the national security adviser robert o'brien acknowledged in public this morning that the white houseth very closely. >> we're watching reports closely. we'll have to see. as everyone here knows, the north koreans are parsimony i couldn't say parsimonious about a lot of things. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence are taking it seriously enough that they have reached out to north korea experts to discuss questions such as the possibility of succession, who would succeed kim if he were not able to maintain leadership there. that's another question that robert o'brien addressed in public this morning as well, jake. >> do we know who a successor might be? >> reporter: so again, this is always speculation with the hermit kingdom. kim yo-jong, his sister, has played a public role of late, including appearing in public during the south korean olympics, but also, crucially, jake, notice that she appeared at one of the trump/kim summits in singapore. that public role, they believe, u.s. officials, north korea experts believe, in conjunction with increasing power for her. but again, as with anything

robert o'brien, the president's national security advisor wrote seven decisions the president made.irst, the president assembled a team on january 29. he established the coronavirus task force. january 30 one, mr. trump ordered travel restrictions barring foreign nationals who'd recently been in china for mentoring the united states. third, arch 11, mr. trump suspended travel from foreign nationals who had been in european nations. is that i've 16, stretch public resources, the president issued the 15 days to slow the spread. for many weeks he pushed for the innovative use of therapies to fight the virus. sixth, mr. trump announced the cdc would issue guidelines recommending americans use cloth masks. seventh, since the extent of the danger became apparent, mr. trump at his tina contracted with more than 10 ventilator -- team have contracted with more than 10 ventilator suppliers to fight production. guest: i think there are couple of things missing from that. testing is such a key component of this. the fact the u.s. was caught flat-footed on the testing front and made that crucial

the national security advisor robert o'brien saying this is just a temporary issue in view of the administratione are not substantial changes, it says. visa processing will be halted. immigration and citizenship ceremonies and interviews will be put on hold. the refugee program has been paused. migrants crossing the border, potentially illegally into the u.s. -- we already knew they were being quickly rounded up and expelled. the administration saying this is not that dramatic of a change. this executive order is expected to have some exemptions, namely for farmworkers who are essentially migrant workers who make 1/10 of the labor force in that area. when it comes to immigrants working in the health care field, particularly when it comes to treating covid-19 patients -- those will also be workers that are exempted. the executive order will not address the removal of immigrants already in the u.s., but this has not been received well by democratic critics on capitol hill. they are calling it authoritarian. they are saying this is being used to take advantage of a crisis in order to advance an ant

let's see if we can get the answer from robert o'brien. national security advisor. see you. let me ask you, what could you tell us about kim jong un. south korea no problem or the rest of the world that there is? >> well, we are monitoring these reports very closely. as you know, north korea is a very closed society. there is not a free press there. things they provide including many things including the health of kim jong un. we are monitoring those developments closely. people should know that we have a great intelligence community. the president, the vice president, secretary pompeo, secretary esper. general mealy. we have a lot of watch men on the towers during these this coronavirus crisis making sure that america is safe. whether it's from the virus or from adversaries abroad. so we're keeping a close eye on developments in north korea as we are with other parts of the world. ainsley: ambassador, could you tell us why the president decided to sign this executive order? he says he going to temporarily suspend immigration. >> look, we are trying to do everything.

fully equipped secretary mark esper and attorney general bill barr and national security advisor robert o'brienide more details. i am going to ask mark to start. that we will take questions as it pertains to this. >> thank you. i appreciate the opportunity to be here. time when the nation and department of defense are focused on protecting the american people from the spread of the coronavirus, we also remain vigilant to the many other threats our country faces. today, the department of defense, in close cooperation with our inter-agent partners, and alluded enhanced antinarcotics operations. we want to protect the american people. i want to thank all of our partners. the coast guard, department of homeland security. dea, doj, and members of the justice community. the president has directed the deployment of additional ships and aircraft. last year, the u.s. southern command operations resulted in the seizure of over 280 metric tons of drugs. for of which was designated a shipment to america. corrupt actors rely on the profits of narcotics to maintain their oppressive power. drug traffickers ar

here's what robert o'brien said about it earlier today, pointing to the president steps early on in this crisis to limit travel outside of the united states. >> those bands save thousands or tens of thousands of american lives. the president is in taking a political decision but looking at how he can protect americans both economically and protect our health. so this is a temporary issue just like the part, prior bands where necessary and we are doing it to keep the american people safe. >> democratic reaction was swift and harsh. he is seeking to distract from his fumbled covid-19 response by putting the claim at the likely moment on immigrants. and this from congressman joaquin castro. this action is not only an attempt to divert attention away from trump's failure to stop the spread of coronavirus and save lives but an authoritarian like move to take advantage of crisis and advance his anti-immigrant agenda. the president says the immigration ban is going to be temporary but at the moment there were does not appear to be a time horizon on the word temporary. here again, the national s

national security advisers robert o'brien was warning, his deputy was warning, but those voices actuallyed less weight during that period of time than some of the voices like the economic team saying, these measures would have, basically tank the economy. >> then, david, also part of the problem, you all write, was china. the president was more focused on trying not to upset china during trade talks. so he was distracted or just his priorities were elsewhere? >> i think in january, distracted. impeachment was under way. they had just done the attack on the head of the quds force in iran, soleimani and concerned a conflict could break out with iran. the president was distracted at that time, but by end of january begins this bigger cascade of warnings that mark referred to, and the view on china moved from one of, let's not disturb the trade agreement, it was just the first phase, to the concern that the chinese were not telling them, being honest with them about what was going on in wuhan. that's when the president brought, made the decision to bar the chinese and people who. been in woo

team who continued to resist starker measu measures, people in the national security council robert o'brienng there should be more done. the president's son-in-law, jared kushner, started out as not seeing this as a huge threat and then once it was very obvious in march, he became more aggressive. the president had direct warnings and what we tried to do in this piece is not just capture the people who were on various sides of this at various points fwou make it clear that there were issues raised directly with the president, where his own advisers were trying to flag what was coming. his defenders say the criticism is unfair, that information was not reaching him or reaching him through people who he had already seen as discredited, such as alexa czar, the health s alex azar, the public health secretary. >> specific warnings from several different government agencies, whether it be hhs, his trade negotiator peter navarro, the nsc. the chatter on the blogs is w. whchlt o. and cdc are behind the curve. i'm seeing comments from people asking why w.h.o. and cdc seem to be downplaying this. i'm

but earlier today, the national security adviser robert o'brien acknowledged publicly that the u.s.s watching these reports closely. have a listen. >> well, we're monitoring these reports very closely. and as you know, north korea is a very closed society, not a free press there. they're parsimonious about the information they provide on the health of kim jong-un. >> earlier o'brien told white house reporters similar. joining us now, joseph eun, u.s. special representative for north korea policy. so good to have you on this morning. you know north korea better than virtually anyone. how does the u.s. seek to corroborate reports like this, looking in from the outside? >> jim, something is very awry. i think you're completely right. and by the way, great job on breaking this story. there is really no way we can completely corroborate. what i can tell you is certainly i know that our intel officials as well as policy officials are watching very closely. what we can say, for example, is that there is, as always, plenty of chinese troops on the border. and if there are any movements by t

listen to what the national security advisor robert o'brien said this morning in regard to what the president is thinking about doing based on travel ban's that he put in place early during this epidemic. >> those bands save tens of thousands of american lives so the president is not going to take political decisions here but he's going to look at how he can protect americans both economically and protect their health, so this is a temporary issue just like the higher bands were temporary and as we are doing it to keep the american people safe. >> those temporary bands are still in place, we should point out. democratic reaction was swift and harsh from jerrold nadler, "president trump now seeks to distract us from his fumbled covid-19 response by trying to put the blame on immigrants. the truth is, many immigrants are on our front lines protecting us as doctors, nurses, health aides, farmworkers, and restaurant workers. the president says again that this immigration ban will be temporary but at the moment, there does not appear to be a time horizon on the word temporary. >> we will have to w

here's what national security advisor robert o'brien had to say earlier today. >> so we're watching a reports closely. we will have to see, as everyone here knows, the north koreans are parsimonious with the information that they put out about many things, especially when it comes to leaders, so we will keep a close eye on it. >> bill, obviously the health of this young leader is crucial interest on top of a mountain of nuclear weapons, and in difficult talks with the trump administration, interestingly enough, south korean government officials are trying to tamp this down, they're only saying he's outside of pyongyang, but we talked to key contact for fox news in the region, north korean news editor chad, he said we have to stay concerned about this, we will be watching, we will be waiting, back to you. >> bill: thank you, greg, greg talcott recording from london. again, piecing it together as we go. thank you, greg. in a moment, more on the pandemics impact on the economy. this is a major hit. what it can mean for our relationship with beijing. i will talk to the white house chic ec

and then you have the national security team robert o'brien, nags security adviser, they were warningearly on based on intelligence and their own conversations. yet, their views were kind of seemed secondary to the views of the economic team. steve mnuchin who were in president trump's ear basically warning if you do these things, the economy could tank. that's a lot for the president, especially in an election year. so the story lays out all these different warnings for different reasons. they bubbled up to the top. but they were not heeded until -- really until the middle of march. >> again, this led to questions that dr. fauci, who told cnn that had the united states taken measures earlier, which led to overnight the president at least musing or retweeting on social media the idea of firing dr. anthony fauci. david, sanger, dr. march -- thank you for the reporting. >>> thank you. >>> dozens of tornadoes tearing up the southeast u.s. overnight. at least 13 people are dead. we're going to have an update on where the violent storm is heading next. >>> new developments in the coronavir

this is the presidents' national security adviser robert o'brien. here is what he said moments ago. >> it is hard to know, but seems to have been a family succession over the past, we had three leaders in a row of north korea that have been in the family. so i think basic assumption would be maybe it would be someone in the family. but, again, it is too early to talk about that because we just don't know what condition chairman kim is in and we'll have to see how it plays out. >> jim, it sounds like publicly at least they don't have any more information this morning either. >> well, they just don't seem to know. but the fact is you have the national security adviser speaking publicly about that question of succession, means this is something they're looking at seriously. again, as i said, with north korea, you don't know for sure until there is an official announcement. but officials taking the intelligence they have seriously enough that they are talking about these questions. what would succession look like, what would the other ramifications be?

already being defended by some of the top administration officials like national security advisor robert o'brien who's calling this a temporary issue as you pointed out the president has already curbed travel from china from canada from mexico from europe as so they're arguing that these changes are not really substantial immigration policy changes because there ministration official noted that right now visa processing has been halted as a result of the coronavirus measures put in place visa interview says citizenship ceremonies have been postponed refugee programs have been poz and even we know migrants that are caught crossing the southern border of the united states are immediately being expelled so what we do know 2 about this executive order is it is expected to carve out some exceptions for migrant workers who work on farms and also for immigrants who wish to come as health care workers to help with the coronavirus crisis here in the united states but i can tell you this is not sitting well with democratic critics of the u.s. president they call this an authoritarian type move and it sort

a secretary in mark esper, attorney general bill barr, national security adviser robert o'brien willils. in addition, i am going to have general milley, who has done an incredible job in so many ways say a few words. and with us, the chief of naval operations admiral gilda, who you know, i think you know. and, dear to the coast guard. so i'm going to ask mark to start. and then we can go, and after that we will take questions as it pertains to this, and then we will go on to phase two, which is the virus itself. okay? thank you, please. mark. >> thank you, mr. president. good afternoon, everyone. i appreciate the opportunity to be here as we make a very important announcement. at a time when the nation and the department of defense are focused on protecting the american people from the spread of the coronavirus, we also remain agile into the many other threats our country faces. today at the president's direction, the department of defense in close cooperation with our interagency partners began enhanced narcotics separations in eastern pacific oceans and the caribbean sea. it was pa

secretary mark esper, attorney general bill barr, national security adviser robert o'brien will provide more details. in addition, i am going to have general millie who has done an incredible job in so many ways say a pfau words and also with us our chief of naval operations, who you know. i think you know. and commandant of the coast guard, so i'll ask mark to start and then we can go and after that we'll take questions as it pertains to this and then we'll go on to phase 2 which is the virus itself. thank you. mark? >> thank you, mr. president. and good afternoon, everyone. i appreciate the opportunity to be here. today as we make this very important announcement, at a time when the nation and the department of defense are focused on protecting the american people, from the spread of the coronavirus, we also remain vigilant to the many other threats our country faces. today at the president's direction, the department of defense in close cooperation with our interagency partners began enhanced counternarcotics operations in the eastern pacific ocean and the caribbean sea. this initiat

esper, attorney general bill barr, national advisor robert o'brien will provide more details. going to have am general -- who has done an incredible job in so many ways and, also, with, of naval operations admiral gilde, who you know. you know. and commandante, admiral schultz. going to ask mark to start, and then we can go, and after that we're going to take it pertains to this, and then we'll go on to the virus which is itself. okay? thank you. please, mark. mark: thank you, mr. president, and good afternoon, everyone. i appreciate the opportunity to we make this as very important announcement. at a time when the nation and the department of defense are protecting the american people from the spread of the coronavirus, we also vigilant to the many other threats our country faces. today at the president's direction, the department of cooperation ose with our inter-agency partners began enhanced counter narcotics operations in the eastern ocean and the caribbean sea. his initiative is part of the administration's hall of government approach to combatting the flow of i will lif

secretary mark esper, attorney general william barr, national security advisor robert o'brien will provide more details. i am going to have general millie say a few words, and also our chief of naval operations, y, andl gilda commandant of the coast guard admiral schultz. and weask mark to start, will take questions and then go on to phase two, the virus itself. ok. secretary esper: good afternoon. i appreciate the opportunity to be here as we make a very important announcement. we remain vigilant to the many other threats our country faces. ,oday the department of defense in cooperation with interagency partners, began enhanced counter-narcotic operations in the eastern caribbean. the is part of administration approach to combat the flow of drugs into the united states and protect the american. partners,thank our the u.s. coast guard, department of homeland security, dea, department of justice and members of the intelligence community, for tremendous support. thepresident has directed deployment of additional ships, aircraft and security forces to the u.s. southern command area of respons

secretary mark esper, attorney general william barr, national security advisor robert o'brien will provide more details. i am going to have general millie say a few words, and also our chief of naval operations, admiral gilday, and commandant of the coast guard admiral schultz. i will ask mark to start, and we will take questions and then go on to phase two, the virus itself. ok. secretary esper: good afternoon. i appreciate the opportunity to be here as we make a very important announcement. at a time when the nation and the department of defense are focused on protecting the american people from the fred of this -- the threat of the coronavirus we remain vigilant , to the many other threats our country faces. today the department of defense, in cooperation with interagency partners, began enhanced counter-narcotic operations in the eastern caribbean. -- eastern pacific ocean and caribbean sea. this is part of the administration approach to combat the flow of drugs into the united states and protect the american people from their scourge. i want to thank our partners, the u.s. coast guard

here is what the national security advisor robert o'brien had to say on this morning. >> so we're watchingts closely and we'll have to see, as everyone near knows the north koreans are parsimonious with information they put out about many things especially when it comes to leaders so we'll keep a close eye on it. reporter: i don't have to remind your viewers the health of this leader is crucial. he sits on a pile of nuclear weapons. he is in the middle of somewhat bad talks with president trump over the past couple of years. south korean government officials, neil, have tended to tamp this down. they say they don't see anything unusual but a very important source of ours in south korea, he is the editor of a nk news, chad, says he says there he reason for concern and even neil, some people are beginning to look at succession possibility. they point to the recent political elevation of kim's sister, but they say o'brien noted it is really too early for that. so we have questions. we have some ideas but really no clear vision of what is going on there. we know it is very important for us to

robert o'brien, the president's national security advisor wrote seven decisions the president made.irst, the president assembled a team on january 29. he established the coronavirus task force. january 30 one, mr. trump ordered travel restrictions barring foreign nationals who'd recently been in china for mentoring the united states. third, arch 11, mr. trump suspended travel from foreign nationals who had been in european nations. is that i've 16, stretch public resources, the president issued the 15 days to slow the spread. for many weeks he pushed for the innovative use of therapies to fight the virus. sixth, mr. trump announced the cdc would issue guidelines recommending americans use cloth masks. seventh, since the extent of the danger became apparent, mr. trump at his tina contracted with more than 10 ventilator -- team have contracted with more than 10 ventilator suppliers to fight production. guest: i think there are couple of things missing from that. testing is such a key component of this. the fact the u.s. was caught flat-footed on the testing front and made that crucial