N. Korea Makes Nuclear Vow; Guilty Pleas in Home Grown Plot
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: To our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Happening now, the attorney general Michael Mukasey refusing to provide details on those videotape CIA terror interrogations. Congress is investigating why those tapes were destroyed. Mukasey said he doesn't want to politicize the inquiry and said there is no need now to name a special prosecutor. Senator republicans are blocking a bill that would ban waterboarding, mock executions and other harsh CIA interrogation techniques. The measures were last-minute additions to an intelligence bill approved by the house yesterday. Stocks close out a losing week on Wall Street. The Dow lost 178 points today, was down more than 2% for the week. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Letter received. Now, a verbal response to President Bush's appeal to North Korea's Kim Jong-Il. Mr. Bush urging him to come clean on his country's nuclear programs. Let's turn to CNN's Brian Todd. He's watching this story for us. What are the North Koreans saying right now? They got a personal letter from the president earlier.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They did, Wolf. Now they're saying something that gives real hope for a peaceful solution to this standoff but the key question, as always, can the North Koreans be trusted?</s>TODD: Inside a key communication from a secretive paranoid regime to the White House. A signal the president's personal message to North Korea's leader may have worked. Senior State Department officials tell CNN of a verbal response they got over the phone. The North Koreans say they appreciated President Bush's letter to Kim Jong-Il earlier this month saying they'll hold up their end of negotiations on getting rid of their nuclear weapons if the Americans hold up theirs.</s>PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES: I got his attention with a letter and he can get my attention by fully disclosing his programs, including any plutonium he may have processed.</s>TODD: In his letter to the man he once reportedly called a pygmy, Mr. Bush offered the prospect of diplomatic ties if nothing breaks down in talks aimed at dismantling the nuclear weapons. The North Koreans have until the end of this month to reveal all their nuclear secrets. Under U.S. supervision, they've already taken down part of the reactor that makes plutonium for nuclear bombs and the U.S. is promising more energy aid if they follow through. But some seriously doubt the regime will reveal everything or destroy all of its arsenal.</s>JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: North Korea has yet again for probably the fourth or fifth time in the last 15 years, promised to give up their nuclear weapons. They promise a lot, they never actually do it.</s>TODD: A huge problem, verification. Experts say this about America's intelligence on North Korea.</s>DEREK MITCHELL, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTL. STUDIES: It's one of the great intelligence failures in essence that we had for the past 50 years. Basically the human intelligence we have are the defectors. I think we're really actually riding somewhat blind on exactly what they have.</s>TODD: Still, most observers agree the communication between the two leaders is a very positive sign. One congressional source says that this shows trying to get the North Koreans to be transparent is like walking through deep snow. It's slow, arduous, and you have to keep showing them the right direction. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: I know you have been talking to U.S. officials. What is their immediate fear, Brian, on North Korea's nuclear program?</s>TODD: One very key concern is the regime's effort to get highly enriched uranium. That's a key component in nuclear weapons. U.S. officials believe they're pursuing it. Sources say they may not have a full-blown program right now, but the U.S. is pressing them to come clean with it.</s>BLITZER: Brian, thanks very much. A significant story unfolding. He'll stay on top of it. Meanwhile, guilty pleas in a homegrown terror plot. Prosecutors now say a targeted U.S. military bases and Jewish sites, all of it put together behind prison walls. Let's go to our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve. She's watching this story. What do we know about this case, the latest developments, Jeanne?</s>JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the charge is conspiracy to levee war against the United States. The plea from two of the defendants -- guilty.</s>MESERVE: The plot took shape inside California's new Fulsome Prison where Kevin James founded a radical Islamic organization called JIS. Its goal to wage jihad against the U.S. government and replace it with an Islamic caliphate. Lavar Washington was a JIS member and once he left prison, a recruiter. Friday they pleaded guilty to plotting attacks on U.S. military bases, as well as Israeli and Jewish sites in the Los Angeles area. Authorities say they plan to hit synagogues on Jewish holidays to increase the number of victims.</s>THOMAS O'BRIEN, U.S. ATTORNEY: Because these men were driven by ideological fervor, had a demonstrated ability to obtain and fire weapons and had planned attacks on identified targets, an untold number of lives may have been saved when this terrorist cell was dismantled.</s>MESERVE: The plot was uncovered by sheer luck and in the nick of time, officials say. The group was raising money by robbing gas stations. At one, a conspirator dropped a cell phone which led investigators to the men, a list of targets and even a media statement to be released after the first attack. "This incident is the first in a series in a plight to defend and propagate traditional Islam in its purity," it says. James and Washington are Americans with no known connections to any other terror group. Their case has opened eyes about the threat of prison radicalization and American-born terrorists.</s>ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: These homegrown terrorists may prove to be as dangerous as groups like al Qaeda if not more so.</s>MESERVE: James faces a maximum sentence of 20 years and Washington 25 years. A third defendant is expected to enter a guilty plea Monday. A fourth has been found unfit to stand trial and receiving psychiatric care. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: All right. Jeanne, thanks very much; Jeanne Meserve reporting. Coming up, what drove the astronaut Lisa Nowak over the edge? A glimpse into the so-called love triangle that led to her arrest on charges of assault and attempted kidnapping. Also, NASA makes some personal e-mail public. And as the ad wars heat up in Iowa, we'll take a closer look at a new spot from Senator Barack Obama. What's the candidate saying or perhaps more significantly not saying? Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.