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tv   Wolf  CNN  April 17, 2017 10:00am-11:01am PDT

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hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in washington. two 2:00 a.m. in seoul south korea. we start with a warning for north korea from vice president mike pence. during a stop in south korea and a visit to the zone between north and south the vice president warned kim jong-un not to test the strength of the united states military forces or the resolve of the american president. >> the era of strategic patience is over. just in the past two weeks the world witnessed the strength and
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resolve of our new president. in actions taken in syria and afghanistan. north korea would do well not to test his resolve. or the strength of the armed forces of the united states in this region. we will defeat any attack and we will meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective response. but as president trump made clear just a few short days ago, if china is unable to deal with north korea, the united states and our allies will. >> all this comes after more north korea luster, another failed missile launch and the threat of new nuclear tests. joining us are senior white house correspondent and our senior international ivan watson. jim, we expect to hear from the white house press is the sean spicer that's coming up, his daily briefing in the next hour. what is the white house saying now about the vice president's
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comments and the continuing threats from north korea? >> well, i think what you're hearing is a more muscular posture coming out of this white house right now, wolf. take for example, early this morning on the south lawn of the white house where the president was hosting the easter egg roll along with the first lady and the rest of the trump family, i had a quick moment to ask the president what his message was for north korea. here's what the president had to say. >> any message for north korea, sir? kim jong-un? >> got to behave. >> mr. president, do you think north korea can be resolved peacefully, sir? >> probably it can. >> so you heard the president there say they have to behave, they've got to behave and he opens this situation can be resolved peacefully. what you're hearing from mike pence and other officials is they are saying the era of
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strategic patience has ends, and even though you have a lot of thinkers in washington saying perhaps the president shouldn't give kim jong-un so much attention, you hear the president say this jim kong and t -- kim jong-un have got to behave. they are essentially saying doen don't dare us, don't take this risk. >> ivan, you're in seoul, south korea. what's the reaction to some of what guard this more aggressive stance towards north korea? >> reporter: well, they're caught between the regime in north korea, which is unpredictable which likes to surprise the world with nuclear tests and firing missiles that are banned by the united nations security council and a young u.s. administration that has
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also been somewhat unpredictable. and in some of his statements today here in south korea, vice president pence invoked two attacks within the last two weeks. the cruise missile strike on the syrian air base and that use of the moab also known as the mother of all bombs used against a suspected isis complex in eastern afghanistan. he argued that those showed american strength and resolve and he warned north korea not to test that resolve. so that was a pretty stark warning linking recent u.s. military actions to north korea. in the last hour we've heard from north korea's ambassador to the u.n. who has fired back and accused u.s. sabre rattling as he put it of raising tensions further on the peninsula. take a listen. >> the united states is disturbing global peace and insisting on the gangster like
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logic. >> the united states introducing south korea, the korean -- the world biggest hot spot seriously threatening the piece of the peninsula and pushing the situation there to the brink of war. it has been created dangerous situation in which nuclear war may break out at any moment. >> so there you have it. these two sides still kind of threatening each other. but vice president pence did have some other messages here. he talked about commitment to south korean peace. he talked about the demilitarized zone describing it as a frontier of freedom, and he also pledged to work in concert with the south korean government about any steps that the u.s. would take forward. wolf, you know well that south korea perhaps stands to lose the most if things escalated out of control between these two sides
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that are still technically at war ever since the korean war of more than 60 years ago. >> seoul where you are only about 30 miles south of the demilitarized zone. very tenuous situation right now. ivan, watson, jim acosta, thanks very: dana bash is the only u.s. television reporter traveling with the vice president mike pence in south korea right now. here's part of her exclusive conversation that he had with the american vice president while he was visiting the demilitarized zone between north and south korea. >> he said that the era of patience, strategic patience, is over. what does that mean in real terms? >> it was the policy of the united states of america during prior administrations to practice what they called strategic patience. that was to hope to marshal international support to bring annen to t
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an end to the nuclear ambitions of noorrth korea. the development of a nuclear program, even this weekend to see another attempt at a ballistic missile launch, all confirms the fact that strategic patience has failed. >> but what does it mean to end it in practical terms? it's either use military force or find a diplomatic solution that has eluded owl your predecessors. >> i think the president has made clear we're going to abandon the strategic patience but we're going to bring efforts to bring diplomatic pressure to north korea. our hope is we can resolve this peacefully. he was heart ented by his discussions with president xi. we've seen china begin to take
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actions to bring pressure on north korea, but there needs to be more. >> this is real for you, that there are estimates that north korea could have a missile ready that could hit the continental u.s., seattle, by 2020, which is going to be on your watch. i mean, is that weighing on you and is that a deadline that you all have in mind? >> i know the president of the united states has no higher priority than the safety and security of the american people. the president have u.s. forces here in south carry are language standing commitment to the asian pacific and ensuring the security of the continental united states will remain the priority of the administration. we want to be clear. our hope and frankly our prayer is that by marshaling the resources of nations across the asian pacific, want just south korea and japan, other allies, and china to bring renewed pressure to bear will achieve
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our goal of a nuclear free korean peninsula. but the people in north korea should make no mistake that the united states of america and our allies will see to the security of this region and see to the security of the people of our country. >> let's talk a little bit more about that u.s. strategy that's merging. joining us is david miller. who was an viadviser to several secretaries. gloria borger, cnn chief political analyst. any indication this threat is actually working? because there was a lot of speculation the north koreans would actually have another nuclear test over the weekend. they didn't do it. >> there's no way to really know, wolf. there's no way whether they would have had another test and postponed it or never wanted to have another test or were
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embarrassed by the failure of the last test and didn't want to have another embarrassment. we just don't know. what i just heard the vice president say, though, to dana is so interesting to me. because it's clear to me that he raised the possibility there that the trump administration in some way, shape, or form, is willing to engage in talks. there is nothing to say that these talks would work or that you could reach a deal that they could be trusted. but their other options are so bad as we all know that they seem to have sort of backed themselves into this corner wherein fact maybe they have no option left but to try to engage in some way which donald trump said he might do during the campaign. >> you mean actually start daukidau talking indirect lawyer or directly. >> when they say all options are on the table, what's the
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military option that won't cause a disaster for millions of people in south korea 30 miles away from the demilitarized zone? >> the options are all bad and that's one of the real problems. there are military options that could be used. some of them at a very high level with a lot of different -- >> millions of people would die. >> that's the problem. that's why you don't want to provoke the north in that way. there are cyber options. there are special operations missions. all of those could be used. the question is will they use them and will they want to use them in any of the scenarios. >> right now even in terms of the conventional threat of north korea to south korea, conventional weapons, they could destroy seoul basically within a matter of a few days. >> that's right. and of course we wouldn't let that go unchallenged. american air power would be brought to bare on those targets. the operations plan is called 5027 is the one that is actually
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used to go after north korea. basically what it calls for is a lot of sustained attacks if there are things that happen like an artillery barrage on seoul. >> there are 28,000 military personal along the zone as well. let's talk diplomacy, aaron. you worked at the state department for a long time. is there a significant diplomatic option that would avoid what they say the abandonment of this policy of strategic patience? >> well, as a departure point, the fact is there is no agreed instinct. we're not going to denuclearize the korean peninsula anytime soon. the fault position is a freeze. a freeze on development of new material, a free zone testing, a freeze on the export of nourrth korean component parts. the question is whether you can
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create a channel. that i think is the real challenge for the administration. talks about talks. authorize at a very high level secret in order to test the proposition that in fact we're in the same universe here. that is risky. as gloria knows, it's risky politically. it's risky because our experience with north koreans have been fraught with deception. you're dealing with literally a criminal family regime that has imnoo immuneized itself against pressure. it's worth a turn of the wheel before we go to what the vice president had intimated is possible. >> and also uppredictable. the question is if you want to have talks about talks as you put it which seems to me to be a possible scenario, let me put it that way, how could you trust anything, you know, that you
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even agreed to in a preliminary way? as ronald reagan always said, trust but verify. how would you even begin to do that with this family? >> i wasn't a great advocate of the jcua with iran. you have to impose reliability monitoring and verification standards. it's a question of whether or not you're prepared to confront the alternative which is a preventative strike, which is likely to lead to war on the korean peninsula. who is willing to run the risk? 13 presidents have now dealt with the challenge, three on the nuclear issue. the question is, mr. trump who treated i think during the campaign that he could solve this with kim jong-un over a hamburger -- >> i don't think so. >> the key is really china right now. they have the leverage. they have the ability to do something if they really want to do it. will they?
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>> that's going to be the big question. when you look at the chinese role it's fraught with history. you have the chinese are really the reason the north korean state exists right now. they came in. they intervened. they famously prevented mcarthur from keeping his positions along the river in the korean war. the fact that they drove u.s. into united nations forces back in the 1950s means that the kim regime was able to maintain its base of power. they have that just like we worry about our veterans, they worry about their veterans from that period. it is that emotional piece. the other part is the chinese are beginning to do some movement that i think is very different from what you normally would have seen them do. there may be some hope in that as well. leveraging the chinese is certainly another avenue that should be pursued. >> clearly the president is trying to do that when he suddenly has decided that china sent a currency manipulator anymore because as he put it i think in a tweet they're helping us. they're helping us now.
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>> don't go too far away. there's more to come up. gloria, cedric and aaron. also coming up, vice president pence puts north korea on notice. warning them not to test the president's resolve. democratic congressman, senior member of the house foreign affairs committee, gregory meeks, he has a lot to say. he's standing by to join us live right after the break. why pause a spontaneous moment? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis
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so we heard the tough talk from the vice president mike pence on north korea threat neng the north korean leader to not test the resolve of the new american president or the strength of the united states military. joining us gregory meeks. he's a democrat from new york and a member of the house foreign affairs committee. congressman, thanks very much for joining us. >> good being with you. >> what do you think of the tough words from vice president pence, the warnings from north korea? >> i think that those words, they have consequences. all words do. if i just came back from south korea. just came back yesterday. what the south koreans are concerned about is not having dialogue and having a preemptive
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strike that could kill 25 million south koreans. and near the direct path. it would take about four minutes to strike south korea and about 11 minutes to strike japan. so we've got to make sure that we're working closely with south korea and japan and of course as you indicated in the last segment china who is actually utilizing north korea in my estimation as a buffer because they have their interest in east asia also. and so just as they're concerned in south korea as well as in japan, when the president says america first, that means without our allies? does it mean with our allies? does it mean that if the allies say don't strike or do strike will we listen? what does that mean? chi china then has its interest in the region. it is as indicated a complicated scenario that is going to need a strategy and what we're not hearing from this president is
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what that strategy is. that's why -- >> he does seem to be warming up to the chinese. no longer ready to declare them a currency manipulator on day one as he said said during the campaign. he's hoping that china, which you correctly point out, does have leverage, does have influence on pyongyang. they use that to calm things down. what's wrong with that strategy? >> china does have leverage. there's no question china does have leverage on north korea. but china's going to want something also and they're going to want more than just not being called a money manipulator. china does not want the strong presence that the united states has in the region. and there's going to be have to be some dialogue there because our other allies, japan and south korea, will want the united states to stay in that area. that's the whole fight about the south china sea. it is a deeper conversation that just north korea when you're talking on the chinese. so even talking to the chinese
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is much more complicated than say hey, just do what we tell you do, help us with north korea or we're going to do it ourselves. that's not going to work with china. you'll have to sit down and negotiate a real deal. >> what about u.s. military operations or action against north korea when the administration says all options are on the table, they mean the military option as well. would you support any military action against north korea and its nuclear threat? >> i would want the president of the united states to come back to congress and then tell us what that strategy is. do i support a preemptive strike from what i've seen on the ground? no. i don't think a preemptive strike would be the one to do with our allies on the ground. when i was in south korea i did meet with general brooks who is in charge and i have great confidence in him.
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what they explained to me is yes, all options are on the table and they are preparing for anything if there was an initial attack by the north koreans, then yes, we are ready to do what we need to do immediately. of course the idea is not to have a war on the korean peninsula. the idea would be to try to sit down with our allies, north and south korea and japan along with china and work it among ourselves to put the pressure on north korea so we can try to have a diplomatic result. it's important also what was clearly missing in my trip was the fact that we don't have an ambassador on the ground. i think that if we want to work on -- get a diplomatic solution here, we need an ambassador on the ground who can better give information to the president of the united states as well as working with both the japanese, the south koreans and the chinese on the ground in east asia. >> i assume you met with south
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korean officials, south korean leaders. did you get the sense they have confidence in president trump's new tragedy moving away from that strategy that used to be called strategic patience? >> they're nervous because they don't need a preemptive strike that can cause them to get hit within the next four to five minutes and lose 25,000 -- 25 million people. they understand that if the crazy guy in north korea did something preemptively we will wipe him out. that does not mean we want to sacrifice 25 million south koreans as well as our troops on the ground. they want to work it out. they want to have dialogue and conversation and figure this out collectively together and make sure that we're sharing intelligence and can move as a group. they are concerned about the words. that's why words are always important when it comes out of the president's words, what they mean. when you use the kind of language that the president and the vice president have recently
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utilized, then they are saying well, what about south korea? what does that mean to us? and that's why that conversation has to be had and why the president has to come back to congress also because we do have a checks and balance. the constitution demands that, that we should have this debate in talking about what should or should not do when we're going to put our men and women on the front lines here. >> congressman gregory meeks, thanks so of for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> up next, did vice president pence hint of possible military action if north korea moved forward with its nuclear test? we'll discuss that and more. republican congressman, former u.s. marine dun can hunter. he's standing by live. have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol® with chantix.d i quit smoking i was very grateful to have chantix. at times when i would normally go smoke,
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we're continuing to follow the very tense developments involving north korea. on his trip to south korea u.s. vice president mike pence vis tid the demilitarized joen and warned north korea that the strategy of strategic patience is over. the u.s. is also sending a carrier led navy strike group to the waters off of korean peninsula. let's bring in duncan hunter. he's a member of the armed services committee. served with the u.s. marine corp in afghanistan and iraq. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >> president trump has said military action is a possibility. all options are on the table if north korea conducts another nuclear test. would you support u.s. military action against north korea? >> yeah. and for one reason. this is a decision that's going
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to be made by the president. h.r. mcmaster, general dunford, the chairman of the joint chiefs and secretary mattis. if you can't trust those group of people coming to a decision, then there's nobody in the u.s. you can trust with our u.s. military. so if they decide that, then i will support that. >> but even if there's a limited military u.s. strike, congressman, you know what the capabilities of north korea are. not just -- forget about their nuclear bombs and they have at least half a dozen, maybe more, that can kill millions of people. just in terms of their conventional capability, thousands and thousands of artillery pieces, a million north korean troops facing what nearly a million south korean troops, twae28,000 u.s. troops between. you know the slaughter that
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could develop. >> yeah. you would have tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people dead immediately. >> including almost 30,000 american souldiers and airmen, they would almost certainly be killed within a few days. >> i wouldn't necessarily say that, but you are talking massive conventional warfare of the like we haven't seen in decades. so i think that president trump understands that. i think that mcmaster and dunford and mattis also understand that. they have to take that all into account. but what are your options? china will stop coal from being in from north korea. we know they went back on that. supposedly put 150,000 on the
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border. haept be hae hasn't been verified. i think the main question we have to ask ourselves does kim jong-un, like his caviar, his wine and his women or is he suicidal. i think it's the former. i think he likes being a dictator that lives in a nice mansion and enjoys his life and can show up at these big military parades and look menacing, but he also understands what the u.s. could choose to do if he provokes us. >> let's just be precise. let's say they do have a -- their sixth nuclear test. they've already had five. let's say they have their sixth. over the weekend have a failed ballistic missile launch following their big parade and all of. that let's say they do have a sixth nuclear test. are you saying the u.s. should immediately sprespond? am i hearing that from you? >> no. what i say is let's trust the
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military guys on the ground that know more than i do. again, the national security adviser, the chairman of joint chiefs and our secretary of defense. i don't know what's going o. i haven't been briefed at the super top secret level on what's happening on the ground right now in north korea. but those guys have. so if they decide that that underground nuclear test is worth a preemptive strike, then yes, i would support that. >> but don't you think gross should be involved in all of this? you're a member of congress. have a role if the united states is about to go to war and as you describe it, this is a war that we haven't seen since world war ii. >> but if you're got to move decisively and trump doesn't want to show his hand, you know, you've heard this over and over, president trump's not going to show the enemy what we're going to do. he's not going to talk about it. >> congress is not the enemy.
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congress is not the enemy. >> true. but he can come to us secretly and that would be leaked within minutes, if not live leaked as we get that secret briefing. so no, if there is a nuclear test and the president decides to act immediately and not fly congress back to washington from their districts and say let's have a big council on this and try to pass an authorization of use of military force or declare war on north korea, i would support them acting, our government acting immediately to respond to a nuclear military test if they chose to do so without consulting congress first. >> so congressman hunter, let's talk a little bit about a nuclear test. why would a sixth nuclear test on the part of the north koreasy justify this kind of war? >> so they can hit japan and south korea and they can put nuclear weapons on artill real
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estate -- artillery shells. we don't think they have the ability to nuclearize artillery shells. if they get that, you would see millions more in terms of casualties in south korea if the north koreans were able to do that. i mean, every nuclear underground test that north korea makes their making their explosives and their nuclear devices better and better and trying to miniaturize them. you have to stop that at some point. there is a red line at some point. only the guys that know the top secret information of what's going on on the ground right now, they're the ones that understand how close we are to that red line. >> congressman duncan hunter, very ominous picture that you paint right now. but this is a tense situation and we do know that president obama told the incoming president, president trump, when they met near the end of the
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obama administration that the north korean threat does in fact represent the major national security threat facing the united states. congressman duncan hunter of california, thank for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >> still ahead, turkey's referendum. it expands the president's power. how much is too much? lots at stake when we come back. to dig a hole to china. g &t is working with farmers to improve irrigation techniques. remote moisture sensors use a reliable network to tell them when and where to water. so that farmers like ray can compete in big ways. china. oh ... he got there. that's the power of and.
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said they will challenge the outcome. let's go to nick payton-walsh who's joining us. nick, how will the president's powers be expanded? >> civic changes to the constitution, but the key one is they're getting rid of the post prime minister. so effective he as president becomes the most important executive figure in the country. able to appoint judges. really this is sort of capitalizing on a growing sense in the past few years. apart from being what's supposed to be the president, which is kind of a symbolic figure is now the most preeminent figure in turkish politics in law as opposed to practice. we've seen a very slender victory. 51.4% voting yes. the three biggest cities voted no, so a clear split between country side and urban elite. as you say, it will spraperhaps
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contested. european monitors have said there was an unlevel playing field in how it was portrayed in the media. but those complaints have been dismissed by the president as from a group that, quote, know their place. so he's very strident. i have to tell you a few years ago this nato member, nato ally was pretty much a healthy democracy but set with problems with neighboring syria. it's radically changed. it is drawn militarily into syria t. does so much feel like the political climate has changed. >> as you point out turkey is a member of nato. how is it going to affect their relationship with the 27 other nato allies, especially the united states? many of them are not very happy with what's going on in turkey right now. >> there's a feeling i think
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among most of them they saw this coming. they've seen him slide towards authoritarianism. but a key moment in the last few hours has caused some european potential allies to voice concerns. if he wants to join the eu it's a pretty long shot. that's comments about reinstating the death penalty which he said he might do. that's really got a raw nerve with the german leader angela merkel, with france as well. they need assistance when dealing with refugee assistance across europe when getting some back closer to syrian borders. this slide is some many have been seeing in the past year. now it's clear on paper. >> thank you, nick. joining us live in northern iraq. the era of strategic patience is over. that was the warning from the vice president mike pence to north korea today.
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so what is the white house's strategy on dealing with kim jong-un? that topic will certainly be discussed at the white house press briefing. that's scheduled to begin momentarily. we'll go there live. once sean spicer the white house press secretary shows up. (vo) your love is purely thoughtful, purely natural, purely fancy feast. delicious entrées, crafted to the last detail. flaked tuna, white-meat chicken, never any by-products or fillers. purely natural tastes purely fancy feast. you need one of these. you wouldn't put up with an umbrella that covers you part way, so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? aleve, live whole not part. tell you what, i'll give it to you for half off. this is bill's yard. and bill has a "no-weeds, not in my yard" policy. but with scotts turf builder weed & feed, bill has nothing to worry about. it kills weeds
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live pictures coming in from the white house briefing room expecting to hear from the press secretary sean spicer. he's expected to taik to the podium at the top of the hour. we'll have live coverage of that. lots of questions for sean spicer today. jim acosta had a chance to catch up with sean spicer at the egg roll. he began by asking him about the currently very dangerous situation with north korea. >> china cannot get north korea to behave. is the president going to regret some of these carrots he's been offering them lately? >> look, we're going to do everything we can to protect our
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country and the region. as i said, a nuclear north korea is not in anybody's best interest, so we're going to apply all the diplomatic and political pressure through the entire world community to avoid that situation. >> he sort of let china off the hook. >> he understands they can play an important role in making our world safer. we're going to utilize the relationships he's built with president xi. >> jim also asked sean spicer on a very different note about the 138th white house egg roll with thousands attending. there were concerns about the preparations for the event. >> the first lady and her team have worked for months now e getting the place ready, bringing all these experiences here to the white house. >> were there any worries it wouldn't get pulled off? >> if u yo know the first lady, you have no worries that wasn't going to happen. she worked diligent ly to make
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sure it was a e great day for the families that have traveled to be here. >> he asked spicer about the latest "saturday night live" skit with melissa mccarthy reprizing her role. >> what do you think about when you see melissa mccarthy doing these skits? >> usually fast asleep by the time it comes on. so not only we the same age, we probably go to bed around the same time. i'm in bed and look ahead. >> you have fun with it. >> my focus is on events and president's agenda and his policies. we live in a great world that people can say and do what they want because of the first amendment. >> i get e made fun of too. it happens all the time. >> a good laugh. the press secretary sean spicer once again he will be taking to the lectern momentarily.
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we'll have live coverage of that when it begins. you're seeing live pictures. a quick break. much more of our coverage, right after this. hey allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® it's starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®.
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i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me on this monday. any moment now, the the white house press briefing will begin. just as the vice president declareses the end of, quote, the failed policy of strategic patience in north korea. and the vice president saying that standing mere feet from the demilitarized zone. that chris crosses between north and south korea. tensions are at a boiling point after north korea launched a missile sunday from the port city. it fail four to five seconds
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after the ainitial attempt, but to question it and other missile launches have made a lasting impression on the trump white house. as we wait to see sean spicer brief reporters including jim o'cass to, he's waiting is and watching. let's just begin with that conversation you kind of sort of had with the president there at the easter egg roll. you were shouting about north korea and his response was two words? >> that's right, when in doubt, shout a question. words i live by. we are at the easter egg roll this morning on the south lawn of the white house. i wouldn't describe it as a conversation. but had a few moments just to throw a question at the president as to what his message would be for north korea and he said that the north korean dictator kim jong-un should behave himself and cut it out. here's what he had to say. >> any message for north korea and kim jong-un?
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>> behave. >> do you think north korea can be resolved peacefully? what are your thoughts on kim jong-un? >> probably it can. >> there you have it. at a time when there's here in washington saying the president shouldn't be giving this much attention to north korea. he shouldn't be ratcheting up the rhetoric, you heard it on the south lawn of the white house during the easter egg roll on that day of all days saying that the north koreans got to behave, in his words there. so i think that is is another indication and you're hearing that from other officials, mike pence, rex tillerson and on and on saying, as you were just s saying a few moments ago, this policy of strategic patience is going to come to an end. what does that mean? that's unclear at this point. and i suspect that that will be
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part of the line of questioning here at the briefing today with sean spicer. >> jim, standby. we'll will be listening to the briefing momentarily. i have shelby holiday and david drucker here to my right. i'm going to pick on the two of you since you're closest to me. on the rhetoric, not just even from, got to behave. also the tweet over the weekend from president trump. why would i call china a currency manipulator when they are working with us on north korean problem. we will see what happens. there was a response at the u.n. how does it escalate to more than words? >> i think that the president is trying to reframe u.s. policy twhord north korea because nothing has worked. under democratic and republican presidents, we have tried jaw boebing them. we have tried working with them. we bought them off with nuclear reac