our doctors -- we don't have our same doctors. we were promised we could keep our doctor and our plan. none of that happened. our premiums are so high. please help us. the president is going to keep pushing congress to act because he is representing american people. >> ronna romney mcdaniel, thank you very much for representing the republican side for us. >> thank you for having me. we're following a lot of breaking developments on the north korean threat so let's get right to it. north korea threaten is the u.s. territory of guam in response to two american bombers flying over the korean peninsula. >> it represents the greatest crisis undoubtedly since the cuban missile crisis. >> i think that -- u.s. officials have's s assessed nor korea has a miniature warhead. >> they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.

>> what he was basically doing is threatening a you into clear war against north korea. >> it is important for our president not to be unpredictable. >> he does need to reinforce the message of deterrence. >> by using this kind of language we are playing right into kim jong-un's hands. this is "new day." good morning, everyone. welcome to your in the new day. bill weir joins me. we've already had a lot of breaking news. >> is it like this every morning? >> little bit. this seems to be a bit of a different category today but we're glad you are here. we do start with breaking news at this hour. secretary of state rex tillerson makes this surprise visit to guam and he says president trump is sending a strong message to north korea warning that any threat to the u.s. would be met with, quote, fire and fury. secretary tillerson also trying to reassure americans about this threat. >> his words come after north korea threatened to attack guam where the u.s. has an air force base and many citizens after bombers flew over the korean

peninsula. the pacific region is watching this escalating situation closely. china warning against worsening tensions. we have the global restorources covering every angle. we begin in beijing, china with will ripley who's traveled inside north korea more than a dozen times and has the very latest on the secretary of state's visit to the pacific. will. >> reporter: bill, these words from secretary tillerson perhaps are exactly what chinese government officials wanted to hear. they, within the last hour, have been calling for calm here as they often do when tensions escalate on the korean peninsula. secretary tillerson trying to reassure americans that they do not face an imminent threat from north korea, also saying he does not believe guam faces an imminent threat, that 210 square-mile island, home to thousands of u.s. troops, more than 160,000 people, three major military assets. naval base guam andersen air force base and there is also a coast guard stationed there as with el. a lot of that island taken up with u.s. military equipment.

north korea threatening to potentially attack with their intermediate range ballistic missiles, a threat made after the united states, in a show of force, flew some b1b bombers over the korea peninsula monday, those bombers took off from guam. secretary tillerson will try to smooth over the fiery rhetoric from president trump. listen. >> i think the president -- what the president is doing is sending a strong message to north korea in language that kim jong-un would understand because he doesn't seem to understand diplomatic language. i think the president just wanted to be clear to the north korean regime that the u.s.'s unquestionable ability to defend itself, will defend itself and its allies and i think it was important that he deliver that message to avoid any miscalculation on their part. >> reporter: many analysts believe north korea really presents the greatest threat if they feel like they're cornered,

that's when they could lash out. secretary tillerson says he doesn't know if they've backed north korea into a corner. also saying he doesn't want anybody to be backed into a corner where they don't feel they have a way out. he is stressing diplomacy here which is what china is calling for as well. in a brand-new statement just released to cnn within the last hour after we sent them a question about president trump's remarks and the north korean threats, china saying, "the current situation on the korean peninsula is complex and sensitive. china calls on the relevant sides to follow the broad direction of resolving the nuclear issue through political means, avoid remarks and actions that could aggravate could nfli and escalate tensions and return to a correct path of resolving issues through negotiation. china did their part to enforce this latest round of u.n. sanctions unanimously approved designed to cut north korean exports by one-third, about $1 billion a year, which the hope is that that will slow the regime's ability to pay for their rapidly advancing missile program. >> will ripley in beijing this

morning, thank you. president trump's unprecedented warning to north korea of unleashing fire and fury could undermine diplomatic efforts to defuse the situation. that's the belief of some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. moments ago the president tweeted about the crisis as he is known to do. cnn's joe johns live in bridgewater, new jersey near the president's golf resort. good morning, joe. >> reporter: good morning, bill. i think probably the best thing to do is just get to those tweets straight away. the president tweeting just a few minutes ago, my first order as president was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. it is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before. he goes on, hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world. now just an enormous contrast from last night. also an enormous contrast from the words of the secretary of

state in that interview on the plane as he was heading into guam. also indicating in his view nothing had changed dramatically over the last 24 hours, trying to re-assure americans saying americans should sleep well at night. meanwhile, the president's words just yesterday in that media availability raising concern and some of the most incendiary language used by a president in decades. there are in fact still questions about whether he had spoken to his advisors before he spoke those words. listen to what he had to say. >> north korea best not make any more threats to the united states. they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. he has been very threatening beyond a normal state. and as i said, they will be met

with fire, fury, and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. >> reporter: the president's words were met with strong reactions from members of congress who are on their august break, including, notably, the republican senator john mccain, who said, among other things, that in his view, the president should be ready, willing and able to act when he you theers certain words and he said he is not so sure the president is able to act at this time. back to you. >> joe, thank you for bringing us those developments. so mounting tensions between the u.s. and north korea prompting neighboring countries to consider deploying more powerful weapons. the concern is that that could spark an arms race in the region. cnn's alexandra field is live in seoul. >> reporter: kim jong-un

threatened to turn the mainland into a sea of fire. now president donald trump talking about fire and fury so these leaders seem to be speak being in the same language, the war of words reverberating across the world but leaders in the region are just trying to tame the tensions, because they know if there is a mistake that leads to conflict, it is the people who live right here who would be suffering the highest cost. north korea doesn't need icbms or nuclear weapons to conduct an ak conduct an attack on south korea just 35 miles away. leaders may be calling for calm from china but right here in south korea you are seeing a president taking steps to ensure that the defense capacity in this country is at its greatest. he says he is looking to overhaul defense capabilities, deterrent capabilities are something that lawmakers in japan are talking about. they want to be ready in case there is any kind of mistake here. they are not responding directly

to what president trump said. they are used to threats from north korea. not so much this kind of language from the commander in chief of the united states military. but, they do depend on the u.s. for defense, for security. they are depending on the strength of that relationship now more than ever. the prime minister of new zealand did, however, weigh in saying that the president's words were unhelpful here. bill? >> alexandra, thanks. u.s. intelligence assessment concludes that north korea has produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside an intercontinental ballistic missile posing a direct threat to the mainland u.s., perhaps as far as the east coast. cnn's barbara starr is live at the pentagon with new information on the u.s. military response. barbara. >> reporter: good morning, bill. let's start with the president's words a minute ago, the tweet about making nuclear effort in the united states stronger an more powerful than it has been. there has been a long standing nuclear modernization program at the pentagon.

but anything stronger, more powerful, perhaps a reality check. fundamental change in the nuclear program in the u.s. would have to be notified under very lev tre very heavy treaty restrictions, something the russians would know about. there is a long effort to modernize, some worth checking into. what we are being told by defense officials is there is no plans right now for any extra deployment of u.s. forces to the korean peninsula. there is an upcoming exercise that will see a temporary uptick in u.s. forces for that exercise, but, again, no fundamental change. about that comment yesterday about the koreans now having a nuclear warhead. what u.s. officials are saying is the assessment -- assessment -- is that they have produced a miniaturize warhead. but whether it is deployable, whether it's been tested, whether it can really go on a missile and be part of an attack still very much an open question

and a missile, again, they have tested. the big challenge for the north koreans is can they put all of that into a package where they can launch, target, re-enter and strike a specific target. they may have a very long way still to go. a lot of people saying, take a deep breath and let's check out the reality versus the rhetoric. bill? >> it even sounds like that's what we heard from secretary of state tillerson. barbara, thank you very much for that. our panel, gordon chang, author of "nuclear showdown, north korea takes on the world." cnn political analyst, david gregory. cnn counterterrorism analyst phil mudd and will ripley is back with us from beijing. gordon, there have been so many developments over the last 24 hours and it's felt like things have ratcheted up. but then we heard secretary of state tillerson trying to tamp things down. this is what he just said on this surprise stop in guam. listen to this.

>> do you have any advice for americans? should they be worried? >> i think americans should sleep well at night. i have no concerns about this particular rhetoric of the last few days. i think the president, again, i think he felt it necessary to issue a very strong statement directly to north korea. but i think what the president was just re-affirming is the united states has the capability to fully defend itself from any attack and defend our allies and we will do so. so the american people should sleep well at night. >> are you sleeping well at night last night? >> no. first of all, there is an issue that i think the president was, with that fire and fury comment, really talking to the chinese more than the north koreans. >> why do you think that? >> you know been largely because right now you see a lot of trump administration diplomacy directed towards beijing. for instance, there was no section 301 trade action that was supposed to be filed on friday.

there's also no section 232 trade action. and we see -- >> that would have been affecting china, they're holding off on. >> yes. there's been reports that both the state department and u.n. officials went to the white house thursday afternoon, asked them to hold off on these trade actions because they wanted china's cooperation on the security council resolution that was ultimately voted on saturday. also, a number of other things haven't happened. for instance, we have not seen sanctions on larger chinese banks for money laundering. what the president i think has been trying to do is a coordinated tough guy, nice guy approach towards the chinese. therefore, i think what the president was really doing was saying to beijing, you only have a limited time to figure this out. >> let's bring in david gregory. i was just curious your take on the tweets this morning. as rex tillerson was trying to put everybody back to bed and calm them down, the president was boasting about the size of our nuclear arsenal. >> right. i think there are various levels

to this rhetoric from the president reminding the region, not just the north, but china, as gordon says, about the military might of the united states, the nuclear might of the united states, and as gordon knows bet other than i do, part of this message to the chinese is to say, look, if there's any kind of military confrontation as contained as it could be, that further destabilizes north korea. north koreans will flood into china. that is one of the biggest fears that china has always had. when i was covering these issues, covering the bush administration, that's what they were dealing with time and time again. china has the ability to solve this problem and to coerce the north koreans, but they also don't want a complete breakdown of north korea worse than it already is. they don't want a flood of refugees coming in to the country. so that's a piece of it. so this is pressure on the part of the president against the chinese as well. to me, the disturbing part of it

is, you want enough confusion and room to maneuver on our side as well, not just this question as secretary of state tillerson said giving room to the north to ultimately negotiate, to freeze, to not feel totally backed into a corner. >> you're in beijing, you've been bringing us all the developments and statements from there this morning, will. the news is that north korea just released its longest held western prisoner, this canadian pastor. i mean north korea is nothing, if not unpredictable. so in the midst of all this, they take that action. how is that being interpreted? >> well, we have known for a couple of days now that there is this canadian delegation sent by canadian prime minister trudeau to pyongyang. we knew that they were there to discuss the case of the canadian pastor who was detained but also to discuss possible renormalization of relations between canada and north korea.

we know that there was a letter brought from the prime minister to the north korean leader kim jong-un along with a medical doctor because apparently the pastor's health has been failing recently but now he will be under the care of western doctors and get back home to his church just outside of toronto. what north korea could be doing by timing this release at this particular moment is trying to show their benevolence, trying to show they are willing to release somebody on humanitarian grounds. they called it sick veil because this pastor was handed down a life sentence accused of hostile acts against the state. we've seen that with north korea and other prisoners in the past. the release of the university of virginia student was supposed to be a humanitarian act. of course we know he was tragically in a vegetative state and had been for over a year and died less than a week after returning to his family. there are still three american citizens being held in north korea right now, two university professors and a businessman held on various charges. one's already been sentenced. so you have that dynamic as well, north korea's holding

three americans. the united states indicating they are willing to talk. north korea also does want to talk to the united states but without any preconditions. that's what officials have told me there as recently as a month and a half ago. so how these other prisoners may factor into the dynamic here, will north korea try to bring them to the table as leverage as well as their weapons program is something we have to watch. >> as we talk about the possibility of moving from words to bombs, lindsey graham this morning, republican senator, spoke out about the two possibilities that could bring us to war with north korea. take a listen. >> there are two scenarios where we would go to war with north korea. if they attack guam or some other american interest or our allies or if they tried to keep developing an icbm with a nuclear weapon on top to hit the homeland, we would act. president trump has basically drawn a red line saying that he'll never allow north korea to have an icbm missile that can hit america with a nuclear weapon on top. is he not going to let that

happen. he's not going to contain the threat. he's going to stop the threat. >> if that's the case, what has to be proven and who does he have to convince that they have enough for us to strike first? >> that's not the case. look, let's look at our history of engagement on issues like this. i was at the cia in the 1990s. we tried to bring pressure on india and pakistan, countries that we had good relationships with to try to curb their nuclear programs. that failed. india tested, and then pakistan tested. they are now nuclear states. the problem with what lindsey graham is saying in terms of a preemptive action to take out the program in north korea is, if you choose to do that, you ought to be telling the american people the truth. if you want to take out the capability, that is the missiles and nuclear systems, you also have to take out the intent, that is the people, the leadership who want to build that capability, because as soon as you attack them, they're going to say we're going to redouble our efforts. what's that mean? bottom line. if you want to attack them, you have to commit america to a decade or two of eliminating the regime and building north korea

after that. which american wants to sign up with that? the american politicians don't want to speak the truth. likelihood is that if north korea wants to build a nuclear program, they will. there is not much beyond dialogue we can do to stop them. that's it. >> isn't one of the questions here -- gordon can address this -- if you're china and you have an ability to keep north korea in its box, short of a preemptive war, what the united states would certainly be prepared to do, it seems to me, as well as south korea and japan, is further ratchet up its defensive posture in the region, which is exactly what china does not want if north korea makes further strides in its nuclear program. so that's a question for me perhaps gordon can address of, again, the china connection here, probably the most important piece in all this. >> there is a lot that we can do. we got to remember that chinese ruler xi jinping is in the run-up to the communist party's 19th congress, going to be held later this fall. he is in a very sensitive period

and he would be blamed, and probably could lose political power, if president trump were to disrupt the relationship with china, because then xi jinping would be -- because he's been responsible for this relationship, would be blamed by people who actually are rivals for power, want to get at him. but there are a lot of things we can do. those trade actions i mentioned. there are chinese banks we can sanction. we also have a much stronger economy in the sense that we've got an economy that's twice as large as theirs. we don't worry about trade friction. >> they own so much of our debt, don't they? aren't we intertwined economically in a way that's more difficult than you say? >> yes we are intertwined but china has been selling dollars since the middle of 2014. their holding of dollars has really no effect on the relationship in the sense of leverage that it gives them. so at the end of the day, we hold most of the high economic cards. we just have not been willing to play them for various reasons

but we've now got a president who's got a lot of political will, at least some of the time, and very may well decide to change the relationship with china in ways that would be unrecognizable from previous administrations. >> the word we're getting from officials here in beijing is that they absolutely want to continue to keep north korea as a strategic buffer between south korea, allied with the united states, and the borders of main land chi landchina. >> thank you to all of you. . now to more breaking news, this out of paris. police have arrested that suspect who we reported on earlier who they believe rammed a car into six soldiers injuring them just outside of their b barrac barracks. two soldiers are linked to a national security operation. they reportedly have serious injuries. the counterterrorism department is investigating this entire incident. meanwhile, the u.s. embassy in france warns u.s. citizens to

avoid this area. when we come back, president trump's response to the north korea threat. too forceful? we'll have a fellow republican, an iraq and afghanistan war veteran if the president backed himself into a corner. here to f. nothing's wrong with the elevator. right. but you want to fix it. right. so who sent you? new guy. what new guy? watson. my analysis of sensor and maintenance data indicates elevator 3 will malfunction in 2 days. there you go. you still need a pass.

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miniaturized nuclear warhead capable of fitting inside a missile. joining us now, republican congressman adam kinzinger, a veteran of the iraq and afghanistan wars. congressman, good morning. >> morning. >> what do you think of the president's fire and fury comments about north korea? >> well, it's not silly words i'd have used but i got to tell you the hysteria a lot of people are bringing over this is as surprising to me as anything. this is how north korea talks, so why not give it a shot to say, you talk about fire and fury, you say you are going to bury the united states in fire and fury? hey, we got some fire and fury for you, too, if you want to play that game. then there is this hysteria of a reaction that somehow this is going to lead to some kind ever a race for nuclear weapons. it has been not saying fire and fury and, frankly, preternding the north korean issue was going to be contained which led us to where we are today. we now believe they can miniaturize a missile and we

find ourselves in a frightening position. i don't think the rhetoric is a huge deal. what i get concerned about is having to listen to, for instance, your prior guest saying politicians just need to admit to the american people north korea is going to be a nuclear state and get on with it. it's that kind of defeatism that has me a little bit concerned. >> what's the choice? the news is in the past 24 hours they have produced this miniaturized nuclear warhead and we have seen them testing these intercontinental police dick missi ballistic missiles. what other option is there? >> pieces are there. a miniaturized nuclear warhead, a testable workable icbm. but it doesn't mean they've been married together yet or do things like chaff when they take off to send countermeasures out to confuse systems. there are a lot of pieces that can still come together. >> how do you stop those from coming together? >> well, i think it is multiple things. you have to have a credible military thread. you really do. nobody wants to use a military

strike, but you have to have a credible strike option which we do and we have the capability to do. beyond that, ratcheting pressure on china -- we sound like we're beating a dead horse, it really is the key and it is changing chinese calculus from saying it is in our interest to have a, quote, buffer state between south korea and us. you do that between us and china financial institutions, chinese businesses. you ratchet that pressure in. i'm willing to go to talks if that's the way we seem to go. i'm concerned with i've heard people talking on all the news today saying basically we have to already accept it. that to me is a place we ought not be yet. >> it is interesting to hear the different rhetoric between president trump, the fire and fury comment, then secretary of state tillerson saying americans can sleep well tonight. where are you on that spectrum? >> so i guess i'm in between. i'm in the sleep well still.

i think we have very good technological capability to defend ourselves. that's something we have to continue to invest in. i know we have a credible military option in north korea. it would just be a very bloody one. but i don't think we need to just relax. it is sleep well at night but also understand we have to continue to engage. if we just rely on our ability to defend against a north korean attack, how are we in eight years when the iran nuclear deal comes up going to be able to morally look at the iranians an say, you can't have nuclear weapons even though we allowed the korean peninsula and north korea to do that. how do we say to the south koreans and japanese you can't build your own nuclear arsenal despite in some cases just seven miles away is a regime that wants to destroy you. >> now all americans feel as sanguine as you do this morning about the north korean threat. polling suggests they rank that at the top of their list of concerns now. is it time for the president to make a public address to the nation? >> i think so. keep in mind, i've never

heard -- i'm not a look back and blame guys in the past guy but i think it is important to note. i've never heard president obama give an oval office address from this. he might have. i just don't remember it. i do think president trump can do everybody a favor by giving that address laying out our plans for the future, making people feel safe but also understanding we have to pay attention to this. i now personally consider north korea the number one threat. it is not because russia which i did consider the number one threat has fallen any, it's just this has been elevated above it. not just in north korea but in the world we find ourselves facing a lot of challenges that i think left, right, in between, every american needs to hear what our plans are and i think that will help everybody feel safe. >> the president not given an address but he just tweeted this morning. see if you understand it. . my first order as president was to renovate and modernize ow newer clear arsenal. it is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before. has the president modernized and

made the nuclear arsenal stronger in the past six months? >> i'm not sure what i can and can't say about that. i'll just say this. it is a priority. not necessarily to double the size of our nuclear arsenal but having an effective and safe nuclear arsenal with controls is much more than a deterrent than the problems we saw years ago through the military where we -- >> has that hands? >> i think there a he mis modernization, i just truthfully don't know where that is in the pipeline right now. >> congressman, we always appreciate your perspective as a veteran as well as lawmaker. >> any time. as we try to parse the words of the president and his secretary of state, we're going to talk to another former lawmaker who has some understanding of tough talk and negotiation and somebody who has biosecurity on his mind in addition to all this nuclear missile talk. joe lieberman joins us next.

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president trump woke up this

morning and touted america's nuclear arsenal in a series of tweets after giving extraordinary warning to north korea that he would unleash, quote, fire and fury if the threat to the u.s. continues. joining us now, former senator joe lieberman, co-chair of the blue ribbon study panel on biodefense. senator, good to see you. >> great to be here. >> your reactions to his words yesterday? >> well, i know that president trump's words were strong, but i'm not upset about them because we've tried for years and years, really decades, diplomatic language and a lot else with the north koreans and it hasn't worked. this goes back to the '90s when president clinton, in really good faith, neglectotiated an agreement with kim jong-un's father which gafs tve the north koreans billions of dollars in exchange for a promise to stop their nuclear program, put the brakes on, then stop it all

together. they essentially took the money and ran. i think it is a statement that president trump made not only to show the seriousness with which we take the rapidly escalating capabilities of the north koreans to the north koreans, but it is also a statement i think even more important to china. >> you think that was the audience that he was directing it to? >> yeah. i mean i think ultimately that's the important audience for now to avert a disaster here. because the chinese really do have leverage on the north koreans and they're not using it. >> and why aren't they using it? now that things have gotten so tense. we just heard from congressman adam kinzinger. he was saying that there was this feeling that everybody's standing idly by. well, the north koreans are going to become a nuclear power unless we use military force, we're going to have to accept it. >> yeah. see, i don't think we can accept it. and that's the problem. we aren't talking here about, say, russia and china. two great nuclear powers with

which today we have difficult, hostile sometimes relationships but we're not really worried about a nuclear conflict with them or being attacked by them because they ultimately have rational leadership. that is not the case with north korea. now, you asked the question, why is china not doing more than it could be doing to stop the north korean program? honestly, we're guessing here. part of it is that they benefit from the way in which north korea keeps south korea, japan and us on edge. secondly, there's a whole series here which is worth exploring, that the people's liberation army of china has a separate relationship with the military of north korea that really goes back to the korean war. i know that literally xi

jinping, the leader of china is the head of the army, but there is a way in which i think they operate separately here and they can't get away with that anymore. >> we have nukes on the brain, for obvious reasons. but you on this blue ribbon panel on biodefense, the idea that a bad actor could release some sort of bug, some sort of pandemic. is north korea part of that threat or where do you see the biggest worries? >> it could be. i don't have intelligence today to tell you that they are. i mean this commission is co-chaired by tom ridge, the former secretary of homeland security. we've been at it now for a couple of years, we've issued a couple of reports. this is focused on the biothreat two ways. one, a bioterrorist attack. and we know that isis and groups like that are working on the capability for a bioterrorist attack. of course, we have been attack with anthrax after 9/11. and the second, which is even more potentially disastrous, is

an infectious disease epidemic or pandemic which is a naturally occurring bioattack. we have found so far that our country is not organized and prepared to respond or prevent either of those, either because we don't have -- for instance, we fumbled the response -- and we're lucky, i think -- to zika and ebola. we still don't have vaccines for either of them and they're still both out there and at any moment could flame up. one thing we feel best about what we've accomplished, we've m mandated that this administration do a national bioterrorism strategy to try to bringing to -- we're spending about $6 billion. we think -- we don't even know exactly what we're spending on biodefense. we got to bring it together and push it harder because

truthfully, as bill gates said a while ago, more people could be killed as a result of a catastrophic bioterrorist attack or an infectious disease epidemic than even by nuclear weapons. i'll just finally say, we're about 100 years from the flu epidemic of 1918 in which within one year, 50 million to 100 million people died from that epidemic. the numbers are not even clear. now we're traveling much more, so we got to raise our defenses to this. the threat here from somebody like kim jong-un is that just as he is mastered this nuclear capability, he will put a scientist to sessentially develp a synthetic flu virus, a flu, that they would then inject in an opponent population. >> senator joe lieberman, thank you for taking our mind off our

current worries of a nuclear threat and giving us this new worry to keep us up at night. >> it is a dangerous world. >> but you're tackling it. >> if we use our strength and we're smart, we'll be all right. >> thank you. >> thanks for being here. one of the possible targets in north korea's sights -- hawaii. how are the islands preparing? what are they feeling today? we take you inside an underground command center next. ♪ ♪

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as the war of words heats up between the u.s. and north korea, the reclusive regime is threatening to attack guam where the u.s. has an air force base. hawaii is also within north korea's striking distance. so how is that state preparing? cnn's sara seidner explains from honolulu. >> reporter: we are inside a bunker inside the diamond head crater. there are six feet of concrete above me, six feet of concrete in the walls. this is the place where the emergency operating center state warning point exists. the reason why this place is so important is this is where

warning to all the hawaiian islands will come from. see that phone there? that phone will get a phone call from pacific command once they determine that a missile is coming from north korea headed this way. then this phone will be picked up. this will send out a call to all of the counties simultaneously and they will warn their population that this is going to be an attack and to prepare. there will also be a tone that will be sent from here. that is the plan to all of the islands and you will hear a warning sound and a siren coming to all the islands. there will be also simultaneously going out on the television so that you'll know that this is happening here on the hawaiian islands. one of the most important things that people need to know is, you can survive this if you are a certain amount away from where the detonation happens. but you into ed to haneed to ha. there is only 20 minutes from

the time of launch from north korea to the time the bomb falls here in hawaii. you'll probably have 15 minutes warning to get somewhere safe. that's something this state is the first to work on. that plan to try and save lives in case of a nuclear attack. sara seidner, cnn, honolulu. >> that puts a fine point on it. our thanks to sara there. the tension between the u.s. and north korea is being compared to the cuban missile crisis. is a diplomatic solution possible here? finally, listening to my wife, went to a doctor. and i became diagnosed with hodgkin's lymphoma ...that diagnosis was tough. i had to put my trust in somebody. when i first met steve, we recommended chemotherapy, and then we did high dose therapy and then autologous stem cell transplant. unfortunately, he went on to have progressive disease i thought that he would be a good candidate for immune therapy. it's an intravenous medicine that is going

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tension and sit down at the negotiating table? the perfect man to tell us joins us now, former u.s. undersecretary for political affairs, ambassador nicholas burns. ambassador, as undersecretary you were involved in negotiating with other countries about their nuclear programs. so it is great to have your expertise here. >> thank you. >> every guest that we've had on says there can be no solution other than a diplomatic solution. where do you begin with north korea? >> i think it is the right question. you begin by strengthening our defenses before you sit down diplomatically, we've got to be strong. i think what president trump is doing here, he is talking to the chinese. he's letting the chinese know that the united states is going to defend our country, japan and south korea, our allies, american forces and south korea. before you get to talks, i think we're going to have to reinforce the american military in south korea, continue to make it clear. i think probably by private means, through intermediaries to

the north koreans that any use of force by the north koreans is unacceptable by the united states. at some point we need chinese to come in. they provide the leverage, the coal and food to the north koreans. president trump i think was speaking to beijing. he's been working on xi jinping since the beginning of his administration. the chinese have not come through. but diplomacy is the ultimate step and i think i've been watching your program for the last 30 minutes. war is not imminent with north korea. there are further steps that we can take, a tough-minded diplomacy backed by a strong defense, getting china to use its influence against north korea. that's where the united states i think is heading here in this conflict. >> what does north korea want ultimately? you can't do a deal until you understand what their mow tetiv are. we know this guy's tested twice as many weapons as his dad did in six years than his dad did in

17 years. what ultimately does he want? >> i think most experts believe what he wants is to preserve his family's autocratic authoritarian tick that toauth r authoritarian dicta torie dicta. he looks at saddam hussein who gave up his chemical weapons and lost his regime. i think that's the ultimate goal of the north korean regime. there has to be a regional solution. the chinese and russians here are going to be very important to get involved to leverage, push against the inorth koreans. forgetting about the impact on us, which is considerable, the south koreans and japanese are really in the line of fire here and we have had a defense commitment to both of them for many, many decades now. so we have allies here and we have friends and i don't think anyone believes that we should go to a preventive war, that we should strike north korea

without having tried diplomacy first. it is a fascinating and a sobering fact that as far as i'm aware, no american official in the trump or obama administrations has ever met kim jong-un. so you do want to give diplomacy a chance. but from a position of strength from the united states. i think that's where we should go here. >> ambassador, so interesting to hear you say, as our other guests, saying the fire and fury comment was directed at china. president trump trying to get china's attention. so what's the next move with china? >> well, the next move i think is private talks further between xi jinping and donald trump. rex tillerson involved. obviously. to let the chinese know that we are concerned, that we mean business. i'm talking to you from a rocky mountain state, from utah. it's unacceptable a that north korea should threaten our west coast, the western coast of canada, the rocky mountain states of the united states. we cannot live with a regime like that doing it.

but we don't have to just fire back right now militarily. there are other steps. an interim step could be if you could get to the negotiating table from a position of strength, that we would prevail upon the north koreans to freeze their nuclear tests, freeze their icbm, intercontinental ballistic missile test, freeze all the research they are doing to perfect a nuclear weapon. that would make us better off. i don't know if we can get there but we ought to try. it really would be terribly irresponsible of the united states and our allies if we didn't try diplomacy before we thought we were going to put ourselves in a war footing. i think that's what president trump is doing here. i thought the language was off. if you'd think of churchill or roosevelt or ronald reagan, a more determined, forceful united states that didn't have to match in shrillness the north koreans. i think it would be a better message for the united states. but i do think president trump has a right to push the chinese here to do more, and again, i

think that was really the recipient of the message. >> okay. ambassador nicholas burns, thanks so much. great to talk to you. and thank you, bill. >> thank you. >> i've wanted for 13 years you and i have tried to have a partnership. this is not what i had in mind for your first -- >> news got in the way. but it is always find to spend time with you. and happy birthday, chris cuomo! >> chris is celebrating his birthday. we'll see him again tomorrow. "cnn newsroom" with poppy harlow picks up after this quick break. whoooo.

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fast relief in every bite. crunchy outside. chewy inside. tum tum tum tum new tums chewy bites. good morning, everyone. top of the hour, i'm poppy harlow. john berman is off this week. the president threatening fire and fury. the secretary of state though saying this morning americans should sleep well and rest assured. we begin with some reassuring words from tillerson after the single most chilling public statement made by the u.s. president in quite a while aimed at north korea. you will hear that in a moment. first, tillerson's comments a short time ago on a flight from malaysia to guam. listen. >> i think americans should sleep well at night, have no concerns about this particular rhetoric of the last few days. i think the president, again, i think he felt it necessary to issue a very strong statement directly to north korea. but i think