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Original Source: AMERICAN MORNING
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: What needs to happen is they need to come in, get on the ground, take samples of the plutonium, of the reactor, of the nuclear waste and kind of put a picture together to see what North Korea has been up to and if, in fact, they are telling the truth.
Kiran?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Another question is, you know, as this verification process happens, is there any going back? I mean, in the past we've seen North Korea sort of make promises and then renege. Symbolically, this explosion happened. But they could rebuild the cooling tower. Or is this really the dawning of a new day there?
VERJEE: They could rebuild the cooling tower. It would take 6 to 12 months to get that reactor up and going again. There had been a lot of other disablement activities at the Yongbyon reactor. For example, the reprocessing facility.
They have taken some pretty significant steps. And it does seem as though they are committed to ending the plutonium production at Yongbyon. The reason that that is significant is because you need plutonium to build a nuclear bomb.
But North Korea, while committed on this front, it seems in any way this reactor was pretty old and decrepit and falling apart. So they were planning on giving it up anyway is what many experts say. There are some unanswered questions that North Korea really has to come forward with.
What have they done with the suspected uranium-enrichment program? Are they sharing any of the nuclear secrets with anyone? Are they actually going to hand over the weapons and the plutonium when it comes to that? There's a lot of mistrust on both sides.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Zain Verjee for us. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Let's try to get some of those questions answered. CNN's Christiane Amanpour was one of a few journalists who was able to witness the tower's destruction. She joins us live this morning all the way from Pyongyang in South Korea. Christiane, you heard what Zain was saying. This implosion of this water cooling tower, a very significant event, but by no means means that North Korea is giving up its entire nuclear program.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does mean that North Korea seems to be committed to this part of its nuclear program which is the only part that's known about its nuclear program. And that is the plutonium activities at Yongbyon.
Anything that is suspicious about any kind of uranium enrichment, there is scant evidence according to both the United States and indeed independent nuclear experts. Scant evidence about uranium enrichment and they just simply don't have the evidence or the answers to that, nor to the proliferation which obviously they do want answers to.
And they hope to get that in the ensuing months and weeks of negotiations. But clearly, what is significant is that in full view of the international press court, now the world, and in full view of U.S. State Department officials who came to witness this, they have blown up part of the Yongbyon facility.
This is the cooling tower which was, in fact, disabled along with a lot of the Yongbyon facility. They have not been making any plutonium, extracting any plutonium or making any new bombs or any such thing since the summer by all accounts, including the accounts of independent -- well, U.S. government experts who are on the ground in Yongbyon.
So what many are saying is that these moves that the North Koreans have systemically taken along with the United States and the four other countries to these talks -- China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, appear to show a shift in North Korea's intent and its behavior to the future. Appear to show a strategic decision to move out of its isolation.
While there's a lot of verification, a lot more steps to go through, it seems that for the moment U.S. officials are -- and others -- are sure that this is at least for this moment the progress that they're looking for. In fact, today, when this cooling tower had been blown up, the U.S. official on hand said that this is a significant disabling moment and action. And it does put the U.S. and the other countries in a good place to start the next phase of the negotiations.
John?
ROBERTS: Christiane, you mentioned that they have not been extracting any plutonium at the Yongbyon plant since last summer. But what about the plutonium that they already have extracted? What about the nuclear devices that they are believed to have already constructed? What happens with all of that?
AMANPOUR: Well, the plutonium that they've already extracted is meant to have been detailed in the declaration that they handed over yesterday, the precise kilograms of extracted plutonium. It is meant to have been delivered once and for in the declaration. Now the declaration also, they have 18,000 pages that have already been handed over which will allow them to verify the declaration. That's the point of those two documents. That one allows them to verify the other.
Now in terms of the nuclear devices that they have made, we know, according to experts, that they have made seven -- around seven or so. And we know that they test fired one back in 2006. These devices, this aspect of it, the weaponization aspect of this program is expected to be detailed and discussed in the next and future rounds of negotiations that continue.
One thing we did hear today on a positive note, you know, because the North Koreans have said that the U.S. had not come forward with its delivery of fuel oil back in February, they had slowed down removing the fuel rods. Now we are told that they're about to speed that process back up which is another move in the right direction.
ROBERTS: And I know that you'll keep following it from right inside the country. Christiane Amanpour. She's in Pyongyang for us this morning. Christiane, good to see you. Thanks.
CHETRY: Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton begin what's called a unity tour today, as Obama helps pay off his former rival's debt. At a fund-raiser last night in Washington, D.C., Obama and his wife, Michelle, donated a combined $4600 to Clinton's campaign. That's the max of individual contributors.
Senator Obama asked his top fundraisers to do the same. CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER 360" received exclusive cell phone pictures. That's what you're seeing right now of this meeting, where Clinton asked supporters to work together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This was a hard fought campaign. That's what made it so exciting and intense. And why people's passions ran so high on both sides. Now, I know my supporters have extremely strong feelings, and I know Barack's do as well.
But we are a family, and we have an opportunity now to really demonstrate clearly we do know what's at stake, and we will do whatever it takes to win back this White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Their unity tour kicks off today in Unity, New Hampshire.
ROBERTS: Earlier this morning, I spoke with Clinton's campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe. I asked him what Senator Clinton's role might be as Barack Obama's campaign moves forward. Here's what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TERRY MCAULIFFE, CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: She's going to go. She's going to speak...
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