'On the Record' Goes Inside North Korea

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," October 19-20, October 22 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: You are going deep into the heart of communist North Korea. For the second time in 14 months, "On the Record" went inside the secretive country with Reverend Franklin Graham and his humanitarian group Samaritan's Purse. Now, this week, you will go to a hospital that we visited on our last trip that sometimes -- only sometimes -- had power. Now, what's it like now? Better or worse? You're going to see for yourself.

Plus, you will go to the Pueblo, a U.S. naval ship seized by the North Koreans in 1968. Now, they kept our sailors for almost a year, let them go finally, but they kept our Navy ship. Reverend Graham suggested to the North Koreans that it's time to return that ship, our ship, to the United States. Will that happen? And what did they say?

And you will see the unbelievable video of the famous North Korean performance called Arirang, 100,000 North Koreans performing in unison, celebrating nationalism, war, their dear leader, Kim Jong Il, the great leader, Kim Il Sung, and their very tight relationship with communist China. You will see this nowhere else.

Now, keep in mind at all times during our visit, we were with North Korean minders. Your rare trip begins right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: We've just arrived back in North Korea. It's our second trip here in 14 months. Flying in here you can see the spectacular countryside. This is an absolutely gorgeous country and we're very happy the North Koreans are letting us come back here. We're very grateful for this.

We're excited about our trip, hoping to see many new things, and we're hoping to see things we saw before and see how things have changed, and we're also hoping to see how many different things, perhaps maybe even meet some new and interesting people.

But needless to say, we're very happy to be back here in North Korea and we're anxious to get started on our trip.

We're at a guest house here DPRK. And I use the term "DPRK" B. I've learned from the people who are gracious hosts to us here that they prefer we not call their country North Korea, but DPRK, which is their official name.

We have had a very interesting afternoon. We only arrived a few hours ago, but already Reverend Franklin Graham has met with the vice foreign minister, the very man who is at the six-party talks on behalf of the DPRK when they talk with the United States and the other countries concerning the very important issue of nuclear weapons.

Incidentally, this is a very important day in DPRK because earlier today missiles were fired off, test-missiles. The whole world has been watching that.

We had the opportunity to also meet with the vice foreign minister, and he had much to say. He wanted to speak a little bit to the American people. Perhaps much to say is overstating it, but he had at least -- this was his opportunity to speak directly to the American people. And here's what he had to say.

KIM KYE-GWAN, DPRK VICE FOREIGN MINISTER (Via translator): We had a very good talk with Reverend Franklin Graham today and you will have an opportunity to be briefed by him personally.

Maybe after him you can understand how we take things very importantly and our relationship very importantly.

VAN SUSTEREN: It's so hard for us in the United States, you speak, sir, to our government but you don't get a chance to speak to our people. And is there anything you'd like to say directly? Because, believe me, if you would like to say something directly just to our people so that they understand, I'd love to have you do it.

KYE-GWAN (Via translator): I just wish Americans well, if everything goes well in the United States.

VAN SUSTEREN: I'm sorry?

KYE-GWAN (Via translator): I wish the Americans well and wish everything goes well in the United States.

And I want peace in the United States. So we are committing our own efforts for the good result and for the good future of relations between our two nations and for successful talks with the United States and to defend the peace which is the common goal of our two nations, the Americans and the people of the DPRK, to leave as friends.

VAN SUSTEREN: Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Reverend, we've only been here a few hours in the DPRK, and already you've met with a very influential person.

REV. FRANKLIN GRAHAM, SAMARITANS PURSE: Yes, the deputy foreign minister, Kim. This is the man who represents the DPRK at the six-party talks. He's got a very pragmatic personality, a very sharp man.

And, Greta, we talked about the issues that separate our country. There are a lot of issues. And I'm certainly not here as a diplomat. I'm not here in an official capacity to speak for the United States. I'm here as a private citizen wanting to help this country, but at the same time to try to encourage our two countries to speak face to face.

I was in Washington just a few weeks ago. I met with the new special envoy here, Mr. Bosworth, Ambassador Bosworth, and spoke to different people on the Hill to try to encourage our country to pay attention to the DPRK.

This is a dangerous situation, a country that is developing nuclear weapons, that has already tested them, and we just cannot ignore this part of the world. We have to talk to these people.

And we need to build bridges of friendship -- well, not necessarily friendship, but trust and understanding, which I believe will lead eventually to friendship.

We were -- back during World War II, we were allies, our country and the United States, and fighting a common enemy. And for the last 60 years we have been fighting each other. And it's got to change.

VAN SUSTEREN: I thought it was interesting though, last time when we were here, Samaritan's Purse was here, and you have done a tremendous amount of good will in this country, but what surprised me was you've only been in this country a short period of time and immediately you were met by someone who was very high up in the government who was very interested in talking about issues beyond Samaritan's Purse, it seems like.

GRAHAM: Our country, unfortunately, the DPRK gets pushed off the radar from time to time. And our country is busy with the war in Afghanistan, we have our economic problems, and it seems like this is a long way away from anybody, and who cares?

But we better care, because if war ever erupted on this peninsula, it would drag United States, China, Russia, a number of nations into a conflict nobody wants. And if we ignore it the problem is not going to go away. If we pay attention to it I think we can solve it, we can resolve these issues.

Sixty years -- this is nuts. Our armies have been facing each other for 60 years.

I'm a minister. I spoke to Deputy Foreign Minister Kim about things of faith, about giving more freedom to the people of faith of this nation. And he listened.

We have asked for permission to build a church for the diplomatic community here. Diplomats come from all over the world to be ambassadors here. There's no place to worship. And many of these diplomats are people of faith, and we would like to have a place where they could worship.

We're going to continue to help them with dental centers, we're going to continue to help them with a number of projects where we can -- but I want to try to build bridges of understanding between the United States and the people of the DPRK.

And, Greta, the best way for that to happen is face to face, looking at a person eyeball to eyeball.

If we talk to each other through somebody else, how does that work? I would hope that the American people and the Obama administration, and I pray for our president and I would want to encourage him to pay attention here. I think he could do something that no other American president has been able to do in the last 60 years, and that is resolve this issue.

When President Clinton came and met with these people, this was huge for this country. And when Kim Jong-il gave amnesty to the young ladies that was big.

And let's just build on that and try to take it to another level. That's what I hope and as a Christian I pray that god would somehow speak to the hearts of those that are making decisions to talk to one another.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: Last year we took you to a hospital in North Korea. They were often performing surgery without power and in very dim lighting from the sun that was seeping through the windows.

Tomorrow night we're going to take you back to that hospital. Has it gotten better or worse in 14 months? You're going to find out. Your road trip continues tomorrow night.

October 20, 2009 - Inside North Korea, Part 2

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: And now your trip inside North Korea continues.

Fourteen months ago Reverend Franklin Graham took all of us to a North Korean hospital, and we were horrified by what we saw, doctors or operating in darkness, having to rely on sunlight seeping through windows to see.

And Rev. Graham is not a guy who can sit by when people are suffering. So after seeing the horrible conditions, he directed his humanitarian group, Samaritan's purse, see what he could do.

Right now you are going back to that same hospital. Now, it is important to note, during our entire trip, we had Korean minders with us at all times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN SUSTEREN: We are at Sarian hospital, which is about 50 miles, my estimate, from Pyongyang. Now, this is a hospital we visited 14 months ago because it was a project here that Samaritan's purse, Rev. Franklin Graham has with USAID. And revisited 14 months ago and they were in bad need of generators, electricity is. And what we saw was quite stunning.

Well, we came back today, and they have a generator up and running that USAID has paid for, Samaritan's purse has made sure that it has gone into this hospital. We have seen the operating room. They have electricity in the operating room. That is the good news.

The bad news is the intensive care unit. We went into the intensive care unit, and we were there for a while, and when we left I turned to to people and said, was that the intensive care unit? Because I was quite astounded. It was not an intensive care unit that was even remotely like anything that I've ever seen.

The reason that the Reverend Graham wanted to go into the intensive care unit is because they have very serious needs here. He wants to identify their needs and he wants to put something in, he wants to help these people, they want to come back and fix it.

It is this kind of aid, this kind of exchange of aid between the American people and USAID, Samaritan's purse, and the people here in North Korea that is making a huge difference in people's lives.

Franklin, what a difference a year makes.

REV. FRANKLIN GRAHAM, SAMARITAN'S PURSE: Greta, this is not only tremendous, but for the United States government to make this kind of investment, this is helping the people. And by putting electricity and this hospital, we were able to do free tool for USAID, it is saving lives. They have electricity. We're middle the surgery here for perforated ulcer that this person has.

But this is U.S. aid money that we spend to put a generator into this hospital. So I just want to thank the American people for making this investment.

VAN SUSTEREN: As an aside, the generator was made where?

GRAHAM: It is a caterpillar.

VAN SUSTEREN: In the United States.

GRAHAM: In the United States.

And Greta, we were told that we could buy a generator from China or from some other country, and I said absolutely not. If we are going to invest American, U.S. aid money in this country, I wanted to use American technology. And so we chose Caterpillar, which we believe is one of the best.

VAN SUSTEREN: And look at the electricity in the light over the surgery over this man's abdomen. In some instances, were they at some point in time using mirrors to transfer light?

GRAHAM: Last time, yes, it was very dark. And they were having to work very close to the window to really get as much light as they can.

But now, of course, they have a very modern light. The doctors concede.

VAN SUSTEREN: Even we can see where we are.

GRAHAM: We sure can. So this is wonderful.

So it is USAID money, it is here, it's been implemented, and I think it was a good investment.

VAN SUSTEREN: We were in here 14 months ago.

GRAHAM: Yes. And, Greta, it is good to come back and see that generator installed and producing electricity for the operating room and for other areas of the hospital.

But one of the things that they needed, they did not have the power cable to go and connect this hospital to the national grid. And so one of the things when we sent this generator over here, we put in the container enough cable to hook them up to the power grid as well.

The power grid is not always stable, but it gives him another opportunity that encase the generator is not on, they may be able to tap into the national grid and get some electricity too.

But this is very important to see this generator installed and now producing lectures for the hospital. So I wanted to say thanks to the American people, USAID, or making an investment like this and the people here in the DPRK.

VAN SUSTEREN: And that small box is doing the work of what along the line is doing?

GRAHAM: This whole panel behind us.

VAN SUSTEREN: The whole panel?

GRAHAM: That's right.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, the government of North Korea and United States still have no diplomatic relations and none in the very near future.

It is interesting to note how different organizations inside North Korea and people from the United States are trying to work together to do things to be better for the people.

For instance, let me point out to Samaritan's purse here. Samaritan's purse has a local dental place. We showed it to you last year when we were here in North Korea. And it started first with reverend Billy Graham. He had the first one. And this is the second one.

And they simply go around communities and help people get on dental care, because, as you might imagine, people here in this country don't always have access to the best dental treatment.

But here's something else on my right, which is the newest addition to -- contributions by Samaritan's purse. And this is a dental clinic that is going to open in April. And we were inside a look at some of the equipment that Samaritan's purse has already sent over to help get the dental plan it up and running.

But what is interesting in what would really help this clinic is if there were an exchange of dental technology and dental training.

So one of the things that the Rev. Graham is working on an at least hoping to get and get a little cooperation between the two government, North Korea and United States, is to facilitate away so that people could perhaps go to the United States and get some training done, or perhaps dentist can compare and provide training as well as the exchange of technology, something simply separate and apart from the differences between the two governments, simply trying to make it better for the people of this country.

GRAHAM: One of the things we feel is important in giving equipment like this is giving your best. As an American, I do not want to just come over just give our old, used junk to them. But if we are going to do it, let's do it right.

And the problem is -- I am a pilot. I cannot learn to fly an airplane by just reading a manual. It takes many weeks of training every year. Over one month of training I do just to stay proficient.

We need to get their dentists to our country, a delegation to visit our dental schools, so that we can give some training to them. But at the same time, we want to be able to bring dentists here so we can do training with them here.

And just because you have good equipment -- we want to give our best, but we have got to give the training to go with it.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did Samaritans purse to give this equipment, or is this USAID money?

GRAHAM: No, this is Samaritan's purse. This has nothing to do with USAID.

VAN SUSTEREN: And it's to complement the mobile dental units that you have.

GRAHAM: The first dental clinic, the mobile unit was given by my father back in the early 1990's, and we gave the second one back about eight or nine years ago.

But this is a dental center that is, of course, permanent, but they needed equipment. They did not have equipment, so they asked us to help them.

VAN SUSTEREN: It is interesting -- you have said over and over that you are not here representing the government, but that you are here on behalf of Samaritan's purse. And if so many of these issues do have an impact on Samaritan's purse and how effective it can be.

GRAHAM: It does, no question. But I am a citizen of the United States. And I think it is important that all of us are always ambassadors for our country. I want to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ, but at the same time, I am an ambassador for my country.

And so as this equipment comes to the DPRK, we are Americans. That is a GMC truck. It's made in America. And I am proud of my country and the equipment we are able to bring to share with these people.

So it is important to be an ambassador for our country and important to be an ambassador for our lord and savior Jesus Christ.

VAN SUSTEREN: I'm just curious -- when you can buy American equipment to send here as opposed to some other country -- do you try to buy America?

GRAHAM: You had better believe it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: Tomorrow night in part three of your trip, you are going on the Pueblo. Our U.S. naval ship was seized by North Korea in 1968. The North Koreas kept our sailors for almost a year before letting them go, but they decided to keep the Pueblo.

Reverend Graham suggested to the North Koreans that it is time to return the Pueblo. What did the North Koreans say? Your trip continues tomorrow night. Don't miss that.

October 22, 2009 - Inside North Korea Part 3

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Did you know that in 1968, North Korea seized our sailors, calling them spies, grabbed one of our navy ships. After 11 months they finally let our sailors go, but our navy ship, they kept it. They still have it.

We went to the secretive communist country with the Reverend Franklin Graham and his humanitarian group Samaritan's purse. We asked North Korea if we could see our seized naval ship, and they said OK.

So here you go. This is yours, this is the Pueblo. And by the way, the women you're about to hear is a tour guide who gives the North Korean version of events, much of which is disputed by the U.S. government.

Keep in mind, during our trip, we were with North Korean minders at all times.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: We are now going on the Pueblo, which is a surprise. This is the ship that was captured in 1968 and, obviously, never returned. It has been here in North Korea. This is an American naval ship.

VAN SUSTEREN: Can I understand this? So your ship shot through here? Your guns shot through here and caused this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is commanding bridge. The captain was sitting on that bridge and organized the expedition. So when captured this ship, we jumped on the ship and took the commanding bridge. And they arrested the captain.

And they wanted to know how many were on this ship, but there was a language difference, Korean and English. So the young soldier with the captain, put a paper on the maritime chart table. The captain wrote on the paper, "77." If this is lying, we will kill like this. So he added six officers. So we found on this ship 83 people.

REV. FRANKLIN GRAHAM, SAMARITAN'S PURSE: Greta, this is still a U.S. vessel. And I suggested to the government of the DPRK that they returned the Pueblo.

When we try to build bridges to the future, there are some chapters in the past that need to be close. There was a brave American crew that sailed this ship. One man lost his life.

And I think for many military families, they remember this incident. And so I would hope that the government could return the Pueblo.

Not that we need another ship, and, of course, this would never be seaworthy, but it is a symbol of the past. And if we are going to have relations in the future, good relations, we need to, I think, have some new beginnings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: Now, you get to see the world famous North Korean performance called Ari-Dong -- 100,000 North Koreans performing in unison celebrating war, nationalism, the dear leader Kim Jong-il, the great leader, Kim Il-Sung.

And this year there's something else, the North Koreans very tight relationship with communist China. Few western eyes ever see this.

Video: Click here to watch the performance

VAN SUSTEREN: Go to GretaWire.com for a behind-the-scenes look at our entire trip to North Korea. We have pictures and blog entries you will not get anywhere else.

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