CNN Student News

Aired August 29, 2003

This is a rush transcript. This copy may not be in its final form and may be dated.

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN ANCHOR: In the face of ongoing attacks, the U.S. considers asking the U.N. to increase its role in Iraq peacekeeping. North Korea ups the ante at talks about its controversial nuclear program. And we'll show you some orchestral maneuvers in the sky. Hello and welcome to CNN Student News on this Friday, august twenty 29th! I'm Christina Park at the CNN Center.

First Up: Change in Policy?

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN ANCHOR: First up -- the necessity of keeping the peace in Iraq. Before the war, Washington was clear that it did not need the United Nations stamp of approval, to take action against Saddam Hussein. But securing the country after the invasion, could require the efforts of countries the world over. So Kitty Pilgrim details how, and in what context, the U.S. may ask the U.N. for assistance.

Shoutout!

Time for Friday's Shoutout! What's the capital of North Korea? If you think you know it, you know what to do! Is it: A) Seoul B) Kusong C) Pusan or D) Pyongyang? You've got three seconds--GO! Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea. So when you hear a reporter describe what Pyongyang wants, he's likely referring to the North Korean government. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

North Korea Going Nuclear?

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN ANCHOR: Should it be taken as a serious threat to put other countries on the defensive... Or is it just an inflammatory comment from a country known for making them? That question is now before delegates from the U.S. and several other nations... Who are meeting in Pyongyang's neighbor to the north, to discuss the issue of North Korea's nukes. Andrea Koppel reviews the rhetoric that raised a lot of eyebrows on Thursday.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN REPORTER: The threat came during the second day of six-party talks in Beijing. Administration officials tell CNN -- North Korea said -- that hostile US policy -- had left Pyongyang no choice but to declare itself a nuclear power, conduct a nuclear weapons test and "show" they have the "means to deliver" these weapons. A warning interpreted by some US officials as a threat to resume ballistic missile testing.

PHILIP REEKER, ASSISTANT STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We don't think they should have nuclear weapons, so obviously we don't think they should be testing them.

KOPPEL: During the last round of talks in April, Pyongyang made vague yet strikingly similar threats and talks broke down. Since then, North Korea claims it's finished reprocessing close to 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods --with enough plutonium for 5 or 6 nuclear bombs. The purpose of the Beijing talks -- to convince North Korea to freeze, and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear weapons program. In exchange, North Korea wants a non-aggression treaty from the United States to guarantee its security. Experts say North Korea is well known for its brinksmanship and its bluster.

PETER BROOKES, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: North Korea is playing a relatively weak hand. The fact is that they do have nuclear weapons, but they are not a political or an economic power. So what I think they are trying to do is they are trying to up the ante. North Korea has pursued a foreign policy of opportunism, of brinksmanship, and blackmail and I think this is just more of the same.

KOPPEL: The question, said one administration official, is whether this is a serious and irreversible statement or whether it's just part of a past pattern of behavior with North Korea starting every conversation by being threatening to see if it wins them something. Some U.S. officials think North Korea is jsut playing for time, until its weapons program is ready for primetime. Andrea Koppel, CNN, the State Department.

London Power Outage

London caught what could be labeled "blackout, part two" on Thursday. The power failed during rush hour in the British capital, leaving subway commuters in the dark and knocking out streetlights. A spokesman for the London underground said the blackout was the result of a national power grid failure...but even though it had a serious effect on the evening commute, Scotland Yard said there was nothing suspicious to worry about. Electricity started flowing again within hours.

Word to the Wise

A Word to the Wise...millennia (plural noun): plural of millennium, which is a span of one thousand years. (Source: www.dictionary.com)

Week in Review

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN ANCHOR: A new poll says most Americans -- 77 percent – disapprove of a federal judge's order that a Ten Commandments monument be removed from an Alabama judicial building. But their disapproval wasn't enough to stop it. Deanna Morawski recaps that and other top stories, in our week-in-review.

DEANNA MORAWSKI, CNN REPORTER: A monument of the ten commandments is no longer on display at the Alabama state judicial building. Workers removed the more than two and a half ton piece of granite thursday morning, just more than a week after the deadline issued by a federal judge. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore had the monument installed two years ago. But a federal court found it violated the constitutional principle of separation of religion and government. Moore's supporters say the commandments are the foundation of the U.S. legal system...and that their removal violates the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion. They continued their prayers and protests all week, insisting the fight is not over.

Earthlings got a rare opportunity to get a closer look at the red planet this week. Mars was the closest it's been to the earth in 60 millennia--34.6 million miles away-- And astronomers worldwide had their telescopes glued to it. The close encounter was made possible by differing orbits--Earth's is almost circular, while Mars' is more elliptical, and takes much longer to complete. So it's rare that the two planets come close together. the next time will be in the year 2287.

40 years after it was first spoken, Martin Luther King's historic "I Have a Dream" speech was remembered. To celebrate its anniversary thursday, hundreds marched through downtown Atlanta and the neighborhoods where the civil rights leader grew up. A crowd also gathered last weekend at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, where King first delivered the speech in 1963. This time, the keynote address was given by Congressman John Lewis--the only key speaker from the original rally who is still alive today.

JOHN LEWIS, (D) GEORGIA: We did not just change our nation, we changed the world.

MORAWSKI: King's dream was for his children to, quote, "one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." For CNN Student News, I'm Deanna Morawski.

Before We Go: Musical Helicopters

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN ANCHOR: What better way to celebrate the opening of a new aircraft hangar, than to merge the melodies of the Stadler Quartet with chopper blades? Four violinists teamed up with four Blackhawk helicopter pilots -- and a couple of sound mixers on the ground -- for the skyward symphony. Uniqueness comes at a price: 544 smackers a seat at the charity event.

Goodbye

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN ANCHOR: And that's our finale today on CNN Student News. Enjoy the Labor Day holiday, and be sure to check us out next Tuesday on headline news! I'm Christina Park -- See you in September!