and a commitment by kim jong-un to stop nuclear and missile testing. we'll bring that to you just as soon as it begins. we are waiting on this. it will be happening momentarily. very big news out of the white house tonight. also this thing. president trump keeping yet another campaign promise imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. the signing ceremony said it all. the president was surround by steel and aluminum members. not members of his own party who bucked the president. attorney general jeff sessions said he's seriously considering apoints a second special counsel to investigate fbi corruption and government surveillance abuse. but will sessions follow through? we take that up tonight. our guests this evening. two of the best political analysts in the business. ed rollins and charlie hurt. and congressman sean duffy is joining me to discuss the gop's opposition to tariffs. and general jack keane on south korea's announcement expected any moment now. more on our breaking news. a major announcement about north korea. south korea's national

and agree to meet with kim jong-un. now, we are hearing from sources here at the white house, that the president is perhaps not likely to do that. that he's already being counseled that that would be a bad idea. but, erin, as you know, past being prologue, we have seen the president defy the advice of his advisers before and go in a very different direction. so i this i it's totally up in the air to what the president will ultimately decide on that front. and also point out this may be more than just an invitation from kim jong-un. there are these talks that have been going on between the south koreans and north koreans and i'm told that the content what we'll be hearing from the south korean leader in just a few momtds is, quote, interesting. so there is going to be more, i think, than just this information about kim jong-un inviting the president of the united states to meet with him. but make no mistake, we have gone from the president referring to kim jong-un as little rocket man, and the president talking about fir

jong—un .ido not between donald trump and kim jong—un . i do not think that if it happens ido . i do not think that if it happens i do not think that donald trump will go to pyongyang. we could date ta ke will go to pyongyang. we could date take place? they could organise a demilitarised zone, the other obvious option would be china. it could be seen and it is that —— and it could be seen and as an honest broker. they have organised the six party talk process. people remember this went on the years, rounds and rounds of talks in indian north korea it seemed it had agreed, to give up its nuclear weapons programme, and then all of a sudden it pulled out so china has seen north korea pullout of these sort of talks before and, of course, they will be under no illusion of these just being a first step but nevertheless it will be definitely welcomed here in beijing. there will be the worry that the rest of the world is being played, won't that? that they have done this before, and it could be a political win in front ofa man it could be a po

"i won't rule out talks with kim jong un, i just won't. as far as the risk of dealing with a bad man is concerned, that is his problem, not mine. it is his problem." less than a week later, a security advisor came to the white house. watch the optics here, profusely thanking and praising the president. here he is, the south koreans announced a meeting in front of the west wing without any american officials here. >> we are optimistic about continuing a diplomatic process to test the possibility of a peaceful resolution. the republic of korea, the united states, we stand togethe together. we hope to not repeat the mistakes of the past and that the pressure will continue unti until -- >> there is a lot to learn from, since agreeing in 1994 to freeze its plutonium weapons program in exchange for aid, north korea broke their word in 2002, it started operating nuclear facilities again in 2003, promised again to abandon all of their nuclear weapons programs in 2005. that wasn't worth much. they conducted their first nuclear test in 2006. in 2007

the big risk here is kim jong-un has not delivered on anything. he's talking good, he's got from a bomb thrower to being a thinker. he's setting the agenda in the peninsula, but we should take advantage of this. i agree the president should accept the invitation, and he has. but he has to be prepared, a lot of ground work. i don't think the north koreans are going to denuclearization, but a deal that deals with nuclear activity, artillery, south korea deserves a lot of credit and they want some kind of lessening of tensions in south korea because there's 25 million people in south korea that are vulnerable. our troops in south korea and japan. so i tip my hat to both of them, although i'm worried we don't fall into a trap. >> the president just tweeted. kim jong-un talked about denuclearization with the south korean representatives, not just a freeze. also no missile testing by north korea during this period of time. great progress being made but sanctions remain until an agreement is reached. meeting being planned. >> their key strategy has been

kim jong-un, it says another thing. even though china joined with the united states and other countries in adopting u.n. security council resolutions that china is still kim jong-un's ally. and finally, both the meeting with president xi and forthcoming meeting with president trump does something for kim jong-un. it puts him on the same level of two of the world's great leaders of two great countries. so it serves a lot of purposes all around. >> would you agree, as i sort of intimated in the lead-in to you, that actually kim has been leading this diplomatic charge, kim jong-un? >> in some sense, i think that's right. when he met with the south koreans and south koreas came to say to president trump that he had an offer from kim jong-un to initiative.was a real and president trump flexibly and quick lly responded and said he was willing to meet. that has really transformed the landscape in terms of how -- what are the options for resolving this issue short of war. >> so it looks like these meetings, first with the south

jong—un. tangible results from the kim jong-un. now obviously, there is a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes. to get to this stage, to get to the white house saying that donald trump will accept this kind of meeting, do you think that when you talk about the commitments, what more can be done, apart from nuclear weapons, apart from the possibility of handing over those four or five missiles? well, there are americans being held in pyongyang, they could being held in pyongyang, they could be turned back over. north korea has issues we could deal with on the human rights issue, i do not know that we will make any serious progress there. we could have discussions on the nature of the exercises on both side and do like was done towards the end of the cold war in having monitors in opposing sides exercises. pyongyang hasjust completed three months of training exercises, or they are just completing them. there are no monitors there and there are not going to be at this stage any north korean monitors at the us, south korean mon

jong—un. between donald trump and kim jong-un. that is right. the main issue at play is north korea's nuclear programme will stop at the north koreans always state it is a bilateral issue between washington and pyongyang. while china did play and pyongyang. while china did play a big role in engineering the talks, this time, and since any real agreement between washington and north korea, it is hard to see what role china can play. that being said, china will be very interested in knowing what is going to happen. it doesn't like surprises. and it doesn't like being left out of the process. thank you so much are joining us. chad o'carroll. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we take a look at the thin —— will have more are now breaking story office tower. the confirmation that kim jong—un did visit beijing —— breaking story this hour. he met with xijinping of —— breaking story this hour. he met with xi jinping of china. we will have more on that. let there be no more wars or bloodshed b

will he invite kim jong un to the united states? or could kim jong un invite president trump to pyongyang? we have no idea where the meeting takes place. the key players don't have any idea yet either because this came together -- who would have thought six hoursing a this would be happening. now here we are. >> what is the significance of in request conveyed through the south korean national security adviser. outside on the lawn of the white house? what's the significance of that? >> well, the fact that you know, chung eui-yong. therm in seoul had a quick did he brief with president moon and flew to washington went straight to the white house, heaped praise on president trump for setting -- you know, the tone for creating the conditions to make this happen. you might have noticed in the remarks from the south korean security chief it was alall at first about praising president trump. music to his ears. in allows president trump to proclaim that he is the president who has made this happen, who made history. it's exactly what presid

kim jong-un or donald trump? diplomatic drama overnight, confirmation that north korean leader kim jong-un did meet with chinese leading xi jinping. it's one major step in kim's choreographed march onto the world stage. president trump is saying there's a good chance he'll choose peace and denuclearization under maximum pressure from washington. the white house is celebrating what it considers its first trade deal, this one with south korea. cnn's abby phillip with the latest. first, on the north korea activity overnight. >> reporter: john, this is a president who seems pretty much happy with the way things are unfolding. that extraordinary meeting between kim jong-un and president xi in china led president trump to tweet this morning he's optimistic about the potential meeting with the north korean leader. he wrote for years, through many administrations everyone said peace and denuclearization on the korean peninsula was not even a small possibility. now there's a chance kim jong-un will do whalgs right for hum

i hope the president responds to kim jong-un in an effective way. so that, hopefully, the world can breathe a sigh of relief here, if these negotiations can bek begin in earnest. >> let's see what this south korean announcement is. let's turn, in the meantime, mr. secretary, to the president's announcement today on new tariffs. are you surprised that there hasn't been more pushback from congress? >> well, obviously, i expect that those who are critical of this decision, as they should be, because what the president's announcement means today, in real terms, is that we're -- we are now going to open up a whole trade war, with countries across the world. there's no question that those countries are going to retaliate, that as a result of that, the prices are going to go up in this country, industries are going to be impacted, jobs are going to be impacted. the americans are going to have to pay a tax as a result of these tariffs. that the president is implementing. and it would seem important now that the congress take steps to make clear that we need

jong un and remember this was not just kim jong un's first visit to china it was his first visit outside of the country since becoming that country's leader more than six years ago the two leaders talked and that talking is going to continue china is hopeful now that the momentum from this visit will continue. so he was here after all chinese state controlled media waited until kim jong un was back home before confirming what officials had tried so hard to deny just a day earlier in the great hall of the people kim jong un and his wife were welcomed like old friends by president xi jinping a brief greeting in korean was the only time kim's voice was heard. appearance is important at times like this kim looked like an old style communist leader where is she opted for a business suit. the wives of both men were present during most of the photo opportunities. this visit was powerful symbolism for both men but especially for president xi now the first world leader to meet kim and a reminder the china still holds sway over its neighbor and allies. it's not clear what motivated kim jong un to

invite to me with north korean dictator kim jong-un. the u.s. is vowing to keep the pressure on. ed henry. >> and i'm melissa francis. a lot of new reaction coming in. word that president trump spoke to president xi jinping earlier this morning. the big story broke last night. south korea's security adviser announced the meeting between president trump and president kim jong-un at the white house. >> we talked about north korean kim jong-un is committed to denuclearization. president trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet kim jong-un by may to achieve denuclearization. >> we have fox team coverage. john roberts at the white house. we begin with jennifer griffin. she broke this details last

kim jong-un. around the same time, south korean president, moon jae-in, discussed the planned meeting at a reception for the paralympic games saying, vote, denuclearization and peace on the korean peninsula are beginning to be realized. the news was previewed when the president popped into the white house press room last night saying a major announcement was coming. this is a sharp reversal of the administration's previous positions, from the fire to fury comments to numerous presidential tweets, including one slamming efforts by his predecessors, declaring, talking is not the answer. the news came, it seems, without input from secretary of state rex tillerson, who is in africa. he discussed the talks with north korea before the president's surprise announcement though. >> in terms of direct talks with the united states, and you asked negotiations, we're a long way from negotiations. i think we need to be very cl r clear-eyed and realistic about it. >> let's take a realistic look at the reality on

that provides more space for kim jong-un. but let's be clear, the sanctions against north korea have stepped up dramatically under the trump administration, and in large part because of the trump administration. china, thee on pressure of preemptive strikes against north korea, led the chinese to take the issue more seriously, and led them to support greater sanctions from the un security council, unanimous sanctions driven by the u.s. they have cut back on smuggling. they have started cracking down on joint ventures between china and north korea. none of that is good for north korea. we should not be looking at this as early, pyongyang is getting the better of this deal so far. ramy: very quickly, china's role in this? how much does the international community have to think china for what is happening? ian: the chinese have the most at stake, they're the ones you have been funding most of the north korean economy. they have the most to lose. they have been constructive. i would expect the u.s. and trump will be more cautious

nor will he be offering what bill clinton gave kim jong un's father, kim jong il. b that was energy and billions of dollars. >> it's truly incredible, sean, what a massive difference one election makes. we have an administration that's not going to kowtow to evil regimes or fund terrorist regimes as you rightly pointed out with the iran deal. american leadership is back. we have a president who has walked the walk, talked the talk, and carried a very large stick., he stood up to this stalinist dictatorship in north korea. what's happened in a matter of just a few months, they've backed down and they'v want to talk after decades and decades of appeasement. this is the vindication of the president's foreign policy. after the crushing of isis, this is perhaps the biggestru foreign policy win that we have seen. it's less than a year and a half into the administration. this is a problem that has plagued the west, plagued the pacific region for decades. finally there is hope of resolution. remember what reagan said, trust but verify, but we on the way to stabilizing the

jane: is there danger that these talks could legitimize kim jong-un? that is something he is keen to be seen, a worldrl leader at a table. john: that is one of the state prioties during the six years of kim jong-un's role and the preparation for this. we saw elementof this with the kim regime. theounger sister headed delegation to the opening ceremonies and it looked like a state visit. this aspect of giving legitimacy to the regime of kim jong-un is a priority. right now we have to look at the retroactive cditions being discussed. although there is a presidential agreement from president trump that he will mt with kim jong-un, there's a lot of different hurdles to get through beforehand jane: john park, thank you very much for joining me. john: my pleasure. jane: just before the announcement on north korea yesterday, president trumpif imposed tariffs on imported steel andth aluminum, n teeth of opposition from many in his own party and global allies. the ropean union has already threatened retaliation. harley-davidson motorcycles could be targeted --

president, would you be willing to meet kim jong-un? >> we'll see what happens. >> a lot of interesting highlights, especially going back to the campaign and then as president. you would think a lot of times people who say stuff on the campaign tone it down and become more diplomatic once they become president, but the president has used his biggest language in the white house like little rocket man. >> i wonder about the state dinner. we'll see. and dennis rodman has made his way into this. >> interesting to see if he will play a role at all, former ambassador to north korea, dennis rodman. before we toss it over to "morning joe," let's check on the stories coming up in the day ahead. residents in florida are waiting to see if governor scott will sign a gun law bill following the shooting atjory stoneman douglas high school. governor scott will be meeting with families of victims of the school shooting today in tallahassee. >>> former pharmaceutical executive martin shkreli's sentenced today. prosecutors want 15 years, but his lawyers

justice since november, kim jong-un -- just since november, kim jong-un is facing an economic crisis it has never seen before. it has been able to hold its currency steady, and in this kind of environment, doing so means you are making a tremendous effort not to increase your own money. i have released a paper on this exchange problem they have. surprised kim jong-un is now reaching out suddenly to south korea and washington. as we saw last night, even beijing. he is looking for help, no doubt in my mind. this to me opens up a huge , fortunity for all of us south korea and for china, to change north korea. i don't use the term now, ition, but right don't so much talk about nuclear weapons. to me, the main problem with north korea is something that in 1945, thisem , terribly ossified socialist command-economy system. everyone else in the world has thrown that out, even cuba. north korea looks like it is marketizing, but the command there, andstill about half of the population live in this basic slave kind of system, and they cannot get rid of it. i would say this is a great opportunit

trump to stick to his policy and bring kim jong-un to the world. anchor: there is a a lot of movement to make something concrete happen. is the united states government prepared to handle talks moving forward negotiations -- in negotiations? >> what was set of the u.s. government in the last few weeks was very different views in washington. you have the view of donald trump. you have the view of the peaceful people who are in favor of a diplomatic move. you have also people in favor of stricter constraints on north korea. the american policy is not clarified. if you look at mr. tilson's reaction, it shows he was very surprised. anchor: he was surprised by the offer and the president's handling of it. thank you. next, we cross to developments out of kenya where there is apparent movement in the ongoing political crisis. the president and the opposition leader has promised to heal divisions. the politicians made their first publicic appearance togegether n the steps of the presidential , this since last year's contentious elections. he was sworn in f

jong-un who said in a statement "a word of warning to kim jong-un. worst possible thing you can do is meet with president trump in person and try to play him. if you do that, it will be the end of you and your regime." dana? >> dana: john, you mentioned -- i was looking at lindsey graham. he probably knows what he's talking about. you mentioned that there's another story. that could be delaying the briefing a couple minutes while sarah sanders just gets her ducks in a row. she's probably going to get questions about some new details regarding the litigation with stormy daniels. >> she will, yes. another twist in the stormy daniels story. this one that michael cohen, the president's personal attorney used a trump organization, not a trump campaign, a trump organization e-mail to negotiate the terms of a nondisclosure agreement with stormy daniels whose real name is stephanie clifford. also to make a bank transfer in order that he could pay her $130,000 for her silence. the reason why this is important is because michael cohen has maintained that the p

why haven't we talked to kim jong-un? here ishat we have seen notthat the present -- is that the north koreans have taken positive steps to release tension on the pill into a other than opening up a channel to the south koreans. holds out the possibility of the talks over and over again and the world rushes in and they get something. food, aid or fuel which benefits them and then they returned to their own ways. host: based on what you know of the north korean government, if this meeting would take place, how much coverage of that would it get in north korea and what would it give him in north korea? guest: north korea is not a democracy. they don't actually care that much about what their people think other than as a propaganda piece to show their people that they would say he is being respected on the world stage and they want to make him seem as an equal which is not true. him. an internal boost for host: let's get back to your phone calls. maurice is joining us. i don't you can't discount the ultimate outcome of a reu

and kim jong un returned the favor with insults lobbed at the president. and then it was over the summer, it was an extraordinary moment when the president warned the north korean dictator that he would meet fire and fury like he's never seen before. we had the scary moments over the summer where people in guam were concerned about their safety at one point. about what might happen there. and it's remarkable that things have developed to the point where these two leaders might actually get together and meet. it it just goes to show you that this president, and we were hearing about this before chung young came out and spoke to the microphones, we were hearing from senior administration officials that they were basical basically cautioning the president against this. that was not going to be their recommendation. but trump being trump, it is not unusual to defy his advisers and go with a bold move like this. of course, anderson, the potential ramifications of all this, we can't overstate, obviously, this is not reality television. this is not "the apprentic

. -- cankim jong-un been kim jong-un be trusted as a negotiating partner? >> based on them following through with concrete actions on the promises they have made. >> lindsey graham said about this news, he said word of warning to north korean president kim jong-un, the worst possible thing you can do with donald trump in person it to meet in person and try to play cam. -- try to play him. think lindseyi graham knows president trip is one of the best negotiators and he has great confidence in his ability and is glad he will be the one at the table for the united states. i think senator graham has been andhe other side of that certainly knows the capabilities and determination of president trump. >> [inaudible] sec. sanders: they have promised to denuclearize, they have promised to stop missile testing, and they recognize we are going to continue in our military exercises. the united sits has made zero concessions. but north korea has made some promises. this won't take place without concrete action that matches the promises made by north korea. >> do you thi

so kim jong—un is obviously interested in preventing that. and trying to persuade xijinping that preventing that. and trying to persuade xi jinping that he is willing to work with the united states on a diplomatic approach. the military options are all very bad, mainly because they run the risk of triggering a much larger conflict on the korean peninsula, and neither the korean peninsula, and neither the south koreans nor the japanese are prepared to support that. briefly, what you make of reports in a japanese paper, briefly, what you make of reports in ajapanese paper, entirely unconfirmed, as i understand it, that japan and russia also seeking summits with kim jong—un?|j that japan and russia also seeking summits with kim jong-un? i think the japanese prime minister abe has already indicated he is willing to have a settlement with kim jong—un to discuss japanese particular interests, which are abductees. and president to get involved in this cycle of summits as well —— president putin. i am sure he would like to meet kim jong—un.

>> can kim jong un be trusted, sir? >> sandra: that was the national security advisor of south korea following up on a promise by the president of a major announcement happen at the 7:00 hour. there you have it. he is relaying a message from north korea. kim jong un has pledged he will refrain from further nuclear tests with the understanding that military exercises will continue to be necessary. here's the big news on that potential meeting. he said kim jong un has requested to meet with president donald trump as soon as possible were his words. and he said the president has agreed to do so by may. we're going to dig in to all of this. this is an announcement coming from south korea after hours of meetings inside of the white house today. and the president came into the press briefing room a short time ago and said there would be a big announcement coming from south korea on the north. i want to check in with john roberts. he's outside the white house for us right now. john, did you hear what i heard? >> i heard exactl

this meeting with kim jong-un, is it ever going to happen? >> i think that's the question right now. there's a lot of things we haven't heard about time, place, ground rules. president is clearly signaling at his rally last night and on twitter that he wants to do it but there are folks questioning how is this going to work? >> this is better than shouting insults over twitter at north korea so i think this is an improvement. but the question is, what are we getting in return? what are the concessions we are giving just a meeting? for kim jong-un and north korea, the meeting is itself a very big deal. he can use it, propaganda back home on level with the president of the united states. but we don't want him to be allowed to get away with that. we want something in return and it's not clear to me what exactly are getting in return. >> i think one of the scarier questions is not just does the meeting occurred but what happens after the meeting? if they don't arrive at something that is acceptable to the world and to us. where do we go from ther

so i'm not saying he's on the ropes, kim jong-un. but i'm saying that the united states needs to have some very clear objectives. we cannot have any distance with south korea. they're our allies. but south korea has been helpful in this process. we have to reassure japan that they're not going to be vulnerable. and they're very nervous. i think china has to be brought in right now because they have been helpful, even though they play games with everybody. russia used to be part of the six-party talks. i'd probably keep the russians away right now. because they're meddling too much against our interests. so i want the summit to be a framework for future negotiations. we're not going to make a deal right there. but set up a process where we have a strategy, a diplomatic team, a military team with goals on denuclearization, on missile activity, conventional weapons and also -- >> i think, governor, that's the real question here, we're just about out of time, but to the point of clear objectives, do you believe the president has them? do

any other outcome i think plays to the advantage of kim jong un. is going into this with with his kind of chosen adventure and seeing that president trump really wants to do this does it isn't going to be well briefed on the situation and even having the meeting is probably one of the goals of kim jong un and in of itself so let's just hope that they come out of this there is no disaster from any of the summits and there's an agreement that negotiations are going to continue they're going to be young going in that contact will be maintained meserve thank you very much for that. joining us from chicago from seoul chadha carol and from beijing eina tangan and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website c.n.n. dot com and for further discussion do go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. and side story you can also join the conversation on twitter handle is at a.j. and side story from the elizabeth and the whole team here thank you very much for watching and bye for now. systemic

jong un's father, kim jong il would give up his nuclear program. clinton then went on national tv, patting himself on the back and saying "this is a good deal for the american people, and they ended up getting nukes anyway. you may remember. >> this is a good deal for the united states. north korea will freeze and dismantle its nuclear program. south korea and our other allies will be better protected. the entire world will be safer as we slow the spread of nuclear weapons. south korea with support from japan and other nations will bear most of the cost of providing north korea with fuel to make up for the nuclear energy it is losing. and they will pay for an alternative power system for north korea that will allow them to produce electricity while making it much harder for them to produce nuclear weapons. the united states and international inspector also carefully monitor north korea to make sure it keeps its commitments. only as it does so will north korea fully join the community of nations. >> sean: well, clinton was wrong. he was naive. he wa

will it be seen as a win for kim junk snun what it perhaps does is -- kim jong un? what it does is perhaps legitimatizes his regime. and does it give him faith? >> no, i don't think so. because remember, there's no concessions on the part of south korea or the united tates. neither south korea nor the united states have accepted the suspension to suspension plan where north korea suspends its testing and ballistic missile launches in exchange for the u.s. and r.o.k. spending their military alliance exercises. those exercises will take place in april and may this year. the sanctions will continue to be enforced. in fact, will probably be strengthened as time goes by. and i think perhaps the big difference here is that for the first time north korea is changing its calculus. >> and what is it changing its calculus to ultimately? >> it's never done that before as the way i look at the history of diplomacy. to denuclearize north korea in the past 20, 25 years. this is an opportunity. we'll have to see how it plays out. in the past, north korea has never, you know, actua

jong-un. they did host six is-party talks which fell apart about a decade ago. >> will, stay with us. this is an important conversation. no one knows what's going on on the ground better than you. joining us is david gregory and gordon chang. give us the plus minus of this. >> you have to follow-up on this opportunity. we cannot allow him to drive a wedge between seoul and washington. moon jae-in wants this prattly. trump really had very little choice in terms of what he was going to do. he didn't have to accept on the spot. by doing so, he made moon jae-in very, very happy. >> let's put up a graphic between the sticking points as we enter into potential negotiations. the secretary of state said we're nowhere near this happening at the same time the president saying it's about to happen. so full denuclearization. sanctions and maximum pressure remain. no missile testing. so there's really two of those on the side of what the u.s. wants. and one obviously relief that north korea wants. >> you k

kim jong—un as little rocket man, and kim jong—un was describing kim jong—un as little rocket man, and kimjong—un was describing him asa and kimjong—un was describing him as a dotard and lunatic. i think what is piling the pressure on north korea is these economic sanctions, as well as the fact that china is participating in those sanctions. we should probably be fairly cautious. it normally requires a lot of preparation, this is jumping it normally requires a lot of preparation, this isjumping for directly into the talks pretty much with very little time to prepare, but we will see. i think we have got two lea d e rs but we will see. i think we have got two leaders who are very different from the normal leadership models and asa from the normal leadership models and as a result, anything is possible because they are not following the traditional leadership model. president trump keen to say that this is a result of his policies and his behaviour, which has as you said, alarmed many people with the rhetoric that has gone on and on both sides, but perhaps he has a point that actuall

kim jong-un was in boarding school in switzerland. it's been used for these sorts of meetings before, the u.s. and ussr, for example. we don't know and maybe the u.s. might put the conditions on where they meet as a way of starting to get om action from the kim regime, dave, about denuclearization and verifiable stuff north korea needs to do. >> to your point, we don't know the where or who. who could do this negotiation? we have no real diplomat in the region capable and familiar with the north. what's the reaction in the region this morning. >> reporter: the reaction has been positive. positive but also some karld with that. almost miraclerous was the description used by the president of south korea. president moon has been instrumental in pushing this process forward to this sage stage. he is saying this is a step one step in a long process. the meeting is a good start. japanese are much more basically we've got to keep maximum pressure, economic pressure on north korea. that is the point the u.s. and south korea both agree on, as

jong-un and what kim jong-un is looking for. and does his homework. you cannot go into this meeting and wing it. and he nieds to stick to talking points, which we know he doesn't like to do. you can't ad-lib when you are negotiating nuclear issues. >> a lot of things need to be worked out, including location, location, location. >> absolutely. the most important thing is the president understands that he can't go into the meeting making concessions on behalf of the american people and on behalf of the u.s. government. this needs to be a listening session. president needs to go into this meeting saying i'm here to hear what you have to say. and walk out having just heard what the north koreans have to say and bring that back to the career professionals who understand the north korean regime. >> go ahead, ron. >> i say from the north korean perspective, they may view this as already the president has's desire maybe they already gotten a meeting they could not get from other presidents because they demanded more in return. and desp

but now it seems kim jong—un wants to talk. he made his new position clear over food with south korean officials in pyongyang. it was the first time ministers from seoul have met the young leader. they say he is prepared to discuss getting rid of his nuclear weapons and they've now delivered a message from kim jong—un that caught many in the white house by surprise. he expressed his eagerness to meet president trump as soon as possible. the idea of a face—to—face meeting between president trump and kim jong—un by may seems remarkable, given the months of threats and insults between them. they will be met with fire and fury. rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself. but the tone has changed. on twitter, donald trump said that great progress was being made but that sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. however, that meeting is being planned. the us secretary of state seemed blindsided. just hours before coming he had this to say. in terms of the direct talks with the united states and us negotiations,

kim jong-un said to meet in the summit with a south korean president. most importantly with president trump in may. this visit is seen as a way for china to reassert it' itself diplomatic process. i have a contact very close to the south korean president what he told me, this complicates the process a bit. china does not like north korea's nukes. it wants u.s. to give up a missile system in the south, wants to back off on the military drills with south korea. might even like to see some of the u.s. troops get out of there. there's a bit of a mixed situation here. the final note on all this, north korea has promised denuclearization in the past even with other leaders in other chinese sessions. it's north over yet. >> i don't know how many leaders are engaged with very social media fashion. it will be interesting to see. thank you. acting undersecretary of state for public affairs says the president's pressur campaign isg fruit. >> the pressure is working. recognizing the destabilizing threat that north korea poses on the region but the world. without th

jong un why did kim jong un come here i think the president xi jinping wanted to know what his strategy was going to be during his meetings with the south korean president and also with president trump but did president xi have to offer any sort of in juice meant for a kid to come here we just don't know but what it does demonstrate quite clearly is that china still hold some sway over north korea and remember relations between these two countries who are supposed to be ideological allies have been chilled really for the past few years because of north korea's missile and nuclear program but now i think it's fair to say that normal service has resumed and these two countries have perhaps gone some way to repairing their relationship it was very interesting to see the chemistry between president xi and kim jong un president tree was dressed very much like a modern businessman wearing a western style business suit where is kim jong un was dressed very like an old style communist. leader bar the designer glasses that he tends to favor both men appeared to be quite relaxed in each other's c

jong il and other world leaders and the question is why is kim jong un changing his tune why now there are some who believe that the campaign of sanctions against north korea is starting to bite and they're forcing kim jong il into the negotiating table he rather says that he is in a more strong position that because of his leadership and because of the development of his nuclear and missile program he's more in a position now to leave the country to come to the table to talk with people like she jinping and donald trump and the warning from skeptics here in south korea is that if kim jong un is able to extract any concessions perhaps the lowering of sanctions against. south korea and its allies in a more difficult bargaining position when it comes to the end goal of denuclearization all right kathy thank you very much kathy novak there live in seoul in apologies for that tiny glitch on the line but that was kathy novak our correspondent in the south korean capital and further to what kathy was saying at the trump administration is very quickly claim some of the credit for the meeting

the offer from kim jong-un comes in through the south korean delegation that met with kim jong-un earlier in the week, and the president immediately says yes. >> again, i think quite a change, although the president has been telegraphing really both sides of the fence. i'll meet with him, but rex, don't waste your time doing diplomacy. really, we've been moving toward an engagement with the south korean president, moon jae in, as the mediator or the catalyst. >> there are enormous risks, though, if it collapses or if there's a failure. >> exactly. it's really a high-stakes poker game. you could win big or get taken to the cleaners. >> remember in 1972, a long time ago, nixon goes to china. that was a huge breakthrough. we've seen u.s.-china relations develop dramatically since then. but before nixon went to china, he sent henry kissinger, his national security adviser, secretary of state, to secret missions they worked out a lot in advance. have you seen any advance work right now involving high-level u.s. officials meeting directly with high-level north korean officials? >> not that we p

on state television, the soundtrack doubled as diplomatic music is kim jong—un kim jong—un greeted doubled as diplomatic music is kim jong—un kimjong—un greeted the delegation from south korea. he has offered to abandon the nuclear arsenal in returns for security guarantees from the us. the first time he has proposed that kind of deal but also to suspend nuclear and missile tests while engaged in talks. no wonder these are long—time adversary is parted on such cordial terms. it is a significant overture in decades. the response from president trump in washington, caution and so congratulation. to what you own this recent openness to talk? me. no, ithink that nobody got that, i think that they are sincere and i think they are sincere also because the sanctions and what we are doing with respect to north korea, including the great help that we have been given from china, they can do more, so i really believe they are sincere, i hope they are sincere and will soon find out. you can and tests from north korea have resented the gravest policy challenge for the us. he has responded with to

an invitation to meet kim jong-un. it is yet another example of the unpredictable and o chaotic nature of the trump administration. made within hours of the south korean delegation arriving at the white house. the president himself making a surprise visit to the white house press briefing room to tease the policy shift that they were unaware of before the decision was made. >> in terms of the decision to engage with president trump and kim jong-un. that's a decision the president took himself. >> the abrupt adjustment to american foreign policy offered a welcome distraction to a white house and a president under fire from accusations of an extra-marital affair with stormy daniels. daniels who was paid $130,000 by trump lawyer michael cohn before the election to keep quiet about her alleged affair with mr. trump is now suing the president, zg court the declare the nondisclosure agreement she signed invalid. the white house says the president denies the affair and knew nothing about the agreement with daniels. today it w

jong-un on question -- kim jong-un? where this could take place? i take it you would not want to have it in pyongyang. ms. sanders: we will not have those conversations between me and you and the press. those will be conversations that take place at a much higher level and outside this room. >> the south korean national security adviser said the u.s. responded positively to a request for a waiver on steel terrace. where are you on that? ms. sanders: the proclamation yes or said there were two countries that were specifically excluded, and there would be the opportunity for us to negotiate on matters of national security with other countries, and we will be doing that with a number of different countries. >> does the president think that tim john glenn is sincere -- kim jong-un is sincere about denuclearization? ms. sanders: the president is hopeful we can make continued practice. we know the maximum pressure campaign has been effective. we know it has put into men's amount of pressure on north korea, and may have made s