>> kelly cobiella in seoul. >>> now the french revolution of 2017 at the ballot box. a pair of outsider candidates up ending decades of control by two major parties. one of them a right wing fire brand hoping for a trump-like upset. the other, a centrist, who started his own political party when no one thought he had a chance. we get details from paris and our chief foreign correspondent richard engel. >> reporter: tonight just two candidates remain, the future of a united europe hanging in the balance. the polls favor emmanuel macron. a 39-year-old banker and strong supporter of the eu. a spokesperson told us they're not popping the champagne yet. >> we understand the challenge, and we really want to show to the world that it's possible for democracy to stand up against fascism. >> reporter: the candidate she calls a fascist is marine le pen. she would be the first female president. she wants to leave the eu and has modelled her campaign on president trump. many in france haven't liked what they've seen of the american president so far. >> i think for most people, th

kelly cobiella nbc news. >>> now to the home front, a collision course of the united states senate. president trump's nominee for the u.s. supreme court is one step closer to confirmation tonight. democrats now have enough votes to block him, unless republicans change the rules to get the nominee through. pete williams explains this historic fight. >> reporter: two months after donald trump nominated neil gorsuch, the committee approved his nomination. all the republicans voted yes. >> if judge gorsuch is unacceptable to our democratic colleagues, there will never be a nominee by this president that you will find acceptable. never. >> reporter: every democrat voted no. >> feinstein? >> no. >> reporter: the opposition has as much to do with gorsuch as it does with merrick garland. >> what a shameful stain on the proud history of this committee. >> reporter: democrats say garland's treatment broke longstanding senate traditions, so they're preparing to break another tradition, mounting the first ever partisan filibuster for a supreme court nominee. these days, the filibusters aren't l

nbc news, kelly cobiella. >>> that's going to do it for us on this thursday night. i'm lester holt.or all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. it started as a chase on city streets. chick-fil-a. >>> right now at six it started on a chase on city streets and moved to people's back yards. we'll show you how police evenly tracked down a man on the run. . the news at 6:00 starts roun thank you for joining joining uls garvin and raj mathai. jessica kay aguirre we've been tracking the story three hours now. no contest's bay area sky ranger was on the scene. a man wanted to be for robberier to down fences who said on people's roofs, climbed ladners hopes of trying to elude police. in the end it didn't work out. nbc sharon joins us live in the east oakland neighborhood what an afternoon. >> that's right jessica. and this is dwechlg a scene we just saw san francisco police investigators arrive and they showed up in a unit. they just -- let's take a look at some video took one of the suspects away. still here, they're going to process the car left behind here still at the

kelly cobiella reports from seoul, south korea. >> with u.s. "carl vinson" headed to north korea, another american in custody in pyongyang. the associated press identifies him as tony kim,. in his 50s. a former professor doing aid work in north korea for a month. arrested at pyongyang expert as he was leaving the country. the third american now held by the regime. student warmbier serving 15 years for trying to take a propaganda banner as a souvenir and korean american business man serving 10 years accused of spying. all bargaining chips says former governor bill richardson that helped win the release of prisoners before. >> they always want something in return from the united states. a high level visit or humanitarian assistance. >> but north korea doesn't seem in the mood for talking. kim jong-un's regime threatened to sink ab aircraft carrier, warned australia that support for the u.s. would be a suicidal act and threatened a nuclear strike on the country as vice president pence toured sydney. the latest satellite photos of north korea's nuc

nbc's kelly cobiella joining us from seoul. tell us more about what u.s. officials are saying and about the growing tensions there. >> reporter: francis and yasmin, good morning. in that same interview president trump said he would love to solve this diplomatically but that it's, quote, very difficult. this morning the north koreans put out video of those military exercises that happened earlier this week and the leader, kim jong un observing those massive artillery drills. north korea said they would continue with their nuclear and missile programs, saying they will carry out a sixth nuclear test at some point. secretary of state rex tillerson said china warned north korea of unilateral sanctions if that sixth test goes forward. when asked about this this morning, china's foreign minister said, look, that's a hypothetical, that sixth test, and i'm not willing to comment on it. also this morning, for the very first time, president trump taking on south korea saying perhaps south korea should be paying for thaad to the tune of $1 billion and he may pull out

kelly cobiella, nbc news. >>> now to the home front and a collision course of the united states senate. president trump's nominee is is one step closer to confirmation tonight. but democrats now have enough votes to block him unless republicans change the rules to get the nominee through. our justice correspondent pete william complains this historic fight. two months after donald trump nominated federal judge neal -- judiciar nominee, all republicans voted yes. >> if judge gorsuch is unacceptable, there will never be a nominee by this president you will find acceptable. never. >> reporter: every democrat voted no. >> no. >> reporter: but the opposition has as much to do with gorsuch as it does with garland, the federal judge nominated by president obama who never even got a hearing. >> what a shameful stain on the proud history of this committee. >> reporter: democrats say garland's treatment broke long-standing senate traditions, so they are preparing to break another tradition mou mounts the first parliament fill you are -- filibuster. >> i'm going to stay right here and fight for t

kelly cobiella joins us from seoul, south korea. it is almost i feel i'm asking you this every day. what's the latest? >> well, that's right. a new development every day, as well, ali. today, u.s. officials are telling nbc news that a special sniffer plane, along with drones and u2 spy planes have been deployed to the region, are up in the air in this part of the world. that sniffer plane, wc-135 is able to detect a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere. now, the air force says, look, this is a routine mission. this is something that was planned well in advance. nothing special here. nothing to see here. but it comes as we're hearing from two u.s. intelligence officials who are telling nbc news that north korea could perform a nuclear test at any time with little or no warning. and, again, this is one day after north korea's latest threat, which was to reduce the u.s. to ashes with a preemptive strike. that rheric coming out yesterday. today, the secretary of defense was asked about north korea's threats. take a listen. >> their word is not proven honest. it's been provocative. they'v

>> kelly cobiella in seoul. kelly, thank you. >>> now turn to france, the first round of the presidential election is just a day away and would have huge implications for us here in the u.s. and around the world just days after yet another terror attack in paris. nbc's richard engel is live in the paris capital with that. richard, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it seems like the whole world is on alert right now. after the latest violence here in paris this week, terrorism has risen to the top of the agenda with just a few hours remaining before the polls open in paris, and the concern is that there could be more violence. so security forces are fanning out nationwide to try and prevent it. last-minute prep at polling stations. campaigning is now officially over with just hours to go before the first round of the most pivotal elections in recent french history. hanging in the balance is not just the future of france, but the euro, the eu and even nato. the leading candidates couldn't be more different.

back to you. >> kelly cobiella reporting from cairo. russia and iran are renewing their support for syria following last week's u.s. missile strike. the military strike came in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack on civilians. secretary of state rex tillerson said syria, russia and iran bear great moral responsibility for that attack. >>> u.s. secretary of state stillerson is in italy where he's meeting with foreign ministers and the group of seven industrialized nations. the g7 ministers are set to talk about the strikes on syria and they hope to pressure russia to end its support of president bashar al assad. >>> in sweden, memorials are being held for the victims of last week's truck attack. a moment was silence was held in stockholm. four people were killed when a hijacked truck was driven up a main street and eventually plowed into a department store in the city center. police arrested a 39-year-old man from uzbekistan whose residency application was rejected last year. investigators say he was known to be sympathetic to e

nbc's kelly cobiella is live in south korea with the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: craig, good morning. u.s. officials are watching this and they say there was no notable movement at north korea's nuclear test site this morning. but those same officials tell nbc news that north korea could still carry out a nuclear test or a test missile launch at any time. and they say that the north koreans may be using solid-fueled missiles, which could make a launch more difficult to detect in advance. vice president mike pence in australia today warning again that will if china can't deal with north korea, the u.s. and its allies will, saying military action is still an option. >> we also wanted to make it clear that all options are on the table. and that the united states is prepared to work with our allies to ensure the security of our allies in the region and ensure the security of the people of the united states of america. >> reporter: the vice president also saying the "uss carl vincent" should be in the region within days. and something

nbc's kelly cobiella joins us from south korea. she's in seoul. kelly, good day to you. display of fire power by north korea's military, but no missile launch, no nuclear test and no sightings of kim jong-un. what's going on there? >> that's right. well, we expected something. analysts expected something, so did u.s. officials, frankly, on this day. some sort of show of force from the north korean regime. what we saw, although we haven't seen the pictures yet, ali, is signs of this massive artillery exercise in the east, in a city in the east close to a military pace there in north korea. according to media reports, there are about 300 to 400 pieces of long-range artillery fired off in this military exercise. there are also reports that kim jong-un was there. again, the state media hasn't put out any pictures, so we really can't verify any of that for ourselves. but as you mentioned, no nuclear test, no missile test. make no mistake, it's not because those two things aren't going to happen in the future. that's what this big debate internationally is all about. the north

kelly cobiella joins us from seoul, south korea. good to see you. state media there in north korea is warning of a, quote, super, mighty, pre-emptive strike. what do you know about this? >> yeah, north korea today threatening to reduce the united states to ashes, more belligerent talk from the north koreans today. likely a reaction to that statement by secretary of state rex tillerson yesterday, that the u.s. was looking for new ways of pressuring north korea on its nuclear program. also, potentially a reaction, frankly, to the military exercises taking place here. the u.s. putting f-15s up in the sky with south korea today. these are long-planned military exercises. they happen every year. and every year, north korea views them as a provocation and threatens war against the united states and its regional allies. so no big difference there, aside from the very heated talk, likely as i said, a reaction to mr. tillerson's comments. another interesting message coming out of north korea today, as well. this concerns that nuclear test site in the country

nbc's kelly cobiella is in north korea. >> reporter: another american is in custody in pyonyang. the associated press identifies him as tony kim. in his 50s, a former professor doing aid work in north korea for a month. arrested at pyonyang airport as he was leaving the country. the third american now held by the secretive regime. ohio college student otto is serving 15 years for trying to take a propaganda banner as a souvenir. and korean american businessman kim serving ten years accused of spying. all bargaining chips says former governor bill richardson who helped win the release of prisoners before. >> they always want something in return from the united states. a high level visit, or humanitarian assistance. but the good part about a humanitarian negotiation is it might lead to discussions on other issues and i think that's what's needed with north korea. >> reporter: but north korea doesn't seem in the mood for talking. today kim jong-un's regime threatened to sink an aircraft carrier, warned australia that support for the u.s. would be a suicidal act. and threatened a nuc

>> kelly cobiella reporting in seoul.y much. >>> back at home we all heard about the fact that o'reilly is off the air. is he out of the picture when it comes to partisan politics? we'll look at the impact of o'reilly's exit from fox news, but what's his next chapter? >>> coming up next on a.m. joy, new potential evidence of putin's plans to taint november's u.s. presidential election. is there a smoking gun? ♪ if you have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's, and your symptoms have left you with the same view, it may be time for a different perspective. if other treatments haven't worked well enough, ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio works by focusing right in the gi-tract to help control damaging inflammation and is clinically proven to begin helping many patients achieve both symptom relief as well as remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can

kelly cobiella, nbc news, seoul, south korea. >> happening today, alameda county leaders will host a forum designed to educate immigrants on their rights as refugees. the free workship will include training on the rights of immigrants and also will include an update on the current immigration legislation. it happens at 5:30 at the berkeley adult school. >>> coming up next, kris, a construction worker is attacked. only on nbc she describes this violent confrontation with an angry driver. >> folks, before we go to break, i want to show you how to join the community on the waze application and leverage the power of us all. go to the waze app on iphone or android. click on the magifying glass and name at your top that's your profile and scroll down to pick teams, nbc bay area wazers. that's how you join the company. that's how we help you out. -- in the middle of the street. only on nbc bay area ... t >>> scary scene to tell but in san francisco where a construction worker was attacked in the middle of the street. only on nbc bay area that worker tells us about the bizarre and terrifying

nbc's kelly cobiella joins us now from seoul, south korea. kelly, what's the story? >> reporter: well, chris, u.s. pacific command said they first got wind of this missile launch at about 5:33 this morning local time. they said that's when the launch happened. that would be 6:33 p.m. eastern time. they say the missile was fired from the southwest part of the country and that it failed just a couple of minutes after launch. they believe it was a medium-range kn-17, the same type of missile which was test-launched back at the beginning of april and again on april 17th. they say that it failed, exploding in midair, did not reach the sea of japan and exploded about 20 miles from the launch site. they also say that the "uss carl vinson" was not in the sea of japan at the time. its last known location as far as we're aware was the philippines sea where it was conducting drills with the japanese allies. the u.s. officials say that they were expecting something like this, and they were watching it closely, but it does come a day after this very fiery propaganda video release

kelly cobiella is in seoul, south korea, with the latest on this story. se do we know about the test and what has the reaction been? >> reporter: stephanie, this is yet another failure for kim jong-un and the north korean regime when it comes to missile tests but it's about a lot more than that. this is about a message being sent to the international community as well and they are responding today. south korea saying this is a clear violation of the united nations security council resolutions. also saying it's another sign of north korea's, quote, belligerence and recklessness. president donald trump tweeted about this overnight. this is what he said in the tweet. north korea disrespected the wishes of china and its highly respected president when it launched though unsuccessfully a missile today. bad. president trump repeatedly saying that china is the key to putting pressure on north korea to stop its nuclear missile programs. u.s. pacific command tells us they first detected this launch 5:33 in the morning local time this morning at a site north of the

kelly cobiella in south korea. thanks so much for that. i want to bring in kelly, a former white house and department of defense strategist. let's pick up right where kelly left off. that is that the united states is now talking -- trump thmz do is talking about renegotiating with south korea, asking them to pay for the missile defense system. this has to be confusing for the south koreans, leaning heavily on the united states from stopping this from escalating into war. >> if i would give a grade to donald trump on south korea, it'd be c for confusion. secretary tillerson's comments in new york, which is the clearest version of what the administration is trying to do in north korea, but it is undermined by the president shaking down our ally at the same time we're trying to build pressure on northkorea. there is an incoherent in the trump administration's korea poli policy. i think the policy is in place but they're communicating it badly. that'll be an impact on the ground. >> if you are an ally, if you're south korea and japan, for inst

nbc's kelly cobiella is in seoul, south korea, with more on this. give us the breakdown of the breaking news on the detained american. >> reporter: well, thomas, most of this information is coming from the yonhap news agency here in south korea. they're identifying this man only by his last name -- kim. they say he's in his 50's's. that he was in north korea for about a month. working doing some relief for aid work. and that he was arrested on friday at pyongyang international airport as he was trying to leave the country. now, no governments have confirmed this yet. nothing from the state department or officials here in south korea. but the associated press is reporting that the swedish embassy in pyongyang has confirmed to them that the north koreans had recently detained a korean american. now, if this is confirmed it will mean that the north koreans are now holding three americans. the college student otto warmbier was arrested over a year ago now. he's a year into the 15 year sentence for hard labor. the north koreans accused him of trying to s

nbc's kelly cobiella is in seoul, south korea. there's a lot of moving parts. break them down. >> right. stephanie, let's start with the next 24 to 48 hours because it's an important date that i've mentioned before. tomorrow is the 85th anniversary of the peoples army in north korea. the north korean regime in the past over the course of its history has used these important dates to mark them as a -- with a show of force of some sort. this is why this date has been sort of higiged as a possible date for either a sixth nuclear test or a missile launch. tomorrow. it's a possibility. analysts have been studying these satellite photos of the nuclear test site. they say it's primed and ready. folks there are waiting on orders from pyongyang. that's the first piece to the puzzle. the second piece is this very intense rhetoric between the united states and pyongyang and north korea over the weekend. you had vice president mike pence in australia talking about how the "uss carl vinson" was within days of reaching this region and then following that up by saying that al

we begin tonight with kelly cobiella in seoul, south korea. >> reporter: tonight with the uss carl vinsoneaded to the korean peninsula, another american is in custody in pyongyang. the associated press identifies him as tony kim. in his 50s, a former professor doing aid work in north korea for a month. arrested at pyongyang airport as he was leaving the country. the third american now held by the secretive regime. ohio college student otto warnbier is serving 15 years for trying to take a propaganda banner as a souvenir. and korean businessman kim dong chul serving ten years accused of spying. all bargaining chips, says former governor bill richardson, who has helped win the release of prisoners before. >> they always want something in return from the united states, a high-level visit or humanitarian assistance, but the good part about the humanitarian negotiation is that it might lead to discussions on other issues, and i think that's what is needed with north korea. >> reporter: but north korea doesn't seem in the mood for talking. today kim jong-un's regime threatened to sink an aircra

nbc's kelly cobiella is in seoul, south korea, following this for us. what more do we know about this latest missile test other than it was a failed attempt, correct? >> reporter: yes, it does appear by all accounts that this was a failed missile test launch by the north koreans. we understand from u.s. pacific command, they first detected this launch at 5:33 in the morning local time coming from a test site a few miles north of the capital, pyongyang. they say according to u.s. military officials who spoke to nbc news, they believe this was a medium-range batistic missile. they believe it may have been a type called the kn-17, possibly the same type of missile which was test-launched a couple of times already this month at the beginning of the month and then the day after that big holiday celebrating the birth of the founder of north korea, kim il-sung. all three of the launches now it appears have failed. this latest launch, military officials tell us, failed just a couple of minutes after takeoff. and exploded midair, about 20 miles from the launch s

nbc's kelly cobiella is in seoul this morning. >> reporter: u.s. officials are telling nbc news that a special sniffer plane along with drones and u-2 spy planes have been deployed in this weejon. a wc 135 is especially designed to detect science of a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere. the air force claiming it's a routine mission planned well in advan advance. two u.s. intelligence officials tell nbc that north korea is in position to conduct a nuclear test with little or no warning. last week, satellite images suggested that they were prime pd and ready for a sixth nuclear test. crews playing volleyball at the site in satellite photos from sunday. all preparations could be in place and they could be waiting on orders frommon yang. next tuesday, the 8 a 5th anniversary of the people's army. some test could coin side with that date the. here in south korea, they're on a heightened state of alert. >> certainly a tense time there. >>> right now, investigators in paris are combing the city and nearby suburbs for clues less than 4 hours after an atta

>> kelly cobiella in seoul, thank you very much for that.et me bring in our panel, white house reporter for "the washington post," david nakam a nakamura, on set ashley parker from "the post" and white house reporter for the associated press, jonathan lemire. lot of days we start talking about domestic policy. this is not one of those days. there's a lot happening around the world. david nakamura you said there doesn't seem to be from the trump administration cohesive understanding among foreign advisers. how big is the divide? >> what we've seen over the last few weeks the administration tried to present this idea they're acting decisively. >> right. >> they're acting tough, but that they're also being unpredictable to keep people off balance. there's a difference between unpredictable and inconsistent, and that's what you're seeing in some cases from after they took the strikes in syria, there was a question for the administration what's next, do you support leaving assad in power if that can lead to a peaceful resolution in there or do yo

kelly cobiella, nbc news, london. >>> up next, a teacher provides a powerful lesson on what is possiblei'll be live from south korea as our military prepares for a potential north korea threat. >> "nbc nightly news" with lester holt, live from south korea. >>> finally tonight, is there any child who doesn't dream of owning and riding a bike? it is a milestone for most kids, except when families can't afford it. that was the case for many of the kids at a school in south carolina, until a first grade teacher had an idea. nbc's tammy lightner has the story. >> reporter: we all remember that feeling, the wind in your face, the thrill of the unknown, tasting freedom. for most kids, a bike is a rite of passage, but for these students at pepperhill elementary in charleston, south carolina, many have never ridden let alone owned a new bike. >> about 90% of our families are at or below the poverty line. >> reporter: it is often a struggle. >> i once walked home a kindergartner, 30 minutes uphill, because there was no bus that went to the area he lived in and there was no bike. so rain, below fr

kelly cobiella, thank you. >>> the french revolution of 2017 at the ballot box. a pair of outsider candidates up ending decades of control by two major parties. a right-wing fire brand hoping for a trump-like upset. the other a sen trycentrist. we get details from paris with richard eng engel. >> reporter: tonight, just two candidates remain the future of a united europe hanging in the balance. the polls tonight favor a manuel macron who would be the youngest french president ever, a 39-year-old banker and a strong supporter of the e.u. but his spokeswoman told us today they are not popping the champagne yet. >> we understand the challenge and we really want to show to the world that it's possible for democracy to stand up. >> reporter: the candidate she calls a fashious is marine le pen. she wants to leave the e.u. and modelled her campaign on president trump. but many in france haven't liked what they have seen of the american president so far. >> i think for most people, the first 100 days of trump has been a failure and have reflected negatively on the potent

kelly cobiella has the latest. >> reporter: an explosion ripped that you metro car in st. petersburg, exploding inside the car while it was in the tunnel between stations. the train was occupied not at full capacity, adults and children are reportedly among the injured. the blast blew out two doors and many windows. the bomb packed with shrapnel. eyewitnesses say someone threw a backpack into the train car before it left the platform. and one russian media outlet claims to have a picture of the man who did just that, but none of that has been confirmed by russian investigators. no claim of responsibility yet, but the antiterrorism committee is open to investigation for terrorist acts. they are exploring all angles. a second bomb found at another station and disarmed was also packed with shrapnel, according to investigators. at this point, 11 people have died, 29 are being treated at local hospitals. back to you. >> thank you very much. >>> thousands of armenians in the bay area are hoping a sign will create discussion. this is when the banner went up. you have to drive fro

i'm kelly cobiella in cairo.he deadliest day for egypt's christians in decades. the first bomb went off a few >>> this is an nbc news special report. here's savannah guthrie. >> and good morning. we're watching the white house, the rose garden where in just a few moments neil gorsuch will be sworn in as justice of the supreme court. president trump walking out right now. justice divorce ch behind him having already received the first oath of office at the supreme court this morning. now as we see them approach the podi podium, we'll hear from the president, from associate justice neil gorsuch as well as the swearing in. let's take a listen. >> thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. friends and distinguished guests, welcome to the white house. we are gathered here today for a truly momentous occasion in our democracy. the swearing in of a united states supreme court justice. in particular, i'm greatly honored to welcome to these grounds every sitting justice of the united states supreme court. welcom

i'm kelly cobiella in cairo.eadliest day for egypt's christians in decades. the first bomb went off a few minutes into palm sunday mass. the bomb was hidden under a pew next to the altar. a few hours later, a suicide bomber tried to get through the cathedral gates, was turned away and blew himself up. in all, more than 40 killed, more than 100 injured. among the dead, children and two female police officers. isis has targeted christians in this country in the past. they blamed responsibility for these attacks, as well, although nbc news has been unable to authenticate that claim. president trump offered his condolences and support in a series of tweets and also an overnight phone call in the tweets, saying he was very sad to hear about the terrorist attacks. and that he had, quote, great confidence in the egyptian president to handle the situation properly. in this country this morning, there's a state of emergency, lasting for the next three months. more troops sent on to the streets and to protect sensitive sit

. >> joining me now is kelly cobiella in seoul, south korea. kelly, how seriously is the u.s.eats by north korea and escalation that this could create? >> reporter: well, when it comes to north korea's words, thomas, the threat doesn't carry much weight among the trump administration. secretary of defense mattis saying yesterday that they never live up to the threats. they never carry out any of these threats. but the other threat, threat of the sixth nuclear test is being taken seriously. u.s. officials watching this closely. they were taking a look at the nuclear site in northeast part of north korea early this morning. checking for any sign of movement. u.s. officials tell us they did not see any noticeable movement that would suggest an imminent nuclear test. they also tell us that north korea is capable of carrying out a nuclear test or a missile test at anytime with very little or no warning. part of the reasoning behind that when it comes to missiles, these officials tell us north korea may now be using solid fuelled missiles and those types of missiles are more difficu

. >> kelly cobiella reporting in seoul. kelly, thank you. >>> back here at home, you heard president trump boasting about his first 100 days and achievements of that time in office. has he really done more than any other president? our presidential historian checks the record for us next. at planters, we're all about great taste. hey richard, check out this fresh roasted flavor. looks delicious, huh? -yeah. -and how about that aroma? -love that aroma! umph! -craveability, approved! irresistibly planters. hi, i'm frank. i take movantik for oic, opioid-induced constipation. had a bad back injury, my doctor prescribed opioids which helped with the chronic pain, but backed me up big-time. tried prunes, laxatives, still constipated... had to talk to my doctor. she said, "how long you been holding this in?" (laughs) that was my movantik moment. my doctor told me that movantik is specifically designed for oic and can help you go more often. don't take movantik if you have a bowel blockage or a history of them. movantik may cause se

kelly cobiella is live in seoul, south korea, with the latest. lly, good morning. >> reporter: sheinelle, good morning to you. u.s. officials obviously watching this closely and tell nbc news they saw no sign of an imminent nuclear test this morning. however, they say north korea could carry out a nuclear test or a missile test at any time with little warning. vice presideik for upping the pressure on north korea but said china needs to do more. and also said that if china doesn't succeed here, the u.s. and its allies will, saying all options are on the table including military action. in north korea, a gas me i dopy. it is not sure if the gas shortage is because of china restricting oil to the country. "uss vincent" is due in the region within a matter of days according to the vice president. here in south korea, the military is on alert. it is apparently on alert in china as well over the government disputing that. and north korea threatening again a great war of justice. craig? >> kelly co you. >>> turning to politics here in the united states

nbc's kelly cobiella reports from seoul. >> reporter: vice president pence on the "uss reagan" this morningith a familiar message for north korea. >> we will defeat any attack and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective american response. >> reporter: ""uss carl vinson"" aircraft carrier meant to back up the tough talk is only now heading to the region. over the weekend when kim jong-un was showing the world his new weapons, threatening the u.s. and testing a missile, the "vinson" was 3,500 miles away moving in the opposite direction for a military drill with australia, the military threat along with escalating rhetoric had the region on edge with both china and russia calling for restraint. late yesterday the president backed off the tough talk about kim jong-un. >> hopefully he wants peace and we want peace, and that's going to be the end determination but we'll have to see what happens. >> reporter: this morning the vice president said all options are on the table. but no mention from the vice president of the ""uss carl vinson"" or the confusio

kelly cobiella, thank you very much for that. >> eamon, let's pick up there.on, the first trading day of the quarter, what can we expect? >> it's going to be a really important week once again. as you indicated not only do we have payroll dates on friday, the biggest of them all but this important meeting between trump and his counterpart, chinese counterpart taking place thursday and friday. that could be quite tense given the comments trump has made with rerds to incase that the u.s. would go at it alone with or without china's support. that's going to be really important. just want to recap also what type of first quarter we've seen. we've had massive gains across the board during q 1. when it's going to continue into q 2. s&p 500, 5.5%. russell stocks under 2% underperforming a little bit compared to nasdaq year to year-to-date. incidentally best quarterly performance since 2012 when it gained more than 20% during the first quarter there. we've had really strong gains and people are asking whether or not that's going to feed through into the second quarter

nbc's kelly cobiella reports. >> edward viii, the only british king to give up the throne. >> that's a decision i have made. has been mine and mine alone. >> reporter: choosing love and a life with american divorcee wallace simpson over power. family, church, and country, did not approve. now a new british documentary called "spying on the royals" dives into a government plot to eavesdrop on the king and his lover. top-secret documents unsealed in 2013, after nearly 80 years, show the king was under surveillance, treated bilike an enemy spy. the prime minister himself asking mi5 to tap the wires at buckingh buckingham palace. >> to ask an intelligence agency to bug, tap, surveil the head of state is unordheard of. >> reporter: agents disguised as utility workers opened a phone exchange box tied to the palace, tapping the wires, and listening in. >> as far as we can see, mi5 creates almost a little unit within mi5 to keep this secret from the rest of mi5. >> reporter: it was that sensitive. the year, 1936. europe o the ed europe, on the edge of war. the prime minister, worried about e

nbc's kelly cobiella reports from seoul. >> college student otto and businessman and now an american professor. the north korean university where he works says his name is tony kim. he was detained loafing the country after several weeks of service teaching and that his detention is not connected with the work at the university. another bargaining chip, says former ambassador bill richardson who has helped free prisoners before and is working on the case. >> we've been able to deal with the father and the grandfather in the old regime but under kim jong-un he detains americans. he's detained three now, but we don't know what he wants in return. he doesn't communicate on that level. >> reporter: instead, more threats. the regime sunday warning it's combat ready to sink a u.s. aircraft carrier and threatening australia with a nuclear strike as president mike pence left there. >> all options are on the table. >> reporter: as the ""uss carl vinson"" heads towards south korea, south korea it talking to washington about holding joint drills. the region on edge and not sure what north korea

i want to bring in kelly cobiella who's in south korea. y, nuts and bolts, what exactly happened here? >> reporter: right, stephanie. let's flashback to last week. president trump trying to amp up the pressure on north korea saying that he was sending an armada into this region, sending the "uss carl vinson" as a show of force to the north koreans. the white house press secretary backed that up, saying that -- using words like steaming ahead. the defense secretary also backing up that message, when in fact this uss carrier group, the "uss carl vinson" was 3500 miles away. it was actually in the waters off indonesia preparing for this long planned military exercise with australia. now, this is what president trump said last week and followed up by what vice president pence said today about all this. >> i don't want to talk about it. we are sending an armada, very powerful. >> were these misleading comments deliberate? >> oh, i think not. >> reporter: so how do reconcile the two then? well, no official explanation from the white house or the

nbc's kelly cobiella is in seoul, south korea, with the latest on the story. what more do we know about the test other than it was unsuccessful? >> reporter: thomas, thi was an obvious yet another failure f north korea, but it did send a message, and the timing was very important with this. this came just a short while after the united nations -- that united nations meeting chaired by secretary of state rex tillerson on friday. and this morning we're already hearing from south korea and other allies saying this was an obvious violation of united nations resolutions. south korea saying that north korea is playing with fire in front of the world saying this is yet another display of its bill lidge reinans and recklessness. president trump tweeting, north korea disrespected the wishes of china and its highly respected president when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. bad. so the timing absolutely has been noticed. u.s. specific command say they detected this launch at 5:33 a.m. local time this morning. that would have been about 4:33 p.m., 4:33

kelly cobiella in south korea. >>> this morning, the white house is also talking tough on ir iran. secretary of state tillerson saying the trump administration is weighing whether to effectively kill the landmark nuclear deal signed almost two years ago under the obama administration. the secretary notifying congress in a letter that despite finding that iran is complying with the agreement, the white house is looking at whether the u.s. should break with the deal because of what it sees as iran's continued support of terrorism. during the presidential campaign, then-candidate trump repeatedly called the agreement the worst deal ever negotiated. >> they have become rich. they have become powerful. the deal is one of the worst negotiated deals of any kind that i've ever seen. >> joining me now is a research director at the national iranian/american counsel. prior to that, he served under presidents george w. bush and barack obama. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> this is two separate issues. iran is doing what they were supposed to do under the deal, but we don't like i

nbc's kelly cobiella a is live in seoul, south korea. kelly? >> reporter: greta, we first got word of this about half an hour ago. north korea launching a missile from the southwestern part of the country. we understand from u.s. officials that it was unsuccessful, that it exploded shortly after launch. they say it was a short-range missile. so, for example, a missile able to reach seoul, but not able to reach japan. one senior official saying the excitement level at the white house is low, that they were expecting this. they were watching it. and they are not particularly surprised. but this is the second launch within two weeks, essentially, the last launch also failing shortly after -- moments after the missile was launched. so, north korea clearly here acting out after the very strong statements by president trump on thursday. expecting a major, major conflict, they're saying a major conflict was possible here. and then secretary of state rex tillerson's activity at the united nations yesterday trying to push for tougher sanctions, really p

kelly cobiella, nbc news, london. >> of course, we'll be following all of those developments, thank you. a look at new video of protesters getting arrested minutes ago of all ages there outside of lawrence livermore labs. now, this is a protest against the lab's role in helping to create military weapons. it happens every single year on good friday. organizers say that they appreciate the lab and they want it to thrive in the community, but that it should change from nuclear weapons development to a green energy lab. now our crew at the scene tells us that nearly all of the protesters, 28 of them, were arrested. typically they are cited and then released. as you can see, the entire thing is actually very peaceful. >>> well, a san jose man recently arrested in connection with a sexual assault is expected in court today. police say the 20-year-old man was arrested on wednesday but the actual attack happened in late february. he's accused of trying to rape a woman near washington open elementary blocks away from santa clara university. police say the victim was able to fight off her attack

kelly cobiella joins us with more. what more have we been able to confirm? >> well, thomas, most of this information is coming from south korea's news agency, and this is what they are reporting. this man is being identified by his last name, kim, he's in his 50s, an aid worker in north korea for about a month working on some sort of relief program. he was apparently at the airport in pyongyang on friday preparing to leave the country when he was arrested without any kind of warning. now, we're trying to confirm all the details of this. so far we've been able to speak to the director of a small think tank here in seoul who told us that he did receive a text from a colleague of mr. kim's saying that he had, in fact, been detained. this colleague says that he saw him being arrested at the airport. we still haven't heard officially from the state department. no official confirmation from the south koreans either. although the associated press is reporting that the swedish embassy in pyongyang has, in fact, confirmed an american has been detained. >> we know fro

. >> nbc's kelly cobiella joins us from seoul. and n brknbc's hans nichols fm pentag pentagon. >> part is about the 85th an verse are i -- an verseniversary of the army. the military usually puts out a show of force. it may have been a reaction to all the heated rhetoric we've also back and forth between the north koreans and the united states over the past several weeks. and also the buildup of military muscle. u.s. military muscle in the region. the "uss carl vinson" due in the area today. the navy, too, announcing two joint exercises with allies on either side of the peninsulpeni. this is how kim jong-un decided to respond today, stephanie. >> all right. hans, tell us, how is the navy responding? >> well, we don't have official response from the navy, and the pentagon hasn't said anything publicly on this yet. secretary mattis just threw in ov -- flew in overnight. but the threat from north korea is said to not just be eminent. however, once it is eminent, it may be too late. that's what they're wrestling with here. how do you prevent a nuclear missile from heading in? there

and here to brief us, nbc's kelly cobiella, still in seoul, south korea. more about what happened overnight? >> well, instead of the big fear that there would be a nuclear test or a missile test in north korea, instead, what the north koreans did was put on this very large artillery live fire exercise. now this happened in a city or near a city in the east of the country, close to a military base there. we haven't actually seen pictures of this yet but south korea's government confirms this did happen. one official describing it as massive. the type of artillery used from what we understand according to a source who talked to the south korean news agency yonhap said what was involved was about 300 to 0 pieces of long-range artillery, the same kind of hardware by the way that is deployed just about 30 or 40 miles from here along the north korean border with south korea. so, kim jong-un able to show his people that she's not backing down from this, from the threats from the outside world, washington and the international community, but not going forward with

nbc's kelly cobiella has the latest on that. kelly, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. and the next 24 hours are really crucial. tomorrow is the biggest holiday of the year in north korea. it's a day that has been used in the past to carry out these big, high-profile weapons tests. overnight, already, some tough talk from a north korean official who called president trump's policy towards north korea vicious and aggressive. and vowed his country is prepared to go to war if provoked. flower power on display in north korea. the secretive regime showing off shiny, new buildings and prepping for parades in the capital, pyongyang. while in the northeast at its nuclear site, there's signs that north korea is primed and ready for a sixth nuclear test. possibly as soon as tomorrow, to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of the nation's founder and the current leader's grandfather. kim il-sung. the vice foreign minister telling the associated press overnight, the country will go ahead with a nuclear test at a time and place they deem necessary. nbc news has learned two ameri

kelly cobiella is in seoul, south korea for us. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. you said it. vice president mike pence talking about north korea. talking tough. calling it an urgent and dangerous threat. so urgent, in fact, that last week, president trump said he was is way as a show of force. now, we're learning that carrier group won't be here for another week. vice president pence on the u.s.s. reagan in japan this morning with a familiar message for north korea >> we will fight any attack and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective american response. [ applause ] >> reporter: "the uss carl vinson" aircraft carrier, used to back up the talk, is heading to the region, as a prudent measure, the pentagon says. over the weekend, when kim jong-un was showing the world his new weapons, threatening the u.s. and testing a missile, the "vinson," was 3,500 miles away, moving in the opposite direction, for a military drill with australia, despite what trump did last week. >> we're sending an armada. very powerful. >> reporter: t

nbc's kelly cobiella is monitoring developments from our london newsroom. what do we know?rst of all he couldn't confirm any casualty numbers, but he did say that they have a suspect in mind and in fact they have a suspect picture that they've been distributing within sweden, the picture of a man in a hoodie with a beard and mustache, wearing a green jacket. from what we understand, this is how it happened. beer truck owned by a swedish beer company crashed into the wall of this high-end department store in the center part of stockholm at about 3:00 this afternoon. it would have been a very, very busy part of stockholm, this is a pedestrian area, people would have been out shopping at 3:00 in the afternoon. we understand as well from the beer company the spokesman telling nbc news that the truck was stolen earlier today while the driver was making a delivery. that driver was able to talk to police and give them some information and of course, as i mentioned, we now have a picture being circulated as well. this has reverberations around europe. condolences as well as message