president trump says he'd be honored to meet with north korea's kim jong-un after calling in a pretty smart cookie, and he invites philippine strong arm leader rodrigo duterte to the whout white house. wh what kind of signals is he sending? >>> alternate reality. president trump sticking to his claims that president obama wiretapped trump tower. >>> tax and spend. president trump says he'd consider raising the gas tax to help the nation's infrastructure, as a budget deal that boosts military spending and ups funding for border security. and the latest version of obamacare repeal and replace may be in trouble. vice president goes to capitol hill to round up votes and this time gop moderates are standing in the way. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> breaking news. at frantic white house effort is under way to explain president trump's stunning comment that he'd be honored to meet with kim jong-un. president trump called kim jong-un a pretty smart cookie for holding on to power and north korea moves full speed ahead with its nuclear weapons program and a u.s. missile

was his uncle trying to assume power and over throw kim jong-un and that's why kim jong-un killed him? >> i have no idea. who knows why this guy does what he does. i don't know what the reason was behind this. this is a man who has assassinated generals of his own military using an anti-aircraft machine gun. that is as brutal as it gets when you're going to conduct a purge. so whether he's sane or inseaan this is a man who's very dangerous personally and professionally and you have to take him that way. >> the decision the president made, he phoned the philippines controversial president duterte and invited him to come to the white house. there's a lot of controversy. a lot of commotion. i'm sure that sean spicer is going to be asked a whole bunch of questions about this. given the record, the human rights record that duterte has and some of the comments he's made about the former president and other americans. your reaction? >> duterte is -- he can make a corkscrew look straight. that he should be given the benefit of going to the white house is -- i mean, this is the people's house.

whether that's vladimir putin, duterte, kim jong-un, and that's very disturbing.his is the president of the united states. you know, talking about being flattered, having his ego stroked by people who engage in such violent terrible behavior, and want to do harm to us. so i just don't understand, when is the president going to learn that every single word he says has meaning. and it affects how our allies abroad see our commitment to them to protecting them. and this is just a perfect example of that. how do you think people in japan and south korea feel when the president of the united states says he would be honored to meet with a man who want to kill them. who wants it destroy them. again, it is so disturbing. what other word can you use to describe it? >> the white house press secretary said meeting presidential meeting with the philippine president duterte is in the national interest precisely because of north korea. do you believe that president duterte could help when it comes to dealing with north korea? as you know, the president in that interview over th

>> our winner is kim jong-un who craves attention.uld be honored to meet kim jong-un in person and the president's spokesperson said that kim jong-un managed to lead his country forward in both words of praise i don't think he deserves. my losers are the airline industry for reasons we discussed, particularly delta who thinks i'm in fort myers, florida, from the flight they canceled of mine three weeks ago. [laughter] >> my winner is -- everybody needs to watch this video. she is showing off her new prosthetic leg and all of our friends are adorable. the video was posted by bbc midlands, please do not miss this. my losers are the house republicans passing a bill nancy pelosi style to see what's in it. for democrats on the floor talking them with the "goodbye" song, bad all around. >> my winter is jeff sessions for not getting police officers in the alton sterling in louisiana who was armed at the time, by the way, the news agency seems a little bit hesitant to report that fact. -- to appease activists, pandering active -- my loser is

why would he say things about kim jong-un. just listen to the andrew jackson thing and what the momentum seems to be behind this. >> had andrew jackson been a little later, we wouldn't have had the civil war. he was a very tough person but he had a big heart. and he was really angry that -- he saw what was happening with regard to the civil war and said there's no reason for this. people don't realize the civil war -- >> yeah. >> you think about it, why? people don't ask that question, why was there the civil war? why could that one not have been worked out? >> then when this gets called out he tweets this. >> he says president andrew jackson who died 16 years before the civil war started saw it coming and was angry, would never have let it happen. i think he was upset people were questioning his math. but really that wasn't his point. he said that had andrew jackson been later he would have stopped it. >> the question is not the math, david, but why? >> right. he's so enamored of the painting of andrew jackson in the oval off

if this smart of that pattern, what does kim jong-un want? >> i don't think it's any longer part of the pattern of his grandfather and his father, so as you correctly stated, in the past, they've gone into this provocation cycle. i've talked about it a lot in hawaii where there's a provocation, there's a negotiation, and it's a concession. peaceful for a while, then the cycle starts again. i think kim jong-un has el investigated to that a cycle of provocation, provocation, provocation. what he's seeking is his own independent -- >> we'll leave this hearing at this point and if you missed any of it, you can watch it in the c-span video library. type "military strategy strateg asia pacific" in the search box at c-span.org. >>> going to go live to capitol hill as we await testimony from former obama administration's sally yates, testifying on russian influns in the u.s. election. she'll be joined by former national intelligence director james clapper. sally yates was fired by president trump earlier for not enforcing president trump's muslim tra

and kim jong-un hasn't been to see the president of china. to be frank, nobody outside of north korea really knows who he is. but the idea of meeting with -- well, that's not completely out of left field. you remember president obama did that at one point. said he would meet this person, that person and the other. but obviously, every diplomat knows that when you have a major crisis like the one that faces us now, with the nuclear north korea, they have to be the minimum, the maximum of conditions and events and rollbacks by the opponent to get a meeting with the president of the united states. >> obviously, carrots and sticks are nothing new in policy. but to say there can be a major conflict with north korea, and commenting him as a strong leader, kim jong-un, does that make sense to you. >> no. it doesn't make sense to me. being generous, perhaps he is trying to message president xi in one shape or another. it's not going to work with kim jong-un. here's the strange thing. his national security team has done a really good job of running a

that he would be honored to meet with kim jong-un. not surprising considering he said the same thing on the campaign trail. what was surprising for many was the use of the term "honored." sean spicer asked about that and he, multiple times, also asked about donald trump's affinity, it seems, towards authoritarian leaders, and he came back to the same talking point chls clearly understands the threat that north korea poses, even when he was asked about president tuterte to the white house. duterte has been accused of a number of human rights and the suspended drug dealers in his country. we have a lot to break down. we have former congressman matt walsh to talk about it. guys, he is walking a tight rope out there, and going out and using words presidents tip coal don't use. an honor to talk to a dictator. these are not things we're used to seeing considering the u.s. tries to take the moral high ground when it comes to upholding human rights around the world. >> right. >> does he do an adequate job of trying to rein the president in, r

, isa described the leader there, kim jong—un, is a smart cookie, as he put it.g that he would be willing to meet with kim jong—un if the circumstances were right, even going as far as to say that he would be honoured so to do. well, the white house very swift to play down any suggestion that any sort of meeting might be imminent between the two man. and meanwhile there are those who are saying that this is just a sign of and incoherent policy on the heart of the administration, and is only likely to lead to confusion. incoherent policy, but there are those saying who this latest move by mr trump, he wants to keep his adversaries off balance. in terms of having this meeting with kimjong—un, terms of having this meeting with kim jong—un, what would be the conditions imposed on pyongyang for this meeting to materialise, if ever? well, they would have to drop their commitment to these ballistic and nuclear weapons. that is one thing, for sure. you talk about president trump playing his cards close to his chest militarily, and he actually made that point in an interv

and kim jong-un hasn't even been to see the president of china. to be frank, nobody outside of north korea really knows who he is. in terms of meeting with him, that's not clear. you'll remember that president obama said he would meet this person, that person and another. but obviously every diplomat knows that when you have a major crisis, like the one that faces us now, a nuclear north korea, there would have to be the maximum of conditions and roll backs of their program to get a meeting with the united states. >> seeing that there could be a major, major conflict with north korea one day and dangling a meeting a few days later and complementing him as a very strong leader, does that make sense to you. >> it doesn't make sense to me. perhaps he's trying to message president xi in some way, but it's not going to work with kim jong- jong-un. here's the really strange thing, his national security team has actually done a good job of running a deliberate, measured interagency process on how to deal with north korea. and they have done this since th

kim jong-un is different. it irritates the chinese leaders. the confucius society of respecting our seniors and elders, they expect that. he is like a renegade, arrogant teenager that refuses to talk with them. nuts.ives them it should. he is their neighbor and they have been his protector for many years. be so disrespectful and unengaged from the chinese leadership, it is not helpful for them and is concerning. that is why they are willing to challenge and now, when in ways they weren't before, or challenge his father. host: in 2013, a story looking at the ship held by north korea, ueblo, a u.s. electronics ship. virginia,o dan in democrats line. caller: can you hear me? host: go right ahead. caller: i thought it was disturbing enough when we found chinese parts in the ocean where north korean rocket crash landed . it is disturbing because china is undermining our economic partnership with them militarily. howhe event of a conflict, ?hina will react economically if they will cut off food supplies to north korea and military equipment? guest:

how could e he be honored to meet with kim jong-un? >> the president understands the threat that north korea poses. and he will do whatever necessary under the right circumstances to protect the country from the threat they pose. so he's still the head of state. so there's a a diplomatic piece to this. the bottom line is the president is going to do what he has to do. he's building a coalition in the region to isolate north korea to get the threat to take that threat down. that's his number one priority is protecting this country and our people. >> what do you mean when they call him one smart cookie? >> he went over this in the interview. he assumed power at a young age when his father pass ed away. there was a lot of potential threats that could have come his way. he's managed to lead a country forward, despite the concerns that we and so many people have, he is a young person to be leading a country with nuclear weapons. so that set aside the president recognizes the threat he posed and is doing everything he can to isolate that thr

details of key players in kim jong-un's inner circle. three men constantly at the dictator's side working to help him realize his dream of a nuclear weapon that could strike the united states. the men include a former air force general and a rocket scientist. we're covering all of that last hour including the ranking member of the senate foreign relations committee senator ben cardin and our correspondents and specialists are also standing by. more on calls from some democrat for jared kushner to lose his security clearance over contacts with russian officials. cnn's jessica schneider is working the story for us. the contacts are drawing fbi security any. >> reporter: contacts during the campaign and transition as they move forward in russian election meddling. the focus is on contacts with russians at the end of last year and social media postings. >> he's very good at poll sistics. >> reporter: he serves as senior adviser to his father-in-law trump, tasked with bringing peace to the middle east and corporate action. now his hackses beh

the president said he would be honored to meet kim jong-un.e said it within days of pyongyang releasing a propaganda video depicting the white house in a bull's eye and the capitol being blown to shreds. how the president can make this statement and say he would be honored to meet kim jong-un really strains credulity. >> there was another note of discord. the secretary who was at mar-a-lago. he said because this all happened during the dinner, of course, with the chinese leader he said it was in lieu of after dinner entertainment which struck a lot of people as odd, to say the least. it was odd also to see this dinner table conversation, missiles being fired. for the cabinet secretary to be in the meetings, to be in the war room or the sit room watching the whole thing unfold as they took a break from dinner and say this was after dinner entertainment. how does that strike you? >> i think it has striking parallels to what president trump said in his first sit-down interview after the strikes. first he forgot the country in which he had launche

journalists are the enemies of the people, but he would be honored to meet kim jong-un. "the lead" starts right now. president trump tells congress to get the quote damn health care bill passed. could this be the week, and does the president even know what's in the bill this time? for that matter, does anyone? president trump today saying he would be honored to meet where north korea's despoddic dictator and that's not the first murderous and maniacal dictator he's opened up to in the past day. and more sexual harassment turmoil at fox. fair and balanced coming up. >>> good afternoon, everyone, everyone. welcome to "the lead." the rules of the senate are designed to make sure that the minority party is able to exert some influence regardless of which party is in charge called the filibuster dating back to the early years of congress. it's part of the american system of checks and balances, but frustrated by his inability to pass any major legislation in congress, president trump is now starting to talk about changing those rules as he threatened during the campaign. >> t

out, you're going to embolden north korea, kim jong-un. i'm concerned about it but if it does work, i think there's a clear message. bottom line, trump's rights. we need china to get on board fast. >> eboni: in this tweet, very deliberate coming from president trump saying what is disrespectful to you, china. you are trying but is eric right? does china need to try harder? >> ben: that's why donald trump is no longer calling them a currency manipulator. north korea and kim jong-un becoming bombastic, much more -- that's why what happens north korea is so stabilizing what donald trump did regarding nato. we need our allies more than ever before and i understand we pay over 3% of our gdp. we need our allies to know where we are coming from.

if you jong—un, that was a pretty odd use of the word...! is not a word that you use with kimjong—un, to it is not a word that you use with kim jong—un, to say that you are willing to meet with president kim jong—un, 0k, willing to meet with president kim jong—un, ok, you can say that, under certain conditions, but take that word out of it. he is not entitled to be referred to as an honourable individual. if there was one word donald trump would take back, it would be that. in terms of strategy, can we reconcile on one side the demand for tighter sanctions, further isolate a shin, —— further isolation, and then on the other side, calling him a smart cookie, saying he would be honoured to meet him. that is the way in which donald trump keeps people off—balance, he is showing a steel fist, on the other he is saying, i would be happy to meet with you, not honoured but happy to meet with you, to discuss how we move forward, we had that approach made during the clinton yea rs, approach made during the clinton years, president bill clinton conside

what should we do about kim jong-un. >> we've should give him a hug. jesse: if we hug a dictator, he will kill us. gentlemen * he -- jesse: fa virks o is entering "watters world" saying liberal are the screwing up america. jesse: you are looking at nuclear long-range missiles courtesy of the air force. although you have don't typically think of muscles when you think of north korea's leader kim jong-un. we did some dig and here are five facts you have may not have known. he loves american things like basketball and nike shoes. even hosting dennis rodman 2013. and he loves to smoke and drink. according to his father, he loves smoking cigarettes and drinking johnny walker whiskey. he likes video games like spierp mario brothers. and selecting north korea's all female music group who debuted in 2012. he's north korea's youngest leader, but oddly, no one knows exactly how young he is. so what do we do with this guy? "watters world" hit the streets to find out. what can we do about kim jong-un? another deck day over north korea? it's a complicated question.

xi jinping has yet to meet with kim jong un, and that is telling.pparently not for a lack of wanting to on the north korean side, but very much a sense that under this regime china feels that continually embarrassed by the actions of north korea and that it wants to, and china wants to push ahead with the agenda of the going global and also to build the economy and the sense that perhaps xi says that the close alliance is not going the serve the purpose very well. in south korea, after having just returned from there, the sense is that the people have been through it so in times before, and the provocations are worrisome, but the sense among the people that they need to continue to push along and put their faith in the government and the hope that negotiations will prevail. certainly, there is the threat of the nuclear test which is more worrisome, but the sense that, that the new government is willing to the try new options and things that have not been tried under nine years of conservative rule, and perhaps that is going to be, that will be a gam

opening a door to a meeting with dictator kim jong-un. if it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, i would absolutely. i would be honored to do it. no sitting president has ever met a north korean leader. >> this is probably the most brutal dictator in the world and it would elevate his status well beyond what's deserved. >> reporter: president trump crediting kim jong-un for being a survivor eliminating rivals including his uncle. >> so obviously he's a pretty smart cookie. >> reporter: mr. trump defending his white house invitation to another brutal leader, the president of the philippines. who could help the u.s. isolate north korea even though he is widely condemned for ex-cuting people in his own country. >> there is a huge aspect into this. it's a balance. >> reporter: the president also creating confusion at home, misstating one of the key changes of the republican health care plan with a vote as early as this week. >> preexisting conditions are in the bill and i mandated it. i said it has to be. >> reporter: in fact, the l

he is saying that he would be willing to negotiate with kim jong—un directly. to meet back, and would be honoured, in fact, to do so. now, the white house very swiftly had to say, well, this is not imminentand swiftly had to say, well, this is not imminent and there are no plans to go ahead with this. but it has led to some saying that this sending of different signals, if you like, is rather confusing, and it demonstrates a sort of lack of coherence as far as the trump administration is concerned, in its dealings with north korea. that particular word, david, dealings with north korea. that particularword, david, does the north korean leader who starved and imprisoned thousands of his own people, threatened to destroy the united states, now president trump is honoured to met him, or would be. it is only fair to point out that if barack 0bama had used that phrase, he would be under a republican onslaught for kind of humiliating the us, wouldn't he? absolutely, and you know what? it is controversial language and it has attracted criticism. also, in another inter

he is saying that he would be willing to negotiate with kim jong—un directly.ng to meet him, and would be honoured, in fact, to do so. now, the white house very swiftly had to say, well, this is not imminent, and there are no plans to go ahead with this. but it has led to some saying that this sending of different signals, if you like, is rather confusing, and it demonstrates a sort of lack of coherence, as far as the trump administration is concerned, in its dealings with north korea. now, the white house very swiftly had to say, well, this is not imminent, and there are no plans to go ahead with this. but it has led to some saying that this sending of different signals, if you like, is rather confusing, and it demonstrates a sort of lack of coherence, as far as the trump administration is concerned, in its dealings with north korea. that particular word, david — does the north korean leader, who starved and imprisoned thousands of his own people, threatened to destroy the united states — now president trump is honoured to met him, or would be. it is only fair

what kim jong-un is trying to do a say i wanted t normal relationship and nuclear weapons. notwithstanding it is most heavily sanctioned country on earth right now, there is a building boom there, the economy has stabilized. that is all about china. the president has the right target here, but realistically, how far will china go? not as far as he wants. tim: p.j. crowley, thank you there were violent scenes on the streets of the french capital today during the traditional mayday march please officers were hurt in skirmishes as the fight for the presidency grows more intense. both candidates used campaign events to launch a stinging attack on their rivals on issues that are central to the future of france and europe at large. lucy williamson has this report from paris. lucy: the second round of french elections has been the graveyard of far right dreams of power. used to facing a united front of all arrivals, marine le pen is calling on voters to unite against someone else, or liberal opponent, emmanuel macron. pen: the enemy of the french people is still the world of finan

he won't talk to kim jong-un. he's a crazy die who wants to see people dead and likened himself to hitler, hitler killed 3 million jews and it was 6 million and he feels he can kill 3 million of his own people and he came and said that. >> you have someone like president chi of china. look at the human rights violations in china going on, yet we're practically begging china to help us out with north korea. >> yes. i'm not saying we should never meet anybody we find unpalatable. there are lots of countries in the world we disagree and systems we disagree. i think duterte is beyond the pail. i don't see anything positive. you can deal with people that may be distasteful if you think something positive can come out of it. i don't know what duterte could have that would be positive or how he could help us in any positive way. i think he's a killer, murderer, a thug and belittles the president of the united states to meet with him. you know, greta, what i really object to, it seems president trump just kind of makes fo

now talking about, honored relating to kim jong-un. if he ends up winning by a squeaker, people will say trump got him elected. >>> what is the implication of that? how important is south korea as a u.s. ally? >> absolutely important. nothing good ever happens with south korea and washington have different policies on north korea. in the laugh years, there was no daylight between seoul and washington. now there will probably be an enormous gulf and trump will have to work enormous diploma stoi manage that. it may not even be possible. the last thing we want to do is elect someone who doesn't like us. >> i want to and but the missile test. we're calling it a failed test. it didn't reach the sea. you're saying this may not have been failed. >> this may have been a test of just the first stage motor maybe the separation of the first and second phases. when they do, they put a ballast in the second phase. if it were in the sea, we could recover it. this was designed probably to fail over north korean territory. >> and that's an issue. we d

this is not exactly the pattern under kim jong-un's leadership.e seems really invested in a nuclear program. he is bent on completing it. he sticks his entire legitimacy on perfecting this nuclear arsenal. he sees achieving this capability to be able to hit the united states as the final guarantee, so i don't think there's any -- what really concerns me is whether you are for maximum pressure or engagement and i happen to be for pressure and i happen to be in terms of maximum amount of sanctions and other measures to try to get to the regime to change, but what concerns me is -- none of these measures were likely achieved. then we want to achieve which is to get north korea to give up nuclear weapons to give up its nuclear arsenal. whatever we do, sooner or later, i think sooner rather than later north korea will achieve that capability. and then i have many concerns once north korea achieves that capability. the two main concerns i have , first, miscalculations. you can hold u.s. cities as hostages and then they could be more provocative acts and

not even the president of china has sat down yet with kim jong-un. having said that we did hear from north korea's state media. they accuse the united states of threatening -- bringing the area to the brink of nuclear war after two u.s. bombers flew over the peninsula today. the u.s. military says this is a routine military exercise with japanese and south korean partners, south korea said it's also a deterrence. frances, yasmin. kelly, thank you. >>> president trump's remarks on north korea after he made these stunning comments about president andrew jackson and the civil war. >> he was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the civil war. he said there's no reason for this. people don't ask that question, but why was there the civil war? why could that one not have been worked out? >> the topic came up in an interview for the oval office where the president has a portrait of jackson hanging as you can see. the problem, president jackson died 16 years before the civil war. he also happened to be a slave owner who signed lnllation

very different approach to handling kimjong—un and try a very different approach to handling kim jong—unand the north korea problem. which influenced you think a liberal human rights lawyer will have with the trump administration? i think that the trump administration is hurtling down a dead end in terms of their north korea policy. we saw them try military threats, got a lot of attention, you know, there has been much media focus on some concern but at the end of the day it does not work. there are too many vulnerabilities. i am with unite hillary fire here in the city of seoul, a city of io hillary fire here in the city of seoul, a city of 10 million, 25 million for the larger metropolitan area. there is really not a military option. you cannot pre—empt their nuclear arsenal. they have many weapons are multiple means of delivery. there is no military play. sanctions is what we have been trying and what the obama administration tried for eight years and north korea has only improved its nuclear capabilities and strengthened its resolve to keep the capability. so that's where the focus o

he said under the right circumstances he would meet kim jong-un. sean spicer in his daily briefing pointed out that a lot of conditions would have to be considered before that happens. it is quite unlikely it will ever happen of course. but once again, the problem often seems to speak from his -- the problem is the president often seems to speak from his gut. it could be he is trying to flatter the north korean leader. he said he would be honored to meet him. yesterday he called him a smart cookie, whatever that means. and he commended him in being so successful in taking over the family business of being a dictator of north korea. in a way, he is showing that he is treating him like an equal. he is not calling him a madman or a blood thursday dictator. perhaps he is trying to get him to relax and step act from -- step back from the brink, and refrain from doing another nuclear test. host: last year, trump said he would be willing to have a hamburger with the north korean leader. let's talk about what we are seeing militarily. japan just a ploy to

he's talking about it would be an honor to speak in person with kim jong-un today. charlie, what do you make of all this praising or at least lightly praising of strong men? and the idea that president duterte could come to the white house? >> i understand you have to deal with some unsavory characters in the world, but you're dealing with somebody who is so far over the line. you're talking about a guy that is basically running his own death squads, who is responsible for the murder of thousands of people. so not only having a friend lly conversation, but praising his tough war on drugs. this war on drugs is mass murder. so when reince priebus says it doesn't mean we don't care about human rights, it means you are going to put human rights on the back burner. >> and sebastien gorka might be out in this administration. can you explain who he is and why he's so controversial? >> he's a former contributor to breitbart, close to steve bannon. he's controversial because of some of his involvements with hungarian groups, different groups in europe that are linked to the

what should we do about kim jong-un. >> we've should give him a hug. jesse: if we hug a dictator, he will kill us. gentlemen * he -- jesse: fa virks o is entering "watters world" saying liberal "watters world" saying liberal are the screwing up america. w'n mountain coffee and fair trade? let's take a flight to colombia. this is boris calvo. boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. all for a smoother tasting cup. green mountain coffee. it's the simple things in life that mean the most. boost® simply complete™. no artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners, plus 10 grams of protein and 25 vitamins & minerals. it doesn't get better than this. boost® simply complete™. ♪ ♪ i'm dr. kelsey mcneely and some day you might be calling me an energy farmer. ♪ energy lives here. more "doing chores for dad" per roll more "earning something you love" per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more

kim jong-un has conducted a lot more missile tests than his father.tration is looking at all sorts of potential scenarios. >> eric: and the president of china was at mara laggo when donald trump launched the missiles into syria. you would think china would say back off, kim jong-un. >> guest: they should be doing. and the chinese play a big role. a lot of technology transfers are baseed in china going to negotiate new york city. -- in north korea. the chinese need to be a lot more cooperative. >> eboni: everybody knows what would cost us. they think i that are testing it. >> guest: and china too. >> eboni: china calling president trump's bluff? >> guest: china likes to appear line they are being helpful wile doing nothing. >> guest: they are not doing nothing. >> eric: call downs for rallies in the wake of a stabbing attack. how is this the answer? don't go away. safety isn't a list of boxes to check. it's taking the best technologies out there and adapting them to work for you. the ultrasound that can see inside patients, can also detect early signs

and north korea and startling comments about kim jong-un. >>> stabbing attack on campus. a deadly scene as a man unleashes a sudden violent rampage at the university of texas. >>> dramatic rescue, we hear from the strangers who banded together to free a family from raging flood waters. a baby brought back to life with cpr. >>> terrifying turbulence, broken bones as passengers are violently tossed. the lesson from a bloody scene on board. >>> hollywood hacked. a popular netflix show stolen and released on the web. cyber thieves threatening more studios demanding ransom. >>> inspiring america, >>> tom brokaw with a reunion all these years later. nightly news begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. president trump and the white house are speaking out about two controversial world leaders today in ways that are surprising some. the president is not ruling out applying his negotiating skills in a sunday face-to-face meeting with north korea's kim jong-un and standing by his inv

how could he be honored to meet with kim jong-un? >> the president understands the threat that north korea poses. >> the bottom line is the president is going to do what he has to do. he's building a coalition in the region to isolate north korea economically and diplomatically to get the threat -- to take that threat down. >> what did he mean when he call called him a smart cookie? >> he went over this in the interview. he assumed power at a young age. there's a the lo of threats. he's managed to lead a country forward. despite the obvious concerns that we and so many other people have. he is a young person to be leading a country with nuclear weapons. and so that set aside the president recognizes the threat that he posed and doing everything he can to isolate that it threat and to make sure we bring stability to the region. >> lots to discuss. margaret, when president trump said that he was, quote, honored, how did you perceive that at the moment he said it? >> pamela, this is perhaps another example of president trump speaking in

kim jong un works with incentives in that system.e only way diplomacy with north korea will work is when the north koreans realize they have no choice but to disarm. this is policy on the part of trump. he said nice things about kim jong un a week ago. this is not off the cuff comment. he should leave analysis to analysts and the president of the united states should not say that. >> that's why we have you. gordon chang and colonel cedric leighton. thank you. chris. >>> why are forces patrolling along the border of syria and turkey? we have a live report from the pentagon next. like, imagine having your vehicle serviced...or yo. from the comfort of your own home. introducing complimentary lincoln pickup and delivery servicing. because the most important luxury of all... is time. pickup and delivery servicing on the entire family of lincoln luxury vehicles including a complimentary lincoln loaner. whoa,i just had to push one button to join. it's like i'm in the office with you, even though i'm here. it's almost like the virtual realit

that will embolden kim jong-un. fundamentally what kim jong-un is looking to do, he is looking to get more out of using these dangerous weapons. i think these comments tonight handed him exactly the leverage he is looking for. >> eugene, do you think it's true if you sat down to pick the die metric opposite of the aspect of the policy of the previous administration this would be about it? >> just about it. and the opposite of the foreign policy of a whole punch of previous administrations, every previous administration or in the modern era. i mean, to speak about kim jong-un in that way -- you know, if he really is a smart cookie, as trump said, then perhaps he's smart enough to realize that a whole lot of random stuff comes out of the mouth of the president of the united states. and it's unclear whether it means anything beyond what he is saying in that instant. now, that is no way to run a foreign policy. and certainly it could be misinterpreted. but one wonders if a certain numbness to this doesn't set in at leas

what should we do about kim jong-un. >> we've should give him a hug. jesse: if we hug a dictator, he will kill us. gentlemen * he -- jesse: fa virks o is entering "watters world" saying liberal are the screwing up america. nis. umm... you wouldn't want your painter to quit part way, i think you missed a spot. so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? aleve, live whole not part. you want this color over the whole house? of a duracell c-cell and the tips on how to calm a baby from your mother-in-law that always seem to involve a fair amount of brandy, go with c-cell. that's not just some battery. that's a duracell battery. that's a power you can trust. when a fire destroyed everything in our living room. we replaced it all without touching our savings. yeah, our insurance won't do that. no. you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance jesse: you are looking at nuclear long-range missiles courtesy of the air force. although you have don't typically think of muscles when you think of north

least of all, kim jong un. and how would president trump, who has been unable to negotiate the passage of a health care bill with his own party in congress, how would that president have been able to negotiate a way the civil war. joining us now, washington columnist for "the boston globe." she is with the pointer institute for media studies. also with us charlie sykes, editor-in-chief of right wisconsin and an msnbc contributor. indira, the press briefing every day involves a series of questions to essentially what did the president mean when he said or what does the president mean and where does he stand, and every day as sean spicer offers no more clarification of wherever the president had left the confusion point. >> well, in this case where you're talking about trump's position on augthoritarian leaders, this is something where president trump has been pretty consistent even since he was candidate trump. he has been consistent in the words he used about himself. remember at the rnc, at the republican conv

let me start on the issue of kim jong-un.have trump saying under certain conditions he would be honored to have that meeting. the use of the word, "honored," i think caught a lot of people's attention today. is is there a reason he's -- for that specific word choice? is there a specific tone sort of strategically he's trying to get across here? >> well, the think the president wants to be one of those leaders who schhatters taboos, doze this differently. i don't know if he intentionally meant something special by the word, "honored" bus this idea he's willing to meet with kim face-to-face would be an extraordinary step. at the same time, people who don't agree with the north korean regime say, look, it will legitimatize his rule and his oppression in north korea. >> you have sean spicer saying he doesn't foresee it necessarily happening under the current conditions, but that it could under the right conditions. what would the right conditions, what might the right conditions look like for that kind of a meeting? >> this is th

this is a leader, kim jong-un who hasn't yet met with competent jinping the president of china.emely isolated regime right now. there are no good releases really on any side. i think the south korean presidential candidates a couple of them talked about potentially sitting down across the table from un but no other leader has sat down and tried to negotiate some sort of reproachment with kim jong-un or talk abouting there nuclear program. and you know, this comes at obviously at a very tense time here and aside from the one statement by the vice president sometime ago, some weeks ago now i think that there is a possibility leaving the window open for negotiations with kim jong-un. i don't think we've heard this from president trump since the campaign days. andrea? >> and in fact, kelly, just this friday at the u.n., the secretary of state tillerson was arguing that the allies now have to isolate north korea and consider downgrading their diplomatic relations with the north. >> reporter: right. and i think that's the direction that the rest of the allies were sort of heading in a

kim jong-un's regime has done an excellent job of getting ready any opposition. even for the regime change to occur, the other measures we are talking about, whether sanctions , all of these other oxygen leading meeting to that and i think we need to be clear -- are contributing to that and i think we need to be clear. it is something to think about, is what i am saying. we need to face the hard truth and have it as a goal or not. it is something we need to discuss. >> thank you, very much. i will go to the lady in the second row from the back and then three rows ahead of her. >> diane perlman at george mason university. there is a body of literature that is not very well known. i know you worked with robert jarvis and we talked about this before. he said that there are no other options and that we have to do pressure but there is evidence that coercive techniques can have the opposite effect and there is a study of 100 cases of sanctions and they worked 14 times and failed 86 times. it is likely to produce the sometimesffect and people talk about when you behave

they have new leader, kim jong—un, at least his father seemed to ca re jong—un, at least his father seemedegotiations. kim jong—un shows absolutely no interest. right, well you negotiated with the father's tea m you negotiated with the father's team rather than the sun's. when donald trump says things like, you know, "we could end up having a major, major conflict with north korea, absolutely." major, major conflict with north korea, absolutely. " and major, major conflict with north korea, absolutely." and when he sends the warship aircraft carrier groups to the region, when he uses the bellicose language, how does that go down with north korean officials? well, they are obviously listening very carefully, i'm sure, to some extent, they are worried he could actually follow through on some of these things. to another extent, he is trying to be more bellicose to the north koreans. he is trying to out north korea the north koreans. they are pretty good at bella scott t. —— being bellicose. they are waiting to see if he was do these things. it's not just bellicosity. you said that the feeling

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in an interview, president trump called kim jong-un on a pretty smart cookie. the president stressed fox news the urgency needed in addressing north korea. >> nobody is safe. we are probably not safe over here. if he gets the long-range missiles, we are not safe either. so we have to do something about it, and we will see what happens. >> the strategy: sanctions. this week, the house is scheduled to consider measures expanding sanctions targeting north korean shipping and those who employ north korean slave labor. the new sanctions bill requires the administration to determine whether north korea is a state sponsored terrorism. the administration is pushing other countries, china, to implement sanctions. >> there are plenty of chinese companies and chinese banks that are complicit in these activities and at some point the trump administration is going to have to go after them in order to be compliant with the sanctions laws. >> rex tillerson called out china. its response, the key to solving korean aggression lies outside china. state department says the u.s. w

how can he be honored to meet with kim jong-un? >> the president understands the threat that north korea poses and he will do whatever is necessary under the right circumstances to protect our country from the threat that they pose. >> how could he be honored? >> i guess because he is still a head of state. it is sort of -- there's a diplomatic piece to this. the bottom line is the president will do what he has to do. right now he's building a coalition to isolate north korea to get the threat, to take that threat down. and so -- but that is his number one priority is protecting this country and our people. >> what did he mean by one smart cookie? >> he went over this in the interview. he assumes power at a young age when his father passed away and there was a lot of potential threats that could have come his way. he's obviously managed to lead a country forward despite the obvious concerns that we and so many other people have. he is a young person to be leading a country with nuclear weapons. and so that set aside, i think the pr

look, for the past seven years while the kim jong-un military is in power. we've created a strong military and alliance in the region, worked as best as we can to try to contain north korea and hopefully modify their behavior. inarguably, none of that has worked. >> they have made a lot of progress, they have gotten the nuclear weapons. >> and north korea will continue to march along this path. the president of the united states should not be honored to meet kim, not a single bit. what has to happen there has to be at the lowest levels of diplomatic exchanges, we have to start to build a foundation where there can be trust and we have to be able to see there is behavior modification going on, we haven't seen it. >> a flip-flop of u.s. policy, although a lot of it has not worked it's a flip-in respect for donald trump, direct and specific. here he is, candidate trump, and now the honor trump. >> i would get china to make that guy disappear in one form or another very quickly. >> how do you make it disappear -- >> let me just tell you, well, there are worse th