On the October 9 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer asked: “Who, among U.S. administrations, bears more blame for the escalating situation: the Bush administration or the Clinton administration?” In interviews with two former Clinton officials, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and as energy secretary, and CNN world affairs analyst William Cohen, who was defense secretary from 1997 to 2001, Blitzer also asked whether President Clinton was “duped” or committed a “huge blunder” in his negotiations with North Korea that led to the 1994 Agreed Framework. However, Blitzer did not ask current Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill to assess President Bush's North Korea policy or to respond to criticism of it, despite Hill's role as head of the U.S. delegation, for more than a year, to the so-called six-party talks, which also include Japan, South Korea, China, and Russia.

Richardson interview

In his interview with Richardson, Blitzer cited “some Republicans” who “are criticizing the Clinton administration for being duped by the North Koreans.” Blitzer then asked Richardson: “With hindsight, was that a huge blunder to offer the North Koreans that kind of assistance ... given their track record as a Stalinist regime?”

Blitzer also misleadingly cited a 1999 report by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's (R-IL) North Korea Advisory Group that alleged that two light-water reactors guaranteed under the Agreed Framework between the United States and North Korea would “provide North Korea with the capacity to produce annually enough fissile material for nearly 100 nuclear bombs.” But Blitzer's mention of the fissile material that could be produced by the reactors is misleading because, as Cohen later noted, North Korea “didn't get the two reactors.” The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) was established in 1995 “to implement the key provisions of the Agreed Framework”; according to KEDO's website, its executive board “began serious discussions regarding termination of the LWR [light-water reactor] project” in November 2005, and KEDO “completed the withdrawal of all workers from the LWR project site in Kumho, DPRK” in 2006, before the reactors ever became operational.

Cohen interview

Blitzer teased his interview with Cohen by promising to “talk about” whether “the Clinton administration help[ed] set the stage for North Korea's alleged nuclear test.” During the interview, Blitzer again asserted that “some Republicans are saying, 'You know what? It was the Clinton administration' -- especially the first term ... 'where they were duped. They were taken on a ride by Kim Jong Il .... He took all of that, and it has helped him get to his nuclear position right now.' ”

Hill interview

Blitzer did not ask Hill to respond to criticism about the Bush administration's North Korean policy as part of Blitzer's inquiry into which administration “bears more blame for the escalating situation,” even though Blitzer asked both Richardson and Cohen questions based on what “some Republicans” were saying about the Clinton administration. For instance, on October 9, the Democratic Party issued a press release stating that “the Bush Administration has outsourced our diplomacy with North Korea to other nations and failed to take the lead in making sure America remains safe and secure.” While Blitzer did ask Hill about bilateral negotiations, he did so in the context of forward-looking decisions and without any discussion of “blame” or “blunder[s]”: “When are you going to start talking directly to North Korea? And without the other members of the so-called six-party talks? When will the United States begin a direct, bilateral discussion with North Korea? Under what circumstances?”

From Blitzer's interviews with Richardson and Cohen on the October 9 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:

BLITZER: Happening now, tonight, fallout over North Korea's announcement it tested a nuclear bomb. How will the United States respond? I'll ask the U.S. point man on North Korea, the assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill. He's standing by live.

Who, among U.S. administrations, bears more blame for the escalating situation: the Bush administration or the Clinton administration?

[...]

BLITZER: Governor, thanks very much for coming in. Is there blame -- do you blame the Bush administration's refusal to deal directly with North Korea? The North Koreans wanted respect, if you will. Do you blame the Bush administration for the current predicament?

[...]

BLITZER: You know, there are some Republicans out there who are criticizing the Clinton administration for being duped by the North Koreans back in '93, '94, when an earlier deal was made to provide them light-water reactors for civilian purposes, a lot of humanitarian assistance. The North Koreans said yes. They used that material, supposedly, though, clandestinely to help them with their current nuclear program.

Here's what a report for Dennis Hastert in 1999 said: “Through the provision of two light-water reactors on framework, the United States will provide North Korea with the capacity to produce annually enough fissile material for nearly 100 nuclear bombs.”

You served in the Clinton administration. With hindsight, was that a huge blunder to offer the North Koreans that kind of assistance -- nuclear assistance, humanitarian assistance, economic assistance -- given their track record as a Stalinist regime?

RICHARDSON: No, it was not a blunder. In fact, it was a success for eight years, because of the Agreed Framework agreement negotiated by the Clinton administration. The North Koreans did not develop any nuclear weapons. They didn't enrich uranium. Look what's happened since then, because we have not talked to them directly and negotiated directly.

Now, it doesn't make sense to blame each other. I think we've got to move forward in a bipartisan way, because these are nuclear weapons. This is -- we have 38,000 American troops in the peninsula. We've got treaties with South Korea. They've got missiles pointed at South Korea.

Let's just shift gears, stop the blame game, get the politics out of this issue. Talk to them directly. Get sanctions at the United Nations. Build an international support. And get China. I mean, China has enormous leverage with food and fuel assistance. Get them to do something. That is diplomacy, all of that -- carrot and stick -- tough, smart diplomacy.

We failed to do that. Instead, we call them, “axis of evil.” Let's talk to them directly. They've got good negotiators in that administration. Chris Hill is one of them. Send him to Pyongyang tomorrow to try to get this thing straightened out. Couple that with sanctions, and get the Chinese to do things. That will at least bring some stability to the issue.

[...]

BLITZER: You're in The Situation Room, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Happening now: fallout from the Foley scandal. Is it impacting gay Republicans, and how is the party handling it? I'll ask the head of the country's largest gay GOP group, the Log Cabin Republicans.

Also, did the Clinton administration help set the stage for North Korea's alleged nuclear test? We'll talk about that with President Clinton's former defense secretary, our world affairs analyst, Bill Cohen.

[...]

BLITZER: We're hearing the blame game starting now, which is not to be something of a surprise. Republicans, at least some Republicans are saying, “You know what? It was the Clinton administration” -- especially in the first term, you came in in the second term of the Clinton administration -- “where they were duped. They were taken on a ride by Kim Jong Il. They promised hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance -- technical assistance to build these light-water nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes. He took all that, and it has -- it has helped him get to his nuclear position right now.”

COHEN: In fact, he didn't get the two reactors. What were supplied to him was fuel oil for his conventional power plants, so he didn't get the light reactors. But this blame game is so, I think, really out of sorts today, to point the finger back eight years ago and say, “Well, President Clinton didn't do enough.” I think President Clinton went pretty far, and we didn't see much activity coming from the North Koreans. You've got President Bush now has had six years, so let's not try to measure the eight versus the six. Let's just say, “What do we do now?”

And what we have to do now is we have to be serious about getting a consolidated position. The Chinese, the Russians, the South Koreans, the Japanese, the United States, we need to be together on this. And if that happens, then I think you'll see Kim Jong Il stand up and say, “Well, wait a minute. Maybe I'm doing the wrong thing here. Maybe this is a good deal that the United States and the other countries are offering us. Maybe I puffed up my chest, but now's the time to make a deal.” And I think that if we hang tough here, if we in fact hang together, we'll see some positive reaction coming out of it. Absent that, I think, if we just have words, no deeds, then we'll see another nuclear power continue to develop with the proliferation of weapons in many parts of the world.

From Blitzer's interview with Hill on the October 9 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:

BLITZER: Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for coming in. It's now been almost -- what? -- 24 hours? Have you confirmed that, in fact, the North Koreans did test a nuclear bomb?

[...]

BLITZER: Do you have a commitment from China, which has leverage on North Korea, that it will do what it's refused to do in the past and use that leverage?

[...]

BLITZER: The president of the United States was firm today in issuing this warning to the North Koreans. Listen to this little clip.

BUSH [video clip]: The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States.

BLITZER: All right. They've transferred missile technology to other countries, including Iran and Syria, as the president says. What does the president mean, “a grave threat”? How far would the U.S. go if the North Koreans start transferring nuclear technology to other states or what the president calls “non-state entities,” referring to terrorist groups?

HILL: Well, Wolf, I think the president's words speak for themselves. I'm not going to interpret the president, except to say, very clearly, we are going to take all actions we can, working with our partners, to make it very difficult for the North Koreans to get the equipment, get the technology, get the funding, and their ability to market these weapons around the world.

So, we're going to work very hard on that, and that's a main -- main purpose of this U.N. Security Council discussion that took place today. And I might add -- I might add that the atmosphere was very positive: Nobody, absolutely nobody, is supporting North Korea.

[...]

BLITZER: When are you going to start talking directly to North Korea? And without the other members of the so-called six-party talks? When will the United States begin a direct, bilateral discussion with North Korea? Under what circumstances?