pictures an here of the white house driveway. we're waiting on for any moment the south korean national security adviser expected to give what president trump says is a plornlg announcement. the south koreans have delivered a letter to the trump administration from north korea's leader kim jung un. we'll be covering this story on "hardball" with a live look at what happens right now. >> something big. this is "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washingtoning with breaking news out of the white house. early this evening, president trump told reporters there would be a big announcement coming on north korea at 7:00 eastern. a senior south korean official will brief reporters from the white house. this is expected to happen at any moment now. south korea's national security adviser recently met with the

north korean leader kim jong-un. he was at the white house today briefing officials on that meeting and delivered a letter to president trump from the north korean leader. we're joined by chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. how do you read this right now? >> reporter: as a significant development potentially, chris, given what we've seen develop. let me start with right now. we expect to see the national security adviser step to the microphones, not in the briefing room but here at the stake out position in the driveway just in front of the west wing. as you mentioned, nbc news has confirmed that the -- rather north korea sent a letter to the trump administration, a letter from kim jung unton president trump. the president himself alluded to this when he poked his head into the briefing room just after 5:00 something we've never seen him do in this administration and alluded to some kind of announcement tonight. i'm going to ask my camera man

bobby to show you what i an scene it is. this is unlike anything we've seen here on the driveway. the last thing i can remember is jared kushner spoke here. this is a packed house for sure. it is still a question of what the announcement is. white house officials began luddaling shortly after 5:10, 5:15 to figure out how the low zwris ticks would play out. there were a lot of questions about this. the day had been dominated by talk of trade and tariffs. you saw the president sign the proclamation. we expect to see this official walk out any moment. when he comes out, he'll be joined by the rest of the saccian delegation that is came here to brief h.r. mcmasters who we saw upstairs in the west wing not too long ago. they have come to brief the american officials and i'm looking at the door here, what exactly happened in those two days of meetings that face-to-face meeting with kim jong-un. that is the first time in about

a decade you have the steen high level south korean officials come out and speak with north korea in pyongyang. apparently as we are now reporting this letter, as well. any moment, we expect to hear and to know more. just to give you context, this was not an expected announcement, not on the schedule, not something that a lot of folks saw coming. this was something that sounds like the president wanted to do and wanted to talk about. so he did and they will. and that is where we are, 7:02 eastern time as we wait for the announcement any minute. >> evelyn far cas, former assistant secretary of defense and contributor. evelyn, everybody worries about the one trouble spot in the world that could blow up right now. that's the kim jong-un and his determination to build a nuclear arsenal capable of reaching us. what would stop him? what can we imagine coming out of this announcement right now? >> it seems to me from the

sources that i have that the letter probably contains an invitation for president trump to meet with the north korean leader. but you know, while that's great and honestly, i have to say i'm encouraged at least we're having this kind of attention being paid to the diplomatic side of things, there's a lot of things that need to be done before you can have heads of state sit down in what we'd call a summit. it the diplomats have to meet to talk about what it is they would ultimately agree to. i would caution viewers that even though this is a good step, i mean, i think obviously highlighting diplomacy is great, better than fire and fury, but there's going to be a long road to walk. >> i know churchill better said to jaw jaw than war war. what about a testing freeze and the limit on the number of missiles they will build? there are middle groundses here between them becoming a global nuclear danger and having some sort of self-esteem or whatever this guy is seeking here.

>> absolutely. and that's always been in every other round of negotiations that's what we sought. when president clinton got the agreed framework, it was basically based on a freeze on the north korean side of their plutonium program. at the time they only had one nuclear program, the plutonium one. when george bush got a negotiation going with the north koreans, that was also based on a freeze. i agree with you a freeze is the number one starting point. the north koreans will probably ask us for something return in return. perhaps the exercises we do with the south koreans every year, maybe we can have the north koreans watch them. we delayed them for the olympics. there's a lot of intermediate steps that can be taken. i would be more relaxed if we had an ambassador in seoul right now. >> what about the recognition of that country by us? could it be on the table? >> that would be part of sort of a longer range ultimate solution

because i think the real card that we hold is a real peace treaty. right now there's just a kind of a negotiated stalemate. >> yeah. >> armistice is, exactly. and that's not a peace treaty, not a recognition of the democratic people's republic of korea or that regime. ultimately that's what kim jong-un says he wants to guarantee we're not going to change his regime and that we'll accept his country. >> let's stay with us. right now the we're joined by nuclear security analyst joe cirrincione. what's on the table as we await this announcement? >> we're going to get at least announcement that talks are beginning with the south koreans and the north koreans. it's quite possible we'll get at announcement that the u.s. is going to join those talks or have bilateral talks. the big get would be if there was an invitation from kim jong-un directly to president

trump inviting him to talks. there's rumors that is what's been on the table. we're waiting to see that. if so, this could be a major breakthrough because while those talks are going on, north korea has apparently agreed to freeze its test program, freeze its nuclear tests, freeze its missile test, not give up the weapons but freeze the development. that would be a major national security achievement for the united states and president trump can rightly take credit for that. you want to stop them before they perfect the missiles that they have that can hit the united states. you want to stop them before they perfect the ability to shrink a nuclear warhead down to a size that can fit on one of those missiles, survive re-entry and hit a u.s. city. >> so you believe what is at stake here, what will be on the table is the range of their missiles and the ability of hem to reach here continent of the united states or hit hawaii or alaska? >> reporter: exactly. they have the ability right now

to the deliver a nuclear warhead to south korea, to japan. they probably have a rudiment tritt capability to deliver one to the united states. it's not proven. they haven't had enough tests. so what you have here is a possibility two leaders coz declare victory. kim jong-un could declare that he has completed his program, and achieved his nuclear capability and therefore, he's willing to talk. you could have president donald trump declare that his sanctions program, his pressure program has worked and therefore, he is willing to talk. that would be a tremendous development. that's what you need for successful talks. both sides have to be able to declare victory. hopefully at the end of the process, but it's a good sign they might be able to declare victory going into it. as evelyn pointed out, this is going to be a long tricky procedure, lots of things could go wrong with the talks. if we're going to get what we expect, we have achieved two major achievements, one a

deescalation of the crisis. before the olympics we were on a path to war. you even this week, you had people urging us to go to war if we can de-escalate the crisis and actually start of the process of negotiations, that at least gives us the possibility of a diplomatic solution to this is very, very tense crisis. >> what has moved kim jong-un who is killing people around him, his relatives. he's doing all kinds of things that show great fear he might lose his regime, lose power. why is he secure enough now that he feels he doesn't have to go all the way with his nuclear program when he thought so a few weeks ago? >> one, he has eliminated most of his rivals including some officials including his half-brother who were protected by china. number two, he had a very aggressive testing program in the last year.

over 20 missile tests. the first test ever of a hydrogen bomb. he has delivered on his promise. so he's consolidated his the support of the military. number three, at the has had a very successful peace offensive here. he just tramped all over the united states at the olympics. they dominated the news. they played the game. he has been playing his cards very well, very adroitly. and now what he wants is a pause. he wants to have a cause with the united states to remove it the pressure from him so that he can believe some relieve some of the sanctions pressure and turn to the second part of what he declared to be an agenda and number two to build up the economy. he has to show some progress on the economy. talks might allow him to do that. >> i've noticed that was very excellent article in the west the other day by david about the success of his peace moves regarding the olympics. over the past year, president

trump has used unusually harsh language talking about the north korean leader. let's remind ourselves of some of that. here goes. >> the united states has great strength and patience. but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies we have no choice but to totally destroy north korea. rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself. and for his regime. >> north korea best not make any more threats to the united states. >> we're going back to the white house then for the south korean national security adviser. here he is. >> north korea. i'd like to thank president trump the vice president and his wonderful national security team including my close friend general mcmaster. i explained to president trump that his leadership and his maximum pressure policy together

with international solidarity brought us to this juncture. i expressed president moon jae in's personal gratitude for president trump's leadership. i told president trump that in our meeting, north korean leader kim jong-un said he is committed to denuclearization. he pledged that north korea will refrain everybody any further nuclear or missile tests. he understands that the routine joint military exercises between the republic of korea and the united states must continue. and he expressed his eagerness to meet president trump as soon as possible. president trump officiated the briefing and said he would meet kim jong-un by may to achieve

denuclearizati denuclearization. republic of korea along with the united states, japan and our many partners around the world remain fully and resolutely committed to the complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula. along with president trump, we are optimistic about continuing a diplomatic process to test the possibility of a peaceful resolution. the republic of korea, the united states and our partners stand together in insisting that we not imitate the mistakes of the past and that the pressure will continue until north korea matches its words with concrete actions. thank you. >> hallie jackson, are you available right now? hallie? >> you heard there, chris.

chris, you heard the announcement there that the president and north korean leaders will meet apparently by may. the south korean national security adviser walked back in. fib me, looking at the door here as everybody runs around did not answer any questions as he walked back inside. gave a brief statement indicating that he informed the president north koreans understand that joint military exercise is going to happen. i have to go. >> joe, it seems a bit dramatic statement they're talking about. kim jong-un is talking about total denuclearization of the korean peninsula. that means not just stopping testing, stopping development but stopping his program in its tracks. what do you make of that suggestion? >> reporter: this is a moment that we very few of us thought we would ever see, the north koreans agreeing to put denuclearization on the table, agreeing to talks with the south koreans, inviting the president of the united states to have the talks. agreeing to suspend their

nuclear missile tests while they're doing it in exchange for what? exchange for nothing. the deal the people have been working on is a freeze on our exercises. but you just heard the south korean national security adviser say they understand that the u.s., south korean exercises will go on. these are major irritants to the north koreans but they're apparently willing to swallow this. will we ever get to the eat the carrots? we don't know. but this is definitely aginitiative worth pursuing. the talks themselves while they go on will freeze the program. that is a major national security achievement. the south koreans are giving credit to president trump. that's a good thing to do. >> evelyn, it seems we learned at the end of the cold war the degree to which the cold war rivals the eastern blk like honey ker in east germany. what they wanted was recognition by the west to go to the white house and be received with honors.

could it be would kim jong-un wants the respect and prestige from sitting across the table with the president of the united states? could that be the carrot? >> chris, he definitely wants respect. there's no question about that. but i would caution everyone not to get overly enthusiastic. i think we are excited now because again, in the contrast between this negotiating and fire and fury military action which is what we were hearing out of the white house is scary and so we're happy that we have engagement. but if you remember what vice president pence said coming back from the olympics he said we're going to look at engagement and maximum pressure. and i think it's really important to remember, i mentioned earlier, twice before we've been here with the north koreans where they offered to freeze their nuclear weapons programs and twice before, we actually let up on our sanctions and the negotiations fell part. the north koreans pocketed what we gave them, the assistance and

various other things and they left the negotiating table. so i really believe while we should absolutely go forward and we should pocket the concessions we can get from them, and we should negotiate in good faith but we needed to keep the pressure on. we can't agree we're going to take the pressure off. >> this time we're not put, giving them coal like the last time. we're not giving them stuff like the previous presidents have. >> we're not taking them off the state sponsored terrorism list, right? >> i agree. what have we got to lose by talking at this point? >> nothing. we have to talk and i agree with joe that you know, we buy time. we buy time. and if what they really will be satisfied with is respect and normalization, great, we can give that to them. we have to maintain the pressure. remember what got them to the table, the sanctions and unfortunately probably some of the bluster coming out of the white house. >> apparently so. let's go to kelly kobe aia in

seoul, south korea. it seems to me not only did we hear from the national security adviser of the south korean government but he said it was the president's leadership, his pressure politics that got us this far. your thoughts on that to the president? >> it's interesting, chris. he's speaking to an audience in the united states right now, not an audience in south korea necessarily or in north korea. i mean, the point here is to get these two leaders to speak, get the two the countries to speak if that is the point, then what better way than to flatter the president of the united states. i mean, you saw those pictures come out of that two-day summit in north korea between this very man, the chief of the national security in south korea as well as the intelligence chief. there were all sorts of smiles and handshakes a four-plus hour

meeting with kim jong-un face-to-face meeting. we could ask the question, was there a similar tone during that meeting, as well? we don't have the verbatim of what happened during those four-hour talks. so it could be that the south koreans are playing intermediaries and telling both sides kind of what they want to hear to get both sides to the table. >> let's talk about the meeting coming up in may. do you imagine that being in ja? this is a fascinating question because the closer we go to him, kim jong-un, the bigger he's going to look. >> yeah, it's difficult to see kim jong-un leaving north korea for a summit in another country. what country would it be? possibly china? but he hasn't yet met the leader of china. he meant hasn't met xky or any head of state, period, at this

point. which country would it be if it's not in the demillerized zone? it's hard to see the leader of north korea leaving north korea. >> well, that's a great thought. kelly, thank you for joining us. let's go back to nbc chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. we're already talking about place, location, where they're going to meet by may, if it's by may, can you imagine president trump heading all the way over to this guy so he can have a home court advantage along the 3th parallel? is that what they're talking about, our president goes to him. >> reporter: right now, it is as much a question in washington, d.c. as it is there in south koreaing in seoul where kelly is as she just talked about. i will tell you during the discussion, during the announcement and the briefing, you could call it from the national security adviser, a number of white house aides were standing just behind where the row of reporters was here

including sarah sanders, including top officials from trt vice president's office like his chief of staff and right as the session ended, we tried to get some answers. nothing yet. i expect at some point is, the white house will frankly have to answer some of these questions at least preliminarily about where this is going to happen. by may leaves very little time. we're already in march here. so for discussions this monumental, you're looking at a pretty tight time frame. i can guarantee over at the executive office behind me, you have national council staffers who work on this issue scrambling to start getting prepared for this or to continue getting ready for these an apparent discussion that are going to happen. more questions than answers. i have to remind you all of this of very unexpected. at least for the timing of this and the timing of this announcement tonight. i just can't emphasize this was not preplanned. it's not as if it was a rollout on a new policy announcement. this all came up in the last few

hours that this would be announced tonight. what the president said five days ago at that gridiron dinner here in washington where he said he would be of course, open to talks if in fact, north korea committed to the potential for denuclearization, abandoning its weapons program. it seems that's where we are. it seems south korea will continue to be intermediary here as they have been. but this is certainly a remarkable evening here, that's for sure. >> hallie jackson at the scene of the action tonight. we'll monitor tonight's breaking news. we'll have much more tonight including the latest news on the russian investigation and the latest reports that special counsel mueller is gathering evidence on two fronts, on collusion and obstruction of justice. this is "hardball" where the action is. more because you get a break on breakfast get an extra day by the pool

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welcome back to "hardball."

multiple new reports show special counsel robert mueller is gathering more evidence now against the president on two big fronts, collusion and obstruction of justice. first on obstruction. the special counsel has learned that president trump recently spoke to two witnesses about the matters they discussed with the prosecutors. experts tell "the new york times" the episodes could be as evidence for mueller in an obstruction case. when it comes to potential collusion, the special counsel learned more about the purpose of that secret meeting that brought a trump associate together with a russian banker out in the say shells? the indian ocean, a small chain of islands located in the indian ocean. "the washington post" reported mule ter gathered evidence that the meeting it in the seychelles just before the inauguration was an effort to the establish a back channel between at incoming administration of trump and the kremlin. apparently contradicting statements made by lawmakers by one of its participants. well, that participant is erik prince, the founder of the private security company blackwater. and an informal adviser to the

trump transition. the meeting adds yet another data point to the reported contexts. there they are on the screen that took place between trump associates and russians starting from the early days of the campaign through the inauguration. i'm joined by julia ansley, national security adviser for nbc news it, heidi przybilla for nbc news and joseph is a former federal prosecutor. let's go with this meeting. what does it add, julia? why are they meeting way off there a few days before the inauguration? >> of course, this would be january right before they're coming in. if this is a big if, if there was any sort of payback that the trump administration owed to the russian government, this could be a good place to start setting up that communication about how that's going to look. so that is obviously why robert mueller is worried about it. when we first heard about back channels, john kelly who was not chief of staff but dhs secretary came out on the shows and said

back clanls are no big deal. not all diplomacy happens between two heads of state shaking hands in front of cameras. the fact it was in a really remote place, erik prince lied how he ran into the contacts there, it's starting to add up into a way that looks like there's a lot under the surface. >> look who got in trouble first, michael flynn because he denied having had conversations with the russian ambassador about sanctions. so they were very nervous about the logan act, very nervous in the beginning. just being schooled on what the law is what you're allowed to do before you become president and have a new administration. obviously, they were very dodgy on this stuff but they were going to the say shelles the to do something sneaky. >> under normal times, you want an incoming administrationings to start developing those relationships. under normal times, it might not be a big deal. obviously we're not in normal times. knowing the scrutiny that russia should be under and knowing what they did with respect.

>> not in the case where the president-elect may be in who can with the people you're meeting with. >> the optics are not good. so now wie we have known about the say shells is meeting since last year. now we know that the special counsel is now looking into this meeting and two, that mr. prince's testimony may have been less than fully truthful what was the genesis before the meeting in the first place. >> heidi, why did he deny it? >> that's a good question. >> mr. blackwater. not a nice identify? another character popping his ed up who is guess what, lying about his interactions with the russians there's another dimension to this other than what julia mentioned which is influence peddling and the influence of foreign governments on our policy here. we have the potential that also the uae funneling money. we don't know the where through exactly. what the mechanism would have been but we know our policy has been very favorable to the uae and very tough on qatar.

this seychelles meeting bringsings together so many different data points. it's been out there for a long time. we're no now getting there to where this appears to be a nexus between a lot of the different things, the back channel with the russians, money, foreign influence peddling and potentially collusion. >> i think that web that you're putting together is also a lot of what we've seen in the reporting over the past week. we reported last week here at nbc how mueller was looking into not just conversations that jared kushner may have had with with you russians but also looking into his business dealings with qataris and emiratis. this piece, the fact the emir i emiratis were in the seychelles shows there may be something to the idea they would be a conduit to the russians it's all a web. >> it seems to me that this guy, i said it before just on the surface, why so much russian contact? why is it -- we just put that on the screen there. 20 or 30 moments of contact with the russians. a lot of the men and women run

for president without any russian contacts. they just don't do it. why does this guy do it all the time? look at that screen. >> look, absolutely. and it seems like we learn about more every day. the fact is that there could be absolutely benign reasons for these contacts. it could be under normal times, that might be the case. here though, there's no doubt this is adding fuel to the fire. and that every time the special counsel seems to peel back another layer, there's more to find. >> as i mentioned, "the new york times" is reporting trump has spoken to two key witnesses about the matters they discussed with mueller's people. in one instance, he asked counsel don mcgahn, his lawyer to deny a january news story which reported mcgahn had threatened to quit when the president requested him to fire mueller. the president said ed had never ordered mcgan to fire the special counsel. he replied the president was wrong. however the president told mr. mcgahn he did not remember the discussion that way according to people familiar.

what do we make of this? heidi, take this hot one. what do we make of a president who tells his lawyer to fire mueller and then when mueller says i don't remember it that way, trump says i do remember. i'm sorry, but they don't agree. you don't casually say to some guy, fire the special counsel and there's confusion what you just said. >> who hasn't he pressured in this investigation from the beginning when he was pressuring james comey to say he wasn't under investigation. but the thing to me that is notable about in is that this pressure campaign apparently took place, chris, while the president was well aware that he personally might have been under investigation and that people within his own white house might even be cooperating, might even be wearing wires. yet, he's so concerned that he takes that risk to then continue to pressure people knowing that. >> yes. here's the president. he says i'm going to will you into thinking my way. i'm going to will you to change your memory. i know and you know that i told

you to fire muler. but let's agree now, i didn't. that's a mind control of not a monster necessarily but certainly a dictator. >> yeah. >> that's how they talk. >> it's completely rebutting all of the advice that he gets from his lawyers to say don't talk. >> no, he likes to give orders. >> thank you julia, joseph and heidi. up next, the continues fallout over porn star stormy daniels' lawsuit against the president. the republicans have gone silent. they don't want to talk about it. where is the party of family values meeting this week? this is "hardball" where the action is. ♪

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president trump's alleged relations with an adult film actress stormy daniels are not going anywhere especially given the recent legal maneuvering on both sides. yesterday, the president's press secretary sarah sanders denied the allegations but are a headache for his whole party. it the president being sued by an adult film star is a topic the majority of congressional republicans including paul ryan are looking to avoid. >> i haven't put a second of thought into this. not on my radar screen. >> i think it is. family vales and morality used to be the bedrock of public

ideals. let's look back. >> we republicans have been blessed with grassroots supporters who were committed to the ideals of individual freedom. family values, free enterprise and i strong america. >> let the other side ridicule family values. i'm talking about work, responsibility, loving thy neighbor. >> we discovered who we are is more important than what we have and we know we must renew our values to restore our country. >> it's a wonderful experience to be where family values. >> we need once again to be willing to fight for freedom, free markets and traditional moral values with everything we've got. >> well, the republican party used to be the party of fam values at least in public. where are they meeting this week? i'm joined by sher michael singleton and maria teresa kumar, an msnbc contributor. you're on. i know hypocrisy is the name of

the came. most people look at it that way. when bill clinton got no trouble, all the republicans jumped all over him. but you know, move on many korg started that. we're not going to talk about that anymore. now it's the republican position. they want to move on from this thing. look at paul ryan. i haven't given a second's thought? i think he's given a few when he put his head on the pillow last night. what the he's going on here. >> reporter: sher michael, is this a bipartisan problem or just human nature that gets in trouble? $130,000 paid a week before the last election for president to shut somebody up. let's be blunt. >> we have to look at the legalities of this. i do not believe when the white house says the president did not know about this, this was his personal attorney who paid $130,000 and reports it has been documented. >> do lawyers dozen things for free. >> of course not. he was complaining to people the

president didn't pay him back. which means the president knew republicans should be calling for an investigationing. >ing whatting if obama in been caught. >> they would have called for his impeachment. >> a republican person, a persona. >> i am because i believe in conservatism. it the root word of conservatism means to conserve. if you're going to report you're conserving family values to the institutions of our society to the bedrock of our society, then you have to call out these things. otherwise it's hypocritical. >> let's talk the law of this thing. this is "hardball," it's not something else. it's not hard copy. let's talk about john edwards. a very similar thing happened. he had -- he was involved with a film og gra fer and got exposed. they tried to keep it secret. a wealthy woman gave him money to pay her off. that was charged by the courts as an example of a campaign in kind contribution. what bunny melon was doing was

help john edwards' campaign by keeping this thing quiet. is that the same deal? that ended up with a hung jury. >> exactly. the biggest challenge is that when comes to campaign finance, when it comes to doing contributions, everything is line item. there is a money trail. that is why edwards got in trouble. they were trying to funnel his money to his mistress illegally. all all intents and purposes -- the fact that she received $100,000 on his filings there's $130,000, you could make the connection it's to the same person. but the idea that the (party right now has become not only hypocritical but going completely against values that's the real issue. this idea yes, they may be conservative but the top of the -- mitch mcconnell considers himself a conservative. he's not standing up to the republican party. where is that leadership? we are right now. >>ened staing up for the republicans. what about -- free trade was a

republican belief system. >> that's exactly right. >> till trump. i'm wondering. > devin nunes used to be -- the deficit a trillion and a half on purpose. >> republicans have argued we cannot spend more money, focus on the deficit. we were talking about this if the republican party, if conservative is in the midst of a paradigm shift if conservatism no longer exists under trump. >> do you believe this. >> absolutely. >> the moment of napoleon. >> i think the progressives are having the same call to jesus. the fact the trump agenda basically are the ones anti-trade is obscene. the republican party want power more than anything. they got the tax cuts they wanted. and they were able to get. >> sher michael, we await the restoration. we're living through a -- up next, more on our breaking news

story tonight. south korea's national security director says president donald trump has decided he will meet with north korean dictator by may. probably somewhere in the korean peninsula because kim jong-un doesn't travel. you're watching "hardball." so, that goal you've been saving for,

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marsha . >> back to "hardball." tonight's big news, president donald trump has accepted an offer to meet with flkian leader kim jong-un by may. well, that's coming soon accord doing a senior south korean official who spoke to reporters as we saw a few moments ago in front of the white house. it's a remarkable turn around, of course. last year, president trump taunted kim jong-un as the little rockman and threateneds him with fire fury. aisha ras cofrom reuters, tamara keith from npr and marge xwret cross from "the daily beast." all of you in order, this question. they're going to meet somewhere.

once you agree to meet, it's just a question of weather. it could be in kra, south korea, on the border at 38th parallel. i don't think it will be in mar-a-lago. maybe trump will want to get hawaii. >> this is a big deal. this is something that president trump, he has had very harsh words for north korea and for kim jong-un. he said called him rockman and all those things and threatening fire and fury. since they've kind of had this cooling off period with the olympics he has expressed that he is willing to kind of work with the north koreans and he said earlier this week he thought they were sincere in saying they wanted to have these talks. >> here's the question. it's all about the objective facts. we've got to stop them from developing a nuclear program capable of threatening us. that's the bottom line. >> so what they have said in order to get to this point to apparently get president trump to agree to meet is that they are, that north koreaing is willing to stop its testing. that stopping testing is a long

way from due nuclearrization. that is the next big step. >> at least it's a step. >> it is a step. and sarah sanders, white house press secretary we have it coming from the white house and not just from the south koreans that the president is saying that the meeting will happen at a time and place yet to be determined. >> the president said actually a white house statement tonight "the president trump greatly appreciates the nice words of the south korean delegation and president moon. he will accept the invitation to meet with kim jong-un at a place and time to be determined. we look forward to the denuclearization of north korea. in the meantime all sanctions and pressure must remain." they're taking the initiative to stop testing and don't mind the fact that united states and south korea continues our exercises together. third, they're talking about denuclearizati denuclearization. they're saying denuclearization. they put the line on table of what they know we want.

>> it's a lot to put out there actually. and i mean, the devil is in the details but what a lot to do given that you know, it was little rocket man and my button is bigger than your button. it's a lot of the progress. maybe kim jong unis looking at his economy and his people eating tree barkann realize he has to do more. >> he's not eating tree bark. >> no, he's eating kobe beef. but you know, a lot is to be determined on there but i hope -- i would rather credit the olympics. they didn't get very good ratings but maybe they opened up diplomatic channels. >> i thought it was interesting about the nice words because the first thing the national security director of south korea said was it was the president's leadership, trump's leadership and his pressure politics that did this. why would they give all the credit except maybe to flatter? >> threw know the importance of that with president trump and it

goes a long way to give him credit and to say look, you were the one who made this possible. and you know it, president trump has said over and over again this should have been dealt with by many presidents and i'm going to fix it. to give him that credit has to carry a lot of weight for him. >> tamra, the number one target for north korea is south korea. if you live in seoul, you live within rifle range of the north. just a conventional weaponry, the tunnels they've dug, they can destroy that city in hours. so the fact -- i've wondered about this. does anybody know why the south koreans are much more benign and calm about this than we areal? when we're over here, they're over there. >> our south korea correspondent talks about it. everybody is blais se about the threats where she is and yet here, we're very much on edge about you know, some tests that happened. and i don't think i fully understand it except when you live life under a threat and you

are that close to your mortal enemy, you just have to live your life. >> i know some in business up near my house. one of the businesses near me, very came up to me and said something very positive is coming up. he told me this earlier. the round table is sticking with us. you're watching "hardball." r. the whisperer? why do they call him the whisperer? he talks to planes. he talks to planes. watch this. hey watson, what's avionics telling you? maintenance records and performance data suggest replacing capacitor c4. not bad. what's with the coffee maker? sorry. we are not on speaking terms. you wouldn't accept whafrom any one else.e maker? why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion,

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we willcome back with the round table in a minute. they will tell me something you don't know.

we're back with the hard ball round table. >> reuters is reporting that the white house is planning a meeting at the white house between big ag rr and big oil as they try to work out a deal on renewable fuel standards which requires blending of ethanol and gasoline. it is pulling the two key constituencies for the president against each other so they are trying to figure out what to do about it. >> so the apu is reporting that the interior department is spending nearly $139,000 to replace a few doors for ryan zinke's office. >> that is the same amount of money paid to stormy daniels. >> it is a little more. the porn star went for less.

>> so in our state of pennsylvania you know the race is close in the special election when the finger pointing starts early. politico interviewed about two dozen national republicans who are blaming the candidate on being a very poor candidate, didn't fund raise, can't give a speech. he does videos in which he is yucking it up. >> i read the account. >> a little color from the keystone state. we'll be right back.

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trump watch thursday march 8. watching the republican party obey donald trump is like watching kids of my generation playing a game of simon says. that was the game where you did whatever the other player told you to do. clap your hands, jump up and down as long as he or she says simon says. now it is trump says. trump says tariffs. republicans are now for tariffs. trump says to pass tax cuts to drive up the federal deficit. trump says to like russia. republicans are supposed to be nice to russia now. this gets trickier when it comes to personal stuff. in september of 2009 someone

said we need for our movement and future to be willing to fight for freedom, free markets. that was mike pence. now speaking not so long ago. free markets but trump says tariffs. trump says forget about it. that's hard ball for now. all in with chris hayes starts right now. good evening from new york. breaking news again. i'm chris hayes. just hours after the president unexpectedly popped in the press room to say there would be a surprise announcement on north korea, south korea's national security adviser walked outside the white house to announce that north korea's kim jong-un's invited president trump to nuclear negotiations and the president has accepted. >> president trump appreciated the briefing and said he