just the past week: in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where five little girls are dead; in Bailey, Colorado, where one teenage girl was killed; and in rural Wisconsin, where a principal was shot by a 15- year-old student.

How do the students, how does a community, recover after such a terrible tragedy?

Frank DeAngelis is the principal at Columbine High School, and he was the principal back in April of 1999, when two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher.

It's nice to see you, Mr. DeAngelis. Thanks for talking with us.

FRANK DEANGELIS, PRINCIPAL, COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL: Good morning. Thanks.

S. O'BRIEN: We appreciate it. Does this -- when you hear these news reports, especially this week alone, does it bring it all back to you, that terrible day back in 1999?

DEANGELIS: Most definitely. It retraumatizes the community, the school. Last week, when the situation or the tragedy happened at Bailey, Colorado, it really did retraumatize the Columbine community because we're about 30 miles away. And when we saw the aerial footage that -- of the actions that were taking place, it brought us back to April 20th of 1999. Seeing the students exiting the building reminded us of what happened back at Columbine back in '99.

S. O'BRIEN: In '99 and since then, you and I have talked a lot about sort of the lessons learned. And one of the lessons learned was to pay attention. Certainly for school administrators, pay attention to the warning signs. There are always warning signs. And yet you see more of these cases over time. How is it possible to always watch and learn from the warning signs?

DEANGELIS: Well, it's interesting. After the school shooting occurred in North Carolina, I talked to the principal and offered my condolences and any support. And he really did thank us for the plan that they had in place as a result of the tragedy that occurred at Columbine High School.

Yesterday I spent time up at Bailey, Colorado, and praised them for their evacuation plan. And in talking to the superintendent, he informed me that many of the plans that they had in place were as a result of Columbine High School.

But where there's a level of frustration with the school shootings that occurred in Bailey and now this morning in Pennsylvania is not knowing the motive. Before, you had students who were just disenfranchised with the school or there was talk of bullying occurring. But with the thing that is happening now in both places, there's the uncertainty of why it occurred.

S. O'BRIEN: I think the other thing that came out of all the things that you learned after Columbine was the value of counseling, which I know you've been going through, too. Have you found it helpful? Have other people in the community found it helpful?

DEANGELIS: That's the -- if -- I would not be sitting here today if I did not go through counseling. During that particular period of time, when -- right after the shooting occurred, I felt the need to take care of the students, the families, the teachers. And I was really at the bottom of the list as far as prioritizing who needed to be taken care of.

And a friend of my parents, who was a Vietnam veteran, called. And he said if you can do anything, you need to get in and see counseling. Because he has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of serving in Vietnam, and he's learning how to cope with it. But it has affected his life. And that's the one thing that probably saved me.

And everyone that I have talked to, whether it be in Bailey, Colorado or in North Carolina, that's one of the things that they need to do or put at the top of their list, to seek mental counseling or grief counseling, because it really does make a difference, maybe not necessarily right now, but seven years down the road, 10 years down the road, and that's a key component to the healing process.

S. O'BRIEN: I know you have said that you jump when you hear a balloon pop, that if someone fires the starting gun at the local track and you're not ready for it, it'll scare you. How long before, realistically, a community can recover? I mean, especially a community as small as the Amish community and so tightly knit, where they've just been devastated.

DEANGELIS: I think that's the thing that's so unpredictable. People are in different places. I'm sure this morning in Pennsylvania, just as last week in Bailey, Colorado, there's not a set plan saying everyone is going to be at a certain place on day one, and on day two they'll be at this particular place. That's not going to happen. The thing that we realized at Columbine High School is that there were some people that wanted to talk about the tragedy that occurred. There were others that did not. There were others that wanted to move forward in their -- and that's the most frustrating thing. And so whenever I meet with groups, my teachers, other educators around the country, I told them that they need to ensure their people that there's not one set way a person should be feeling, but they need to respect where other people are at that particular period of time.

And I have people now at Columbine High School, within the Columbine Community, that are suffering seven, eight years later, and they didn't see any of these effects. They felt that once they got through the one-year anniversary, that everything was going to be fine. And then all of a sudden, we're seven years out, and they're starting to feel some of these symptoms or experience post-traumatic stress disorder, and it's very disturbing to them, and their parents and family members.

S. O'BRIEN: Such a sad, sad thing. Frank DeAngelis, it's nice to talk to you again, sorrowfully, under such terrible circumstances, of course. Thank you for being with us.

DEANGELIS: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles?

Up next, Andy's "Minding Your Business" -- Andy.

SERWER: Miles, Delta Airlines has named one of its jets after a star baseball player. Can you guess who it is? A third baseman, and doesn't play for the Atlanta Braves, Miles. We'll tell you who that is coming up after the break.

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M. O'BRIEN: Coming up at the top of the hour, it took a month but crews finally get a handle on a massive Southern California fire. We'll tell you about the end of the day, at last. Stay with us.

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