strong words from north korea. >> this is the hottest story. the north korean vice minister told the associated press, the president and his aggressive tweets were making trouble and that the u.s. were to provoke the north korean military, the vice minister said we will go to war if they choose, china's foreign minister warned tensions between the u.s. and north korea had escalated that military

conflict may start at any moment. >> retired major general john al tenberg joining us. >> was this something we expected coming into this administration? a lot of focus were you put on isis. was the north korean threat first and foremost as well? >> i think it's always there. i mean, it's always there. it's one of the reasons we developed a strategy we developed over the years. because that's always a possibility. you never know when that's going to go, i hate to say, go south. i don't mean that pun, but it is a pun. it's possible that it will go bad on us at any moment. i think it's always on the people high in government, it's always high on their list of things to be worried about. >> when is the last time you think you've seen tensions this high? how concerned are you being obviously at a career military position? what does this show to you where we're at? >> well, we

f times with the north koreans. there's a lot of high per bowly. one of the more significant mistakes people make in this country is to muck the north koreans and to give in to the exaggerated language they use. and first i think we should not under estimate them. if you look at the things they say, over time, usually about five years after they make what we call outrageous demands and make silly comments, five year later, they're sitting there with exactly what they were wanting five years before. i think they're dumb like foxes. been that way through three generations of leadership. we can muck them all want for their haircuts and their demeanor, but they're pretty crafty, and i think personally it's always important t

your opponent no matter what you think otherwise >> i think it's a good point. we look at, for example, that movie couple years ago, team america where you had kim jong-un just as a central character but in reality this is something we have to deal with, even phone necessarily respect them for their appearance. >> even when people are cartoonish, basically own the country, they can do a lot of bad things. >> when you mentioned, you know, they've made these threats in the past, and when they test a weapon, we see the alerts ok, north korea tested something, it fizzles out. i think that's where they tend to become a laughing stock >> they don't a lot. that's for sure and many of ours fizzle out. >> what are your thoughts on having a policy in place in dealing with this regime? do you feel as though this administration is prepared for

some sort of a pre-emptive strike? >> i think all of our administrations have always thought those things through and they have plans and are prepared to react to developments. now, as we grade them back, going back few years, as they did right or wrong is another matter, there are always plans to respond to the actions of our countries, especially north carolina >> when we went to war as a nation against iraq and afghanistan, you had two secretaries of state, couldn't lisa right and collin pow. rex tillerson, how does he approach this as someone who is not a career diplomatic or military man >> i don't know but i respect his brain power and other experience and i think he's savvy and intelligent enough to listen to other people as he goes forward. what he's done so far has

been impressive i think in terms of how he's dealt with other countries >> army general john at enberg. thank you for coming in. while the president is spending the easter westbound at mar-a-lago, mike pence the vice president heading overseas for the first official visit at vp >> it's his first first start for meeting with the south korean president in soul after the news of on going issues >> tell us what do you think the rest of the world is thinking as they watch this? >> well, i think it's important to note, and you talked about it earlier, that donald trump is actually the 13th president at this point to deal with north carolina and the issues there between north and south korea. also, we've been in a state of war since it was signed in 1953. this isn't a new problem. i think sending mike pence

you know, donald trump quickly met with prime minister teresa may. he met with the mexican prime minister as well as merkle. and i think sending mike pence is also a sign to not only south korea but other allies in the region that the u.s. is standing with them >> we look back to some statements, he said fairly recently he was running to be the president of america not the world but the north korean is something that not just faces up but many other countries out there have not has it been a pivot in terms of changing his approach >> i think presidency certainly shapes the man. no doubt about it. i think that george w bush faced 911. president obama led a surge. it was very driveway that he met with the chinese president in florida and i think they're

to a good start and it's positive that the u.s. has relations with the chinese and the chinese are important players here in the sense they obviously have a strategic interest in north korea and what happens and how the u.s. is able to work with the chinese, he did bring to us the campaign with his promise to negotiate and his ability to negotiate on behalf of the american people. i think he's doing that on a couple of different facets here >> what do you think -- it's hard to know for sure, what will be discussed? what is going to be put on the table up for discussion? >> i think that, you know, the chinese, again, since 1950, have come a long way in terms of their growth, what kind of country, they're an economic power, they're the no doubt about it in world. they have a lot of economic interest with the united states and the western world, i think that's probably first and foremost on their agenda. obviously, they want to see a peaceful solution, it's not only some sort of pre-emptive strike in

happens next, in iraq, while saddam hussein did fall quickly there was years of turmoil trying to deal with that, i think that's the next step if this process goes there and there's obviously the military exercises taken place in last couple weeks. the also important to note those military exercises take place every spring and the north korean this time last year did a little bit when the u.s. was doing joint exercises with the japanese and the south korea >> you talked about an exponential threat in north carolina, when you look at kim jong-un, on you does he compare with his father and grandfather >> i think there's a lot of propaganda coming out of north korea, there's a lot of things we need to take with a grain of salt. it's hard for the rest of the world to understand, given the information and age we're living in, and the 24 hours news cycle, it's h

what's happening however there. it's not normal to the rest of the world, so >> not at all. >> tell me, you know, he's catching a lot of heat, obviously, president trump has for his tweets. we've never had president that would put this can i have aggressive tweets. how much do you think that really is playing into this or is that something easy for them to point at and say, look, he's being aggressive and kind of, you know, plays into their narrative? >> you know, twitter diploma cy is very new. i would also say most of our foreign alleys going through those, even when secretary tillerson was meeting with vladimir putin and his team, president trump put out a tweet saying he hopes that russia and the u.s. will come to a peaceful solution on many things. i think at the same time,

twitter to send signals when he wants to. and kind of cuts out the middleman in the sense of getting the word out to who he wants to >> good seeing you tonight. >> happy easter >> you beat me to it. see you soon >> it will be beautiful. nice and hot out there for the easter bunny >> gwen standing by. hello. >> hello. you're absolutely right. it is going to be hot. we're we'll have a warmer day sunday than saturday. here's a look at what we're dealing with, highs in the 70's, across the board. the thing is, i can't rule route maybe a late afternoon sprinkle or two. it's very possible. we'll keep our eyes on that. clouds will be increasing throughout the day. by 8:00 tomorrow will be about 57 degrees, and by midday, about 68. then we hit the 4:00 hour, hit about 71 with our high into the mid 70's. now, a lot warmer on your sunday, yes. here's a look at your forecast for both days, high of 75 degrees on saturday with a chance of

two, just slight chance and then on sunday, sun and clouds, we're heating it up to 86 degrees for the rabbit. i want to ay that there's a slight chance sunday evening that we might have a little pop-up shower or maybe an isolated storm or two. here's a look at your seven-day forecast. once we get past this weekend, we got a run of dry days and plenty of sunshine, look at monday and tuesday, temperatures start to cool down and then by the end of the week, we're talking a few showers. happy easter to you. >> thank you, gwen. >> president trump made many promises on the campaign trail that help him become the president of the united states >> in the last couple days, the commander in chief changing his tune a bit. more on that when 5at630 comes right back. right ba

. president made a lot of big promises on the campaign trail >> a few weeks into office, is he changing his mind? bridge it? bow man for c q role call is here to talk. do you think it's mor about getting into the office, seeing what's at play? what the intel says? do you think that's why we're seeing changes here in his priorties >> that sure does seem like. seems interesting to see how the members of his own parties reacted to his change and tones and positions, as mitch mcconnell did an interview where he said looks like the president is just learning the job. he's getting into office looking at the facts presented and adjusting. that's certainly how senator mcconnell looked at it >> when you look at certain things like the bombing in syria, and obviously what we saw in afghanistan

you know, there are a lot of people hockish people that didn't want the president to start new conflicts and maybe angered some of them. >> that's right. you certainly saw some people on capitol hill in both parties expressing concern about getting involved in other conflicts abroad. his military action in syria received general bipartisan support. however, lawmakers on both side also said we need to see a plan here. we need a long-term strategy towards syria, toward some of these other countries >> how much do you believe, it is also that change or perhaps maybe moving on, healthcare was not a success. he had issue with his immigration policy. and that was kind of a failure, obviously, in court. so do you think it's sort of like let's move on to the next thing and see if i can be successful in this arena >> that's an interesting point. foreign policy too is an area where the president can act alone.

obviously, he doesn't need to work with congress as you may trying to piece together, healthcare, packaged tax reform and republicans are having trouble keeping their own members in line. so this is where the president kind of takes action on his own as he's kind of frustrated with how things are going on the hill >> we were going down the pit falls and benefits of using twitter with the last guest. i want to adapt it with what you're talking to you about. there's a few items that the president has spoken vociferously about. like i will never golf as president or we should not go to syria unless a congressional authorization. do you expect people to challenge the president on it? i see a lot of outrage online yo don't really see it coming to pass in the media. >> i think you can expect democrats to challenge him on this. democrats are messaging on presen

jobs and protecting the middle class and working class. and they're arguing some policies and his proposals in his budget do opposite. this is where you'll see democrats start to replay the campaign trail and say the president isn't following up on what he promised >> i think as we've learned, if the democrats say one thing and they get that out there there's a lot of people that trumps their man. >> that's true, you see republicans saying the same thing, they welcome the adjustments, but are generally still supporttive of the president >> we're going to break down what the white house holds for the chief

are there any

coming to the white house >> everyone wants to know if president trump is planning on cutting ties with steve bannon. niles stands for the hill joining us now. he's very much quite the advisor to the president. do you think he's going to continue to have a reduced role >> i think his role definitely has been removed, his stature clearly declined. the president gave not one but two interviews where he was talking in a rather minimizing fashion with bannon. i think from my report and the idea that he's about to be fired is overdone, overrated >> how much of steve bannon's standing is predicated upon the fact that he is came in more likely or less as his own man, he was sort of brought in by the president and that was it >> i think that's a big part of the whole picture. steve bannon doesn't really have allies within the white house and he sees himself very much as an outsider. that's ok so far it goes but you need alliances in any white house, particularly

>> he was obviously a big player in the healthcare policy immigration policy, which kind of we were talking about earlier. didn't go over so well. do you think that kind of plays into it >> is the president thinking, maybe this is not the guy i should be having sitting, you know, on the security council or on all these big areas that he needs them? >> i think exactly right, sarah. the single most controversial thing president trump done, seems to me, is the so-called travel ban, steve bannon was very much identified with that. it wasn't a political success, whatever, but the merits or demerits of the policy. so things like that do hurt bannon i think. >> i think there was a lot of attention paid when the press release went out on saturday or sunday when he first pointed him and steve bannon and reince priebus appointed on the same day. and reince priebus was going to be the policy walk. did that power sharing arrangement, i take it, didn't necessarily withstand the tes of time >>

but i think steve bannon is still seen to some extent, the keeper of the flame for real did i hard trump supporters. the problem is that coalition isn't big enough to win reelection so you need to reach beyond that and bannon isn't the person perceived to do that >> he doesn't want to distance himself too much, he's a big part of the base, but looking at how there's been controversy in the white house with jared kushner and steve bannon, do you think that plays into this a lot. trump very much feels his family or advisors, ivanka got a place over there as well now. do you think that that played into this as well? >> very much so, one of the things people do say and is reflected in my own report you can't cross president trump's family, and that's something that corey

and that's not good. >> how much. steve bannon's stature and declining status is based on the fact that you had a lot of political backlash. how much is based on backlash and experience it's with bannon >> i think president trump above all wants to be a winner, you know, he uses the term knowledge of winning and losing all the time. this first stretch in his presidency has not gone well in terms of his popularity and someone needs to carry the can and for the moment looks to be bannon >> niles has been sitting in this chair since last night. we're glad you stayed through the night >> i came back once you reassured me. >> everything is back up and running well in some regards. thank you so much niles for coming in. alec baldwin known for his impression of president trump. it's become a

about man who he spent the last several months making fun of. the story and more when 5at630 comes back.

d voluntarily

>> officials say the decision is due to grade national security risks and privacy concerns. under the new policy, a limited number of records of visitors to some departments are available to those who make requests under the freedom ofortion act. but most not, including those that apply to the president and his senior staff. critics of the decision say the public has a right to know. who is visiting the white house. >> when you look at it from a first amendment standpoint, the policy was maintained through the last few administration. many people are saying that you know, this is a taxpayer funded house, this is the people's house, and you know, the president trump said a couple of times, why is president obama meeting with the black panthers which wasn't necessarily true, but at least there was documentation to back in up that was accessible >> he was saying president obama in the past was least transparent president. >> the obama administration was not great with information request. it was a very

administration, this will gain traction >> that does it for us tonight, 5at630. we're back tonight with more news at 10:00 and 11:00. if you haven't had enough, we'll be back later on. have great easter. see you soon.

announcer: today on "tmz" -- harvey: kelly rowland had her book signing hijacked. she shows up at l.a.x. and laughs off the fur protests. >> aren't you going to continue to be a furrier? >> you know what's interesting about the fur protest? normally, you get like three seconds before they run in and tackle everybody. harvey: this was flat-footed. they just did it for a long time. >> had that been beyonce, it would be like beyonce -- done. [laughter] >> we got gigi hadid in new york. our camera guy is like how did you get your abs? that flat-tummy tea? >> never flat-tummy tea. >> ok. >> what is a flat-tummy tea? >> it's like a laxative tea. >> help cleanse your system, support your metabolism. promote energy and reduce bloating. >> fancy word for poopy. >> sam hunt is getting married tomorrow. >> sam hunt is a sex s