god bless. me there. many, many more in your future. >> dana: set your dvrs. never miss an episode of "the five" because it's pretty fabulous. "special report" is next. guess who's back? bret baier. >> bret: congratulations. ♪ this is a fox news alert. i'm bret baier in washington. we are in our way from what president trump calls a major statement by south korea about north korea. the president himself delivering this news about the news to reporters in the briefing room a short time ago. >> south korea's gonna be making a major statement. speak up on watt, mr. president? 's ticket big subject. >> bret: and that was it, kind of cryptic. john roberts starts us off with breaking news from the north lawn. good evening, john. >> good evening, bret by the president went on to say a little further on in that

exchange, the announcement tonight would be about north korea. we do not know what the substance of that will be. we do know it was the president speaking with the south korean president about what was going on. the north korean -- the south korean rather national security advisor is expected to be in that briefing room to deliver us the news. he has been here all day, along with his staff talking with h.r. mcmaster about what happened earlier in the week between north korea and south korea, where the north said it would be helping to meet with moon jae-in and this would be kim jong un who would actually come into south korea territory to meet at the peace house at the border crossing, which i know, bret, you are very familiar with. sometime in late may. that could be the starting point for direct talks between the united states and north korea. it was interesting about the president coming in, the first time since he's been president, 430 days that he's stuck his nose into his toes into the briefing room. he didn't get all the way in but a surprise to see him there. this announcement about

north korea from south korea comes on a day when the president made his long-awaited announcement on trade tariffs, something that the president has been promising since the election campaign. today, he did it. the sanctions on aluminum and steel are the first imposed by the u.s. in 16 years. president trump insisting they are necessary to protect america's national security. >> a strong steel and aluminum industry are vital to our national security. absolutely vital. steel is steel. you don't have steel, you don't have a country. >> even as he moved to punish nations he says are unfairly dumping cheap steel into the u.s., the president was talking about carving out exclusions for certain countries. exempting canada and mexico, at least for now. >> we need steel, we need aluminum. we negotiating with mexico, we are negotiating with canada. and the nafta. depending on whether or not we reach a deal, also very much involved with that as national

defense, but if we reach a deal, it is most likely that we want to be charging those two countries the tariffs. >> there may be other carve outs, too. for example the steel mill in sheffield england produces castings that are used in the weapon system of the new columbia class nuclear submarines. if president trump slaps tariffs on britain, they would be texting its own supply chain's. >> we have other countries with that are very much involved in trade but also military and working with military. we'll be making a decision as to who they are. >> but some of america's european allies aligned under the european union trade collective are planning retaliation. >> >> translator: the european commission will introduce countermeasures to president trump's very inappropriate initiative which made prove advantageous for the united states right away, but watch come in the long run, will harm the united states influence in the world. >> china, with the united states has singled out for bad behavior and dumping steel, suggested

this might be the first shot in a trade war. >> translator: in the event of a trade war, china will make a justified or necessary response. >> from the speaker of the house bob ramis afternoon, a statement of opposition. "i disagree with this action and fear and fear its unattended and consequent as." from the senate, the man who said president trump could be the greatest president ever is disappointed. >> i'm very upset about it. frankly, i love the president i think he's been misled by some of the people at the white house. >> from kentucky aluminum worker james powell is happy the president is digging up her american steel and jobs. >> we are bringing back 300 jobs, spending over $300 million, and our plant alone in kentucky. this is huge for us. figure one of the fiercest opponents of tariffs inside thef economic advisor gary cohn. he attended his last cabinet meeting today. and a farewell, president trump praising cohn and also taking tt him just a little bit. >> he may be a global list but i

still like him. going to go out and make another couple of hundred million and then he's going to maybe come back. i don't know if i can put them on the same position, though. he's not quite as strong almost tariffs as we want to. >> the president's actions today starts a 15 day countdown clock to the imposition of tariffs the president is hoping that before then, some countries that he believes are bad actors will modify their trade practices in order to avoid the punitive sanctions. >> bret: quickly, as we went await this announcement on south korea, on the trade issue, there is a lot of wiggle room potentially. >> the president was talking about how canada and mexico are initially excluded. we don't know how long that window will be open. he's also talking about including some of our other allies who are in the supply chain for national security. i don't think this is going to go as far as it did back in 2002, when the bush administration had some 700 exemptions. it made their tariff regime

looked mostly like swiss cheese more than anything, proved that it was fairly ineffective. there are thinking about carving out exclusions here. china not among them. >> bret: that's right. john, thank you. back to breaking news, let's go outside washington to see how the new trade policies affects american workers in the rust belt and out west. we have fox team coverage night. william drawdown nests is in california where there are serious prospects about losing american jobs. first up, molly line in pennsylvania tonight where they could be looking at new jobs. good evening, molly. >> good evening, bret. impression critics including a chorus of voices from the president's own party have decried has a steep tariffs on steel and aluminum. many of those who still work at a dwindled number of plants here in pennsylvania feel hope. >> i think it's an extra shot of the arm for us. we need all the job security we can get. >> he works for you must deal in

west midland avenue he's the president of the local steelworkers union. he believes the president's tariff plan will give the industry a much-needed boost. >> every time we get a move like that with extra security, it brings new higher reason. it creates a lot of job opportunities for the valley. >> he traveled to washington today to watch the president put pen to paper. his family, like many steel clients among the valley, understand what it means to have a good job and steel. what it means to lose one, as his father did nearly 40 years ago. >> i never forgot that, looking into his eyes, and my household, what that does to a family. you hear about it, but when you are actually involved in it, it impacts you. it will never leave you. >> in the wake of world war ii's war mobilization, pennsylvania steel industry thrived, until the early '80s. an unprecedented gush of cheap foreign steel flooded the world market and like dominoes, the plants and males let out of these mountains shut down.

his dad remembers the shattering blow. >> it was a shocking reality for a lot of people. maybe eight or 900 guys. ready going out now? spoke of the six sovereigns whose cars, homes, and marriages, and said the region is never recovered. >> these towns have turned into ghost towns. the rust belt is amazing. now it is all drug-infested. it's hard. it's just a hard place to try to live and survive. >> but this family is not giving up. and scott believes the future of steel is strong. >> maybe you'll see somebody's cities and towns clean up and you'll see people walk around with hope. >> u.s. steel employs more than 3,000 people and its facilities here in the valley, the question, of course, is whether these tariffs will mean new jobs. a spokesperson says that they do anticipated increased demand for steel produced in the united states and says if that demand is sustained, the company will respond and to staff up to

meet customer needs. bret. >> bret: molly line in pennsylvania. molly, thank you, fair and balanced. situation much different on the west coast. many their fear is tariffs could cause jobs with prices on the rise. national correspondent william la jeunesse is in california tonight. >> the cost is the biggest thing, and that is what is going to hurt us as a company, if this goes through. >> president trump hopes to punish china and some others for dumping aluminum and steel, but some u.s. steel producers say the 25% tariff will hurt them, as well. >> if they impose tariffs, you harm our business very bad. >> california steel is the largest producer west of the rockies. unlike mills in the midwest, that make steel from iron ore, california steel imports its raw material and slabs. these 25 tons labs are heated at 2500 degrees. then it is almost liquefied, pressed by rollers into sheets

of steel. >> those are fabricated into coils and pipes and sold to companies that turn finished steel into framing, solar panels, and more. >> talking about saving american jobs, right? we are american jobs. >> marcella rodriguez says one problem is transportation. importing slabs for mexico and brazil by ship costs about $20 a ton. moving it by rail from the midwest, more than $100. >> the trade costs to bring for most countries to california costs one fourth or one fifth of the freight cost from the east coast to the west coast. >> but the real problems with the american steel industry, rodriguez says, as china, dumping coils with finished steel like this for $200 a ton, when the u.s. market price is 400. >> we just want fairness, because we have not been treated fairly by other countries. >> rodriguez wants the president to exclude slabs from the tariff, otherwise he says costs will rise, clients buy less,

forcing layoffs, killing jobs, not creating them. >> a lot of us are looking to retire from a company and right now, it's a big concern that we don't know what is going to happen. >> this was kaiser steel, a huge integrated plants like those in pennsylvania that mind or down the street but it went bankrupt, replaced by this model using imported slabs because the owners say the midwest could not or would not supply competitor. the owner say they have the trump administration is flexible, and that is what -- not putting these steel workers out of business. >> bret: william, thank you. stocks were up. the dow gained 94, the s&p 500 finished ahead of 12. the nasdaq picked up 31. ministers from 11 pacific rim countries have signed a sweeping new agreement to streamline trade and/tariffs. they are what's left of the trans-pacific partnership, the tpp, which the u.s. abandoned last year. one expert now says the new group "discriminates against the

u.s." president trump says he is proud of his administration's progress in space flight. the president told his cabinet today there are new projects on the drawing board. >> we are bringing that whole space flight back. we'll be sending something very beautiful to mars in the very near future. >> bret: the president also had a shout out for elon musk and space x, which privately financed falcon rocket program. house minority leader nancy pelosi says it is good to have tension and the democratic party, and in that case, things are really great for democrats entering the midterm election season. correspondent peter doocy looks at the wide divisions among democrats, which not everyone in the party sees as a good thing. >> is being a moderate democrat divides midterms a liability? new york mayor bill de blasio just called his governor andrew cuomo a moderate as an insult.

california's democratic party is declining to endorse its long-time senator dianne feinstein, paving the way for a more liberal challenger. >> thank you! speak it in an illinois race, senator bernie sanders just endorsed a progressive primary challenger, dan lipinski, who was more moderate. >> there are those who want to have a tea party of the left in the democratic party, to match unfortunately what is happened to the republicans. but we need to have a big tent party. speak about strategists aren't so sure the middle-of-the-road leads back to a house majority. >> the great thing about the enthusiasm that the democratic party is seeing from folks who are further to the left and more progressive than the moderates, is that it is bringing more people into the party, it is increasing the enthusiasm. >> some democrats are warning against extremes. >> we need pro-life democrats. we need democrats who aren't as strong on gun control some of us are. >> dnc chair tom perez who

recently knocked the democratic congressional campaign committee for putting out opposition research on one democratic primary candidate, tells foxley infighting is okay. >> do we have spirited primaries? sure we do. but we had spirited primaries in virginia last year and people came around. >> don't concerns from the top democrat on the house either. >> it is the most exhilarating thrill to be a leader and a party that has that kind of diversity of opinion, creative tension. >> a mantra embraced by the senate democrat who just served on a national ticket that lost. >> we are a party that has tolerated some pretty wide to diversity of opinions for a long time. >> and there are limits to the democratic party's potential progressive turn. >> is there a danger in the party going too far to the left do you think? >> that won't happen in west virginia. >> but just about everywhere

else, so far this cycle it seems that the one lawmaker whose endorsement gets the democratic base, the most fired up as bernie sanders. what is not clear yet is whether or not independence or undecideds are ready to follow the lead of a democratic socialist. brett? >> bret: peter doocy on capitol hill. thank you. in this international women's day, women's groups in the u.s. and some democratic politicians are taking considerable heat for not being critical of nation of islam leader louis farrakhan and his latest rant against jewish people and white people. correspondent doug mckelway looks at with the minister is saying and what many on the left are not. >> the powerful jews are my enemies! >> minister louis farrakhan continues to be an uncomfortable presence for the left. his speech on the birthday of the founder of the nation of islam was placed with a volley of anti-semitic rantings. >> there is a mother and father

of apartheid! jews, the good jews, you better separate from these satanic jews, lest they take you down to hell with them because that is where they are headed. >> now a lobbying group, the republican jewish coalition, is calling for the resignation of seven members of the congressional black caucus for having close ties to farrakhan. among them outspoken trump critic maxine waters and deputy chair of the democratic national committee keith ellison. he dismissed his relationship with farrakhan, telling "the washington post," "i am telling you, no one cares." he also defended his 1995 remarks that farrakhan was a role model for black youth. >> this was a year and the million man march, people were attacking the march of the time, the march was a very good thing. >> also caught in the backlash for supporting farrakhan, two key organizers of the women's march held out her trumped. activist linda sarsour and

tamika mallory. after two weeks the pressure, the limits march at relented, saying that these forms of bigotry are and always will be indefensible. that wasn't enough or at least one left-leaning group, the free beacon report, saying that a planned parenthood women's group would sever ties with tamika mallory in the wake with her country her ties with louis far. >> bret: doug, thank you brady fox news alert played were looking at the white house briefing room where we expect a south korean announcement at 7:00 p.m. eastern time and we are just getting word from sources to our own national security correspondent jennifer griffin about what that will include. the south koreans were told by the u.s. official will announce that they have a meeting between kim jong un and the south korean leader and that they will also have an invitation to meet with

kim jong un on, the north korean leader, and president trump. that that will be announced. the feedback will be announced from the south korean delegation that had met with kim jong un. they'll announce a new meeting between the south koreans and the north koreans, and an invite to come as we mentioned, for president trump, to to take pan a meeting with kim jong un. no changes planned to the u.s. south korean military exercises, as we are told right now, and no commitment either by kim jong un to stop testing. remember that the u.s. had put the stipulation that the nuclear program had to be abandoned or there had to be progress on that front for the meeting to take place. we don't know the u.s. reaction but the fact that the president came to that briefing room, as you are looking live there at the white house to announce that this big announcement was happening at 7:00 p.m. eastern time, suggests that there is some sort of a breakthrough. that is what we are getting at this hour. we'll continue to monitor this and bring it to you live here on fox news channel, of course as it happens.

up next, what a supposed business meeting off the coast of africa has to do with the russia collision investigation and the secret communication back channel. a busy night here at "special report." ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ >> bret: former trump campaign chairman paul manafort is pleading not guilty to 18 counts stemming from the russia collision investigation. he is accused of hiding from the irs tens of millions of dollars earned from advising pro-russia politicians in ukraine. manafort's trial date is july 10th. former trump campaign manager corey lewandowski met today with the house intelligence committee as part of its russia probe. it is his second trip before that panel. president trump's critics are

tonight chasing a new threat and the russia collusion probe. it involves a meeting on an island off the coast of africa that they say was an effort to set up a secret dialogue between the incoming administration and the kremlin. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge has a specific sum is tonight. good evening. >> the house intelligence committee raking democrat says he wants the founding of a private security company to testify for a second time, about a january 2017 meeting in the seychelles islands. the meetings include eric burns, the brother of education secretary betsy devos, the crown prince of abu dhabi, with strong ties to vladimir putin, anti-russian businessmen also tied to putin. democrat said to the meeting crossed the line. >> the seychelles meeting was part of an effort to establish a back channel to russia that the meeting that eric prince had with the russian banker was not happenstance, is obviously at odds with what we heard and the testimony before the house intelligence committee. >> has 20 democrats who have no subpoena power, want an advisor

to abu dhabi to testify about his role brokering the meeting. he is reportedly cooperating with a special counsel investigation. in an earlier testimony, erik prince said it was a chance meeting and out a plan discussion about the u.s.-russian relationship. fox news has learned from a national security advisor susan rice unmasked participants in the seychelles meeting and a december 2016 tower with the crown prince. she's denied leaking information about the transition team to reporters. in a separate development, the president's personal lawyer released a statement -- asking reince priebus and donald mcgahn about their special counsel interviews. the president's personal attorney john dowd said "the conversations were not about a substance, but asking whether they had received professional and fair treatment." they were interviewed with the president's approval waving privilege. this is not obstruction. bret. >> bret: catherine, thank you. officials in great britain say

20 when people are not being treated after a former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent. sergei screwball enters daughter are in critical but stable condition after being found in a park bench in salsberry sunday. a police officer who tried to help is in serious but stable condition. 18 others are now going through testing to see if they have been affected. british home secretary amber rada said her government will act without hesitation once it determines who was responsible. russia continues to deny involvement. florida republican governor rick scott says he will talk to families of the survivors of last month's school shooting before deciding whether to sign a new gun lock. the bill passed the florida legislature yesterday. it would raise the minimum age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21. it would also allow school employees to carry handguns. scott has previously opposed to that idea. later this month, the house energy committee and commerce

committee will be looking at 20 different pieces of legislation to try to fight the u.s.'s growing opioid crisis. it comes as law enforcement struggles against the usual suspects and the unusual ones come as well. correspondent jonathan serrie tells us tonight about that. >> police. >> federal agents taking down an alleged drugs for sex ring in atlanta, the man of the top, a former medical examiner. >> he's a forensic pathologist. why is this person able to write 1500 prescriptions in a two year period? 90% of them are for pain medicine. speak of a special agent in charge of the drug enforcement administration's atlanta field division. he and his agents recently arrested multiple defendants tied to dr. joseph burton, who is accused of writing unnecessary opioid prescriptions in exchange for sexual favors sexual favors. >> the medical community conflict talks about policing themselves. we hope that happens.

unfortunately, it doesn't. sometimes we have to come in and police it. >> dea actions against physicians more than quinn tumbled from 88 cases in 2011 to 479 case in 2016, according to research by george mason's university dr. tony young. each state gives prescription drug monitoring database, to help them red flag excessive activity. but law enforcement access to these axes varies from state to state. georgia currently requires a search warrant or subpoena. >> georgia's version of the prescription drug monitoring database is not as accessible to law enforcement as other states. >> a bill pending in the georgia legislature would fix some of the problems with the states database but does not address the issue of access for law enforcement. >> although george's database helped police and prosecutors build their case against dr. burton, they say earlier and easier access might have helped prevent many pills from winding up in the wrong hands. >> bret: jonathan, thank you. you are looking live at the

white house briefing room now. we are now awaiting a major announcement from south korea. an official there, the national security advisor, meeting at the white house today, we'll talk about north korea. the president teasing that announcement earlier today. we'll talk about more of that and what it means when we come back. ♪ at t. rowe price we've helped our investors stay confident for over 80 years. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. ( ♪ ) stop dancing around the pain that's keeping you awake. advil pm gives tossing and turning a rest and silences aches and pains. fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer with advil pm. fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer

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♪ >> bret: this is a fox news alert. as we told you at the top of the hour, south korea's national security advisor visiting the white house officials today will make what president trump calls a major statement in about 30 minutes. we originally thought that was going to be made in the white house briefing room, just being told moments ago from the white house that it is going to be where you are looking live there. the stakeout position just outside the west wing on the driveway there, as you see photographers getting ready for this announcement. south korea's president says there are many critical moments ahead in this effort to end the nuclear standoff with his rivals to the north.

we are being told that this announcement will include an invite to meet president trump to meet with north korean leader kim jong un. there continue to be signs of optimism from the even usual skeptical quarters on this issue. senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot has the latest from london tonight. >> as efforts to tamp down the new north korea nuclear crisis pick up steam, the trump administration remains cautious. secretary of state rex tillerson traveling in africa. >> we are a long way from negotiations. we need to be clear-eyed and realistic about it. i think the first step, i've said this before, is to have talks, have some kind of talks about talks. >> top south korean officials bringing a message come from kim jong un to president trump. security at the white house debriefing national security chief mcmaster and others about their meeting in pyongyang. the north korean leader said to be open to talks with the u.s.

and raising the possibility of getting rid of his nukes if his regime is not threatened, even offering to pause launches and tests. analysts say more will be needed. >> they want to hear that the north koreans are dead serious about this and they are not flying through their teeth like they have in the past. >> vice president pence took a hard line on north korea last month with south korean president moon. moon thing today many critical moments are had before north korea gives up its nukes, one of those a semite between moon and kim jong un plan for the end of next month at the dm. china is hoping for the past. >> translator: we column the parties, particularly the u.s. and north korea, to engage in dialogue sooner rather than later. with progress towards denuclearization. >> bret, as you have mentioned, we are awaiting this major announcement, coming from the white house in less than 25 minutes now. it will be coming from a national security advisor for south korea, accompanied by the

white house press spokesperson sarah huckabee sanders. this comes after this long debrief that the south korean officials had with a national security advisor mcmaster as well as other u.s. officials, comes after that meeting with kim jong un in pyongyang earlier this week by the south koreans at which time kim jong un reportedly said that he was willing to talk to the u.s. he was even willing to talk about it do denuclearization if there were assurances that his regime would be in a secured place. we have heard from our correspondent in washington, jennifer griffin, that in fact a u.s. official is saying that the core of this announcement will be an invitation from kim jong un to president trump himself to meet. also to be mentioned, a confirmation that there will be a meeting with a summit with the south korean president moon, as well as kim jong un, and i think something important here, bret,

the hardening up of another offer being put out there, reportedly by kim jong un that there would be a freeze in the missile launches, the nuclear testing. i think just an invitation to president trump wouldn't have been enough. it looks like we should get something more and that is what we could be getting. one final note, i got an email from a close contact with the south korean president just about an hour ago intimating that something big was happening. we could be seeing that, bret. >> bret: quickly, the caveat here was that the u.s. was not going to move forward unless they saw some significant movements. we'll wait and see what happens in 25 minutes here. that possibly is happening. if it happens, the meeting would be in the peace house, where you and i have both been, right there between north korea and south korea along the dmz. is that correct? >> certainly, the piece house will be the venue for the summit between the north korean leader

kim jong un and south korean president moon. we don't have a secure fix on where president trump might be meeting with kim jong un, but i would imagine it would be some kind of a neutral location, which of that is, as you note, right along the dmz. we'll find out in just a few minutes. >> bret: greg palkot live in london. thank you very much. up next, the president pulls the trigger on tariffs and we await the statement from the south koreans just outside the west wing there on the driveway. the standard position, will bring that to you live. the panel will join us to digest all of this breaking news. first, though, beyond our borders tonight, there are no accusations that syria is using chemical weapons against its citizens again. the doctors and residents in rebel controlled suburban damascus say they can smell the chlorine odor and patients are having trouble breathing the air the syrian government forces backed by russia continue to pound that area. they deny using the weapons. turkey and iraq making joint military operations against

kurdish rebels, that's a word from turkey's foreign minister after a meeting with his austrian counterpart in vienna. turkey frequently launches cross-border operations into northern iraq in pursuit of kurdish militants that it considers terrorists. and women across europe and asia shouted their demands for equality, respect, and empowerment on this, international women's day. protesters in madrid gathered in the central square to demand change rate in new delhi, hundreds match the mic marched through the capital to highlight job discrimination. and in israel, activists were next to the damascus gate to ask for a u.s. resolution calling for greater involvement by women in the peace process. just some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight. breaking news night. we'll be right back. ♪ vo gle with obesity lose weight and keep it off. contrave is believed to work on two areas of the brain:

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you don't have steel, you don't have a country. we want to build our ships, we want to build our planes, we want to build our military equipment with steel, with aluminum from our country. you don't want to pay tax? bring your plant to the usa. there is no tax. we are negotiating now with china. we are in the midst of a big negotiation. i don't know that anything is going to come of it. they have been very helpful. president gee, i have great respect for. a lot of respect. but i don't know that anything is going to come of that. but we are willing to cut down the deficits one way or the other. >> bret: president trump today pulling the trigger on what he's talked about for a long time, and that is tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. despite some pushback from people in his own party about this, that said, there could be a lot of wiggle room when push comes to shove on what exactly happens with allies, key allies, who export steel into the u.s. we are going to start there as we wait for the breaking news out of the white house on

south korea and north korea, let's bring in our panel. jonathan swann, national political reporter for x euros. katie pavlich, news editor at townhall.com. and charles lane, opinion editor for "the washington post." it wasn't a surprise, it may be was a surprise how it was rolled out, but the president has talked about wanting to do this for quite some time. the question is whether it is going to be as big as they say it is. >> biggest essay it is in terms of the consequences with republicans in the chamber of congress are running about or whether the president is going to water down some of the things that he put on the table initially and if you look at the way that is negotiated, he tends to do that. the language that he used today in his initial opening line at the white house during his event with the steelworkers behind him, when he talked about this being about flexibility in cooperation with our true friends, both in terms of national security, trade, and our military bases, that says to me that he is not going to negotiate these tariffs on a trade issue, he's going to

negotiate this with the respect of our nato allies contributing more money as he's talked about in the past. for republicans who have criticized this, it's not just they are on principle opposing tariffs, which they do based on the history of how tariffs affect of the economy in this country. they are also doing this politically because if the tariffs do take away all of the gains from tax reform that republicans have been able to go back to the districts and election year and tout, they can say that they were against it from the beginning, and it's not necessarily their fault because they had the distance from the president. >> bret: jonathan, if it is, as it's starting to unfold here, that each ally, each country involved, is going to individually negotiate in some way to avoid these tariffs on their exports, you can foresee that some of these countries are going to take that ball and run with it and maybe it doesn't affect those big countries who are exporting steel into the u.s. >> yes, that is the most optimistic scenario.

but just to get you inside drums thinking here, one of the big breakthroughs in his own mind -- she didn't want to do any exceptions. all along, for 30 months, he was income if i give canada exceptions, then i'll get a call from japan, so he didn't want to do anything. he wanted to do blanket global tariffs. he had a conversation with justin trudeau and he became convinced that he could get a better deal on nafta because canada sells so much steel and cement aluminum. >> bret: and mexico. >> mexico much less actually. it's about canada more than mexico, even though they are exempt. canada is the big one. so trent believes he will get a better deal. what if he doesn't? he could easily go in the other direction. i know we are all saying he will go in this nice, kind, gentle direction but i think we have to consider the other possibility, as well. >> that's only if he gets something in return. >> bret: politically, the image of the president with a steelworkers telling their stories about companies that are slowing down, losing work, that

politically works for this president. >> certainly in western pennsylvania where they are about to have a special election -- >> bret: pennsylvania 18. >> there's a lot of steel mills. of course economically, this is kind of an on the square bowl circle. this you can either effect and save the steel jobs or it can be unacceptable to our allies. it can truly be both. what the president has set up is this funny kind of lobbyorama combo their plea for some kind of a carve out in this thing. and then if any of them get it, the question will be, is there anything left of the protection that he's talking about that is so important? actually, when you really think about it, it's -- what he has in mind, the criteria, bret, he was

offering these countries were very vaguely stated. if they do more on military, if they treat us fairly, so if there will be carve out, if this thing is going to be turned into swiss cheese as john roberts said to the bush tariffs were, it will be after a long drawn-ot process that has a lot of politics involved. >> bret: all right, here is the president essentially saying goodbye to his advisor, gary cohn today. >> he's going to go out and make another couple hundred million and then he's going to maybe come back. he might come back, right? we'll be here another seven years hopefully. that's a long time. i have a feeling you'll be back. i don't know if i could put them in the same position, though. he's not quite as strong on those tariffs as we want him. >> bret: he went on to call him a global list a couple of times, as well. >> a nice, lighthearted moment. glad to see that gary cohn is leaving the white house on good terms.

he's not getting the steve bannon treatment, and the intrigue about what he will do if he comes back it is interesting. "the new york times" reported maybe he will be the next chief of staff. >> bret: and the inside as to who is up to that position? >> she here is a name that is being thrown around a lot. she's a senior official on the national economic council. gary cohn is advocating for her. so our senior people on capitol hill. she's definitely in the mix. but there's others as well, we've reported kevin walsh, and the running for fed chair, a name that trump is talking about. he is still spent falling. >> bret: larry kudlow? >> haven't heard his name as much. he's been in the media but i haven't heard from people inside that he's really at the top of that. >> bret: we will hear from people inside pretty soon here, the top of the hour. south koreans coming out to do this take a position outside the west wing. photographers getting ready for that moment. a major announcement coming about north korea in just minutes. stay tuned. ♪

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>> bret: this is a fox news alert. we are minutes away from what the white house and president have called a big announcement from a south koreans for the south korean national security advisor meeting with h.r. mcmaster, the u.s. national security advisor today at the white house. we are told by jennifer griffin that this will include some description of the meeting between the south koreans and the north koreans. and an invitation to president trump to meet directly with kim jong un. it also will contain a promise by the north koreans not to test anymore and a suggestion that denuclearization is a possibility. that meeting, if it happens, what happen at peace house in the dmz. you may remember back in november, we took you there at

the dmz. that is the space in between north and south korea, the house, these glue houses, the place where negotiations would happen if they happen, they are standing in north korea, showing you the table where that will go down. we assume that that is where the president would go if a meeting took place right there in between the two countries in a neutral area. we are back with a panel. jonathan, big news. we will wait to hear the statement at the top of the hour. if it all comes as the president suggests, that's a big moment. >> the meeting would be the big moment. if the parameters of the discussion of what we just heard, we do need to put it in context, which is that this is like groundhog day times 1,000. the north koreans always say this. and they never mean it. they will never -- the idea that there's a possibility of denuclearization, their whole premise is that we are a nuclear power, you need to accept us as a nuclear power. so there might be some wishy-washy language about that,

but again, i'd be surprised if the heart commitment goes beyond we'll stop testing. >> bret: we've seen this, it is like we have seen in football with the north koreans promising to do all kinds of things. however, are they here because of the actions and statements of this president? up until they are -- the south koreans move, the north koreans move, the chinese move more than they have been moving, is that why we are at this moment? >> going back to just october, the president was telling secretary of state rex tillerson not to waste his time negotiating with little rock at the man. now here we are with reportedly the north koreans extending an invitation to kim jong un himself, the president of united states to have direct talks. the direct talks here is really the news. if you talk to -- i was in china in november on the heels of president trump's trip, but with a number of government officials, chinese officials, and think tank experts, nuclear experts, and the whole premise was, the united states in

north korea have to talk about this directly. you can't keep putting us in the middle of these talks. you're the ones who have to do this. as you have seen publicly, we haven't seen china involved really in the negotiations over the past couple of months. >> bret: there's obviously a healthy dose of skepticism, as jonathan mentions. but talking is a lot different than the threats of action, which we heard for several weeks, a couple of months ago. >> absolutely. i think there is a case to be made that the sanctions, the extreme sanctions as they have been called to come are starting to take a toll. i also think that for both the south and the north, they are looking at a whole world geopolitically that is changing very rapidly. in some ways, it is now the 1992 or so, the end of the cold war, now we are having the end of the end of the cold war. in both beijing and washington, we have very different kinds of leadership than what they have been accustomed to in the past. and possibly what this attempt to sort of see what can be worked out on a kind of

intrakorean basis, obviously with the u.s. and beijing dialed in, is there a way of reacting entry accommodating to that. because they have new actors in charge espousing new kinds of politics, responding to all kinds of new forces, and these korean governments are going to try and adapt and survive that. >> bret: jonathan, on the backdrop is the trade talk. korea, japan, china, obviously, the focus of all of this as his national security threat and the diplomacy moves forward. >> trump has, in a way that we've never seen for u.s. president explicitly linked trade and national security. he literally said to china, if you guys do some good stuff for me on north korea, i'll give you a better trade ideal. i'd be curious to know whether he's used the leverage of the steel and aluminum tariffs to influence these discussions with south korea. i don't know that he has, but i wouldn't be surprised if he has. >> bret: final thoughts as we

away to this big announcement from the stake out there, looking live. stay here on fox for the breaking news. ♪ . .

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♪ >> bret: finally tonight. you are looking live there outside the west wing on the driveway there. the stakeout position. we are awaiting a live announcement from that stakeout position. there you see john roberts, from south korea officials actually about north korea. sources telling fox the south korean national security advisor will talk about an upcoming meeting between south korea's president and north korea dictator kim jong un and possibility of invite for a meeting between president trump and kim. now, you look at what the north koreans have done over the past few years. missile tests and missiles launched. take a look at that. 2017 missiles launched. 24. 16 tests conducted three intercontinental ballistic missile tests in 2017. we are told that they will stop testing and that they are talking about

denuclearization. whether that's real or not, we shall see. you can see this statement right here live on fox. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and unafraid. continuing coverage on "the story" with guest host sandra smith starting right now. sandra? >> sandra: bret, great to see you and great to have you back. we pick up "the story" from here. a fox news alert. we are awaiting what president trump trump says will be a major announcement from south korea. south korea's national security advisor is expected to come to that podium at any moment. let's bring in chief white house correspondent john roberts with what to expect here. an unexpected evening and announcement, john. >> well, you know, it's just typical here at the white house, sandra. i have got to put it that way. every day when you are feeling like you could pack up and go home some other piece of breaking news happens. we are outside the west wing poritco here. a location you are familiar with when people come out and talk. unfamiliar location for us to broadcast from. we are expecting that in the next