this is cnn breaking news. >> i'm jim sciutto at the demilitarized zone between north and south korea where in a short time for the first time the u.s. president donald trump will meet face-to-face at the dmz with the north korean leader, the chairman, kim jong un, that announced just a moment ago by president moon of south korea and president trump of the u.s. he called this a first step but a promising step. have a listen to his words.

>> as we're going to the dmz border and i'll be meeting with chairman kim. i look forward to it very much. i forward to seeing him. we have developed a very good relationship, and we understand each other. i do believe he understands me, and i think i maybe understand him, and sometimes that can lead to very good things. >> he went on to say that all of a sudden a number of months ago, their relationship got better. they got along. i'm joined here at the dmz by paula hancock. over the last several months, although this border still remains really the most highly militarized border in the world, there have been steps taken to lower the tensions. tell us about those steps because a short time ago you went up to the very place where kim and trump will meet in a short time. >> i was there just a few weeks ago, and the dmz that president

trump will go to is a different one that president obama, president bush and clinton visited in their time. it was a tense moment. in the truce village, which is where we're expecting for them possibly to meet, that's where president moon jae-in stepped over, those soldiers are no longer armed. you used to have the north and south korea soldiers facing off against each other. the helmets are gone. the guard posts have been shut up. there will be no weapons there whatsoever. it's a completely different atmosphere. >> that's one of the steps that has meaning. no steps taken on denuclearization, hemming in the nuclear program. it was notable to me when president moon standing alongside president trump as they announced this historic meeting to come wassaying he wa maker of peace, he praised the courageousness of the two leaders, both trump and kim and he said that president trump

will go down in history. president moon, conscious, it seems of the relationship with trump theory, and lavishing him with praise as he's about to take this step, possibly across the border into north korea to meet with kim. >> absolutely, and it's something we have seen the north korean leader do as well. in fact, it's something we have seen a number of leaders around the world as well. moon jae-in is lavishing his praise on president trump. he is allowing him toch th have moment. i think it was last year when there was talk about nobel peace prizes. president moon was asked about that, and he said do you think president trump should have the nobel peace prize. he said he can have the nobel peace prize, i just want the peace. me understands for the u.s. president, this is very important, the optics of it as well. >> president trump lavished praise on the north korea leader which he claimed as signs of progress here. one notable moment, praising the

north korea leader for returning u.s. hostages. one of those hostages came home, otto warmbier, came home brain damaged and died a short time later. you have covered this story. it's not the first time president trump has had this disconnect over the facts of the return, a young man who lost his life, which north korea is responsible for. president trump disconnected between the facts and the reality. >> absolutely, and we did hear him not so long ago as well saying that he had spoken to kim jong un about that and kim jong un had told him that he knew nothing about it. he took him at his word, now that he had to back peddle on. he had to pull back somewhat but of course for the parents of otto warmbier, that is devastating to hear the president of your country saying something like that. so certainly there was a lot of surprise when that happened, and that was during the hanoi summit. >> understood. it is a short time from now. we are just over here on the

unification bridge. that's where president trump and president moon of south korea, they will cross up to the very edge of the border between north and south korea at the truce village where they will exchange this handshake, possibly even the possibility of president trump stepping across that border into north korea. an anna coren has been following events in seoul, and you watched the press conference there between moon and trump. you watched the flourish, the words of hope about how important this moment will be, how positive it will be, place it into some context for us. what does this mean for the larger negotiation between the u.s. and north korea but also between north and south as well? >> reporter: jim, i should add that we saw donald trump's motorcade pass by a few minutes ago, and then his helicopter, so he is on his way to where you guys are on the dmz.

what does this mean? look, donald trump is hoping that this is a recess in relations between the united states and north korea. obviously those talks stalled in february after the hanoi summit abruptly ended, but certainly donald trump is looking at this gesture as a way to regain momentum on denuclearizing the korean peninsula. certainly speaking, jim, to many analysts, they feel this is theatrics, this is a photo opportunity albeit a symbolic of a photo opportunity. it legitimatizes kim jong un. this man is a dictator, a human rights abuser and he's also somebody who executes, orders the executions of his family members. here to talk about this and much

more is an adjunct senior fellow with the center for new american security and columnist for the atomic scientist. does this legitimatize kim jong un? >> absolutely. it legitimatizes him. it adds to his international standing, but at the same time from a korean perspective, both north and south, they're big on symbolism, just as important for substance, it helps pave the way for substance. the challenge is you engage in too much thee at -- >> nothing has happened since the hanoi summit, the singapore summit. they say at least half a dozen nuclear warheads have been developed in the past year adding to the 60 to 70 nuclear warheads in north korea's arsenal. really, is he not being rewarded

for doing virtually nothing. >> he definitely is, and you know, they can't go on just praising kim jong un for not doing anything substantial. he continues to develop this nuclear weapons program plural because there is no real nuclear deal between washington. the hard work is left to be done. and you can't just put a band-aid over it. the wound is still there. there are hard issues they have to deal with. they are stuck on the most important which is what will the u.s. give in return for north korea's nuclear dismantlement, and that's what we saw highlighted in hay nonoi, the sticking point. >> we heard from the north koreans, saying we're prepared to dismantle. the south koreans saying this is a good step. we need to embrace this. there are so many nuclear

facilities, it has to be more from the north koreans. >> it certainly does. there are key facilities outside producing nuclear weapons, and so the trump administration actually is correct when they say young gun itself is not enough. the north will have to agree to plus whatever, the broader picture, the end state, what does this lead to, and the u.s. will not be able to provide sanctions relief as pyongyang is demanding in return for only young, that's not a portion. >> how much is north korea hurting at this moment as far as sanctions go? we hear about these crippling sanctions. are the north korean people suffering? >> there are conflicting reports. you hear interlocketers on the ground in pyongyang saying it's developed to an extent they have never seen before, and then you hear reports they are crippling. then you hear north korean delegation claiming that the

sanctio sanctions they want lifted are vital to the economy, however the un sanctions they want lifted are there because of the exports on those items are believed to generate billions of dollars every year that are funneled into the north korea nuclear weapons program. there seems to be a blurred line between where the sources of funding come from for the economy and the nuclear weapons program. >> thank you so much for joining us and to your analysis, jim,enijim, i think it's also important to remember that u.s. intelligence agencies themselves say that north korea has continued to develop its nuclear weapons program over the past year since donald trump messed with kim jong un in singapore of last year, it has not stopped. >> that's exactly right, and as they continue to develop, north korea able to make progress as these negotiations drag out, and

that is the assessment of u.s. intelligence. anna coren there in seoul. we should note that just moments ago, the president's helicopter was wheels up from seoul on its way here to the dmz. that trip just about 20 minutes or so. the president should arrive in 15 minutes, and within the next hour perhaps we expect him to go to the border to meet face-to-face with kim jong un, the leader of north korea. we will of course bring that to you live as that happens. please stay with us. we'll be back after this short break. of a lifetime. it's "progressive on ice." everything you love about car insurance -- the discounts... the rate comparisons... and flo in a boat. ♪ insurance adventure awaits at "progressive on ice." tickets not available now or ever.

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welcome back, i'm jim sciutto at the border between north and south korea where in just moments, we'll witness history. the first time u.s. president to meet face-to-face with the north korean leader, president trump, on his way from seoul, his wheels up, moments away from landing at the joint security area here the at demilitarized zone at the border between north and south korea, and a short time after that he'll meet with

the north korean leader. we learned the meeting would become a reality a short time ago, announced by the president of south korea, moon jae-in. here is the moment he let the world know that this meeting would happen. >>. >> translator: the united states and north korea will be meeting in panmunjom, for the first time in history, the leaders of the united states and north korea will be standing face-to-face in panmunjom, the symbol of division and make handshakes for peace. we continue to communicate and engage with each other in dialogue, we can move towards the best situation. this is something that we'll be able to see for ourselves today. south and north will be able to become confident about peace and the world will provide their support and cheer on president trump and chairman kim with high expectation. >> president moon went on to call president trump a maker of peace. we should note that president trump just moments away from

landing here at the dmz, marine one, his helicopter in the air on route from seoul. joined here at the dmz with paula hancock has covered this story for a number of years. let's talk about the schedule over the next hour. he'll land a short distance from here. he'll go to the truce village as it's known along the border and what follows. >> what we're expecting is if it's going to be anything like when kim jong un met with the south korean president, he'll go to the truce village of panmunjom. this is the area where you see the blue huts, which in the past have had agreements between north and south korea, and then in the middle of that is the mdl, which is the effective border between north and south korea. what we saw when it was with the south korea president, the south korean president was waiting there, he watched kim jong un walk over to him, they shook hands, kim jong un presumably spontaneously said why don't you come over to north korea. he did, he stepped over and he

came back. we know that the u.s. president lauded that as he saw it. that is potentially something he is wishing to do as well. >> the president wanting to repeat that moment. there have been steps in recent months to lower the tensions along this, the most militarized border in the world, and you having visited where this meeting is taking place, tell us about those steps and what difference they make. >> we have been there many times over recent years, and it was always fairly tense. you would be given seven or eight minutes. you were not allowed to make eye contact with soldiers. the tourists were told, do not wave, do not make sharp movements. when i was there a few weeks ago, there's no arms, no weapons within the jsa, the helmets of the soldiers have been replaced. the guard posts have been shuttered up and when we were there, there were south korean tourists and on the other side of the border, there were north korean tourists and they were waving at each other, and nobody was concerned.

the north korean soldiers were ambling around. there was an incredible palpable sense of tension is gone from that area. >> bigger picture here, there are the optics, and this will be a powerful optic. it is history, the first time the u.s. president to meet face-to-face with the north k korean leader, and there has been no progress on the actual denuclearization. steps taken to hem in the nuclear program. i'm just going to take a beat here for a moment because i can see off in the distance, these are the president's helicopter, marine one, along with several others. the president, the u.s. president traveling here as well as the south korean president. it appears that they have something of an escort as well. they will be landing shortly. it's what's known as jsa, the joint security area here at the dmz. then the president's arrival, walking right up to the border there for that meeting with the north korean leader.

this is history we're going to witness. as we were saying, there is of course the optics of this, and it is a powerful one, and then there is the substance of this. you can hear, i imagine, those helicopters, you have three double rotor helicopters here, a black hawk helicopter, another black hawk as well, these we believe the transports carrying the u.s. president to the border. paula as we were saying, the optics of this moment, there have been no steps by north korea to hem in it nuclear program. what will be the measure of success of this third meeting face-to-face, will it be the fact that they met or the fact that it moves the talks forward? >> well, there is obviously the hope that this ends the stalemate because talks at this point are going nowhere. if the two leaders and it is very much a top down approach. if the two leaders meet once again. if president trump can get some kind of guarantee, at least verbally from the north korean leader, the question is can the

north korean leader get something from the president himself as well. we heard from president moon this morning, he's talking about why don't you go with the idea that north korea had of giving up the nuclear facility and then the international community can think about easing sanctions. that was talked about in hanoi. >> and that was an exchange the u.s. turned down. the question, an important facility, is that still a facility essentially to north korea's nuclear program when they have many sights buried underground with the intention of protecting them from u.s. missiles, bombardment. it was interesting to see moon present an idea that fell apart at the last failed talks between the two in hanoi. >> he floated it once again saying this is a possibility. this could ease sanctions, but we know that president trump has already said that's not enough. we want the indisclosed sites, the site -- undisclosed sites,

the sites north korea has not admitted to having yet. >> and a listing, an accounting of north korea sites where you can take the steps of we need this one taken away, that one taken away, but north korea has not presented that information. paula hancock. stay with me here. we are moments away from a historic meeting at the border between president trump and kim jong un. jim acosta has been traveling with the president to g20. when the president was confronted with the fact that there has been no progress made on denuclearization, steps taken by north korea to denuclear rise, he used a phrase he -- denuclearize, he use add phrase calling that fake news, and citing signs of progress. give us a read of the president's answer and his justifications to say these talks to this point have borne fruit. >> reporter: yeah, jim, i mean, he uses that expression as we know not to describe stories

that are false but to describe stories he doesn't like but putting that aside for a moment, i will tell you, i just talked with a source familiar with what is happening right now. the president's trip up to the dmz to meeting with the north korean dictator, kim jong un. this source describes what we're about to see, jim, as pretty spontaneous. you asked me this question a short while ago, and i touched base with a source that had an answer about this. the president tweeted about this a day ago, and according to his source, the team got into gear. that's the words of the source familiar with the meeting about to take place with president trump and kim jong un. he's been talking about this idea, musing about this idea to folks for several days now. it sounds as though the actual logistics have been rolled into place here in the last possible moments. to make this happen. but getting pack to what you were talking about -- back to what you were talking about a few moments ago i was in the first meeting that he had with kim jong un back in 2017, and i will tell you, jim, or 2018,

what was remarkable about it is you could sense from the president all day long that this is something he really wants, and yes, he is knocked around by critics and skeptics and so on who say this is all reality tv, foreign policy, and so on, and perhaps there is this side of it. he does like to play up the drama and cliff hangers and so on, my sense, being with the president all day long for the first encounter with kim jong un in singapore, he very much wants this, he sees this as critical to part of his foreign policy legacy, almost to sort of justify his approach, his strategic rhetoric approach where we saw this back in 2017 where he ginned up the rhetoric with kim jong un, calling him little rocketman and so on, and we saw that rhetoric lead to the first meeting with the north korean dictator, his team surrounded him and defended them and said this kind of rhetoric can yield results and they're still trying to make that

happen, and i think that's why even though things fell apart in almost a spectacular fashion in hanoi earlier this year, this president, i guess you could say desperately wants this and that is why he was almost pleading with the north korean dictator, to have this meeting. he sees this as a potential opportunity to move this ball forward. >> jim, just a moment. sorry to interrupt, jim, just because in the last minute here, we've seen a second group of helicopters, a pair pass over our head on the way to the dmz with the tell taitale, two tone white half, green lower half, appearing to be marine one, the helicopter carrying the u.s. president to the dmz. that just happening in the last moment here. jim, please stand by in a short while, we will have an update, and we are approaching that moment when president trump will

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helicopter marine one land at the joint security area right at the border near the truce village where in a short time, president trump will meet with the north korean dictator, kim jong un, a historic first meeting between a sitting u.s. president and the leader of north korea right along the border here. this is the moment just a short time ago when president trump spoke of this meeting, which started with a tweet yesterday, just 24 hours ago, and now will become a reality. >> we're going to the dmz border, and i'll be meeting with chairman kim. i look forward to it very much. i look forward to seeing him. we have developed a very good relationship, and we understand each other, i do believe he understands me, and i think i maybe understand him. and sometimes that can lead to very good things. >> president trump went on to call this meeting just a first step, but he said possibly a step in the right direction. we're joined now by sam

vinograd, cnn national security analyst, and sam, one interesting dynamic of this face-to-face with trump and kim, although the south korea president moon jae-in has accompanied president trump up here to the dmz, that meeting will be between trump and kim, and that is a dynamic that kim jong un, that north korea wants. it wants to negotiate fa face-to-face with trump, and to some degree sideline the south korean leader from these goe negotiations, and the role it has had in the past. tell us why that is and what's the significance. >> this has been an interesting dynamic, ever since the south koreans delivered a letter from kim jong un to president trump in march of 2018. president moon had been kim jong un's messenger, and president moon had been carrying a lot of kim jong un's water with respect to urging president trump to stay in negotiations and urging president trump to lift songs on north korea in exchange for steps toward denuclearization.

today we saw something different. today we saw president moon really follow kim's example with respect to making this about president trump as a peacemaker, and putting the onus on president trump as doing something historic for the korean peninsula and for security around the world. president moon said that interkorean dialogue was taking a backseat today to the broader discussion between president trump and kim jong un of north korea. and that's really building president trump up, building up his ego, which is something that has worked well with other leaders around the world. kim jong un has gone directly to president trump when he's wanted something. he likes getting president trump's attention, and we all know that he has really other members of his team, a tactic that has yielded brute as we wait to see president trump meet kim jong un at dmz. >> sam, president trump when confronted with the fact that

north korea has not made progress on denuclearization which is the administration's own definition of success in these ongoing negotiations has said we are in his words a lot safer as a result of these talks, and it is true that north korea has stopped nuclear tests and north korea stopped at least long range missile tests, although recently it restarted short range missile tests which still put u.s. military bases in the region under threat. is -- are we safer as a result of these talks, at least to some degree in that at least the tensions have ratcheted down, including the tensions along the border here? >> well, let's just be clear. kim jong un hasn't just not taken steps toward denuclearization. his nuclear program has advanced since these talks began. secretary of state pompeo has even said that north korea continues to nuclearize. kim has a stronger nuclear arsenal today than when negotiations first began. with respect to whether we're safer today, it depends what time line you're looking at.

in the short-term, most definitely. president trump deserves credit for the lack of missile test for long range missiles and nuclear weapons. but the reason why those tests have stopped is something we need to address. kim jong un has said he no longer needs those tests because he has the capabilities that he needs. and color me a skeptic here, jim, but while we're safer in the short-term, i don't sleep better at night just because missiles aren't flying right now. it's certainly positive that tensions are lower, but kim jong un and his father and his grandfather before him have shown that they are willing to have these lulls in activity while they wait to get something from the international community only to start those tests back up again when they don't get what they want. and we know what kim jong un wants. kim jong un wants sanctions relief, and if he doesn't get that, he says he wants that by the end of the year, i think it's entirely probably based on the history of the kim regime that we could see those tests

resume. >> sam vinograd stand by. we can now confirm that president trump has landed at the demilitarized zone, that he will meet with the leader of north korea, kim soon. we're going to bring that to you live. and i want to give you a sense of what happens when that follows. the president has plans to meet at the border with u.s. and south korean service members. he plans to go to the very border itself where a number of months ago when the south korea leader came there to meet kim. kim invited him to step across the border into north korea territory, when president trump was asked would he do the same if invited by president kim. he said he would accept that invitation. that is something we may very well see, a remarkable sight it will be. it's something we may very well see when the two leaders meet a short time from now. we are going to keep you abreast of those events and bring them to you live as they happen. our anna coren has been following events in seoul, south

korea, where president trump and president moon met earlier today. tell us, anna, about president moon's somewhat unusual role here in that this will be a kim and trump show, the south korea leader sidelined by north korea's choice. kim jong un wants to meet with the u.s. president. he does not want to meet with south korea in its traditional role as mediator in these talks. >> reporter: yeah, well, it's interesting, jim, certainly after the hanoi summit in february, and how that was i guess abruptly brought to a close after a matter of hours. it was saying that the north cre koreans really took exception with the south koreans, and they have fallen out of favor, almost in the dog house, if you like, and the north koreans will say, we will not deal with the south koreans, we don't want them to be the mediator. we only deal with u.s.

officials, but even then, after february, despite the overtures from the u.s. administration, certainly there hasn't been much communication between the north koreans and the americans. so north korea, playing perhaps a little harder to get. we mentioned those short range ballistic missiles that were fired in may while ruffled the feathers of many in the international community, it didn't seem to really bother donald trump. obviously there are members of his administration which took exception but not the president himself. he has always placed so much weight on his relationship with kim jong un and yet it was probably south korean president moon jae-in who really made this all happen in the first place. he was working behind the scenes, trying to facilitate dialogue between the north koreans and the americans and, you know, this is a man who's a

liberal. when he came into office, he wants peace on the korean peninsula. that is something he has campaigns for all along, and then obviously we saw that incredible moment last year when he stepped across the military demarcation line at the dmz, and embraced kim jong un. it was an incredibly special moment, something that obviously donald trump is looking to replicate today. >> as we noted a short time ago, we can now confirm that president trump has arrived. his helicopter has landed at the joint security area known as the jsa at the demilitarized zone, a short distance away from where the president landed and where soon, we're told, the meeting will take place between kim jong un and president trump. we should note for context here what this meeting is and what it is not. it is a face-to-face, certainly a handshake, perhaps a remarkable scene of a u.s. president stepping across the border into north korea. it is not a formal negotiation,

to our knowledge, and therefore, anna, perhaps we could say the expectations are much lower for success here because of course in hanoi, the intention, the goal was to make progress on the nuclear negotiations and those fell apart at the last minute. they were not able to agree. this is a meeting for the sake of meeting to some degree, is it not, anna, so a success at least from the president's perspective. simply for the fact that kuhn has accepted his invitation, and will meet minimum at the border here in a -- meet him at the border here in a short time. >> reporter: jim, as you say, hanoi was a summit, a summit which abruptly ended after several hours. this meeting as historic as it is, is going to take just a few minutes, and donald trump has made that perfectly clear that this is going to be a very quick meeting. he's obviously taking advantage of the fact that he's here in country, can travel to the dmz which he was always going to do, whether this was such a last minute invitation, which he,

again, alluded to during his press conference earlier, analysts are quite septembkepti they thinks planning involved, logistics, security, it takes longer than 24 hours. perhaps this was being organized for some time, certainly longer than the past 24 hours. >> yeah. >> but certainly this is hoped to be a reset in relations between the united states and north korea. and obviously both those leaders, president trump and kim jong un, they love a photo opportunity, and this certainly will be one to remember. >> a reset but of course the question is what follows that reset. do substantiative negotiations follow that reset, and anna coren, please stand by. we're going to bring you live pictures shortly of an historic moment. first time meeting between the u.s. president and the north korean leader right at the

demilitarized zone dividing north and south, 66 years since the end of formal hostilities, history to what end. what will follow. we're going to bring you these events live. please stay with us. we're going to take a short break now. i get ingrowing hairs"skin, and "oh i love it. it's a great razor. it has that 'fence' in the middle. it gives a nice smooth shave. just stopping that irritation.... that burn that i get. i wouldn't use anything else" ♪

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president kim and president trump will meet for a handshake greeting. i'm joined here just a short distance from the truce village as it's known there at the dmz by paula hancock. she's based in seoul for cnn. she has been to this location before. describe what you see there, this place, this location where president trump and kim will meet. >> reporter: well, jim, this looks like it could be the observation post. this is one of the observation posts that you can look over north korea. it's the area where previous

u.s. presidents have been brought. this is where president obama was, president clinton, george w. bush. this really is an area where you get a good sense of the dmz, and you can look over into north korea, certainly about 20 meters or so from north korea itself, so we are expecting this could be what we see as well. giving a lay of the land. it's a very good observation post to see really just how narrow the dmz is. >> and we should note as you noted that former, previous u.s. presidents have come to this place before, this location before, president obama, president george w. bush, president clinton, president reagan, they have come, they have not, though, at this location met with the north korean leader, and that is the history being made. there is president trump arriving at the border, walking up the steps there. accompanied by the south korean president, i believe, just behind him president moon jae-in, this following their meetings this morning in seoul

as paula hancocks was saying, this is the observation post at the border there, so president trump visiting a location, u.s. presidents have visited in the past but is about to do something no u.s. president has done before which is to shake the hand of the north korean leader there. let's listen in to see if we can hear, as we wait for this handshake between kim and trump. >> as you look this way, sir, you start to catch a small photo of everything that is possible here and also the press. the backsides of the mountain, sir. it is, sir.

also, sir, you're looking at opportunity. you just passed that flag pole at the complex, created by the -- >> president trump there with the south korean president moon, they're getting a briefing from the u.s. commander there describing the security along the dmz there, which stretches some 160 miles. the most militarized border in the world, hundreds of thousands of troops on either side, south

korean here on the southern side along with some 28,500 u.s. troops based here in korea, north korean troops of course on the northern side. this is a tense point, perhaps one of the most tense points in the world. this was just moments ago as president trump arrived there with president moon of south korea behind him. at the point where in a very short time he will have a handshake greeting with the north korean leader kim jong un, and as i was saying a short time ago, previous u.s. presidents have come here. they have come to the observation point, they have looked through binoculars, they have gotten briefings from the u.s. officer in command there. what previous presidents have not done is followed that with a handshake with the north korean leader, which what we are going to witness in a short time. paula hancocks, she has been to this place where president trump is standing now. tell us what he is seeing now as he gets this briefing from the u.s. commander. >> reporter: jim, this is the

perfect spot to look over the whole of the dmz, to get a sense of what the dmz and look over into north korea. it's worth remembering that when president clinton was here, and he looked over the dmz, he gave that quote of this is one of the most tense places on earth, and it's worth thinking about how different the dmz that president trump is seeing today to the dmz that previous u.s. president haves seen. the fact that it is not as tense as it was, the fact that the area he's going to go to, panmunjom, which is the truce village is now unarmed. we know that about 35 soldiers on each side, north and south korean, they used to face off against each other. they used to all be there was guard posts that were filled with ammunition as well. that's not the case. we know the helmets solders used

to wear have been changed. there's an enormous array of weapons pointed north to south, multiple artillery positions. the threat that north korea pose to the south. that said, these ceremonial changes on the border is part of the agreement between the president and the north korean leader. this will be the third meeting -- we should not call this a summit. it's a hand shake. we have don't expect formal negotiations here. this more a photo opportunity. personal greeting in the hopes of getting nuclear negotiations back on track.

jim acosta, i understand you have new reporting, jim, about just how much the president's tweet yesterday led to this moment we're seeing today. >> i talked to a source familiar with the planning right now who said this was essentially spontaneous, the president tweeting that he wanted to the meet with kim jong un. i talked to a law enforcement source a short while ago. he said that the secret service had, in fact, being planning for the possibility of the president going to the dmz. this is not something he can do at the last 1eb8gd. there is so much planning and preparation that has to go into a visit like this. the secret service has been conducting that for some time

now. just to jump off of what you were saying moments ago about this visit. i think the president is trying to continue the conversations in hanoi. those negotiations broke apart very suddenly. we were supposed to have a press conference with the president late in the day. then that press conference got moved up by hours because things had just completely fallen apart. as the president and his team described to reporters, kim jong un was not willing to meet president trump anywhere near where the american side wanted to be in all this. it goes to show you how extremely difficult and edge trenched from negotiation is. it's an ongoing negotiation that's going to be going on from summit to summit. it could go from administration to administration. the president, because he so wants to have this be part of his legacy, he is trying to keep this conversation going with kim

jong un but it is interesting to note that even his own officials seem to be taken off guard to some extent by all this and had to plan some of this sort of at the last second, even though the president has been musing about this for quite some time from what we understand. the secret service has to work on this when the president makes an appearance like that h this. >> we were watching live pictures, the company accompanied by u.s. and south korean military officers there, and the south korean president. they will meet at the border there, exchange a hand shake. as we await that moment we should not underestimate the importance of this location. and how a short time ago how, well, frankly, a moment like

this seemed. this is a highly tense border. this is a border with an enormous array of weapons pointed in either direction, weapons that the north korean president has threatened with. seps have been taken along the border to lower the tensions. to have the u.s. president and the south korean president at this location now on a border that for 66 years has divided these countries, who are officially still at war, we should note, is a truly remarkable moment. let's listen in. >> very, very dangerous. after our first summit, all of danger went away. much different place. i'm saying this for the press. when they say there's no difference, there's a tremendous

differen difference. [ inaudible ]

>> ok. we are looking at live pictures of u.s. president donald trump as well as the south korean president moon jae-iy in. they're being briefedly the u.s. commander of korean forces and very shortly they are going to be meeting with the north korean leader kim jong un. nas what donald trump has announced he is going to be doing momentarily. let's go back to jim sciutto at the dmz. >> i'm jim shoeso here at the dmz with our paula hancocks. we're a short distance away from

the truce village where president trump is now with the south korean president moon jae-in where in a short period of time he will meet with the north korean president kim jong un. they're meeting with south korean forces stationed at the border and of course u.s. forces there. he was getting a briefing from the lieutenant who commands the battalion at the border. let's listen again for the president's comments. >> 35 billion people. 25 miles away.

accessible by the mountains. [ inaudible ]

>> said there was great conflict here prior to our meeting in singapore. that hasn't been necessarily reported, i understood very well and now it's been extremely decent. it's a whole different world. so much was accomplished. $35 billion people living withi the range of the weapons. there's nothing like that anywhere. it's all working out. it always works out. thank you very much.

>> that was president trump at the border there making comments. clearly president sensitive to the news coverage of this. in prior summits they're saying that it's the press that has seen no difference in the relationship but the tremendous things, in his words -- i should remind our viewers that it's the administration's own definition of success, complete verifiable denuclearization by the koreans. this face-to-face meeting, the subject of denuclearization is where no progress has been made. it is true that north korea has stopped tests. it is true that some sill bolic perhaps meaningful changes have

taken place here along the dmz. >> absolutely. credit where due. you can see these pictures. i was there in 2013 under a had to wear a flak jacket, a helmet. you have the u.s. president standing there, very little protection there, no helmet, no flak jacket. he's being briefed on what exactly is happening. standing there with the south korean president and that is dwijtdly progress. >> yeah. >> we're not in 2017 when there was constantly nuclear testing. there is definitely some progress. >> another sign perhaps of how protocol, normal practice has been upturned. jim acosta reporting that it was the president's tweet yesterday inviting kim to the meets at the border. that's when officials got into high gear to make this meeting between kim and