North Korea Surprise, WTC Simulation, Ethics Shmethics: NBC Allegedly Pays Paris $1 Million For An Interview

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"Morning Meeting" is a recap of our daily editorial meeting. If we had a show today, these are some of the stories you would probably hear.

Good morning all. We've got the team working on a podcast for later today -- we're talking with DJ Andy Langer about summer music festivals and our video producer Win Rosenfeld takes a look outside our own window with a feature on Bryant Park. All that plus headlines with Luke and Alison.

On to the meeting...

NEWSCAST: Christopher Hill, the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs, is in North Korea today to push for talks on ending that country's nuclear program, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is still not running for president, the president of Vietnam is in the United States this week, reaction to the president's veto of stem cell research is swift and blunt, the wife of a missing U.S. soldier faces deportation, the FDA issues a warning on toothpaste from China, Japan changes the name of Iwo Jima to Iwo To, and Sammy Sosa hit his 600th home run.

WELCOME TO NORTH KOREA: Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill is in North Korea today, it's the first time in almost five years that a high-ranking American official has stepped foot in that country. He's there to push for six-nation talks to dismantle Korea's nuclear program. The visit is being called a "surprise", which I don't buy, not even by half. These things are rarely surprises -- they are diplomatically choreographed, probably down to the suits and ties they wear. This might be nit-picky, but we thought "last minute" or "secretly planned" might be better descriptors for the meeting. One of the details of the visit, though, is fascinating enough to have a conversation about: The trip comes after the United States released about $25 million in frozen funds to North Korea. According to the U.S., most of that money was made through counterfeiting and trading missiles.

SEE BLOOMBERG NOT RUN: Mayor Bloomberg dropped his affiliation with the Republican Party, but stopped short of announcing a run for the presidency. We were all fascinating with this increasing game of "cat and mouse" when it comes to announcing whether you're running for president. Fred Thompson is doing a whole lot of soft-shoe before serving the American people with his announcement. Why so coy? I know traditionally candidates have tested the waters before making a decision, but it's become such a public game that we thought it would be good to have a conversation about how people play it before they actually start running.

WTC PLANE SIMULATION: Alison was struck by the video below that simulates what happened when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World trade Center on September 11th. It is creepy to watch when it first starts, but becomes fascinating as the clinical narration walks you through the science of it all. The simulation was done by researchers at Purdue University to better understand how the building's core was affected and how the fire that resulted from the crash hastened the building's collapse. We want to talk with the folks who did the project.

SHE KNOWS WHEN TO HOLD 'EM: We love this story about Beth Shak. This week she won $328,683 at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, it's one of the biggest poker jackpots won by a woman. She came in second in a No-Limit, Hold-Em $3,000 Buy-In. This is only Shak's third year as a professional player. We'd definitely have her on the show today.

GAH! I KNEW IT!: One of this week's Dear Abby columns has a letter from "Speechless In Michigan" that begins like this:

My husband and I have been invited to the wedding of some casual friends, "Ron" and "Barbie." We sent in our RSVP accepting the invitation, but already we're dreading the day. You see, a few weeks after we mailed it, we had dinner with them.

During the dinner, Ron and Barbie blatantly informed us that they had registered for expensive shower items (I had attended the shower) so they could return the gifts for cash. During the conversation, I mentioned I'd had my eye on a pricey vacuum cleaner I had seen advertised on TV. Barbie turned to her fiance and said, "Honey, we should have registered for that so we could return it for the cash!"

This is a brilliant scam, and one I've heard about before from a Crate & Barrel employee who, as I purchased some kitchen items for friends who had registered there, leaned over the counter and in a sotto voce said, "You know, they're just gonna return all this and get cash -- or a couch."

I was shocked! Shocked! And then I realized it's the perfect legitimate -- but sleazy -- scam. Our very own newlywed, Alison, has some insight into the matter and wanted to talk about it, we thought it would be a good conversation for a "Ramble." You can read the entire column here, find out what Abby recommends should be done about such devious situations.

NBC (REPORTEDLY) PAYS FOR PARIS: The NY Post says NBC's Meredith Vieira will conduct the first post-jail interview with Paris Hilton on The Today Show. It's also being reported that NBC paid $1 million for the opportunity. The Today Show is part of NBC News, which has publicly stated: We do not pay for interviews. So, we were wondering if they've had a change of heart. Does this cheapen their journalism? Or are people so jaded about journalists and the media in general that they don't care anymore? The story brings up some really interesting issues and forced us to ask ourselves, "If NPR had a million dollars for an interview, who would be on our wish list? And would we actually pay someone for an interview? Who is NPR's Paris Hilton?" We don't actually think we would ever write the check, but it's fun to think about. Does this story resonate with you guys? Or is this just journalistic navel-gazing?

Matt Martinez

10:47 AM ET | 06-21-2007 | permalink