>>> this is the north korea you know. this is the north korea you've never seen. stories you've never heard. is that a legend or did that actually happen? >> translator: our general is someone who's heaven sent to us. >> reporter: places you've never been. people with a common enemy. who do you want to fight? >> translator: we fight the sworn enemy, americans. >> reporter: unprecedented access, hidden from the world until now. come with me to the secret state inside north korea. a nation holding its nuclear sword over the u.s. and its allies, threatening to strike at anytime. a society in a constant state of readiness for war. i've reported from north korea more mothan a dozen times over the years. each time we open the door a little more. and see this country and its people in unexpected ways. just like this. yep, even in north korea kids love video games. for these 14 and 15 year olds, these aren't just games. this is practice for real life. most oaf these boys and a lot of girls will spend most of their adulthood serving in the north korean state army just like

and north korea with regards to the olympics and how north korea and south korea can basically come together to allow those games to be played successfully, i think that would be an opportunity to at least begin the kind of dialogue that has to begin. >> let me ask you about the last time there were mass protests in iran, 2009 when you were in the obama administration. do you think the obama administration dropped the ball by not more aggressively standing with the protesters whether on its own or in congress with our european allies and others? >> i remember that -- that movement. it was a much larger protest than what we're having today. it was based on the green party and what happened in the election then. i do think that was an appropriate time for the united states to have sent a clearer message that we standby those who try to represent the rights of people. that's what the united states was all about. and it would have been important to have sent that message at the time. >> secretary panetta, thank you so much for your time. appreciate it. >> good to be with you. >>> coming

north korea takes on the world." gordon, what is your reaction to negotiate and south korea talki talking. >> i think one of the things we would be talking about if it were not for president trump's second tweet is that the sanctions are really starting to bi bite. we know that because he gave several hits that the country was hurting. that's a really important message. also, you have to remember that nikki haley, our u.n. ambassador spoke in the u.n. outlining the u.s. position. we would be talking about that. so right now the problem i think is essentially the united states, in the form of president trump, stepping on a very good story when we need support from the rest of the world. >> nikki haley said the u.s. won't accept a nuclear north korea. which seems to be, you know, a statement that is a little bit horse is out of the barn. but still, that's their statement. and she said that this will be a hard line position for them. that takes to the big question. do you think the president's tough talk has helped push

korea may have been a trigger for north korea to so quickly agree to these talks. from the time that north korea's leadser, kim jong un, indicated he might be willing to send a delegation to the winter olympics to the time these talks were agreed upon has been the span of a week. that speed is usual and it shows the north koreans are wanting to talk for a reason. they want to get something out of this and what they want to get out of it is the lifting of these increasingly tight sanctions on their economy which are limiting almost all of their legal exports and limiting what they can bring in to the country, especially something vital during the winter months which is their supply of oil. whether or not the united states deserves credit for that, we'll just have to see where these talks lead. these the discussions on tuesday, we're expecting to be very focused about the logistics for getting north korean athletes and a north korean delegation here to south korea just over a month from now to participate in the pyongchang olympics. there's a lot of skepticism not ju

south korea wants north korea to be part of that. that's what he suggested that he is willing to send a delegation. this is something that seoul is very excited about. they have billed this olympics as the peace olympics. to have north korea is part of it is something that the president said all along. he wants. it's interesting that we are seeing this very different two sides to kim jong un and whether he is looking ahead to deal with other countries. a year ago. we heard that kim jong un and certainly north korean officials were looking for a potentially new relationship with the new trump administration, but now we are hearing just nuclear defiance when it comes to the united states and the overtures are only towards south korea. clearly north korea feeling that last year there was a bad relationship between the two countries and bad relationship between the two leaders as well. they are looking at it. >> in seoul, south korea. president trump is tweeting about all the developments saying sanctions and other pressures are beginnin

this comes against the backdrop of talks between north and south korea, following on north korea's offer to have talks with south korea in advance of the olympics. potentially actually driving a further wedge between the united states and south korea. >> is it possible at all that this might -- you know, there's this madman theory of trump's behavior when it comes to north korea, which is he's doing all this in a way of scaring kim jong-un, in a way that barack obama and george w. bush who were considered too rational, would never have done. is there anything there? >> i don't know, i don't think so. no. i know the logic, and i get that, jake. but i think that the trick is knowing when to blink. and we don't know how kim jong-un thinks. we can't predict with any great certainty. we don't have great intelligence into how his apparatus works. the other thing even more important than that is his national security team has actually done a pretty good job managing the north korean crisis to date. they've got stronger sanctions than ever, they've got china to step up, yes they can do more but

korea -- how north korea terms of this? obviously, there is no real -- there's no u.s. representation inside north korea. they view us probably through a very different lens than other countries view us or that, you know, we may not understand the lens that they view us through. what do -- how do you think they interpret this? >> yeah, i think they believe this elevates kim jong-un because he's involved in a conversation that everyone can listen to with the president of the united states. now, it's a silly conversation, it's juvenile, infantile, all the rest of it, but nonetheless, it is two guys standing next to each other, and so the north koreans view that as really great. it does -- >> sounds like kim jong-un is on the same level -- >> on the same level as president trump, and clearly that should never be the case. we should never allow that to happen. and it wouldn't happen if our president wouldn't tweet out something like this. >> and congressman, as someone who's on the intelligence committee, you know, the u.s. pol

north korea is watching us in iran. the iranians are watching the way he engages with north korea and vice versa, so we've got a chance here to deliver some fatal blows to really bad actors in 2018. but if we blink, god help us all. >> the he in that is the president. the we've seen the president tweeting about north korea. we've seen him tweeting about iran. in terms of foreign policy, his strategy here, what do we know? what challenges confront him? >> well immediately what we're seeing specifically on iran is that president trump is really -- while he's -- his foreign policy is still emerging comparing to president obama's realism. where as he was mostly silent, president trump has been very vocal. obama was slow to condemn human rights abuse trump has been very vocal. president trump has inserted us into that conflict ongoing. le so, i would expect going forward president trump should deal with the exact inverse of everything obama did in 2009. >> lindsey graham added you can't just tweet here. you have to lay out a

is in range of a north korea strike. the ratcheting up of tensions raising alarm. >> there are potentially millions of lives at stake, untold death and destruction here. to me it is very disturbing. >> no one in the white house knows what is un's ugg admission point where one of these tweets is going to set him off and he will hit the button. >> rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself. >> reporter: the president responding after south korea showed is an eagerness to opening up talks with its north korean neighbor. >> north korea can talk with anyone they want. but the u.s. is not going to recognize it or acknowledge it until they agree to ban the nuclear weapons. >> reporter: the tweets about north korea, 2 of 16 messages the president sent on a range of on unrelated topics during his first day back in the oval office after the holiday break. mr. trump began the day attacking his own justice department as a deep state referencing a conspiracy theory. >> obviously he doesn't believe the entire justice department is

korea. >> to north korea. and to libya. that was the bomb that was intercepted and that's when kadafi went clean and his murder has persuaded kim jong-un that he should never abandon his nuclear ambitions and i don't think he ever will. we can just contain them hopefully. i think this is the right move. i understand there's a down side. some of the experts at the wilson center are warning about this, but i've been to the tribal areas where the network is headquartered. it's very close to the afghan border and have murdered our troops for years and made unstable efforts in afghanistan and i don't think this ever changes unless a sharp message is sent to the pakistani government. >> you had to deal with this. they cut off at one point -- there's only one access road, supply road into afghanistan for u.s. troops that comes through pakistan. there's another one but the russians shut that down. could they retaliate? >> sure. this would complicate our ability to resupply forces in afghanistan and put us more in need

gordon, you study north korea for years. how surprised were you by the language of this tweet and what effect do you think it has? >> extremely surprised. and the reason is, if you go through the policy options that president trump has, those policies he's pursuing, this tweet doesn't help any of them. you've been asking tonight, okay, previous policies haven't worked, maybe something like this will. but as you go through those options, you can see it doesn't help. that's really going to be the test. it doesn't help coercive diplomacy sanctions. it gives us problems with south korea. look, united states is crazy, so we should be helping north korea, and that's really going to be the test that we're not going to moscow and beijing. hard to do in any case, but much harder now after this tweet. >> it does seem that a lot of it is not thought out in general. it's more reactive and emotional. but for supporters who would say, well, there's the crazy man theory, the idea he's unpredictingble is a good thing and this adds to it. >>

so we should be helping north korea. and that is really going to be the test, that we're not going to get moscow and beijing. hard to do in any case, but much harder now after this tweet. >> it does z seem from the president's tweets that a lot of it is not thought out and general, it's more reactional and general. but for supporters who say there's the crazy man theory, the idea that he's unpredictable is a good thing and maybe this adds to it. >> the crazy man theory works if you're a country like north korea. it doesn't work if you're the united states because the rest of the world looks to you for security. the rest of the world looks to you to enforce the international order. you can't be the crazy one. and so that's really where this breaks down. so if you're north korea, yeah, look a little crazy, it helps. but not if you're the u.s. >> james, you worked in the white house, what do you make of this? >> i think he's speaking to the american people and trying to project strength. i don't know if he's doing it effect

-- into north korea, rather, in place. because that's what fuels their economy, it's what fuels their icbm and nuclear weapons program. and unless and until that happens, they're just going to continue on the development of this program. and then we'll be in a much more dangerous place later on this year. >> as cruknow the president has been trying to squeeze the chinese into doing what you're suggesting. the chinese have taken some steps. they certainly have not gone as far as the u.s. would like. how do you propose that the u.s. force the chinese to do what you're suggesting? >> the president has to say to the chinese that he demands that they cut off the oil. it's what happened in 2006. it's what happened in 1994. it's what drove the north koreans to the table in each instance. oil is the key. crude oil is the key. it continues to flow unimpeded from china into north korea. it is the key issue, oil. and unless and until the president puts it all on the table with china, insisting that that is the issue, then we are not

the third is the dispute with north korea. things tend to not get done in an election year so the president is focused on foreign affairs. >> thank you to our panel. >>> ahead, breaking news on the trump/russia dossier and the trump insider who was apparently working with the fbi. and the president's lawyers talked with the special counsel team. what did they learn? we'll be back. [ gasps, laughs ] you ever feel like... cliché foil characters scheming against a top insurer for no reason? nah. so, why don't we like flo? she has the name your price tool, and we want it. but why? why don't we actually do any work? why do you only own one suit? it's just the way it is, underdeveloped office character. you're right. thanks, bill. no, you're bill. i'm tom. you know what? no one cares. or a little internet machine? it makes you wonder: shouldn't we get our phones and internet from the same company? that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet. you get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. so all you pay for is data.

north korea. >> the "the wall street journal," as you know, quoted totally wrong but we'll see what happens with north korea. we have great talks going on. the olympics you know about. lot of things can happen. >> when asked if he spoken directly with kim jong-un the president, again, refused to answer. >> republican senator jeff flake expected to deliver a floor speech on wednesday comparing president trump's attacks to the news media to joseph stalin. flake plans to call trump's tactics, quote, an assault as unprecedented as it is unwarranted. >> the senator's speech reads in part it's a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken about joseph stalin to describe his enemies. it bears noting that so fraught with malis is the phrase that even the predecessor forbade its use. the president's action should be a great source of shame for the senate and republicans. senator flake is not seeking reelection in 2018. >>> in hawaii the emergency manageme

policy on north korea. do they have to give up before committing to talks. >> the policy is complete verifiable agreeable news. that is a policy that is commonly held by everyone in the region as well. the chinese have that stated policy and russia has that policy. recently all of the countries in the area. clearly that's going to take time. that is yet to be determined, but we clearly need a signal from north korea that these talks must lead to that conclusion. the path wail is the nature of the negotiation. that objective never changed. >> it's unrealistic to sit down and say we are ready to do it. it sounds like they have to show some willingness, but then the mechanics of that -- >> we have to have a shared view that that is the reason to talk. it is through those talks that they can chart the way for themselves for a more secure future and more prosperous future for the people as well. there will be positive outcomes for the security for the region. that's the nature of the negotiations. >> do you thin

the president's tweet on north korea bears repeating. "north korean leader kim jong-un just stated the nuclear button is on his desk at all times. will someone from his regime please inform him that i, too, have a nuclear button but it is a much bigger and more powerful one than his and my button works," exclamation point. general clapper, beyond the colorful language in the tweet here, is the president of the united states making a nuclear threat to north korea? >> i think he is. and i just think it's very disturbing. in one sense it would be amusing if it weren't for the gravity of the subject. when we're casually back and forth, by whatever means, kind of dueling banjo, who has the biggest male appendage, it's almost a manhood thing, when there are potentially millions of lives at stake, an untold death and destruction here. and to me it's very disturbing. the figure that kim jong-un uses, he has a button on his desk. i take that not literally. but the problem is that by whatever means that he calls out his strategic forces to launch

it depends on what north korea does next. and right on schedule, south korea got a phone call from north korea. there was a 20-minute conversation. the first time this has happened in two years. we are told they discussed technical issues concerning the communication itself, and then there was a follow-up call later in the day, and north korea initiated that call and the follow-up call was saying that business for the day had been done. not much there. south korean officials say there was no talk of future talks between the two sides or of north korea's participation in the winter olympics hosted by south korea next month, but that's the thought that precipitated this call, at least. we know kim jong-un announced he wanted a north korean delegation to go to the games and the south korea side has been extremely receptive to that idea, and south korea reached out saying they should set a date for high-level discussions on january 9th. they did take a first step in at least initiating the two phone calls to south korea. you just

the money sent to north korea as some kind of fuel sales. the fact that the north korean embassy in moscow, the u.n. spells out, has been used as a front for illicit acti activiti. whether or not donald trump has saying to do with the russia power, russia does not have the same leverage when it comes to the negotiations they want that. it is unclear what the united states can do to make sure russia plays ball on sanctions with north korea. >> paula newton, thank you. >>> still a nice blanket of snow in the south what is in store for the weekend? you won't be disappointed. you won't see these folks they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. >>> a freshman at the university of alabama no longer enrolled after posting two videos of taunts and racial sl

north korea denies anything to do with his death. it's unknown how the ruthless leader of a rogue nation marks a birthday and whether or not the official talks with south korea south korea which begin the day after will lead to a year of dialogue or more deadlock. paula hancocks, cnn, seoul. >>> a multipurpose assault ship and can deploy fight stelter jets that take off and land vertically. and undetectable by radar. in september they helped in the hurricane relief in puerto rico. >>> senator lindsey graham says the u.s. should boycott winter olympics. coming up just next month. late this hour, we will talk to an athlete said never again. he missed out on the 1980 u.s. olympic games because of a boycott that year. >>> only because i went to the best colleges, or college. i went to -- i had a situation where i was a very excellent student and came out and made billions and billions of dollars and became one of the top business people. went to television and for ten years, was a tremendous success, as you probably have heard. ran for p

diplomacy with north korea. >> reporter: let's start with north korea at the north and south arranging talks for next week. north korea now coming to the table. is that an opening, maybe, for talks with the u.s. or nuclear talks? >> i think it's too early to tell. we need to wait and see what the outcome of their talks are. president trump had a good call with president moon yesterday morning which i participated in and their intent is to talk about the olympics. obviously, very important upcoming event for south korea and the potential participation of north korea in those olympics so our understanding is that is the content of the meetings. so i think a little early to draw any conclusions at this point. >> it could be a positive sign maybe that north korea wants to engage a little bit? >> we will see. we will see. perhaps. i know some are speculating this may be their first effort to open a channel but as you know, we have had channels open to north korea to sometime and so they do know how to reach us when -- if and when they are ready to engage with us as well. >> maybe you'll be

north korea phoned south korea. we have the read out of what they said but of course the names have been taken out for security. what they said was the south korean official said this is x. the north korean official said this is x. that is all we have been given of what was talked about, but they do say it was more of a technical checking of the line. it hasn't been used since february 2016 although south korea has been calling that line twice a day every day since then to see if north korea picked up. but now we do have this communication between them. no word though on whether or not north korea is going to go along with south korea's idea of high level talks next tuesday to discuss north korea's delegation that kim jong-un is willing to spend to the pyeongchang winter olympics. we are not going to get a response to that tweet from the president from the south korean side. a few months ago talking to the south korean president i asked him about another tweet that trump had given and he basically said let's not rea

a new warning coming from north korea. leader kim jong un delivering a menacing message to the world and the united states. and his expectation of peace through strength. >> translator: america will never be able to provoke war or attack us. the entire continent of america is within reach of our nuclear attack. they must never forget the nuclear button is placed on my desk at all times. they must realize correctly this is not a threat, but reality. >> cnn correspondent barbara star is live. what do you make of this message and of how the u.s. might react to it? >> u.s. military commanders are going to be very consistent here. they take kim at his word and said they have to plan for the prospect that he is absolutely accurate. he could range the entire united states with his weapons. there are caveats. does he have weapons with the precision and the targeting and the ability to reenter the earth's atmosphere and put a warhead on the target at a point in time. all of those technical questions. those are all very serious ques

is negotiating directly will north korea. but, it is also worth noting, did this play right in the hands of north korea. when i was in north korea, i was struck that people had no idea of the university of virginia student who had died there or died shortly after being returned. >> warmbier. >> exactly. >> i think this tweet will be getting a lot of attention in north korea because it fits kim jong-un's narrative. he's protecting the country in weapons. [ inaudible ] >> it does not serve any clear objective of what we saw in the problem. >> secretary of state, rex tillerson, sat down with cnn in a rare and exclusive interview, he was asked of his future in the trump's administration, watch. >> i look forward to have a very, very successful 2018. >> for the whole year. >> i tend to be here for the whole year. >> has the president given you any indication that you won't be around for a while? >> none what so ever. >> quickly, what does 2018 looks like for tillerson? >> that he would not be around at the end of the year. he may

but north korea certainly wants things. also i forgot to mention the fact they probably want us to stop military exercises and there are some planned military exercises around the time of the olympics. south korea has said they would like that we do not hold those exercises. but the u.s. and south korea have not made a final decision on that. so north korea has a lot of things they want. and charm offensive may be part of that. >> kelly, trump says sanctions and other pressures are having an impact on north korea. you say perhaps that's true, perhaps that's what we are seeing here. but if these talk happen without the u.s. as part of the talks, is there any risk in that? >> i mean, there is it always risk, but i think we are in charge of our own diplomacy. so the important thing right now is having discussions with the south korean government, discussing with them how we are dwog to approach the talks as alliance. and that's going to be the most important thing ha we can do in this period of time. >> peter, former chairman

war with north korea. listen. >> we're actually closer, in my view, to a nuclear war, with north korea, and in that region than we've ever been, and i just don't see how, i don't see the opportunities to solve this diplomatically at this particular point. >> general, that is a sober assessment. how do you see it? >> i agree partially with admiral mullen. he's got a very good finger on this particular issue but i would say there is the potential for solving this diplomatically. what we're seeing is hyperbole on both sides. barbara starr covered it quite well when she said there's a disconnect between two the north koreans say they could potentially do and what kim jong-un could possibly do. they are certainly a nuclear power but they don't have the capability to launch those missiles yet but they're getting there. i think there is quite a bit of time left. one of the things continuing on reading md myrlie mull reading admiral mullen's state of the union address the fact he talked about the potential for mis

back open this morning between north and south korea. this just hours after the president, president trump's 280 character message to kim jong-un. anything you can nuke, i can do bigger. >> the president's tweet on north korea part of a wild and wide ranging social media tirade. he took aim at iran, palestin n palestinia palestinians, democrats. >> and the senate returns to washington today. top level meetings on tap. can the white house get its 2018 agenda off the ground? early start's coverage from seoul, jerusalem and washington begins right now t. welcome to early start, everyone. >> it is wednesday, january 3rd, 2018. when the novel troubling trump tweets is written someday, last night will get a prominent chapter. we start this morning with nuclear war being threatened. overnight diplomatic contact resumed between north and south korea. just hours ago north korea called south korea through a now revived communication line. discussions resume after a green light from kim jong-un. it's widely viewed as a way to drive a wedge between

north korea is talking to south korea. there's negotiations on going about the delegations cop together pyeonchang winter olympics next month. washington has been sidelined. it's a very different feel now. and not just because north korea has been firing so many missiles but the reaction from u.s. president donald trump. not just words that could be fire and fury but personal attacks against the north korean leader kim jong-un. there is a case that. officials say you just don't -- you don't offend. you don't insult personally the likes of kim jong-un because he is deified in north korea. it's sort of au red line you don't cross. the u.s. president has crossed it a number of times. he has talked about him being little rocket man. he has even in the united nations at the general assembly stood up and say if necessary, we will totally destroy north korea. so the relationship between these two countries and these two leaders could not be worse at this point. in between all that, you have donald trump also saying well, maybe i

and north korea. does it april pepear as though secretary of state and the president are on the same page? >> i think they're on the same page about a goal, which is some sort of peaceful talk that will lead to north korea giving up its nuclear program. i think the tactics are different. does rex tillerson think every time the president tweets about the nuclear button that that's a great thing? i think he tries not to focus on the negative and in his eyes turn that tweet into something he can use. in the interview he was saying, listen, what the president's tweets are doing are letting everybody know about the stakes. when i asked whether that rhetoric was helping and that led to talks, i think he was trying to suggest that north korea did sense that it needed to do something and maybe that opening to south korea and maybe it's trying to divide the u.s. and south korea, maybe it's an opening to them to talk to the u.s., we don't know, but i think he did give the president credit for kind of raising th

north korea. digest that for a moment. north korea a very dangerous place right now. chris cillizza, the president has a history of making eye-opening comments. >> rocket man, fire and fury. i'm interested to see what eye-opening would mean in that context. i think he's taken in his presidency that he be mor more aggressive and tougher when it comes to north korea. again, it seems like you already have the rhetoric throughout this year on north korea with 10. maybe this goes to 11. i don't see how you up it by taunting him and saying, we're going to bring fire and fury on you. rhetoric is not a policy, necessarily. >> we'll see if it's a proposal as opposed to just words. >> it very well could be, though. i think what this president has done, as previous presidents didn't do, is use the leverage we do have over north korea and that's via china. i think this president is aware that we are prepared to get tougher on china and we hold the cards. china is ved didready to get ton trade. >> china has di

side, they believe that the pressure they have put on north korea has helped to bring north korea to this point. we don't know what is in kim jong-un's mind, in the north korean leader's mind. it is difficult to know. it is a significant change that just in the last week we have gone from people talking about potential preemptive strikes or war and now talking about peace talks and they will be meeting in just two days. so certainly kim jong-un, he puts his mind to something, he moves very quickly. north korea's leader turns a year old on monday. he's young, but he's also ambitious and brutal. kim jong-un has gone further and faster than his predecessors by accelerating north korea's nuclear missile program. far outpacing his father kim jong-il and his grandfather kim il-su il-sung. north korea fired 23 rockets during 16 tests. the most recent one in november flew higher and further than any others. an achievement that kim boasted about during his recent new year's address. >> reporter: the entire united states is within range of our nuclear weapons. and a nuclear button is always on

south korea wants north korea there. but they have to hurry, they say if they want to iron out the details. it is potentially a significant development, but we will have to wait and see what north korea makes of that offer. poppy? >> whether they will come to the dmz and actually have these talks next week, paula hancocks, thank you. >>> joining me now, military analyst and retired air force colonel cedric leighton and security analyst gail [ inaudible ]. colonel, let me begin with you on the talks. if they happen there, incredibly significant between north korea and south korea, and the president has been actually pretty clear on this tweet, they could be good for the u.s. or bad for the u.s. it could be good for the nuss staving off -- for the u.s. in staving off acceleration of the program, potential for nuclear war. it could be bad for the u.s. because they could drive a wedge between the united states and south korea and china, for example. right? >> absolutely. poppy, it's a clear indication that kim jong-un is pro

north korea calls south korea twice last night. what was said, what does it mean for the future of diplomacy and the hopes of de-escalation? ooel talk abo we'll talking about it next. you do all this research on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. your insurance company raises your rates. maybe you should've done more research on them. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. eee . >>> so overnight, north and south korea reactivated a hotline that the two countries have not used in almost two years. this is very significant, but is it a breakthrough? >> reporter: look. it's symbolic, but if we break down the conversations themselves, they weren't exactly substantiative, and it's still not clear what the next step will be or if there will be another step. but let's not undervalue the fact that they did at least talk, which h

we have heard the discussions were going to is center around north korea sending a delegation here. this is something the officials have been discussing not publicly but privately for a couple of weeks. suggesting perhaps the olympics would be an opportunity to grow the friendship between the two countries, but that hotline that is now active really hasn't netted any results yesterday. the it's something we have to continue to watch. japanese prime minister speaking just in the last few hours not convinced this is a major break through. the he told reporters he believes this is the most dangerous security region since world war ii and that they need to keep taking measures to protect themselves. keep in mind, kim jong-un has promised to continue testing weapons, including nuclear weapons in this new year. >> thank you for that. >>> 29 minutes past the hour. president trump with a forceful takedown of his former top strategist, have you ever seen a tamtd from the white house like this? he says steve bannon lost his mind when he lost his job. what's ban non saying now about his though

you've been to north korea many times. bring us up to speed on the state of play here. >> reporter: it's really remarkable. i mean, also for the first time, we heard an assurance from president trump, when he spoke with south korea's president moon jae-in, that the u.s. will not engage in any military strikes against north korea alongside as the inter-korean talks are ongoing. president trump said he was never going to tell if or when he would strike. now he's saying he's not going to do it. he said he's open to speaking with kim jong-un. it makes you wonder if kim jong-un's strategy, is it starting to pay off? well, the u.s. president, donald trump, and south korea's president, they say actually quite the opposite. they say that north korea will denuclearize. but it might not happen right away. they say the talks need to continue. president trump saying he's opening open to speaking with kim jong-un, while still insisting that north korea give up its nuclear arsenal. but look at today's article in north korea's leading ne

this one on north korea. i want you to take a listen to richard haas, who we know served in both the bush administrations. >> so these words don't just have a domestic audience. these words have an international audience. does this make north korea more or less likely to do what we want to do and to maybe agree to some restraint? does it make south korea more or less comfortable with the fact that they are dependent on us as an ally? does it make other countries more or less likely to work with us to trust in the judgment of the president of the united states? that's the criteria. i'm all in favor of potentially tough language, if i think it's going to advance us. >> so, samantha, how do you read the president's "my button is bigger and more powerful than yours" tweet? >> well, the tweets are obviously ridiculous. but they're also really dangerous, when you stop to think about the fact that there are millions of lives at risk on both sides in this conflict. and we have to take a step back and try to think abo

both malaysia and south korea believe north korea to be behind the assassination and while north korea denies anything to do with his death. there is also another article earlier today on -- on the north korean newspaper, slamming the trump administration calling it the swollen headed trump group, slamming the national security strategy that mr. trump announced the end of last year. we don't have any direct reaction from north korea to what mr. trump has been saying recently, but they're continuing with that very dismissive tone when it comes to the u.s. government. >> all right, paula hancocks for us in seoul, thanks so much. we'll talk to you again next hour. >>> still ahead here on "cnn newsroom," honoring the memory of a man who spent more than four decades bringing americans closer to outer space. we'll explore the extraordinary life of john young, an astronaut's astronaut. >>> and getting back on schedule at new york's jfk airport, why the winter weather has hit international flights so hard. >> not happy. >> certainly not. >>> welcome back. search and rescue operations are under

seriously considered attacking north korea was in 1994. tensions were very high over north korea's nuclear buildup. then defense secretary william perry asked the pentagon to prepare plans for a surgical strike on a nuclear reactor in north korea. but perry backed off after he concluded that a strike would trigger a conflict that could have killed hundreds of thousands of people. so they've gone down this road before, wonderflf, and they've d off. >> thank you, brian todd. >>> coming up, president trump gets a clean bill of health from the white house doctor. but two key senators say their immigration meeting with the president last week was anything but healthy. can the president move beyond the vulgar tirade? i promise, to have and to hold, from this day forward through sickness and in health, till death do us part selectquote can help you keep your promise. with life insurance starting at under $1 a day but you promised daddy. come on. selectquote helped michael, 41, keep his promise, by finding him a $500,000 policy for under $26 per m

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that's helping north korea keep its weapons program alive. they need the currency, the supplies to keep it going, to keep their economy going. and the president taking a very tough line on russia for doing this. also again saying that china could do more. but what it's really doing is raising the question is the dilemma mr. trump is facing. if he wants to consider any kind of threat of military action, what north korea knows is that south korea would not agree to that right now at least south korea not in favor by all accounts of any u.s. strike against north korea at this point at least and you cannot do it without south korea's assent. going into year number two of the trump administration, the big question politically on the international stage perhaps from mr. trump, is he facing finally having to acknowledge north korea is a nuclear state, they will not give up their weapons. no indication kim is going to give it all up. and no indication there is a really viable military option politically against north korea. diplomacy, sanctions, look

there are many pressure points on north korea. when i was at the dmz back in august and meeting with folks who have left north korea and escaped to the south, met with experts in china and japan, there are many ways to apply pressure to north korea, but it takes a concerted international response, and that means respect for the president of the united states, which unfortunately, the world doesn't have and the president keeps undermining with comments like his statement on nuclear buttons. >> senator, quickly before we go, in michael wolff's book, steve bannon refers to the meeting in trump tower, the now-infamous meeting, as treasonist and unpatriotic. do you agree with those words? >> i agree that if the campaign cooperated and collaborated with the russians, it's treasonous. i don't think that all the details have been locked down yet. that's why we have an investigation ongoing. the president clearly hates that investigation, which leads one to suspect that there is still a lot more to come. but cooperation with the russians t

must modernize and rebuild its nuclear arsenal, painting to north korea. -- pointing to north korea. >> perhaps someday in the future there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their nuclear weapons. unfortunately, we are not there yet. north korea's reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland. we are waging campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from ever happening. past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. i will not repeat the mistakes of past administration that's got us into this very dangerous position. >> the guest of honor, a north korean defector. president trump telling how a train ran over his limbs as he collapsed from hunger as a child. >> he traveled on crutchies to freedom and brought the -- crutches to freedom and brought them with him. now pyongyang promising a new show of force. will ripley live in south korea. >> reporter: things are getting interesting as we lead up to the olympics next week. on the eve of the opening

against any threat from north korea. that's the word from defense secretary james matstis who spoe with his south korean counterpart on friday. as that face-to-face meeting between north korea and south korea looms, cnn's elise labott spoke exclusively with u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson. >> she asked whether or not north korea would be paving the way for talks with the us. >> well, some are speculating this may be their first effort to open a channel. but as you know, we've had channels open to north korea for some time. so, they do know how to reach us, if and when they're ready to engage with us as well. >> if you could, explain a little bit about what the u.s. policy is on north korea. i think americans are a little bit confused. dot north koreans have to give up their nuclear program before committing to talks? >> our policy is the complete deniable unrefutable elimination of nuclear proliferation. the chinese have it as a stated policy. russia has it as a stated policy. recently, all of the countries in the

korea, basically by providing fuel which is annish yoo u that north korea struggles with and needs from foreign providers. >> let me tick through a couple of these. let me read for people who haven't read it yet. on that putin-russia moment, russia is not helping us at all with north korea, the president said. he, vladimir putin, can do a lot. but unfortunately we don't have a relationship. i think it's too bad. but unfortunately we don't have much of a relationship with russia. in some cases it's probable that what china takes back, russia gives. the net result is not as good as it could be. did he expand on why we don't have a good relationship with russia? because he hasn't often said that. >> he didn't build on it much more than what we had in that story. the context is his chagrin over the russia investigaon and the fact he has wanted to have a closer relationship with russia and has often been very dismissive of the finding of the intelligence community that russia intervened in the 2016 election. this is sort of a constant theme with him. more broadly i think he's frustrated he's

also north korea is a focus. let's take a look at the tweet that the president sent out earlier today on north korea as well. he said sanctions and other pressures are having a big report. excuse me, you hear the overhead announcement, they are saying the press briefing will be at 2:30 but let's go back to the tweet. sanctions and other pressures are beginning to have big impact on north korea. soldiers are dangerously fleeing to south korea, rocket man now wants to talk to south korea for the first time. perhaps that is good news, perhaps not. we will see. so certainly a lot in there to unpack. but there is no question, north korea remains first and foremost the biggest foreign policy challenge on the president's desk here. so we will see what he has to say about that, of course, in the state of the union address later this month. and certainly i'm sure much before then. >> all right. jeff, at the white house for us. we will a wait that press briefing with sarah huckabee sanders, white house press secretary. tha

i just wonder what north korea is giving up here? if everybody has to give something when they come to the table, what is the north giving at this point? >> yeah, not much. they are getting a whole lot. they are getting funded to go to the olympics and probably getting the industrial zone re-opened, and they will be seen as being playing the new leader in south korea, but also playing president trump in this. they are getting victories across the board, and they are hopeful they at least come to the table and avoid war. they are being allowed to really attain the best of all worlds in this particular engagement? >> i want to ask you a important question, is north korea doing all the getting and none of the giving? >> so far. will ripley just reported that the south koreans are paying for the north korean delegation. that's going to be quite large. you have to remember, of course money is fundable, and that means every dollar paid to kim jong-un, that means one more dollar he can use for his nuclear program, and they were clear with m

north korea must denuclear iize give up its weapons. but kim is making it clear he will continue pursuing missiles and nuclear warheads. and tonight, there are growing signs that the u.s. intelligence community is seeing that north korea is preparing for another ballistic missile test. but these preparations came before the latest statements by kim jong-un. whether he really carries through on it and has another test is something the u.s. of course will be watching very closely. wolf. >> barbara starr, thank you. coming up, breaking news. the white house stands by as the president calls his own justice department deep state and attacks the former fbi director and a former e hillary clinton aide. is the president putting together and enemy's list to distract from the russia investigation? your insurance company won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing