discuss a variety of noble issues over so many hours, quite frankly, including several rounds of golf. and it is my particular delight that this time i'm able to welcome my dear friend president trump and madame melania trump to japan. melania trump to japan. this first trip of president trump to asia is an historic visit in the current regional situation, which is ever more tense. and his first nation to visit on his tour is japan. this made this historic significance even greater. in this way, two of us were able to show to the rest of the world the unshakeable japan/u.s. alliance. thank you, donald. for the last two days, i was able to have an in-depth discussion with donald on a plethora of issues tt the

international community is faced with. in the discuion, overwhelming importance was occupied by the north korean issue. we were in complete agreement as to the measures to be taken upon the analysis of the latest situation of north korea giving a good amount of time. japan consistently supports the position of president trump when he says that all options are on the table. through the talks over two days, i have once again strongly reaffirmed that japan and u.s. are 100% together. for more than 20 some years, the international community attempted dialogue with north korea. at the time of framework agreement of 1994 and at the six-party agreement of 2006, north korea committed in abandoning their nuclear program, but each time the

promise was broken, which resulted in north korea buying time for their nuclear and missile development while we were making efforts for dialogue. there is no point in the dialogue for the sake of dialogue with north korea. now is the time, not for dialogue, but for applying maximum level of pressure on north korea. we completely agreed that in order to make north korea change their policy, japan and u.s. must take leadership in closely collaborating with the international community so that we can enhance the pressure to the maximum level over north korea through all possible means. i agree with president trump that we welcome china strengthening her pressure over north korea, and it is incumbent upon china to play even greater roles to let north korea

relinquish their nuclear and missile development. we reaffirm once again the importance of further advancing tri-lateral cooperation with the u.s. and south korea, a country president trump will visit tomorrow. before this press conference, president and mrs. trump were good enough to meet with the members of the families of abductees. i would like to render my heart felt gratitude for their listening so intently to what the family members had to tell them. until the day when all the families of abductees embrace their loved ones in their own arms, until that day, my mission is not complete. i am sure that the families -- i

have renewed my resolve to work in full force to see the resolution of this issue. i have decided to take my own additional sanction measures in our effort to seek the solution of the nuclear missile and the most important abduction issues of north korea. tomorrow there will be a decision on freezing assets of 35 north korean entities and individuals. going forward, japan and the u.s. will continue to cooperate closely for the early resolution of the north korean issue. i also discussed bilateral economic issues with president trump. we welcomed that in the second meeting of japan/u.s. economic dialogue held last month between deputy prime minister aso and vice-president pence the importance of strengthening bilateral economic trade and investment relations was confirmed. and we will go deeper into our

dialogue. we agreed that we will continue our discussion in order to invigorate more the bilateral trade and enhancement and enhance our cooperation in areas of law enforcement, energy infrastructure, among others. japan and the u.s. are the two global economic leaders occupying 30% of the global economy, sharing common values such as freedom and fairness. the significance of japan/u.s. alliance is not limited on security front alone. in the economic field, it greatly contributes to the prosperity of the region and the world. i together with president trump shall work not only in the field of bilateral trade, but also lead in the high standard rule making in trade and investment broadly in the asia-pacific region. i am determined to see to it so that both japan and u.s.

strongly lead the regional and eventually the global economic growth by our cumulative efforts in creating fair and effective economic order in this region. with the president, i discussed the summit meetings we will be going after. endo-pacific region covering the vast area of asia-pacific from the indian ocean to middle africa is the center of the world, more than half the world population. the maintenance and enhancement of the maritime order that is free and open is critically important for peace and prosperity of this region and we concurred to strengthen our cooperation to realizing free and open endo-pacific. amid the unwavering u.s./japan alliance, i shall play a leadership role for the peace and prosperity for this region hand in hand with president trump.

for the last two days, i had indeed very serious discussions with president trump. i also had an opportunity to play golf with our top pro, hideki matsuyama yesterday. indeed, the match was neck and neck competition, in my opinion. what was reality? i hope that mr. trump will give his evaluation. the dinner where mrs. trump joined was in such a truly relaxed atmosphere that we almost forgot how time flew. i am greatly very much satisfied. i hope that they enjoy the banquet later on by all means. thank you very much. >> thank you very much, president trump. floor is yerz. >> thank you. thank you very much. well, thank you very much, shinzo. this has been a truly enjoyable

trip and one where we are accomplishing a lot. and i agree with you that our relationship is extraordinary, and i agree with you also that there has never been such a close relationship between the leaders of two countries, these two countries, japan and the united states. so, it's been great to be with you and we'll be spending a lot of time with you over the years. melania and i are deeply grateful for the warm welcome we have received in your remarkable country, and that's what it is, it is a remarkable country. this is a land of incredible history, culture, tradition, and spirit. first, let me congratulate you on your great success in the recent elections. you won very big and very easily, and i'm not at all surprised. we both share in common and really a deep loyalty to our citizens and a deep faith in the

destiny of our people, and also our people and our countries working together. i also want to take a moment to continue sending our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences to the victims of the horrific assault on a church in a beautiful area. so sad, sutherland springs, texas. such a beautiful, wonderful area with incredible people. who would ever think a thing like this could happen? so, i want to send my condolences, the condolences of our first lady. in tragic times, americans always pull together. we are always strongest when we are unified. to the wounded and the families of the victims, all of america is praying for you, supporting you and grieving alongside of

you. prime minister, i want to thank you and the people of pan for your friendship. we have so many great this that we can accomplish together, and we are in the process of accomplishing those things. it was a thrill for my daughter ivanka to be able to participate in the world assembly for women and promote women entrepreneurship side by side our two nations are advancing policies to empower women and harness the full potential of our great economies. you were the first foreign leader to visit me shortly after my election, and now it is my pleasure to join you in your homeland to further strengthen the historic ties between our two great nations. as you know, this is my first visit to the endo-pacific region as president. been here before. but as president, this has been my first and it is my first.

and i am thrilled that my first stop was with you. great friend. we are going to other countries where i have also developed some great friendships and we're going to work to straighten a lot of things out, including trade, including military problems. we have a lot of things to work on. but this is a real honor to be with you, shinzo. japan is a very special place. the japanese people are thriving. your cities are vibrant, and you've built one of the world's most powerful economies. i don't know if it's agood as ours. i think not. okay? and we're going to try and keep it that way, but you'll be second. and yet for all of its modern splen do splendor, the people of japan

have a rich culture, heritage and tradition tz. honoring the past, even as you blaze new trails into the future, very, very strongly looking into the future is japan. you demonstrate every day that the respect for history and heritage is the true foundation for progress. our nations share an enduring bond. america and japan face many challenges, many opportunities. there are many things we face, but we will be facing them together in friendship and as allies. most importantly, we are working to counter the dangerous aggressions of the regime in north korea. the regime continued development of its unlawful weapons programs, including its illegal nuclear tests and outrageous launches of ballistic missiles directly over japanese territory

are a threat to the civilized world and international peace and stability. we will not stand for that. the era of strategic patience is over. some people said that my rhetoric is very strong, but look what's happened with very weak rhetoric over the last 25 years. look where we are right now. prime minister abe has also shared with me the tragic stories of japanese young people who north korea has abducted over the years. together, we met with the parents of megumi yakota, as a young girl was abducted in 1977. no child should ever be subjected to such chula vista at this -- such cruelty.

no parent should have to endure 40 years of heart break. we also had a young wonderful man in our country, otto warmbier. we all know the story of otto. it's a horrible story. a sad story, and we can't let that happen. cannot let that happen. the united states of america stands in solidarity with the people of japan against the north korean menace. history has proven over and over that strong and free nations will always prevail over tyrants who oppress their people. our powerful and enduring u.s./japan alliance includes more than 50,000 members of the united states military stationed right here in japan. in addition to that, we have 33,000 stationed in south korea.

american and japanese military personnel train together, work together, and will stand together to defend the security and sovereignty of both of our countries. i want to thank the entire japanese people for acting as such gracious hosts and strong partners for our men and women in the armed forces. america is also committed to improving our economic relationship with japan. as president of the united states, i'm committed to achieving a fair, free and reciprocal trading relationship. we seek equal and reliable access for american exports to japan's markets in order to eliminate our chronic trade imbalances and deficits with japan. we are working on that. something we've all been working on very hard from the very beginning of our meetings. as we continue to pursue closer economic ties, i believe

it will create new and exciting opportunities to achieve greater prosperity in both of our nations and to advance new frontiers in science, medicine, and technology. the united states respects and honors japan's heritage and admires your deep well of perseverance. i appreciate very much your acknowledging and stating the fact that the united states economy has done so well since our election on november 8th. close to 2 million jobs, the highest stock market in our history. so many different things are happening for the better, including the cutting of massive amounts of regulation, which is one of the reasons that the market's reacting the way it's

reacting. this mutual respect for culture and sovereignty will continue to bring our nations closer and closer together and open up new avenues of cooperation and success. mr. prime minister, thank you again for inviting me today. and for opening the arms of your majestic country to our american delegation, all of whom are right now in this room. i look forward to working side by side with you in friendship. we will have success like rary seen between two countries, japan and the united states of america, two very, very >> translator: thank you very much, mr. president. now we will accept the questions from the press. if you wish to speak, please raise your hand and be

recognized by me or by mrs. sanders. and please come to the standing microphone, and then please identify yourself by stating your name and affiliation and proceed to your question. first, japanese press. i will ask for a question from the japanese press, which will be followed by the u.s. accompanying press. so, we will accept questions from the two journalists respectively. and please identify to whom the question is addressed, either to the prime minister or to president trump. so, first is the japanese press. any person to speak up? yes, please. >> hara from nhk. this is a question to mr. abe. prime minister and president trump have agreed on maximizing the pressure toward the relinquishing of nuclear development by north korea. mr. trump is going to korea and

china and then there is going to be an epic leaders meeting. mr. trump, what is your idea of this bilateral summit meeting? on the other hand, north korea is still fixing its attitude, not responding to the relinquishing of nuclear development. what is necessary in order to avoid any accidental military confrontation? >> translator: while japan/u.s. alliance being the foundation of the regional peace and prosperity, precisely when japan/u.s. partner strongly, the peace of this region becomes unshakeable. from that perspective, i consider that this time we were able to reaffirm strong bonds and ties between japan and the united states on this opportunity of the visit of president trump. this was quite significant for the regional peace. on the north korean situation between president trump and

myself, we confirmed that we are together 100%. we will enhance the pressure that the entire international community exercises over north korea to the maximum extent by both japan and the united states collaborating and working toward china and russia. no one likes conflicts. i don't like it. mr. trump neither. but north korea continues its provocation against international community, so we need to collaborate in the international community so that they change their policy. we must exercise our pressure and from the north -- north korea, we will change our policy. so, please come to talk to us. i think this is what is most important that we accept and have complete agreement with president trump. and together with many countries, i am sure that we share in the same thinking.

also, the free and open matime order based upon the rule of law is the foundation of the stability and prospery of the international community. this time around, as the first leg of his tour in asia, president -- president and i were able to reaffirm that both countries will make efforts looking toward the endo-pacific and open very significant, there will be epic leaders meeting aea summit meeting. in these meetings i'd like to take leadership in driving this kind of discussion. so, free and open endo-pacific strategy. if any country would agree with this strategy with whatever country, we can collaborate for the implementation of this strategy. so, we will continue to have partnership between japan and the united states so that we can

contribute jointly to the peace and stability of the region. >> thank you. the united states first question will go to steve holland from reuters. >> pardon me. thank you, sir. in response to the texas shooting, what policies would you support to reduce these violent actions? is gun control the answer? and secondly, you spoke yesterday about the warmth of the north korean people. what is your message to their leader kim jong-un as you prepare to head to south korea tomorrow? and if i can ask the prime minister a question as well, could you respond to what the president said this morning that trade is not free and reciprocal with the united states? thank you. >> as far as the north korean people are concerned, steve, i think that these are great people. they are under a very repressive regime and i really think that ultimately i can tell you this, that i hope it all works out.

it will be better for everybody. certainly would be better for north korea, but it would be better for everybody. so, we hope that's going to take place. as far as your second question, which is really the first part of your question, i think that mental health is the problem here. this was a very -- based on preliminary reports, very deranged individual, a lot of problems over a long period of time. we have a lot of mental heah problems inur country, as do other countries, but this isn't a guns situation. i mean, we could go into it, but it's a little bit soon to go into it. fortunately, somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction otherwise it would have been as bad as it was. it would have been much worse. but this was a mental health problem at the highest level. it's a very, very sad event. it's -- these are great people and a very, very sad event. but that's the way i view it. thank you.

>> translator: with president trump, trade and economic matters, bilateral issues, we did discuss. on the economic matter, how u.s. and japanese economies should be. there is dialogue going on between mr. aso and mr. pence. there were two meetings already. so, on the question of economy together with president trump and that's only regarding bilateral trade, we would like to see the entire region of asia-pacific high standard rule making is something that we want to pursue. so, with both countries in this region, we will make efforts to create economic order which is fair and effective. so that regarding both

economies, mutually, we would like to see the mutual development of both economies. so, in the united states already since the start of trump administration, partly thanks to the japanese investment, 17,000 jobs have been created in the united states. so, all countries of the world vis-a-vis the united states, they make investment, but japanese investment ranks in terms of job creation. so, the economic relations between the two countries may develop further, there by, creating jobs, there by growing the eat economy. so, in creating both countries' economies, aso pens economic dialogue framework would be quite relevant and we would like to see good outcome from that dialogue. we'll go back to the japanese press for questions. >> translator: yes, please.

>> translator: i have a question to president trump. you met with the family members of abductees and you met with the actual abductee. how can you comment on your meeting with them? to north korea, is there a possibility of u.s. military action? suppose that u.s. decides t garnett the abductee's rescue. how do you think about it once the military action is to be imminent? >> well, i think it's very sad. i look at what's happened and it's a very, very sad thing. who has ever heard of anything like this? abducted by a hostile country for purposes of language, for purposes of -- could be any number of other reasons. we'll see what happens in terms of the ultimate conclusion. but i did put it in my speech at the united nations and many people in japan were really

thrilled that i did because a lot of people thought that the folks we're talking about were forgotten about. like i say, the forgotten people where they were maybe the forgotten people, but i can tell you your great prime minister did not forget. he didn't forget at all. so, we'll work together and see if we can do something. now the spotlight is on and perhaps we can have some very good luck and perhaps the regime itself would send them back. i think it would be a tremendous signal if kim jong-un would send them back. if he would send them back, that would be the start of something, i think would be just something very special if they would do that. but i spoke with people who were devastated -- and they've been devastated for many years. they think they're alive, but they don't know. probably makes it even tougher that way. but we'll see what happens. thank you. >> thank you.

the second question from the united states, mark landler, "the new york times." >> thank you very much. my first question is to president trump. mr. president, you spent the last two days reaffirming the u.s./japan alliance and you've begun sketching out this vision of a free and open endo-pacific. but in two days you're going to travel to china, a country that is neither free nor open. so, my question is how can the u.s. be a force for freedom and openness in this region without inevitably coming into conflict with china? and then to the prime minister, mr. prime minister, the president has spoken on many occasions in the past about hoping to see the japanese take a strong role in their own defense. he'd like to sell japan military equipment. and there have been press reports that the president was disappointed that the japanese didn't shoot the north korean missile out of the sky, the one

that was shot over hokkaido. i'm wondering, did this subject come up? and what message did you have for the president about the role you'd like to see japan take in its defense? >> thank you, mark. i will say, if i could just take a piece of the prime minister's answer, he will shoot them out of the sky when he completes the purchase of lots of additional military equipment from the united states. he will easily shoot them out of the sky, just like we shot something out of the sky the other day in saudi arabia as you saw, and that was a very rapidly moving missile shot out of the sky. that was a needle in the sky, and it was hit immediately and exploded without damage. so, one of the things i think that's very important is that the prime minister of japan is going to be purchasing massive amounts of military equipment, as he should. and we make the best military equipment by far. he'll be purchasing it from the

united states, whether it's the f-35 fighter which is the greatest in the world, total stealth, or whether it's missiles of many different kinds, it's, it's a lot of jobs for us and a lot of safety for japan. and other countries that are likewise purchasing a lot of military equipment from us that frankly a year ago and two years ago were not. as far as china is concerned, my relationship with xi is excellent. i like him a lot. i consider him a friend. he considers me a friend. with that being said, he represents china. i represent the united states. his views are different on things, but they are pretty similar on trade. the problem we have with china is that for decades they've been -- you know, it's been unfair -- let me be kind to previous administrations. it's been a very unfair trade situation.

our trade deficit is massive. it's hundreds of billions of dollars a year, anywhere from 350 billion to 504 billion, and that doesn't include intellectual property. and we've already started discussions with china because it has to come down. it has to come down. and that has to do with really free trade, fair trade, or reciprocal trade. and, frankly, i like reciprocal the best of the group because when you explain to somebody that you're going to charge tariffs in order to equal ize or you're going to do other things, some people that don't get it, they don't like to hear that. but when you say it's going to be reciprocal, that we're going to charge the same as they're charging us, the people that don't want a 5% or 10% tariff say, oh, reciprocal is fair, and that could be 100%. so, it's much more, mark, understandable when you talk about reciprocal. and reciprocal trade is very important to me.

we have many countries, not just cha or japan or so many others that we see. we have one country that charges us 100% tax if we sell things into that country, and yet when they sell the same product into our country, we charge them nothing. now, i've been against that for a long time and you will be seeing we do things about it. now, it also takes a period of time to do that because, as you know, you have statutory limitations and time. you have to put out notices. you have to wait 90 days before you can put out the next, and then you have to wait another 120 days, and then a 30-day. much of this has already been caught and caught up. some of it was unnecessary statutorily, but you will be seeing things of countries that have been trading with the united states and the united states worker and companies because i view the companies not as a company, i view it as an

extension of the worker. but that have been treating our companies, our country, and our workers very unfairly. you will be seeing that the united states will take very, very strong action. it's already started, but most of the legal foundation has now been done and you're going to see a very big difference and it's going to happen very soon because the united states, by many countries, has been treated very, very unfairly when it comes to trade. thank you very much. >> translator: regarding japan, defense equipment we purchase a lot of them from the united states. north korean situation becoming very tough. the asia-pacific security situation becoming very tough. we qualitatively and quantitatively, we have to enhance our defense capability. as the president mentioned, f-35

a is a case in point, block 2-a is another plan for purchase from the united states. aegis vessels, the quality and quantity must be enhanced. in that process, we will be buying more from the united states. that is what i am thinking. now, north korea. north korea launched missiles immediately after that. we traced them. we were able to grasp and trace where they were going. missile defense is something which is based upon the cooperation between japan and the united states. missile defense system is a cooperation between the two countries. for the intercepting and shooting down, if it is necessary, of course we will do that. if it is necessary, but in doing so, u.s. and japan will closely

coordinate our actions. thank you. >> thank you very much. with this, we will end the joint press conference by the two leaders of japan and the united states. thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen of the press. >> just over 35 minutes, prime minister shinzo abe, president donald trump addressing the press. this is the first time in the trip, in the 12-day trip that the president has done this. with us still, chris jansing, nbc's senior national rrespondent, kevin also with us as well as jonathan allen. chris giannising to you first on this. they covered a lot in a short amount of time. what stood out to you? >> yeah, lot to unpack. certainly his comments on the big story back home, which is the shooting at the church in texas. and him saying that this is obviously to him a mental health problem. he said that's the way i see it. clearly rejecting any idea that

this was an opportunity to talk about gun control. and he also said something that is sure to be controversial, that fortunately, as he put it, someone else had a gun, referring to the citizen who got into a cross fire with him and then chased him before he got into an accident. of course, this is likely to raise a lot of questions about if, indeed, even you accept and many people will argue with whether or not this is an issue of mental health. the suspect obviously someone who got out on a bad conduct discharge apparently after abusing both his wife and his child. whether or not someone like that with a history like that who got kicked out of the air force should even have access to guns, so that doesn't stop that part of the conversation. i think when he talked about north korea, we heard a very restrained response. there had been a lot of concern here in asia about the kind of rhetoric that he had used. he addressed that. he said, look, my rhetoric is very strong, but look at what

has happened over the last 25 years. but we did not hear him use phrases like "little rocket man" to refer to north korean leader kim jong-un, nor did he make any threats, as he has in the past, that he would totally destroy them. d you know, there is going to be some controversy, again, his reference to xi, president xi of china as a friend, and the concern that along with, for example, russia's vladimir putin, that he continues to seek friendship and seem to have admiration for people who are authoritarian rulers, richard. >> all right. two minutes left in the segment. kevin, your thought on what japan policy might be now after you've seen two days of this. >> well, i think in terms of where the president goes next, to south korea and then ultimately to china, with the backdrop of north korea still very much casting a shadow over the president's trip, i think it was clear that this president is trying what he can do to work

with japan, but also to work with china to bring them to the table on north korea. but that's on foreign policy. domestically, the president's remarks on mental health definitely going to be driving conversation on domestic policy here in washington for the next several days. >> jonathan allen? >> two issues here, richard, on the international front. one is north korea, and that doesn't sound like they've made any progress there. they don't have a lot of tools to pull out of the tool box with north korea. that's pretty static. the other one is trade with japan. and basically the united states to get more fair trade with japan would have to get japan to give up what it's getting right now, which is a huge trade imbalance where they are shipping a lot more goods here. doesn't sound like they made a lot of progress on that either. >> senior vice-president of the society with us. what do you make of what you heard today? >> clearly we have difference-

of the two leaders over the issue oftrade. buthey appear to want to settle that in friendly ways. secondly, really the north korean resolve, they are showing that, but the real challenges ahead as trump goes to south korea and has to mend fences over differences there. and then really on to xi where there is less of an obvious strategic commonality between them over what to do with north korea. so, we'll see what that has to do. also, trump missed an opportunity to outline u.s. leadership and to talk about democratic values and an alternative. >> thank you very much. kevin, chris giannising, all star team sticking around for the late hour on msnbc. thank you all four for your help as you are covering the president's trip there in asia. he's moving on to south korea tomorrow. we'll continue to follow that story as well as the catastrophe in texas. we're taking a short break then back to regularly scheduled programming.

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accumulations up to 8 inches... ...don't know if you can hear me, buter has arriv. whooo! hahaha [vo] progress is an unstoppable force. brace yourself for the season of audi sales event. audi will cover your first month's lease payment on select models during the season of audi sales event. hello and welcome back to "dateline" extra. paul's defense was about to portray his relationship with jennifer in a whole new light. here again is keith morrison.

>> defense attorney mark has made a name for himself defending clients in difficult and highly celebrated cases, not the least the scott peterson tri trial. but defending paul would present its own set of challenges. zumont was accused of killing his girlfriend jennifer and trying to hide that fact by burning the house down. but as the trial began, he'd also been pegged by the prosecution as an abuser, a violent man, an image geragos said out to change. >> they both were passionate, romantic at times, hot at times, as you would characterize it. t think it was a one-way street by any means. >> geragos tried as best he could to weed out possible jury members who might have been unduly swayed by angry text messages or stories about his temper. >> what jurors do or what you want to get a jury to do is nt to help your client, and to kind of walk in the shoes of

your client. >> then when he presented his case, geragos set out to reframe the events after that infamous party the night before the fire. >> the party was at a place and it was for paul's birthday, and it was planned by jennifer. and the -- and maybe 14 to 18 of their close friends that were there. and by all accounts at the party, everything was great. >> and the argument later, the angry text, that was just the way paul and jennifer always were, said geragos. his proof? after those angry text message exchanges, here's what happened. as zumott described in his police interview. >> we talked, we smoked hookah, everything is fine. we did what we did. you know? i said give me two kpxan axes.

>> you made up? >> yes, we made up. we videoed ourselves. >> you videoed yourselves, what do you mean? >> we had sex. >> you had sex with her on the video? >> yes. >> sure enough, when police looked at jennifer's cell phone, there they were having sex hours before she was murdered. >> so enthusiastically anybody who watches this is never going to have the impression or take away from that, that this was somebody who was ready to kill her. >> and as for that cell tower evidence that psetor presented which seemed to show h jennifer's phone with him, and was sending out fake messages in her name, that was nonsense, said geragos. >> that was one of the pieces of information that was absolutely imploded. we went and got the engineer, the actual engineer from the carrier to come in and say he

looked at the evidence and what this guy said was the phone pinging off the same towers was not. it was just merged data from the cell phone. >> why is that important? because, says geragos, the prosecution's own time line should have cleared paul zumott, that is, investigators said jennifer was strangled several hours before the fire started, and it was lit no earlier than about 6:30 p.m. but early in the afternoon, after paul had left the area, geragos says, jennifer was still alive, sending real, not fake, text messages, herself, from her phone. >> by all accounts, she was alive at 1:17. >> okay. >> okay. and at 1:17, paul was not at the house. >> so, where was paul? trying to pickup paperwork at the palo alto police station, and then at the hookah lounge where he appears on security cam footage at 1:37 p.m. and from there says the defense attorney,

he headed to his anger management class about 18 miles away. on the way estopped at the restaurant depot, seen here on camera around 3:30. so, there simply wasn't time in between, said geragos, for paul to go to the cottage, strangle his girlfriend, and douse her body with gasoline. a solid alibi, said geragos. his client simply couldn't have killed jennifer, and he couldn't have started the fire. how could he have been in two places at once? and as for rosie, the yellow lab who alerted a gasoline smell on zumon's clothes, those clothes were submitted to a test on state of the art equipment of bureau of tobacco and firearms. they showed no evidence of gasoline at all. >> the atf chemist has a protocol. and specifically one of the things the prosecution didn't tell this jury which we brought out was the atf also put out a protocol that said, you never

take a dog alert to single dog alert and draw a conclusion. and, in fact, if the atf says negative, then you should not allow in the dog alert. >> so why would people believe the dog over the atf? >> i think once again, you get into this idea people have dogs, they kind of ascribe -- >> super natural -- >> super natural powers to dogs. i have two large dogs. one having been through a couple of cases with dog evidence, as much as i love my dogs, i'm certainly not going to want to convict somebody and put their liberty at stake based on dog evidence. >> still, as he presented his case, geragos had a problem, and he knew it. >> when it came down to was the character assassination block of the case. i mean the first two blocks in this case revolved around the -- what so-called scientific evidence and that was absolutely destroyed, and then you ended up with the character assassination block. >> the solution?

paul zumot himself appears to have demanded it. the chance to defend himself to the jury by testifying. some courtroom observers believed the defense thought testifying was risky, especially for paul said his friend nakisa. >> knowing paul the way i know paul and the way that he could be interpreted incorrectly, i was very nervous about paul taking the stand. >> risky or not, paul was determined to tell the jury his side of the story. >> coming up. >> i thought, you know, if there was anyway this jury thought this man was responsible for this, now they know for sure that he's not. >> but what did the jury think? when burning suspicion continues. shoe. she had so many children she had to buy lots of groceries. while she was shopping for organic fruits and veggies, burglars broke into her shoe. they stole her kids' mountain bikes and tablets

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and now with the conclusion

to our story, burning suspicion. once again, keith morrison. >> defense attorney mark geragos had done what he could to poke holes in the prosecution's murder case against paul zumott, arguing the prosecution had no solid scientific proof or clear evidence zumont was anywhere near jennifer when she was strangled, when the house was set on fire. anyway, he asked, if paula tacked jennifer, wouldn't she have put up some kind of fight? why were there no defensive marks or scratches on paul zumon's body? did the prosecution even have a case? paul zumont wasn't going to take any chances. in fact, he was determined to tell the jury his side of the story. so, geragos assigned a female colleague to question paul. must have been a strategy, whispered courtroom observers. a way to show the jury that paul could, in fact, interact well with a woman. but those observers were

mistaken, said geragos. >> well, i generally, i don't think direct examination is my strong suit, and i was concentrating on cross-examination of the witnesses. >> so, paul zumont looked the jurors in the eye and told them, i did not kill jennifer skipsy, did not byrne the house. then he told them, emotions boiling to a fever pitch, how despite their roller coaster relationship, he truly loved jennifer. his lawyer presented a love letter, in fact, she'd written to him, and he broke down then. flood of tears. >> i was so relieved and i thought, you know, if there was anyway this jury thought this man was responsible for this, now they know for sure that he's not, because it's so obvious to me that he's telling the truth. >> but listening to all of this with his experienced ear was prosecutor gilling ham.

you must have been rather pleased when you heard he was going to testify. >> i think that's an understatement. i was very, very pleased. >> more than that, it was a gift, said gilling ham, an unexpected opportunity. why? well, the prosecutor had paul right where he wanted him for as long as he wanted him. there were hours of questions, tough questions, baiting questions, questions designed to make paul crack and reveal what gilling ham believed to be a controlling personality and a red hot temper. >> my plan was to go through how he acted when he was angry, and then asked him questions that he could have no good answers for. for instance, why all those text messages are deleted? and those were questions he could not answer because he had not considered those questions. >> after three long days in the hot seat, paul zumont's testimony was finally over. had he persuaded the jurors that he was innocent? do you feel he got a little bit chippy or arrogant on the stand?

>> i don't think he got arrogant, but clearly he was tired and he was exasperated. he wanted to tell his story. he was being cuss off. >> but the jurors once they got the case said they were determined to look at the evidence, not just courtroom theater. >> everyone was very committed to going over the evidence and discussing each of the witnesses and each of the crucial pieces of evidence. it was really encouraging. >> and it was crucial they decided to compare very carefully the different time lines claimed by the prosecution and the defense. >> so, we analyzed the time line for the entire day, from his testimony where he said he was, and then other pieces of testimony in evidence to either validate or contradict. >> the jury took less than 14 hours and came back with a verdict, guilty. >> all i remember was i heard that word, guilty, man. this relief, this release of tension. >> i was very shocked by the verdict.

i think a lot of people were shocked by the verdict because, i mean, if you sat through the weeks and weeks of trial, it just -- it's inconceivable how they could get to the result that they got to. >> but to the jurors, the issues about text messages and whether paul had jennifer's phone all afternoon wasn't as important as zumot on the stand. that's what made the difference. his tears, for example. >> sometimes i feel like i'm too cynical, but it was universally held opinion, i think, the entire jy believed that it was a manufactured moment. >> what was the problem wh his testimony? >> there were two things that struck me. one was when he broke down on the stand. and to me it didn't seem genuine. and the other portion of his testimony was when he had the opportunity to tell us where he was and what he was doing. he chose to basically lie to us

three times, and we were able to prove that he lied to us by the hard evidence that we had with the phone records and with the video surveillance, and those items. and i just -- to me, that hurt him very badly. >> if he hadn't testified, i can't say for sure, but i don't think i could have convicted him. >> at his sentencing, an angry paul zumot again protested his innocence, but he was sent away for 25 to life for murder. plus, eight years for arson. after the fire, the palo alto cottage was repaired. new love perhaps growing in there. young people were still coming to the cafe to socialize and smoke hookah. paul, gone like the romance that burned too bright before it vanished with its victim in a cloud of smoke. >> and i can still hear her voice and see her smile.

i know she's, i know she's here. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline" extra. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. >> i'm craig melvin. >> i'm gnatly moralless. >> this is "dateline". to be held in captivity. i just can't imagine. to be held in captivity. >> dad, just send the money. that's all they want. >> they have an american kid. a 14-year-old kid in the middle of the jungle. they're thinking they hit the jackpot. >> they were vacationers turned prisoners. a mother and son kidnapped by terrorists. >> we need 10 million u.s. dollars for the release of your family. >> $10 million from me? are you losing your mind?