that matter. >> life seems more precious now? >> yeah. he's encouraging us to do a lot of things and i think he's still pushing us. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. good morning. i'm dara brown in new york at msnbc world headquarters. here's what's happening. how it happened -- new details from inside the oval office on how president trump's decision to meet with north korean leader kim jong-un played out. let's make a deal, a new report says lawyers may be offering an interview with president trump, but what are they asking robert mueller for in exchange? we'll have details. we believe that we'll trace this back in one form or another to a payment from the trump organization or from the surrogate for mr. trump. >> you've got mail, could an e-mail setting up a six figure

payment link the president pack to the porn star and possible election law violations? we begin with two big stories oout of the white house this morning. new today the "wall street journal" is reporting that the lawyers are seeking a deal with special counsel robert mueller to speed the end of the russia probe. a person familiar with the discussion said that the legal team might have trump sit down with parameters. another says it's totally false. new details on what happened inside the oval office the night that president trump accepted kim jong-un's invitation to meet. the "wall street journal" reports president trump interrupted a conversation between south korean officials and said, okay, okay, tell them i'll do it. the south korean officials looked at each other as if in disbelief and tell them yes, the president said. a senior official tells the

south korean news agency that the envoy gave president trump a quote special message from kim jong-un in addition to his invitation to a summit and that president trump showed a very positive response. the president tweeted last night -- great progress being made and that the deal with north korea is very much in the making and will be if completed a very good one for the world. the trump administration is rushing to assemble a team to support the meetings with kim jong-un and this as they scramble to clarify the conditions of the meeting. kristen welker has more. >> reporter: the white house is preparing for an historic meeting between president trump and jong-un but where and when and how it will take is up in the air. >> those are conversations that take place at a much higher level and certainly outside of this room. >> reporter: instead of clarity, mounting confusion. after press secretary sarah sanders seemed to add new preconditions for the meeting that north korea takes steps to

denuclearize, a process that takes years. >> that's possible that can happen? >> there's a lot of things that are possible and the president has accepted that invitation on the basis that we have concrete and verifiable steps. >> reporter: within an hour, a senior administration official clarified the preconditions have not changed. north korea has to suspend missile tests and allow the u.s. and south korea continue with their planned military exercises. sanctions against north korea have to stay in place. and north korea has to come to the table ready to talk about denuclearizing. raising questions about whether the process was rushed especially after the president made a decision so quickly he caught those at the white house and at the pentagon off guard. >> was this done in a haphazard way? >> no. this is part of an ongoing campaign that's been going for over a year. >> it's more important now than ever that we have clarity of messaging from the white house, the state department and the

u.s. government about the nature of these discussions. >> reporter: a remarkable turn of events after tensions had reached a boiling point. >> they will be met with fire and fury. >> reporter: experts say the sanctions played a major role in breaking the impasse with the president now facing his biggest foreign policy test yet. kristen welker, nbc news, the white house. let's bring in a congressional reporter at the hill and the chief washington correspondent for bloomberg tv. thank you for being here. your colleagues say it might not hurt president trump to have a chat with dennis rodman who in all seriousness has met with kim jong-un more than any other american. so how are officials getting the president ready for this meeting? are they starting from scratch or do you think they'll be able to rely on back channel talks and other diplomatic efforts over the last year? >> good morning, dara. the back channel talks have already begun for quite some time. president trump as well as senior administration officials using other channels most

notably through u.n. ambassador nikki haley to the united states to really kind of get this ball rolling. now, that said anything could stop at any possible moment. the u.s. is also relying on a broad international coalition and it's notable that the south korean diplomat was at the white house to make this announcement earlier -- or just the other day. south korea really coming to the table here to work the back channel talks. oh, yeah, let's not forget about china. because china in particular is north korea's top economic trade partner for both exports and imports at more than 90% each. the chinese have a huge role to play here because obviously should things go off the rails, this would cause a major, major implication for the chinese. >> and melanie, we're learning this morning from the south korea news agency that the foreign minister will travel to the u.s. next week to meet with rex tillerson. and there's more about the special envoy's trip that resulted in the major

announcement. is there a sense of the role that secretary tillerson will play over the next few weeks in this meeting and how about mcmaster? >> it's interesting that tillerson wasn't in the country when this announce was made and he said that trump made this decision on his own and i think the president thrives on the unpredictability. he likes being the one who can do what no one else can do. he thrives on the chaos, but the problem here is when you go into the meeting with kim jong-un you cannot be unpredictable. it can't be impromptu. it could have damaging consequences and so there will be a lot of lower level meetings that go on before hand. trump has to be extremely prepared and he has go in there with a clear mind about what concessions the united states is willing to give up. and what he's -- what he wants to get in return. >> possibly not a lot of time to pull this all together.

kevin, turning to tariffs now which will no doubt be the highlight of the trip to your home state of pennsylvania tonight, how is this expected to play in the special election tuesday if the polls are so tight at this point? >> huge. i mean, look, yesterday, the other day i interviewed afl/cio president richard trumka and he's a progressive and he's closely aligned with joe biden who is campaigning in the special election in southwestern pennsylvania and he said that the trade policy would play popular to voters in that particular area. what's interesting about this is that it has created a strange alliance of political bedfellows, aligning with president trump. most notably union leaders, and that's something that the administration is banking on to carry them over the finish line. because you're line, connor lamb is pulling slightly ahead of and

seems to have momentum on his side, but president trump going to have a campaign style rally there tonight hoping to be the finisher in what many political watcher are calling a bellwether ahead of the midterms. >> melanie, president trump tweeted last night, spoke to prime minister turnbull of australia and he's committed to have a fair and reciprocal and military and trade relationship working quickly on the security agreement. so we don't have to impose steel or aluminum tariffs on the ally, the great nation of australia. is there scenes for how long the negotiations with australia and other countries are going to work out? >> well, the tariffs are supposed to take effect in 15 days so there isn't a whole lot of time for some of these allies to negotiate on a case by case basis. but it's really important especially for a lot of the republicans on capitol hill that's why you saw such strong pushback is that the tariffs could have a devastating impact on some of our fairer trading partners including canada, mexico. australia as well.

and that's why you also saw initial exemption for mexico and canada, depending on the outcome of the nafta negotiations. look, i think the fact that the president did allow the case by case exemption shows that he was at least willing a little bit to walk back on his initial blanket statement that it would be tariffs for all. that could have been the result of some of the leaders like paul ryan, kevin brady, some of the top allies on capitol hill that have been working behind the scenes to push the president to pull back a little bit. and he moved ahead with this and we'll see what happens. >> kevin, i want to turn to the drama involving sam nunberg this week. did we learn anything from his testimony before the grand jury yesterday? >> not much. i spoke with sam nunberg back when he was not going to meet with the grand jury and, you know, this is someone who is incredibly frustrated, dara, at the process, that this has been drawn out. and the toll that he says it's

taken on his life. he said there's no collusion, that this investigation has gone on well beyond the scope of collusion. he was frustrated, but at the end of the day, this investigation led of course by bob mueller is focused in on the communications by the former committee chairman paul manafort and his business dealings in the ukraine and irregardless of what any particular individual says, whether they testimony or they don't, nunberg testifying at the end of the day, meeting with the authorities despite his original opposition to do so. >> it was a long day for him. please stay with us. we have more headlines to discuss. and coming up let's make a deal. lawyers for president trump say he may be open to an interview with robert mueller but what does he want in return? u could . you walked together. you built your home again.

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michael cohen has acknowledged publicly that he facilitated $130,000 from his personal funds in this agreement -- >> we think it's highly personal it came from his personal funds. >> the president knew about it? >> he knew about it a the time and the idea that the attorney would go off on his own without his client's knowledge and engage in this type of negotiation and enter into this type of agreement quite honestly is ludicrous. >> stormy daniels' attorney says he believes the president knew about the six figure payment in a hush agreement, and the $130,000 agreement could violate election laws. meanwhile the other big headline is in the russian investigation, the president's lawyers are trying to strike a deal with robber mueller to end the probe. here with more is msnbc legal

analyst danny is a value's. "the wall street journal" is reporting that they want to leverage an interview between mueller and the president to end the investigation. do you think that his attorneys are pushing so hard for the conclusion? >> they are, but good luck to them. because as someone who has negotiated both with private corporations and also with the doj, they're in for a rude awakening if they try to negotiate with the u.s. attorneys the way you do with companies. u.s. attorneys don't have to worry about the risks of litigations or the costs of litigation. they don't have to worry about being hit with a gigantic verdict at the end of a civil case. they have unlimited funds and absolutely nothing to lose. when you negotiate with the doj, it's most often a take it or leave it deal. the doj and mueller's team cannot -- or will not enter into some agreement to not -- to end their investigation because they don't know where their investigation will lead them. it just isn't the kind of deal that the doj will enter into.

so i don't expect that -- i understand trump wanting to limit the scope of his interview. that's just good lawyering. them trying to do so. whether or not mueller's team is even open to this kind of negotiation is something completely different. it would be odd if mueller's team willingly confined themselves or limited the scope of their interview. they are law enforcement. law enforcement goes where the facts lead them. >> and danny, the other headline, sources tell nbc news that michael cohen has used the trump organization e-mail to arrange the transfer of the payment to daniels and her attorney says that this is another piece of the puzzle that leads directly to the president. >> where do you think the money came from? do you think it came ultimately from michael cohen's personal money or from the trump organization money or from donald trump? >> we believe that ultimately we're going to be able to trace this back in one form or another to a payment from the trump organization or from the

surrogate for mr. trump. >> danny, does this e-mail bring -- bring it closer to president trump? >> yes, it's a piece of the puzzle but it's not dispositive, because an e-mail address from a particular company does not give somebody the authority to broker deals. it makes sense. the night watchman might have the company's e-mail address. he can't bind the company with contracts or otherwise, unless he has apparent or actual authority. but it is a piece of the puzzle. it is a factor that tends to show with the other circumstances and keep in mind michael cohen was hardly the night watchman at the trump organization. there are many other factors that indicate he would have authority to act on behalf of the trump organization. if i was arguing this point, i would make the point that it's up to michael cohen to disprove that he was acting on behalf of anyone else than the trump organization because that -- he's essentially the face of the

trump organization when it comes to brokering these kinds of deals. >> democrats on the house judiciary committee sent a letter to cohen in regards to stormy daniels saying that it raises questions of potential federal campaign law and income tax laws. can you explain how this may be an election law violation. >> the election laws are very broad and any sort of benefit or payment to that -- that benefits the campaign in this context could potentially be a violation. in other words, if a completely third party -- if michael cohen was acting just as a friend and not as a part of the trump organization, had he paid stormy daniels and had stormy daniels given her silence, given her withholding of information that could be perceived under the law as a benefit to the campaign. her silence. because the law clearly contemplates that a benefit to the campaign doesn't have to be dollars. it can be pamphlets.

it can be data. it can be all kinds of things including stormy daniels' silence. we see press democrats with the john -- precedents with the john edwards prosecution, however that's a cautionary tale because that did not result in a conviction. >> danny, thank you so much for your legal expertise this morning. great to have you. and ahead of the historic meeting what could president trump offer kim jong-un in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons? that's up next. but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz xr. a once daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines,

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new today, the south korean foreign minister will visit the united states to meet with secretary of state rex tillerson. among the topics for discussion, the meeting with kim jong-un. in seoul with the latest is kelly cobiella. what are the expectations for this historic meeting in south korea? >> well, first of all, the foreign minister of south korea as well as we understand potentially the foreign minister

of japan will be meeting with secretary of state rex tillerson and that's one of the things that they'll likely be going over. what will be the agenda for this meeting. will president trump go in with some sort of road map for talks towards denuclearization, will it -- will he potentially try to strike some ad hoc deal with kim jong-un and what does jong-un want? remember, we have only heard from the south koreans. we haven't actually heard from the north koreans themselves that they are willing to talk about denuclearization. and some analysts have pointed out the denuclearization means different things to the north koreans than it does to the south. so a lot of things to work out from this meeting right now. the least of which really is where it's going to be and what the agenda will be. the foreign minister for south korea is trying to manage

expectations, saying we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past. >> and kelly, what can president trump offer in exchange for denuclearization? >> well, it depends first of all on what kim jong-un will accept. what are his motivations? that's been a lot of talk that economic sanctions are really affecting the country and that he wants to build up the economy. of north korea. so lifting sanctions is the obvious one, easing sanctions, some sort of economic aid. normalizing relations and trade with the united states. then there's this interesting sort of outlying one. steve bannon before he left the white house gave an interview and suggested that north korea could freeze its development -- not denuclearize, but freeze in exchange for the removal of the 28,000-plus troops on the peninsula. that's not something that would likely go down with allies in the region but it's something

that's floating out there from someone who was once very close to the president. dara? >> kelly cobiella live for us in seoul, thank you. and back to new details of steps president trump's personal lawyer took to prevent daniels from speaking about trump. $130,000 were taken from my home equity line and transferred internally to my llc account in the same bank. let's bring back our panelists. why won't this story go away? >> it's unraveling with each little thread that gets pulled away at this story. it started with the revelation that sanders said that the trump won arbitration and we're hearing that his personal lawyer is actually using a donald trump.org e-mail and it the problem can come with campaign finance laws. if this payment was made from the trump organization, that could spark some campaign

finance laws if it was made to influence an election in a certain way or another and it wasn't properly disclosed. i think that's where the president could really land himself in hot water. not so much the political backlash. when it came out, there wasn't that much of a response even from, you know, these christian evangelicals who supported him in the race. they supported him and, you know, they're not backing down. but the reason why it keeps being dragged out is because of the potential campaign finance law violations we will see. >> how much will president trump be distracted by all this? >> well, look, i think this is a distraction somewhat right now for the administration. but the folks that i'm talking with are really rolling their eyes at this story, that they feel just won't go away. here's why it matters is because it could potentially be a legal fishing expedition for subpoenas in terms of getting e-mails which we know from the clinton administration with regards to

anthony weiner could potentially be a way in from the -- i'm not equating either. i'm just using that as an example from lawyer speak that that could be a chance for them to get more e-mails and other things. >> we have to keep it there. great to have you here this morning. that'll do it for me. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching. at the top of the hour, "hugh hewitt." [car accelerating] you can switch and save worry. ♪ you can switch and save hassle. [vacuuming sound] and when you switch to esurance, you can save time, worry, hassle and yup, money. in fact, drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved hundreds. so you might want to think about pulling the ol' switcheroo. that's auto and home insurance for the modern world. esurance. an allstate company. click or call. the markets change... at t. rowe price... our disciplined approach remains. global markets may be uncertain... but you can feel confident in our investment experience around the world. call us or your advisor... t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

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