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CNN Sunday Morning
World Condemns North Korea Rocket Launch; Obama Calls for Global Nuclear Disarmament; Acquaintances of Binghamton Shooter Not Surprised by Rampage; Pittsburgh Police Gunned Down; High Wind Fans Texas Wildfires
Aired April 05, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is Palm Sunday...
RICHARD LUI, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, how about that?
NGUYEN: April 5.
LUI: Yes.
NGUYEN: Good morning. Glad to have you with us...
(CROSSTALK)
LUI: Hey, thanks for having me, Betty. Yes, it's good to be here.
NGUYEN: Yes, Richard Lui with us this morning, everybody. T.J. taking a little time off.
LUI: Yes, much deserved, certainly.
Thanks for starting with your day with us right here on CNN. It's 6:00 a.m. Eastern, 3 a.m. Pacific and 7:00 p.m. in North Korea, where alarming developments happened overnight.
NGUYEN: Absolutely (ph).
LUI: And we are definitely watching that for you.
North Korea launching a long-range rocket, claiming that it's carrying a satellite into space. But U.S. officials worry that it could actually be a missile armed with a warhead. President Obama called the launch "a provocative act" by the communist country. The U.N. Security Council is holding an emergency meeting over this launch today.
NGUYEN: And in Prague, President Obama speaks to thousands of people in the Czech Republic with a message intended for the world.
At the crowded grounds of Prague Castle, Mr. Obama called for the elimination of nuclear weapons across the globe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States has a moral responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can lead it. We can start it.
So today, I state clearly and with conviction, America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The president also called for negotiating a new strategic arms-reduction treaty with Russia this year - Richard.
LUI: A standoff in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ends with three police officers dead, two others wounded and the suspect shot in the leg. Officials say the gunman, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, opened fire on the officers as they responded to a domestic- disturbance call. No word yet on a motive there.
Now these are the first police fatalities in Pittsburgh in some 14 years.
NGUYEN: Our top story though, of course, North Korea. Reaction across the globe this morning after confirmed reports the communist nation defied a United Nations Security Council resolution and launched a long-range rocket.
LUI: OK. And we have full coverage with senior international correspondent John Vause joining us from Beijing. We've got chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour; senior United Nations correspondent Richard Roth; and Kyung Lah and Sohn Jie-Ae joins us from Tokyo and South Korea; Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence as well; and Zain Verjee from the State Department all on top of this story for you.
NGUYEN: And without question, the launch complicates diplomacy. South Korea this morning calling North Korea's actions "reckless."
Our Sohn Jie-Ae is on the ground in Seoul, South Korea.
And so take us through the launch, and how far did it go?
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, despite all the international voices saying not to, North Korea launched a long-range rocket carrying what we now believe is a satellite at 10:30 local, our time.
It went from the eastern coast of North Korea and it went east. It dropped a first booster in the seas between south - between Korea and Japan. It went over northern Japan, and is believed to have dropped a second booster in the Pacific Ocean.
Now we do not know yet whether the - the long-range - the rocket was successful in getting its payload into orbit, but we do know that North Korea has successfully fired a - what we now believe is a satellite.
NGUYEN: And let me ask you this: did it reach its target? And we also want to get Seoul's reaction to all of this.
SOHN: Well, we don't know yet. There has been no outside confirmation as to whether North Korea actually got its satellite into orbit.
North Korea says so. North Korea's official news agency has announced that it was successful in getting a satellite into orbit. But the outside confirmation is not there.
The South Korean president, of course, had very strong concerns about North Korea's launch. He held a National Security Council meeting, and right after the meeting, this is what his presidential spokesman said.
NGUYEN: All right. Sohn Jie-Ae, joining us live. Sohn Jie-Ae, thank you so much for that.
And we do want to give you a little bit more information on this missile. It is called a Taepodong 2. Its range is 4,100 miles. It weighs 2,200 pounds. Its propelled by liquid fuel.
Now, the U.S. and Japan had six naval destroyers - destroyers positioned around the Korean peninsula in the days leading up to the launch: the USS McCain and Chafee near South Korea; the USS Hopper in the Sea of Japan; and Japan sent - positioned two destroyers in the Sea of Japan and one in the Pacific Ocean.
All vessels are equipped with missile-tracking radar and could have shot down the Taepodong 2. In the event a missile is launched toward the U.S., there are missile interceptors in Alaska and California.
LUI: Well, President Obama condemned the launch from Prague in the Czech Republic.
Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president. She joins us now live from Prague.
Suzanne, how did the president respond to this?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don (ph) (sic), obviously, he said this just underscores the importance of his message, that he wants to rid the world of nuclear weapons; that really, it is just the beginning. It is a lofty goal, but obviously something that he believes the United States and Russia can take a - because - significant step forward in making that happen by reducing their own nuclear arsenals.
It is interesting, Don (ph) (sic), we heard during the campaign, there was this big debate between President Obama - Barack Obama and his rival - former rival Hillary Clinton over who was going to be able to take that 3 a.m., that call in dealing with an international crisis. Well, we're told that President Obama got the call at 4:30 in the morning local time here in Prague. He immediately started working the phones, consulting with intelligence officials as well as Defense Secretary Gates, national security adviser. Also heard from President Obama saying that his counterpart now, the - the person who is working in concert with him, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice. Both of them started working with their counterparts as well, reaching out to them, specifically to those engaged in the six-party talks to put pressure on North Korea and also to work with the U.N. Security Council later today. A very important meeting among that group in New York, obviously, to talk about ways of condemning this action, and also bringing about peace.
So I want you to take a listen to what President Obama said - a crowd of nearly 20,000 earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: North Korea broke the rules once again by testing a rocket that could be used for long-range missiles. This provocation underscores the need for action, not just this afternoon at the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons.
Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something. The world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons. Now's the time for a strong international response.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now Richard, this really is a test - the first major test for President Obama on the world stage here, obviously. And covering President Bush, for years he had tried with a combination of carrots and sticks to influence North Korea's behavior has had really mixed results here.
But he believes in the six-party talks. We have heard from President Obama as well, saying that he believes in that multilateralist approach that we should work with those six countries to try to put pressure on North Korea.
We also saw, just a couple of days ago in London, he sat down, had very important meetings with the leaders of Russia and China. They are critical to making those six-party talks work. But is a big question, Richard, whether or not he is going to be able to be any more influential than his predecessor - Richard.
LUI: And Suzanne, just another issue added to the docket within the first 100 days for him.
MALVEAUX: Absolutely.
I mean, this is been a - quote an incredible challenge to the president, this European trip. He has gone from many different countries, looking mostly to focus on the global economic crisis.
One thing that we have seen, Richard, is that he has gone in with relatively low expectations, been able to exceed those expectations, getting the kinds of things - at least some of the things that he was looking for: the U.S. beefed up mission in Afghanistan; there are now more trainers, more money, even a small amount of additional troops to help out with the elections in that country.
We have also seen some of the European allies come forward when it comes to the global economic crisis, saying that they're going to allow greater loans, greater aid to developing countries. Those are the tangible kinds of things that he can go back home and say, 'Yes, this trip was a success.'
But Richard, also we know, every turn now, there is another challenge. This one a very serious one, and he once again has to sit at the table as well as his counterparts in a - kind of a global and an international forum and try to figure out how to solve this problem with North Korea - Richard.
LUI: Just after 12 noon there in Prague, Suzanne Malveaux, our White House correspondent, thank you so much for the very latest with President Obama at the time - at the moment, right now.
OK. Well, we also are watching President Obama. He is in Prague for the European Union Summit. The working session scheduled to get under way within just the hour. Mr. Obama is also scheduled to greet former Czech President Vaclav Havel at - later this morning.
From Prague, the president moves on to Ankara, Turkey, where he'll deliver a speech to the parliament of the majority Muslim nation on Monday.
NGUYEN: Well, the Chinese government appears to be buying North Korea's explanation that it was sending up a satellite. But that's not surprising, since China is one of North Korea's handful of allies.
CNN's John Vause is in Beijing, where the government is urging calm after this launch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Unlike the United States, Japan and South Korea, China does not directly criticize North Korea, simply noting that the North Koreans say they launched a satellite. The Chinese don't speculate on what it may or may not have been. And there's no talk of provocative or dangerous acts, no mention of any consequences.
Instead, Beijing calls on all countries to remain calm, and to try and resolve this through - quote - "appropriate means," also calling on all countries to try and keep the peace and stability of the region.
The lukewarm response from Beijing is not unexpected. The Chinese are, in fact, the North Koreans' biggest and most important ally. And in the past, China has provided diplomatic cover for North Korea in the U.N. Security Council. Judging by this reaction today, that will most likely happen again, when the U.N. Security Council holds an emergency meeting on Sunday.
And it's believed (ph) China is much more concerned about North Korea's nuclear program, and there are fears in Beijing that any international sanctions as a result of this rocket launch could further complicate those already-stalled nuclear negotiations, the so- called six-party talks.
John Vause, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And we want you to sound off about North Korea. E-mail us your thoughts. How should the U.S. respond, since North Korea has indeed launched a long-range rocket.
You can send your thoughts to our Facebook pages. Just look for me on Facebook. And you can also go to Twitter. It's an easy address; bettynguyencnn. Find us, Facebook, Twitter, weekends@cnn.com, lots of places. But we want to hear from you this morning. What do you think about the North Korean launch of a long-range rocket, and how the U.S. should respond to it?
LUI: Should be quite a conversation, certainly. This developing overnight.
NGUYEN: Yes, absolutely.
LUI: (INAUDIBLE).
OK, well another big story that we're following here on CNN, the shooting in New York, and while people who knew the suspect say they are not surprised.
NGUYEN: Yes.
And Reynolds Wolf - well, he's got a look at a bunch of fires that have been popping up, in Texas especially.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Not only the fires, but very strong winds. Some winds tropical-storm force, in fact. Today, the winds are going to die down, but severe weather could ramp up in parts of the Ohio Valley and into the Southeast.
We're going to give the full story coming up in a few moments. You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LUI: Binghamton, New York, struggling to understand why and how a community center for immigrants and refugees became a target for senseless violence. These are new CNN pictures of the crime scene for you. Fourteen people, including the gunman, died there on Friday. The center says it is even more determined now to help Binghamton's immigration population.
NGUYEN: Well, the suspect in that shooting is 40-year-old Jiverly Wong, a Vietnamese immigrant of Chinese heritage. And we are learning more about him today.
LUI: Yes, and CNN's Allan Chernoff has been all over the story for us, and he tells us, while much of Binghamton is shocked by what happened, officials here say those who knew Wong - they are not surprised.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jiverly Wong had some violent thoughts, says Donald Ackley, who worked with Wong at the Shop Vac vacuum-cleaner manufacturing company.
DONALD ACKLEY, FMR. CO-WORKER OF WONG: He says he didn't care; he wanted to shoot the president. I didn't know - I don't know who it - I don't know who he talked - whether he was talking Obama or he was talking about Bush. So I told him the FBI was outside looking for him the next day. You know, and - and he got all crazy about it.
CHERNOFF: Wong got a handgun permit in 1996. He practiced target shooting, say acquaintances. And police say Wong was briefly on their radar.
JOSEPH ZIKULSKI, BINGHAMTON POLICE CHIEF: In 1999, the F - the F - or, excuse me, the New York State Police obtained information from a confidential informant that he was planning a bank robbery, that he was - had a crack or cocaine habit and had handguns.
CHERNOFF: But there's no record Wong did rob. To the contrary, former coworkers say he was intelligent, talented and helpful as an engineer at Endicott Interconnect Technologies, and more recently at Shop Vac Corporation, where he installed motors into industrial vacuum cleaners.
In November, Shop Vac closed the facility, causing Wong to lose his job, which made him distraught. On top of that, his English was poor, and he was teased for it.
MATT RYAN, MAYOR OF BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK: He recently lost a job, spoke very little English, and he said people were disrespecting him and looking down upon him, and he wasn't happy with his life.
CHERNOFF (on camera): Wong took English classes at the American Civic Association. But he dropped out last month. And on Friday, in a horrible irony, the Civic Association, a group that helps immigrants, ended up being the target of Wong's fury.
ANGELA LEACH, AMERICAN CIVIC ASSOCIATION: Whatever drove this individual to do what he did I cannot possibly fathom. CHERNOFF (voice-over): We may never know if Wong, in his misguided mind, decided the association was somehow to blame for his misfortune. He spoke only with his actions, arriving there heavily armed, wearing a bulletproof vest, and without saying a word, unleashed his fury on innocent victims.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LUI: All right. Senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is live from Binghamton.
And Allan, funerals and memorial services begin today, is that right?
CHERNOFF: Yes, there's going to be a townwide memorial service at 6:00 today at the middle school, and then tomorrow will start with funerals, tragically, including the funeral of the 71-year-old teacher who was actually teaching English to a class of immigrants when Wong did barge in.
LUI: Well, Allan, you also mentioned in your piece that those who knew him well were not surprised. One might ask, if they were not surprised, did they know enough where they could do something? And of course, it is too early to determine that, but that, of course, very frustrating for many, no doubt.
CHERNOFF: Well, I mean, the police chief, as you heard, said that they were - they were not surprised. And then, one has to raise the question, well, perhaps they could have notified the authorities. And clearly, they didn't take that step.
So that - that is one question, one of many, many questions that hangs over this entire tragedy.
LUI: And Allan, a briefing at noon. What - what - I mean, what might we expect, if anything, new at all?
CHERNOFF: Well, what we're expecting today is a full list of the victims. They - the families have been notified, and, of course, the autopsies have been conducted. That's been a long process. But we should have a full list of the victims today.
LUI: All right.
CHERNOFF: (INAUDIBLE)
LUI: Allan Chernoff, thank you so much. A very difficult moment for that town right now. Appreciate it.
Well, CNN will continue to follow this story. Binghamton police are holding a new conference, as I just mentioned, along with Allan, at noon Eastern. We'll bring you that live and get you any updates when we do have that for you.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, April doesn't just mean it's tax time - although, did you do your taxes, Richard? LUI: I'm warming up to it, Betty. I am warming up to it.
NGUYEN: You don't have much time for that.
LUI: I got to get rolling is basically what many people are saying.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. And it also means millions of families there are trying to figure out which colleges that they're going to be able to afford this fall.
LUI: Yes, and that's an important calculation.
Our Josh Levs has information this morning on how to get those all-important scholarships. Hey, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hey to you.
And you know something, it's true actually, in recent weeks, we've been asking a lot of viewers about their top financial concerns. So many are saying, in April specifically, they're focused on college. Can they afford private or public or college at all?
Here's what we've got: We've got the best Web sites to find these scholarships that are out there, plus expert advice on how to ace the competition. We're also to going to give you a reality check on whether the big myth about college scholarships is true.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, the weather is at it again, Reynolds. It seems like every weekend, we've got issues here. And this latest one, dealing with Texas - have you seen the wildfires there? It's near Wheeler, Texas. And that's - what? - about 90 miles, near Amarillo....
WOLF: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: In the northern part.
WOLF: Flat as a table. You bet.
NGUYEN: What - 11,000 acres have been burned so far. Several buildings - about three buildings...
WOLF: Mm-hmm.
NGUYEN: ....so far have been damaged - actually destroyed. Many more have been damaged. Look at that.
WOLF: Yes.
NGUYEN: Look at the winds. It's just picking up this fire and carrying it.
WOLF: You know, it's amazing stuff. The winds, Betty, were actually tropical-storm force - I mean, around 60 miles an hour into the late afternoon. And one of the problems you - and Betty, you know this; you're from Texas. That area...
NGUYEN: I've covered many of these.
WOLF: Absolutely. I mean, it's really flat out in the Amarillo area. I mean, you don't have any mountain ranges to really impeded the movement of that wind, and it was just really accelerating into the afternoon.
They still have their work cut out for them. They're out there working as speak; they should have a little bit of a better day. More moisture will be moving into that are, a and that really makes a difference, because yesterday was not only windy, but it was very dry.
NGUYEN: But no rain, per se?
WOLF: They could see some scattered showers. Certainly not of the magnitude to - to - to wash all this out.
NGUYEN: OK.
WOLF: And, I mean, the damage has been done. And this - this does happen, unfortunately, quite a bit, not just in Texas, but over in California. We do see it happening (INAUDIBLE).
NGUYEN: Is it that time of year that we're going to start seeing more and more of these?
WOLF: You know, it's funny - I mean, that really is going to depend on what kind of season we have. I mean, if it ends up being a very dry year in Texas, absolutely. But I mean, we're going to see this kind of pattern. I mean, yes, it could happen later this spring.
Of course, during the summer months, right near the Dry Line (ph) in Texas, we'll get some showers (ph), and that certainly would help things. But big weather day, no question.
NGUYEN: Yes.
WOLF: Hey, let's show you what else we have. We're going to show our viewers across the nation. We have...
NGUYEN: Yes, what else is going on out there?
WOLF: We have a lot of stuff, Betty, that's going on, namely this storm system that we have chugging through parts of the Midwest and into portions of the Ohio Valley. Could see some severe weather popping up later on today.
Now what we're seeing this morning for people in the Twin Cities southward to Kansas City - Kansas City, you're fine, but when you're traveling north, say, parts of the - say, 380 or even 90, a little bit of snow mixed in. Of course, some heavy wind and, of course, some rain at times going through the Chicago area. Any travel plans in Chicago, you're going to have some issues there.
In Atlanta, some scattered showers. But I want you to notice something else, south of Hoover (ph), south of Birmingham, just to the west of Montgomery, some strong thunderstorms getting close to Chilton County, Alabama. Those storms could really become more numerous into the afternoon. One of the reasons why is because, got a lot of moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. That combined with daytime heating will give us a good chance of storms.
Atlanta's high for today, 71; in Kansas City, 60 - or rather, 44; Dallas at 63. A much cooler day for you in Dallas. Yesterday's highs were into the 80s. So not only do you have the breezy and dry conditions, you also had those warm conditions for you; 75 in Houston, that'll be your high; 37 in Denver; 45 in Billings; 71 in Portland. Plenty of sunshine in Seattle today with a high of 67; 69 in San Francisco. And back in New York, 61.
New York, great day for you, starting things off. But as we get to the afternoon hours, we could see more cloud cover. And then by tonight, possibly a few scattered showers.
That is a look at your forecast. Let's send it back to you guys at the news desk.
NGUYEN: Appreciate it. We'll be checking in with you, Reynolds. See you soon.
WOLF: Sure (ph).
NGUYEN: OK - Richard.
LUI: Just eight hours ago, North Korea launched a rocket. CNN correspondents are live from all over the globe for you.
And President Obama's early-morning address. He and Michelle Obama received a rock-star welcome in Prague.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello, and welcome back, everybody on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is Palm Sunday, April 5. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
LUI: And I'm Richard Lui. I'm in for T.J. Holmes today, on this Sunday morning. A very good morning to all of you.
NGUYEN: And we're happy to have you.
LUI: Yes, thanks for having me, Betty. (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK) NGUYEN: All right. We got to a lot to talk about.
LUI: Oh yes.
NGUYEN: What a day to - to fill in.
LUI: Yes. Yes. A very busy day. Officials in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first of all, saying the gunman who killed three police officers during a standoff yesterday wore a bulletproof vest and waited to ambush them with an assault rifle. The officers were shot and killed while responding to a domestic-disturbance call there.
Now, two other Pittsburgh officers were wounded as well. And the suspect was shot in the leg. He eventually surrendered there.
NGUYEN: In Binghamton, New York, police say those close to the suspect in the community-center rampage are not surprised by what happened. Officials say Jiverly Wong had recently been fired and may have been to - blamed the U.S., actually, for his problems. They say Wong had trouble speaking English and was often picked on.
Up until a few weeks ago, Wong had been taking English classes at that community center. And police holding a news conference at 12 noon today, Eastern Time. We will bring you those updates just as soon as we get then.
LUI: And just eight hours ago, North Korea launched a long-range rocket. Claiming that it's carrying a satellite into space, but U.S. officials worry that it could actually be a missile armed with a warhead. President Obama called the launch a provocative act by the communist country. The U.N. Security Council is holding an emergency meeting over this very issue today.
NGUYEN: Well, Japan has asked for an emergency session and North Korea's rocket went right over that country's airspace. The Japanese military was standing by to intercept it, but made no moves. Kyung Lah is live in Tokyo for this morning.
Kyung, we're now hearing that the satellite that was launched failed to reach orbit. Help us understand how all of this plays out in the big perspective.
LAH: Well, in the big perspective, it doesn't really matter whether this satellite actually reaches orbit or not. What matters, especially to countries like United States and Japan is that this happened in the first place.
The big concern is that, Betty, this destabilizes this entire area and the reason it does that is because what the Japanese officials believe, and what U.S. State Department believes, is that any sort of rocket launch of a long-range rocket then gives North Korea more information to build on that technology to one day build a long-range ballistic missile, that could one day reach the West Coast of the United States.
So, what they are very concerned about is not necessarily the payload in this particular launch. Generally, military analyst both in Japan and the U.S. believe that it was carrying a satellite. That it was not armed with a nuclear warhead, but they are very concerned that this is going to be mean something in the long run. That's why there is the Security Council meeting, this emergency session that Japan asked for, and was granted. And Japan is hoping for is that there will be some sort of strong statement that comes out of the U.N. denouncing what North Korea did today, Betty.
NGUYEN: What kind of statement is Japan making? How is it reacting besides asking for a U.N. Security Council meeting today?
LAH: Well, very early on we saw a flurry of activity in the prime minister's office, meeting with high-level cabinet members. What the prime minister has said, from Japan, is that this cannot be overlooked. That there has to be some sort of action taken place here.
But remember, this has to be put into perspective of the six- party talks. The important thing is the long-range goal of getting North Korea to stop its missile program and to denuclearize this entire area. So that is what the real jewel here is, trying to get them back to the six-party talks. Back at the table and try to get that eventual goal to happen. As we heard President Obama talking about today.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Kyung Lah, in Tokyo for us this morning.
Kyung, thank you, so much for that.
Now, in Washington, the Pentagon is also condemning the rocket l launch.
LUI: That's right, CNN Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence shows us where the rocket fell. And why the U.S. is so concerned by what happened here.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Betty, Richard, we'll try to give you a better idea about what all these reports mean and how they may fit together.
This red dot right here is the launch pad on the east coast of North Korea. This red bar in the Sea of Japan is the area of concern. Basically, where North Korea announced to the world beforehand, this is an area you don't want to be when our launch window opens. Because this is where they believe the first stage of the rocket would fall, here, in the Sea of Japan. You had several U.S. Navy ships here, several here on the other side of Japan.
We do not know that the North Korean rocket followed this exact line. But we do know it fell about -- a little under 300 kilometers off this coast of Japan. So, it fell in the general kilometer range of where the North Koreans thought it would.
Now, let's widen out a little bit. We'll keep this going to show you a little bit of what we believe happened next. OK, this area, right here, this other bar, this was another area of concern that the North Koreans announced to the world. The Japanese believe another stage of the rocket fell here, into the Pacific Ocean about 1,300 kilometers off it's east coast. It fell a little short of what the North Korean's thought maybe it would, and what they had announced to the world.
Here's why the United States is concerned not so much about this particular launch, but about what it may mean long term. I'll give you an idea of what we mean. This rocket, this Taepodong 2 Rocket, by the far estimates, some analyst believe it may have a range of 4,000 miles, maybe a little over 4,000 miles. That would take it here, past Alaska, skirting the edge of Canada, down here, skirting the edge of the Hawaiian Islands, but again short of the West Coast of the United States. But here is the caveat, if the North Koreans successfully launched this satellite, they will have gained a lot of knowledge. They will have learned about reliable fuel, they will learned about guidance, control, successfully deploying a payload, even if it was a satellite. So the concern is that one day they can use that technology to switch out the top of the missile from a satellite to a nuclear warhead, or perhaps even sell that technology to other interested parties.
And here is the one caveat. Most experts believe that this type of missile outfitted with a nuclear warhead, not a satellite, would not have that same range, would not be able to reach over 4,000 miles, that at some point they would either have to reduce the payload, or improve the missile.
Betty, Richard.
NGUYEN: That's a really good explainer of exactly how you put all of this into perspective, but we still want to know what you think this morning. We want you to be part of the show. So our question is what do you think about this rocket launch, and how should the U.S. respond? We are asking you to send your thoughts to our Facebook pages, or also go Twitter, even e-mail us at weekends at CNN.com.
Let me go to Twitter right now and my page here. Linda writes: "All the nuclear powers must take a united hard-line diplomatic stand against this rocket launch from North Korea.
And if I go down to Run Amuck, as this person's called. It says, "I lived in South Korea for five years. Kim Jung Il always does shocking things when he's not getting enough attention.
And one more says, "The rocket defies U.N. and U.S. policy. Diplomacy has not worked, however, the U.S. needs to let our Asian allies and U.N. take the lead."
So, these are some of your comments from my Twitter page. Please go onto our Facebook pages as well. Let us know what you think about this long-range rocket launch by North Korea and how the U.S. should respond. We want to get your thoughts on the air this morning. So send them in.
LUI: Some very interesting comments so early in the morning. People very interested in this.
NGUYEN: And a lot of people argue what can the U.S. do? What can the world do? Besides sanctions what else can they do?
LUI: Yes.
NGUYEN: We're going to see today in the U.N. Security Council meeting, what other ideas are out there or on the table to pretty much react to what is happening.
LUI: Right. And more comments are coming in, too.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
LUI: Great stuff.
President Obama, by the way, is in Prague at this hour. The president and Mrs. Obama arrived in the Czech capital earlier this morning for the European Union Summit. It is about to get underway and we're watching that. Speaking before thousands at Prague Castle earlier, Mr. Obama called for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Now he pointed to North Korea's rocket test as another reason to eliminate such weapons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: North Korea broke the rules, once again, by testing a rocket that could be used for long-range missiles. This provocation underscores the need for action, not just this afternoon at the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons. Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. And words must mean something. The world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons. Now is the time for a strong international response.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LUI: Well, the president moves now to Ankara, Turkey later this afternoon. Monday he'll deliver a speech to the parliament of the majority Muslim nation.
Let's take a look at the president's schedule for you this week. Monday he attends events and meetings, as we just mentioned, in Turkey. Then Monday evening he travels to Istanbul for more events and meetings there. And then Tuesday, President Obama returns to Washington for events on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
NGUYEN: OK, so we're going to stay on the issue of political news, but things don't always go as planned, right? And we know this.
LUI: That's right.
NGUYEN: Especially on live television. But what was supposed to be a White House conference -now, listen to this, Richard -ended up being a phone sex line. Find out what happened when reporters, like myself, called it.
LUI: Not good news.
NGUYEN: No.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LUI: It's a beautiful time of year in Washington, and Reynolds joins us now. Pictures of the parade that went on yesterday, there in D.C.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Beautiful.
LUI: And cherry blossoms they are just beautiful things to look at.
WOLF: Oh, no question.
LUI: I was looking at these pictures, but I'm not seeing a lot of cherry blossoms. Are you seeing them?
WOLF: Don't see them unless they're on horseback.
But look at this, you have dancing and you've got to, it's springtime.
There they are. There are the beautiful shots.
LUI: Ah, yes.
WOLF: And if I am not mistaken, these were a gift from Japan back in 1912.
LUI: That's right.
WOLF: And this is the peak blossom date, so they say, right around April 4th. And it's supposedly some 70 percent of those blossoms are open. You can just imagine the amount of pollen that is swirling around there in D.C.
LUI: Absolutely.
WOLF: Always a great sight and always a good reason to get together. And that's what people were doing on a good weather day?
LUI: Was it a good weather day?
WOLF: It was a great day. And can I make a quick rant here for a moment. Why don't they have inauguration in the springtime?
LUI: This is a very good call.
WOLF: You know what I'm talking about? When we're all freezing? That is when you do it right there.
LUI: Yes.
WOLF: When you have the flowers in bloom, it's like a time of rebirth, renewal.
LUI: I see Ed Henry, Suzanne Malveaux have been talking to you. They were kind of concerned about the cold weather during the inauguration. WOLF: I watch out for my people.
LUI: You are. Good stuff there, Reynolds.
WOLF: It's a good question.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
NGUYEN: Well, it sounds pretty good. We want to you stick around, because we have all done this, right, Reynolds?
WOLF: Oh, absolutely. I'm not sure what you're referring to but, yes.
NGUYEN: Well, listen. You've dialed the wrong number, right? And maybe gotten someone that you didn't want or gotten something you didn't bargain for?
WOLF: Several times a day. Oh, yeah.
NGUYEN: Well, that was the case this week. So instead of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on this conference call, which the White House put out a hotline number to, for reporters, a list to jump on. Well, people got a recording of a phone sex line. Yes, a White House says that the person miss typed a 1-800-dial in number. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (on camera): OK, so just imagine you are a journalist under deadline and you need to hop onto a White House conference call, with a number that they provided. And here's what you get.
(DIALING PHONE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any hidden desires? Well, if you feel like getting nasty, then you came to the right place. Brought to you by the girls of "Swank" magazine. If you are experienced caller you can --
NGUYEN: Oh, experienced callers, not for us. But apparently that was not Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who they were hoping to hear on that conference call. Definitely not the line that they were trying to dial.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Can you imagine, though?
WOLF: Oh, yeah.
NGUYEN: I mean, hundreds of journalists across the country dialing in to a phone sex line? If you're an experienced caller ...
(LAUGHTER) WOLF: It depends on - at the same time we are talking about Washington, D.C., what you might be thinking is not what they're thinking, government wise. I mean, they may be thinking oh, line item veto. Oh, yeah. Term limits, oh, yeah.
NGUYEN: Oh, stop it! Stimulus, package, right?
WOLF: Yes, there you go. Very good.
NGUYEN: OK, it was a mistake. Like we said, the White House aide said just one number off.
LUI: That's all it takes.
NGUYEN: That's it. Phone sex line. At least these journalists were not being charged for it. It was not like a 1-900 line. Could you imagine trying to expense that? Oh, it was really a White House mistake. I didn't meant to dial that number.
WOLF: Boss, really. I didn't -please.
NGUYEN: Exactly.
WOLF: Don't call HR. Yes, exactly.
NGUYEN: All right. Reynolds we will talk to you shortly.
We do want to tell you this. A similar thing happened during the Bush administration, but it was not a phone sex line. Instead a homeowner seeking mortgage relief got a Christian-based church group instead, so not the first time that has happened.
LUI: And it's so easy. Like you said. Just one number is all it takes. And it could be a very humorous situation.
NGUYEN: Well, this is not humorous. The global impact of today's rocket launch in North Korea.
LUI: Right.
NGUYEN: We do have a live report from South Korea in the half hour.
LUI: And President Obama's early-morning address, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUI: Yes, he and Michelle Obama receiving a rock star welcome in Prague.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Between the recession and the skyrocketing cost of college, more and more families are struggling to come up with money for school. LUI: Yeah, it is certainly tough. Scholarships can change everything, certainly. But the competition, it is pretty fierce. And our Josh Levs has been looking at what it takes to win some of that free money that is out there.
Scholarships, basically is what you are talking about, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And we were talking earlier about the fact that there is a big myth out there.
LUI: What is this myth?
LEVS: Yes, you guys tell me if you've heard this. Because I had heard a lot. The myth is that there are tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars available that if you only knew about them, and applied, they would be yours for the taking that.
NGUYEN: Yeah, you know when you are looking for scholarships, you are scratching your head, going, OK, where can I find this money, if it indeed is true? Is it?
LEVS: Exactly. And it turns out unfortunately that rumor is false.
LUI: Oh, gosh.
NGUYEN: Oh.
LEVS: Some one had misinterpreted a statistic and that's why. But there are scholarships out there and there are really good ways to find them. I'm going to show you a couple of things. The first thing we're going to do is zoom in on the board. I'm going to show you three major web sites you should know about. They are all free. The experts say don't pay any site to look for scholars for you. FastWeb.com is one. The College Board itself, Collegboard.com. And there is another one called Petersons.com.
Now, I banged through those fast. We're going to do something now. I have an expert here who is going to talk to you about how to apply, what it takes to be the winner in that competition for scholarships. And then after that we will go back to these. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TALLY HART, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: A winning scholarship really conveys who this person is. It talks about the honest background of the student and tells us a little bit more than just grades and a list of activities will convey. The scholarship source will tell you what they are interested in learning. So follow their lead and try and respond to their question.
But be sure to include things that may be unique about you. An example is lots of times students forget to include things that are part of what they consider their family duties. If a student spent a lot of time helping care for younger children, or maybe an ill grandparent, those are the kind of things that help explain who the student is in the broader contest and can be really helpful in winning a scholarship.
LEVS: Tally, I think you also have some advice for people out there who think a certain thing about them might be kind of weird or quirky and they're kind of wary of sharing it? And you've said that when it comes to specifically scholarship applications that that is the time to take those quirks and put them out front and center.
HART: Yeah, it has to be something that you feel comfortable in sharing, but your uniqueness may help distinguish you. Remember that there are going to be lots of people competing for those dollars. Especially if you've overcome some obstacle or found something that has really inspired you. Don't worry if it doesn't fit the usual mode that you think describes the scholarship. An example might be a student who has had to work to help finance part of their high school costs, and plan for college, and has worked flipping burgers, but took on a management task, or became a team leader. Those things are really of interest in distinguishing a student in a scholarship process.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: So she gave us really helpful stuff and some good news. We spoke to the folks at CNN.com who are actually making a whole spread about this, everything you need to know, you will be able to see the video. We also links to these sites as well. And in addition to that, Betty, Richard, I will grab all of these and stick them on the Facebook page, JoshLevs.cnn.
And as you know, Richard, we are all trying to get into the Facebook thing here.
LUI: Betty is really good at it.
NGUYEN: Well, I wouldn't go that far. But, I'm starting to learn about it. And we do get some really good responses from our viewers. So, definitely a good resource.
LEVS: Great stuff.
LUI: Yes, absolutely. Thanks, Josh. Good stuff. Lots of folks doing their college applications right now. They care about that.
President Obama addresses the Czech Republic talking tough about nuclear arms, but showing a soft spot, too, for the nation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Accept our responsibility to leave this world more prosperous and more peaceful than we found it. Together we can do it!
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to an even crazier place to get my next baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, really? Where?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Space.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How boring. I've already got a space baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, really?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, and my boyfriend was born an old man and he's turning into a baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a movie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or is it a documentary about babies?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I buried a diaper in my backyard and a tree grew.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a baby tree. Instead of leaves it has a baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I just got a baby from Russia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's not that crazy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yeah, well my Russian baby is a baby inside a baby, inside a baby.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LUI: Making fun of those little dolls that you buy in Russia.
NGUYEN: How insane is that? Those are the folks on "Saturday Night Live" doing what they do best.
LUI: That's absolutely hilarious.
NGUYEN: That one being Madonna trying to adopt another baby, and of course seeing how that stacks up with Angelina Jolie. And challenging on the crazy places to get their next baby. Space, though? Come on?
LUI: Yeah, it is hilarious. As we know, Madonna had trouble. She had to leave Malawi unsuccessful. Unfortunately, for her, because she didn't want to adopt another child.
NGUYEN: Yeah, the judge denied it saying that residency was a big issue there. The baby's name was Mercy, I believe, is her name. But Madonna says she will appeal it again. But the judge said not only was it a residency issue, but also worried that it will open the door to child trafficking and all kinds of other things. So it is a precautionary measure for that.
LUI: Yeah, 18 to 24 months I think is what they were saying, that she had to be in there. Madonna now a single mother. So, maybe that was a consideration.
NGUYEN: Yeah, another issue.
LUI: And whether she will appeal that, we shall see.
NGUYEN: She says she will. Madonna's lawyer has indeed, filed a notice to appeal. So the saga continues and we'll continue to watch it.
LUI: And we'll have more skits from "Saturday Night Live" no doubt.
NGUYEN: I'm sure it's to come.
LUI: That's right.
NGUYEN: All right. Much more on -
Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center World Headquarters right here in Atlanta. This is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is Palm Sunday, April 5.
Good morning everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
LUI: Good morning to you, Betty. I am Richard Lui in for T. J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: He's in for T.J.
LUI: Yeah, and T.J., hopefully, will have a very good day off.
NGUYEN: He's sleeping in right about now.
LUI: Good for him. Thank you for starting your day with us. It's 7 a.m. Eastern, 4 Pacific. We've got a lot of news.
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness. All right. Let's get right to it.
Because top of the news this hour, the payload from North Korea's rocket never made it into orbit. That is * BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center world headquarters right here in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is Palm Sunday, April 5th.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
RICHARD LUI, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, good morning to you, Betty. I'm Richard Lui in for T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: For T.J. Holmes.
LUI: Yes, and T.J., I hope he'll have a very good day off.
NGUYEN: He's sleeping right about now.
(LAUGHTER)
LUI: Thanks for starting your day with us. It's 7:00 a.m. Eastern, 4:00 Pacific. We got a lot of news.
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness.
All right, let's get right to it, because topping the news this hour -- the payload from North Korea's rocket never made it into orbit. That is according to the North Atlantic Region for Aerospace Defense. Now, North Korea claimed the rocket was only carrying a satellite. But the U.S. is worried that it could carry a missile armed with a warhead.
NORAD says the rocket broke up and landed in bodies of water. The U.N. Security Council -- well, it is going to be holding an emergency meeting over the launch later today.
LUI: And a standoff in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ends with three police officers dead, two others were wounded. Officials say the gunman opened fire as officers responded to a domestic disturbance call. He was wearing a bullet-proof invest and took a bullet in the leg. No word yet on the motive. These are the first police fatalities in Pittsburgh in 14 years.
NGUYEN: Police in Washington State say a father apparently shot and killed his five children and then took his own life. The children's bodies were found in the family's mobile home in Tacoma, Washington. The youngest was 7 years old.
Police say after the father killed them, he drove to a nearby casino and shot himself. It's not clear where the mother was at the time of the shooting.
Let's get you back to our top story right now. Reaction across the globe this morning after the communist nation defied a U.N. Security Council resolution and launched a long-range rocket, and we are talking about North Korea, of course.
LUI: That's right, and we have full coverage this morning. Senior international correspondent John Vause joins us from Beijing, chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour in New York, senior United Nations correspondent Richard Roth. We got Kyung Lah and Sohn Jie-Ae, they join us from Tokyo and South Korea respectively. And then, Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence and Zain Verjee, too, from the State Department -- all on the story. NGUYEN: OK. So, right now, we are learning some new information about the launch itself. Our Sohn Jie-Ae is on the ground in Seoul, South Korea.
Sohn, the U.S. military believes the satellite did not reach orbit. What are you hearing?
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, this just in, Betty, that the North American Aerospace Command as well as U.S. military command confirm that North Korea did launch a long-range rocket at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Saturday. Now, this rocket flew to the east of Korea and then flew over Japan. The first stage of this rocket fell into the seas east of Korea, the second -- the remaining stages as well as the payload landed in the Pacific Ocean. It also says that there was no object that entered orbit and that there was no debris that fell on Japan.
They also said that the missile launch was not considered a threat to North America or Hawaii and therefore no action was taken in response to the launch, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. And in speaking of response, what is Seoul's reaction to all of this?
JIE-AE: Well, South Korea has been one of the first -- has one of the first to confirm the launch as well as have a very harsh reaction to the launch itself. The South Korea President Lee Myung- bak held an emergency national security council meeting even before the launch was held.
Right after the launch was done, the South Korea foreign ministry as well as the South Korea's presidential spokesman came out with a statement, a harsh word of statement saying that they had -- they thought that the North Korean long-range missile launch was a serious threat to the security of the Korean peninsula, as well as the world. And that South Korea was deeply disappointed and regretted over what they call North Korea's regrettable act, Betty.
NGUYEN. But what can be done about this? We know the U.N. Security Council is having an emergency meeting today. South Korea, obviously, Japan, the U.S., and many other nations want to see something done as a result. But sanctions alone cannot fix this problem. What is South Korea hoping to be done today by the U.N. Security Council?
JIE-AE: Well, sanctions alone is not only the solution, but it could even cause more problems. North Korea said that if the United Nations applied sanctions to North Korea, it will pull out of talks, on trying to get it to give up its nuclear programs. So, South Korea wants the international world to be angry and to give North Korea stern warning, but they do not want to make this situation even worse by getting North Korea to develop nuclear weapons again.
So, at this point, there's really not that much that the rest of the world can do, Betty. NGUYEN: All right. Sohn Jie-Ae joining us live from Seoul, South Korea -- thank you so much for your time today. We'll be checking in with you throughout the day.
LUI: Now, staying on the story here, Betty. The U.N. Security Council meets in an emergency session in just a few hours. And there is plenty to talk about that issue.
Former National Security Council Asia affairs adviser, Victor Cha, in Washington this morning. He joins us on the phone at the moment.
Good morning to you, Victor.
VOICE OF VICTOR CHA, FMR. NSC ASIA AFFAIRS ADVISER: Good morning.
LUI: Victor, the first thing that we want to talk about is the technology that was possibly tested with the Taepodong-2. What concern might we have about this technology and its ability to launch a possible warhead?
CHA: Well, the technology that's used to launch a satellite for the North Koreans is the same technology that they would use to launch a ballistic missile. Most likely, what they did was launch a three- stage missile this time, that they tried to put the satellite in orbit with. And if they had been successful in terms of doing that again, that would be the exact same technology that they would use to launch a ballistic missile, which they would then probably try to sell to other countries around the world.
LUI: And some of the concerns, Victor, were that this type of rocket could actually reach both Hawaii and Alaska. Now, we've seen the same cycle of saber-rattling from North Korea before, testing a rocket, and then the response in the area -- and then what does the response mean at this moment, because we are about to see basically what we've seen before?
CHA: I think the U.N. Security Council will meet and probably issue, you know, another resolution or maybe a statement. I think the United States government position is that even though it was a satellite launch was a violation of the 1718 resolution that was passed after the nuclear test in 2006. And I think it gives grounds for many countries, U.N. member states enforced the resolution and the provisions in the resolution 1718 regardless of whatever additional resolution they come up with.
LUI: Victor, this is a region of the world that has a powder keg. You have Japan to the west; you got South Korea just to the south of North Korea, obviously -- what sort of win is this for North Korea, both politically and technologically?
CHA: Well, it's hard to say. I mean, I think, on the one hand, they probably feel as though they've taken another major step in the advancement of their missile technology. Even though this may have been a failed satellite launch, I'm sure they learned a lot from this launch. And it probably gives them the feeling that they have more bargaining leverage if they decide to come back to the negotiation table.
I think for the rest of the world, it shows that -- you know, this is a country that still does things that are quite unpredictable. And they were at a point in the overall international negotiation where they have a new administration of the United States willing to deal with them, yet they rebuffed this new administration in all of their efforts to engage with them. So, you know, this is still a very unpredictable regime that can cause a lot of problems for countries in the region.
LUI: Victor Cha, thank you so much for joining us today -- former National Security Council Asia affairs adviser giving us perspective of what has happened just over eight hours ago there in North Korea, a rocket being launched -- thank you so much, Victor.
No doubt we'll be staying on top of this story.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
President Obama condemned the launch from Prague in the Czech Republic.
And White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president. She joins us now.
So, Suzanne, how is the president responding to all of this?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, we heard from the president earlier today, he's saying that this really underscores the important of his message that it is important to at least strive for a nuclear-free world. The president gotten a call -- we heard a lot in the campaign about the important 3:00 a.m. call, that there were some sort of international crisis, that and, of course, the debate whether or not it would be Hillary Clinton, his former rival, or him who would be actually able to better take that call.
Well, the call came at 4:30 in the morning, local time here in Prague, told of the confirmation of that missile launch is something the United Nations has been anticipating very much could happen, anticipating in the last couple of weeks. The president got on the phone, also a conference calls as well as meeting with folks, his top national security advisers, the defense secretary, a number of intelligence officials to figure out what would happen next, how should they respond.
Also, his counterpart, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also making the rounds of calls and talking to people that she needed to talk to, and speaking in one voice and one message, and that simply was, Betty, is that this would not be tolerated, that they would take this to the U.N. Security Council later today for possibly a resolution condemning the act, perhaps going further with sanctions, but obviously, putting a lot of heads together there. And the other thing that President Obama is stressing is that he wants to use these multinational, multilateral talks, and other means, other nations, those six-party talks that President Bush actually used, he believes can still be affective in changing North Korea's behavior.
But, Betty, this was the main message that came out of his speech earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: North Korea broke the rules, once again, by testing a rocket that could be used for long-range missiles. This provocation underscores the need for action, not just this afternoon in the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons.
Rules must be binding, violations must be punished, and words must mean something. The world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons. Now is the time for a strong international response.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Well, Betty, we actually heard a very similar rhetoric from President Bush covering him for all those years, talking about the six-party talks, and trying to -- trying to change the behavior of North Korea using a combination of carrots and sticks, obviously, mixed results as there. As we see North Korea is still defying some of the U.N. Security Council's will and their resolutions, but President Obama says that he believes that is the right way to go to try to use these international bodies to put more influence and more pressure on North Korea, and that's something that he is willing to pursue, Betty.
NGUYEN: Suzanne, you mention the similarities. But how do -- how does Obama's message actually differ at all from former President Bush's message here?
MALVEAUX: He's actually sitting down with the group of European leaders, and we just heard him talk about that there is no old Europe, there's new Europe, but there is a united Europe. You may recall some words that ruffled a lot of feathers in Europe, and that the words of Vice President Cheney when he said that there was an old Europe and they didn't want to deal with old Europe, and that, of course, was coming out of the frustration of not being able to get support for the Iraq war.
So, Barack Obama is definitely trying to set a different message here, a different tone, and also saying that he wants to work with a lot of these European leaders. It is not an easy thing to do, necessarily, Betty. We know that President Bush expressed a lot of frustration and even suspicion when it came to these international organizations. But so far, we are hearing a very different tone from Barack Obama, saying he wants to listen and he wants to learn, that he is much more open in trying to find consensus with these other leaders -- Betty?
NGUYEN: And we are getting new video right now, Suzanne, and I know you can add some color to it of that class photo that we always seem to talk about.
MALVEAUX: Well, that's right. The class photo everybody in anticipation of what it's going to look like, all of the folks there, and obviously it is just part of one of the things, the symbols that you see.
A lot of times, the symbolic gestures and pictures are just important as the words. This really is an opportunity for Barack Obama to actually get to know a lot of these European leaders, to sit down, some of them for the first time, as you know, and to establish relationships, some of them even friendships.
In covering this trip, we've actually seen him in the body language and in the tone really change in some ways his goings on with some of these world leaders. We saw it back in London, we saw it with the G-20 as well as the NATO summit, becoming much closer to the Russian president as well to the French president, being able to manage the negotiating, get some things, some real tangible things that he wants from these leaders that they're not so exciting about giving -- some aid when it comes to the Afghanistan mission as well as looking forward in the global crisis, trying to come together on that as well, Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, he's also talking about reducing the worldwide nuclear arsenal. So, we'll be hearing more about as well.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joining us live -- thank you, Suzanne.
LUI: All right. And we'll, of course, continue to follow this breaking story with live reports throughout the morning right here.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
And an update on another big story that we have been following for you. That shooting in New York that left 14 people dead -- well, we are learning more about the shooter, and why the people who knew him say they're not surprised.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, some of our iReporters were witnesses to the area during that horrific shooting in Binghamton.
LUI: And Travis Connell captured some images for us. He's a student at a nearby community college. And in these pictures, you can see, it shows helicopters hovering above the area, and EMS vehicles leaving the scene after the shootings. If you have any pictures or video of breaking stories like this one here, and you would like to share them with us, you can send them to iReport@CNN.com. Just a horrible situation for folks, and we got some video from our iReporters.
Now, police say the man responsible for that horrific shooting is a Vietnamese-American with Chinese heritage. And he may have had trouble assimilating here in the United States.
CNN's Allan Chernoff has been working the story for us. He's live from Binghamton for us.
Allan, tell us more about Mr. Wong and that element that we just brought up, the assimilation question.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, Mr. Wong clearly was a very troubled person. As a matter of fact, his family members told the police they were not that surprised at the horrific events that unfolded on Friday. And a former co-worker told us that Wong sometimes had violent thoughts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD ACKLEY, FORMER CO-WORKER OF WONG: (INAUDIBLE) he wanted to shoot the president. So I told him the FBI was outside looking for him the next day. And he got all crazy about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Wong got a handgun permit in 1996. He was a regular at a local gun shop. He did practice target shooting. And the New York State Police say they actually got a tip a few years ago that Mr. Wong was planning a bank robbery. There's no evidence, no record that he actually did rob. To the contrary, he actually was considered to be a very intelligent and helpful, talented worker by his colleagues at both Endicott Interconnect Technology and also at Shop-Vac, a company that manufactures industrial vacuum cleaners.
But in November, he was laid off. He was also teased for his very poor English. So, that added to his distress. And he came here to the American Civic Association to take English classes. And, of course, on Friday, the tragic event, a horrible irony that he actually took out his fury at this organization that helps immigrants -- Richard?
LUI: Well, Allan, with that information coming from not only the police department but also the citizens of that area, is there outrage that something wasn't done or attempted to stop Jiverly Wong?
CHERNOFF: No, I can't say that there's any outrage at all. In fact, there have been a few press accounts of family members saying that they don't blame -- the families don't blame the gunman, you know. They're just focused on their grief right now. But it does seem that perhaps family members could have possibly said something to the authorities here. But, you know, we are not at that stage yet.
LUI: And memorials and the funerals for the victims are today, is that right, Allan?
CHERNOFF: Yes. There is a town-wide memorial service planned at 6:00 o'clock this evening at the middle school, and at least one funeral planned for tomorrow for one of the victims.
LUI: All right. Thank you so much. Allan Chernoff, covering that story for us from Binghamton, New York -- appreciate it.
NGUYEN: Another big story that we are following. North Korea flexes its muscle in an overnight rocket launch. Josh Levs is tracking it all for us.
Hey, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Interactive images, they'd give you the latest, each step of the way. Also, what there is to know about the rocket that the world is talking about today? We'll show you.
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NGUYEN: All right. So, whatever North Korea's rocket was carrying, NORAD says it's sinking into the Pacific Ocean right about now. But the fact that the communist country tried to send up anything at all scares many in the international community.
LUI: Right. That information is just in to us. So, why would North Korea risk angering much of the world with a move like this? Well, Hong Pak (ph), professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia has some ideas for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They would like to demonstrate their greatness and strengths in technological development. And I was there, there was no sign of their intention to test the will of the Obama administration or extract more concessions from any of the countries. They need them domestically to boost their national esteem at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LUI: Pak does not believe North Korea launched this rocket in order to try to kick-start, shall we say, six-party talks again on its own terms -- though it's just get going right now, in fact, yes.
NGUYEN: Yes. They do. And then a U.N. Security Council meeting is going to be getting going ...
LUI: Right.
NGUYEN: ... a little bit later this afternoon, 3:00 p.m. Eastern to be exact.
CNN.com is offering resources to help explain North Korea's rocket launch. Our Josh Levs is here to show us how can you get in on that action.
Hey, Josh.
LEVS: Yes, hey there.
We're going to keep updating this throughout the day. And it's exactly what I want to show everyone, some of the resources that are up there right now, obviously the top story -- let's zoom right in.
When you get to our top story, this is one of the first things you see. It's a satellite image of the rocket launch location. And it traces you through a very basic understanding, very helpful here of where it is. This is the launch site up there in the northeast section, Pyongyang, the capital, down there.
Now, let me show you something else we have attached to our main story. You've been seeing this in our graphics throughout the day. You see the location, and then you see these things called danger zone or considered dangerous areas. This is from GlobalSecurity.org. Some analysts have looked and said, if there were to be something that were used in a form of a weapon, these areas could potentially be in danger.
But take a look at this, we're talking about a rocket right now. And, I want to show you the rocket that the analyst believed that we are talking about. They say that this is an image of it -- again, from GlobalSecurity.org. And the dimensions they are giving it, they're saying 131 feet tall, seven feet wide, and capable of going just over 4,000 miles. If it would have been launched in any direction, that's pretty much what they've got right here.
We're going to keep an eye on what this could be, what the rocket was -- any more information we get.
A couple more things I want to show you. Analysts are following some key Web sites. Obviously, we are at CNN.com are following WhiteHouse.gov today. And they have not posted anything about this yet.
But, there is something standing here, in general, from President Obama. This is part of his agenda listed on the Web site: Eliminate Iran's and North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. Now, since I'm showing this, I'm going to mention Iran has said it doesn't have a nuclear weapons program. But this is one of his -- key parts of his agenda for homeland security. We can certainly expect WhiteHouse.gov to open up today.
Really quickly, from the other side, North Korea itself has KCNA.co.jp. They have not updated their English Web site yet. We're keeping a close eye on that.
And if anyone out there understands Korean, if you can read Korean, we actually have CNN.com in Korean right here. Let's go to the main page of CNN.com, at the very bottom, you can click on CNN Korean, and you can get the news in Korean throughout the day as well. So, guys, just a handful of the sites we're keeping an eye on to help explain and keep everyone updated on the rocket launch.
NGUYEN: It is such a great resource, CNN.com. -- all the information right there.
Thank you, Josh, for that.
LEVS: You bet. Thanks.
LUI: That's right, great stuff.
OK. Nine hours old now, this launch of the rocket from North Korea that Josh was telling us about, we'll have more analysis and reaction in the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING along with President Obama's comments coming from Prague.
NGUYEN: Yes, you don't want to miss that.
Plus, a look at Palm Sunday mass at the Vatican this morning. And in today's "Faces of Faith" segment, a look at President Obama's faith-based initiatives.
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NGUYEN: "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts right now.
