North Korea Threatening to Conduct Nuclear Test
KING: You're in THE SITUATION ROOM where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Happening now, the scandal over a congressman's explicit online exchanges with a former page is snowballing. And questions are swirling about the future of the Republican House leadership and control of Congress itself. I'll talk about it with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Nuclear tensions on the rise as North Korea makes a defiant announcement. Is it real or just a political ploy? We'll get the latest from the Pentagon. And flying high on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average hits the record. Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm John King. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're standing by at this hour for a news conference expected a bit later from Mark Foley's attorney. Meanwhile, Republican leaders of the House are trying to contain the Foley fiasco. But how might it affect this year's midterm elections? It's a question I put to a key senator a bit earlier today.</s>KING: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, thank you for joining us today in THE SITUATION ROOM. You are in Baghdad, Iraq, but I want to begin with the political controversy here at home. Former Congressman Foley, of course, will face investigations now, perhaps face the criminal justice system, but in the political fallout, there are many conservatives who are unhappy with how the House leadership handled this scandal, and they think the speaker of the House, Denny Hastert, should resign. What do you say to that, sir?</s>SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: Yes, John, I have, as you know, been in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and I don't mean to avoid your question, but really have not been briefed on the events of the last 48 hours. When I left, obviously Congressman Foley, the allegations had come out. That is to be condemned if those are true. The events of the last 48 hours I just haven't been briefed on. Obviously I have tremendous respect for Denny Hastert but have not been briefed on any of the details.</s>KING: Well let me ask you a specific question or two then about how you might have handled this. One of the things that happened is that Congressman Reynolds says he came to Speaker Hastert and he said you know there's this questionable e-mail conversation between Congressman Foley and a 16-year-old former page. The Speaker says he can't recall that conversation. Many are saying how could that be? How could somebody in such a position of authority not remember such a conversation. Especially because these pages as you well know, are put in your care. You are essentially their guardians while they are there.</s>FRIST: Yes, John, again, I don't want to be drawn into the hypothetical. But clearly if somebody had allegations against them of this nature, I would immediately go to the responsible people and address it. And again, I can't comment on what happened in the House because I don't know. We have a strong page program in the United States Senate, though we have not had allegations like that. And again, it's inexcusable. It is to be condemned in terms of what the allegations say that Mark Foley did.</s>KING: You raised some eyebrows at your previous stop in Afghanistan. I want to read you the lead of an "Associated Press" story from yesterday. "Senator Bill Frist said Monday the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring 'people who call themselves Taliban' and their allies into the government. The Tennessee Republican said he learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield." Now the House Minority Leader Democrat Nancy Pelosi put out a statement today as you traveled saying this, quote "We went to war in Afghanistan five years ago to crush the Taliban for the role it played in the 9/11 attacks. Senator Frist now suggests that the best way forward in Afghanistan is to coddle the Taliban by welcoming Taliban members into a coalition government, as if 9/11 had never happened." What do you say to that, sir?</s>FRIST: Well, to Nancy Pelosi I say your rhetoric is really just a frenzied attempt to give purpose to a party that has absolutely no agenda. I'm over here with our troops in Afghanistan. I was in southern Afghanistan yesterday. The Taliban is on the rise in Afghanistan today. But that doesn't mean now, I guess she's implying, cut and run in Afghanistan. The Taliban is on the rise, and we do need to capture the hearts and the minds of the Afghan people. And my remarks yesterday were made after an extensive day of not just briefings, but actually being in southern Afghanistan. Where it's clear that the Taliban is capturing the hearts and the minds of people there. Not for ideology, but those 10 or 15 percent of the so-called Taliban in the south are foreign fighters. They are to be condemned they are to be defeated, they are to be killed. But there's a large number of people because they don't see hope ahead. And that's why we have to appeal to their hearts and minds through economic development. Creation of jobs, roads, education. A lot of them are just farmers by day. But when the Taliban stick arms in their hands, they say well, I guess I'm Taliban. Those are the people that we need to go after to let them vote. Let them capture the hopes and the dreams that are a part of that government today.</s>KING: Senator, how then would you make the distinction. You say people who are handed a weapon and say well I guess now I'm Taliban. The Taliban of course was an oppressive regime. Women didn't get the right to vote. They didn't have any rights in that society. A whole long list we could go through of oppressive, repressive policies of the Taliban government. How do you say, you're ok, join the coalition government, come on in. And no, I'm sorry, you are real Taliban, you're out.</s>FRIST: Well, what is happening now is we have maybe, oh, 30, 40 percent of the people who say they are Taliban in the south right now today are foreign fighters who are coming across the border and recruiting. And their intent is to take down the Afghan government, to take down the west as we saw with 9/11. There is a large number of people though today who look to the future. They may be farming by day but when that gun's put in their hands, they say well, that empowers me in some way. We have to win their hearts and minds by reaching out with education, with trade schools, which is being done. Building roads, improving that economy. Not just at the government level but at that fundamental provincial level to improve that ability to translate hopes and dreams into reality.</s>KING: Senator Bill Frist the majority leader joining us today from Baghdad. Senator thanks so much.</s>FRIST: Thank you, John.</s>KING: Will they or won't they? Right now that's the question many are asking about North Korea, as that nation threatens to conduct a nuclear test. CNN's Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre is following this story and joins us live with the details. Jamie?</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, earlier this summer the North Korean test of a long range missile fizzled just a couple of seconds after take-off. What North Korea would like to do eventually is have the ability to threaten the United States with nuclear-tipped missiles. Something that it sees as crucial to preventing a U.S. attack on North Korea.</s>MCINTYRE (voice-over): The U.S. has spy satellites trained on several potential North Korean nuclear test sites including this one on the eastern coast line. And Pentagon sources confirm there has been suspicious movement of people, equipment and vehicles that would tend to buttress North Korea's claim it's preparing for an underground nuclear test. It's a threat the U.S. is taking seriously.</s>CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: It would be a very provocative act by the North Koreans. They've not yet done it. But I think it would be a very provocative act.</s>MCINTYRE: While the U.S. considered a preemptive strike against North Korea's Jung Jung Nuclear Plant in 1994, Pentagon officials tell CNN there is no planning for a military option this time.</s>JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It seems to me if there were possible test case for the council to engage in preventive diplomacy, considering this threat by North Korea would be an excellent example.</s>MCINTYRE: North Korea claims to have nuclear weapons and wants to be dealt with as a nuclear power. According to a just-released House Intelligence Committee report, the 8,000 spent fuel rods North Korea removed from its Jung Jung Nuclear Plant in 2003 could produce enough plutonium for about five nuclear weapons. But the reality is, when it comes to the hyper secretive North Koreans, no one knows for sure if they are serious or just bluffing for political advantage.</s>JOHN PIKE, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: They either will or won't test. My concern is that North Korea may want to convince everybody beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are a nuclear weapon state. And the only way that they can do that is by testing.</s>MCINTYRE: And one of the big concerns here at the Pentagon is that North Korea would do with nuclear weapons what it's done with its other weapon technology, namely sell it for hard cash. That could result in the nightmare scenario of nuclear weapons being in the hands of terrorists -- John.</s>KING: Nightmare indeed. Jamie McIntyre live for us at the Pentagon. Thank you Jamie. And still to come here, remember we're awaiting a news conference in Florida by Mark Foley, former Congressman Mark Foley's attorney. We'll bring that to you when it happens. Also, much more on the scandal surrounding the former congressman and his explicit Internet communications with a former page. It's the hot topic on talk radio. We'll have details. And we'll talk to Wendy Wright, she's the president of Concerned Women for America. It's her group among the conservatives who think the House Speaker Dennis Hastert should resign his post. Stay with us for the answer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.