House Page Scandal Has Democrats On Attack; Donald Rumsfeld Lays Out Five-Year Assessment Of Afghanistan War; Despite U.N. Warning North Korea May Conduct Nuclear Test; U.S. Military Hunts Would-Be Killers In Baghdad; Foley Could Face Prosecution in Florida
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News," a former congressional page linked to the Mark Foley scandal is likely to talk to federal investigators next week. Foley quit Congress last week after reports of lurid e-mails he allegedly sent to former pages. An all-clear today for most of the thousands of people in North Carolina who fled from a chemical fire. Firefighters have now gotten control of the blaze that broke out Thursday at a hazardous materials plant in Apex. About 16,000 people had to leave their homes. A new food scare. An Iowa company is recalling 5,000 pounds of ground beef. It may be contaminated with the same strain of E. coli found in tainted spinach. An aide to White House political guru Karl Rove has resigned because of her ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. A White House spokesman says Susan Ralston did not want to be a distraction in the White House. Ralston was an administrative assistant to Abramoff before taking a similar job in Rove's office. Baseball fans are mourning the death of a legend, Buck O'Neil. The first baseman and manager with the Kansas City Monarchs has died at the age of 94. That team, one of the story franchises of the Negro League. Just this summer, O'Neil battled in a minor league all-star contest, becoming the oldest man ever to appear in a professional game. Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Ahead this hour, the Mark Foley scandal. Could he go to jail or will his trip to rehab get him off the hook? Also, the world waits to see if North Korea will launch a nuclear test this weekend. And what's the best headset for your cool high-tech gear? We'll show you some of the options. But first to our top story. New players and political fallout this hour in the drama surrounding former congressman Mark Foley. A former page connected to the e-mail scandal could be telling his story to federal investigators as early as next week. Twenty-one-year-old Jordan Edmund has hired big-time Oklahoma lawyer Stephen Jones. Jones told CNN his client never had physical contact with Foley and warned against jumping to any conclusions.</s>STEPHEN JONES, ATTORNEY FOR FORMER PAGE: There's two or three statutes that might be applicable. But I don't know whether there's evidence of a crime yet that would justify prosecution. I think it's awfully early to draw those kinds of conclusions. I think it's better to trust the process.</s>WHITFIELD: But with the midterm elections exactly one month from today, politicians can't afford to wait. The House page scandal has Democrats on the attack and some Republican candidates rushing for cover. Our congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, has more.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York Congressman Tom Reynolds is in charge of getting Republicans elected to the House. In a tough year for Republicans, holding onto his own seat in Buffalo is a challenge. Now, he is a central player in the Mark Foley drama and he could lose.</s>REP. TOM REYNOLDS (R), NEW YORK: When I found out about this whole instance for the first time, in the spring of '06, I reported it to my supervisor, like anyone would in an office circumstance. I took it to the Speaker of the House.</s>BASH: Democrats say their internal polling shows Reynolds eight points behind his opponent. Dozens of Republicans were already at risk of losing in November and while senior Republican officials hope the worst of the Foley scandal is now over, most admit there is damage.</s>VIN WEBER, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: I would say the panic is out of people's voices, but a deep-seated concern remains. I mean those members that have been polling regularly and were in that season where members of Congress are doing regular tracking polls have found a dip in Republican ratings across-the-board.</s>BASH: On the campaign trail, GOP candidates are seeking cover. Tom Kean, Jr., a Republican running for Senate in New Jersey, announced Hastert should resign as speaker.</s>TOM KEAN, JR. (R), SENATE CANDIDATE: Speaker Hastert is the head of the institution and it's happened on his watch. I think there should be an independent investigation by outsiders.</s>BASH: GOP strategists say they are very concerned about the impact Foley will have in some of Indiana's conservative and highly competitive races. Republican Chris Chocola was already getting pounded for being part of an unpopular GOP Congress. He was one of the first to release a statement saying: "If leadership acted inappropriately, they will lose my support." In Indiana's 9th District, Mike Sodrel's Democratic opponent just started airing this ad, raising questions about where his campaign money is coming from.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And $77,000 from the House leadership, who knew about but did nothing to stop sexual predator Congressman Foley.</s>BASH: Most Republican strategists say it's too early to know if the scandal will really help Democrats pick up the 15 seats needed to seize control of the House. But they also say this...</s>WEBER: We're close to the election and it's an election in which the Republicans have had a stiff wind in their face all along, so it's not good.</s>BASH (on camera): Some Republicans are making the case this might not have a major impact. GOP pollster David Winston says his new data shows virtually no nationwide change in how Americans intend to vote. But Republicans do worry that if conservatives stay home in just a few tight races over this on election day, it could help Democrats win the House. Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.</s>WHITFIELD: More developments now in the political fallout from this scandal. Sumi Das is in Washington with that -- Sumi.</s>SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, years, not months, that's how long one current congressional staff member says Dennis Hastert's office knew about Foley's misconduct. According to an article in today's "Washington Post," that staff member says that Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with Mark Foley at the Capitol building to discuss complaints about Foley's behavior, and that that meeting took place long before November, 2005. We do have a response from a spokesperson from Hastert's office. Ron Bonjean says, "The Standards Committee is investigating this matter and we are confident in its ability to determine the real facts." Now, we have exactly one month to go before midterm elections. Those are taking place on November 7th. And in the weeks leading up to the elections, Democrats and their supporters are using the Foley issue to take to their advantage in radio and television ads. One such ad is being put out by the Labor Union, and it questions Tom Reynolds' actions and whether he should have done more after learning about complaints regarding Foley. Now Tom Reynolds is responding. And his tone is very apologetic.</s>REP. TOM REYNOLDS (R), NEW YORK: I'm Tom Reynolds and I approved this message. This spring I was told about odd but not explicit e-mails from Mark Foley. Even though I never saw the e-mails, I reported what I had been told. I have since learned newspapers and the FBI had these e-mails for months and Foley lied about them. Later, worse e-mails were revealed. So I forced him to resign. I'm disappointed I didn't catch his lies before. For that, I'm sorry.</s>DAS: And again, that ad just in to CNN. A direct response from Tom Reynolds to an ad that questions his actions in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal. Now, a new poll suggests that Reynolds is trailing his Democratic challenger. His seat is one of several that's in play in this Foley fallout.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, Sumi, it will be interesting to see whether there are going to be similar ads coming out from other candidates with just a month now to go before Election Day. Sumi Das...</s>DAS: I don't think that's the last one, Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: ... thanks so much. Well, for the latest on the Foley story and other political news, log on to CNN's "Political Ticker" at CNN.com/ticker. Cuban leader Fidel Castro is reported to be dying of cancer. That according to TIME.com. U.S. intelligence sources tell the Web site Castro is unlikely to return to power. Earlier in the NEWSROOM we spoke on the phone with TIME.com's Washington correspondent, Tim Burger.</s>TIM BURGER, TIME.COM: What's going on now is that U.S. government has received more credible and more detailed reports than in the past about the Cuban dictator's health. And you put that together obviously with something you don't need intelligence reports to understand, which is that he's been sidelined and out of public view since the summer, and they say he won't even be out for a another couple of months. So obviously something grave is going on.</s>WHITFIELD: That's Tim Burger of TIME.com. Meantime, in the war on terror, an upbeat report from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. In today's "Washington Post," Rumsfeld laid out his five-year assessment of the war in Afghanistan. He also put in an appearance with the Bush family at a special event in Virginia. Our White House correspondent, Elaine Quijano, joins us live now from the White House with more on those fronts -- Elaine.</s>ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Fredricka. That's right, it was exactly five years ago today that President Bush made that sobering announcement at the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, ordering U.S. military strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Afghanistan. But the president today made no mention of that at an event in Newport News, Virginia, as he joined family members in christening a new carrier named after his father, George H. W. Bush. Now, the president did acknowledge the U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan. Right now there are about 21,000. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who attended that ceremony, actually wrote an op-ed, as you noted, in "The Washington Post." He acknowledged challenges, but also said there are promising indicators. He said, "Building a new nation is never a straight, steady climb upward. Today can sometimes can look worse than yesterday -- or even two months ago. What matters is the overall trajectory, where do things stand today when compared to what they were five years ago? In Afghanistan, the trajectory is a hopeful and promising one." Now, Rumsfeld cites progress in building up the Afghan national army, the economy and the school system, though he does acknowledge that an increase in poppy production could be a destabilizing factor. He says that rising violence in southern Afghanistan is certainly very real, but he says that success will require a strong Afghan government. Sobering news today, though, Fredricka. As the defense secretary's op-ed was making news today, from Afghanistan news that two journalists from Germany were actually killed in the northern part of that country, killed by gunfire. So even as Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld outlining what he sees as, again, promising indicators, certainly signs that there are challenges that lie ahead -- Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thank you so much. Well, will this be the weekend North Korea conducts a nuclear test? Despite a U.N. warning, there's no sign that Kim Jong-il will back down. CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr has a report.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, happily waved to his military commanders as world pressure mounts for him to cancel plans to conduct his country's first nuclear test. Pyongyang's announcement has thrown diplomatic efforts at the United Nations into a frenzy. If there is a nuclear detention, the world changes.</s>JOSEPH CIRINCIONE, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: This immediately affects the calculations of South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, all of whom might decide that they need to have their own independent nuclear arsenals, as well. If North Korea gets away with this, Iran would be encouraged to go forward.</s>STARR: Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill sounded ominous this week, saying: "North Korea can have a future or it can have these weapons. It cannot have both." But the Bush administration is avoiding talk of a preemptive strike or a military response afterward.</s>DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: That's -- it's a decision for the country. It's a decision for presidents.</s>STARR: There is plenty of U.S. firepower in the region -- 28,000 troops in South Korea and some 20 warships based out of Japan. Half a dozen B-52 bombers are in Guam. But what is the target? U.S. intelligence shows North Korea is preparing several sites for a potential test. But one intelligence analyst told CNN it's a game of nuclear Three Card Monte -- trying to force the CIA to guess which hole in the ground is the right one. The first signs of a nuclear detonation will come from more than 100 underground monitoring stations around the world. Spy planes such as this nuclear sniffer are already flying overhead and satellites are trained on the region 24-7. (on camera): But will the intelligence community be able to quickly tell what North Korea has done after a missile test? Intelligence analysts tell CNN that little useful information was ever collected after North Korea's July missile test. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.</s>WHITFIELD: An all-clear today for most of the thousands people in North Carolina who fled from a chemical fire. Firefighters have now gotten control of that blaze that broke out Thursday at a hazardous material plant in Apex. At least 16,000 people had to leave their homes.</s>MAYOR KEITH WEATHERLY, APEX, NORTH CAROLINA: Overnight, the hazmat firefighters did extinguish the fire. And that was -- has -- we've always stated one of the first prerequisites for allowing reentry of our citizens. That has been confirmed by our fire chief, and we are ready to start now a reentry of our citizens into the areas previously evacuated.</s>WHITFIELD: The plant stored a number of chemicals, including paint, household cleaners and detergents. U.S. troops say it's like chasing ghosts. Follow along as they stalk an enemy who is very good at staying invisible. Mark Foley is just the latest person caught up in a public scandal to seek refuge at a rehab. Our legal team will debate this strategy straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. And headphones going high tech to get to most out of your MP3 player, perhaps? Listen up on CNN, the most trusted name in news.